Quickie Lasagna (ravioli)

I love this quick and easy recipe it's ravioli made like a lasagna, you can make it with just marinara sauce or a meat sauce if you prefer. I usually do just a marinara sauce, hence the quick part.

Quickie Lasagna

marinara sauce
family size ravioli
4 oz mozarella cheese, shredded

In a 9x13 baking dish spread 1/2c. marinara sauce. Next put down a layer of ravioli and top with 1/2 c. mozarella cheese and then 1 1/4c. marinara sauce. You will then put another layer of ravioli, 1/2c. cheese and 1 1/4c marinara (or the rest of the bottle).

Bake at 375 for 45 minutes. Fabulously easy, and everyone loves it. I always serve with salad and garlic bread.

Fabulous Garlic Bread

I tried a new garlic spread recipe Sunday night when we had our church missionaries over, it was fabulous! I found the recipe on allrecipe.com (one of my favorite recipe sites) and it is perfect for any Italian meal, I made some with cheese and some with out and they were both great.


Toasty Garlic Bread

1 (1lb) loaf Italian Bread (I used french bread and it was still great)
5 Tbsp butter, softened
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
1 c. mozzarella cheese, shredded (optional)

1. Preheat the broiler.
2. Cut the bread into slices 1 to 2 inches thick.
3. In a small bowl, mix butter, olive oil, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. Spread the mixture evenly on the bread slices.
4. On a medium baking sheet, arrange the slices evenly and broil 5 minutes, or until slightly brown. Check frequently so they do not burn.
5. Remove from broiler. Top with cheese and return to broiler 2 to 3 minutes, until cheese is slightly brown and melted. Serve at once.

Pesto Tarts, appetizer

A few weeks ago we had a light dinner at my church, the menu consisted of a variety of appetizers, we had fruit, vegetable, meat, and dessert appetizers. I signed up to bring a vegetable appetizer and I will be honest after signing up I was thinking why the heck did I pick to bring a vegetable appetizer, the only vegetable appetizer I ever make is spinach artichoke dip, which I love, but didn't want to bring. I could come up with multiple things to make for the other 3 categories, so I was off on the search to find a yummy vegetable appetizer, and boy did I find it! These little nummies were so scrumptious that I fed them to my family for dinner to test them out. I left the pesto off of Trena's because she is not a pesto fan, and I left tomatoes off of Ava's because she is not a tomato fan. Ava ate 2 for dinner that night, and 2 again the next day for lunch, she LOVED them. Brent and I both thought that they were great (Katrena didn't, but whats new these days) and I will definitely make these again and again.

I found this fabulous recipe over at Tasty Kitchen (if you haven't checked out this site you totally have too).

Pesto Tarts

• 1 package Frozen Puff Pastry Sheets (2 Sheets), Thawed
• 8 ounces, weight Olive Tapenade Or Pesto
• 1 pound Grape Tomatoes, Each Cut In Half
• 8 ounces, weight Feta Cheese, Crumbled

You thaw the pastry sheets according to package and roll to be 8X8 when thawed ( Then kind that I bought was two 8x8 sheets, perfect). You then cut each sheet into 16 equal squares.

You then place one square in each circle of a muffin tin.

Top each pastry square with 1 teaspoon of pesto.

Next you put 3-4 tomato halves on the pesto.

Lastly you sprinkle with feta cheese.

Bake at 400 degrees until pastry is puffed and lightly browned. Remove to cooling rack. If you use a silicone muffin pan it takes about 18 min, if using a metal muffin pan cook for about 15 min. The recipe says to spray a metal pan before first batch, but that the appetizer puts off enough oil for subsequent batches.

Enjoy. These taste like they took A LOT more time and effort than they did. Definitely one of the best and easiest appetizers to make.

Super Simple Pinkalicious Lemonade

We love the Pinkalicious and Purpilicious children's books at our house. Katrena just recently got the two books with some fun stickers, colored pencils journals and two recipes. This little box set is sold at Target.

We made the lemonade today, it was yummy and super simple because it doesn't require squeezing lemons. Its the perfect lemonade to make with your Pinkalicious toddler girls.

Pinkalicious Lemonade

1 1/4 c. sugar
4 c. water
1 c. lemon juice
1 c. unsweetened cranberry juice

Heat sugar and 1 cup of water on stovetop until the sugar is completely dissolved, this makes a simple syrup. You then combine the syrup with the rest of the ingredients in a pitcher. Chill in the refrigerator. Serves 6.

Lotsa Fiber Brownies

So its hard to give credit to where I got this recipe because I got it from my aunt, whoo got it from a friend, whoo got it from a friend, whoo...

Anyways. I think these brownies taste fine, they taste different, heavier, but they taste fine. My husband HATES them. With that in mind I give you the healthier brownie, it sounds gross I know, but my parents, grandparents, etc. all think they are fine and make them. If you are following weight watchers the only points come from the package of brownie mix itself.

So here is the recipe for... BLACK BEAN BROWNIES

BLACK BEAN BROWNIES:

1 (15 0z) can black beans
1 pkg brownie mix

Drain and rinse the black beans and return them to their can. Then fill the can (with the drained beans in it) to the top with water. You then dump beans and water into blender and puree them. Once pureed mix the black bean mixture and brownie mix until well mixed. Dump into your baking pan and bake according to the directions on your brownie mix package.

NO OIL, NO EGGS=HEALTHIER BROWNIES.

Pumpkin Waffles with Apple Cider Syrup

I like to do breakfast for dinner at least once a month. I love homemade waffles and pancakes, but I am never up early enough to make a big breakfast; what can I say I like my sleep to much. Pumpkin Waffles are one of my faves and we usually have them more often in the fall, but they sure sounded good last night, so Pumpkin Waffles it was.

Pumpkin Waffles:

1 1/2 c. flour
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 c. canned pumpkin
2 c. milk
4 eggs, separated
1/4 c. butter, melted

Preheat waffle iron.

Whip egg whites until they form soft peaks.

Combine all dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.

In another bowl combine pumpkin, milk and egg yolks.

Add flour mixture and butter to pumpkin mixture, and stir to blend.

Fold egg whites into batter.

Spray waffle iron, and pour batter in.




These have a great flavor and are always a hit when we eat them. We either have them with regular syrup or sometimes I make Apple Cider Syrup to go with them. (Funny I didn't realize Trena liked it when I make special syrup, but last night she asked if I had made any special syrup, of course then I felt bad that I took the lazy route.)

APPLE CIDER SYRUP:

1 c. sugar
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 c. apple cider or juice
2 Tbsp lemon juice

Combine all dry ingredients together in a bowl.

In a separate saucepan add all wet ingredients and then add surar mixture all at once.

Heat to a boil.

Boil until mixture becomes clear (about 2-4 minutes), stirring with a wisk constatntly.

Orange Chicken (tastes like Panda Express, only the meat is better)

We made this for dinner Monday night, took a little work but was delicious. Katrena was in heaven as Orange Chicken is her favorite. I have decided whether she likes dinner or not has nothing to do with dinner its self, half the time its all in the name. She has her mind made up before the first bite, so I am going to have to work on renaming everything I make for dinner. The difference lies in how much she likes it.

So with out further ado, Orange yummy yummy Chicken:

2 lbs boneless chicken pieces, skinned
1 egg beaten
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 c. cornstarch
1/4 c. flour
orange sauce recipe (to follow)
1 Tbsp oil
1 Tbsp minced ginger root
1 tsp minced garlic
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1/4 c. chopped green onions
1 Tbsp rice wine
1/4 c. water
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 to 1 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp oil for frying

Cut chicken pieces into 2 inch squares; place in a large bowl. In separate bowl stir egg, salt, white pepper, and 1 Tbsp oil and mix well.

Mix together 1/2 c. cornstarch and the flour; and add to egg mixture.

Add chicken to mixture and stir to coat.

Heat oil in fryer or wok to 350 degrees. Add chicken pieces, a few at a time, and fry 3 to 4 minutes or until golden brown and crisp. Do not overcook or the chicken will be tough. Remove chicken with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. set aside

Make orange sauce by combine following ingredients and set aside
1 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 Tbsp water
5 Tbsp sugar
5 Tbsp white vinegar
1/2 c. orange juice
grated zest of one orange


Clean wok and heat 15 seconds over high heat. Add 1 Tbsp of oil, add ginger and garlic and stir-fry until fragrant.

Add and stir-fry red pepper flakes and green onions.

Add rice wine and stir for 3 seconds.

Add the orange sauce and bring to a boil.

Add the cooked chicken, stirring until well mixed.

Stir 1 Tbsp cornstarch and water and mix until smooth. Add to the chicken and heat until sauce is thickened.

Stir in sesame oil and serve at once.


Delicious.