The original recipe calls for mint, call me crazy, but I’m pretty much all set with mint being in my food, so I left it out.  I left out the almonds too because I didn’t have any on hand.

You will need:

• 1 pound pasta.  I think ziti or rigatoni works best.
• 2-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 (15-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
• About 5oz baby spinach.  I used almost an entire package of Olivia’s Organic
• 1 shallot or ¼ chopped onion.  Both work.
• 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock.
• 1 or 2 cloves garlic, smashed up like a paste or use a garlic press
• About ½ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. I eyeball it.

Start by getting your pasta boiling in some water with salt.  You will want to reserve 1 cup of the pasta water to finish off the pesto.

In a non-stick skillet, heat about a tablespoon of evoo and sauté the artichokes until they are cooked through and turn off the heat.

In a food processor, add the spinach, shallot/onion, garlic, salt and pepper and the stock.  Turn it on and drizzle in about 2 tablespoons of evoo.

This is where it can go either way.  The first time I made this I just added the pesto to the skillet with the quartered artichokes like the recipe said. While everyone like it, my 10yr old suggested it would be better if I put the cooked artichokes into the food processer with the pesto.  I personally agree.

Chunky:  Add the pesto to the artichokes in the skillet.

Smooth:  Add the artichokes to the food processor and blend for about a minute and then dump it all into the skillet.

Turn the heat on and start stirring.  You’ll notice the pesto is pretty thick.  Slowly add the cup of pasta water to your desired consistency. I use the entire cup.

Finish it off with your grated cheese and taste.  I usually drizzle in another tablespoon of evoo into the pesto or just add it to the pasta instead to coat.  Then toss your pasta with the pesto and you are done.  Enjoy.  My girls love it.

We eat this dish hot, but I lately I’ve been making an extra batch because Haley likes it as a cold pasta salad sometimes and will take it to school for lunch.  You can add a jar of Trader Joes Roasted Peppers and even some grilled chicken.

Once I substituted quinoa for the pasta.  That night I was asked to pack an extra container to share with her friends.

For the quinoa I just buy the box at Trader Joes.  Add 3 cups of water to 1 cup of quinoa and bring to a boil.  Cover and simmer until you see the spirals form.  Then drain the excess water lay a dish towel over the pot, cover and let sit for another 5 minutes or until fluffy.

Related posts:

1. Chicken and Broccoli Pasta
2. Smoky Chicken & Cranberry Pasta
3. Easy Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

2 Cups Cooked, Diced Chicken (I use store bought rotisserie chicken)

2 T. Sesame Seeds (Toasted)

2 oz. Sliced Almonds (Toasted)

1/2 Head Cabbage, Chopped

1 pkg. Chicken Top Ramen (Break up the noodles, but DO NOT COOK)

2 Green Onions, Chopped

Dressing:

1/2 Cup Oil

1 tsp. Salt

1/2 tsp. Accent Seasoning

1/2 tsp. Pepper

3 T. Vinegar (Cider Vinegar is good if you have it)

1 Package Noodle Seasoning (from Ramen package)

1 T. Sugar

Directions:

Mix Dressing Ingredients.

Pour Dressing over Salad.

Refrigerate overnight.

Enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Chinese Chicken Salad
2. Grown Up Chicken Salad
3. Chicken Fiesta Salad

• 8oz lasagna noodles
• 1 T. extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed with press
• 1 bag (12 oz) broccoli florets
• 1 cup low sodium chicken broth
• 1 can (15 – 19 oz) white kidney beans (cannellini) drained and rinsed
• 3 large tomatoes, coarsely chopped
• 1/3 cup freshly grated romano cheese, plus additional for serving

1. Heat 5 to 6 quart covered saucepot of salted water to boiling over high heat, add noodles and cook until just tender
2. Meanwhile, in non stick 12 inch skillet, heat oil over medium heat, add garlic amd broccoli and cook 1 minute, stirring frequently.
3. Add broth, cover and cook 2 to 3 minutes longer or until broccoli is very tender.
4. Stir in tomatoes and remove from heat
5. Drain lasagna noodles, add to broccoli mixture in skillet and sprinkle with Romano. Toss to coat noodles. Serve with additonal Romano if you like.

Related posts:

1. Chicken and Broccoli Pasta
2. Spaghetti Pie (Or, the best thing you will ever make, EVER!)
3. Slow Cooker Meat Sauce

Saute the chicken breast in a skillet until done, browned on the outside. Chop into bite size pieces.

Take pizza crust and spoon on the bbq sauce. Sprinkle with the chicken, onion and finally the shredded cheese. Bake at 425 until cheese is all melted and bubbly, and crust is done. Usually about 15- 20 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped fresh cilantro.

This is a complete and utter rip off of a pizza by a well known pizza place that will go un-named, but it rhymes with Malifornia Dizza Snitchen.

Related posts:

1. Chicken Pot Pie
2. Tex-Mex Chicken
3. Smoky Chicken & Cranberry Pasta

Anyway, the recipe:

Fiesta Buns

1 ½ lbs of hamburger, browned and drained
¾ cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
4 ½ oz can of chopped black olives
8 oz. can of tomato sauce
1 small bell pepper, diced
4 green onions, minced
½ T. vinegar
2 T. oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small can of green chilies
Brown and drain hamburger and then mix in all ingredients.
Simmer for 15 min.
Spread mixture on french or sourdough rolls and wrap each roll in foil – or two together.<
Bake at 375 degrees for 20 min.
The recipe says that you can freeze the prepared rolls, wrapped in foil, for up to 4 weeks.
Thaw 10 min and then bake.

Related posts:

1. Super Easy Sloppy Joes
2. Creamy Chicken Enchiladas
3. Crescent Roll Casserole

Everything Lo Mein
Yields 4 servings

Ingredients
Sauce:
-3 rounded tablespoons hoisin sauce
-3 tablespoons dark soy, eyeball it
-3 tablespoons water, eyeball it
-2 teaspoons hot sauce, eyeball it

Everything Lo Mein:
-1 pound spaghetti
-Salt
-1/4 cup vegetable oil, divided
-2 large eggs, beaten
-3 chicken breast cutlets, thinly sliced into strips
-3 thin cut pork chops, thinly sliced into strips
-Black pepper
-2 teaspoons ground coriander
-2 inches fresh ginger, chopped or grated
-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
-6 scallions, cut into 3-inch lengths then sliced lengthwise
-1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms, chopped
-1 red bell pepper, cut into quarters, seeded, then sliced
-1 small can sliced water chestnuts
-2 cups fresh bean sprouts, 4 generous handfuls or 1/2 pound shredded cabbage, your choice

Directions
1. Mix together sauce ingredients and reserve.

2. Bring pasta water to a boil, salt water and cook spaghetti to al dente.

3. While pasta cooks, heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large, nonstick skillet over high heat. When oil ripples, add beaten eggs and scramble them to light golden brown, remove and reserve.

4. Season the meat with salt, pepper and coriander. Heat the remaining vegetable oil to a ripple, then add meat and stir-fry 4 minutes, push meat to the side and add ginger, garlic and veggies. Stir-fry veggies 2 minutes, then drain and add pasta and eggs back to skillet. Pour sauce over the spaghetti and toss to combine. Turn off pan. Toss 30 seconds and let the liquids absorb.

Since I don’t like pork, I only used chicken, but only about 3 cutlets. I also added in bamboo shoots and mini corns, and doubled the sauce in the end.

This recipe makes way more than the 4 servings it says. We still have leftovers from last week!

Also, make sure that your skillet is super large… mine was definitely not big enough!!

Enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Basil Cream Chicken
2. Smoky Chicken & Cranberry Pasta
3. Chicken and Broccoli Pasta

Pesto Pasta Salad

1 box bowtie pasta (or whatever kind of pasta you like/have on hand)
1 container prepared pesto (or you can make your own if you want)
Shredded parmesan cheese
Pine nuts

Cook pasta; drain, rinse and let it cool to room temperature. Mix in pesto and as much parmesan cheese as you want. Top with pinenuts (if you want it to be pretty — you can always just stir them in with the pesto and cheese, too). Chill and serve.

Tah dah!! This is a pasta salad both Hubbz and I can get behind and even though there are usually both pinenuts and parmesan cheese in prepared pesto, you can never have too much of either of those things, IMHO, so load ‘em in! You can also serve this warm or add chicken to make it a main dish (like I did for lunch today). So versatile!!

Broccoli Slaw Salad

One bag broccoli slaw (like cole slaw only with broccoli, carrots and other veggies instead of cabbage)
One red and one yellow bell pepper
Sunflower kernels
Poppy seed dressing

Empty contents of broccoli slaw package into a large bowl. Slice up bell peppers into small pieces. Add them to the slaw, along with as sunflower seeds as you like, top with poppy seed dressing (again, to your liking) and toss ingredients together. Voila!!

If you don’t have red and yellow peppers, any kind of bell pepper will work. Actually, you don’t have to add extra veggies, at all, but I like them for the color and texture. If you’ve never had broccoli slaw, get thee to the produce section and buy some today. It’s a great summer side dish, even for people who don’t eat broccoli (like Hubbz) and it’s a fantastic altermative to a boring old lettuce salad.

Related posts:

1. Easy Pasta Salad
2. Chicken and Broccoli Pasta
3. Broccoli Salad

Olive oil

3 packages of Mexican cheese

2 packages of large tortillas

1 can of black beans

1 can of artichoke hearts (halved or quartered)

2 large green bell peppers (or add in a red pepper)

1 large Vidalia/sweet onion

1 bag of baby spinach

2 med. sized summer squash

3-4 cloves of garlic

Prep

Cut peppers and onions into strips and sauté with olive oil. I like to sauté them separately because they cook differently. Once they are al-dente, remove and let cool. They will release a lot of liquid so make sure to let them cool for a little bit.

Cut squash in half lengthwise and then into half moon shapes: Sauté with olive oil.

Mince garlic and sauté with olive oil until tender (med heat). Put the entire bag in the pan and cover until the spinach starts to wilt… mix with garlic and set aside.

Drain black beans and artichoke hearts. You can chop the artichoke hearts into smaller pieces if you want.

Preheat the oven to 450.

Cooking

Start setting up your tortillas. I usually put 2-3 in the oven at a time. Once you are ready, spread a fair amount of cheese on the bottom and sprinkle what ingredients you want in each. Top with more cheese and place onto the rack of the oven. They need about 4-5 minutes (maybe more) each side. You will have to flip them in the oven so get a metal spatula ready. Once they are ready, let them cool and cut in half and then in thirds.

Top with sour cream and guacamole!

Related posts:

1. Tortilla Pie
2. Garlic and Herb Croutons
3. Easy Calzone

Spaghetti Pie

Ingredients
- 6 ounces spaghetti
- 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
- 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 well beaten eggs
- 1 cup cottage cheese (8 ounces)
- 1 pound ground beef/pork sausage/turkey
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1/4 cup chopped green pepper
- 1 8-ounce can (1 cup) tomatoes, cut up
- 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt (I didn’t have, so I threw in a little garlic, and a little salt)
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (2 ounces)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Cook the spaghetti according to package directions; drain (should have about 3 cups spaghetti). Stir butter/margarine into hot spaghetti. Stir in parmesan cheese and eggs. Form into a “crust” in a buttered 10″ pie plate. (I don’t butter it and it’s fine.) Spread cottage cheese over bottom of spaghetti crust.

2. In skillet cook ground meat, onion and green pepper till vegetables are tender and meat is browned. Drain off excess fat. Sit in undrained tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, oregano and garlic salt; heat through.

3. Turn meat mixture into spaghetti crust. Bake, uncovered, in 350 oven for 20 minutes. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese on top, bake for 5 more minutes or until cheese melts.

Enjoy!!

Related posts:

1. Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
2. Tortilla Pie
3. Slow Cooker Meat Sauce

2 1/2 c. diced cooked chicken
4-6 strips bacon, cooked crisp & crumbled
1/2 c. chopped pecans
1/2 c. thinly sliced celery
3/4 c. green or red grapes halved

Dressing:
1 c. mayo (not miracle whip)
1 Tbsp. dried parsley flakes
2 tsp. finely minced onion
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/8 – 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1 dash Worcestershire sauce (about 1/2 tsp.)
pepper to taste

Related posts:

1. Chinese Chicken Salad
2. Chicken Fiesta Salad
3. Chicken & Ramen Salad