Recipes

This is a great easy go to sauce that's sure to impress! Its great with pasta, chicken, lasagna, gnocchi, and so much more!

1/4 cup Olive Oil

2 Tbsp. Minced Garlic

1 can (28oz. size) Whole Peeled Tomatoes

2 cans (28 oz. size)Dei Fratelli Chopped Italian Tomatoes Herbs & Olive Oil

4 tsp. Italian Seasoning

1 Tbsp. Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

1 Tbsp. Sea Salt

1 cup Heavy Cream

Heat olive oil over medium heat and add in the garlic. Add in the can of whole peeled tomatoes, and 1 can of chopped tomatoes. Reduce for 40-45 minutes on medium low heat stirring occasionally.

Using an emursion blender add in the heavy cream and blend until their are no more large chunks.

Add in the remaining can of chopped tomatoes, italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, and sea salt. Cook on low for 45 minutes. Enjoy!

Easy Cheese Ravioli with Peas, Bacon and Spinach

This is one of my go-to meals in the meal planner. We have it at least once a month because it is so easy, cheap and absolutely delicious. I didn't take pictures step-by-step but it is so easy, you really don't need them. So here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

3 slices bacon, cut into 1/4 inch pieces (I used kitchen scissors to cut which made it very easy)

1 package (20 oz fresh ravioli)

1 1/2 cups frozen peas

3/4 cup heavy cream

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 cups of fresh baby spinach

1/4 cup shaved parmesan

salt and pepper

Directions:

1. In a large, heavy non-stick skillet, crisp the bacon over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Reserve bacon fat.

2. In a pot of boiling water, cook the ravioli until just tender, 1 to 2 minutes. Drain, reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water. Heat the reserved bacon fat in the skillet over

high heat, add the ravioli and cook, tossing until golden brown in spots, for about 2 to 3 minutes.

3. In a saucepan, bring the peas, cream and garlic to a simmer over medium heat, stirring. Pour into the pan with the ravioli. Toss in the spinach to wilt. Mix in half the bacon and the cheese. Add 1 tbsp reserved pasta water at a time to thin the sauce as desired. Sprinkle with remaining bacon and cheese. This recipe makes 4 huge servings. Enjoy!

The Best Ever Chicken Sandwich

Yesterday, I made my very first loaf of bread, ever. Surprisingly, it actually turned out really well! I couldn't believe it. I showed my husband while I was mixing it in the Kitchenaid mixer and said, "Look it actually looks like dough!" Heather is the baker in the family. I am not. But I resorted to making my own ciabatta bread because now that we live in the "sticks" I cannot find ciabatta bread anywhere around me. I had a major craving for my favorite sandwich in the world that my mom and I used to make together. It is a fried or baked chicken tender patty, avocado, lettuce, bacon and pepperjack cheese on ciabatta bread. It HAS to be on ciabatta bread. So, I set out looking for a recipe for ciabatta bread and found this one that looked pretty simple on pinterest: Ciabatta Bread Recipe. I followed the recipe in the link completely to make the bread. Here is how the bread looked…it was absolutely delicious but you're welcome to just buy a loaf of ciabatta bread at your local grocery store, that will work just fine.

So, during the last half hour of the bread baking we started making the sandwiches. First you need to bread the chicken tenders. Dip the chicken tenders into a shallow baking dish with 3 eggs whisked together. 

 Then, we dipped the chicken tenders in a mixture of bread crumbs, garlic powder and sea salt.

 They were ready to be fried or baked. My husband prefers to fry them so that's what we did but they are just as good when you bake them.

 While the chicken tenders are frying, prepare the other toppings by shredding the romaine lettuce,  slicing the avocado, and cooking the bacon. You can also prepare a Chipotle Ranch sauce that one of my favorite restaurants back in Naperville, Kick's Chicken, used on their sandwich like this. Here is a link to a great Chipotle Ranch recipe, but it honestly doesn't need it with the avocado.

 To prepare the sandwich, toast your bread in the oven at 350 degrees with a slice of pepperjack cheese on both sides of the bread for about 3 minutes, being careful not to overcook. You want the cheese to be just melted. Then stack the chicken, bacon, avocado and lettuce on the sandwich. Here is the finished product. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did! If you're lucky like me, there will be leftovers and you can have it again the next day for lunch when it is just as good! :)

Homemade Hot Chocolate

I LOVE hot chocolate during the long winters here in Michigan!  This is a super simple recipe that is delicious and always a hit when I give it out as a gift.  You can play around with the recipe to make your own unique flavors as well.
This year I made little individual tubes as "single serving" stocking stuffers and also made "hot cocoa kits."  The kits included: classic dark cocoa mix, orange white chocolate mix, hazelnut cocoa mix, homemade classic & peppermint marshmallows (recipe coming your way soon!), and chocolate dipped spoons.  Depending on how much you want to spend and how elaborate you want to get, some other ideas of things you can include are: sprinkles, crushed candy canes, flavored syrups & liquors (Baileys is awesome!), chocolate truffles, cookies, etc.
So without further ado, here is the recipe! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

4 1/2 cups Grated Chocolate
1 1/2 cups Whole Dry Milk

Simple right!?  So all I do is use a box grater (cheese grater) or a microplane to grate my chocolate on.  If you are doing a lot and have a cheese grater attachment for your food processor that works too. (I do this at work!)  Although it can become quite messy so beware.  I usually will put my chocolate in the freezer for at least 1 hour before I grate it in the food processor to help it from melting with the friction heat.

To customize your own hot chocolate blend get creative and have fun!  Let us know what unique blends you come up with!  Use various types of chocolate, add things like cinnamon, and orange zest.  I recommend if you are giving this away as a gift to check out the Avery labels section at your local store.  I buy all shapes and sizes of their labels and customize them on their site www.avery.com/print.  Their site is super user friendly and makes anything you make look really professional.  Although I do use a lot of their labels, sometimes I will just use their site to design "tags" to print onto card stock as well.

Make sure to attach a tag to your hot cocoa mix that says:

*Mix 1/2 cup mix with 1 cup of warm milk

Gourmet Caramel Corn Blend

This is a delicious recipe that is great to have out for your guests to munch on during Holiday gatherings, or to give away as gifts.

1/2 cup Unsalted Butter
1 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Light Corn Syrup
1/2 tsp. Salt

1/4 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract

6 cups Popped Kettle Corn
1 1/2 cups Mixed Nuts

3/4 cup Dried Cherries
3/4 cup M&Ms
1/4-1/2 cup Melted White Chocolate
1/4-1/2 cup Melted Dark Chocolate

Melt the butter and then add in the brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt.  Boil for 5 minutes without stirring.

While the caramel is boiling spread the kettle corn and nuts out onto a sheet tray lined with parchment paper.

After the 5 minutes, remove the caramel from the heat and add in the baking soda and vanilla extract.  (Be careful the baking soda will cause the caramel to expand and rise in the pan)

Pour the caramel over the kettle corn and nuts and toss until coated with a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula.  (I like to use 2 heatproof spatulas to mix it.) Do not worry if the caramel sets up without being completely coated on the kettle corn, just do the best you can by the end of the process it will completely coat.

Bake at 325 degrees for a total of 45 minutes.  Every 15 minutes take out the tray and toss the kettle corn and caramel.

After 45 minutes remove from the oven and completely cool.  Mix in the dried cherries and M&Ms and then drizzle with the melted chocolates.  ENJOY!

 Cranberry Walnut Banana Bread

This is a great recipe for leftover cranberry sauce after Thanksgiving but I used Craisins instead. Either one would be delicious. It is a very moist bread that is so tasty warm with a little butter on top.

Ingredients:

2 1/12 cups white sugar

1 cup shortening

3 eggs

4 mashed bananas (very ripe)

1/2 cup milk

1 cup cranberry sauce or 1 cup Craisins

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans.

2. Using a mixer, cream together the sugar and shortening until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, and mix in bananas, cranberries or sauce, milk and vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Gradually blend flour mixture into the banana mixture. Fold in walnuts. Pour into the prepared loaf pans. 

3. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. 

4. This can also be frozen for up to a month. I am planning on giving loaves of bread away for Christmas gifts so I wrapped one of the loaves in red saran wrap and put it in a plastic bag to freeze. 

Cranberry Pecan & White Cheddar Cheese Ball

If you're looking for a delicious and easy appetizer to add to your Thanksgiving feast tomorrow, look no further than this Cranberry Pecan & White Cheddar Cheese Ball. This was one of the winning recipes at Heather's Recipe Party this fall prepared by Dana Scappaticci. Everyone kept coming back for seconds and thirds! I will be making this tomorrow morning to serve as an appetizer for our meal. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
8 ounces good quality sharp white cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
crackers (I used Ritz)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the pecans in an even layer. Bake for about 5 minutes and then remove from oven.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese and the cheddar cheese. Add in the pecans, salt and the Worcestershire sauce. Continue mixing for another minute or two until everything is well-combined. Remove the mixture from the bowl and form into a ball with your hands. Wrap the formed ball in plastic wrap and chill for about 30 minutes.
3. Remove the chilled cheese ball. Using small handfuls at a time, place dried cranberries all over the cheese ball, pushing in lightly to secure them into place. Try to cover as much of the cheese ball as possible (except the bottom). Serve or cover and place back into the fridge until serving. Serve with crackers.