Sizzler Malibu Chicken

Love me some malibu chicken...This was a great copy cat recipe.

6 boneless chicken breasts

6 slices of ham

6 slices of swiss cheese

1 egg

1/4 c. flour

1/4 tsp salt and pepper

3/4 c. panko bread crumbs

2 TBLS. oil

2 TBLS. butter

1 TBLS. water

1 tsp. mustard

1/4 c. mayo

stir egg and water with fork. Combine flour, s+p and coat each chicken piece, dip in egg and then coat with bread crumbs, making sure to press crumbs. Heat oil and butter in large skillet over med. heat. Brown chicken 4-5 minutes each side. Place chicken on cookie sheet top with ham, cheese. 350-until cheese melts.

Serve with dipping sauce of 1/4 c. mayo and 1 tsp. mustard

Million Dollar Spaghetti

I have made this twice already, and I love it. Delicious and easy.

1 lb. hamburger

1 c. bottled spaghetti sauce (Ragu or other)

8 oz. cream cheese

1/4 c. sour cream

1/2 lb. cottage cheese or Ricotta

one stick of butter

8 oz. noodles

bag of sharp cheese

bake at 350

Boil noodles

Mix cream cheese, sour cream, cottage cheese real smooth

cook meat and brown—pour spaghetti sauce over top

take a few slices of butter and put in bottom of 9x13 pan

layer half of noodles, pour creamy mixture on top and spread it out

then add rest of noodles and add rest of slices of butter on top

Pour red sauce with meat on top and spread (you can add more spaghetti sauce if desired)

(Mark likes things saucy!)

bake 30 minutes. Take out and put sharp cheese on top. Bake an additional 15 minutes uncovered.

Crockpot cheesy chicken spaghetti

You know a recipe is good when you take dinner into someone and they want the recipe.

16 oz. spaghetti cooked

1 lb. Velveeta light 2% cheese

2 c. cooked chicken

1 can fat free ream of mushroom soup

1 can fat free cream of chicken soup

1 can petite diced tomatoes

1 4 oz. can of mild chili's

4 oz. can of button mushrooms

1/2 c. water

small onion

salt and pepper

Spray crock pot with Pam. and put all ingredients in and cook low for 2-3 hours.

( Don't let the ingredients fool you. This is delish)

Easy Peasy beef Stroganoff

On Sunday after church, we were starving.

Have you noticed food taste better after serving the Lord?

Me too.....

I had just seen this easy, peasy recipe and decided to give it a try.

*

1 pd. Hamburger browned

then add the following:

2 Tbs. Green pepper

small onion diced

1 Tbs. of Worcestershire sauce

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1/2 c. sour cream

serve over rice or noodles!!

I thought this would last 2 meals.

I would be wrong!

DELISH

Next time you need a salad...

Holy Awesomeness, Batman.

This is such a delish salad.

It's kind of a cross between my mom's broccoli-bacon

salad and the infamous "Fart Salad" haha...

Perfect as a side, for an event, or just to much on through the week!

-

**PS- This salad, in my opinion, tastes better if the flavors have

had a chance to 'marry'... so I'd make it the night before and

let it sit in the fridge, if it's for an event or shower ;)

-

Bowtie Broccoli Pasta Salad

-

INGREDIENTS

-

~ 16 oz. bow tie (farfalle) pasta noodles

~ 3 c. fresh broccoli (cut into small pieces)

~ 3 c. seedless red grapes (halved)

~ 2 c. mayonnaise

~ 2/3 c. sugar

~ 2/3 c. diced red onion

~ 2/3 c. red wine vinegar

~ 2 tsp. salt

~ 3/4 c. bacon bits (cooked or from a jar)

~ 1 1/3 c. chopped pecans, toasted (*Optional)

-

DIRECTIONS

-----

1.

Cook pasta according to package directions.

-

2.

If not already done, cut broccoli from stem and into

small pieces. Cut all grapes in half.

-

3.

In a large bowl, whisk together may, sugar, onion,

vinegar and salt til thoroughly mixed. Add broccoli,

grapes, and drained cooked pasta. Stir to coat.

-

4.

*Depending on whether you want the bacon crunchy or

moist, you may add those now, or not til you're ready to eat.

Chill the salad for a few hours, or overnight.

Add the pecans (and bacon, if not already in) before eating.

-----

You're sure to get asked for this recipe!

It's happened to me every time ;)

Honey Garlic Meatballs (or sauce for meat)

===

Okay, this one is all about the sauce.

I have used homemade meatballs, with my meatloaf

recipe (see below), and I've also used store-bought frozen

meatballs, if I was crunched for time. Or lazy ;)

This sauce, in my opinion, would also be great for

chicken or pork. It's a bit Asian, but very mild.

===

Honey Garlic Sauce

-

INGREDIENTS:

-

~ 4 garlic cloves, minced

~ 2-4 Tbs. butter/margarine (or oil if you prefer)

~ 3/4 c. ketchup

~ 1/2 c. honey

~ 3 Tbs. soy sauce

(*If you wanted a more Asian, less ketchup-y flavor,

take the ketchup down to 1/2 c. and add 2-3 more T. of soy sauce.)

===

DIRECTIONS:

-

1.

In a sauce pan, wok, or small/medium frying pan, melt the

butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook til tender

(you may need to stir to keep from burning the garlic.)

-

2.

Add the ketchup, honey and soy sauce and bring to a boil.

-

3.

Once bubbling, cover and reduce temperature to low.

Let simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring so the bottom

doesn't scald.

-

4. That's it! Add the cooked meatballs into the saucepan, or

pour the sauce over the meatballs and mix up.

Serve over rice, with potatoes, or even with pasta.

===

~~~

Meatloaf / Meatballs

-

INGREDIENTS:

-

~ 2 lbs. ground beef

~ 2-4 eggs (depending on how moist you want it,

and how much bread you'll use)

~ 3-4 slices of bread (or you may use bread crumbs if you prefer)

~ 1/2-3/4 c. diced yellow onion, or 2-3 T. dried onion flakes

 or dried minced onion

~ Salt and Pepper

===

DIRECTIONS:

-

1.

Preheat oven to 350 for meatloaf, 400 for meatballs.

-

2.

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.

Make sure everything is incorporated.

-

3.

For meatloaf, press into a cakepan, or into

one or two bread loaf pans.

For meatballs, form into 1-2 inch balls and place

on a baking sheet or in a cake pan.

-

4.

Meatloaf will cook about an hour, depending on

how thick it is. Meatballs will typically cook in

about 30-45 minutes.

===

*For meatloaf, we always use this Sweet & Sour sauce,

which you pour over the meatloaf before baking.

It's so delish.

Baked 'Fried Chicken'

This is an awesome recipe that has a fried chicken flavor,

but is a bit healthier- and easier- 'cuz it's baked! Yay!

-

I've made this using boneless, skinless check breasts (cut into strips),

but I've also used thigh meat. One thing I really want to try is

using bone-in thighs, just because I heart those, and I think

those'd be delish here, too. So whichever type of chicken you

choose, here we go...

-

1. Soak chicken strips or pieces in a bowl of milk (or buttermilk,

if you like more tang) for 20-30 minutes.

-

2. Mix in a large ziploc bag OR a bowl:

~ 1 c. flour

~ 1 1/2-2 tsp. paprika

~ 1/2 tsp. salt

~ 3/4 tsp. pepper

~ 1 Tbsp. Season All or Seasoning Salt

-

3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut 1/2 stick of butter into slices

and place in 9x13 cake pan. Place pan in oven just long enough

to melt the butter. (This is such an awesome trick!)

-

4. If needed, spread melted butter around bottom of pan so there

are no dry spots (you may use nonstick spray on dry spots, too,

if you need to.)

-

5. Shake excess milk off each piece of chicken and coat with seasoning

(either by shaking in ziploc or pressing into bowl).

-

6. Place each piece of chicken in pan.

-

7. Cook for 20 minutes. Turn chicken over and cook about another

20 minutes. (**Timing depends, of course, on the size of your

chicken pieces. The smaller/thinner the chicken, the less

cooking time you'll need, so check it along the way ;)

You don't want it overcooked- just til it's cooked through.

-

So yum! And really pretty simple.

This sort of reminds me of our copycat Chik-Fil-A nuggets,

except it's SO much less time-consuming because of the

baking- plus, a bit healthier ;)

Enjoy!

Simple Crock Pot Pulled Pork

Recipes like this are all over Pinterest.

I had a pork roast on hand, so I tried this one-

and it was delish!

---

You can use this to make pulled pork sandwiches,

or you can serve it with potatoes and veggies...

we went the polynesian route and served it over rice ;)

---

INGREDIENTS:

-

Pork Butt

(I'd recommend one with some fat on it ;)

-

1/2 bottle of your fave BBQ sauce (we used

Sweet Baby Ray's, from a recommendation)

-

1 can Diet Pepsi

-

Lawry's Seasoning Salt

===

DIRECTIONS:

-

1. Rub seasoning salt all over pork butt roast.

-

2. Place roast in crock pot and mix in BBQ sauce

and diet pepsi.

-

3. Cook on low for about 4 hours.

-

4. With two forks, shred pork. Cook for another hour.

===

That's it!

Cream Cheese Chicken Wraps

I've done chicken crescent wraps before,

but I have no idea what I put in them and I

cannot find any recipe for it... hmmm...

-

But today, I wanted to make them,

so I took a recipe from Plain Chicken

and tweaked it for my family ;)

The original recipe is HERE, and includes

a gravy, which my family thinks is "weird."

haha.  not.

Anyway, so here's my final product,

and I must say, I was eating the chicken filling

Out Of The Pan! yummy.

As always, I'd say season more/less/differently

based on you and your family !

===

INGREDIENTS:

-

3 large chicken breasts (or any chicken meat, really)

-

6 oz. cream cheese

-

2-3 T. butter

-

1/2 to 1 tsp. garlic powder

-

3/4 to 1 c. grated cheddar cheese
-
2-ish tsp minced onion flakes

-

1/2 tsp seasoning salt

-

1/2 tsp pepper

-

1/4 to 1/2 tsp celery salt

-

2 T. milk

-

*if desired- 3/4 to 1 c. grated cheddar to sprinkle

on top of crescents

-

1/2 can cream of chicken (cream of celery

would be yummy too)

-

2-3 cans refrigerated crescent rolls-

I prefer the larger sized rolls

===

DIRECTIONS

-

1. Preheat to 350. Cut chicken into bite-size pieces

and cook (I boiled). (You may cut afterwards, instead.)

-

2. I used the same pan, while the chicken was draining

in the colander, to mix up the cream cheese, butter, garlic

powder, onion, cheddar, salts, pepper, milk and soup (I only
used a half a can of the soup to keep it from being too thin)

over low heat.

-

3. You may leave the chicken in bite-sized pieces, but

this time I shredded it up just a bit.  Mix it into the filling

mixture. Fill each crescent dough triangle with a heaping

tablespoon of filling (for larger crescents).  Place crescents

into a sprayed/greased 9x13 pan.

-

4. You may top crescents with a bit of cheese or gravy

(see original recipe link for gravy).  Bake for about 30 mins

or til crescents are golden and cooked through.

Loco Moco

Loco Moco is a traditional Hawaiian dish.

It's often eaten for breakfast, but can also be

enjoyed at lunch, dinner, after school...

Plus, it's pretty simple.

---

INGREDIENTS:

-

Rice

-

Water

-

Eggs

-

Brown gravy

(This can be made from a packet mix or by

adding 1 can beef broth to the beef drippings,

then stir 2 T water and 2 T flour together and

add to broth for thickness.)

-

Hamburger patties

(In a pinch, just use regular beef patties. For more

flavor, add some onion, S&P, garlic salt, egg,

even bread crumbs if you want- to the beef! yum)

-

bit of oil for cooking patties and eggs

---

DIRECTIONS:

-

1. Start cooking rice, so it can cook while you're

doing everything else.

-

2. [After mixing beef mixture, if applicable],

cook patties on a frying pan or griddle

-

3. Remove beef from pan, fry eggs (usually

over easy, but you can cook however you want!)

-

4. Either cook gravy in a saucepan, or mix it in fry

pan after eggs are removed

-

5. Build on plate as follows: Rice at bottom, then hamburger(s),

then eggs, then gravy over everything.

Delish ;)

---

Chicken Poulet (Chicken Chicken) haha

This recipe is a well-known southern dish called

Chicken Poulet... which translated means... Chicken Chicken.

That alone makes it AWESOME.

-

**An important note: this recipe has to sit in the fridge for a few hours

before baking- so keep that in mind.  On a positive note- I had all the

ingredients on hand, and that never happens!!

-

INGREDIENTS:

-

*2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

-

*1 c. cheddar cheese

-

*1/2 c. mayo

-

*1/4 c. green onions

-

*4 eggs

-

*1 stick butter or margarine

-

*2 c. chicken broth

-

*16 oz Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix

(I only had a 12 oz. box of generic brand in my pantry,

so I used that and it was fine...)

-

*1 c. milk

-

*1 c. water

-

*1 can cream of mushroom

-

*S&P

=====

DIRECTIONS:

-

*Chicken must be cooked (boiled, fried, baked... whatever-

in fact, you could shred the meat off one of a pre-cooked store-

bought chicken!)

-

*Melt 1 stick butter in 1 c. water in the microwave; pour over

stuffing mix (in a big enough bowl)

-

*Add 2 eggs and broth

-

*In a separate bowl, mix shredded chicken, mayo and onions

-

*Press half the stuffing mix in the bottom of a cakepan

(9x13)

-

*Top with all the chicken mixture

-

*Salt and pepper

-

*Top with the remaining stuffing mix

-

*Beat 2 eggs and the milk; pour over mixture

-

*Cover and let sit in fridge for at least 2 hours

(eight hours or overnight is recommended)

-

*Remove cover and spread cream of mushroom over top

of casserole.

-

*Bake uncovered at 350 for 45 mins.

-

*Sprinkle cheese on top, bake a few more minutes

til cheese melted-

-original recipe found at SouthernPlate.com

Sour Cream Noodle Bake

I made a few adjustments to this recipe,

so for the exact original, GO HERE.

It's from the Pioneer Woman, and it's brilliant!

Simple and yum.

-

It's kind of got a Lasagna-y flavor... but it's much lighter and

kind of fresher-tasting. My family loved it.

===

INGREDIENTS:

-

~ 1 1/2 lb. ground beef

-

~ 1  15-oz. can tomato sauce

-

~S&P

-

~garlic salt for beef seasoning

-

~ 8 oz egg noodles (she highly recommends using

'No Yolk' brand, which I've never bought, but

used here... they were good!)

-

~3/4 c. sour cream

-

~ 1 1/4 c. small curd cottage cheese

-

~ 1/2 c. sliced green onions (more or less to taste)

-

1 c. grated cheddar cheese

===

DIRECTIONS:

-

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-
2. Brown beef in a skillet. Drain fat, then add tomato sauce,
 1/2 teaspoon salt and plenty of black pepper, as well as garlic salt.
Stir, then simmer while you prepare the other ingredients.
-
3. Cook egg noodles until al dente. Drain and set aside.
-
4. In a medium bowl, combine sour cream and cottage cheese.
Add plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Add to noodles
 and stir. Add green onions and stir. *You MUST taste the noodle
mixture, cuz it's yummy all by itself!!
-
5. To assemble, add half of the noodles to a baking dish.
Top with half the meat mixture, then sprinkle on half
the grated cheddar. Repeat with noodles, meat,
then a final layer of cheese. (She also suggested that you could,
of course, just mix it all together, top with cheese and
bake, rather than layering it.)  Bake for 20 minutes,
or until all cheese is melted.
Serve with crusty French bread.

Beef-Stuffed Crescents

The original recipe for this can be found

at Taste of Home, HERE.

---

---

Okay, this was SO easy and totally just yummy

comfort food. Suka loved them so much, he actually

stuffed some into a container and hid it in the fridge

for the next day!

---

INGREDIENTS:

-

*1 to 1 1/2 lbs. ground beef

-

[*1 4-oz. can chopped green chiles
***I did NOT use these, cuz my kids are a bit picky

with chilis and peppers BUT people online love them

and have also suggested subbing jalapenos for

some kick.***]

-

*1 8-oz. pkg cream cheese, cubed

-

*1/4 t. ground cumin

-

*1/4 t. chili powder

-

*S&P

-

*(I also used some dried onion flakes and garlic salt

in my hamburger)

-

*3 tubes refrigerated crescent rolls (large if poss)

===

DIRECTIONS:

-

1. In a skillet, cook beef [and chilies/peppers] over medium

 heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add the cream cheese,

cumin and chili powder. Cool slightly.

-

2. Separate crescent dough into triangles. Place spoonful

 or two of the beef mixture along the wide end of each triangle;

 carefully roll up.

-

3. Place point side down 2 in. apart on ungreased

baking sheets. Bake at 375° for 11-14 minutes or until

golden brown. Serve warm.

Easy Stir Fry w/ Noodles

Suka makes stir fry alot. We all love it.

I don't make it that often, cuz he makes it better!

But last week, I was thinking of what to make for dinner.

And I felt like I had Not-One-Thing in the house.

I had exactly two pork chops (not enough for my family),

rice, ramen noodles (those are both staples in our house),

1/2 a bag of frozen veggies, and the usual sauces

we always have in our fridge.

---

What to do with that??

I went on Pinterest, of course,

because I remembered seeing a link to a site that had

"30 Recipes to Make with Ramen Noodles"

and what I made that night stemmed from one

of those recipes.

I won't link there, cuz I changed it based on

what I had available, but here it is

(and so easy!)

=====

INGREDIENTS:

(these can be adjusted!)

-

*chicken or pork, sliced or cut into smallish pieces

-

*veggies (we like the frozen stir-fry veggies, but you could

use any mixture of frozen or cut your own fresh!)

-

*1-2 packs Ramen noodles (I used chicken flavor)

-

*onion (I used dried flakes)

-

*S&P

-

*soy sauce and/or teriyaki sauce and/or any asian sauce

or flavoring you like!

-

*rice, if you want to serve it that way-

=====

DIRECTIONS:

-

1. I threw the meat, veg, S&P, onion into a deep wok/fry pan

with a little bit of oil and let it cook over med heat, stirring occasionally.

-

2. When the meat/veg is almost cooked, cook your Ramen in a separate

pan (you may add the flavoring if you want, or not- I did)

-

3. Once all cooked, add the Ramen noodles into the meat/veg mixture

(NOT the water!) and add your sauces, season to taste, mix!

-

4. Serve over rice, or salad, or in lettuce wraps, or all alone.



Cashew Chicken (SO easy!)

---

Okay- I love me some Chinese food, as does the brown husband.

But I hate making food that is difficult, takes forever and/or has

37 ingredients.  So, I don't make it much, other than some stir-

fry here and there.  BUT... I came across a super-easy-sounding

recipe on Pinterest (of course).  The original can be found HERE,

and included only the chicken, cashews and the sauce. 

I chose to add some veggies and onion.

Made it tonight and it is divine.  Love!

Plus, it took a total of about 15-20 mins and has

really just 4-5 main ingredients.  My kind of cooking.

---

INGREDIENTS:

-

*Boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or any chicken meat)

(For my family I used 3 large chicken breasts and it was perfect)

-

*1/2-1 bag of frozen Stir-Fry Vegetables

-

*Dried onion flakes or dried minced onion (about 1-2 T. to your

taste... OR you could use fresh onion too)

-

*Half a bottle of 'General Tso's Sauce'

(in the Asian section of grocery store- the original recipe

called for the "Iron Chef" brand, but I bought the cheaper one)

-

*S&P

-

*1/2 - 1 c. cashews (however much you want, and depending on

how much chicken you're cooking

-

*A bit of oil for bottom of pan (wok or frying)

---

DIRECTIONS:

-

1. Cut chicken into slices or cubes... (doesn't matter)

-

2. Place thin layer of oil in bottom of pan.  Heat to med / med-high

-

3. Place chicken, dried onion, S&P and veggies in pan and cover

-

4. Let cook til chicken's cooked through, stirring every couple

of minutes

-

5. When chicken is cooked, turn to low/simmer, add sauce and cashews

and mix together.  Let simmer til ready to eat.

-

6. Serve over rice and enjoy!

**It'd also be great in lettuce wraps, over salad or over noodles!

Chick-Fil-A Chicken Nuggets

Does it say something about me that

A) all my recent posts are Pinterest finds?, and

B) all my recent posts are restaurant copycats?

Probably.

And I don't care one bit... cuz they're all

AWESOME!

---

My absolute FAVE chicken nuggets are Chick-Fil-A.

And this recipe totally did it!

Even the brown husband, who prefers chicken on the bone,

loved these!

Plus- they kept well in the fridge (I made alot and then

saved it and we munched them over a few days!)

---

INGREDIENTS:

-

2 skinless and boneless chicken breasts (or more!)

-
1 cup milk

-
1 egg
-

1 1/4 cups flour
-

2 TBSP powdered sugar
-

2 tsp salt
-

1 tsp pepper
-

peanut oil (is best) or canola oil
---

DIRECTIONS:

-
In a medium bowl whisk the egg and stir in the milk.

-

Trim any fat away from chicken. Cube chicken into bite size pieces.

-

Place chicken in milk mixture,and cover.

Let it 'marinate' for 2-4 hours in the fridge.

**This will make the chicken very nice and tender.**

-

  In a gallon size resealable baggie combine flour,

powdered sugar, salt and pepper. Seal and shake to combine.

-

Place about 2 inches of oil in a medium deep pot or frying pan.

Over medium high heat (more towards the high side) heat oil until hot.

If using a thermometer let the temperature reach 375°.

If you don't have a fancy thermometer, test oil by

dropping a few drops of water into it. You want it to sizzle

and not pop too much. Adjust your heat if necessary.

-

Using a fork or tongs remove cut chicken from milk mixture

 and place in the flour mixture. Seal and shake until nuggets

are completely coated. Place about a 6-8 nuggets (you just don't

want them on top of each other...) into hot oil and let

 them cook until golden brown, turning half way through once

the edge of your chicken starts to turn white.

About 1 minute each side. Always double check to see if any

 chicken you make is cooked through. I always just make a

tiny cut to see if it's pink.

-

Remove and drain on a paper towel.

-

Repeat until all nuggets are cooked. 

Serve with your favorite sauce!

===

yum.

Fall cider glazed pork chops

Ingredients:4  pork chops, 

fresh ground pepper

salt (optional)

2 teaspoons olive oil (canola oil can be used)

1 cup apple cider (sparkling cider can be used)

1 tablespoon packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons cider vinegar (I have used plain white vinegar as well with no taste difference)

1/4 teaspoon ground mustard (add a pinch or two more to taste if desired)

Directions:

1.Pat pork chops dry with paper towels. Season each side with a sprinkling of pepper, and salt if desired. Heat oil in a large nonstick frying pan or skillet over medium-high heat until just hot then add pork chops and brown both sides (around 5 minutes if your pork chops are around 1/2-inch thick).

2.Stir cider and brown sugar together and add to the frying pan. Reduce heat to low and simmer the pork chops, uncovered, turning the chops after a minute, until the meat is almost cooked through but not quite (about 2 minutes). Remove pork chops to a plate with a fork.

 3.Add the vinegar and ground mustard to the frying pan juices and bring to a boil, scraping up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan with a spatula. Continue to cook until the glaze mixture is reduced to about 1/3 cup. It will take 5 to 10 minutes. The cider mixture will get bubbly when it is just about at the syrup/glaze stage.

 4.Turn off heat. Place the pork chops back in the frying pan along with any juices that formed on the bottom of the plate.

 5.Flip chops over to coat both sides with the cider glaze, cover frying pan and let sit for a minute or two to blend flavors. Check thickest part of the pork chop for desired doneness and serve.

(took this in to a neighbor last night with corn and almond rice pilaf

as you can see by photo, I sliced the chops into lean pieces )

Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce

This is not a joke ;)

I've tried a handful of alfredo recipes- all of which are good,

but none of which have had that certain Olive Garden taste!

HELLO!  This is super simple and tastes so perfect!

INGREDIENTS:
1 stick butter
2 T. cream cheese
1 pint heavy cream
1 t. garlic powder
S&P
1/2 to 2/3 c. parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a medium saucepan, melt butter, cream cheese and heavy cream together.
-
2. Add garlic powder, parmesan and season with S&P (I'm not a huge pepper fan BUT to make this taste authentic, I've found I need a good amount of pepper.) 
-
3. Simmer for 10-15 minutes over low heat, stirring constantly (til parm is melted and sauce is creamy.)
-
4. Serve over hot fettucine noodles.  (I like to use angel hair too, for a less heavy meal!... and chicken!)

===
(On pinterest, I've also found an Olive Garden salad dressing and salad recipe, and a breadstick recipe, but I haven't tried them yet...)

Fried Zucchini Spaghetti

I've posted my recipe for fried zucchini and mushrooms here before.

Well, I saw Gwyneth Paltrow on Rachael Ray Monday, and she

made this awesome-sounding recipe that was similar to mine,

plus noodles!  She cooks it as a main dish, but you could also

add chicken or use it as a side to pork chops.  It's so awesome.

I played a bit, adding mushrooms and onions and not adding

basil.  And it was DE-LISH!!  Super easy and quick, too.

Fried Zucchini (& Mushroom) Spaghetti

Ingredients

• ¾ pound (¾ box) spaghetti
• Salt & Pepper
• 3-5 zucchini, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour (*I've cooked it without the flour)
• ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup finely grated parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
• **I add onion and mushrooms too... just cuz I love it!
• [orig. recipe calls for handful fresh basil leaves, but I don't use these]

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Preparation

Boil the spaghetti in salted water until just al dente. Meanwhile, toss the zucchini with flour. Heat the ¼ cup of olive oil in a large nonstick frying pan over medium/med-high heat and add zucchini (*orig. recipe directs you to cook in single layer, but I like to fry all together, slowly, to soften.) *If I'm including onion and mushrooms, I cook these together with the zucchini.  Cook, stirring occasionally, til slightly browned and a little crispy, about 4 minutes or to your desired texture. Remove the zucchini to a plate and sprinkle with coarse salt.
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(The original recipe directs you now to mix most of the parm with some oil and pasta water to creamy texture, but my cheese clumped up, so I did it as follows:)
Add small bit of oil and zucchini to noodles, add parm and mix.  Season with S&P.

To serve, portion the pasta into four shallow bowls and evenly distribute the rest of the zucchini on top of each, along with a couple of gratings of Parmesan.

Ratatouille

Sometimes my body craves healthy...This is a simple dish that Mark

 taught me to make that he got on his mission to France. It's called ratatouille.

It's basically a vegetable stew.

Because it's vegetable season, I thought I would share it's deliciousness.

Recipe:

1 eggplant

some zucchini

1 yellow squash

garlic

1 onion

1-2 cans tomato sauce.

*

Put a little water in bottom of pan. Cut all the veggies into bite size pieces. Add the

tomato sauce, salt and pepper to taste.

Simmer on low for several hours or on high for fewer hours. You are looking

for tender almost mushy vegetables.

Serve over rice.

That's it.

If there are any leftovers the next day,

add black olives, a little salsa, some corn,

 and you have Mexican ratatouille.