Shrimp and Pasta in Parmesan Cream Sauce

This really isn't a "recipe"...but it was a great was to use up some leftover Parmesan Cream Sauce from the blog entry below.

On the stove top I reheated my leftover cream sauce and added some white wine to thin it out. Then I simply added some cooked pasta and steamed shrimp...viola! I topped it with some grated parmesan and parsley. It was really good!

Pepperoni and Cheese Stuffed Chicken with Parmesan Cream Sauce

This was very good! It could of used a little something more to flavor the chicken meat. I think next time I will either marinate the chicken or well season both sides of the chicken before stuffed and rolling.

INGREDIENTS

boneless skinless chicken breasts
sliced pepperoni

cheese (I used tomato basil sharp white cheddar....SO good)

extra virgin olive oil

Italian seasoning

salt

pepper

toothpicks

For the Parmesan cream sauce I made a basic bechamel sauce and added some Parmesan cheese, garlic and pepper. (I cut the linked recipe in half).

DIRECTIONS

Between wax paper pound out your chicken breasts.

Layer down your sliced pepperoni (I used 11 small slices per chicken breast).

Layer on your cheese (I used 2 quarter inch slices per chicken breast).

Secure with toothpicks.

Place in oven safe dish, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, and sprinkle with salt, pepper and Italian seasoning to your liking.

Bake on 325 until done.

If you choose to make the Parmesan Cream Sauce you can do that will the chicken it baking.

Photo without the Parmesan Cream Sauce:

Lemon Curd and Raspberry Filled Cupcakes

This recipe was very "Sandra Lee".....but it was good!! I had some lemon curd and wanted to do something fun with it.

INGREDIENTS

Lemon Cake Mix (and ingredients required to make the mix)

Lemon Frosting

Lemon Curd

Raspberry Preserves

DIRECTIONS

Baked your lemon cake mix in cupcake form as directed by the box.

While they are baking, mix together the lemon curd and raspberry preserves to suit your taste. You are going to need more raspberry preserves than lemon curd since the lemon curd is very powerful.

One the cupcakes have cooled use the cone method (cut out a cone shape from the top, cut off the point of the cone, stuff the hole with filling, then put the top back on) fill them with the mixture of lemon curd and raspberry preserves.

Frost the cupcakes (this will also cover up and "uglies" from the coning).

**You need to keep these in the refrigerator because of the lemon curd.

Melissa's Three Bean Beef Chili

I had a craving for Chili that would not go away. There are so many chili recipes out there and I could not choose! So, I made up my own and it came out GREAT. I did use a package of chili seasoning mix since this was my first time....but you will see I added my own spices to it as well. I'm ready for another bowl right now!

INGREDIENTS

1 lb ground chuck
1 lb stew meat
1 - 29 oz can diced tomatoes and green chilies
2 - 15 oz cans tomato sauce
1 can pinto beans
1 can black beans
1 can red chili beans
4 stalks of celery
Texas Pete hot sauce
hot chili sauce
mild jalapeno hot sauce
1 pkg McCormick's chili seasoning
my own seasonings - garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, chili powder, cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, chipotle seasoning, cumin, thyme, oregano and brown sugar

Optional

sour cream

shredded cheese (I used Chipotle Cheddar)

DIRECTIONS

Cook the ground chuck on the stove top with some garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, chili powder, cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, chipotle seasoning, cumin, thyme and oregano.

In your slow cooker combine all the above ingredients (including all the spices you cooked the meat in).

I cooked mine on low while I was at work...which was over 10 hours.

Please note: I put my stew meat in the slow cooker raw so it would cook slowly and be nice and tender...and it was!!

Sweet, Salty Frito Candy

Since chocolate pretzels are a great thing, I thought I would try this recipe out. I am always up for a no-bake sweet recipe! This was very good and everyone liked it!

INGREDIENTS

2 cups pretzels

1 cup Fritos

8 mini peanut butter cups

1 stick unsalted butter (8 tablespoons)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (or however many you want)

Optional: Some peanuts for the top

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a 13×9 inch pan with parchment paper or no-stick (Release) foil.

Place pretzels in food processor and pulse to break - don’t pulverize. Add Fritos to processor and break them up with pretzels.

Dump into pan.

Unwrap peanut butter cups and throw them in the mix.

Place butter in a non-stick saucepan and melt over medium heat. When butter is melted, stir in brown sugar. Bring mixture to a full boil and boil for 1 minute, stirring once or twice. Pour over Frito mixture and bake for 8 minutes.

Remove pan from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over hot candy. Return to oven for 1 minute to soften chips. Spread softened chocolate chips over bars.

Cool at room temperature until you feel the pan is cool enough to be transferred to your refrigerator, then transfer to refrigerator to set the chocolate. When chocolate is set, lift from pan and break the candy up as you would almond toffee. You can eat it cold or let it come back down to room temp. It doesn’t have to be refrigerated, really.

My Notes: I crushed the pretzels (sticks) and Fritos in a bag with a rolling pin. I also cut the mini Reese's into quarters. Since I had mini chocolate chips on had, so I used them...plus they melted faster =).

Caramelized Baked Chicken

I thought I would try this recipe from Allrecipes since I had everything on hand and the ratings were so high.

INGREDIENTS

3 pounds chicken wings (I used chicken breasts)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 cup honey
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Place chicken in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Mix together the oil, soy sauce, ketchup, honey, garlic, salt and pepper. Pour over the chicken.

Bake in preheated oven for one hour, or until sauce is caramelized.

My Notes: As stated above I used chicken breasts for this. I also cut the recipe down to accommodate two pieces of chicken. It was just "ok". If I make it again I plan to brown it in the sauce mixture on the stove top, then transfer it to the oven. I also spooned the mixture over the chicken while it was baking so it had a nice coating.