Top 5 Recipes of 2011; Fettuccine Alfredo

It's  time for the number 5 recipe in my Top 5 Recipes of 2001, Fettuccine Alfredo! This recipe is a bit of a bucket list for me, as it was my first time at making a white sauce, and it came out very nice. I have done this one a couple of times, but it's not something that can be done very quickly, yet. I know I'll be working to perfect my technique on this recipe for a while to come, but the recipe does a great job of walking you through it. 


I've always enjoyed Fettuccine Alfredo when I've been out at restaurants, but never really liked anything store bought. I came across this recipe in my Cooking Light cookbook and it was incredibly quick, easy, and tasty making it great recipe for a week night meal. This recipe also let me do one of the things I have never done before, make a white sauce from scratch. I was impressed with how easy it was and I will be doing this one again, oh and did I mention it's Tot Approved?

Ingredients
2 quarts water
8 ounces uncooked fettuccine
1 tablespoon stick margarine or butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups fat-free milk
1 1/4 cups grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
2 tablespoons tub-style light cream cheese
2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions
1. Bring water to a rolling boil in a dutch oven. Add pasta;cook 10 minutes or until "al dente." Drain.
2. Melt margarine in a pan over medium heat. Add garlic; saute 1 minutes. Stir in flour. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended; cook until thickened and bubbly (about 8 minutes), stirring constantly. Add 1 cup Parmesan cheese, stirring constantly until in melts.
3. Rinse pasta well with hot water. Set aside. Add cream cheese to pan; cook over low heat stirring until it melts. gradually add cheese sauce to melted cream cheese, stirring constantly.
4. Add cooked pasta to sauce mixture, tossing well. Spoon into a serving dish; top with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, parsley, and pepper. Yield 4 servings (serving size 1 cup).

I served it up with a boneless skinless chicken breast that I seasoned with some Italian seasoning and cooked in a covered skillet coated with Pam. It made a great addition to this dish.

Top 5 Recipes of 2011; Peanut-butter Muffins!

It's time for my number 4 pick of the Top Recipes of 2011, Peanut-butter Muffins, and surprisingly it's a recipe I may never prepare again. But the recipe had such an impact on my family life that I had to include it in the year end wrap up. This recipe marks my wife and my realization of what it was like to have a child with a severe food allergy. We have been very fortunate that her daycare takes food allergies pretty seriously and have been very open to making changes or accommodations when we have concerns over the foods she's being exposed to, yes were those parents that are just out to make things difficult for someone else. We don't do it out of spite, but out of love and fear for our child. We are not sorry if it inconveniences you and your family, it is what it is and an exposure to peanuts could very well lead to the death of my child. What people need to begin doing is trying to see such things from that person's perspective, if it was their child with the allergy how would they respond? I honestly hope that people would then begin to understand the issue and not get hung up on how in inconveniences them, but that it means the difference between the life and death of someones child.


Very rarely do I have a recipe that forces me to really think about what ingredients go into a dish or how a dish is prepared, but this recipe has done both, for the simple reason my little girl is allergic to peanuts and this is the recipe that help lead to her diagnosis. You see Sammie's Uncle is allergic to nuts, so we held off trying peanut butter with her until she was communicating well enough to tell us something was wrong. Upon trying these she got a rash and a persistent cough, which was quickly followed by a dose of Benadryl and a call to the doctor. We had a doctor visit and a blood draw that day, she did excellent through it all. When the results came back, she tested positive for being allergic to peanuts only, but the doctor suggested avoiding all nuts and any thing else that states it "may contain peanuts" to try and avoid the possibility of cross contamination. We have gone through our cabinets and cleared out all the items that either contain nuts or may contain nuts, it's surprising what things were discarded. We have begun looking for alternatives in preparing some of our favorite foods, like no bake cookies and Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches, so be on the look out for some reviews on alternative foods and recipes.

(In light of my daughters reaction no picture was taken, as the muffins were quickly quarantined and removed from the house.)

Recipe from Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld

Ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray

1 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar

1/2 cup natural peanut butter

1/2 cup carrot or cauliflower puree

1/2 cup banana puree

1 large egg white

1 cup whole-wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1.Preheat the oven to 350F. Coat a 12 cup muffin tin with cooking spray or line with paper baking cups.

2. In a large bowl, mix 1/2 cup of the brown sugar with the peanut butter, the vegetable and banana purees, and the egg white, using a wooden spoon.

3. Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl or zipper-lock bag and stir or shake to mix. Add to the bowl with the peanut butter mixture and stir just to combine (the batter will be a little lumpy-do not over mix). Add the remaining 1/2 cup of brown sugar and stir once or twice.

4. Divide the batter among the muffin cups and bake until the muffins are lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center, 15 to 20 minutes. Turn the muffins out onto a rack to cool.

5. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or wrap individually and freeze for up to 1 month.

Top 5 Recipes of 2011; Blazy's Pepperoni Studded Lasagna!

It's time for number 3 in my Top 5 Recipes of 2011 feature, and it's Blazy's Pepperoni Studded Lasagna! I absolutely loved this recipe and this is an excellent cold weather recipe. It's packed with flavor and is a sure fire way to satisfy the lasagna lover in your home.

This recipe was actually chosen by my wife while watching Guy's Big Bite one day, she thought it looked good. Well she made a good choice, but I must admit it is probably far from healthy. With ingredients like pepperoni and Italian sausage it's loaded with fat but it's so freaking GOOD! We both loved it and I'm already thinking of some variations of it that I can't wait to try.

Ingredients
2 pounds lasagna sheets
2 cups hand cut 1/8 inch slices pepperoni
4 cups tomato sauce
1 pound ricotta
16 ounces shredded mozzarella
2 pounds bulk Italian sausage, cooked
3.4 cup grated Parmesan

Directions
Preheat oven to 375º F.

In a medium saucepan add pepperoni and saute over medium heat until crispy, Remove from heat and drain on a paper towel. Do not discard the grease from the pan, place the Italian sausage in the pan and cook till done.

In a 10-by-14-by-3 inch baking pan or dish, pour 1 cup of tomato sauce in bottom and around sides. Layer lasagna sheets on the bottom of the pan, overlapping by 1/2 inch. Add 1/3 amount of ricotta, 1/3 amount of mozzarella, 1/3 amount of sausage, then sprinkle generously with the Parmesan, add 1/3 cup tomato sauce, and 1/4 cup pepperoni. Repeat this 2 more times.

On the very top sheet, top with remaining ricotta, tomato sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, and dust with Parmesan. Bake for approximately 45 minutes. Remove from oven; let sit for 15 minutes. Cut and serve immediately.

Guy's Tomato Sauce
3 ounces extra-virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion, minced
5 medium-sized garlic cloves, crushed
6 cups skinned and diced Roma tomatoes
2 tbsp thinly sliced fresh basil leaves 1 tbsp minced fresh oregano leaves
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

In a medium saucepan, heat olive oil. Add onion and cook over medium to low heat until transparent. Add garlic and cook until almost brown. then add tomatoes and cook for /2 hour over low to medium heat. Add the basil and oregano and continue to cook for another 1/2 hour. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper, cool and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Top 5 Recipes of 2011; Mexican Chicken Casserole

It's time for my number two pick in this year's Top 5 Recipes of 2011! The number two pick has become a part of our weekly rotation because it's so delicious, pretty easy to put together, and the whole family loves it.


My wife has been bugging me lately to go look at her Pinterest site to see what recipes she has linked to. Well I finally gave in and I found two new recipes to try, there were quite a bit more so the list of things to fix has grown.

Now we love enchiladas at our house, but they can be a little tedious to make, hello ADD. Well not to worry because this recipe doesn't have you going all OCD and rolling all the delicious filling into a tortilla, instead it all gets put in a casserole dish and everything gets to mingle together making for some really great flavor. I fixed this for a recent get together we had with another couple while our kids had a little play date. It was a hit with most every body, one of the little girls was more interested in playing then eating which is no surprise for a two year old, so I feel confident in calling this one Tot Approved.

Recipe from myrecipes.com as seen in Cooking Light December 1998

Ingredients
1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 (4.5 ounce) cans chopped green chiles divided (I omitted this in fear of being to spicy for the kids and substituted with 1/4 cup of mild Pace Picante Salsa)
1 3/4 pounds skinned, boned chicken breasts
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup evaporated skim milk
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
1/4 cup (2 ounces) tub-style light cream cheese
1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce
12 (6 inch) corn tortillas
Cooking Spray
1/2 cup (2 ounces)shredded reduced-fat extra-sharp cheddar
1 ounce tortilla chips, crushed (about 6 chips)

Directions
Combine broth and 1 can of chiles in a large skillet; bring to a boil. Add chicken ; reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until chicken is done, turning chicken once. Remove chicken from cooking liquid, reserving cooking liquid; cool chicken. Shred meat with two forks, and set aside

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 can of chiles and onion; saute 3 minutes or until soft. Add reserved cooking liquid, milk, Monterrey jack, cream cheese and enchilada sauce; stir well. Stir in shredded chicken; cook 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Place 4 tortillas in the bottom of a 2-quart casserole coated with cooking spray. Spoon 2 cups chicken mixture over tortillas. Repeat layers twice, ending with chicken mixtures. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese and chips. Bake at 350º for 30 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Top 5 Recipes of 2011; Sun-butter Truffle Brownies

It's time for my top five recipes of 2011 and the first on the list is my Sun-butter  Truffle Brownies. This recipe is destined for greatness and I hope that it will become one of my requested specialties in the years to come. But I must caution you, it's incredibly rich making it a great dessert for your next special get together.

I found this recipe off of my wife's Pinterest and I'm so glad I made it. It's absolutely delicious and I will be making it again for our family Halloween party that's quickly becoming a family tradition. Halloween is one of my favorite holiday's and we decided that the best way to celebrate it with a newborn was to have a party at our house with dinner and snacks. Well when our daughter was diagnosed with a peanut allergy we quickly realized most Halloween candy was going to be off limits due to containing or possibly containing peanuts. Which means I can no longer enjoy the wonderful Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Well when I saw this recipe that combines chocolate and peanut butter, I knew I had to try making it and simply substituting Peanut Butter with Sunflower Butter. The end result was a treat so rich, delicious, and filling that I knew this is what Peanut Butter Cups dream of being. I highly suggest you try this recipe, you will be so happy you did.

Brownie Base
I used my brownie recipe or you can use any recipe as long as it will fill a 9x13 pan.

Filling
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup Sunbutter sunflower seed spread (Recipe originally called for peanut butter)
2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons milk

Topping
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter

Heat oven to 350ºF. Grease bottom only of 9x13 inch pan with cooking spray or shortening.

Prepare and cook brownies according to recipe and allow to cool completely, about 1 hour.

In a medium bowl, beat filling ingredients with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Spread mixture evenly over brownie base.

In small microwavable bowl, microwave topping ingredients uncovered on High 30 to 60 seconds; stir until smooth. Cool 10 minutes; spread over filling. Refrigerate about 30 minutes or until set. For brownies, cut into 9 rows by 4 rows. Store covered in refrigerator.
Recipe adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything.

Year end wrap up!

With the end of the year upon us and all the radio stations advertising their top 100 playlists, I decided I should do something similar. Starting next week I will post my top five favorite recipes for this year. They will be recipes that have made it into our weekly rotations or recipes I really enjoyed making and plan on repeating them at some point. I wish every on a Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

Make-ahead Unstuffed Pasta Shells

I absolutely love getting my seasonal addition of Kraft's Food & Family and their winter addition has some really great recipes. This recipe was one that I really liked how delicious it sounds and it did not disappoint us. The entire family loved it and it was a blast to put together. I prepared this dish and served it immediately, but it is designed to be made ahead of time and simply reheated later. So if you need something for the cooking challenged on a night you will not be present this is the dish for you.

I did try to make this dish a little healthier with the use of low fat cheeses, whole wheat pasta shells, and lean ground turkey instead of ground beef with great results. I highly suggest  you give these products a try if you haven't all ready, they are actually quite good.

Prep 30 min. Total 1 hour 15 min. Makes 6 servings
Ingredients
4 cups medium pasta shells, uncooked
1 lb. extra-lean ground beef
1 jar (24oz) marinara sauce
1 tub Philadelphia Original Cooking Creme
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup Kraft Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 1/2 cups Kraft Shredded Mozzarella Cheese with a Touch of Philadelphia

Directions
Cook pasta as directed on package, omitting salt. Mean while, brown meat in large skillet; drain. Stir in marinara sauce; simmer on medium heat 2 min., stirring frequiently. Remove from heat.
Drain pasta. Mix cooking creme, basil and Parmesan in large bowl; stir in pasta. Spread half the meat sauce onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray; cover with pasta mixture and remaining meat sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella; cover with foil. Refrigerate up to 24 hours.
Heat oven to 375ºF. Bake casserole, covered, 40 to 45 min. or until heated through, uncovering after 30 min.