Baked Ravioli

As you can see by all the recipes on this website, we like pasta at our house lol.  This one is a great weeknight meal that can be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated or frozen until ready to cook.

I have school on Mondays and Wednesday nights, so I will usually assemble this the night before and stick it in the fridge so that Mr H can just throw it in the oven 45 minutes before I get home and it’s ready to go.

What you need:

Bag of frozen cheese ravioli

Large jar of pasta sauce

Provolone cheese slices

Shredded mozzarella cheese

Parmesan cheese

1 pound Hamburger

Diced onion (as little or as much as you like)

What you do:

Cook your hamburger and onion together and drain grease.  Pour about a half cup of sauce in the bottom of a baking dish (9x9 is fine, you just have to be sure to use a cookie sheet underneath the baking dish when cooking in the oven because the sauce will boil over).  Then put a layer of ravioli down and cover with provolone cheese slices.  Then layer in this order: hamburger, sauce, ravioli.  When you are finished, use any remaining sauce  and cover with shredded mozzarella cheese.

Spray the underside of a piece of tin foil and cover the dish.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes and then uncover and bake for 10 additional minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly.

Easy Peasy Spaghetti Sauce That Rocks!

This sauce only has 3 ingredients in it.  That’s right, ONLY 3!  When I tell you that it is SO GOOD though!  Mmmmmm. 

You will need:

One large yellow onion

2 28oz cans of diced or whole tomatoes

10 tablespoons of butter

Garlic or garlic powder

That’s it!!!  Don’t underestimate though.  I did.  I thought, there are not enough ingredients in this sauce for it to be good.  It will surprise you though.

What you do:

Pour your tomatoes, butter and garlic in a pot.  Peel and cut your onion in half.  Place the onion in the pot with the cut side down.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer.  Cook for 45 minutes stirring frequently.  When you are stirring, crush your tomatoes with your spoon or with a potato masher. 

If you wish to add meat to this sauce, you need to cook it separately and then add it to the sauce when the sauce is done.  So delicious! 

Chicken Parmesan

Easy Chicken Parmesan (Heaven on a Plate)

What You Need:

2 eggs, beaten

½ cup grated parmesan cheese

½ cup Italian bread crumbs

6 chicken breasts (or 3 split if they are really thick)

Jar of pasta sauce (or use the recipe below for homemade sauce)

Mozzarella cheese slices

Oil

What to do:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Get two bowls/dishes to use for battering your chicken.  Your beaten eggs go in one

     bowl and in the other bowl mix together the parmesan cheese and bread crumbs.

3.  Dip chicken into the egg and then coat with the parm/bread crumb mixture.

4.  Heat oil in a large skillet or pan and sauté chicken for about 10 minutes or until chicken

     is cooked through (juices run clear).

5.  Pour your pasta sauce into a 9x13 baking dish and add chicken.  Cover each piece of

     chicken with a slice of mozzarella cheese.

6.  Bake for 20 minutes until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly.

7.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and serve over pasta.

This dish is so simple and easy to make, yet it tastes like you might have slaved in the kitchen over it for hours!  It’s a definite crowd pleaser at my house. 

Homemade Marinara Sauce

1 tsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced/chopped

28 oz can crushed tomatoes (I like Tuttorosso)

15 oz can diced tomatoes (again, Tuttorosso)

¼ cup fresh chopped parsley

1 tsp dried oregano (because I can never find fresh)

¼ cup chopped fresh basil

1 ½ tbsp sugar

Dash or two of cinnamon (to counteract the acidity of the tomatoes)

salt and fresh pepper to taste

First, separate your parsley and basil into two piles.  You will add half in the beginning and half at the end.

Throw the first half of your basil and parsley into a large pot along with all the other ingredients and simmer for about 20 minutes.  Then add in the remaining basil and parsley and simmer for about 10 more minutes.

Taste sauce and adjust salt/sugar as needed.  If it is still too tart and acidic, add more sugar.  If it is too sweet, add more salt.

Yummylicious Chicken Enchiladas

So I have been trying to come up with the PERFECT enchilada recipe for months now and I think I’m finally there!  I made enchiladas for my Sunday dinner crowd this week and everyone raved about them.  So this one might be a keeper!  The recipe that I used fed 8 people, so you can trim it down for the quantity that you need or you can make it as is and freeze for later!  

You Will Need:

2-3 pounds of chicken breasts or tenders

1 28oz can of crushed tomatoes

1 can green chilis (I can’t remember the ounces on this one, but it was small.  I might use two next time though)

1 15oz can green enchilada sauce

1 packet of taco seasoning

1 8oz package of cream cheese

1 package of shredded quesadilla cheese

1 package of shredded Mexican cheese (the Kraft or store brand)

½ can cream of chicken soup

1 cup sour cream

15oz can of red enchilada sauce

16 burrito size soft tortillas (depending on how full you fill them, you may need more or less)

To Prepare:

You will be cooking the chicken in the crockpot (high for 6 hours or low for 8).  Combine the crushed tomatoes, green chilis, green enchilada sauce, taco seasoning, and half of the red enchilada sauce in a crockpot and mix well.  Add chicken and let cook.

Once the chicken is done, remove from sauce and shred.  Return to the sauce after shredding and mix well.  Add the cream cheese to the chicken mixture and stir until melted and mixed well.

In a small dish, mix your ½ can of cream of chicken soup with your one cup of sour cream.  Set aside for now.

Line the bottom of your backing dish (if cooking this recipe as is, you will need two 9x13 pans) with the other half of the red enchilada sauce.

Begin filling your tortilla shells with the chicken mixture and placing them seam side down in the baking dish.  Once you have filled the baking dish, bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes until the tops of the tortillas are browned. 

Remove from oven and spread the sour cream mixture on top of the enchiladas.  Top with copious amounts of the quesadilla and Mexican blend cheese.  Return to oven to bake for about 15 more minutes or until cheese is bubbly and melted.

Enjoy!

Quick n Easy Dinners for Busy Moms

Nobody understands the need for convenience and ease more than I do.  My schedule is so hectic these days I don’t know whether I’m coming or going sometimes.  Between work, school, daycare, entertaining Caden, my photography, my nieces and their activities, etc there is little time for me to be in the kitchen whipping up a culinary masterpiece.  That said, I have found a few “go to” meals that I use when I’m dog tired and feel like I’m going to punch somebody if I have to stand there in that kitchen for more than 15-20 minutes.  Since I’m nice, I decided that I would share them with you.  If you have any quick and easy recipes that you would like to share, that would be fabulous!

The first meal that I like to make is homemade stromboli.  We just had these last night and they are definitely one of Mr H’s favorite meals.  It literally took me 10 minutes to throw them together and pop them in the oven.

Homemade Stromboli

What You Need:

can of Pillsbury pizza dough (thin crust is best IMO)

pizza sauce

mozzarella cheese

pepperoni (or any other meats you like….Mr H likes ham and bacon)

mushrooms (or any veggie you like….I like onions and green peppers)

Preheat oven per instructions on the pizza dough can.  This is usually 400 degrees.  Unroll your pizza dough and cut into two rectangles (or squares, whatever).  Spread your sauce on half the rectangle and then top with your toppings of choice.  Fold the other half of the dough over your toppings and pinch the edges together.  Spray a little cooking oil on a baking pan and put your Stromboli on the pan.  Spray a little cooking oil on top of the Stromboli to help it get that lovely golden look.  Pop that bad boy in the oven for about 15 minutes and dinner is served!

The next meal involves my favorite kitchen appliance EVER….the crockpot!  Whoever invented the crockpot is my hero and I would like to give them a high five for making my life so much easier.  This is a chicken recipe that you can use for Mexican dishes.  I mainly use it for tacos/taco salads, but it could be used for enchiladas, quesadillas, Mexican casseroles, etc.

Taco Chicken

What You Need:

6 chicken breasts

2 cans Rotel tomatoes (or 1 jar salsa)

Packet of taco seasoning

Mix the Rotel and the taco seasoning together in the crockpot and then throw in the chicken.  Cook on low for 8 hours.  Then enjoy!  Doesn’t get much easier than that and it is SO yummy!!  We are having this tonight btw, and I’m super excited!!

Next on the menu is my version of chicken pie.  This one takes a little bit more work, but it’s still nice and easy and your prep work is under 30 minutes.  This is a one pot meal because it includes your veggies, your protein, your dairy, and your fiber all in one!

Nicole’s Chicken n Biscuits

What You Need:

3 chicken breasts (or you can use leftover roasted chicken if you have it)

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup sour cream

Chicken stock

Carrots

Peas

Potatos

Corn

Garlic powder

Onion powder

Parsley (fresh or dried is fine)

Salt and pepper

For the biscuit topping:

(You can cheat and use can biscuits if you want to cut more time out, it is still good….just not as good as if you use the biscuit recipe that follows!)

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine
3/4 cup milk

First of all, because I prefer to use fresh or frozen veggies, they need to be chopped and boiled.  So chop your potatoes and carrots into small pieces and throw in a pot along with your corn and peas.  Add your chicken breasts as well.  Cover with water and add salt, pepper, garlic, onion powder, and parsley to the water.  Let it boil for about 10 -15 minutes and check the chicken to see if it is done yet.  The great thing about this is that when you are done and you take out your chicken and veggies, you now have homemade chicken broth that you can freeze to use later!

Once the chicken is done and the veggies are soft, remove them from the broth.  Allow broth to cool off and store in freezer for next use. 

Shred your chicken and pour into a casserole dish along with your veggies.  Add the sour cream and cream of chicken soup and mix well.  This will be VERY thick.  Begin adding in your chicken stock until the mixture is thinned out to a creamier consistency of your liking.  If you thin it out too much it’s ok, just add more sour cream or open another can of soup and add it back in little by little.  Then add a little salt and pepper and mix well.  Bake in oven at 350 for about 20 minutes while you are preparing the biscuits.

If you’re using can biscuits here, make sure you have at least two big cans so you have plenty.  You want to cover the entire top of the casserole.  If you have the flaky layers biscuits you can split them in half to cover more ground. 

If you’re going to make the biscuits from scratch, see instructions below.

Combine all dry ingredient and blend well with whisk. Cut in butter until it becomes crumbly. Stir in milk until a dough ball forms. Place dough ball onto a heavily floured surface (I use wax paper). Let it set for a couple of minutes and then knead for about a minute and then re-flour surface and pat out to about 1/2″ thick. Cut biscuits with floured biscuit cutter and place on top of the casserole. Form remaining dough into ball and repeat until all dough made into biscuits. This recipe will make approximately 12 biscuits.

Once the casserole is covered with biscuits, spray a little olive or canola oil on top of the biscuits so that they turn nice and golden brown in the oven.  Then bake in 425 degree oven for 12-15 minutes.

Now I know this sounds kind of labor intensive and the title of this blog says “QUICK AND EASY,” but I promise you…this is quicker and easier than it looks on paper….or on screen I guess.  Prep time is about 30-35 minutes give or take. 

Next, have Baked Ziti.  I love some baked ziti!  I prefer this without meat, but Mr H is a meataholic so I have to add hamburger to it.  I also leave out the ricotta cheese because I hate it.  One of my friends gave me the idea of using provolone and sour cream instead, which I now use in most of my recipes that call for ricotta.

Baked Ziti

What You Need:

Box of ziti (or penne)

Pasta sauce of choice

Package or provolone cheese slices

8oz container of sour cream

Mozzarella cheese

Hamburger or sausage (optional)

Cook your pasta as directed on the box and then drain.  If you’re using meat, brown your meat and drain grease away.  Then mix with the pasta prior to adding it to the casserole dish.  This provides a more evenly distributed mixture.

Pour a small amount of pasta sauce in the bottom of a casserole dish.  Just enough to line the bottom of the dish.  Then pour half of your pasta on top of the sauce.

Pour half of the remaining sauce over the pasta.  Then cover with the provolone cheese slices.  Once the cheese slices are down, spread a layer of sour cream on top of the provolone cheese. 

Cover with remaining pasta.  Pour on the remaining sauce and top with mozzarella cheese. 

Cover and  bake in oven for about 20-25 minutes or until bubbly and cheese is melted.  Top with grated parmesan and serve with garlic bread.  Yumm!

And last but certainly not least, chicken kabobs.  I make these a lot and they are super healthy.  There are various different seasonings and marinades that you can put on them from Italian dressing to honey mustard to lemon pepper, etc.  I prefer the following recipe though.

Chicken Kabobs

What You Need:

2-3 chicken breasts cubed

Squash, cubed

Zucchini, cubed

1 cup Heinz 57

½ cup honey

Salt and pepper

(You can also use onions and green peppers if you’d like, but Mr H doesn’t eat either of those, so we frequently use squash and zucchini.)

First assemble your chicken and veggies on the skewers.  Then in a small mixing bowl, combine the Heinz 57 and honey and brush over the kabobs.  Then sprinkle a little salt and pepper on top of them and pop in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes.  Voila.  Done!

Dinner is served!