Recipes

10.10.

Build your Own Pasta

My kids love it when I do “Build Your Own Pasta Night”.

It allows them to put exactly what they want in their bowl almost like being at a Buffet. Except, I don’t own that much food.

You can use absolutely anything you want. Everyone has different tastes.

I just happened to use what I had on hand.

I used some olives, capers, feta, roasted tomatoes (not pictured), and fresh basil (also not pictured).

For the roasted tomatoes, I just took some grape tomatoes, drizzled a little extra virgin olive oil over them, and a little salt and pepper. Then I roasted them at 375 degrees for 20 minutes, or until the tomatoes start to burst.

Afterwards, I sprinkled fresh chopped basil over them.

These things are so yummy. When you roast them, they become sweet and tangy and they start to produce their own juice. So, instead of doing a tomato sauce, I decided to just use these in place of it.

I chopped up extra fresh basil to sprinkle over top at the end if anyone wanted to.

A drizzle of olive oil and ………

a splash of lemon juice is always a great option when you are trying to keep it lighter instead of the typical heavy feeling pasta can take on sometimes.

That’s exactly what I did. : )

AND it was soooooooo good.

It’s a great chance to get creative and try all kinds of different toppings. This would be great for a Get Together also! Especially if you have picky eaters.

Enjoy!

Tags: Buffet, Build Your Own Pasta, Feta, Fresh Basil, Get Togethers, Lemon Juice, Lemons, Olive Oil, Olives, Pepper, Picky Eaters, Recipe, Roasted Tomatoes, Salt, Tangy, Tomato Sauce

10.03.

Chicken Piccata

My husband loves Chicken Piccata. He also loves ANYTHING with capers. I hadn’t fixed it in a little while and the other night, I happened to have everything on hand that was needed.

Well,

ALMOST everything. Usually, the recipe I do calls for white wine. Since I didn’t have any of that, I used chicken stock. All that meant was that it would be a good substitute for the wine and my children wouldn’t be walking around bumping into things. J/K

It is actually a really easy, fast meal.

All you need is a some lemons, capers (which taste like mini olives and can be found right next to them in the grocery store), butter, spaghetti noodles, chicken stock, chicken breast and a little flour.

I guess you could call it a ~~30 minute~~ 20 minute meal.

If you love lemons and olives, you will love this dish.

Recipe: Chicken Piccata

Ingredients:

-4 skinless and boneless thin cut chicken breasts

– Salt/Pepper for seasoning

– All-purpose flour, for dredging

– 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter

– 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

– 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

– 1/2 cup chicken stock

– 1 small jar of brined capers, rinsed

– 1 lb. Thin Spaghetti Noodles

– lemon slices for garnish

Directions:

– Cook Thin Spaghetti Noodles according to package instructions.

– Salt/Pepper chicken breast and dredge in flour. Set aside.

– Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.

– Cook chicken breast for 3 to 4 minutes on each side.

– Remove from pan and set aside.

– To the same pan, add lemon juice, chicken stock , and capers. Bring to a slow boil, scraping up any loose brown bits from chicken.

– Return chicken breast to pan and allow to simmer for 5 additional minutes.

– On a platter, layer spaghetti noodles.

– Remove chicken from sauce and layer on top of noodles.

– To the sauce, add butter and whisk until smooth.

– Throw in lemon slices and pour sauce over chicken.

Enjoy!

Tags: 20 Minute Meal, Butter, Capers, Chicken Breast, Chicken Piccata, Chicken Stock, Fast, Flour, Lemons, Recipe, Spaghetti, White Wine

09.28.

Kale Chips

Let me just tell you, Kale Chips are SOOOOO good. I love leafy greens and when you throw these bad boys into the oven and sprinkle a little Parmesan on them, they are AMAZING!

Z and I usually fight over them, so when I’m trying to make him jealous, I’ll fix these for lunch, take a picture, and send it to him. You know, like a good wife!

Not only are these Kale Chips good, they are REALLY GOOD FOR YOU! They have Vitamin A, B, C, K ……. L, M, N,O, AND P. (Just kidding)

You get the picture though. They are really easy to fix too.

Here is what I did:

Rinse a small bunch of Kale.

Pat dry with a paper towel, making sure that you get as much of the water off as possible. If not, they might get soggy in the oven instead of crispy.

Then, pull leaves off of stem.

Tear leaves to desired size. You dont have to worry too much about this.

Then take some Pam spray and lightly coat a cookie sheet or roasting pan.

Place Kale on pan and lightly spray tops with more Pam spray.

Now, pop into a preheated 375 degree oven and bake for 10 minutes or until desired crispness. Do not leave unattended too long as they could get too crispy and become somewhat burnt.

When finished, sprinkle with parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper.

ENJOY!

Make sure you get one before this happens!

Recipe: Kale Chips

Ingredients:

– 1 small bunch of Kale

– Pam spray

– 1 to 2 tablespoons Parmesan Cheese

– salt/pepper to taste

Directions:

– Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

– Rinse Kale and pat dry with a paper towel. Make sure that Kale is as dry as possible. If Kale is still wet, it may get soggy in oven instead of crisping up.

– Remove stems.

– Tear Kale in small pieces to desired size.

– Spray a cookie sheet or roasting tray lightly with Pam spray so that Kale does not stick.

– Layer Kale on cookie sheet and spray lightly with more Pam spray.

– Bake Kale chips for 10 minutes or until desired crispness.

– Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, Salt, and Pepper.

Enjoy!

Tags: cookie sheet, crispy, good wife, Kale Chips, leafy greens, pam spray, paper towels, Parmesan cheese, roasting tray, vitamin a, vitamin b, vitamin c, vitamin k

09.20.

Sweet Tea Biscuits

My next entry for “Sweet Tea Week” is none other than a tribute to this sites namesake. Well part of it.

It’s no secret that I love biscuits. Hence, one of my previous blogpost about, you guessed it! Buttermilk Biscuits. Here is a link to it in case you missed it before: http://babiesandbiscuits.com/buttermilk-quick-biscuits#more-564 . I have already proclaimed this at the top of my lungs and will continue to FOR – E- VER! (Remember that part in the movie, “The Sandlot”? Where Squints tells the story and he says,”FOR-E-VER”!) ????? That is the kind of forever I mean.

Anyway, moving on…..

I wanted to do a biscuit, but REALLY wanted to incorporate Sweet Tea somehow. I decided to use Paula Deen’s Buttermilk Yeast Biscuits as a base and then I tweaked it.

SO! This is what I did:

I must say, they turned out pretty nice.