Greek Pasta with Tomatoes and White Beans

I actually got this recipe from allrecipes.com. We tried it tonight and we all loved it.

Ingredients

• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans Italian-style diced tomatoes
• 1 (19 ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 10 ounces fresh spinach, washed and chopped
• 8 ounces penne pasta
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
  

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente.Meanwhile, combine tomatoes and beans in a large non-stick skillet. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes.Add spinach to the sauce; cook for 2 minutes or until spinach wilts, stirring constantly.Serve sauce over pasta, and sprinkle with feta.

I substituted the feta with some regular cheddar because I didn't have feta.

Cafe Rio Copy Cat Recipes

Okay so I finally tried some of these recipes

The Chicken is very good, the dressing was a little hot but if I remember right that is how Cafe Rio's is too.... I haven't eaten a salad there for awhile. I thought about trying that lime rice recipe but the one Patti posted on this site is good enough for me!

Chicken

5 lbs chicken breast- boneless skinless

1 small bottle zesty italitan dressing

1 Tbsp chili powder

1 Tpsp cumin

3 cloves garlic, minced

Mix all ingredients together in a large crock pot.

Cook on high for 5-7 hours. Remove chicken and shred with fork. Reserve a small amount of juice and pour over shredded chicken to keep moist. Keep warm.

Cilantro Lime Dressing

1 pkg of Hidden Valley Buttermilk Ranch Dressing dry mix (There is a subsitution for this you can make from scratch in my book.)

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup mayonnaise

1-2 tomatillos, peel

1 clove garlic minced

1/3 bunch cillantro, chopped

1/2 tsp lime juice

1/2 small jalapeno, seeds removed

Blend ingredients together in a blender. Add additional mayonnaise if dressing is too thin. Keep refrigerated. I tired using Plain Yogurt in place on Mayo and it was just fine.

other copy cat recipes

Crockpot Italian Chicken

I originally got the base for my recipe from a ward cookbook I got for my wedding.

4-6 chicken Breasts (6-12 chicken tenders)
1/4 C butter, melted (1 stick of butter)
1 pkgs Good Seasons Dry Italian seasoning (any brand Italian dressing mix)
6 oz cream cheese (8 oz)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 C water (I usually don't add water, but I start with frozen chicken)
cooked rice or pasta

Chicken breasts can be left whole or cut into pieces. Dip Chicken in melted butter and place in crockpot. Pour 2 packages of Italian seasoning over chicken and cook on low for 6 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours. When chicken is done make a sauce by (adding cream cheese & cream of chicken soup to the crockpot and mix well) mixing in a saucepan the cream cheese, chicken soup and water, stirring until smooth. Pour into Crockpot and stir well with chicken ans seasoning. Warm for 5 (or a few more hours) minutes and serve over rice or pasta.

So that is the original recipe! My modifications to amounts in (). Okay so you can cook the chicken first in the Crockpot, you can also mix everything except rice or pasta in and cook it all together. That is how I usually do it, we ate this almost every Sunday when we were first married! It isn't a super low fat meal but is one I save for special dinners or Sunday dinners.

Hawaiian Kabobs with out the Sticks :)

Another recipe from my archives that I am not sure where I picked it up.

I took a picture I will add it on Friday.

2/3 C chicken broth
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp corn syrup
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
2 tsp seasoned rice vinegar
1tbsp cornstarch
2 C broccoli florets
2 C large chunks chicken
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1 can (8 oz) pineapple chunks

In a frying pan cook chicken chunks, with a little oil, set aside. In small saucepan, combine broth, soy sauce, corn syrup, ginger, and vinegar, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. In small bowl, combine cornstarch with 1 tbsp water and whisk into boiling sauce. Continue whisking while boiling for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Place broccoli florets in medium glass bowl; cover and microwave 4 minutes. Add chicken to the sauce and cook for 5 min. Then mix together the pineapple, tomatoes & broccoli into the chicken & sauce. Serve over a bed of warm rice.

Everyone at my house liked this even my sister Megan! I added the original instructions below in case someone wanted to make actual kabobs.

ORIGINAL INSTRUCTIONS:
In small saucepan, combine broth, soy sauce, corn syrup, ginger, and vinegar, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. In small bowl, combine cornstarch with 1 tbsp water and whisk into boiling sauce. Continue whisking while boiling for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Place broccoli florets in medium glass bowl; cover and microwave 4 minutes.

Heat broiler. Line a baking pan with foil. Place chicken, broccoli, tomatoes, and pineapple chunks on skewers. Brush with sauce. Broil 4 to 5 minutes, until heated through and browned.

Fresh Berry Cobbler

This is a great recipe for an easy dessert using raspberries (it called for raspberries or blueberries but I've only done it with raspberries so far). Also, it calls for fresh berries but if you pick/buy too many you can freeze them for later. Since we have raspberry bushes this is the case for us--spread them on a cookie sheet to freeze then bag them so they aren't frozen in one big lump. This is such a great treat in the dead of winter when fruit is so expensive at the store.

1/2 C. sugar
1 T. cornstarch
4 C. berries
2 T. water
1 t. lemon juice
1 C. Bisquick baking mix
1/4 C. milk
1 T. sugar
1 T. butter, melted (margarine is okay too)

1. Heat oven to 425.
2. Mix the 1/2 C. sugar and cornstarch in saucepan. Stir in berries, water, and lemon juice. Heat to boiling over medium heat, stirring constantly. Continue boiling 1 minute, stirring constantly. Pour berry mixture into ungreased casserole dish.
3. Stir Bisquick, milk, 1T sugar and melted butter just until blended and a dough forms. Drop dough by 6 spoonfuls onto hot berry mixture.
4. Bake about 15 minutes or until the berry mixture is bubbly and topping is light brown.
5. Serve by spooning out one blob of topping and the berry mixture just under and around it per person. It is also great with a dash of cream or ice cream.

Asian Beef & Broccoli

from savingdinner.com

1 pound round steak, cut into strips (next time i would cube to make it easier on the little ones)
Salt to taste
Dash white pepper
1 big bunch of broccoli, cut into flowerets (cut stems into rounds, too)(You can easily add more veggies to this recipe! If you have anything hanging out in the crisper, use it up!)
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil (available in the Asian section of any grocery store)
1/4 cup chicken broth or vegetable broth (I used beef broth since it has beef in it)
1 1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil
6 cloves garlic, pressed
1 1/2 teaspoons grated gingerroot
3 cups brown rice, cooked
COOKING INSTRUCTIONS:
1-Toss beef with salt and white pepper.
2-Place broccoli in 1 inch boiling water; heat to boiling. Cover and cook 2 minutes. Immediately rinse with cold water; drain.
3-Mix cornstarch and soy sauce; stir in sesame oil and broth. set aside.
4-Spray nonstick wok or 12-inch skillet with nonstick cooking spray heat over medium-high heat until cooking spray starts to bubble. Add beef; stir-fry about 2 minutes or until brown. 5-Remove beef from wok. Cool wok slightly. Add a little oil and rotate wok to coat sides. Heat over medium-high heat. Add garlic and gingerroot; stir-fry 30 seconds. Stir in beef and broccoli. Stir in cornstarch mixture; cook and stir about 30 seconds or until thickened. Serve over brown rice.

This was a very yummy & tasty meal. we have broccoli 2 to 3 times a week so it is a nice change to have it included in the meal.

Carbonara

I just tried this recipe from a friend and it was delicious, as well as easy. My 4 year old and 2 year old even asked for seconds!

1 lb. pasta (bowtie or something fun)
1 lb. bacon
1 onion chopped
4-5 cloves pressed garlic
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 C. chicken stock/broth
2 egg yolks
1 C. parmesan cheese
1/2 C. cream, I used milk and thought it was fine
bunch of fresh parsley chopped
pepper to taste

The recipe doesn't call for it, but I think pieces of chicken or sliced mushrooms would also be great with this.

Get pasta boiling

Saute bacon, onion and garlic. Just before bacon is crispy, add red pepper flakes and cook until bacon is crisp.

Add chicken stock and simmer until it's reduced by half.

Beat yolks, 2/3 parmesan cheese, cream, parsley, and pepper together. Slowly add a ladel-full of pasta water to it.

Add cream mixture to bacon mixture and heat through. Let simmer a couple minutes until it thickens. Add to pasta and enjoy!

Tatertot Extreme

This is an old family favorite.

1 to 2 lbs browned ground beef (amount depends on your preference)
I brown my ground beef with dry onion and garlic powder or garlic salt.
2 cans Green Beans
2 cans cream of chicken soup
I add all kinds of seasoning: Italian, Garlic Salt, Salt & Pepper
mix everything together well & top with tatertots

bake at 325° for about 30 min

Trick Tip: If you don't have time to brown your ground beef line the bottom of the casserole dish with hamburger patties and top with everything else and bake. It works best if you can break one pattie in half for each end of the dish.