Chicken and Ricotta Lasagna

Chicken, Crockpot /Make Ahead Meals, Pasta

Happy hump day! This is a semi crockpot meal that I am super excited about and has given me a few ideas for future meals. It was SUPER easy…all I did was cook 3 chicken breasts in a crockpot with a jar of tomato basil sauce (use your favorite or what you have on hand) and a can of diced tomatoes. When I got home from work, I layered no bake noodles with the final chicken product (shredded) with ricotta and shredded mozzarella and cooked at 375 for 40 minutes. The chicken was so tender and that ricotta made the dish! Happy cooking!

Crockpot Beef Short Ribs and Veggies

Dips, Dressings, and Spreads

Hey guys! Hope everyone had a great long weekend! We had a teacher work day today, so I decided to do an easy crockpot meal so dinner would be ready when I got home.

The night before I prepped everything.

I browned the short ribs in a cast iron skillet.

I added the meat to my crockpot on top of potatoes, carrots, onions, and mushrooms.

I used the meat drippings and butter to make a gravy. (Equal parts fat and flour and stream in warm beef stock and whisk until desired consistency. I added all the gravy plus a bit more stick in the pot. I cooked on low for up to 8-10 hours. I served with mashed potatoes, peas, salad, and a dinner roll.

Cast Iron Lamb Chops

Lamb

Made my little valentines their favorite meat tonight…lamb chops! I also threw in some little cooked potatoes and got them crunchy in the lamb juice =)

Cast Iron Lamb Chops

Season your chops with salt and pepper and a bit of olive oil. Take your lamb chops and put them in a screaming hot cast iron skillet. Cook on the first side, about 6 minutes. Then flip it and cook for about another 4 minutes. Rest for 5-10 minutes!

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Creamy Tomato Vodka Chicken Spagetti

Chicken, Pasta

Roses are Red,
Violets are Blue,
I have been in bed for 2 days,
Because of the Flu.

But the good news is that I am beginning to feel better and on a few drugs that are helping (Tami-flu, antibiotics, Day Quill, Nigh Quill).

I made this dish a few days ago before the sickness, and it turned out super yummy. I have made home made vodka sauce on the blog before. It was super easy, but I recently bought some jarred sauces that were on sale and one of them was a vodka tomato sauce. I also had a can of diced tomatoes that I decided to add in to the mix. Here is how it all came together.

Ingredients

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 pound of spaghetti (or whatever pasta you have)
1/2 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jar of tomato vodka sauce
1 can of diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons heavy cream

Directions

Salt and pepper the chicken and cook quickly on high heat, about 3 minutes each side. Removed from pan. Cut in sliced or cubes. Chicken is not done yet…

Turn down the heat to medium- medium high. Add chopped onion in a bit of olive oil and cook down for a couple of minutes. Add in the garlic. Saute both together. Then add in your sauce and tomatoes. Mix well.

Add back in your chicken. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the pasta. Cook pasta until al dente.

Add your butter and heavy cream to the sauce. Mix well, then add in your pasta to combine. Serve with some crusty buttered bread. Enjoy!

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Stuffed Peppers with Sausage, Mushrooms, and Rice Pilaf and Provolone

Crockpot /Make Ahead Meals, Pork

I feel that with both girls in 2 different activities at random times calls for a rouge plan. It is only going to get worse from here, so I just may have to buy a ton of pantry stuff and lots of proteins on sale and go Chopped and Iron Chef on my meals from now on.

Tonight was bold. Katie loves peppers but hates rice (WTF?) Becca loves rice but hates peppers. I didn’t really care, so I made this recipe. First I started by sauteing ground pork, onions, and chopped mushrooms with salt, pepper. img_1198

I cooked a box of rice pilaf.

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I combined the two and stuffed in to whole peppers and topped with provolone. img_1203-1

I cooked it in a buttered or sprayed deep casserole dish at 350 for 45 minutes. I served with broccoli and crescent rolls. If I had to make this better, I would add cheese to the rice and meat section. You can never have too much cheese! img_1209-1