Pasta with Toasted Garlic, Dried Cranberries, Kale, Kalamata Olives, & Feta

When I saw this recipe it was said that this is the "best pasta dish ever." So I had to try it.  Plus I have been trying to find recipes to use Kale in besides just making Kale Chips.

I liked it a LOT, maybe not the best pasta ever but it was very good and pretty darn easy.  I knew this recipe might not be Bill's favorite though, because he isn't big on sweet stuff like cranberries in his main dish and because it didn't have meat.  So I bought a rotisserie chicken to have on the side (I didn't have any because the pasta was all I needed, but he cut it up and mixed it in with the pasta) and hoped for the best.

As predicted, Bill didn't love it like I did. He said if I changed the kale to spinach and got rid of the cranberries, it would be a home-run,  without the changes he said it was still a delicious meal.  I liked the Kale, but could live without the cranberries so I may try leaving out the cranberries next time and see how it tastes.

Pasta with Toasted Garlic, Dried Cranberries, Kale, Kalamata Olives, and Feta
From: Iowa Girl Eats
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 15 - 20 min

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 small red onion, minced
salt & pepper
1/4 cup dried cranberries
4 cups torn kale (I removed the stem-vein almost all the way up)
1/4 cup water
4 -6 oz spaghetti
1/4 cup sliced pitted kalamata olives
2 Tbsp crumbled feta cheese.

Directions:
1. Cook spaghetti according to directions until al dente.

2. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet.  Add garlic slices then cook, stirring almost constantly, until slices are pale golden brown.  Remove to a plate and set aside.

2.  Turn heat down to medium, then add red onion.  Season with salt and pepper then cook until golden-brown and tender, about 3 minutes.

3. Add cranberries and kale, season with more salt and pepper, then add water, place lid on top of the skillet and cook for 4-5 minutes, or until kale is tender.

4. Add kalamata olives to cooked kale and cranberry mixture. Transfer cooked spaghetti to skillet, then toss to combine all ingredients.  Add up to 1/4 cup pasta cooking water if needed.  Divide between planes and top with feta cheese and cooked garlic slices.

Broccoli Quinoa Casserole

I made this for Bill's family a couple days after I made the Cheesy Zucchini Quinoa and was afraid we would be burnt out of Quinoa.  This turned out to be way better than that recipe and everyone loved it.  There weren't even any leftovers!

Broccoli Quinoa Casserole
From: Eating Well... Living Thin
Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 40 min

Ingredients:
1 (10oz) can Condensed Cream of Broccoli Soup
1/3 cup reduced fat mayonaise
2 Tbsp milk
1 1/4 cup reduced fat shredded cheese (cheddar, colby-jack, etc)
1/2 tsp sugar or splenda
1/4 tsp black pepper
dash ground nutmeg
2 cups cooked broccoli
1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa
Freshly grated parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. To cook quinoa: rinse 3/4 cup quinoa until water runs clear.  In a small saucepan combine quinoa 1 1/2 cup water, and 1/4 tsp salt.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat to low and cover.  Cook for 18-20 minutes, or until fluffy and the white ring/tail is visible.  Fluff with a fork - this will make around 1 1/2 cups Quinoa

2. While quinoa is cooking, cook broccoli until tender (I steamed mine).

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and coat a shallow casserole dish with cooking spray.

4.  In a large bowl, combine the soup, mayonnaise, milk, shredded cheese, sugar/spelnda, pepper, and nutmeg until well mixed.  Stir in the quinoa and broccoli.

5. Spoon mixture into prepared casserole.  Sprinkle Parmesan over the top and bake fro 35 - 40 minutes or until bubbly on the edges and golden.

Taco Cupcakes

I saw these all over Pinterest a while back and wanted to make them.  These are really supposed to be appetizers, but we had them for dinner one night.  I was skeptical since wonton wrappers do not seem like logical Mexican ingredients, but my need for new Mexican recipes prevailed and I powered through.  I'm so glad I did.  They were outstanding.  Bill said he loved them and that we definitely needed to make them next time we have people over.  I served them with salsa, sour cream and guacamole.  I liked it best with all three on them (I used packaged guacamole because I wanted to try it - won't do it again - homemade is definitely the way to go for guac).  Who wants to come over so I can make these again as appetizers! :)

Taco Cupcakes
From: Plain Chicken
Prep time: 10 min
Cook Time: 40 min

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 packet taco seasoning
2/3 cup water
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
24 - 36 wonton wrappers
Taco Toppings of your choice: salsa, cheese, sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, guacamole, etc.
cooking spray

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375.  Brown meat in a skillet and drain off fat.  Return meat to skillet and add taco seasoning, water and black beans.  Mix and simmer for 5-10 minutes until water is absorbed.

2. Spray 12 - 18 regular muffin pan cups with cooking spray.  Place one wonton wrapper in each muffin cup.  Divide half of the taco meat between muffin cups.  sprinkle half of the cheese over the cupcakes.  Repeat layers - wonton, taco meat, and cheese.

3. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly.  Top with your favorite taco toppings.

Cauliflower Soup

I wanted to try this Cauliflower Soup when I saw it posted on the Pioneer woman.  It looked like a cozy creamy soup - similar to cream of broccoli or something.  It was good, and made A LOT, but it probably would have been a bit thicker if I had used whole milk as directed instead of skim.  It was time consuming and definitely NOT a weeknight type of soup but the actual work of doing it was not difficult.  It is definitely good for a cold fall/winter weekend.

Cauliflower Soup
From: Pioneer Woman
Prep Time: 30 min
Cook time: 40 min

Ingredients:
1 Stick Butter, divided
1/2 Onion, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced (I did a bunch of small carrots instead of one large)
1 - 1/2 Cauliflower Heads (roughly chopped)
2 Tbsp Parsley chopped (fresh or dried)
2 quarts chicken broth
6 Tbsp flour
2 cups Whole Milk (I used Skim because that's what we had)
1 cup half & half
2 - 4 tsp salt, to taste
1 cup sour cream, room temperature

Directions:
1. In a large soup pot or dutch oven, melt 4 Tbsp butter.  Add the onion and cook for a few minutes, or until it starts to turn brown.

2. Add carrots and celery and cook an additional couple minutes. Add cauliflower and parsley and stir to combine.

3. Cover and cook over very low heat for 15 minutes.  After 15 minutes, pour in chicken broth.  Bring to a boil then reduce heat and allow to simmer

4. In a medium saucepan, melt 4 Tbsp butter.  Mix the flour with the milk and whisk to combine.  Add flour-milk mixture slowly to the butter, whisking constantly.

5. Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup half and half.  Add mixture to the simmering soup.  allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes.  Check seasoning and add more salt or pepper if necessary.

5.  Just before serving place the sour cream in a serving bowl or soup tureen.  Add two to three ladles of hot soup into the tureen and stir to combine with the sour cream.  Pour in remaining soup and stir.  Serve immediately.

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Freezer Pie

Sometimes I just want something chocolatey and peanut buttery, but don't want to do too much work.  This dessert is perfect for that.  I whipped it up in about 5 minutes or so and it was very good and not too heavy. 

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Freezer Pie
From: Coupon Cousins
Prep time:  5-10 min
Freeze Time: 1 hr.

Ingredients:
1 pie crust (recipe said chocolate cookie, but I used graham)
1 large box of instant chocolate pudding (can use sugar free)
1 1/2 cup milk
1 8oz tub of cool whip (can use light or sugar free)
Reese's Peanut butter cups (about 10 large ones or 20 minis)

Directions:
1.  In a large bowl, mix the pudding with the milk.  Whisk in the cool whip.

2. Unwrap the Reese's peanut butter cups and roughly chop. Fold in chopped candy into pudding mix.  Pour all into the chocolate pie crust.

3. Top with a few more chopped peanut butter cups.  Store int eh freezer until about 15 min before serving.

Okra and Tomato Quinoa

I recently traveled to New Orleans for work.  It was my first time there and I had a lot of good food!  One thing I had was an okra, tomato, rice dish that was fantastic.  So I decided to try and make something similar with quinoa.  I have never cooked with okra before and was surprised that my grocery store even had fresh okra.  I thought this recipe turned out delicious plus it had very little prep time (which I love).  I cut this recipe in half because I wasn't sure if we would like it and I didn't want to get stuck with a bunch of leftovers, but next time I will make the full recipe because it was so good I was wishing there was extra to have it the next day for lunch.

PS - The beer in the background is Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin Ale... this is our new favorite pumpkin beer.  If you like pumpkin beer you should definitely give it a try!

 Okra and Tomato Quinoa
From: Food52
Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 30-40 min

Ingredients:
16 oz Fresh Okra
1 can (14.5 oz) Diced Tomatoes with Basil, Garlic & Oregano
1 cup raw quinoa (rinse if desired)
2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
additional basil & Oregano to taste (if desired)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Mix vegetable broth, quinoa, okra and tomatoes (with juice) into baking dish.

2. Mix Parmesan with additional spices if you wish and then sprinkle mixture on top

3. Bake fore 30-40 minutes, or until quinoa is cooked. 

Cheesy Zucchini Quinoa

When I saw this on Closet Cooking I thought it looked like an easy and healthy side dish.  I had a huge zucchini to use from a friends garden and thought this would be a good way to use some of it.  It was very easy and I liked it, but Bill said he thought it tasted like grass.  It does have a strong raw zucchini taste, and next time I might try throwing the zucchini in halfway through the cooking process to get it a little more cooked.

Cheesy Zucchini Quinoa
From: Closet Cooking
Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 15-20 min

Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa, well rinsed
1 3/4 cup vegetable broth or water
1 medium zucchini, grated
1 cup cheddar, shredded
Salt & Pepper to Taste

Directions:
1. Bring Quinoa and broth to a boil over medium heat, reduce the heat and simmer covered until the broth has been absorbed and the quinoa is tender, about 15-20 minutes.

2. Remove from heat and mix in the zucchini, cheese, salt and pepper.  Serve.

Crock Pot Basil Chicken with Feta, Tomatoes, Garbanzos, and Olives

I really liked the salty savoriness of this dish - plus it is in the crockpot so that makes it even better. The only problem with this dish is that I'm gone longer than 7 hours so the chicken was a little drier than it probably should be.  Even with that, I will definitely make this again. But if you have a crockpot with a timer or can turn it to warm after 7 or 8 hours I think it would be just perfect. 

Crock Pot Basil Chicken with Feta, Tomatoes, Garbanzos, and Olives
From: A Year of Slow Cooking
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 6-7 hours

Ingredients:
2 lbs of boneless skinless chicken thighs (I actually used chicken breasts
1 can (14.5 oz) can fire roasted tomatoes
1 can (14.5 oz) Garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup pitted green olives
1/4 cup tightly packed basil leaves
8 oz crumbled feta cheese

Directions:
1. Place chicken into the bottom of your slow cooker, add entire can of tomatoes, garbanzo beans, green olives, basil leaves (can leave them whole - I did) and crumble on feta cheese.

2. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours or on high for about 3 hours.

Cauliflower Mash

This is a South Beach Diet Recipe that they try to tell you will be a good substitute for mashed potatoes.  Let me warn you... this does NOT taste like mashed potatoes.  The only similarity is their color and that they are mashed.  It still tastes like cauliflower.  That being said, I actually liked it.  I don't care for plain old steamed cauliflower and definitely don't like it raw, but this was actually not bad. I won't be replacing mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving or anything with this, but I will make it again for sure.

Cauliflower Mash
From: South Beach Diet
Prep time: 15 min

Ingredients:
1 head of Cauliflower, cut off florets
5-10 sprays of Butter Spray
1 oz Fat Free Half & Half
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Steam or microwave the cauliflower until soft.

2.  Puree in a food processor, adding the butter spray and half and half to taste.  Season with salt and pepper.

Crab Meat Cheese Spread

This is one of my all time favorite appetizers that my mom serves (and now I serve).  The flavors are so good and it is so simple - you won't be able to believe you haven't been making it your whole life.

Crab Meat Cheese Spread
From: Mom
Prep time: 5 min
cook time: none

Ingredients:
1 bottle chili sauce
1 small can crabmeat (7 1/2 oz)
1 (8oz) cream cheese
parsley
crackers

Directions:
1. Place cream cheese on a serving dish.  Cover entire brick with chili sauce.  Sprinkle crap meat on top until entire brick is covered.  Serve with crackers.