Million Dollar Spaghetti

 Ingredients:

• 1 lb spaghetti

• ½ tbsp oil
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 lb mild Italian sausage
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• 28 oz jar marinara sauce (plus 1 cup water)
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• ¼ tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp black pepper

Alfredo Sauce:
• 1 stick butter
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 2 garlic cloves, pressed
• ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• ½ tsp garlic salt
• 1 tsp dried parsley

Topping:
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• Fresh parsley for garnish

Directions:
1. Heat oil in a pan and sauté onion, bell pepper, and garlic for 5 minutes. Add ground beef and sausage, season with salt and pepper, and cook until browned. Stir in marinara, water, and seasonings. Let it simmer with the lid slightly open, stirring occasionally.
2. While the sauce simmers, cook spaghetti in salted boiling water until al dente. Drain and set aside.
3. In another pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté for 30 seconds until fragrant. Pour in heavy cream, stirring constantly, and bring to a gentle simmer. Let it thicken slightly, then stir in Parmesan, garlic salt, and parsley until smooth.
4. In a deep baking dish, toss spaghetti with Alfredo sauce and spread evenly. Top with meat sauce, then sprinkle mozzarella.
5. Bake at 350°F for 25 min, then broil for 3-4 min. Garnish with parsley & enjoy!

Sweet Spicey Sticky Chicken

 Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces 
  
  
   
• 1 ½ pounds chicken tenders
• Salt and pepper
• ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup chicken broth
• ¼ cup white or apple cider vinegar
• ¼ cup ketchup
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup packed light or dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce
• Hot, cooked rice, for serving

Instructions 

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place butter in glass 9X13-pan. Place in oven so the butter can melt. (Don't let it burn!) Remove from the oven when butter is melted. Alternately, you can melt the butter and spread in the pan (but where's the fun in that?).
• Pat the chicken tenders dry with paper towels. Season lightly on both sides with salt and pepper.
• Place the flour in a shallow dish. Dredge the chicken tenders in flour to coat. Shake off excess. Place the chicken in a single layer in the buttered pan.
• Bake for 10 minutes. It will bake longer in a following step. While the chicken bakes, make the sauce.
• In a medium saucepan, whisk together the broth, vinegar, ketchup, granulated sugar, brown sugar, soy sauce and chili garlic sauce. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Pour the sauce over the chicken and return to the oven to bake for 15 minutes until chicken is baked through and the sauce is bubbly and slightly thickened. The sauce will continue to thicken out of the oven as it cools.
• Serve the chicken and sauce over hot, cooked rice.

Raspberry Cheesecake Pie

Ingredients: 

8 ounces of cream cheese

1 Cup powdered sugar

1/2 Pint whip cream

Cream cream cheese and powdered sugar together.  Set aside.  Whip the whipping cream until it peaks.  Fold in the cream cheese mixture with the whipping cream.  Pour into cooled baked pie crust (fun no-roll-out pie crust below).  Can be used with a regular crust or graham cracker crust.

Topping:

1 bag of frozen raspberries  Defrost the berries, drain out the juice and save.  Place juice in a sauce pan with 1 TBS of cornstarch.  Stir constantly over medium heat until thickened (boiling)   Add the berries and let cool.  Top cream cheese filling with topping.

 Piecrust:

1 1/2 Cups flour

1 TBS sugar

1/2 tsp salt

place in a pie plate and mix with a fork.

1/2 Cup vegetable oil

2 TBS milk

Mix the oil and milk until they are creamy.  Then pour over the flour mixture.  Mix well until moist.  Take fingers and press dough on sides and bottom of pan.  Make sure that it is fairly thin.  Bake 15 minutes at 400 degrees or until slightly brown.  

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

 

Ingredients

• 3 eggs, separated
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• Grated peel of 2 lemons
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 5 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cups Bisquick 
• 3/4 cup ricotta cheese

Instructions

• 1 In a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat egg whites until they start to bubble. Sprinkle in 1 tablespoon of the sugar; continue beating until soft peaks form. Set aside.
  
• 2 In large bowl, beat egg yolks, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, the lemon peel and vanilla with whisk. Beat in melted butter and milk until smooth. Add Bisquick mix, and stir with rubber spatula until just combined (do not overmix). Fold whipped egg whites into batter until just combined. Gently fold ricotta cheese into batter. Batter will be lumpy.
  
• 3 Heat nonstick skillet over medium heat. Pour 3 to 4 tablespoons batter in skillet. Once little bubbles form, turn and continue to cook until pancake is evenly browned on each side. Repeat with remaining batter.
  
• 4 Serve pancakes with your choice of fruit, powdered sugar and/or maple syrup.
  

Marry Me Chicken Meatballs with Risoni (Orozo

Ingredients

CHICKEN MEATBALLS

• 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) minced (ground) chicken
• 1½ cups (90 g) panko breadcrumbs
• 1 small brown onion, finely diced
• 1 tbsp freshly minced garlic
• 1 egg
• ½ cup (50 g) freshly grated parmesan
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp freshly cracked black pepper
• Olive oil spray or 1 tbsp olive oil

RISONI

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 brown onion, diced
• 1 tbsp freshly minced garlic
• 135 g (5 oz) semi-dried (sun-blushed) tomatoes, drained and chopped
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp tomato paste (concentrated puree)
• 2 cups (500 ml) chicken stock
• 1 cup (200 g) risoni (orzo)
• ½ cup (125 ml) thickened (heavy) cream
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp chilli (red pepper) flakes, plus extra to serve (optional)
• ½ tsp freshly cracked black pepper
• ½ cup (125 ml) water
• 2 cups (100 g) fresh baby spinach
• ½ cup (50 g) freshly grated parmesan, plus extra to serve

Instructions

1. Make the meatballs – Combine the chicken, breadcrumbs, onion, garlic, egg, parmesan, milk, paprika, oregano, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Use your hands to mix the ingredients together until just combined.
2. Take 1 heaped tablespoon of the mixture at a time, and roll it into balls just a little smaller than a golfball. Wet your hands with tap water if the mixture feels too sticky. You should make roughly 12 meatballs.
3. To oven bake – Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F) (200°C/400°F fan-forced) and line a baking tray with baking (parchment) paper. Place the meatballs on the baking tray ensuring they are not touching. Spray generously with olive oil. Cook for 10 minutes. Turn the oven grill (broiler) to high and grill (broil) the meatballs for a further 3–4 minutes until slightly browned on the edges.
4. To pan-fry – Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a large, deep, non-stick frying pan. Cook the meatballs for 8–10 minutes until browned and cooked through. Set aside.
5. To air fry – Preheat the air fryer to 200°C (400°F). Spray the basket generously with olive oil. Place the meatballs into the basket so they are not touching. (Cook in batches if needed.) Spray the meatballs with the olive oil spray and cook for 6–8 minutes or until browned and cooked through.
6. Make the risoni and sauce – Heat the olive oil in a large, deep heavy-based frying pan over medium–high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, for 2–3 minutes or until softened.
7. Add the semi-dried tomatoes, followed by the red wine vinegar. Cook, stirring, for 30 seconds until most of the liquid has evaporated.
8. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 1–2 minutes.
9. Add the chicken stock, risoni, cream, oregano, chilli flakes (if using) and black pepper. Cook, stirring regularly, for 5 minutes.
10. Add the water and cook, stirring regularly, for an additional 5 minutes, or until the risoni is tender. (See note 1 for troubleshooting.)
11. Turn the heat off, add the baby spinach and parmesan and stir until the spinach has just wilted.
12. Combine the meatballs and sauce – Add the baked meatballs to the pan and stir to coat them in the sauce.
13. Serve – Serve immediately with an extra sprinkle of chilli flakes (if using) and parmesan.  Recipe and image from Simple Home Edit - she's amazing!!! 

Cherry Garcia Cookies - Thanks Sam

3  Cups Dried Cherries

7/8 Tsp Salt
1 ½ Tsp Baking Soda
5 Cups flour
2 cubes and 1 TBS of Butter
1 3/4 plus 1 TBS Cup sugar
1 3/4 plus 1 TBS Cup light brown sugar
4  eggs
1 TBS vanilla
1 ½ tsp almond extract
2 Cups white chocolate chips
1  Cup chocolate chips
1 3/4 Cups macadamia nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silpat liners.

Place dried cherries in bowl and cover with boiling water.  Let sit 30 minutes to plump up.  Drain well, pat dry and coarsely chop.

Whisk together salt, baking soda, and flour in a small bowl.  Set aside

In a large bowl cream together butter, white, sugar, and brown sugar.  Beat in eggs, vanilla and almond extract.  Add flour mixture to butter mixture half at a time and mix until combined.  Fold in cherries, white chocolate chips, semi-sweet chocolate chips and macadamia nuts.  Refrigerate cookie dough 30 t0 45 minutes to firm up.

Drop dough by the tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets, placing cookies about 1 ½ to 2 inches apart.  Bake 12 to 14 minutes until lightly browned around the edges.  Cook 10 minutes on cookie sheets before removing to racks to cool completely store in a covered container.

Mango Avocado Salsa

 

Ingredients

• 1 avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, and diced medium

• 1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted, and diced medium

• 1 small red onion, diced small

• ¼ cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves

• 1 habanero chile (stem and seeds removed), minced

• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

• ½ teaspoon coarse salt

Directions

1. Combine ingredients:

   In a bowl, combine all ingredients. Stir well.

Storing Mango-Avocado Salsa

Salsa can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Before serving, give it a taste: You may want to add a bit more lime juice or salt.