Cheesy Chicken Shells

This was another Weight Watchers recipe I tried this week. I am enjoying the variety right now while I am getting myself back in gear with both my eating and my exercise. I know what kind of eating I'm going to be doing at the Superbowl party this Sunday, so I am being a good girl Monday through Saturday. :-)

Don't these little guys look yummy?


Here's the recipe in case you want to give it a whirl.

The only thing I tweaked on this recipe was where it called for just plain tomato sauce - I used this beautiful stuff instead.


It is some expensive stuff, but we like it enough that I will spend the money for it. It is all natural - no sugars - super wonderful for many, many diet plans. We love it.

I served up the Cheesy Chicken Shells with this yummy salad. I only do salads with like 100 ingredients. No bag of lettuce and some dressing thrown on top for me. I want a ton of veggies!

This particular salad has mixed greens with baby spinach, feta cheese, cranberries, red and orange bell peppers, cherry tomatoes and red onion. I made a dressing that is made up of balsamic vinegar, a little water, canola oil and 2 Tbsp of maple syrup. It is SO yummy!

Parents Review: We liked it, but I think the oregano was a bit overpowering. I would lessen this ingredient to almost half of what they called for. The spicy tuscan tomato sauce gave it all the flavor, so we would only make it again with this!
Kids Review: They had pizza. A little too spicy again for them.

Creamy Caprese Pasta

In my searching through the internet and my recipe books for something new to cook in the kitchen - I came across this recipe for Creamy Caprese Pasta on a fun blog called How Sweet It is. I've posted a few from here before.

I started out by mixing all of the yummy ingredients together.

Then I poured it in the dish and added more cubed fresh mozzarella on top.


Then I baked it all warm and bubbly. I even threw it under the broiler at the end of baking to give it the brown crunchy top.


I baked some chicken separately and then made up my kids plates. They don't like things all mixed together like me and the hubby.


I served this dish up with more fresh chopped basil on top and then I put some garlic butter all over some leftover french bread I had on hand. I threw them under the broiler for 1 minute per side. So good.


Here's the recipe - again with WAY better pics and details.

Parents Review: We liked it for sure, but it lacked a little "kick" that screamed "CAPRESE" like we are used to with tomatoes, mozzarella and loads of basil. We would definitely add a lot more fresh basil in this recipe and even a little spice or balsamic twist would be fun too.

Kids Review: They liked the way we sectioned everything out. We just marinated the chicken in a balsamic dressing and broiled it on the side for all of us.

Baked Buffalo Chicken Pasta

Wow. I saw this recipe on one of my favorite recipe blogs and since my hubby LOVES all things spicy, I thought this would be a winner in our house.

It did not fail.

Here's the recipe from How Sweet it Is, with very detailed instructions and way prettier pictures than I can offer if you want to give this one a try. I think you'll love it!

I used lowfat milk in mine, so I'm sure it wasn't as thick as hers, but we still loved it. I didn't have gorgonzola either, so I threw some feta on top at the end and it gave it a fun kick. I also was running a little short on my Frank's hot sauce, so I barely made the 1/3 cup called for in the recipe. I would have loved it with even a little more than it called for. I loved the zing in this souped-up Mac-n-cheese dish. I baked the chicken in the oven for about 25 minutes (threw a little olive oil, s&p and garlic powder on it too). I then just shredded it up with my hands and threw it in the bottom of the dish.

I used fresh cilantro and green onions from my garden to throw on top and we LOVED what this added to the dish.


David even added a little extra Sirache sauce on top of his for more heat.


Parents Review: David said this is his new favorite dish. I am making it again very soon with more hot sauce next time. Perfect!
Kids Review: They don't do spicy, so I just gave them some plain pasta and baked chicken before I dolled it all up, then added a veggie on the side for them. They were happy. :-)


Let me know if you try it!

Carli's Home-Made Spaghetti Sauce

You're going to fall in love with me....or maybe Carli.......or maybe just this sauce!

YUM!

My friend Carli over at The Dinner Drama posted a recipe for homemade spaghetti sauce. We had our lifegroup coming over tonight, so I wanted to try it. I cooked it for 6 hours total on the stove like she said and it was perfection. You taste the sausage, the 2 different wines, the garlic, the spices and the amazing flavors! The only thing I didn't add was the mushrooms because I'm not a mushroom girl.

Here's a link to her recipe. It's almost too good to share, but you girls out there deserve great sauce! Ha! When you pop over to Carli's site - please tell her you came from here. She will love to have you say hello. She is my dear friend who lived down the street from us during our brief time in Indiana. She was my lifeline and I love her dearly. I love her cooking too. And so will you!

Here's my plate at our life group dinner. My friend Cheri reminded me to snap a picture before I sat down. What a great friend! Her hubby made these yummy meatballs too and they were to die for! I probably need to get this recipe from him now! They were awesome!


We eat well. Can you tell?

Let me know if you give this one a try!

Parents Review: Wow!
Kids Review: Sauce is sauce to them. They aren't foodies like us......yet! :-)

My "Amish" Beef & Noodles

If you read my main blog over at Me-Moddy, you might remember that I just got back from a trip to Amish Country with my mom and the girls on our annual road trip a couple of weeks ago.

I also mentioned that I had these most incredible Beef & Noodles while I was there and I asked one of the young amish girls if I could get their recipe. The first girl wasn't sure, but the girl next door at the bakery was eager to go find someone to tell me how to make it.

Well, I made it this weekend. I followed everything this woman said and it didn't quite taste like it did in Jamesport. It was missing something. So, I added a little brown gravy (straight from the 'ol McCormick red packet) and mixed it in. I definitely think they left something out in the disclosure of this recipe, but I'm not sure if it was gravy or something else.

Anyway, we did actually enjoy our meal this evening and thought the gravy did add something nice to the texture and flavor. I am still going to tweak it a little, but here's the recipe for you to do some of your own tweaking with maybe.

Beef & Noodles.

3-4 lb. bottom round roast
Sprinkle all over with Lawry's seasoning and black pepper.
Fill a roasting pan half full of water.
Cover with foil and put in the oven at 225 degrees ALL NIGHT LONG.
(I put mine in around 10 p.m and ended up letting it cook until 11:00 the next morning. I put mine at 200 degrees since I didn't want it to burn, but I think I should've done what they said at 225.) I don't think you can really do this wrong. I just took a fork and tried to start pulling it apart to see if it was ready.

Use the broth made in your roasting pan and fill up a pot. Add some canned beef broth (I used 2 cans). Boil some large flat noodles according to package directions.

Mix beef and noodles together when done. At this point, I decided to make some McCormick's "brown gravy" and mix it in and serve. I cooked some green peas to throw on the side and I liked the combo.

It really is a very good meal, it's just not what I remember it tasting like there. It could be the cut of meat I purchased, how long I cooked it, how I seasoned it.....who knows.

I'm gonna keep trying. I think it could totally be perfected. Give it a whirl and see what you can come up with!



I also made some Crustless Pumpkin Pie for our dessert. I'll post that recipe in the next couple of days!

Lasagna

(I forgot to take a pretty picture of our meal and ended up just getting a shot of the leftovers in the pan. Sorry.)

I love making lasagna. It's one of my "go to" recipes I use when we have people over because it's one of those things that you can't really mess up. I was given this recipe many years ago by a lady who worked for David. She was (and I am sure still is) very gifted in hospitality and cooking and baking and all things of this nature. She created this little book that she gave out to various women that had some of her staple everyday recipes in it.

This lasagna recipe is one I always use. I serve it with some whole wheat rolls and a salad. Perfect. Simple. Easy. Plus - you hit all the food groups. :-)

Enjoy.

Lasagna:

1 box lasagna noodles (I always use whole wheat and I like the kind that are "oven ready")

Combine 2 eggs, 2 cups ricotta and 1/2 lb. mozzarella cheese.

Brown 1 lb. ground beef with 1 medium onion, drain. Add:
1 1/2 cups hot water
1/2 tsp. oregano
2-6 oz cans tomato paste
1/2 T. basil
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. parsley

In greased 9X13 pan layer 6 noodles, 1/2 meat mixture, all ricotta cheese mixture, 6 noodles, remaining meat mixture. Top with an additional 1/2 lb. mozzarella and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Let set 10 minutes out of the oven.

Risotto 101

It's Up! I finally did it! The Recipe Box is now open for business. Well, I'm not making any money and this isn't really a business, but, well, it's open. Woo! Hoo!

:-)

I stressed and belabored over the name of this blog and then once I chose a name I liked, I couldn't find a URL to match it and my husband said this just wouldn't do. I ended up choosing my name to be "The Recipe Box" because it seemed to fit what I was wanting to accomplish on here. I want to share recipes that will be so easy and yummy and a little more fun than your average casserole - that you'll want to add them to your own Recipe Box in your own kitchen.

Let me start by clarifying that I am not a food snob (usually) and I am just as happy to serve my kids mac-n-cheese from a box once in awhile as I am to make chicken stir fry with a foo-foo dessert. I love to cook. I love to eat. I also love to be healthy. Sometimes those groups don't combine, so I have to just be happy to find a balance. I love to cook fancy foods and I also have a few box mixes that I have come to enjoy on a busy night and are actually quite yummy. Crock pot meals that you toss in 5 ingredients and call it a day are also some of my bestest friends. So, let this blog just be fun and a way for me to share the things I cook and you share back. I would love to have special times where you all post a fun recipe on here to share as well. Wouldn't that be fun? I am a recipe stealer. I basically scope out other cooking blogs and the internet and other people's facebook pages to find what I want to cook for the week. Trying new recipes is very fun for me - especially ones off of blogs that I know other real moms have tried and enjoyed.

I typically like to plan out my menus if I have time and then make my grocery list off of that. It makes my weeks go so much better and then I don't have the desire to order the kids and us pizza so many times if I already have a plan in place.

So, here's my first recipe to share. Back in the day when David and I were newly married and we lived in California for a whole year - the hubs surprised me with a 12 week French Based Cooking School called "Home Chef". It was Valentines Day and we were poor, so my stellar man had saved all of his birthday money and Christmas money and several other things to get me this gift. I totally flipped out!! It was seriously one of the most fun things i have ever done. I went every Monday night for 3 hours each week, and he also signed me up to be the Prep Assistant (we got a discount) and I would help the chef chop and prep the food before class. It was awesome because I got to ask a lot of questions and tell them how my recipes from that week went and stuff like that. I learned SO MUCH in those few weeks. I never realized I loved to cook so much. I kind of got hooked.

One of the recipes we did during "Stocks and Broths" week was we made Risotto. It basically is this creamy rice concoction that you make with Arborio Rice and a little wine (love it), a little cream (yummo) and a few other things. It's certainly not hard, but you do have to stay close to it and keep adding your chicken stock in as the rice absorbs it. I made this last night and it took me back to my class nearly 11 years ago when I made it for the first time and fell in love.

I actually didn't use my Home Chef book, but I did follow the recipe on the back of my Trader Joe's Arborio Rice box, because frankly, I think it was pretty similar to what I had done in class. The only difference was I think I added leeks and bell peppers to mine back then, and this one just started out with some chopped onions as the base. It turned out so good.

O.K. - Here's the recipe from the back of the box (you could use any arborio rice - it doesn't have to be from TJ's).

Risotto:

12 oz. Arborio Rice
4 cups Heated Stock (vegetable, chicken or beef)
1 chopped onion
1/2 Tbsp. Butter
parmesan or other grated cheese
4 oz dry white wine
1/4 cup cream
Salt to taste

1. In a medium sized saucepan, saute the onion in butter until golden, along with any additional ingredients (mushrooms, etc.). Add the rice and stir until well-coated and translucent.

2. Add the wine and cook until evaporated. Stir in 1 cup of hot stock and simmer gently.

3. When the stock has been absorbed, add another cup, and continue this way through the 18-20 min. of cooking time.

4. Stir in the cream and cheese (I just grated like 1/4 - 1/2 Cup in there of parmesan reggiano). Salt to taste. Remove from heat, cover and set aside for 2 minutes before serving.

Terrible, Terrible Photo. Food tastes way better than this photographer can show you. Sorry for this rookie shot.

Here's how I serve it up to the kiddos

They like everything plain and separated like this. No mixy-mixy.

Here are our plates. Again, the color combos on the plate aren't super flattering, but trust me - the food was delish!


If you are wanting to just jazz up your dinner with something a little extra special, and your kids are adventurous in the taste department - try this Risotto. You can do a ton of different flavors with it too, but we opted to make the plain variety with just some parmesan cheese and heavy cream. I served roasted chicken and some frozen corn with ours and it was perfect.

Parent reviews: 2 thumbs way up.
Kid reviews: Little Girl snubbed it completely and Baby Boy ate several bites which is a score in my book!