dinner

Chicken Tetrazzini

9e0f98a3-9bf2-443e-90d6-fac4bbd260c9

A childhood favorite! My sister and I would always beg my mom to make this for our birthday dinners. It is so delicious and comforting and unhealthy and just plain old good! You do have to plan ahead to make this because it takes longer than a typical weekday meal. But once you make it, you won’t turn back and it will become your family favorite, too! The recipe below can easily be doubled as well if you are feeding more people, but this one will feed 4 people easily.

So, turn on those ovens and let’s go!

What you will need:

8 x 8 inch bake dish, greased

8 oz. linguini, cooked
2 chicken breasts, cooked and cut into small bite sized pieces
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup (or cream of mushroom)
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Salt and pepper for seasoning

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Cook the noodles according to box instructions and set aside. While noodles are cooking, cook the chicken until no longer pink in the center. Cut into small bite sized pieces.

In a large bowl, mix together the chicken, butter, sour cream, soup, chicken broth and salt and pepper to taste until well combined. Stir in cooked pasta. Pour into prepared bake dish. Sprinkle parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese on top. Bake for about 40 minutes. Note: If you doubled the recipe, it may need to bake for 5-10 minutes more.

Serve immediately and enjoy! Store covered in the fridge.

Irish Soda Bread

Happy St. Patrick’s Day tomorrow everyone! Don’t worry, I’ll do another post that will contain booze 😉 For today, I wanted to make something easy that I’ve never made before. This bread is so delicious and will probably be a new family tradition for me to make every St. Patrick’s Day. No special tools required. I loved baking like this! I like to pretend I’m not in this century and go back in time. For some reason, making this bread made my imagination run wild! So, let’s put on our aprons and enter the 1800’s…

What you will need:

Cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or greased

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and baking powder. With a fork, your fingers or a pastry blender, cut in the butter. Stir in buttermilk and raisins until dough is moistened. Knead in the bowl for a minute (dough will be sticky).

Turn dough out onto prepared baking sheet. Shape into a ball. With a sharp knife, cut a cross or “X” shape on the top of the dough ball going about 1/2 inch down.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown. Let cool a few minutes before slicing, buttering and enjoying!

Meatballs

So, I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but… I’ve never made meatballs before! I mean, what kind of housewife am I?! These are super easy too, and will probably be made all the time now. I decided to blog about this because, well, they are baked so it just made sense. Plus, I paired this meal with a great wine! So, get those wine glasses out and let’s start making a meat a balls!

What you will need:

9 x 13 inch baking dish
Olive oil (to coat baking dish)
1 pound ground beef
1 egg
1/3 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Feel free to add any other spices you want. This is a simple, basic recipe that you can custom every time, depending on the flavor you want. I added about 2 teaspoons of basil.

Also, I made my own bread crumbs, using a slice of bread and made crumbs using the Magic Bullet. So easy!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Coat the bottom of the baking dish with olive oil. Set aside. In a large bowl, place all ingredients.

Mix with your hands until everything is combined. Make balls. Doesn’t matter the size, whatever you prefer. Place meatballs in baking dish and roll them in the olive oil.

Bake for about 35 minutes.

Serve over your favorite pasta and with wine 😉 Enjoy!

IMG_1318

 

One Hour Rolls

Freshly baked bread. The next best thing after freshly baked cookies. I really do not like making bread, it is difficult and time consuming. But this recipe is a little more simple and I think everyone should try making homemade bread at some point in their lives. You do not need a bread maker and no kneading required. Yay! So, let’s begin…

What you will need:

1 cup warm water
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 packet dry active yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, beaten
3 1/3 cup flour

To make the dough:

In a large bowl (or bowl of your electric mixer), mix water, sugar, oil and yeast. Let stand for about 15 minutes until mixture is bubbly.

Stir in salt and egg. If you are using an electric mixer, use the paddle attachment. Gradually add flour. The dough should be sticky, but manageable. I found this amount of flour to be perfect. Let the dough rest in bowl for 10 minutes.

Spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray. Also spray your hands. Form dough into balls or as close to balls as you can, and place on baking sheet. I mean, look at mine! Not perfect at all. Once they are baked, they will get a better shape. Let rise for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit. Bake rolls for 10 minutes, until the tops are lightly browned. Serve warm with butter, jam, honey or plain! Enjoy!