Sausage Zuppa Soup

1 pkg. of your favorite summer sausage sliced

1 yellow onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp Italian Seasoning

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (if you don't like spicy stuff you can omit this)

1 (32 oz) carton chicken broth

About 2 1/2 cups red potatoes chopped into bite size chunks

1 (12 oz) can fat-free evaporated milk

2 Tbsp. cornstartch

2 C. Fresh Kale

salt and pepper to taste

1. Saute sausage, onion and garlic in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat about 5 minutes or until onion is tender.
2. Stir in Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper, broth and potatoes.
3. In a small bowl whisk evaporated milk and cornstarch until smooth; add to soup.
4. Simmer over medium heat 10 to 12 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
5. Stir in spinach and season with salt and black pepper to taste

I absolutely love this recipe. It keeps so well we have it for lunch/dinner for a couple of days. 

Harvest Cobb Salad aka AMAZINGNESS!

Made this on Sunday for our family dinner and everyone LOVED it! My dad said that CPK ain't got nothing on me and this salad! Boom! I found this recipe on http://damndelicious.net/2014/09/22/harvest-cobb-salad/

Also I doubled the recipe because I wasn't sure how much it would make we had 6 people and still had quite a bit leftover. 

~Ingredients ~

4 slices of bacon cooked and crumbled

2 large hard boiled eggs

6 cups romain lettuce

1 apple diced

1 pear diced

1/2 cup pecan halves

1/3 cup dried cranberries 

1/3 cup goat cheese (I think next time I'm going to do feta because goat cheese is pricey $$$)

Poppy Seed Dressing:

1/3 cup mayonnaise ( I would like to try and substitute plain greek yogurt next time)

1/4 cup milk

2 Tbsp. Sugar

1 Tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar

1 Tbsp. poppyseeds

Mix it all up and enjoy! I would personally not put the dressing on the entire salad just let people do their own and that way the salad keeps longer for leftovers. 

Swiss Chicken

So sorry but not sorry there is no pic to accompany this recipe and that is for a few reasons:

1: I am not a photographer

2: I don't usually eat off of nice plates its usually a styrofoam plate unless we are having someone over for dinner. 

3: Even the yummiest looking foods are not always the tastiest so why not have you try it and just see for yourself.

I cut the recipe in half since it was just for Ben and I so adjust accordingly. 

8 Chicken Breasts (I also use Tenders, enough to fill the pan)

8 Slices of Swiss Cheese

2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup

1/2 c. Sour Cream

1/4 c. water

2 c. crushed Ritz Crackers (I just use one package of Ritz)

1/2 c. melted butter

 

Put chicken in a 9x13 pan, put a slice of swiss cheese on each chicken.  Mix the soup, sour cream, and water together and pour over chicken and cheese.  Melt a stick of butter then add the crushed Ritz crackers to it.  Sprinkle over the chicken and sauce. 

Bake 350 for 1 hour.

 

The sauce in the pan goes great over rice!

And Voila! Seriously delish! 

Copycat Olive Garden Fettuccine Alfredo

The only time I eat Alfredo is at Olive Garden. Any other alfredo sauce tastes like puke to me. Sorry but it does. The stuff out of the jar...I think I just threw up in my mouth writing that. Anyways, thanks to a friend/co-worker I came across this recipe and it is AMAZING! No seriously. And I'm going to save big bucks because now whenever I crave alfredo I'm just going to whip up a batch of this amazingness and voila!

1 pkg penne or fettuccine

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter

1-2 gloves garlic

1/4 tsp salt

1 pint heavy cream

1 cup parmesan cheese

2 Tbsp. cream cheese

1/2 tsp white pepper

 Chicken strips (optional)

Cook Pasta. Brown or bake Chicken. In sauce pan on medium heat melt butter. Add garlic, cook 2 min. Then add heavy cream and cream cheese until bubbly but not boiling (I know I know but don't stress you can do it). Add parmesan cheese. Mix until melted. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Serve over noodles with chicken if desired.

Spicy Honey Glazed Chicken and Potato Skins

Love me some potatoes and chicken! Such a good combo! Yum! Ooo and just as good of combo is sweet and spicy...so good! Ok now on to the recipes! 

Spicy Honey Glazed Chicken

 4 large boneless breasts
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2 cup honey
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 

Mix spices together and set aside.

Mix honey and cider vinegar and set aside.

 Cover both sides in seasoning, set flat onto sheet pan. When all chicken as been seasoned put under broiler.

Cook for 5-7 minutes on one side and flip.  Cook for a 5-7 minutes on other side.  Flip again and then baste the chicken in honey/cider mixture.  Be sure to really get the chicken covered.  Add to oven again and let it cook under the broiler for a few minutes until the honey starts to thicken up and glaze.  Turn over again baste in the honey/cider mixture and cook under broiler for a few more minutes. Enjoy!

Potato Skins

4 large potatoes ( I used red potatoes)

3 Tbsp. melted butter

2 tsp salt

1 1/2 - 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

bacon bits or bacon cooked and crumbled

green onions

1. Pre-heat oven to 400°. Cover a baking sheet with foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
2. Wash potatoes and then cut the ends of the potatoes off and discard. Next cut the rest of the potatoes into approximately 1/2 inch slices.
3. Brush both sides and edges of the potatoes with butter and sprinkle with salt. Place on the foil covered pan and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until lightly browned. Turn potatoes onto the opposite side after about 15 minutes, to brown the other side.
4. When potatoes are done, top with cheese, bacon and green onions. Continue baking for 3-5 minutes, or until the cheese in nice and bubbly.

Spicy Sausage Pasta

Loved this recipe! It was a nice "go to" meal on a crazy Monday night. It was so nice to just throw together the ingredients let it simmer and Voila!

1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb smoked sausage
1.5 cups diced onion (I would highly recommend buying frozen chopped onion, this was my first time using it and it was so convenient. Rather than doing the whole chopping of the onion, crying, clean up etc. And you don't even to have to unthaw it just measure it throw it in and you are good to go!)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 (10 oz) can Ro-Tel tomatoes and green chiles, Mild
1/2 cup heavy cream
8 oz penne pasta
1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper, each
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1/3 cup thinly sliced scallions

1. Add olive oil to an oven-safe skillet over medium high heat until just smoking. Add sausage and onions and cook until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

2. Add broth, tomatoes, cream, pasta, salt and pepper and stir. Bring to a boil, cover skillet, and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until pasta is tender, about 15 minutes.

3. Remove skillet from heat and stir in 1/2 cup cheese. Top with remaining cheese and sprinkle with scallions. Broil until cheese is melted, spotty brown, and bubbly.

Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:1 (18.5 ounce) can Progresso Light Chicken and Cheese Enchilada Soup

1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce (you choose green or red I did red)
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
6 tortillas
2 medium green onions, thinly sliced

Directions:Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a medium bowl, combine soup and enchilada sauce.  Spread 1 cup of soup mixture in the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish.  In a large bowl, combine 1 cup of remaining soup mixture, chicken, and 1 cup of cheese.  Place 1/4 cup chicken mixture in each tortilla, roll up and place seam side down in prepared baking dish.  Pour remaining soup mixture over enchiladas and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Sprinkle green onions on top and bake for 30 minutes or until cheese is completely melted.