What's for dinner ??

Once again I made a fast and easy meal for dinner.

Crispy chicken strip sandwiches.

They were just what I needed before going to work.

 What did you make for dinner ???

Cajun Alfredo

I made this great sauce and served it over linguine noodles.  

I topped it with grilled chicken.  

It was delicious.

My husband loved it as did I.

We have been getting used to our new work schedules, 

so finding the time to make a homemade meal is important.

I served this with homemade garlic bread.

This will be making another appearence on our dinner table.

I doubled the cajun seasoning and it was perfect.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 quart heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon garlic
• 2/3 cup parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon cajun seasoning (Tony Chacherres or Zatterans)

Directions:

1. Melt butter.
2. Add garlic.
3. Saute till you smell the garlic.
4. Add cream.
5. Hard simmer for 20 - 30 or until desired consistency.
6. Add cheese and Cajun seasoning.
7. Cook until melted.
8. Pour over favorite pasta.

 

 

Italian Nachos

There is an Italian restaurant here named Johnny Carinos.

They have the best Italian Nachos.

They serve them with sliced black olives, but Tony doesn't like black olives

I know he's so crazy

How can you not like black olives

I can eat a whole can of them.

 They are also made with wonton wrappers.

I know, you would think wonton wrappers would make them Asian.

 They are drizzled with a homemade Alfredo sauce.

Topped with  Italian sausage and Roma tomatoes.

super yummy

I found this great recipe at Getoffyourbuttandbake.

ITALIAN NACHOS – Johnny Carino’s style

Ingredients:

1 Package wontons (found in the produce section),
cut on the diagonal to form triangles

1 package ground pork, cook in a saute pan until browned *

1 6-ounce package grilled chicken pieces
(sometimes found in the salad section) *

Shaved Parmesan for garnish

2 Roma tomatoes, diced

1/2 cup sliced olives

jalapenos (optional)

Grated Mozzarella Cheese for melting over the top (optional)

For the Cheese Sauce:

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups half-and-half
• 2 1/2 cups grated Parmigiana-Reggiano, or other good-quality Parmesan

Directions:

1. In a heavy, medium saucepan melt the butter over low heat. Add the garlic and then the flour and stir to combine. Cook, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes. Increase the heat to medium and whisk in the half-and-half little by little. Cook until thickened, about 4 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat; add 2 cups of the grated Parmesan. Season with the salt, pepper and stir until cheese is melted and sauce is smooth. Cover and set aside. *If the sauce becomes a bit thicker than you might like, simply add some milk or more half & half.
2. Heat a heavy saucepan or deep fryer to medium. Cook the wontons until light brown. This only takes a few seconds per side. Set aside on paper towels to drain.
3. Pile the wontons on a large serving platter. Drizzle with warm cheese sauce. Add sausage, chicken, tomatoes, olives and peppers. Top with shaved Parmesan. EAT IT!
4. You can also assemble the plate of Nachos, then sprinkle grated Mozzarella over all, and heat in the microwave just until cheese is melted.

Homemade Dog Treats

 

This is Minnie.  Minnie is a chow hound.  She loves food.  Her food, my food, Taylor's food, it doesn't matter.  I thought I would make her some treats.  I found a great recipe for peanut butter oatmeal dog treats.  Healthy for her and she doesn't even know it !

Don't mind the half eaten bunny.  It's better the rabbit then my furniture.  Taylor helped me make the treats, he picked bone, puppy and hearts for the shapes.

They turned out great.  You can really smell the peanut butter.  I used chunky, because that's what I like and so far she likes everything I make. Smart puppy!

 

Homemade Peanut Butter Dog Treats
 

½ cups water(I used beef stock because I had some left over)
½ cup oil
2 eggs
3 tablespoons peanut butter
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour (I used whole wheat)
½ cup cornmeal
½ cup oats
Blend wet ingredients together. Whisk dry ingredients together and mix into wet mixture to form a ball of dough. Roll out and shape. Put onto a non-stick cookie tray or lightly greased one. Cook 20 minutes at 400 F. Turn off oven and allow the biscuits to cool in oven until crisp and hard. Store in airtight container.

Taylor's Deep Dish Pizza

Having Taylor help me out in the kitchen has been great.  We made homemade deep dish pizza.  His favorite.  I think this kid could eat pizza everyday of the week and twice on Saturdays.

Since I started taking on line classes and still working, I have been short on time.  I have been really looking for recipes that are super quick and delicious at the same time.  This is one such recipe.

Once again there is no recipe for this pizza.  Me and my little man just kinda winged it, but here is what we did !

One loaf frozen bread dough, thawed
One jar pizza sauce
1/2 block mozzarella cheese, shredded (or more if you are like us and love cheese)
Assorted meats and veggies, cut up (I used, pepperoni, Italian sausage, bacon, onion and green pepper)
Pre-cook all meat !

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Take the thawed dough and divide it in half.  Spread the dough into the bottom of two well greased eight or nine inch cake pans.  I pushed the dough about 1/2 inch up the side of the pans to keep the toppings in, kinda like pie crust.  Spread 1/2 cup of sauce onto each of the pizza doughs.  Taylor likes his a little more saucy, so he added about 3/4 of  cup.  Spread half the cheese onto each pizza dough.  Top with your favorite toppings.  Taylor made a pepperoni and bacon pizza.  I made an Italian sausage, onion and green pepper pizza.  Bake for 15-20 minutes.  Make sure to check that the crust is cooked all the way thru and the cheese is all gooey and melty.  Yummy.

I can't wait to make pizza with my little man again.

Chicken Fried Chicken

I've been making a lot of grilled dinners lately because of all the heat, but Tony wanted chicken fried chicken.
You can't grill that !  So being the nicest wife in the whole world, I turned my stove on in 105 degree weather.
I must really like this guy or something.

I made chicken fried chicken from a recipe I found in The Pioneer Woman's cookbook.
Her recipe is for chicken fried steak, but I substituted chicken. I even used the gravy recipe. 
It came out great. I love country gravy !

Look at all that goodness.  It put a great big smile on my husband's face and that's all that matters !!

Just look at this picture, grandpa and Devin are both smiling !!  The loves of my life !!

Chicken Fried Chicken

• 3 pounds Cube Steak (tenderized Round Steak That's Been Extra Tenderized) I used chicken !
• 1-1/2 cup Whole Milk, Plus Up To 2 Cups For Gravy
• 2 whole Large Eggs
• 3 cups All-purpose Flour
• Seasoned Salt
• 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne
• LOTS Of Black Pepper. Lots.
• Canola Oil, For Frying
• Salt And Pepper, For Both Meat And Gravy

Preparation Instructions

Begin with an assembly line of dishes for the meat: milk mixed with egg in one; flour mixed with spices in one; meat in one; then have one clean plate at the end to receive the breaded meat.
Work one piece of meat at a time. Season both sides with salt and pepper, then dip in the milk/egg mixture. Next, place the meat on the plate of seasoned flour. Turn to coat thoroughly. Place the meat back into the milk/egg mixture, turning to coat. Place back in the flour and turn to coat.
(So: wet mixture/dry mixture/wet mixture/dry mixture.) Place breaded meat on the clean plate, then repeat with remaining meat.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Drop in a few sprinkles of flour to make sure it's sufficiently hot. Cook meat, three pieces at a time, until edges start to look golden brown; around 2 to 2 1/2 minutes each side.
Remove to a paper towel-lined plate and keep warm. Repeat until all meat is cooked.
GRAVY:
After all meat is fried, pour off the grease into a heatproof bowl. Without cleaning the pan, return it to the stove over medium-low heat. Add 1/4 cup grease back to the pan. Allow grease to heat up.
Sprinkle 1/3 cup flour evenly over the grease. Using a whisk, mix flour with grease, creating a golden-brown paste. Keep cooking until it reaches a deep golden brown color. If paste seems more oily than pasty, sprinkle in another tablespoon of flour and whisk.
Whisking constantly, pour in milk. Cook to thicken the gravy. Be prepared to add more milk if it becomes overly thick. Add salt and pepper and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, until gravy is smooth and thick. Be sure to taste to make sure gravy is sufficiently seasoned.
Serve meat next to a big side of mashed potatoes. Pour gravy over the whole shebang!

Posted by Ree on February 27 2011