Saturday, August 31, 2013

Lemon Angel Hair with Chicken and Spinach

Two posts in one day! Thank you, Diane!


~ Lemon Angel Hair with Chicken and Spinach ~
1/2 lb angel hair pasta
4 cloves of garlic
1/2 t. crushed red pepper
Perfect Chicken, cut into chunks
2 lemons, zested and juiced
3/4 c. half-and-half
1 c. Parmesan, grated (or shredded)
1 c. baby spinach, stems removed
3 T. extra virgin olive oil

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Salt the water well, and add pasta. Heat a large skillet over low heat. Add oil, garlic, and crushed red pepper. Cook until the oil sizzles (about 7-10 minutes). Add lemon juice, half-and-half, and a ladle of the pasta water to the garlic oil mixture. Raise the heat to med-low to med heat until the sauce begins to bubble. Drain pasta - DO NOT RINSE. Add the pasta, zest, and 1/2 c. Parmesan to the cream sauce. Toss for a minute or two. Add chicken and spinach, and toss until well distributed. Top with remaining cheese. Enjoy!

Side note: If your pasta is cooking too quickly, just take the pot off the heat, but leave the pasta in the hot water. The pasta will continue to cook, just at a slower pace. I have to use this trick almost every time.

Crockpot Beef and Broccoli

Thank you, Diane Dudash-Dykes, for sharing this with me :-)


CROCKPOT BEEF AND BROCCOLI
Ingredients
1 pound boneless beef chuck roast, sliced into thin strips
1 cup beef consumme
½ cup soy sauce
⅓ cup brown sugar or honey
1 tablespoon sesame oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons cooled sauce from the crock pot after being cooked
Fresh broccoli florets (as many as desired)
Hot cooked rice (brown rice, or riced cauliflower)
Directions
1. Place beef in a crock pot.
2. In a small bowl, combine consomme, soy sauce, brown sugar/honey, oil, and garlic. Pour over beef. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
3. In a cup, stir cornstarch and sauce form the crock pot until smooth. Add to crock pot. Stir well to combine. (If your sauce is not thickening, try bringing your sauce to a boil on the stovetop with the corn starch mixture. Boil until your desired consistency is reached).
4. Add broccoli to the crock pot. Stir to combine.
5. Cover and cook an additional 30 minutes on high (the sauce has to boil for it to thicken).
6. Serve over hot cooked rice.

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Meatball Sandwich Casserole

Meatball Sandwich Casserole



You will need:
! bag of frozen meatballs (I use Mama Lucia Brand, personal preference)
1 jar of marinara sauce or spaghetti sauce if there isn't any marinara on hand
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 cup Italian blend cheese, shredded
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
1 loaf of fresh Italian bread, sliced
To prepare:
Preheat oven to 400. Place entire bag of meatballs in pot with sauce (I also add garlic, onion powder, salt and pepper to taste) and cook over medium heat until warmed completely through, about 10 minutes. Stir as needed to keep meatballs from sticking to pot. Once heated through remove from heat. Place meatballs in the center of a 9x13 baking dish, layer mozzarella and Italian blend cheeses over meatballs topping off with the Parmesan. Take the slices of Italian bread and line the pan all the way around with them so that they are kind of keeping the meatballs toward the center of the pan. The bread slices will be standing up in the pan as shown in the picture. You have creative freedom here with the bread...you can lightly butter and garlic the bread prior to placing it in the pan if you prefer or even brush lightly with olive oil and garlic. The choice is yours. I have made it plain and as noted above and all are delicious!
Place in oven and bake for approximately 25 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Remove from oven, serve and enjoy!
A side salad goes nicely with this quick meal!

Thanks to https://www.facebook.com/ThePaganPoppet for sharing this recipe!

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Coffee Cubes

If you know anything about me, you know I'm a HUGE coffee addict! Thus the email address and nickname...queenofcaffeine ;-)

What I can't understand is, why didn't I think of this sooner?!!!




Monday, August 5, 2013

Hand-painted Sea Glass

Sometimes, it's fun to do something besides cook...



Mix Elmer’s glue with food coloring to make any glass jar look like sea glass.

In a bowl, you will want to add one teaspoon of White Elmer's Glue, three drops of food coloring and 1 1/2 teaspoons of water. 
For best results use a foam brush. Paint the outside of the jar only. 

Seal the jar with Epoxy Glue or a clear varnish to last for years of use. If you are planning to use this for drinking, coat it with a food grade varnish found in craft stores

These look really nice with candles, electric candles, or glow sticks inside of them.

Optional idea: To add a design to the jar, such as a Goddess spiral, stars, moon, butterfly, etc, tape the shape on the jar, using painters tape. Paint the entire jar (you can even paint over the tape). Once the paint is completely dry, carefully remove the tape. You can paint the symbol a different color or leave it unpainted. Add a candle and see the beautiful effect of the design. You can also add a bit of glitter to the glue mixture for a shimmering effect.

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Sweet Hawaiian Crock-Pot Chicken


SWEET HAWAIIAN CROCK-POT CHICKEN

2lb. Chicken tenderloin chunks
1 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup soy sauce

Combine all together, cook on low in Crock-pot 6-8 hours...that's it! Done!