Chicken Alfredo

 

My husband and I have adapted this recipe from recipes we have seen online. In an attempt to make a homemade alfredo sauce similar to Olive Garden's alfredo sauce. Google "Olive Garden copycat alfredo recipes" to find other similar recipes. We have slightly tweaked those recipes and I think we now have the perfect recipe for alfredo sauce. We like ours with a little spice to it and that is one of the main differences. This is definitely not a recipe that is easy on the waistline but it is delicious!

Ingredients:
8 oz penne or other pasta, cooked to your preference
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked to your preference
1 cup heavy cream
6T butter
2 oz cream cheese (we use 1/3 less fat, not that it will help this dish!)
Cayenne pepper, to taste
Garlic powder, to taste
3 oz fresh grated parmesan cheese

Directions:
Combine cream, butter, cream cheese, and seasonings in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently with a whisk, and reduce heat to low. Simmer on low until thickened, usually the amount of time it takes for the water to boil and noodles to cook. Add fresh parmesan and stir over medium heat until cheese is melted. Serve immediately over hot noodles and cut cup chicken breast. Leftovers do not reheat well. We usually cut this recipe in half to serve two people.

Parmesan Orzo

 

This dish is becoming one of my favorite side dishes. The original recipe can be found on Allrecipes but I have made a few changes. I cut the amount of butter in half (which I do with a lot of recipes to cut down the amount of fat. I also leave out the basil, as that is not something I keep in the house. I like to season this with garlic, seasoned salt, or even cayenne pepper. 

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp butter

1 cup orzo

1 (14oz) can chicken broth

1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan

Preferred seasonings

Directions:

Melt butter in a saucepan, add orzo and saute until orzo slightly browned. Stir in chicken broth and seasonings, bring to a boil. Boil until the majority of the broth is cooked down, about 15-20 minutes. Mix in parmesan and stir until melted.

Baked Beans

Another dish that does not photograph well and I only got a photo of the leftovers. This recipe I came up with on my own. It is adapted from my mom's recipe for baked beans and I am not sure where she got her recipe, I think she just throws things in until it tastes good. The key to these is to boil them down slowly so they will thicken up.

Ingredients:
1 can pork and beans
3 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp molasses
1 Tbsp barbeque sauce
1 Tbsp Country Bob's All Purpose sauce

Directions:
Combine all ingredients and boil slowly until desired thickness. They will thicken more upon standing. I also sometimes combine the ingredients and chill in the fridge for a few hours before boiling to help thicken as well.

Macaroni Corn Casserole

I had to take a photo of the leftovers and this does not photograph well, but I assure you it is delicious! I have no idea where the original recipe came from, I just know that all of the women in my family have this recipe.

Ingredients:
1 stick butter, melted
1 can corn, with the juice (you can use 2 cans if desired)
1 can creamed corn
1 cup macaroni, uncooked (I use either elbow or the rings)
8-12 oz velveeta, cut up (I use 12)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Dump all ingredients into a baking dish. Mix together and place covered in the oven. Bake, stirring occasionally, for 45-60 minutes, or until macaroni is cooked.

Homemade Lemonade

I forgot to take a picture of this. Imagine a nice cold glass of lemonade. There is nothing better in the summer. I have never made homemade before but decided to go all out for our barbeque this weekend. I used this recipe from The Sweetest Kitchen.

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cup sugar
Zest of 3 lemons
2 cups boiling water
4 cups cold water
1 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (this took me about 8-9 lemons)

Directions:
Pour sugar and lemon zest into a large pitcher. Add boiling water and stir to dissolve sugar. Add cold water and lemon juice and stir to combine. Strain out lemon zest before serving. Serve chilled or with ice.

Syrus's Sweet Dip

This dip is definitely a crowd favorite. It can be used on chips, crackers, or anything else you can think of. It is a sweet dip that is incredibly easy to make. This is my husband's recipe, I am not sure where he got it from.

Ingredients:
16 oz cream cheese, softened
1 small jar (~9 oz I think) sweet red pepper relish

Directions:
Combine ingredients and beat with a mixer until smooth. Serve with chips or crackers. This dips gets pretty firm when left in the fridge so set it out for a while before serving to soften. You can adjust the amounts of cream cheese or relish to your preference.

My Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies

People rave about my chocolate chip cookies. I will admit, they are pretty tasty. I will let you in on a little secret though, the recipe is basically the recipe you will find on the bag of chocolate chips. What is the secret ingredient? Flour. That's right, flour. The amount of flour I add is the only change I make to the original recipe but apparently that is all it takes! I am constantly asked to make my chocolate cookies any time I need to bring something to an event.

This reminds me of the Friends episode where Monica is trying to figure out Phoebe's grandmother's recipe for chocolate chip cookies and it turns out they were the Nestle Toll House recipe the whole time.

Ingredients:
2 sticks butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs
3 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups chocolate chips (I like to use a combination of semi sweet and milk)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375. Cream together butter and sugars. Add vanilla and eggs and mix to combine well. Add baking soda and then add flour about one cup at a time. Mix well. Add chocolate chips and mix until incorporated evenly in the dough. I use a medium cookie scoop to form balls and place on baking sheet. Bake 9-11 minutes (11 minutes is perfect for my oven).

Oreo Fudge Bars

Don't these look great?! I got this recipe from Lemons and Love and I am so glad I did. These bars are pretty easy to make and are always a big hit. I made them for our barbeque this weekend but I have made them before and they always are a crowd pleaser. What's not to love about Oreos and chocolate?

Ingredients:
1 package Oreos, divided
1 stick butter
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips (I used a mixture of semi sweet and milk)
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup mini M&Ms

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325. Line a 9x13 cake pan with foil. Separate out 6 Oreos to use for the topping and coarsely chop them. Crush remaining Oreos either in a food processor or in a gallon bag with a rolling pin. Melt butter and stir in Oreo crumbs. Press Oreo mixture into cake pan to create the bottom crust.

Combine sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, and chocolate chips in a bowl and microwave to melt the chocolate, stirring often until smooth. Spread chocolate mixture over Oreo crust. Top with crushed Oreos, mini chocolate chips, and M&Ms. Press down lightly into chocolate. Bake 20 minutes.

Let cool completely in the fridge before cutting into bars or you will end up with a mess. I keep these in the fridge until serving so they don't get too soft sitting out.

Peanut Butter Cookies

I made these for our barbeque this weekend. They are delicious! I love peanut butter cookies and I added those new mini Reeses peanut butter cups to have some chocolate as well. I think this will be my new go to recipe for peanut butter cookies. I got the recipe from Bakeaholic.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt (I omitted)
1 tsp baking soda
1 stick butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup peanut butter

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Beat together butter and brown sugar until well mixed. Add egg and vanilla and beat until combined well. Add peanut butter and beat until mixture is smooth. Next add flour and baking soda and beat until well combined. I added about 1 cup of Reeses Mini Peanut Butter Cups, but you can make them plain as well. I beat the dough on a high speed to break up the Reeses a little bit.

Chill the dough about 15 minutes in the freezer. Roll into balls (I used a medium cookie scoop) and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten slightly with the bottom of a glass or your finger. If you made them plain, you can make a criss cross design with a fork. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

"Watermelon" Cupcakes

Aren't they cute? I got the idea from Stephanie Cooks. These are incredibly simple to make. Basically you make a batch of vanilla cake batter (I used boxed but you can make from scratch if you are feeling feisty) and add red food coloring and some mini chocolate chips (about 1/2 cup) before baking. The frosting is just vanilla frosting (I used canned frosting but you could also make this homemade) with green food coloring added. Easy peasy and adorable!

Oreo Cupcakes

 Welcome to my new cooking blog! I have been trying out a lot of new recipes lately and have decided I might as well blog about them. I am also working on getting better with my photography so bear with me on that!

My first recipe is for Oreo cupcakes. I made these cupcakes for a coworkers bridal shower. Everyone loved them! This was my first attempt at decorating cupcakes and all I have is an old cake decorating kit my mom gave me. I think it might be older than I am, I know she used it for my birthday cakes when I was very young. It gets the job done but I am hoping to purchase a new kit someday soon.

I have seen several recipes for Oreo cupcakes floating around the internet, but I decided to use this one from Lemons & Love with just a few changes. The main difference is that I decided not to fill them. I also adapted the frosting a little to fit my preferences more. I love that this recipe uses a cake mix and tweaks it to make it that much more yummy. I know homemade is supposed to be better, but I have yet to find a cake recipe that I actually like better than a mix

I will definitely be making these cupcakes again! I might change things up and use a white cake mix next time and I'd like to try a whipped cream frosting on these as well. Enjoy!

Cake Ingredients:
1 boxed chocolate cake mix, unprepared
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup oil
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 package Oreos, divided

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Line cupcake pan with paper liners (this recipe should make about 24 cupcakes). Carefully twist apart 24 Oreos and place one wafer filling-side up in each cupcake liner. Cut the remaining 24 wafers in half. Save 24 halves to top the cupcakes and crumble the remaining halves to use in the frosting. Crush the remaining Oreos to add to the cake batter. These can be as large or small as you want.

Mix together cake mix, sour cream, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Add crushed Oreos. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full. The batter is pretty thick, so I tapped the pan on the counter a few times to distribute the batter evenly. Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes (mine actually needed to bake for 22 minutes, but it seems I always have to bake things longer in my oven). Cool cupcakes completely before frosting.

Frosting Ingredients:
2 1/3 sticks butter, softened (next time I will use less, the frosting had a very strong butter taste)
3 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 tablespoons heavy cream

Directions:
Beat butter with a mixer until smooth. Add powdered sugar and mix until sugar is moistened. Add vanilla and cream and mix until smooth. You can add more or less cream depending on how thick you want your frosting. Mix in crushed Oreos. Pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes and top with an Oreo half.