Italian Chicken Alfredo

Ingredients

cooking spray
4 (4 ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 cup water
1 (.7 ounce) package dry Italian-style salad dressing mix
1 clove garlic, pressed
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (10.75 ounce) cancondensed cream of chicken soup
1 (4.5 ounce) can chopped canned mushrooms
1 (8 ounce) package spaghetti
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1. Spray the crock of a slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Place chicken breasts in crock. Combine Italian dressing mix, and water in a small bowl. Pour over chicken; sprinkle with garlic, cover, and cook on Low 4 hours.
2. After 4 hours, whisk softened cream cheese and cream of chicken soup together in a bowl. Pour over chicken; stir in mushrooms. Cover and cook on Low for 1 additional hour.
3. Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, stir in the spaghetti, and return to a boil. Cook the pasta uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the pasta has cooked through, but is still firm to the bite, about 12 minutes. Drain well in a colander set in the sink.
4. To serve, spoon chicken and sauce over hot cooked pasta and sprinkle with parsley.

Recipe

Slush Punch

For those summer BBQ, now this is a delicious slush drink to make kids and adults happy!

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups white sugar
6 cups water
2 (3 ounce) packages strawberry flavored Jell-O® mix
1 (46 fluid ounce) can pineapple juice
2/3 cup lemon juice
1 quart orange juice
2 (2 liter) bottles lemon-lime flavored carbonated beverage

Directions

1. Bring the sugar, water, and strawberry flavored gelatin to a boil in a large saucepan; boil for 3 minutes. Stir in the pineapple juice, lemon juice, and orange juice. Divide mixture into 2 separate containers and freeze.
2. Combine the contents of 1 container with 1 bottle of the lemon-lime flavored carbonated beverage in a punch bowl; stir until slushy. Repeat with remaining portions as needed.

Recipe

Worlds Best Lasagna

 

So this recipe is harder than ones that I usually post but it is well worth it.  If you having a dinner party or looking to impress someone coming over, this is a sure thing. And then you can actually say that its completely from scratch as well.

Ingredients

1 pound sweet Italian sausage
3/4 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup minced onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
12 lasagna noodles
16 ounces ricotta cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

 

Directions

1. In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
4. To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Raspberry Butter

I love bread and whenever I can find something amazing to top it off, man, I’m in trouble.  This Raspberry Butter makes everything taste better.

Ingredients

1 stick (1/4 lb) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 c raspberry preserves
2 Tbsp powdered sugar

Directions

1. Place in mixer and beat until combined.
2. Return butter to refrigerator and wait until set.

Crockpot Fauxtisserie Chicken

Summer time is the perfect time to pull our those crock pots so you can have a nice warm meal without heating up the entire house. This Fauxtisseries Chicken is great to serve as a main course with some veggies on the side or to save later and put on salads, sandwiches or in casseroles.

Ingredients

1 broiler/fryer chicken (3.5-4 lbs)
2 tbsp paprika
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 1/2 tsp onion powder
2 tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Directions

1. Spray crock pot with cooking spray and place 3 medium sized balls of tin foil in the bottom (this keeps the chicken from sitting in all of the juices and keeps the skin crispier)
2. Place chicken in to crock pot on top of tin foil with breast facing up
3. Coat chicken with seasoning
4. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours or on high for 3.5 to 4.5

Note: This also works with bone-in chicken breasts