Spicy Pasta Skillet

We just had this for dinner and boy is it good.

It's called the Spicy Past Skillet and the recipe can be found here.
I did however double a few of the ingredients because I didn't think that it would feed our family of 5 plus leftovers for hubby's lunch the next day. I was wrong, but this is what I did. I doubled the broth, cream, rotel and pasta. It worked. It came out so good that the kids liked it and we had enough for all of us to have for lunch the next day. I can't wait for you to try it. Let me know what you think of it.

Believe it or not this is all we ate. I'm beginning to think that it was too much with a salad and a vegetable.

I think that I will try chicken next time. I will let you know how it turns out.

UPDATE: I made it with chicken and it was just as good. I also made it for my vegetarian daughter. I cooked the chicken separately then made the dish without the meat and used vegetable broth, after the noodles were cooked I took out her portion, then stirred in the chicken added the cheese as usual and viola! Vegetarian and Chicken versions.

Happy Eating, Donna

Red Beans & Rice

This is my version. My husband and I eat this one, the kids don't like it. It does cover us for dinner and leftover lunch the next day.

1 pound Kielbasa (I use Turkey Kielbasa)
1/2 onion sliced
2 cloves garlic crushed
1 bell pepper, sliced
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can kidney beans (drained/rinsed)

Slice the Kielbasa sausage. Brown them in about a teaspoon of oil in a hot skillet. You don't want to brown it too much, just a little bit. When you are satisfied with it, then add the onion, bell pepper and garlic. Cook until the onion is soft. Add the can of tomatoes and beans and simmer the liquid down about halfway.
Serve over rice.

Quick, simple and to the point. Very flavorful and satisfying.

Happy Cooking,
Donna

Rigatoni Bake

I made a dish for dinner tonight using the leftover Homemade Spaghetti Sauce that I made the other day. It was so good that everyone ate it up and didn’t save any for my husband to take to work tomorrow. It’s ok, he has something else to take with him.

Rigatoni Bake

This isn’t really a recipe but instead just a telling of how I made dinner.I boiled some Rigatoni and placed it in a casserole dish, I added some of my Homemade Spaghetti Sauce and stirred. I then chopped up a couple of tomatoes and some green onion and stirred that in as well. Topped with cheese and put it in the oven for about 5-10 minutes to melt. Served with a salad and some crusty bread. It was a very filling meal. I made mine a vegetarian dish, but you can use almost anything in the casserole, ground turkey, sausage, chicken, corn or just about anything. I hope that you can find inspiration with it. Please leave me a comment and tell me what you did with it.

Happy Eating,

Donna

Fish Tacos

I decided to make Fish Tacos tonight for dinner. They came out really good. It’s hard for me to believe but the kids really like this recipe and it gets them to eat fish in a healthier way then just frying them up. I do switch between the two fish recipes for variety but these are better.

Fish Tacos

2 jalapenos, sliced into thin strips

1/2 onion, sliced

3-4 cloves garlic

2 cups water or chicken broth

chicken bouillon cubes, if using water

1 lb fish fillets, diced (I use Tilapia)

Sour Cream

Add 1 tbsp. olive oil to your pan, when hot add your onion, garlic and jalapenos. Cook until all is limp. Add the chicken broth. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Add fish, very carefully stirring and cook for 5-10 minutes, until fish pieces turn white.

Using a slotted spoon take out all of the veges and fish leaving just the liquid. Add 3 spoonfuls of sour cream to the liquid. I usually turn the heat up a little and using a whisk melt the sour cream into the broth. Add fish and veges back into the broth and serve with your favorite taco toppings.

Fried Fish Tacos: I just use Tilapia fillets and cut them into strips then coat them with Louisiana Fish Fry crumbs and fry in oil. Serve with your favorite toppings.

Happy Eating,

Donna

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

I got the inspiration for this sauce from watching Giada De Laurantis the other day. She made a Rigatoni Veggie Bolognese and it looked so good. So of course I thought that I would give it a try and make a Spaghetti Sauce. I made so much of it that I had some leftover and in a couple of days I can toss it with some roasted veggies and some cheese in some rigatoni and bake it.

Spaghetti Sauce

1 medium onion, quartered

3 cloves garlic, unpeeled

any veggies that you have in the fridge (carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, bell pepper, zucchini, etc) about 2 cups unchopped.

2 28oz cans chopped tomatoes

1 15oz can tomato sauce

Italian Seasoning, Sage, Bay Leaf, Oregano to taste.

Clean and cut off any stems off the vegetables, chop them into smaller pieces. Do the same thing to the onion and garlic. Place them in the food processor and pulse them til you like them.

Add about a tablespoon of olive oil into a heavy pot. Add vegetable mixture. Saute til veges are limp.

Add cans of tomatoes and tomato sauce. Add a couple of cups of water. Bring to boil and then turn down the heat. Simmer for a couple of hours. You may need to add more water.

It came out really good. If you like it smoother then go ahead and use a blender.

I served it with Italian Sausage links and Garlic Bread. I guess I should have made a salad too, but it was enough and everyone liked it.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment or send me a question.

My mom used to say that whoever got the bay leaf that’s who’s turn it was to do the dishes ;)

Happy Eating :)
Donna

Burrito Night

I made burrito’s tonight. They were good. My 14 year old doesn’t normally like them, but she actually ate them tonight. I think that her tastes are changing. Yeah!

They are very easy and I love them because of it. All I have to do is make some rice and some fixings and you got dinner. Here are the recipes.

Burrito Mix

2 pounds ground turkey

1 can kidney beans

1 can diced tomatoes

Various spices (to taste): Granulated Garlic and Onion, Chili Powder, Cumin and Red Pepper Flakes

Directions: Brown the turkey. Add the spices and stir. Add the can of beans and the can of tomatoes with the liquid from both. Then simmer for about 5 - 10 minutes til most of the liquid is gone. Serve with tortillas and your favorite burrito fixings.

I also sliced up a half an onion and two jalapenos then tossed them in a hot pan with a little olive oil to serve on the side, I thought about putting them into the meat mixture but wasn’t sure if the kids would like it. So maybe next time :)

Spanish Rice

I know that a lot of people like this because whenever I make this for my husband’s potlucks he never comes back with much (if any at all).

2 cups rice

2tsp olive oil

1 can stewed tomatoes, Mexican recipe

Drain the can and save the liquid

1 tbsp of chicken bouillon

Heat the oil in a saucepan, add the rice. Cook rice for about 5 minutes, it will get whiter and maybe a little brown, that’s ok. While that is cooking add to a 4 cup measuring cup the liquid from the tomatoes, then enough water to make 4 cups, also add the chicken bouillon and garlic and onion powder. Don’t add to rice yet.

add the tomatoes to the rice, break them up a little. Now you can add the liquid, stir, bring to boil. Add lid then turn fire down to low and cook for 10 - 15 minutes til rice is done.

I don’t make dessert every night, but I felt like it tonight and I’m only going to tell you about it because it didn’t really come out that good. It sounds a lot better than it actually tasted. Maybe next time it will be better.

I made a lemon cake a small one that only cooked in one cake in an 8x8 pan. Then I made some Lemon Curd. I sliced the cake in half horizontally and filled it with the lemon curd, replaced the top layer, then added the other half of the lemon curd to the top then added powder sugar to the top of that. It was rather pretty too.

But….here is what was wrong with it. The cake was rather dense, it was a brand that I have never heard before and it was on sale at the store. :P I know, no comments about that please. Even though I liked the Lemon Curd, my family wasn’t too crazy about it. And if I hadn’t put the powdered sugar on top it wouldn’t have been sweet enough. But while eating it don’t inhale, then you breathe in sugar….LOL