Tonight was Pasta with Ham and Spinach Sauce...

You will need:

2 cloves garlic
4 shallots or 1 small onion (I prefer the shallots when we have them!)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil or vegetable oil (I prefer EVOO)
1/2 pound bow tie pasta (I tend to use a pound and keep everything else the same and any pasta works!)
1 cup heavy cream (I use 1/2 cup half and half and 1/2 cup of milk)
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp pepper
1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1/2 pound ham (canadian bacon, ham steak, whatever you like!)

Bring large pot of water to a boil

Meanwhile in food processor, mince the garlic. Add the shallots (or onion) and coarsely chop. (My preference here is to use the already minced garlic and cut the shallot/onion myself).

In a large skillet, warm the butter in the oil over medium heat until the butter is melted. Add the garlic-shallot mixture and cook stirring until the shallots begin to brown, about 5 minutes.

Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente per package directions.

Meanwhile, add the cream, broth, nutmeg and pepper to the skillet. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to low and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Squeeze the spinach dry in several layers of paper towel. Increase the heat under the sauce to medium-high and bring to a boil. Stir in the spinach and let the mixture return to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 3 minutes, or until the spinach is cooked through.

Cut the ham into whatever you like - you can dice it or cut it into match sticks.

Drain the pasta and toss with the ham and spinach sauce. (I tend to put it back in the pot and mix it there! Makes cleanup easier - unless you are serving it to company!)

This is always a huge hit around here! My kids request it frequently! We have it at least once a week around here! Tonight we used ziti...

Tonight's dinner... Rotisserie chicken in the dutch oven

Dinner tonight was an easy one - but thought I'd share since it's SO DARN GOOD!

I made chicken in my dutch oven... sorry for the slit down the center - I started to cut it and decided I should really take a picture of it in the dutch oven too!

I found this recipe online somewhere a while back - I got the most awesome dutch oven for Christmas from my in-laws and LOVE it! This chicken comes out just perfect! We've made it several times and it's always a huge hit around here. I have never tried cooking it in a roasting pan, I am sure it would work though - or in one of the oven roasting bags too since both are mentioned in the recipe...

You will need:
1/4 c Oil
1 tb Honey
1 tb Lime juice
1/4 ts Paprika
Season salt
3 1/2 lb Whole chicken
Onion chunks
Unpeeled apple wedges
1 Chunks celery

Preheat your oven to 350~

Fill the cavity with apple, onions and celery. Place it in a Pam-sprayed Dutch oven or a roasting pan deep enough that it can later be sealed in foil without the foil touching the skin of the chicken.

Place first 5 ingredients in a sauce pan and heat until the honey is melted and fully incorporated.
Pour this mixture over the chicken. I tend to add in any onion wedges, apple wedges, celery and even some carrot pieces around the chicken that you may have left from what does not fit in the cavity.

Cook for about an hour plus 15 to 30 minutes depending on the size of the chicken (you should reach an internal temp of 180). Be sure it is nicely browned. Or use Reynold's Oven Bags per directions that accompany the bags. (if using a roasting pan - when you remove it from the oven, seal the roasting pan tightly in foil and let it stand for 15 to 20 minutes before serving).

The recipe also says you can:
Arrange 4 chicken breast halves, skin-side-up in a square baking dish or pan, sprayed with Pam. Bake uncovered at 400~ about 35 to 40 minutes, basting chicken without turning them, 3 or 4 times during baking or until nicely browned. Immediately upon removing from oven, seal baking dish tightly in foil and let stand 15 to 20 minutes before serving.


I hope you like this one as much as we do! Here is a picture of the kids plates for dinner tonight too ...

Thai Chicken Pot Sticker Sandwiches

I got this from the Pillsbury website - you can basically put almost anything you like in there - or omit some of the ingredients or change quantities if it's something you don't really like (or you don't think the kids will like)!

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons plain yogurt or sour cream

1 Tablespoon peanut butter (I've also used Sunbutter instead)

2 teaspoons curry powder

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 & 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce

1 cup frozen chopped cooked chicken breast, thawed

1 & 1/2 cups shredded carrots

1 cup shredded cheddar/jack cheese

1 can Pillsbury refrigerated crescent dinner rolls or 1 can Pillsbury Crescent recipe creations refrigerated seamless dough sheet

1/2 cup mango chutney

Directions:

Heat oven to 375. Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray. In large bowl, mix yogurt, peanut butter, curry powder, ginger, garlic powder, and soy sauce. Add chicken, carrots and cheese, mix well.

Unroll dough, separate into 4 rectangles. Place on cookie sheet. Firmly press perforations to seal. If using dough sheet, unroll dough, cut into rectangles. Place on cookie sheet.

Press each rectangle to form 5-inch square. Spoon chicken mixture onto squares. Bring 4 corners of each dough square up over filling; press edges to seal.

Bake 15 - 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Meanwhile, in small saucepan, heat chutney over low heat until hot, stirring occasionally. Serve chutney with sandwiches.

Tonight - I made many substitutions - I didn't have enough soy sauce (which I can't believe - but oh well!) I added a little Worcestershire to make up the difference... didn't have any sour cream (well we did, but I don't think it is supposed to be green) so I substituted some vanilla yogurt!. I cut down on the curry powder and increased the ginger since that's our preference. As mentioned above, if you have a nut allergy - I have used the Sunbutter (sunflower seeds). You could use different veggies, if you prefer, you could use some frozen mixed veggies and just cook and cool them first. We have also made some with Feta cheese instead of the cheddar/jack.

We used the refrigerated chicken, but have done leftover rotisserie chicken or just cooked some chicken breast with some salt and pepper or "chicken seasoning".

How could I forget to post about the Rainbow cupcakes???

I spend time going through several blogs and I find some great things to make! Many of them can be more time consuming than I like - but soooo worth it! I'm a SAHM, and I figure this is why I made the decision to stay home with them - to give them fun memories! I pack the kids snacks and lunches for school (well, lunch for one - but they both get a snack!) I am obsessed with the idea of using bento/recyclable materials to pack their food in - we have several containers we use on a daily basis and I have made each of the kids a lunch or snack bag to bring their food to school in. They also love their reusable snack bags!! I made those too! Some day soon I'll try and get pics of those too!

Anywho - back to the rainbow cupcakes - the kids LOVE them and, I must admit, are VERY fun!
We purchased some of our favorite icing/frosting at the local market to put on top...
Here's a pic!

It's a fun little cross section (I HAD to taste test it!) I've made them a few times now - I made mini cupcakes, heart shaped cupcakes and good ole fashioned cupcakes...

It's simply a white cake mix that I colored with gel food colorings (yes, I did 6 colors!) I put the colored mixes into ziploc bags to put it in the muffin pans - it was easier to get the smaller amounts in there - especially on the mini one's!

I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!