Layered pasta bake

 

What I had:

• 8-10 ounces (roughly half the container) of cooked angel hair pasta
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
• 1 lb hot sausage, cooked
• 1 lb butternut squash, sauteed and mashed a little
• 1 large white onion, sauteed
• 1 15 oz can of tomato sauce
• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Honestly, once you have the base, you can use whatever meats and veggies you want!

What I did:

• Mixed the cooked pasta, eggs, and parmesan cheese
• Spread it evenly in a 9X13 pan
• Baked at 350 for 10 minutes
• Spread the cream cheese over it (some recipe I saw said to use wax paper to roll the cream cheese, didn't work for me. I think it would be better to heat it up and pipe it over the base)
• Layered the squash, onions, and sausage
• Sprinkled the mozzarella cheese evenly on top
• Tented aluminum foil over the pan
• Baked for an hour at 350
• Moved pan up to top shelf, removed foil, broiled on low for 5 minutes

Hey, the kid and husband loved it, so I can it a winning experiment!

Air fried mozzarella sticks

 What I had:

• 1/2 lb mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup corn starch in a zip lock bag
• 1 egg beaten real well in a shallow container
• 1 cup breadcrumbs in a second shallow container with spices to taste
• garlic powder, salt, pepper, paprika

What I did:

• Cut the cheese into 4" by 1/4" logs
• Put them in the bag with the cornstarch and made sure each one was covered
• Coated with egg
• Coated with the breadcrumb mixture
• Laid them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper
• Freeze
• Repeat egg and breadcrumb coating
• Freeze again
• Air fry at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes

Zucchini waffles

So, I started with a recipe, it was too liquidy, then I added some pancake mix, it was too dry, then I added more egg, milk, and zucchini and it was perfect. I've estimated what I used:

What I had:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 cup fine corn meal
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 medium zucchini finely shredded
• 2 eggs
• 1.5 cups milk
• 4 tbsp olive oil

What I did:

• Mixed the dry ingredients
• Added the wet ingredients and whisked it together
• Poured into waffle maker till it told me it was done
• Served with sunny side up eggs for Oliver, and egg whites for Jeff and myself
• Poured some hot sauce and yummmmmmy

One pan chicken & quinoa

 

What I had:

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 4 chicken drumsticks
• 3 large tomatoes, coarsely chopped 
• 3 medium yellow onions, 2 chopped, 1 halved and thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup green olives chopped
• 1/4 cup olive juice
• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup chicken broth
• Salt and pepper to taste

What I did

• Blend the chopped onions, tomatoes, and olives in a food processor
• Heat olive oil on medium heat
• Season chicken with salt and pepper and cook in the oil over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes. Turn them regularly so they get evenly browned.
• Take chicken out and place on a plate lined with paper towels
• Put the sliced onion in the same pan and cook till soft
• Add the blended vegetable and cook for 5 minutes
• Add quinoa, olive juice, chicken broth, a cup of water and mix well 
• Place chicken back in, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes, checking regularly for doneness
• I ended up pulling the chicken meat off the bones so we could eat it with a spoon 

Indian curry

 I was trying to find a new Indian recipe to try for a meal train I'd signed up for. I found one but didn't like it in its entirety, so I improvised. Everyone loved it, so saving it for posterity.

What I had:

• ~ 15 oz whole peeled tomatoes with the juice
• 1 large white onion, chopped coarsely
• 1 cup cashews
• 8 cloves
• 8 small green cardamoms
• 4 green thai chilies
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 2 tbsp garlic paste
• 2 tbsp ginger paste
• 2 tbsp red chili powder (spicy)
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp garam masala
• salt and pepper to taste

What I did:

• Boiled the first 6 ingredients on medium heat till tomatoes start falling apart and the onions look translucent
• Put in Vitamix and blend till smooth - there's some texture to it from the cashews but no chunks of tomatoes or onions should be there
• In the same skillet, heat coconut oil
• Add garlic and ginger pastes, heat till the raw smell is gone (be careful, this splatters so use a cover)
• Pour the blended sauce back in
• Add the dry spices and simmer over medium-low till you don't smell the individual spices

I added paneer to this and let it simmer till paneer was well coated, also needed to add some water to thin the sauce. I think it would taste delicious with chicken as well.

Copycat Bonchon spicy wing sauce

 What I had:

• 1/4 cup gochujang sauce
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp red hot chili powder
• 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 3/4 tsp granulated garlic
• 1/4 tsp powdered ginger

What I did:

• Whisk everything together in a microwaveable bowl
• Microwave for 3 minutes or till boiling
• Toss whatever chicken you want in it and enjoy

Hot Dog Sauce

 After making this a bazillion times, I figured I'd save it on my blog instead of looking for an email every time. For some reason, this is called the authentic Greek hot dog sauce, but I haven't been able to find out what the origins are. Whatever they might be, it is delicious!

What you need:

• 1/2 lb ground beef
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 1/2 tsp cayenne powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp onion powder
• 1 tbsp butter

What you do:

• Brown the beef and drain it
• In another pan, melt butter and add all the other ingredients
• Bring to a mild boil and simmer for 30 minutes
• Stir in the browned beef
• Top your hot dogs with it and enjoy!

Note: original recipe called for putting it all in a blender, and we tried it both ways. We much prefer it not blended.