Tortellini Carbonara

This recipe is one of Michael's mom's recipes and I just love it. Of course as usual it's pretty fattening but enjoy.

16 oz frozen tortellini (I buy mine in the deli refrigerated section at Costco)

1 egg hard boiled and chopped

4 slices of bacon

1/4 c. chopped onion (I usually just throw in a handful of the dehydrated onion)

6 Tbs of butter

2/3 c. cream or evaporated milk

dash of pepper

dash of nutmeg

3/4 C Parmesan cheese

1 Tbs dried parsley

Dice bacon and fry until brown. Drain and cook onion in grease. Set aside bacon, onion and chopped egg. Cook tortellini as directed. Melt butter and cream over low heat. Stir constantly until bubbly for about two minutes. Remove from heat. Gradually add Parmesan Cheese stirring constantly until fairly smooth. Stir in pepper, nutmeg, parsley, onion, bacon, and egg. Mix with tortellini and serve.

Homemade Pizza Hut Pizza

Ross LOVES Pizza Hut! In our kid-less days we enjoyed going out every Friday night for dinner. If Ross had his way we would have eaten Pizza Hut every week! In attempt to make a much cheaper homemade version, I came across this recipe. It is not exactly like Pizza Hut, but it comes pretty close! ENJOY!

1 1/3 cup Warm water (105F)
1/4 cup Non-fat dry milk
1/2 teaspoon Salt
4 cups Flour
1 tablespoon Sugar
1 pkg. Dry yeast
2 tablespoons Vegetable oil (for dough)
9 ounces Vegetable oil (3 oz. per pan)
Butter flavored Pam

Put yeast, sugar, salt, and dry milk in a large bowl. Add water and stir to mix well. Allow to sit for two minutes. Add oil and stir again. Add flour and stir until dough forms and flour is absorbed. Turn out on to a flat surface and knead for about 10 minutes. (I do all of this in my KitchenAid) Divide dough into three balls. In three 9" cake pans, put 3 Oz. of oil in each making sure it is spread evenly. Using a rolling pin, roll out each dough ball to about a 9" circle. Place in cake pans. Spray the outer edge of dough with Pam. Cover with a plate. Place in warm area and allow to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Preheat oven to 475F .  Spoon  sauce on dough and spread to within 1" of edge.  Distribute shredded mozzarella cheese on sauce. Place toppings of your choice. Top with a little more mozzarella cheese. Cook until cheese is bubbling and outer crust is brown.

For us, three pizza is one too many so I take the third pizza and spread it with garlic butter and smother it in cheese- deep pan cheese bread-amazing!

Garlic Butter

I made this a week ago and put the leftovers in my fridge. I used the rest of it with our stuffed shells and it was just as good the second time!

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic (I used garlic powder)
  
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon onion salt
  
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground paprika

Soften your butter a little so you can work with it, add the ingredients, mix well and spread on your bread. It can also be used on meat when BBQing.

Spinach-Ricotta Stuffed Shells

I altered this recipe just a little bit so I'll include both the original and my changes. It was good - my whole family liked and ate it.

1 lb fresh spinach (I used a little less, maybe 3/4 lb)
1 Tbsp chopped onion (I used onion powder)
1 Tbsp butter
1 beaten egg
2/3 c ricotta cheese (I used a full cup)
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 qt tomato sauce (I used a 16 ounce can, I don't know how much a quart is)

In a large saucepan combine the spinach with a small amount of water. Simmer, covered, for 3-5 minutes. Drain well. Squeeze the spinach to remove the excess moisture. Chop the spinach. In a skillet cook onion in butter until tender, but not brown. Add spinach, heat through. Combine egg, ricotta, Parmesan and nutmeg. Then add the spinach mixture. Pour half the sauce in a baking dish. Stuff 2o (I stuffed 16, that's how many fit in my pan) shells with filling, arrange in dish and top with remaining sauce. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
I put most of my sauce in the bottom, since not everyone is a big fan of tomato sauce at my house. I wasn't sure if I should cover the dish. I tried not covering it but it looked like it was getting dried out (maybe because I didn't put the sauce on top?) and so I added the lid halfway through. They turned out really good!

Chicken Parmigana

I got this recipe from Pioneer Woman but altered it a bit. It was amazing, seriously I LOVED it.

4 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast, trimmed and pounded flat

1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup oil

2 tbsp butter

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 cup chicken stock

1 can crushed tomatoes

1 can tomato sauce

2 tbsp sugar

1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

1 pound thin linguine

Start the noodles. Dredge flatted chicken breasts in flour. Set aside. Heat oil and butter in large skillet over medium heat. When butter/oil i hot, fry chicken breasts until nice and golden brown on each side, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove chicken and keep warm. Without cleaning pan, add onions and garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Pour chicken stock and scrape the bottom of the pan. Allow stock to cook down. Pour crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce and stir to combine. Add sugar, salt and pepper. Allow to simmer for 30 minutes.

Carefully lay chicken on top of the sauce and completely cover them in the parmesan cheese. Place lid on pan and reduce heat to low. Allow to simmer until cheese is melted and chicken is thoroughly heated. Put everything on the pasta and enjoy.

The salad is like the on you can get at Costco. I found the dressing at Walmart, its White Balsamic Vinegar and the brand is Girard's. Cut up some lettuce, put some craisins, feta cheese, and walnuts in it and your done.