Ham-Stuffed Manicotti

Ham Stuffed Manicotti

•14 manicotti shells
•1 onion, chopped
•2 cloves minced garlic
•¼ cup butter
•3 cups cubed ham
•1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
•6 Tbsp. butter
•6 Tbsp. flour
•3 cups milk
•½ tsp. pepper
•2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
•½ cup grated parmesan cheese

Method:
Cook manicotti as directed. (Half the time if freezing.) Drain and set aside. Sauté onion and garlic in butter. Add ham and cook for a few minutes. Set aside to cool slightly. Stir 1/3 cup parmesan cheese into ham mixture.
In a saucepan, melt 6 tablespoons butter. Stir in flour and heat until bubbly. Add milk and pepper. Whisk while cooking on medium to medium high heat until thickened. Stir in Swiss and remaining parmesan cheese. Mix ¼ of this cheese sauce with the ham mixture. Fill the manicotti shells with ham mixture. (A baby spoon works great to get the mixture into the shells without making such a mess.) If freezing, see directions below. Otherwise, spread half of the remaining cheese sauce in the bottom of a greased 9X13 pan. Place filled shells in pan and cover with remaining sauce. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Freezing directions: Spread half of the remaining cheese sauce in the bottom of a greased disposable pan. Place filled shells in pan and cover with remaining sauce. Cover and freeze.

Pollo Alla Gratella for Two

This is super yummy thanks to the Cameron's for sharing!
Serves 2

CHICKEN:
2 9 oz. chicken breasts, fillet into thirds or fourths and pounded flat so they're all the same size and thickness, marinated in the following marinade. Sear in the pan over med high heat, then finish in the over cooking at 350 degrees in the marinade for 15 minutes or so.

MARINADE:
Ingredients:

3T Salad Oil
1 1/2 T Balsamic Vinegar
1/4 tsp. Minced Garlic

Directions:

Whisk rapidly for 30 seconds. Marinate for at least 1 hr.

GORGONZOLA CREAM SAUCE:
Ingredients:
1 sm package baby bella mushrooms
8 Artichoke quarters (do not use marinated artichokes)
1/4 C Sundried tomatoes
3T Gorgonzola cheese
1/2 C heavy cream
Pinch Salt
Pinch Pepper to taste
3 T White wine
1 T Olive oil

Directions:

In a saute pan on medium heat,Sautee mushrooms in butter until golden brown 5=7 mins. add olive oil, artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes, salt, pepper and saute for 1-2minutes, tossing occasionally.

Add white wine, cheese and cream and reduce heat. Simmer until cheese is fully melted, approx. 3-4 minutes.

Serve chicken and sauce with roasted garlic pasta

Roasted Garlic Pasta

ROASTED GARLIC PASTA:
Serve with Pollo Alla Gratella

Ingredients:

1/4 C roasted garlic cloves
Pinch salt
Pinch pepper
1/3 T crushed red pepper
2 C capellini pasta, cooked al dente
2 T. olive oil
2T butter

Directions:
There are many ways to roast garlic. I like to cut the top off of an entire head, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper,wrap in foil and bake at 300 til done 30-60 mins .

On medium heat, add to saute pan: oil, garlic, salt and pepper and crushed red pepper and continue to sautee until golden brown. Add pasta and butter toss until coated and ready to serve.

Chicken Lo Mein

This recipe comes from ksl.com.

Chicken Lo Mein

Ingredients:
•1/2 pound skinless boneless chicken breast halves
•1/2 pound snap pea pods -- strings removed (2 cups)
•6 ounces baby-cut carrots -- cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch sticks (1 cup)
•1/2 (9 ounce) package refrigerated linguine (we used thin spaghetti noodles)
•2 teaspoons cornstarch
•1 teaspoon sugar
•2 teaspoons water
•1/3 cup fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
•1 tablespoon soy sauce
•4 cloves garlic -- finely chopped
•2 teaspoons finely chopped gingerroot (forgot to pick this up and it was still good)
•Toasted sesame seed -- if desired

1. Cut chicken breast halves lengthwise into 2-inch pieces; cut pieces crosswise into 1/2-inch strips.
2. Heat 2 quarts water to boiling in 3-quart saucepan.
3. Add pea pods, carrots and linguine; heat to boiling.
4. Boil 2 to 3 minutes or until linguine is just tender; drain. 5. Mix cornstarch, sugar and water.
6. Mix broth, soy sauce, garlic and gingerroot; stir in cornstarch mixture.
7. Spray nonstick wok or 12-inch skillet with nonstick cooking spray; heat over medium-high heat until cooking spray starts to bubble.
8. Add chicken; stir-fry about 2 minutes or until chicken is white.
9. Stir broth mixture; stir into chicken mixture.
10. Stir in pea pods, carrots and linguine.
11. Cook 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
12. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seed.

Pine Nut Pasta Salad

1 pound shaped pasta cooked a few minutes shy of al dente
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives pitted and cut in half
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup pine nuts toasted
6 oz package of feta
1 pint cherry tomatoes halved
1 diced red or orange bell pepper

dressing
1/2 cup olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
3-5 cloves of garlic minced
ground pepper to taste

cool pasta. Mix salad ingredients together top with dressing toss and chill

Dinner in a Pumpkin

We've been having dinner in a pumpkin for Halloween in the Jensen family since before I can remember. I LOVE it and this year we got to share it with the Gaileys and the Tracys. Unfortunately it's my grandma's recipe, so there isn't a real recipe but this is what my mom came up with with a few additions...

Brown 1 lb of hamburger with 1 onion chopped. Drain.
Preheat oven to 375.

Cook 2 quarts (8 cups) of tomatoes, 2 cans tom. sauce, two cans tom paste, 1T chili powder, a few dashes of Tabasco, 2T worch. sauce, 1T garlic salt, 1t salt, 1t pepper. Add hamburger and cook til warmed throughout. Add 1 box macaroni noodles (we used mini penne noodles this time) straight from the box, stir and add to pumpkin. It will be a little soupy.

Bake at least 90 minutes. (I think it ended up taking closer to two hours this year.) It's done when the noodles are soft and pumpkin scrapes easily from sides.

Remove from oven and serve from pumpkin, scraping sides of pumpkin to add squash to mixture.

Mandarin Bowtie Pasta Salad

Ingredients
16 oz bowtie pasta

Dressing:
1 cup oil *veggie or canola*
2/3 cup teriyaki sauce
2/3 cup white wine vinegar
6 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper


10 oz fresh spinach
6 oz craisins
3- 11oz cans mandarin oranges (drained)
2- 8 oz cans water chesnuts (drained)
1/2 cup fresh parsley- chopped
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
1 bunch green onions- chopped
6 oz honey roasted peanuts
2 cups cooked chicken cut to sm. pieces

Directions

Cook pasta according to directions, then chill. Mix dressing and add to pasta and marinate for atleast 2 hours. Mix remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Toss with pasta and dressing right before serving.

This is a large recipe great for parties or showers.

Homemade Pasta...

I don't know if you guys will like this one but, my kids love to make this...that's how easy it is
2 1/3 c flour
1 tsp seasoning of your choice (optional) ie basil, sage, marjoram really anything works
1/2 tsp salt
2 beaten eggs
1/3 c water
1 tsp cooking oil or evoo Step 1- Mix together flour, spice, salt in large mixing bowl
Step 2- Beat eggs in seperate dish with water and oil
Step 3- Mix dry ingredients well and then make a "well" in the middle and then pour in egg mixture in center of the "well"
Step 4- Mix with a fork flour and egg mixture. It will take a few minutes to get the right texture it starts out crumbly but then turns into a nice dough like texture...as seen below
Step 5- divide dough in to four sections

Step 6- Roll each section out with a rolling pin about a quarter inch thick. You can cut into strips or if you have a pasta maker roll it through your pasta maker. You can get creative and make cute bow tie pasta or whatever--because my kids make this I end up with funky strips. (it tastes fine even though the presentation might not be as great as Ashlee's)
these are the funky strips I end up with...
Step 7-Boil the fresh noodles for about 3 minutes sometimes this takes less or more time depending on how thick you make your noodles.
Step 8- Drain and serve...serve with whatever kind of sauce or meat. Below Britt did just plain old marinera sauce with some grilled chicken. This really is so easy if you've never done it and I love the taste of homemade pasta. My kids love to add parmesean cheese into the dry mixture and it actually makes yummy cheesy pasta.
I hope you give it a try! Jay had a great time documenting our Pasta Process...

Summer Splash Pasta Salad

By Ben & Ash

Hey y'all! Ben and I came up with this little dish this evening. Ben wanted a pasta salad so we went to the grocery store and bought some veggies and this is the end result. So delicious!! It was a very easy, fast, healthy and tasty meal. Enjoy!

Our first rule for making ANY meal is to do all prep work first! Meaning, chop veggies, clean your meat, if using canned items, open all cans, etc.

Ben does not follow recipes, he just makes it up as he goes so everything is just kind of "to taste" and what not in this recipe. :) Use as much or as little of whatever vegetable you want.
This is how we did it...

7-8 asparagus stalks (is it called a stalk??? Anyway...)
4 mini sweet peppers (they come in a carton at Costco)
6 cherry tomatoes (halved)
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
Half of a box of bow tie pasta
Italian dressing to taste
Fresh chopped basil and fresh ground pepper to season
Feta cheese

Cook pasta and drain.
Sautee asparagus and peppers to tender crisp in about 1 tsp. olive oil.
Grill, broil, or "Foreman" your chicken.
Shred or chop chicken.
Combine all ingredients, minus Feta in a bowl.
Sprinkle with Feta cheese upon serving.
Enjoy as a main dish with a crusty roll or as a side salad.
*Serve with white wine. :)