Baked Lemon Pasta Recipe

Amazing pasta dish with some surprising ingredients. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Ingredients

* 1 pound Thin Spaghetti
* 4 Tablespoons Salted Butter
* 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
* 2 cloves Garlic, Minced
* 1 whole Lemon, Juiced And Zested
* 2 cups Sour Cream
* ½ teaspoons Kosher Salt, Or More To Taste
* Plenty Of Grated Parmesan Cheese
* Flat-leaf Parsley, Chopped
* Extra Lemon Juice

Preparation Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook spaghetti until al dente.
2. In a skillet, melt butter with olive oil over LOW HEAT. When butter is melted, add minced garlic. Squeeze lemon juice into the pan. Turn off heat.
3. Add sour cream and stir mixture together. Add lemon zest and salt. Taste, then add more salt if necessary. Pour mixture over drained spaghetti and stir together, then pour spaghetti into an oven safe dish.
4. Bake, covered, for 15 minutes. Then remove foil and bake for an additional 7 to 10 minutes. (Don’t bake too long or the pasta will dry out.)
5. When you remove it from the oven, squeeze a little more lemon juice over the top. Top generously with Parmesan cheese, then chopped parsley. Give it a final squeeze of lemon juice at the end.
6. Serve with crusty French bread and a simple green salad.

Cafe Rio Style Pork

I found this recipe on my friend Krista's blog. It is super tasty. Almost like the real thing.

1 lb pork roast or loin
2 (15oz) cans tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/4 - 1/2 cups chopped cilantro
1 can coca cola
1-2 cloves minced garlic

Combine tomato sauce, brown sugar, cilantro, coke and garlic. Pour over the pork in a crockmpot. Cook on high 4-5 hours or low 7-8 hours. When pork is cooked, remove from crock pot and shred. Put back in the sauce. Serve in burritos, enchiladas, salads, or my favorite nachos!

Cheese Sauce

We tried this cheese sauce last week. It tasted great and was super easy to make. The best part about this sauce is you can make it as hot or mild as you want. You can use it with anything you want to have some cheese sauce. We had it with pasta and with chips.

Cheese Sauce by Kenji

INGREDIENTS:

- 8 ounces extra sharp cheddar cheese (or a mix of cheddar and pepper Jack—see note), grated on large holes of a box grater
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 1 12-ounce can evaporated milk
- 2 teaspoons Franks Red Hot or other hot sauce


METHOD:

Add cheese and cornstarch to sauce pan. Toss to combine with 2 forks. Add 1 cup evaporated milk and hot sauce. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with whisk until melted, bubbly, and thickened (about 5 minutes). Mixture will look thin and grainy at first but will thicken and come together after heating. Thin to desired consistency with additional evaporated milk. Serve immediately with fries, tortilla chips, pasta, burgers, or hot dogs.

To reheat the sauce, microwave it on high heat, stopping and stirring every 30 seconds until it's fully melted.

NOTES:

This cheese sauce is gooey and tangy. For a spicier version, substitute half the cheddar cheese with Pepper Jack and add 2-3 minced pickled jalapeños, or to taste.

Adapted from Kenji at Serious Eats.

Jack O Lantern Casserole

We were all surprised at how good this casserole was. Scott and I had it at our Halloween party and thought it was okay. Since it wasn't cold on Halloween here, we decided to try it and see what we thought.

Jack O Lantern Casserole

1 medium pumpkin

1 lb. ground sausage (I used chipotle sausage and it make it taste really good)

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 can cream of chicken soup

1.5 to 2 cu. cooked rice

1 (8 oz) can sliced water chestnuts

1 cup sliced almonds

Clean out pumpkin. Brown sausage. Mix in remaining ingredients. Put pumpkin on cookie sheet. Fill pumpkin with mixture. Place in oven and bake pumpkin with lid on for 1 hour at 350F or until pumpkin is tender. Ladle on to plates out of the pumpkin.

We did double the recipe, but I didn't add any more sausage. The kids really liked this as well. It was really tasty.

Black Beans

Scott came up with a black bean recipe that we use in burritos. We really like these beans.

2 cup black beans
Onion
Garlic
Olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cumin
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 - 1 1/2 teaspoons of ground coriander

Soak the black beans in at least 4 cups of water for a few hours to overnight. Rinse the beans and set aside. Saute the onions and garlic in olive oil. Add the beans and enough water to cover the beans. Cover and bring to a boil over medium heat then add the cumin and coriander. Turn down to low heat and let the beans simmer for probably over an hour until soft. After about 30 minutes, add the salt (you can decrease the salt to 1 teaspoon if you are salt conscious although I think they usually need a bit more salt). Periodically stir the beans and add water if needed. When the beans are soft add the balsamic vinegar and cook for another 5-10 minutes.

Chicken and Cheese Rice Bake

I found this recipe a long time ago. It is really simple and my family really enjoys it.

Chicken and Cheese Rice Bake

2 cans (26 oz.) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup
3 cups water
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups uncooked brown rice (for white rice, cook about 1 hour less and use 1 cup less water)
Frozen chicken breasts to fit in the pan (we use 3)
Paprika
Ground black pepper

Directions:

MIX soup, water, cheese and rice in a 9 x 13 baking dish. Top with chicken. Sprinkle chicken with paprika and pepper. Cover with foil.

BAKE at 375°F. for 1 hr. Remove foil and bake for another 45 minutes to an hour uncovered or until done. Stir rice before serving.

Link to original recipe at Campbells Soup website.

Chicken Enchiladas with Tomatillo Sauce

We found this recipe in our Mexican cookbook. Scott and I both really like this sauce. It isn't too hard to make and tastes really great. It reminds me of Chuy's tomatillo sauce for those of you who have had it. We love it!

Chicken Enchiladas with Tomatillo Sauce

The Sauce

2 cans (13 oz.) tomatillos, drained (you can use about 11 fresh tomatillos...just boil until tender then drain)
Fresh hot green chiles to taste (roughly 3 chiles Serrano or 2 chiles jalapenos)...you can adjust the number to adjust the heat of the sauce...removing the seeds and veins also helps reduce the heat if you desire
5 or 6 sprigs fresh cilantro
1 small onion
1 large clove garlic
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cups any poultry or meat broth (depending on how the sauce is to be used)
Salt, about 1/2 teaspoon (depending on the saltiness of the broth)

1. Drain canned tomatillos. Place the tomatillos and chiles in a blender, along with the cilantro, onion and garlic; stir well. Process until smooth, but still retaining a little texture.

2. Heat the vegetable oil in a medium-large skillet set over medium-high. When hot enough to make a drop of the puree sizzle sharply, pour it in all at once and stir constantly for 4 or 5 minutes, until darker and thicker. Add the broth, let return to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and simmer until thick enough to coat a spoon, about 10 minutes. Season with salt.

The Enchiladas

~3 cups cooked chicken, chopped or shredded
~1 cup grated cheese (cheddar or whatever you like)
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon finely chopped onion (if desired)
12 corn tortillas
1/3 cup feta cheese

1. Stir together the chicken, grated cheese, and sour cream to make the enchilada filling; set aside.

2. Warm the tortillas.

3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lay a tortilla in the sauce, flip it over, add some filling across the center and roll it up. Transfer to the baking dish, then continue filling and rolling the rest of the tortillas. Pour the remaining sauce over the enchiladas, being careful to cover the ends. Add the feta to the top and any additional grated cheese you like.

4. Immediately cover the dish with foil and bake just long enough to heat through, about 10 minutes.

Mexican Delight

This is a dish that we have had at Ruth's house. It is out of the Beary Special Cookbook. It is a variation of Taco Salads. The meat has a sweetness to it. We enjoy having it.

Mexican Delight

1 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 can tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
3 cups water
3 tablespoons sugar
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon cumin seed
1 cup cooked rice
1 large bag Fritos (tortilla chips work as well)
Grated cheese
Chopped tomatoes
Chopped lettuce
Sliced avocados (we have guacamole instead)
Sliced olives
Sour cream

Brown ground beef and onion. Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, water, and spices; simmer for 40 minutes. Add rice. Serve meat sauce over Fritos. Top with remaining ingredients as desired.

Italian Chicken

This is a crock-pot dish that we really enjoy. It is easy to make. We got it out of the Turner Generations of Gourmet Cookbook.

Italian Chicken

4-6 chicken breasts (can be frozen)
3/4 cube butter
8-0z. package of cream cheese
1 package dry Italian dressing mix
1 can cream of chicken soup

Melt butter; add cream cheese, Italian dressing, and soup. Mix until smooth. Place chicken breasts in crock-pot and pour sauce on top of chicken. Cook on low for 6-8 hours (can turn on high for a couple of hours, if needed). Serve over rice.

Olive Garden Fettuccine Alfredo

I think this alfredo sauce is really good. The kids really like it as well.

8 ounces cream cheese -- cut in bits
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese -- grated
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup milk
8 ounces fettuccine; cook – drain (we use about 2 cups of any kind of pasta)

In large saucepan combine cream cheese, Parmesan, butter and milk, stirring constantly until smooth. Toss pasta lightly with sauce, coating well. Leftovers freeze well.

Our variations: We add some pepper, nutmeg and cloves. You can also add some chicken or broccoli or whatever you want. Also, you could cut the cream cheese down to 4 oz. and add a cup and a half of the Parmesan cheese to give it a more hearty, cheesy flavor.

Original Recipe from recipetrove.com.

Cheesy Potatoes

We really like cheesy (or funeral) potatoes. We had them for Easter dinner. This is the recipe that we've used for a while now.

Cheesy (or Funeral) Potatoes

12 large potatoes or 1 (32-ounce bag frozen shredded hash browns) (we use about 6 or 7)
2 (10 3/4 ounce) cans cream of chicken soup
2 cups sour cream
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup butter, melted (we omit this)
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cups crushed corn flakes (we omit this)
2 tablespoons butter, melted (we omit this)

Peel potatoes (you can also leave the peels on to boil them) and boil for 30 minutes, until just tender. Cool and grate into a greased 9 x 13-inch baking dish (or put hash browns into baking dish). Combine soup concentrate, sour cream, cheese, the 1/2 cup melted butter, and onions. Gently blend into potatoes. Combine crushed corn flakes and the 2 tablespoons melted butter. Sprinkle on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. We bake it for around 45 minutes to an hour to cook the onions.

Original Recipe from The Essential Mormon Cookbook.

Hamburger Stroganoff

This is a meal that Milo loves. It is probably his favorite and always eats a lot of it. It is also a quick and easy recipe. We got it from Betty Crocker's New Cookbook.

Hamburger Stroganoff

1 pound lean ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
Hot cooked noodles or rice

Cook beef, onion and garlic in 10-inch skillet over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beef is brown. Stir in soup and salt. Simmer uncovered 10 minutes. Stir in sour cream; cook until hot. Serve or noodles or rice.

*MY VARIATION: I cook the ground beef in a micro-cooker and add dry onions (to cover most of the meat) and garlic powder (a pinch or two). We normally double the sauce. I sometimes won't put any salt in. For the sour cream, I usually put two or three big spoonfuls in, not really measuring it, but I don't put in as much as the recipe calls for.

Chicken Noodle Casserole

This is a quick and easy recipe that we got from the Beary Special Cookbook. It tastes pretty good and the kids love it.

Chicken Noodle Casserole

1 can chicken
1/2 c. salad dressing (I do half mayo, half miracle whip)
1 (10 oz.) can cream of chicken soup
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. cheese
1 (8 oz.) pkg. egg noodles (I've used whatever kind of pasta you want...you need probably 12 oz.)

Cover noodles with water and boil till tender. Mix soup, salad dressing, milk and chicken. Add drained noodles. Grate cheese and mix in casserole. Bake at 350° for about 30 minutes. Serves 6-8.

Note: Can substitute tuna for chicken. Top with buttered corn flake crumbs if desired.

Sloppy Joe's

We have found a very good recipe for Sloppy Joe's. It is really very good.

First, chop a red bell pepper and an onion.

Pour two tablespoons of olive oil into a large skillet and turned the heat to medium. Next, add the onions and red bell peppers. Cook the onions and peppers over medium heat, stirring regularly.

After the onions are just slightly brown and the peppers are getting soft, add two cloves of garlic (I just use my garlic press, but you can chop it if you don't own a garlic press...and you will probably soon buy a garlic press because your hands will smell like garlic for a few days after handling it while chopping) and stir for about a minute.

Then add one 15 oz. can of tomato sauce, one 6 oz. can of tomato paste, one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and a dash of cinnamon and stir it all together. Let the sauce cool slightly then spoon it into the blender and puree it until it is fairly smooth.

Then cook the meat and season it to taste. Add the sauce and one cup of shredded cheese. Heat it up and stir until smooth.

Link to original recipe at Pinch My Salt.