Seafood Pasta

As much as I love the seafood stuffed Portobella mushrooms.. not everyone likes mushrooms, so this is definitely a really good substitute for it... and my husband and his friend ate the whole batch at one sitting!!! Really really easy and super tasty!!!

Ingredients:

1 lb. bow tie pasta

1 can Large baby shrimp

1 can whole baby clams

2 cups heavy whipping cream

2 tbl basil

2 tbl butter / margarine

1 tbl olive oil

1 whole head of garlic

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Dash of pepper

Dash of cajun seasoning

Prep:

~Boil bow tie noodles

~Add drained shrimp and drained clams to the pan, mince half head of garlic, add 1/2 cup whipping cream along with pepper and cajun seasoning. Mix and sautee up in pan till it becomes a thick mixture.

~In a pot, add remaining cream, butter, grated Parmesan cheese, mince the rest of the garlic and add basil, stir constantly on a med-low heat until butter and cheese is melted and sauce is hot

~Drain noodles and add seafood mixture along with sauce

Seafood Stuffed Portobella Mushrooms

I had something like this at the last restaurant I used to work at and I don't have the recipe for it but I decided to make my own version of it. It was amazingly good!! This is also super great with bow-tie pasta to make a seafood pasta as well... 

Ingredients:

4 Portobella mushrooms

1 can Large baby shrimp

1 can whole baby clams

2 cups heavy whipping cream

2 tbl basil

2 tbl butter / margarine

1 tbl olive oil

1 whole head of garlic

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Dash of pepper

Dash of cajun seasoning

Prep:

~In skillet pan, heat up olive oil and grill mushrooms (both sides)

~Add 2 tbl butter and cover to cook for a few minutes

~Remove mushrooms and pat dry with paper towel

~Add drained shrimp and drained clams to the pan, mince half head of garlic, add 1/2 cup whipping cream along with pepper and cajun seasoning. Mix and sautee up in pan till it becomes a thick mixture.

~In a pot, add remaining cream, butter, grated Parmesan cheese, mince the rest of the garlic and add basil, stir constantly on a med-low heat until butter and cheese is melted and sauce is hot

~Then take seafood mixture and pack into the bottom of mushrooms. Pour sauce over top.

Curry Stuffed Chicken with Orange Marmalade Sauce

This recipe is another one my Dad gave me that they make at the fire station quite a bit. Him and his friend Craig.. my "Uncle Mac" made up this recipe and he mentioned it to me on the phone and I decided to make it.  It was super super good!! However... this recipe was definitely enough for 4 chicken breasts and I only made two... so next time I'll make four so we have leftovers the next day. Also I made another note to myself that I should definitely not put so much sauce on each breast because then it became too sweet. So keep that in mind... use about half the sauce on each breast that what I have in the picture. 

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts

3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs

1 cup plain low fat yogurt

1 cup orange marmalade jelly

1/2 cup grated carrot

1/4 cup chopped green onion

1 tbl curry powder

2 tbl butter

1/4 cup water

Prep:

~Add yogurt and jelly in a bowl, mix it well and put it in the fridge till ready to use

~Filet breasts in half

~Preheat oven to 350 degrees

~Grate carrot and chop onion

~Add veggies and curry powder to melted butter in skillet and cook for several minutes 

~Add bread crumbs, veggie mixture and water to a mixing bowl and mix until crumbly

~Add mixture to one half on chicken and simply fold over the other half

~Put in oven for 30 minutes

~When ready to serve, take out sauce and serve over chicken (don't really need a lot as stated above... you can always add more if you want)

Use about half of the sauce that I used in this picture*

Meatball Subs

So I drove by Subway and was considering going in and grabbing subs for dinner one night.. but as usual.. I decided to cook at home instead. But unfortunately I didn't have sub buns so next time I ran to the store I grabbed some. When I decided to make subs... I ended up craving some Italian. So I decided to whip up some meatballs and have meatball subs! Never made meatballs in my life... I'm used to eating the frozen ones that are premade already- haha. So I started throwing some stuff in a bowl and the husband LOVED this meal. I did have some of my spaghetti sauce already made and frozen, so I thawed that out and that's what I used for the sauce. 

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1 egg
1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs (or more if you feel that they meat isn't sticking together well enough)
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp minced onions
1 1/2 tbl italian seasoning
1/2 tsp oregano
6 cloves of freshly minced garlic
Dash of salt
2-3 tbl olive oil
1/2 tbl parsley
2 cups Dee's spaghetti sauce** (on blog)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
2- 12" submarine buns

Prep:
~Add meat and all spices and mixture (minus cheese and sauce)
~Preheat oven to 350 degrees
~Take a half of a handful of meat and flatten, take some cheese and place in center, roll into ball making a stuffed meatball
~In a large skillet pan add olive oil, turn on medium heat
~Brown meatballs
~Put in a pan and cook in oven for 45 minutes
~Cut sub buns and place on baking sheet, after meatballs are done, turn oven on to the broiler and slightly brown buns
~Meanwhile, heat up sauce in a small pot
~Put meatballs on sub with some more cheese on them and then poor sauce over them
~Sprinkle parsley over top
~ENJOY!!

Strawberry Mango Salsa....

Made this for a party and my girlfriend wanted to charge people for it!! Apparently she liked it!!

Ingredients:
2 tbl balsamic vinegar
2/3 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tbl lime juice
2 diced fresh mango
2 cups diced strawberries

Prep:
~Mix balsamic vinegar, lemon, orange and lime juice in large container or bowl
~Dice strawberries and add to bowl and gently stir
~Dice mango (as shown below) and add and mix gently
~Allow mixture to rest at least 20 minutes and refrigerate before serving

(I didn't have orange juice, but I had some clementines, so I made my own juice... also I would like to try this recipe with PINEAPPLES instead of mango next time!!)

Dee's already famous....Veggie Pitas!!!

I've made these several times now, and they are a huge hit!!

Ingredients:

8 Oroweat Multigrain Sandwich Thins

1 cup chopped broccoli

1 cup chopped cauliflower

1/4 cup chopped carrots

8 oz cream cheese

1 cup ranch

1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar shredded cheese

Prep:

~Chop and grate all veggies

~Spread cream cheese in between sandwich sides

~Spread ranch on the top of the bread

~Sprinkle veggies on top

~Add cheese on top

~Broil till cheese is melted in oven

~Cut in 4 quarters  

(I'd definitely recommend doing all the veggies ahead of time, especially if you are making these for company.. otherwise you'll be spending the whole time in your kitchen!)