Layered Greek Dip

Oh my good gracious! This dip is outrageously delish! I served this for some friends that drove in from out of town. I wasn't sure how they would like it because they are what some might call "picky eaters". ;)

It was a risky move but it paid off! The dip got rave reviews and we had to stop ourselves to save a little for James! It is very flavorful and made for a pretty presentation. I made my own pita chips in the oven, but it would be great with tortilla chips, too! I did use store bought hummus in the essence of time, but I will be trying it with homemade hummus, as well.

Since this dip encompassed almost all of my favorite flavors, I will be looking for a reason to make this again. Football season is just around the corner, I suppose!

Layered Greek Dip
Better Homes & Gardens

Ingredients
1 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. dried Italian seasoning
3 cloves garlic, minced
1-1/2 cups hummus
1 cup chopped cucumber
1 cup chopped tomato
1/2 cup chopped pitted Kalamata olives
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/3 cup sliced green onions
Pita chips and/or multigrain tortilla chips

Directions
1. In medium mixing bowl beat cream cheese, lemon juice, Italian seasoning, and garlic with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth and combined.
2. Spread cream cheese mixture into a deep 9-inch pie plate, or shallow serving dish.
3. Evenly spread hummus on cream cheese layer.
4. Top with cucumber, tomato, olives, feta cheese, and green onions.
5. Cover and refrigerate 2 to 24 hours. Serve with pita chips and/or multigrain tortilla chips.
6. Makes about 2-1/2 cups dip.

Egg & Sausage Strata

This is a casserole that has serious sentimental value. My Aunt Jacque would make this every Thanksgiving and/or Christmas when we would travel to Chicago. I can remember waking up to the smell of this and being so excited. It was the only time of year that we had this.

It's very simple, but it never fails to please. I don't know that this is her exact recipe, but it's very close and brings back all of my fond memories, so it works for me!

This needs to sit overnight, so make sure you have time for that.

Egg & Sausage Strata
serves 6-8

Ingredients
5 English muffins, split
1 lb. breakfast sausage, maple flavored
8 eggs
3/4 c. half & half
1/2 c. extra sharp cheddar, shredded
1/2 c. white cheddar, shredded
(Any combination of cheese will work. Use what you have. Use more or less if you want, too!)

Directions
1. Cook sausage in a large skillet until browned and cooked through. Drain and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, butter a large casserole dish and lay split English muffins in the bottom. Cover the entire bottom and fill in gaps with torn pieces.
3. Layer cooked sausage on top of the English muffins.
4. Beats eggs in a large bowl and add half & half. Pour over sausage layer.
5. Top with cheese.
6. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
7. When ready to cook, preheat oven to 375 and bake from 30-45 minutes, until eggs are set and cheese is bubbly.

Enjoy!

Cobb Salad Sandwich

My Mother-in-Law gave me a ton of magazines when we were visiting last time. I took some to the beach but I saved the cooking magazines for the ride home. This is one of the recipes that I pulled out of Taste of Home.

It's super simple and really good. They were a nice change of pace from the ordinary sandwich. The recipe calls for croissants, but we shopped at Trader Joe's that week and there were no croissants, so I used sourdough rolls. Still very good, but a croissant is delicious and would make this sandwich even better.

This will definitely be going into our lunch rotation.

Cobb Salad Sandwiches
from Taste of Home

Ingredients
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon prepared horseradish
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
4 croissants, split (Or bread of your choice!)
4 lettuce leaves
1 medium tomato, sliced
4 cooked bacon strips, halved
4 slices deli ham
3 hard-cooked eggs, sliced

Directions
1. In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, horseradish and basil; spread over cut side of croissant bottoms.
2. Layer with lettuce, tomato, bacon, ham and eggs; replace tops.

Yield: 4 servings.

Chocolate & Toffee Sugar Cookie Stars

I've had these starred in my Google Reader for quite some time and was just waiting for a reason to bake them.

4th of July worked out perfectly! They were the perfect combination of chewy cookie, chocolatey coating and toffee crunch. Yum!! And they were fun to make!

I only made half the batch, the rest of the dough is still in my freezer. :)

Toffee Sugar Cookie Stars
from My Kitchen Cafe

Ingredients
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

For decorating:
6 ounces semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup toffee bits (such as Heath brand)
4 ounces white chocolate (I omitted the white chocolate and its steps. I didn't have any and the cookies were still great!)

Directions
1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
2. Add in eggs and vanilla and mix.
3. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt and whisk to combine.
4. Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until completely combined.
5. Shape the dough into 2 flat disks and wrap in saran wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill for 1-2 hours .
6. Take out the dough and roll 1/4-inch thick and cut into heart shapes. Place on parchment or silpat lined baking sheets, spacing the cookies about 1 inch apart and bake at 350 for about 10-11 minutes. The cookies should be very lightly browned around the edges so they aren't too soft and they don't fold and break when decorating with the chocolate and toffee.
7. Remove to cool on a wire rack.While the cookies are colling, line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat liners.
8. When the cookies are cool, melt the semisweet chocolate. Instead of dipping, I used a rubber spatula to "paint" the chocolate onto one-half of the cookie, coating the top and sides of the cookie. (I found that dipping made the chocolate glob in places and wasted too much by coating the bottom of the cookie.) This was the method that I used as well. It worked beautifully!
9. Once covered in chocolate, place the cookie on the prepared baking sheet. Working with a few cookies at a time, sprinkle the wet chocolate with toffee pieces. Coat all the cookies with chocolate and toffee. Let dry completely.
10. When the chocolate is dry, melt the white chocolate and pour into a ziploc bag. Snip a small tip off one corner and lightly drizzle the cookies with white chocolate.
11. Let the white chocolate harden (again, another trip to the refrigerator) and once the white chocolate has set up, the cookies can be removed from the tray (you may have to break of lingering pieces of white chocolate on the edges of the cookie).

Pastor Ryan's Bolognese Sauce

This recipe quickly made its way around the food blogging world after Pioneer Woman posted it!
Pastor Ryan made one fabulous recipe for a sauce!! This was definitely worth the time it took and was better the next day!! Definitely check out Pioneer Woman's site for a detailed look at how he made it.


Pastor Ryan's Bolognese Sauce

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups grated carrots
1 large red onion, diced
1/2 cup olive oil
2 pounds ground beef
2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes CORRECTED: OREGANO flakes
2 tablespoons dried basil flakes
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 to 2 cups red wine
2 tablespoons Worcestershire
salt and pepper
2 28-ounce cans whole tomatoes
1 cup milk
Fresh Parmesan cheese

Directions
1. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or skillet over medium heat.
2. Add grated carrots and onions and cook for a few minutes.
3. Make a well in the center of the mixture, then add in the ground beef.
4. Cook for a few minutes until brown, gradually stirring it into the carrot mixture.
5. Throw in oregano and basil. Use fresh if you have it; if you don’t, it’s fine.
6. When the meat is browned and combined with other ingredients, make another well.
7. Add tomato paste and let it heat.
8. Add garlic and stir to combine.
9. Make a well in the center of the mixture and add red wine. Stir together.
10. Add Worcestershire and stir.
11. Add canned tomatoes.
12. Finally, pour in milk, stir, and let simmer for 30 minutes to 2 hours—however long you need.
13. Serve with pasta and a generous sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes

These just scream summer! As soon as I saw them, I knew I had to make them. I really like lemons and raspberries together so this was a perfect combination.

I am not usually a huge fan of white cake, but this was very moist and tender. I clearly need to work on my piping skills, but they tasted great!!


Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes

Cupcakes
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
zest and juice of 2 Meyer lemons

Filling
Raspberry preserves

Frosting
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
3 Tbsp. raspberry preserves
24 raspberries

Directions
1. Wash and drain raspberries.
2. Allow to dry on a paper towel. (This will prevent excess liquid dripping onto the frosting.)
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
4. Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
5. In a large mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until light and fluffy.
6. Continue beating and gradually add sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
7. Gradually drizzle in the eggs, and beat in between additions, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl. Beat until batter is no longer slick.
8. Alternate adding the flour mixture and buttermilk on low speed, starting and ending with the flour mixture.
9. Beat in the lemon juice and lemon zest.
10. Divide batter between 24 cupcake liners, and bake for 18-20 minutes, until inserted toothpick comes out clean.
11. Transfer to wire rack and let cool completely.
12. To fill the cupcakes, cut a small cone out of each cupcake using a small paring knife.
13. Fill with 1 tsp. raspberry preserves and replace each cone. (You may need to cut a small part of the cone off so it sits evenly.)

Frosting Directions
1. In a large mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using a hand mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until fluffy.
2. Gradually add powdered sugar until frosting consistency.
3. Add preserves and continue to beat until a pinkish hue and raspberry flavor is achieved.
4. Pipe onto cupcakes as desired. (Smoothing with a knife will not work as well with the cone.)
5. Put a raspberry in the center of each cupcake.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole & An Award!

Yay! I won an award! D is for Dinner awarded my blog with the One Lovely Blog Award. Aww, so nice!! Thanks! It's wonderful to be recognized for something that I love to do! :) And now I get to share the love with blogs that I enjoy!

Rules:

1. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who granted the award, and his or her blog link
2. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you've newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for the award.

1. Delicious Meliscious
2. Food Blogga
3. Food alla Puttanesca
4. For the Love of Cooking
5. Vintage Victuals
6. Picky Palate
7. Apple a Day
8. Delish
9. Lauren's Kitchen
10. A Year in the Kitchen
11. Big City Cooking
12. Carrie's Sweet Life
13. Cook Like a Champion
14. A Taste of Home Cooking
15. Macaroni and Cheesecake
___
And now for a regular post:

This was such a delicious casserole!! Although we didn't think it really tasted like chicken cordon bleu, we agreed that it tasted great!!

This wasn't exactly a super fast dinner to make because I had to cook the chicken, which I like to roast for things like this. I also had to cook the rice and I used brown rice. That takes a little while, too. It was definitely worth it in the end and it made enough for a few meals. That's a plus!!


Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole
from Lauren's Kitchen

Ingredients
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, diced
1 bell pepper, diced (I used red, green and yellow peppers.)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 lb diced ham
2 c cooked, shredded chicken breast
4 tbsp. butter
1/4 c flour
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
14 oz can chicken broth
3 cups cooked rice (I used brown rice.)
1 c shredded cheddar
1 c shredded mozzarella or swiss

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Heat oil in a large, rimmed skillet over medium heat.
3. Add the onions, celery, and peppers and cook for about 5 minutes, until tender.
4. Then add the garlic, chicken and ham and cook for another 5 minutes until heated through.
5. Add the butter until it is melted, then stir in the flour, salt and pepper until combined.
6. Slowly stir in the chicken broth, then mix in the rice.
7. Transfer mixture to a 9x13 baking dish and sprinkle the top with your cheese.
8. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Wilton Decorating Carrier

I walked into my bathroom on Easter morning and saw this sitting on the counter with a cute bow on top. I have the sneakiest Easter Bunny! ;)

My sneak Easter Bunny and I agreed not to exchange any gifts this year, but alas, this was on the counter!

It was actually very sweet and thoughtful. And it meant that the Easter Bunny had to go into Michael's/JoAnn's all by himself! I do love it and have started to fill it up. I can't wait to add more to it.

Chicken, Artichoke, Pesto Calzones

This was a great weeknight dinner, thanks to Annie!!

These flavors are some of my favorites, so I was sure that this would make for a delicious dinner. I can't wait to try this again.

Oh, and this was the first time I'd made pesto at home and from basil grown in my garden! This is the first year I haven't killed everything in the garden! There are even tiny tomatoes on my tomato plant! I am SO excited. :)

Chicken, Artichoke and Pesto Calzones
from Annie's Eats

Ingredients
1/2 batch pizza dough, at room temperature
Pesto
Grilled chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
Canned artichokes, drained and coarsely chopped
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Tomatoes, diced
Olive oil, for brushing

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
2.Place a pizza stone in the oven and allow it to heat up, at least 30 minutes. (I didn't do this.)
3. On a lightly floured work surface, divide the pizza dough into two (or more) equal pieces. 4. Stretch or roll out each piece into a circle, about 7-8 inches in diameter.
5. On one half of each dough round, spread a layer of pesto, leaving a half-inch border around the edge.
6. Top with grilled chicken pieces, artichokes, and tomatoes. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.
7. Fold the other half of the dough over to cover the toppings and form a semi-circle.
8. Press the free edges of dough together to seal the filling inside.
9. Carefully transfer the finished calzones to the preheated pizza stone.
10. Brush the tops lightly with olive oil.
11. Bake until golden brown, about 13-15 minutes.

Macaroni and Cheese with Tomatoes

Who doesn't love macaroni and cheese? And who doesn't have their preferred way to make it?

This recipe is very good and the tomatoes add an extra flavor and texture. We really liked this and it made for great leftovers!!


Macaroni and Cheese with Tomatoes

Ingredients
8 tomatoes
1 pound elbow macaroni
8 oz. extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated
2 cups chicken stock
½ cup parmesan cheese, freshy grated
2 cups milk
2 tbsps Parsley
Dash of Nutmeg
Dash of Cayenne pepper
5 tbsps flour
1 ½ tsps. dried thyme
Salt
Pepper
2 tbsps olive oil
2 tbsps butter
Optional: breadcrumbs

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice tomatoes about ¼ inch thick. Spread tomatoes in a single layer on baking sheets. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with 1 tsp. dried thyme, salt to taste and chopped fresh parsley. Grind black pepper over. Bake until tomatoes have softened, approx. 20 minutes. Remove, but do not turn off oven.
2. In a pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until just on the crunchy side of al dente, approx. 5 minutes (or per package directions).
3. Drain in a colander, and run under cold water to stop cooking.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour into ½ cup chicken stock.
5. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.
6. Stir in nutmeg, cayenne, 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, and additional salt to taste.
7. Pour in milk and remaining chicken stock.
8. Whisk in flour mixture, and bring to a boil, whisking frequently.
9. Once boiling, reduce heat to low and bring to a simmer.
10. Continue cooking approx. 8 minutes, whisking frequently.
11. Add cheese and cook, stirring with spoon, until cheese has melted.
12. Turn off burner, pour macaroni into pot, and stir to combine.
13. Line bottom of a 9 x 13 glass dish with a single layer of cooked, sliced tomatoes. Scoop up any loose juices on the sheets and pour those in the dish too.
14. Pour macaroni mixture over. Top with another layer of tomatoes.
15. If using, sprinkle breadcrumbs across top to your taste.

16. Bake until bubbly and golden brown, approx. 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

Carrot, Zucchini, & Potato Cakes

I saw this recipe in my Better Homes & Gardens magazine and knew that I would enjoy these...even if they had zucchini in them!

Most of the time, I cannot bear to eat zucchini. That and eggplant. Ugh. I try to like it, I really do...but I just can't.

I don't mind raw zucchini, but as soon as it's cooked it becomes a soggy, disgusting mess!

But alas, it was delicious in these. Perhaps because you couldn't really taste the zucchini. ;)


Carrot, Zucchini and Potato Cakes
Better Homes & Gardens

Ingredients
1 medium zucchini, shredded (about 1-1/4 cups)
1-1/2 lb. baking potatoes, peeled and shredded (about 4 cups)
1 large carrot, shredded (about 1 cup)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
5 large eggs
2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp. dried thyme, crushed
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. canola oil

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly coat two small baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
2. Drain zucchini in a colander; press to squeeze out excess liquid. In large bowl combine zucchini, potatoes, carrot, flour, 1 of the eggs, thyme, salt, and pepper.
3. In extra-large nonstick skillet heat half of the oil over medium heat.
4. To make a pancake, spoon about 1-cup portion of potato mixture into skillet; evenly press and round edges with back of spatula to form a pancake.
5. Cook two pancakes at a time, 4 to 5 minutes each side or until golden brown, turning once.
6. Transfer to prepared baking sheet and place in oven until all cakes are made. Repeat with remaining oil and potato mixture.

Caprese Chicken

I went through a little spell of not meal planning to try and use what we had in the house. That rarely pays off for me. I'm just not that creative. I need rules and guidelines and recipes to follow! It just works for me.

Well, apparently I had a breakthrough with this dinner because it was DELICIOUS! I used things that I had in the fridge and basil from my garden. Nice.

I think I will be making this again this summer. Easy, light and delish.


Caprese Chicken

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts
1 tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper
1 tbsp. dried basil
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 sun dried tomatoes
2 slices mozzarella cheese, from a large "ball", or shredded mozzarella
4 basil leaves

Directions
1. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat.
2. Season chicken with salt, pepper, dried basil and garlic powder.
3. Place in skillet and cook until no longer pink 5-7 minutes per side, depending on thickness of chicken.
4. Top with mozzarella and place a piece of aluminum foil, or the lid for the pan, over the chicken to melt cheese.
5. Once cheese is melted, top with sun dried tomatoes and basil.
6. Serve and enjoy!

Caramel Delights a.k.a. Samoa Bars

Oh. My. Goodness. There are barely any words to describe these little, delightful bites.

I am not even a huge fan of Samoa's...I always, always go for the Thin Mints when I come across a Girl Scout cookie vendor. But, Samoa's are James' favorite, so when I saw this recipe, I thought it would be nice of me to make something that he would actually like.

And as it turns out, I like these, too! Amazing.

I was afraid the caramel would become hard as a rock, but so far, so good. It's gooey and delicious. The cookie is crumbly, but in a good way. And I didn't drizzle chocolate on the top of all of them. James used his Veto Power...he said they were great the way they were (with just chocolate on the bottom). So I left some undrizzled.

Definitely be sure to let everything cool and set between steps. Give yourself a good portion of a day to work on these. The end result will be well worth it. Amazing!!

Samoa Bars/Caramel Delights
from Loves to Eat

Cookie Base
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt

Topping
3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
12-oz good-quality chewy caramels
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp milk
10 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate (Even if I would have drizzled every bar with chocolate, this would have been too much. You might want to consider starting with less so you don't waste chocolate. That would be a sin, you know. You can always melt more if you need to!)

Directions
For the cookie base:
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan, or line with parchment paper.
3. In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter, until fluffy.
4. Beat in egg and vanilla extract.
5. Working at a low speed, gradually beat in flour and salt until mixture is crumbly, like wet sand. The dough does not need to come together. (My dough came together...it never looked like wet sand and everything turned out fine. Weird.)
6. Pour crumbly dough into prepared pan and press into an even layer. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until base is set and edges are lightly browned.
7. Cool completely on a wire rack before topping.

For the topping:
8. Preheat oven to 300.
9. Spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet (preferably one with sides) and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.
10. Unwrap the caramels and place in a large microwave-safe bowl with milk and salt.
11. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt.
12. When smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula.
13. Put dollops of the topping all over the shortbread base.
14. Using the spatula, spread topping into an even layer. Let topping set until cooled.
15. When cooled, cut into 30 bars with a large knife or a pizza cutter.
16. Once bars are cut, melt chocolate in a small bowl. Heat on high in the microwave in 45 second intervals, stirring thoroughly to prevent scorching.
17. Dip the base of each bar into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment or wax paper. (I held the cookie with the caramel side up, filled a large spoon with chocolate and sort of dipped the cookie base into the chocolate. I then laid them on a piece of parchment paper, chocolate side up.)
18. Let the chocolate set and harden
19. .Transfer all remaining chocolate into a piping bag or a Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle bars with chocolate to finish on the coconut caramel side.
20. Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.

Makes 30 bar cookies.

Happy 200th Post!! It's hard to believe... :)

Lemon Yogurt Cake

This recipe has been popping up all over the Food Blogging World. I have had in marked to make for awhile and I'm so glad that I finally got around to making it.

This is a delicious dessert or snack, especially for the summer. I also think this would make a great gift. Who doesn't love a moist lemon cake?!


Lemon Yogurt Cake
Ina Garten

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt (I used fat free and it worked fine.)
1 1/3 cups sugar, divided
3 extra-large eggs
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

For the glaze:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Grease an 8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan.
3. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease and flour the pan.
4. Mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl.
5. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla. 6. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
6. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it's all incorporated. 7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
8. Meanwhile, cook the 1/3 cup lemon juice and remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.
9. When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan.
10. While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in. Cool.
11. For the glaze, combine the confectioners' sugar and lemon juice and pour over the cake.

Creamy Pasta with Beef, Sundried Tomatoes and Mushrooms

When this recipe showed up in my Google Reader, I knew that I had to make it.

I made some changes and they are reflected below. I tried to use things that I had in the house instead of going to the store for just one or two items. I used ground beef in place of stew meat and added and deleted as I worked on the meal. I loved this for multiple reasons, but I am ALWAYS looking for new ways to used ground beef/turkey/chicken.

This was a delicious pasta that we enjoyed for several meals!!


Creamy Pasta with Beef, Sundried Tomatoes and Mushrooms
from Culinary Infatuation

Ingredients
1 lb. ground beef
1 lb pasta, cooked according to package directions
4 slices of bacon cooked and chopped
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes chopped
1 8oz. pkg. of mushrooms chopped
Handful of fresh parsley chopped
2 tbsp. olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
1/2 cup onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic minced
3 tbsp. flour
1 1/2 cups chicken stock or broth
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
3/4 cup frozen peas

Directions
1. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add bacon and cook until crisp. Remove from pan and drain on paper towels.
2. Add beef and onions to pan and cook through. Season with salt and pepper. Add mushrooms and garlic. Cook for about 7 minutes, until mushrooms have browned and released juices.
3. Remove cooked ingredients from pan and put it into a serving bowl.
4. Add 1 tbsp. butter and 1 tbsp. olive oil to pan. Add flour and cook for 30 seconds or so.
5. Add stock, whisking the whole time. Add cream and parmesan and whisk until cheese is melted.
6. Add all ingredients together in a big bowl and serve. Season with salt and pepper as needed.