Quick Chicken Parm

Things have been a bit hectic over here so dinner has either been throwing something on the grill or something quick in the oven. Of course with all this crazy weather ( tornadoes 50 miles away in Western Mass) that we have been getting as soon as you decide to grill, a freak storm comes in and bam... Thunderstorms. So this night was no different, we made sure we had charcoal and were all set to grill when the skies opened and guess what no grilling.  So I had to rethink dinner and quick, since we were going to grill chicken and I had been having a craving for Chicken Parm, I went with that.  But who feels like doing the whole breading thing not this girl, not after I thought Hubby was cooking dinner ie the official griller in the fam. So I figured I would throw them in a skillet and voila Chicken Parm for dinner. Honestly this took about 20-30 minutes tops from start to finish.

Chicken Parm 

Items needed:

Skillet

Baking Dish

• 5 skinless Thin sliced Chicken Breast
  
• salt
  
• pepper
  
• garlic powder
  
• Angel Hair Pasta, Half a box
  
• Tomato sauce

• Bring a pot of water to a boil and drop angel hair cooking per box instructions, drain set aside
  
• Heat skillet to medium heat and give a few swirls of olive oil, place chicken in pan, brown chicken 2 minutes, cooking in batches so you dont over crowd the pan
  
• Place Chicken in baking dish spread a spoonful of tomato sauce enough to cover nicely then sprinkle a good helping of cheese on top
  
• Bake until cheese is bubbly and melted 

eat and enjoy!

Cowboy Spaghetti

A few years ago my husband was over at a friends house and his wife made the boys Cowboy Spaghetti, and my hubby raved about it. When I asked for the recipe she told me that it was one of Rachael Ray's 30 minute meals. A real hearty man-meal, the kind that are great on a rainy cold night. Living in New England in the winter you are never sure what kind of weather you are going to get, and this week has been right on que. We have gone thru many different weather patterns from snow, rain, sleet and sun so this meal was a welcomed feast. It is a great quick meal, that can be used again later in the week for oh say Stuffed peppers, or you could throw it into tacos. Yummy!! As usual I made a few changes mostly because I didn't have an ingredient. 

Cowboy Spaghetti
Items Needed:
Pasta Pot
3 1/2 qt saute pan 
( if you don't have just make sure it is a deep pan)

• 3/4 lb Whole wheat spaghetti
• Salt
• 3 slices bacon, chopped
• 1 lb ground beef 
• 1 med onion, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tsp hot sauce, more or less to taste
• 1tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 jar tomato sauce, I used Rao's **
• 8 ounces sharp Cheddar

• Bring a large pot to a boil and add spaghetti, adding a good handful of salt 
• Heat the saute pan over medium high heat, adding the bacon ( if needed some olive oil) I did not need to the grease from the bacon was enough, brown bacon until crisp about 4-5 minutes string frequently so as not to burn, remove with a slotted spoon making sure to leave about 1 tbsp of the grease( yummy) 
•  Add ground beef and and brown, 3-4 minutes
• Add onion saute 2-4 minutes then add garlic saute 2 minutes, seasoning with salt, pepper and Worcestershire  

****The original recipe  called for 1 can diced tomatoes and 1 can tomato sauce which I would have used, after all I always have them on hand...... Or so I thought but apparently  I must have been looking in somebody elses pantry because when I got home from work all I had was a jar of tomato sauce. Which worked just as well and gave it the consistency that I was looking for.

***The recipe also called fora 1/2 cup of beer  added at the end, but unfortunately I didn't have one, I know the horror... So if you have it, use it and finish off the rest of the beer yourself.... Yummy!!

Eat and Enjoy!!!

So many recipes.... Spaghetti Pie it is.....

Before I get to the Spaghetti Pie, I wanted to share this lovely award that I received the other day from

Simply Food

This is a great blog that all of you should check out!!!

Thank you so much for this thoughtful award!!!

Ok now on to recipes. As most of you do, I have a lot of cookbooks. I also have a lot of food magazines, I love getting new recipes, new ideas and new kitchen tips. If you ask my husband he'll tell you I hoard them, all lies...... See if I read thru a food magazine and there are a lot of recipes I like in it then I keep it, and thus the piles of mags all over the house. So this weekend I decided to tackle those piles and finally get rid of some of those magazines. The recipes I really liked and were actually going to make, I kept. There are always those recipes that look great but come on are you really going to make it???? So once they were out of the mags, I did a once over and weeded out the ones I knew I wouldn't end up making. The rest I separated into categories, then sliped them into plastic sleeves and filed in a binder.

And after all of that I was too exhausted to As usual I couldn't find one that suited my liking exactly so I decided to wing it and go with what I had in the fridge and what me and the hubby like.

So here is Shosh's version of Spaghetti Pie1

• 1/2-1 lb leftover spaghetti
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1/2 c Parmesan cheese
  
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/2 a zucchini, sliced in half moons
• 1/2 onion, sliced
  
• 3/4 jar spaghetti sauce or fresh if you have it
  
• 3/4 c sour cream
• 1/2 package cream cheese
  
• 1 1/2 c shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

• Mix egg and Parmesan cheese with spaghetti and layer in the bottom of a greased pie plate bake it for 10 minutes to set the pasta.
• Brown ground beef in skillet, drain fat. Add salt, pepper and Italian seasoning, add onion and zucchini and cook until translucent 5-7 minutes
  
• Pour spaghetti sauce into skillet and heat through, meanwhile in a separate bowl mix sour cream, cream cheese, and 1/2 of the cheese and warm in the microwave for 30 seconds (easier to spread)
  
• Take out of oven and spread the cheese mixture, then the ground beef sauce mixture and top with the rest of the shredded cheese.
  
• Bake for 25 minutes or until the cheese is nice and bubbly.
  

Eat and Enjoy!!!