Alfredo Pasta bake

I got this from this blog http://eoberrys.blogspot.com/search/label/recipes
I hate bottled alfredo sauce but this was actually way good. I added a little extra milk in mine just to make sure it wasn't dry.

Alfredo Pasta Bake
(Source: Amber's Delectable Delights)
Ingredients:
8 oz pasta, cooked and drained
2 cups broccoli florets
1 cup mushrooms
1.5 cups chicken, cooked and shredded or diced
1 jar alfredo sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
2 Tbls butter
Directions:- Preheat oven to 350 degrees- Coat the bottom of the two small or one medium baking dish with a thin layer of alfredo sauce. In a medium bowl, mix the pasta, broccoli, mushrooms, chicken, garlic and alfredo sauce until combined. Place mixture into baking dish and top with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cut the butter into small pieces and scatter on top of the cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is hot and bubbly.

Rachel's notes-I like to use Classico Four Cheese Alfredo Sauce. And when I bake it I wait until it starts bubbling and then I turn on the broiler for just a few minutes just to brown the cheese, just don't burn it. Burn=no good.
I also don't follow this recipe to the "T". If I think it needs a little more of this or that I add it. Just don't use too many noodles. I usually don't use the whole package of refrigerated noodles if you use too many noodles add more sauce otherwise it won't be very moist. Okay enough of this. If you try this let me know what you think. I love Ambers blog (which I got from Tia's blog) I have gotten about 4 recipes from her that my family love. Sigh... I wish spell check would work.

cheesy italian tortellini

I thought this was yummy. it is a meaty sauce which is what my husband likes, and the kids all ate it, so it is a keeper for me.

Cheesy Italian Tortellini

Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 8 Hours 15 Minutes

Ready In: 8 Hours 30 Minutes
Servings: 6
"A delicious marinara sauce is cooked all day in the slow cooker. When it' s time for diner, just throw in some tortellini, and sprinkle with cheese. When the noodles are cooked -- pass around the bread, and enjoy!"
Ingredients:
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 pound Italian sausage, casings removed
1 (16 ounce) jar marinara sauce
1 (4.5 ounce) can sliced mushrooms
1 (14.5 ounce) can Italian-style diced

tomatoes, undrained
1 (9 ounce) package refrigerated or fresh
cheese tortellini
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
Directions:
1. Crumble the ground beef and Italian sausage into a large skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until browned. Drain.
2. Combine the ground meats, marinara sauce, mushrooms, and tomatoes in a slow cooker. Cover, and cook on LOW heat for 7 to 8 hours.
3. Stir in the tortellini, and sprinkle the mozzarella and cheddar cheese over the top. Cover and cook for 15 more minutes on LOW, or until the tortellini is tender.

Cherry Chicken lettuce wraps ****

I got this recipe from my sister in law, and we thought it was delicious, justin even ate it and he considers lettuce "rabbit food". The reviews say it tastes just like PF changs, but I have never actually had them there, but either way they were way good. I did not do the recipe like it says though, it was recommended that I make them according to the viewers reviews, I will post the link if you want to read all the suggestions, but here is the real recipe and I will put the notes after.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cherry-Chicken-Lettuce-Wraps/Detail.aspx


Ingredients:
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
1 1/4 pounds skinless, boneless chicken
breast halves, cut into bite size pieces
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
1 tablespoon honey

1 pound dark sweet cherries, pitted and
halved
1 1/2 cups shredded carrots
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1/3 cup toasted and sliced almonds
12 leaves of lettuce
Directions:
1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add ginger and chicken and saute until cooked through, about 7 to 10 minutes. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together remaining 1 tablespoon oil, vinegar, teriyaki sauce and honey until mixed together. Add chicken mixture, cherries, carrot, green onion and almonds; toss together.
3. To Serve: Spoon 1/12 of the chicken/cherry mixture onto the center of each lettuce leaf; roll up leaf around filling and serve.


Changes:
Mix 3/4 cup shredded mushrooms and 1 can drained chopped water chestnuts with the chicken before cooking. Cook them all together. (After the chicken was cooked I chopped up the chicken/mushroom/water chestnut mixture pretty small cuz i guess that is how they do it at PF changs). Omit the cherries. Double the sauce ingredients (but omit the honey) and add 2 Tbs of soy sauce. Add 1/2 tsp garlic powder and some red pepper flakes (to taste)_ to sauce. Use the freshest, crunchiest inner lettuce cups for best flavor (some recommended bib lettuce, but we like the crunch of the iceberg lettuce. It was pretty easy to prepare too.. oh- one more thing, I didn't want to pay extra for toasted almonds so i just bought the regular sliced almonds and toasted them in a pan with sugar until the sugar melted on it.

crockpot chicken meal

OK so i kind of made up this recipe but it is really good, and since i never have a lot of time to make dinner it is extra easy too. so if you feel like throwing some different things in here go ahead!


3-4 chicken breasts
cut up potatoes
mini carrots
sliced mushrooms
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1 TBS chili powder
1 TBS cumin
garlic salt
season all
pepper
water


SO what i do is put the frozen chicken in the bottom of the crockpot and season it with the season all, garlic salt, pepper etc. Then just put in everything else, put enough water in to cover like 2/3 of the food and stir a bit. I cook it on high for about 4-5 hours, but longer is ok, it will just make everything a little more tender. We eat it like a soup with just some dinner rolls. Very Yummy.

Hearty Spinach and Mushroom Soup ***

Blaine raved on and on about this, a great soup!

From Pillsbury Fast and Healthy Cookbook

2 tsp Margarine or Butter
1 (8oz) pkg (3 Cups) sliced fresh mushrooms
1/2 C finely shredded carrot
1/2 C finely chopped onion
1 (14 1/2 oz) can ready to serve fat free chicken broth with 1/3 less sodium
1 1/2 C frozen cut leaf spinach, thawed, squeezed to drain
1/8 tsp nutmeg
Dash pepper
2 C skim milk
1/4 C all purpose flour
4 oz fat free cream cheese cut into pieces
4 oz (1Cup) shredded reduced fat swiss cheese

Melt margarine in large nonstick saucepan over medium heat. Add mushrooms, carrots and onion; cook and stir 3 minutes. Add broth, spinach, nutmeg and pepper, mix well.

In a small bowl combine milk and flour; blend until smooth. Add to spinach mixture; cook until bubble and thickened, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low. Add cream cheese and swiss cheese; cook and stir until melted.

- I used dehydrated carrots and dehydrated onions (yea food storage), I used two chicken bullion cubes and two cups water instead of the broth, and I used swiss cheese slices, and neufacschentioetwnaoidath whatever cheese that is kind of like fat free cream cheese.

Really yum. Well, of course I didn't have any but Blaine loved it, Gwen loved it and I blended some up for lil' Bentley and he loved it :)

Mushroom Stroganoff ***

Got this recipe from www.allrecipes.com, and made it tonight. I thought it was really yummy!

Mushroom Stroganoff

INGREDIENTS

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3/4 pound portobello mushrooms, sliced
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 1/2 cups sour cream
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 8 ounces dried egg noodles

DIRECTIONS

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add egg noodles, and cook until al dente, about 7 minutes. Remove from heat, drain, and set aside.
2. At the same time, melt butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add onion, and cook, stirring until softened. Turn the heat up to medium-high, and add sliced mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms are limp and browned. Remove to a bowl, and set aside.
3. In the same skillet, stir in vegetable broth, being sure to stir in any browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil, and cook until the mixture has reduced by 1/3. Reduce heat to low, and return the mushrooms and onion to the skillet.
4. Remove the pan from the heat, stir together the sour cream and flour; then blend into the mushrooms. Return the skillet to the burner, and continue cooking over low heat, just until the sauce thickens. Stir in the parsley, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve over cooked egg noodles.

I followed several reviewers suggestions and
1- waited to start the egg noodles until about the time I added the broth to the sauce
2- I added Worcestershire and soy sauce (maybe 4 Tbs of W and 2 Tbs of Soy?) a few minutes after adding the mushrooms
3- I only used about a cup of sour cream
4- I didn't have portabello mushrooms, I just used white kitchen mushrooms (a lot, like two packages)
5- added salt and pepper when served, yum
6- Oh yeah I used beef broth instead of vegetable broth, who has vegetable broth?

Very good, pretty easy!

May 17 - Portabella Pitas

I got this recipe from: My brain ;) I didn't serve it with anything, it's the weekend!


Portabella mushrooms are a great replacement for meat. We learned this during our weight watchers stint and, even though we are not dieting anymore, we still love them! Seriously, substitute them for hamburger patties and dress as a hamburger or here is my recipe for Portabella pitas

1 pkg whole wheat pitas
1 green pepper
1 purple onion
3 portabella mushroom caps
salt/pepper/Worcestershire sauce/ olive oil (optional)
Mayo
Swiss cheese


Rub olive oil, worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper onto mushroom cap. Let sit about 5 minutes. Slice onion and green pepper. Grill mushrooms about 3 minutes on each side, grill onions and peppers as well. Meanwhile be toasting your pitas, or just warming them up. During the last minute of grilling you can place a slice of swiss over the mushroom cap to melt. Put all the fixins in the pita, add may if you want (Blaine makes fancy mayo with italian spices in it and stuff).

It is also easy to just make this in a frying pan, which is what I normally do (I just slice the mushroom caps), but we just got a grill - - so everything has to be grilled at our house!.

It's easy, fast and really yummy!

Two and a half stars!