Picnic Pasta Salad

I was looking forward to warmer weather, but as the snow falls outside I'm pretty sure that is on complete delay until Mother Nature gets some chocolate or something. In the urge for sand between my toes and sun on my face with the blistering chill smacking me hard back to reality I have dived into some summer time recipes to help liven up the dreary cold. 

Recipe

Prep-time: 30 mins
Servings: 5-7

Ingredients

2 Cups of cooked pasta

1/4 Cup of Italian Dressing

1/2 Cup of Black Olives

1/2 Cup of Chopped Onions

1/2 Cup of Tomatos

1/2 Cup of Shredded Cheese

Instructions

Once the pasta is cooked and cooled combine dressing, olives, onions, cheese and tomatoes. Enjoy!

You can also add pepperoni or other kinds chilled meat for a little variety. 

Filet Mignon not Minion

First off autocorrect likes to change mignon to minion therefore on social media I was cooking filet minions for approximately two hours. So here's the disclaimer, no minions where injured in the process of this experiment.

Filet Mignon is something that many people order when at a restaurant because it's a "special" occasion. I know for me it's one of the things I love to order, but I had no clue how to cook it. Knowing that there was about to be a pile of snow dumped on us I figured that cooking to keep the house warm and me entertained was going to be the best use of my time yesterday. So I stopped at the food store (warning, this was a stupid crazy idea) and started hunting down the aisles for something interesting to cook.

I felt like I was on Guys Grocery Games because there were no carts available and I was piling everything into my arms. As I laughed at this realization I made my way over to meat counter. Now here's the thing, this started to turn into a lot of "firsts" for me. I have never actually ordered or asked for anything at the meat counter before so when I asked which was the filet mignon I'm truly not surprised by the small chuckle that came out of the guy behind the counter.

I asked him to pick the best three cuts and off I went. I had no idea what I was going to do with them, but my whole goal was "don't overcook" according to the butcher. The end result was being told that my filet mignon was better than any restaurant cut that has ever been ordered. Needless to say, my fears were overrated and I accomplished cooking filet mignon on my first attempt.

Recipe

Prep-time: 30 mins
Servings: 3

Ingredients

2 TBSP of salt
1 TBSP of ground pepper
1 TBSP of ground dried basil leaves
1 TBSP of ground dried parsley 
2 cups of sliced onions (1 cup of sweet onion, 1 of red onion)
2 TBSP of butter
3 6oz filet mignon steaks

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

I used a cast-iron skillet for this so you may have to adjust your settings for a non-stick skillet. 

Melt butter in skillet over medium-high heat. Add sliced onions until they start to caramelize. Remove the onions once they start to brown for the skillet. 

Combine salt, pepper, basil and parsley to make a dry rub for the steaks. Rub the steaks on all sides and place on medium-high heat into skillet. Turn steaks on all sides after approximately 1-2 minutes. Once you have a slight browning on all sides place steaks in the oven with the onions on top. (Make sure that the skillet you use is oven safe)

I decided not to add any oil or butter to this part because the onions have their own oils. 

Leave in oven for 10 minutes before checking. At the 10 minute mark I lowered the heat to 350 and cooked for an additional 5 minutes. My steaks turned out medium well, melt in your mouth yummy goodness.

Serve with onions on top and enjoy! I served mine with a side of homemade mashed potatoes and steamed carrots. 

Taking a week off

The last week has been extremely busy for me. I thought I would have time to cook and provide another recipe, but this weekend became a hodgepodge of work. But I do promise that I have plenty of recipes in the works, I just need to find the time to stand over the stove and cook. If you have any recipes you would like me to try please leave me a message or comment below and I will be more than willing to try it out!

Happy Cooking everyone!

Super Bowl Dippings

Adamantly I'm not a fan of football. But that's something guys like to watch so I've come to the conclusion that food is pretty much imperative when it comes to football and guys in the same room. Ok, it's not really a conclusion, but more an observation.

So this week will be simple and easy so you can be prepared for the game. I love artichokes and spinach dip, but the store bought kind doesn't always hold up for me. I have truly only once found a store bought kind I like and have spent my summers eating it by the bucketful.

Recipe

Prep-time: 30 mins
Servings: 5-7

Ingredients

1 cup of cream cheese
1 cup of sour cream
1 cup of thawed spinach
1 can of artichoke hearts
2 cups of parmesan cheese
1 TBSP of lemon juice
1 TBSP of salt

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix all of the ingredients together and place in greased casserole dish. Set in oven for 30mins or until a slightly brown crust forms. Let cool and serve.

Simple and easy for game day prep.

Pull Aparts

This recipe started when I was about 12 years old. It's an adaptation of something taught in home economics during middle school. My family loved it so much when I made it at home that over the years, it became our traditional Christmas morning breakfast.

The idea, that I started a tradition in my family at such a young age, seems weird to me. Granted I haven't hit the 3-0 yet, but still to look back and know that my kids will be eating something I made, kind of freaks me out a little right now.

The ingredients are simple which is probably why after unwrapping all the gifts this is the easiest breakfast, besides a bowl of cereal. As an adult waking up at the crack of dawn doesn't seem appealing anymore. The gifts will still be there at 1pm vs. 6am, sleep is more important at this age in my view. My family is spread throughout most of Pennslyvania and getting home for the holidays can sometimes be very difficult along with timing for logistically opening gifts at the same time.  So this makes the holiday morning a little bit easier.

Recipe

Pre-time: 20 minutes

Servings: 3-5

Ingredients

1 container of Grands biscuits

2 TBSP of brown sugar

4 TBSP of melted butter

2 TBSP of Cinnamon

1/2 container of Pillsbury Icing (I used the cinnamon icing)

Instructions

Set oven to 350 degrees. 

Cut the Grands into cubes, I usually do 4ths. 

Melt butter and mix in brown sugar and cinnamon.

Add Grands to sugar mixture, making sure to coat well. Place in a greased pie pan and place in the oven for 12-18 minutes until desired crispness is reached. The center takes the longest to cook, when removing from oven make sure that the pieces are thoroughly cooked before serving. If the center is not finished place back in the oven for an additional 3-5minutes.

Once fully cooked cover with Icing while still hot. Let cool and serve. Delicious bite size treat for any special occasion with simple ingredients. 

Cheese, Ham & Potato Soup

Digging through my fridge and imagination I found inspiration with a block of Velveeta Cheese and leftover ham.

Christmas ham means plenty of leftovers in my house. It's the one time of year I get to enjoy the deliciously succulent taste of spiral ham, something I look forward to every year.

So with Thanksgiving turkey leftovers still lingering in the fridge I wanted to do something different. Not just the typical sandwich lunch or dinner piled high with leftover meat.

While my family loved the soup I had some critiques who despised the taste and asked me to try again. However, they never explained exactly why they didn't like the soup. But that's what this is all about, trying to learn what works and what doesn't.

Recipe

Pre-time: 20 minutes

Servings: 6-10

Ingredients

2 cups of chopped ham

1/2 cup of chopped sweet onion

1/2 cup of peas

1/2 sliced carrots

2 cut potatoes

1 block of Velveeta cheese

1 TBSP of salt

1/2 TBSP of ground pepper

2 cups of water

Instructions

Heat the crock pot to medium high, place all ingredients into the crock pot for approximately 3-4 hours. Set on low for an additional hour, add salt and pepper for flavoring and serve. It's that easy! 

I put everything into the crock pot & went out for the day. I returned to a delicious tasting meal served with toast. 

Cheesesteak Lasagna

I'm from the burbs of Philly, so naturally the cheesesteak will hit my plate every now & then. There is a general battle throughout the city & burbs about who has the better sandwich. I'm pretty sure many tears and blood have been shed over the fight. So when I was craving a cheesesteak in the fridged temperatures I opted to save my skivvies and dine in. However, there was no bread in the house. I wasn't sure where this was going to go, but the plate turned out pretty good and satisfied the cravings that had been bothering me for days.

Recipe

Pre-time: 30 -45 minutes

Servings: 4-6

Ingredients

1/2 package of lasagna noodles

7 strips of Steakumms

1/2 of a green pepper chopped

1/2 white onion chopped

1 cup Swiss cheese

1/2 mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup of milk

1 TBSP of butter

Instructions

Boil noodles until al dente. Pre-heat oven at 375 degrees. 

Place onions and peppers in skillet on medium heat, cook until desired tenderness is achieved. Place Steakumms in skillet with peppers and onions. Cook until meat is brown and crumbled. Remove meat and veggie mixture from skillet.

Take milk and butter in skillet, bring to a boil. Add cheese and continue to stir until mixture is creamy. Add in the meat mixture to cheese sauce.

Take noodles and make one layer at a time alternating noodles and meat mixture until all noodles and filling are used.

Place in over for 15 minutes at 375 degrees.

Surf n' Turf

I'm an attempted perfectionist. I fall short most times on my attempts, but at least I'm trying. So when it comes to food it's either hit or miss for me. Even in restaurants I either love it or hate it. The summer I graduated college I spent time in Italy studying abroad. Before leaving everyone told me, I would love the food so much I wouldn't want to come home. But when I found little to enjoy everyone started to complain. Honestly it was annoying, I can't help that I know what I like and what I don't. I don't stop myself from trying new food, but I don't give it raving reviews either unless I love it. Or in the trending terms it has to be "food orgasmic". So what I put on my blog is something I truly loved in my cooking. 

Tonight I was lost on what to cook. I was tired of the normal holiday food that's been floating around for the last few weeks and wanted something different. I scoured the cabinets for inspiration, looking for something to inspire me and while I was just about to settle for a box of Rice-A-Roni, I found a few items ready to expire. With near ready to expire products in hand my imagination kicked in as I was not about to let money go to waste. 

I love bruschetta and pesto. These are two items that normally hit my plate at any restaurant I experience. However, a few of my family members aren't so excited about them as me. So I try to avoid making it when cooking for the bunch. However, tonight all I had were a few items I loved ready to expire and a bunch of hungry family members waiting patiently for my brain to make a masterpiece. 

I had a pack of gnocchi, bruschetta chicken spices, and pesto sauce all ready to expire in the next week waiting to be devoured. I decided chicken and gnocchi would be the best concept to a quick dinner for the masses. But I didn't stop there when I found a package of frozen shrimp hanging out in the freezer. Therefore, my chicken and gnocchi quickly turned into surf n' turf with gnocchi. With all the items family members dislike I worried that my meal would be a disaster. But it turned out to be one that required a referee to dividing the last helping. 

Recipe

Pre-time: 30 -45 minutes

Servings: 3-5

Ingredients

10-20 Frozen Shrimp

3 Chicken breast

1 cup of pesto oil

1 TBSP of Salt

1 package of Gnocchi

1 package of McCormick Chicken Bruschetta Mix

1/4 cup of Olive Oil

3/4 cup Heavy Cream

1/4 cup of water

3 TBSP of Butter

1/2 cup of Parmesan Cheese

1 handful of Mozerella Cheese

Instructions

Place pot of water on stove and bring to boil. Place Gnocchi in water and let cook for 10 minutes.

Place shrimp in saucepan and add in 4 TBSP of Pesto Oil. Let shrimp cook until pink. 

Put McCormick Mix, in bowl and mix in 3 TBSP of olive oil. Take defrosted chicken breast and rub the olive oil mix onto chicken. Place chicken in a saucepan with a bit of olive oil in the pan. Let the chicken cook for 8-10 minutes on medium-high, turning to cook evenly.

Drain Gnocchi from water and let sit.

Remove the chicken from pan, making sure it's cooked all the way through. In the same saucepan, you just cooked the chicken remove any leftover spices that may have been left in the pan. Add heavy cream, water and butter together until it starts to slightly boil, whisk in the rest of the pesto oil until it's an even mixture. Remove from heat and add in cheese. Mix the cheese in until fully melted. Add the shrimp into sauce and let sit.

Place chicken, shrimp and gnocchi on a plate, serve and enjoy!