Florentine pasta salad

I just made this pasta salad over the weekend for a baby shower and was reminded of how much I love it. Its very easy and I always get compliments on it! It originally came from a Bible study I did at a church in Austin.

1 pkg fresh fettucini noodles (like Buitoni)
1 jar prepared pesto sauce (I like Classico)
1 cup chopped chicken breast (a rotisserie chicken or "carving board" deli meat works well)
juice of 1 lemon
1 container of cherry tomatoes
1-2 cups spinach, torn into small pieces
parmesan cheese, to taste

Optional:
artichoke hearts
mushrooms
other veggies you like!

Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain and remove to a cutting board. Cut them into smaller pieces for ease in serving. Place in large mixing bowl. Add chicken, tomatoes and spinach (and any other veggies) to mixing bowl and stir well. Add entire jar of pesto and stir until well coated. Add lemon juice and parmesan cheese and stir once more. Before serving, may optionally top with more parmesan.

If you prefer a lighter pesto flavor, experiment with using only half the jar and see how that tastes. I LOVE pesto so I always use the whole jar. This tastes great at room temperature as well as cold. Let me know if you try it!  Any other good pasta salad recipes out there?

Gooey butter cake

I was thinking through what to do for our Easter dessert, and when I saw this, I knew it would be perfect. I made it while cooking the rest of our Easter meal and it was super easy.  Here's all you need:

Cake:
1 boxed yellow cake mix
1 egg
1 stick melted butter

Filling:
1 8-oz package cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 stick melted butter
1 16 oz box powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350.
Combine cake ingredients and mix well with electric mixer. Pat the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 13 x 9 pan.

Beat cream cheese in a large bowl until smooth.  Add eggs, vanilla and butter and beat well.  Add powdered sugar (gradually, so you don't end up with a sugar cloud!) and blend until mixture is smooth and fluffy. Spread evenly over cake batter and bake for 40 to 50 minutes.

My finished product was not as gooey as Paula's picture looks but everyone loved it. I garnished with strawberries. I'm a chocolate lover at heart, but this is one of the BEST non chocolate desserts I've had...although when I went to look up the recipe link, I saw that there is a chocolate version of this cake. Uh oh! :)

Green bean bundles

image source

These are one of our family staples for holiday meals!  You'd be hard pressed to find a better way to eat vegetables than this, I can promise you that much. We were so ready to eat them so I didn't get a picture of the finished product, so I had to borrow the picture above.

Ingredients:
3 cans whole green beans
1 package bacon
toothpicks

Marinade:
1 stick melted butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp garlic powder

Drain green beans and place in a bowl.  Cut bacon strips in half.

Wrap 10-12 beans with half a bacon strip and secure with a toothpick.

As you can see, I don't typically do 10-12...but I ended up with extra green beans so I probably should have.

Place bundles in a 13X9 baking dish.

Mix marinade well and pour over green bean bundles, Let marinate in fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight. Bake at 325 for 45 minutes.

Sausage Balls

 In need of a hearty, delicious snack to bring to a Super Bowl party?  This is the perfect one!  With only 5 ingredients, its easy to make and always a huge hit.  Here's a close up to see the size - I always make them too big (and obviously not very round!) - the recipe is pretty flexible.

There are a number of recipes for sausage balls, but I always refer back to the one from the Bisquick website

3 cups Original Bisquick® mix
1 pound bulk pork sausage
4 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (16 ounces)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves, crushed
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley or 1/2 teaspoon parsley flakes
Barbecue sauce or chili sauce, if desired

Heat oven to 350ºF. Lightly grease bottom and sides of jelly roll pan, 15 1/2x10 1/2x2x1 inch.
Stir together all ingredients, using hands or spoon. Shape mixture into 1-inch balls. Place in pan.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until brown. Immediately remove from pan. Serve warm with sauce for dipping.

Peppermint Bark Popcorn

 I made this twice over the holidays, and its delicious as well as so easy!  This will definitely be kept in my repertoire as a quick treat to make to bring to a gathering or as a gift.  Here's the source - a wonderful blog with tons of great recipes.

Ingredients:

1 package almond bark - white
18 cups popped popcorn
2 tsp peppermint extract
1 box candy candes
3/4 c chocolate chips (not pictured)

It took me three bags of popcorn to get the 18 cups, but I also leave a lot of kernels unpopped because I'm afraid of burning it. Here's what you do:
-Unwrap and crush up the candy canes using a plastic bag and a meat tenderizer.
-Melt the almond bark in small batches in the microwave (according to the package directions) and pour over the popcorn.
-Sprinkle the candy cane pieces and peppermint extract over the popcorn and mix very well.
-Spread popcorn out on parchment covered baking sheets and allow to set.
-Melt chocolate chips, spoon into a plastic bag with the corner cut off and drizzle over the popcorn.
-Let sit for a few hours (on the counter or in the fridge). Once hardened, break apart and enjoy!

You can mix the peppermint extract in with the almond bark but many people online suggest that this makes the bark 'seize up' and become clumpy.  I just used my fingers and tried to sprinkle it over the popcorn, which worked out fine. I also did mine in two batches because I didn't have a big enough bowl to do it all at once.  If you aren't a peppermint fan, there are a number of other options on the source blog, some of which I hope to try soon!

Hello Dollies

Also known as Seven Layer Bars, these are a delicious sweet treat, perfect for passing out to your neighbors or co-workers as a holiday gift!  The best part is you probably have all the ingredients on hand, or at least most of them.

Recipe Source

Here's what you need:

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup white sugar (I used less than this)

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup flaked coconut

1 cup chopped pecans

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

Here's what to do:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Press into the bottom of an 9x9 inch baking pan. Layer the chocolate chips, coconut and pecans over the crumbs. Pour the sweetened condensed milk over the top.
3. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool and cut into squares.

Tips & Tricks:
-One reviewer suggested heating the milk in the microwave to pour it evenly over the bars - this was very helpful!
-Multiple reviewers said to leave out the white sugar, but one mentioned that it helped the crust stay together so I decided to add about 1/8 cup.
-I also decided to used a 9 x 13 pan so that the bars would be a little thinner, which was a good choice.
-I only put pecans on about 2/3 since some people don't like or are allergic to nuts.  They still taste great without nuts!

DIY Burrito bowls

Inspired by our friends at Chipotle, I decided to make burrito bowls earlier this week.  They were delicious!  The options are really endless, so I'll tell you what we did as well as some alternatives we might try next time.

1.  Start by making cilantro lime rice (one recipe yields about 3-4 servings worth for the bowl, depending on how much you want)
2.  Marinate, then cook, your meat.  We used steak I got on sale seasoned with salt, pepper, cumin, cayenne, and lime juice.  Chicken would also be delicious, or slow cooked pork or beef.
3.  While meat is cooking, assemble other ingredients.  Ours were: black beans, corn salsa (courtesy of Chipotle!), regular salsa, lettuce, and cheese.  You could also have pico de gallo, queso, onions, pinto or refried beans.
4.  Layer everything up!  I think the best order is rice, meat, beans, salsas, cheese, lettuce. 

This is really SO easy, and though its a little time consuming to get everything together, its certainly worth the end result.  I think this would be a great (and healthier) option for a get together, especially as football season approaches.  If you try it out, let me know what you think!