This deserves another chance

I made the Quick Cheese Ravioli with Parsley-Basil Butter Drizzle tonight and although it was a bit of a mess up on my end, they were still wonderful! First of all my ricotta which wasn’t past its expiration date had yucky shades of green/blue mixed into it’s lovely creamy white color. Ummm gross! So I didn’t get to prep it early in the day like I had originally planned since I had to wait for my husband to bring home some new ricotta.

So here I am rushing putting together the raviolis, although quick…wasn’t quick enough for me. I quickly start putting them in the boiling water and realize that I haven’t started the butter sauce and they need to be served when ready.  Started that and had the raviolis finished when I realized that I hadn’t made a side dish. My raviolis were stuck together and sticky. Tasted great though!

We are definitely trying these again in the future, this time put together early with sauce and sides almost done before I cook them.  No picture but hopefully a great one next time I make these!

Quick Cheese Ravioli with Two Different Fillings

24 square wonton wrappers

6 ozs goat cheese or italian blend cheese, grated (I used the italian blend cheese)

1/2 cup part skim ricotta cheese

1 large clove garlic, pressed

1/8 t ground nutmeg

1/8 t pepper

1/2 t salt

 

In a small bowl, mash together the goat cheese (or italian blend cheese), ricotta cheese, garlic, and nutmeg. Add salt and pepper.

To assemble ravioli, place a sheet of waxed paper on a baking sheet or other flat surface. Arrange 6 wonton wrappers on this work surface. (Keep the remaining wrappers covered with a damp paper towel) Spoon 1 T of cheese filling into center of each wonton wrapper. Wet the edges of the wrappers with water. Fold around the corner of each wrapper over the filling to a form a triangle. Flatten the area around the cheese filling to eliminate any air pockets, pressing the edges to seal. Repeat with remaining fillings and wrappers.

You can freeze at this point on a flat tray for 1 hour. Wrap ravioli in bundles of 6-8 in plastic wrap, then place in a freezer bag.

Serving Day-

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add 1/4 t salt to water. Drop desired number of frozen ravioli into water, one at a time. Stir gently and cook for 5-7 mins, until al dente. Using a slotted spoon, remove the raviolis and drain them very quickly on a plate lined with paper towels. Serve immediately with Parsley-Basil Butter Drizzle or your favorite marinara or meat sauce.

Parsley-Basil Butter Drizzle

1 T chopped fresh parsley

1 T chopped fresh basil ( I actually used 1 t dried)

2 T butter, melted

1 T parmesan cheese, grated

salt, pepper, and garlic salt to taste

In a small bowl, stir together parsley and basil. Add butter, parmesean cheese, salt, pepper, and garlic salt (optional). Microwave for 30 seconds or until heated to liquid consistency. Drizzle over ravioli. ( I don’t have a microwave so I warmed this in a small pan on the stove)

Menu Plan 5/10/10

I hope everyone had a nice Mother’s Day yesterday. Mine was very nice. Went to see Back Up Plan with my mom and then took her to lunch at Outback. When I got home the kids had made me homemade cards, very cute. Then to end the day my dad took us all out to Red Lobster for dinner. It was a nice day with only a few low moments.

Tally is still fighting a cold still and Devlin is running a fever but otherwise acting semi normal. Keeping an eye on the both of them for now.

Now onto my Menu Plan this week. I’ve planned 2 meatless nights this week and as usual recipes and possibly pictures will be posted during the week!

• Creamy Tomato Basil Soup (Don’t Panic More Dinners in the Freezer) and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
  
• Spicy Peanut Chicken (Don’t Panic More Dinners in the Freezer) with baby bok choy and brown rice
• Quick Cheese Ravioli with Parsley-Basil Butter Drizzle (Don’t Panic More Dinners in the Freezer)
• Pepper Steak Stir Fry (All You Magazine May 21st 2010 issue)

More menu plans can be found at Orgjunkie

Chili Con Carne and White River Sour Cream Cornbread

Both of these recipes were pretty tasty. The Chili is a good blend of mild flavors, not to spicy for kids even though mine wouldn’t touch it. They rarely eat anything I make though. I was a little nervous with the cornbread which was a little thicker than I’m used to so I thought I accidentally put in an extra 1/4 cup of cornmeal but it turned out moist and yummy so I think it’s just a lumpy batter.

Chili Con Carne (Don’t Panic Dinner’s in the Freezer)

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 3/4 cup green pepper, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1-16oz can tomatoes, cut up
• 1-16oz can kidney beans
• 1-8oz can tomato sauce
• 2 t chili powder
• 1/2 t dried basil, crushed
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/4 t pepper

Cook ground beef, onion, green pepper, and garlic until meat is browned. Drain off fat. Stir in undrained tomatoes, kidney beans, tomato sauce, chili powder, basil, salt, and pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 20 mins or longer. Top with grated cheese, sour cream, chopped onions or your favorite condiments.

White River Sour Cream Cornbread (Don’t Panic Dinner’s in the Freezer)

• 3/4 cup flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)
• 1/4 cup sugar (I used sucanat)
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 1/4 cup cornmeal
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1 1/4 cups sour cream
• 1/3 cup oil

Preheat oven to 400° Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a med bowl. Stir in cornmeal. In a separate bowl, combine egg, sour cream and oil. Add to dry ingredients until moistened. Pour into greased 8” square pan. Bake for 15-18 mins. For muffins, bake for approximately  12 mins or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Do not overbake.

Chicken Cacciatore

Chicken Cacciatore  from Don’t Panic-Dinner’s in the Freezer

• 2 med onions, sliced thin
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-15oz can diced tomatoes
• 1-8oz can tomato sauce
• 1 t salt
• 1/4 t pepper
• 2 t oregano
• 1/2 t basil
• 1/2 t celery seed
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 c white wine
• 6 boned chicken breast
• 2 bell peppers, I used orange and yellow (not included in original recipe)
• 1 lb mushrooms, quartered (not included in original recipe)

Mix onions, garlic, tomatoes, tomato sauce, salt, pepper, herbs and wine. Place this mixture together with chicken breast in Crock Pot and cook on low 6-8 hrs or on high 2 1/2-4 hrs. 
You can also freeze this mixture in a freezer bag before cooking and then cook in the crock pot on the day you want to eat it. I used my frozen chicken breast with the mixture and it turned out super yummy at the end of the day!

Menu Plan Monday 5/3/10

• Mini Cheese Meatloaves, Crash Hot Potatoes and Corn
• Chicken Legs, Parsley Potatoes, and Broccoli
• Cheese & Mushroom Quesadillas (Meatless Monday)*new*
• Homemade Pizza
• Turkey Cutlets with garlic white wine (post recipe later this week)*new*
• Chili Con Carne and Cornbread (from last weeks menu)

Check out more menu plans at Orgjunkie

May’s PMP Challenge at PC

Go check out May’s Pimp My Page Challenge over at Peppermint Creative, it’s my month to make the template.
Here is my example!

Menu Plan Monday 4/26/10

• 
  
  
  Chicken Cacciatore (Don’t Panic-Dinner’s in the Freezer cookbook) *new*
• 
  
  
  Chili Con Carne and White River Sour Cream Cornbread (Don’t Panic-Dinner’s in the Freezer cookbook) *new*
• 
  
  
  Beef Pita Tacos (Don’t Panic Dinner’s in the Freezer cookbook) *new* and Whole Wheat Pita Bread *new*
• 
  
  
  Macaroni and Cauliflower Cheese Bake (Jamie’s Food Revolution) This was ok but the kids didn’t like the cheese sauce with the Parmesan so next time I’ll make it full cheddar. *new*
• 
  
  
  Zuppa Toscana (not even sure where I got my original recipe for this Olive Garden clasic, recipe for how I make it at the bottom of the post)
• 
  
  
  Breakfast  for dinner pancakes or muffins, eggs of choice (scrambled or omelet) and bacon (looking for a pancake or muffin recipe I want to try this week will post when I find one that I have the ingredients for)

I’m trying to post more so I plan on coming back and posting pictures and recipes as I make them. My husband always jokes when I ask if he liked what I made because he says I won’t make it again since I always have new meals we’re trying with few favorites in between.  If you want to check out more menu plans check out Orgjunkie!

 

Zuppa Toscana

 

• 1 lb  italian sausage ( I use turkey or chicken italian sausage)
• 4-6 bacon, cut into 1/2” slices (can use turkey bacon but I prefer the good stuff)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2-1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 10 cups chicken stock
• 2-3 potatoes, cut in half lengthwise and slice into 1/4”-1/2” pieces
• 1 cup cream (I use whatever I have on hand, cream, half n half or milk. I do prefer cream or half n half)
• 1 bunch of Kale, cut or tore into pieces

Brown crumbled italian sausage, drain and set aside. Cook bacon, be sure not to crisp, drain and set aside. Cook onion in a little olive oil until translucent, 5-10 mins, then add garlic and red pepper flakes until fragrant. Add chicken stock, sausage, bacon, and potatoes, cook until potatoes are tender. Then add cream, simmer for 5 mins. Add kale and simmer a few minutes longer. Salt and Pepper to taste.
I know these aren’t the best instructions but I’m a cook by taste type of person and it really just comes together.

Beef Pita Tacos and Annie’s Whole Wheat Pitas

The main recipe from “Don’t Panic Dinner’s in the Freezer” started with the first 3 ingredients. I thought it was a little bland so I added a few more seasonings and cooked it longer to blend the flavors. Served with some of Annie’s Whole Wheat Pita’s
Beef Pita Tacos (4 servings, 3 cups of mixture, enough for 8 tacos)

• 1lb lean ground beef
• 1 cup salsa
• 1-8 oz can stewed tomatoes
• 1 T chili powder
• 1/2 t cumin
• 1/2-1 t garlic powder
• 1/2-1 t onion powder
• 1/4 t red pepper flakes
• 4 pita breads, cut in half

Brown ground beef, drain. Stir in salsa, stewed tomatoes, and seasonings; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 mins, until thickened.

Yummy!

Time for a change…

It’s been a while and I figured it was time to go back to blogger.  I wanted to go to something that didn’t have issues where you can comment without getting an account. Hopefully this will be good for me and I’ll want to post more.

Recap of the past month since I’ve been slacking on updating lately.

• We had a lovely Easter with my parents. The kids had so much fun with the goodies in there baskets as well as egg hunting.
• I finally got a new computer. Dual core with 1T harddrive and 8 gigs of memory. I’m in heaven! Had a few compatibility issues with Windows 7 and my Photoshop but eventually we found a way around it without me having to spend more money on a newer version of Photoshop. I must say I’m loving the virtual drives. My husband prefers Linux so he uses a virtual drive for Windows when he has to use it for certain programs, mostly school related.
• New goodies at both of my CT’s Peppermint Creative and Digital Design Essentials.  I haven’t gotten a chance to make anything with some of the new products but that is on my todo list for today so hopefully I’ll have a few more pages up soon!  Both of these are Peppermint Creative goodies. Ingrid is our new template maker and she has some super cute sets out.

Now for my Menu Plan this week

• Lime Chicken Soft Tacos (My fav chicken taco recipe)
• Mini Cheese Meatloaves (Has these last night and yummy) *new*
• Chicken Thighs with Balsamic Garlic Sauce (ummm in the process of trying to find this recipe… not exactly sure if it was a bookmarked online, from one of my cookbooks or even one of my many magazines. Oops) *new*
• Slow Cooker TexMex Chicken & Beans *new*
• A Cracking Burger (Jamie Olivers Food Revolution cookbook) *new*

As always, you can check out many more menu plans at Orgjunkie
Think that’s all I have for now. The plan is to update at least weekly if not more, hopefully I can do just that. Loving this windows live writer so far! 

This blog is closing...

I'm moving to Vox ... I'll leave this blog up until the beginning of Feb to keep everyone that is left reading my blog in the loop. Hope to see you over there!