Alfredo Sauce

I use this recipe every time I make Alfredo sauce. I've tried others with cream cheese or no Parmesan, but they just aren't the same and good old fashioned Alfredo with cream. It's a simple and quick recipe, easy to do while waiting on your pasta or side dishes.

Ingredients
3 Tablespoons butter
8 fluid ozs heavy whipping cream
salt to taste
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 cup Romano cheese, grated
1 egg yolk

Directions
1. Melt the butter in a pan over medium high heat. Add the whipping cream, stirring constantly. Sprinkle some salt, then add the Parmesan and Romano cheeses stirring until melted. Mix in egg yolk, and simmer over low heat for 3 to 5 minutes. Garnish with additional Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Mediterranean Fettuccine with Shrimp and Spinach

I got this recipe off the back of my fettuccine bag. It looks and sounds absolutely delicious, and I am going to make it this week. I always like to try new things, so I'm excited to see how this tastes.


Makes 6 servings

Ingredients
1 cup sour cream, regular, low-fat, or fat free
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese with sun dried tomatoes and basil, regular or low-fat
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
8 oz fettuccine pasta, uncooked
1 pkg frozen chopped spinach
1 bag (12oz) frozen, uncooked, peeled and deveined medium size shrimp

Directions
1. In a large bowl, combine the sour cream, feta cheese, and garlic. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Set mixture aside.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions, but after the first 8 minutes of cooking, add spinach and shrimp to boiling pasta. Cook pasta mixture for 2 more minutes. Drain thoroughly.
3. Add hot pasta mixture to sour cream mixture and toss gently. Serve immediately.

*Add-ons: For a spicier flavor, add 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper and 1 teaspoon dried basil.
Nutritional Information:
One serving
Calories:200
Protein: 12 grams
Fat: 9 grams
Carbohydrates: 19 grams
Cholesterol: 80mg
Sodium: 270mg

Mimi's Spaghetti

This is my grandmother's recipe for spaghetti that I've changed a little over the years, because I don't have the original. It's pretty close to, if not almost exactly how she used to make it.

Mimi's Spaghetti

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef or turkey
1 can diced tomatoes
8 oz noodles of your choice
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
sprinkle of salt
sprinkle of pepper
olive oil

Directions

1. Pour about a tablespoon of olive oil into a pan. Add meat and brown. Drain when browned.
2. Add tomatoes to meat. Stir.
3. Add all seasonings, and bay leaves. Taste, let simmer.
4. Boil water, add noodles and cook as directed.
5. Drain noodles.
6. Serve.

Lasagna

This was my first time making lasagna. It took a little time, but it was definitely worth it. Make sure you have a large enough pan, mine was spilling over!

Ingredients

• 1 pound sweet Italian sausage
• 3/4 pound lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup minced onion
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
• 2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 12 lasagna noodles
• 16 ounces ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
4. To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Baked Spaghetti

As you know by now, I use Allrecipes frequently. I really have enjoyed almost every recipe I've found on there. Here is another I found and kind of made my own. It's really simple and good for a quick meal.


Ingredients
1lb Spaghetti noodles, uncooked
1-26 ounce can of your favorite spaghetti sauce (I used garlic & herb)
1lb ground beef
1 cup of your favorite cheese (I used 1 cup cheddar and 1 cup mozzarella)
9x13 pan

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350. Brown ground beef. While doing so, bring water to a boil, then add noodles.
2. Add can of spaghetti sauce to the beef, stir and simmer. Cook noodles to your liking.

ground beef and sauce

boiling noodles

cheeses!

3. Drain noodles and add to beef and sauce, stir.

4. Add everything to the pan. Sprinkle the cheese(s) on top.

5. Place in preheated oven and cook for 30 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.
6. Serve while hot, and enjoy!

Chicken Primavera with Pasta

My husband had his wisdom teeth out, and ended up having to have surgery to close the hole that went into his sinus because it was causing him pretty extreme pain. This is one of the first meals he's been able to eat since he got them out! I changed it up a little bit from the original, but not much.

Ingredients
1 pound chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
1 1/2 cup brocolli, cut
1 red bell pepper
1 (10 ounce) tub of Philadelphia Savory Garlic cooking creme
2 cups cooked fettuccine or your favorite pasta

Directions
1. Boil water, add pasta and cook to your likeness.
2. Cook and stir chicken in a large non stick skillet until done. Add veggies; cook 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Add cooking creme; stir and cook for 3 minutes.
4. Stir in pasta and serve while warm.

The Perfect dinner

I've never made salmon before, so when I found a simple salmon recipe, I decided to try it. When I went to the store to get salmon, I found something just as great and it was cheaper! It was vacuum sealed frozen salmon in a bag. It was fresh and I decided to try it to see if there was a huge difference in taste. It had been sitting in my freezer since the 14th, and tonight was the night to try it. I ended up not using the salmon recipe I found and just did my own thing.
I got it out, and decided to bake it because that meant no defrosting. I put some foil on a cookie sheet, put some olive oil on the foil, and placed the salmon (skin side down), on the foil. I baked it at 400 degrees F for 25 minutes. Next time, I will loosely wrap the salmon in foil, so it is less dry on top. It was still perfectly fine, but a little dry on top. I did not season it at all, and ended up just sprinkling a little garlic salt on top.
I made some pasta and asparagus as well, it was lovely.

Pasta sauce
Ingredients
Pasta of your choice (I used penne)
1 1/4 cup Heavy whipping cream/chicken broth
1/4 cup pesto
1 clove garlic
1 Tablespoon butter
3 Tablespoons parmesan cheese

Directions
1. Cook the pasta, drain.
2. Melt butter in a pan, add garlic. Once melted, add whipping cream.
3. Add pesto and parmesan cheese.
4. Stir in pasta and mix.
5. All done!

Baked Penne

This recipe uses the Philadelphia Cooking Creme: Italian Cheese & Herb. I used the Santa Fe Style before with Fajitas and it was so good, I wanted to try some other recipes with the new Cooking Cremes. I found this on the Philadelphia cream cheese website, along with some others I will post as soon as I make them. There are a couple recipes on the Cooking Creme containers too!

I used ground venison, and did not cover the pan. I couldn't even tell the difference from venison to ground beef and not covering the pan was perfectly fine. This meal was great, and would be perfect for kids! You can't even tell there is bell pepper or onion.

There are pictures of my process after the directions. Happy eating! :)

Prep Time: 5-10 minutes    Ready in: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup extra lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup chopped onions
• 1/2 cup chopped green peppers (about half a bell pepper)
• 1 (24 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
• 1 (10 ounce) tub PHILADELPHIA Italian Cheese and Herb Cooking Creme, divided
• 1 cup KRAFT Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided
• 3 cups hot cooked penne pasta
• 
  
• Directions:
• 1. Heat oven to 350F.
• 2. Chop onion and green bell pepper.
• 3. Brown meat with veggies.
• 4.  Stir in spaghetti sauce, 3/4 cup cooking creme and 1/2 cup mozzarella: cook and stir 2 to 3 min. or until mozzarella is melted. Add pasta; mix lightly.
• 5. Spoon into 2-qt. casserole; top with remaining cooking creme and mozzarella. Cover.
• 6. Bake 20 min. or until heated through, uncovering after 15 min.

Ingredients needed

Browning the meat with the veggies

Finished