Chicken Cordon Bleu Baked Ziti

Printable Recipe

Pasta is one of our family's favorite dishes. Maybe you get sick of seeing all the pasta recipes. I'm telling you, I can't help it. I seriously am feeling this desire to pack my family up and move to Italy. Don't be surprised when it happens. 

I once ate dinner with a friend and she made what she called "Chicken Cordon Bleu Lasagna". It was yummy. So I thought I would try to give this idea a try. It was a hit with the whole family! 

Ingredients: 

• 2 eggs
• 15 oz ricotta cheese
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 cup cubed cooked ham 
• 1 cup chopped cooked chicken 
• 2 cups garlic Alfredo sauce 
• 6 slices Swiss cheese
• 12 oz ziti pasta

Directions:

Bake pasta according to package directions. In a medium bowl, beat eggs. Blend in ricotta, Parmesan, cottage cheese and parsley.  Add in chicken, ham, and Alfredo sauce. Pour pasta into greased 9 X 13 dish.  Mix in cheese mixture. Place slices of Swiss cheese over top. Bake for 30 mins at 350F until cheese bubbles and begins to turn brown.

Our Ratings:

 Mama F:  8- It was really creamy and tasty. A nice spin on a classic meal. 

Daddy F: 9 - It was a nice change. The flavors blended together nicely. 

Fuller Kids:  9 - They really liked the "white mac and cheese" but would have preferred to not have the ham in it. 

Lucky the Dog: 10 - Cheese and Ham! Ham is like BACON!!!

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Woofy Wednesday - Dog Days of Summer

It's hot. Miserably hot. Lucky the Dog does not want to go outside. Human Mommy has been keeping the puppies in nothing but diaper and swim suits. Lucky the Dog is covered in fur. Lucky the Dog is hot.

It is hot outside, it is hotter in car! Don't leave your furry friends in cars or they will be on their way to Rainbow Bridge. If your furry friends must be outside all day, please make sure they have water and a shady spot to rest.

It much too hot to want to run and play. I don't even want to play ball with family.

Lucky the Dog has nice shady spot to relax. Biggest puppy has nice tent and we hide in it together to try to stay cool!!

Biggest puppy shares her popsicle with Lucky the Dog! Biggest puppy loves Lucky. And Lucky loves her. XOXO

Have a Woofy Summer and stay cool!!

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Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble Tarts

 Printable Recipe

I miss my grandmother. She was such a strong, beautiful, amazing woman. She taught me so much about so many different aspects of life but I am so grateful for the time she took to teach me how to cook. I have so many treasured memories of sitting in her kitchen tasting all the wonderful things she was making. She always liked to make a strawberry rhubarb pie in the summertime. I decided at a recent get together with friends to give her traditional pie a makeover and made single serving tarts. I think it turned out fabulous, of course I could be biased! Enjoy the pictures a la my new Instagram obsession, these were shot in "earlybird".

 

Ingredients:

Pie Crust

• 12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/3 cup very cold vegetable shortening
• 6 to 8 tablespoons (about 1/2 cup) ice water

 Filling: 

• 2 cups sliced strawberries
• 2 cups chopped rhubarb
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch 
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
• juice of one lemon
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Crumble Topping:

• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 sugar
• 1/2 brown sugar
• 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F. 

Pie Crust:

Dice the butter and return it to the refrigerator while you prepare the flour mixture. Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to mix. Add the butter and shortening. Pulse 8 to 12 times, until the butter is the size of peas. With the machine running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse the machine until the dough begins to form a ball. Dump out on a floured board and roll into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Separate dough into 4 balls. Grease tart dishes and press dough with your fingers until even across bottom and sides.

Filling:

In a large bowl, mix strawberries, rhubarb, sugar, and cornstarch until a thick syrup forms.  Stir in lemon zezt, lemon juice, cinnamon and vanilla.  Pour equally into crust lined tart dishes.

Crumble Topping:

 Mix flour and sugars. Cut butter into mixture until crumbs form. Sprinkle crumbs on top of tarts.

Bake for 50 mins or until tart begins to bubble and top starts to brown.

Our Ratings:

Mama F: 10 - The smell of this cooking just took me back to my childhood! The crumble top was a tasty addition.

Daddy F: 9 - Generally not a fan of pies this dessert won him over with the crunchy crumble topping.

Fuller Kids: 7 - They liked the tarts but I think they enjoyed helping me make them more. I love passing down traditions to my girls!

Lucky the Dog: 2 - Not a fan. Too much fruit not enough chicken.

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Banana Praline Oatmeal

Printable Recipe

 Okay folks, brace yourself. I finally downloaded Instagram on my phone and I have been going a little wild with taking pictures of anything and everything I can find. So you will just have to deal with all my photo filtered pictures at least for the next few weeks until I get bored of it! haha

I have been trying to come up with some more "healthy" breakfast options as my kids seems to want to eat pancakes and donuts everyday ( I can't blame them, donuts are WAY tastier than oatmeal!). This came out even better than I expected. The bananas give it a taste almost like banana bread and the pralines offer the perfect sweet crunch!


 

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas
1/3 cup brown sugar
 2 eggs
 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
 2 cups whole milk
2 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
 1/2 cup pralines

Directions:

Begin preheating the oven to 350 degrees.

Mash the bananas well with a fork. Mix the mashed bananas together with the brown sugar, eggs, salt, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Next stir in the milk, then stir in the oats. Roughly chop the pralines and stir them in as well. Spray the inside of a baking dish (8x8 inch or similar size) with non-stick spray. Pour in the oat mixture. Cover with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 15 minutes or until the center is solid and the edges are slightly golden brown.  Serve warm and enjoy! 

Our Ratings:

Mama F: 7 - I liked it, it was much better than I thought it would be. I had to add some sweet because well, I am the cook and I like it that way! 

Daddy F: 8 - I really enjoyed how moist it was. Somewhere between oatmeal and a cake. I even cut it up and took it to work to snack on!

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Fuller Kids: 10 - I was amazed how much they liked this! My toddler seriously kept coming back into the kitchen and stealing pieces and sneaking off with them!

Lucky the Dog: 7 - snack was good. Not good as bacon. But Lucky not complain.

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Slow Cooker Sunday - Honey BBQ Ribs

Welcome again to our Slow Cooker Sunday Linky Party!! I love me some slow cooked BBQ ribs on the grill this time of year but sometimes it makes me nervous to leave the gas going outside, especially if I am not going to be home! This is a great and easy alternative to grilling and you don't even have to worry about heating up the kitchen! I like to double the sauce recipe when I make these so I have some on hand for future use!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup ketchup
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 2 tablespoons worstichire sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper 
• 3 lbs ribs 

Directions:

In a pot over medium heat, combine all ingredients (omitting ribs) and blend well. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Place ribs in the slow cooker and cover with half of the BBQ sauce.  Cook on low for 8 hours. To serve brush with remaining BBQ sauce.

The Slow Cooker Sunday Link Up, hosted by Doggie at the Dinner Table, is a place for other foodie lovers to share links to their blogs. Every Sunday a linky will be posted with recipes from my own kitchen. The linky will be open for one week and you can link up to posts you’ve posted in the past. 

The Fine Print: 

• You are free to join the Slow Cooker Sunday link up at any time. You can also skip a few weeks and then come back. But we will miss you! :)
• Please link directly to a post containing a slow cooker recipe— not your main blog URL.
• Please only link to your own blog or photos hosted online.
• You MUST link back to Doggie at the Dinner Table in your blog post. This way, if someone else wants to join the fun, they can. You can either link with text or using the Slow Cooker Sunday photo which can be found in the sidebar.
• I highly encourage you to visit other participants and leave comments. This is a great way to meet new friends and become inspired in your culinary quests! I try to visit all the blogs participating as well!

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Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed Shells

 Printable Recipe

I have a confession. I am in love with Italy. I have secret dreams of moving back abroad with my family and spending long summer evenings having garden parties with loved ones in the Tuscan sun. I don't know what it is but recently I have just been wanting Italian food. Maybe I am in need of a vacation! There is just something about pasta dishes that makes me want to be a glutton and eat myself into an endless food coma.

 Ingredients:

• jumbo pasta shells
• 1 lb ground Italian sausage
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
•  1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes 
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
• 4 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
• 1 package (15 oz) whole milk ricotta cheese
• 1 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/2 cup cooked spinach, excess water pressed out 
• salt and pepper to taste 

Directions:

Boil pasta according to package instructions until about half done. You don't want them cooked all the way or they will get mushy once you bake them. 

 In a deep skillet, brown Italian sausage.

Add in your onion and garlic. 

Cook sausage, onion, and garlic until fragrant and onions become translucent, about 2 mins.

Add the crushed tomatoes, 2 tablespoons basil, crushed red pepper (if using), salt and pepper to taste.

In a large bowl, combine ricotta, 1 cup mozzarella, and 1/2 cup Parmesan.

Mix in remaining 2 tablespoons basil, parsley, and spinach.

Pour half of meat sauce  on the bottom of a 9 X 13 pan. (I made two 8 X 8 so I could freeze one for later!)

Stuff shells with cheese mixture.

Lay stuffed shells open side down on top of meat sauce.

Pour the other half meat sauce over shells and top with  remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Bake for 30 mins.

Try and tell me that doesn't look amazing!! And it was, it was so easy too! This would be so great  to serve at a dinner party and your friends will be super impressed by your awesome culinary skills! :)


Our Ratings:

Mama F: 10 - No 20!! This was so good. Cheesy, creamy, and just the right amount of spice for me.

 

Daddy F: 10 - This was an amazing dish that I could probably eat every night if I didn't care about my waist line. (No really, he said that) 

Fuller Kids: 10 - They both had a plate full and didn't even seem to mind the spice. Maybe the creamy cheese cut the spice down enough for them? 

Lucky the Dog: 10 - Nom Nom Nom.....she was so busy licking the gooey cheese of her jowls she couldn't comment!

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