Recipe of the Week

Sloppy Joes. Whoa... Did you just have a flashback to your school days and remember dreading sloppy joe day? :) Well, this recipe will change the way you feel about sloppy joes. I have always loved these classic sandwiches and I always ate them with the manwich sauce, that is until I got married. Jeremy had never liked them with manwich but with just BBQ sauce right out of the bottle poured over the hamburger meat. And really, what fun is that? So after searching thru a ton of recipes for sloppy joes, I created this one which is really a combination of several different recipes. It's one of Jeremy's favorite meals and in the evening when he walks thru the door, if I am cooking it, the first thing he says is "SLOPPY JOES!" just because of the smell. This is SUCH a yummy recipe and not only are your kids going to love it but so are you!

What you need:

1/2 onion diced

1 small clove garlic minced

1 lb hamburger meat

3 tablespoons Masterpiece BBQ sauce

1 cup ketchup

1 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons Tony Chacheres seasoning

2 teaspoons mustard

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons brown sugar

Salt & Pepper to taste

What you do:

Brown the meat with onion and garlic. Cook until almost all the pink is out of the meat but make sure to not brown completely. Add in BBQ sauce, ketchip, mustard, salt and pepper, cayenne, T.C. seasoning, brown sugar and garlic powder. Stir to combine. Cover with lid and let simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for about 5-10 minutes.

I served on toasted buns along side homemade french fries and potato chips! Enjoy!

QUICK TIP: Instead of toasting buns on a griddle, I preheat the oven to 350, butter the buns, place on baking sheet and bake for 6 minutes. Then I turn the broiler on HIGH until the edges of buns start to brown. Make sure to keep a close eye on them while under the broiler because they will burn quickly if you don't.

Recipe of the week: Marsala Pasta

This recipe I found on Pintrest. If you don't have a Pintrest acccount and never heard of it, it's basically a virtual pin board and you can find recipes, decor ideas, fashion tips and so on. Since I know that not everyone has a Pintrest I wanted to share this recipe on my blog because it's just too good not to! It's off of another blog and they also have a lot of other great recipes. You can visit it here if you would like: http://joelens.blogspot.com/

This pasta is creamy, rich, filling and decadent. If you're not a fan of tube pasta (penne, rigatoni, etc.) like my brother-in-law you could certainly do this with angel hair, spaghetti or fettucini. This is something you could cook a bunch of, have for dinner and freeze a portion to have at a later date. My husband hates anything with Marsala but he LOVES this pasta. It's one of our favorites. You definitely need to try this one!

What you need:

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts; cut into bite sized pieces
10-12 ounces sliced mushrooms
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup Marsala cooking wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 pound dry pasta + water for cooking (I used penne)
1 cup Parmesan cheese + more for serving
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
salt and pepper to taste
minced, chopped fresh parsley for garnish

What you do:

Boil your pasta until tender. Cut your chicken into strips, season with salt and pepper. Melt 2 tablespoons in pan until foaming. Add chicken and cook until juices run clear. Set aside.

Chop your mushrooms, onions and mince your garlic. Melt additional 2 tablespoons of butter in pan. Add mushrooms, onion and garlic into pan and cook until tender over medium heat being careful not to burn the garlic (about 6 minutes) 

Add cooked chicken back into the skillet. Add the Marsala, chicken broth and cream and bring to a boil. Simmer until sauce is is slightly thickened. Drain pasta and reserve 1/2 cup cooking water. Return the pasta  to the pot with the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter. Add the mushrooms and chicken mixture and 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese and cook until the pasta has absorbed some of the sauce, about 1 minute, adding the reserved cooking water as needed. Season with salt and pepper and serve with additional Parmesan cheese and a garnish of chopped parsley. 

I served mine with some yummy garlic bread & salad. So delicious. You're going to love this recipe!

Enjoy!

Recipe of the week: Parmesan Stuffed Chicken

For mine & Jeremy's first Christmas together he gave me three different cookbooks. He also proposed that Christmas :) But up until recently I hadn't cooked a single thing out of those cook books. When we lived in the apartment they were packed away in a box, in a closet so I had forgotten about them. When we moved to our house, my mom used one of them, along with some other cook books that I had acquired, to decorate in my kitchen. They sit right beside my stove and were staring me down. After Rylee was born, I got the itch to start trying new recipes to add to our regular line up and I grabbed that cook book that he gave me three years ago and pulled some recipes from it. The recipe of the week I'm featuring this week is from "Great Food Fast" by Martha Stewart. This is a simple recipe thats packed full of flavor. 

What you'll need: 

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese

1/4 cup breadcrumbs

Zest of 1 lemon

3 tablespoons dried Parsley flakes

2 teaspoons cayenne pepper

Salt & pepper to taste

What you do:

Butterfly your chicken so that it creates a pocket for your stuffing.

Sprinkle in your mixture pressing down so that it sticks to the chicken.

Season the outside of the chicken with salt & pepper

Bake at 450 for about 30 minutes or until juices run clear. I served mine up with mashed potatoes and my homemade cream corn! 

Such a yummy and easy to make weeknight meal. Try it out for your family... They'll love it! Enjoy!

Forgotten Cookies

This recipe was given to me by my mom and I have to admit, I was skeptical. It sounds like it wouldn't be good at all but let me tell you... They are delicious!!! So simple, only three ingredients but so so delicious. The outside is a little crunchy but the inside melts in your mouth. I promise that if you try these, you'll love them!

Here's what you need:

3 egg whites

2/3 cup sugar

1 small bag of chocolate chips- 

(I used less than this because Jeremy isn't a huge chocolate lover.)

What you do:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Beat the egg whites & sugar on high speed until it forms stiff peaks. Make sure you don't beat it past that point or it'll just collapse on you. Add the chocolate chips and fold them in gently making sure not to over work the mixture. Drop by spoonfuls onto greased baking sheet. 

Now turn your oven OFF. Put the cookies into the oven, close the door and FORGET ABOUT THEM! You can leave them for 4 hours or overnight. Honestly, I recommend overnight if you're impatient. I kept going to the oven and opening the door to look at them. But if you have been given the gift of patience, by all means, 4 hours will do! :)

After the time has elapsed, have a cookie! I seriously cannot get over how yummy these are. Melt in your mouth deliciousness!

Enjoy!

You are for me

I've been listening to this song over and over this week. It's so simple as far as words go but it really speaks to my heart. It's called You are for me by Kari Jobe...


"So faithful. So constant. 
So loving and so true.
So powerful in all You do.

You fill me. You see me. 
You know my every move
and You love for me to sing to You.

I know that You are for me. 
I know that You are for me.
I know that You will never, 
forsake me in my weaknesses

I know that You have come now, 
even if to write upon my heart.
To remind me who You are.

So patient, So gracious, 
So merciful and true…
So wonderful in all You do. 
You know me. You see me.
You know my every move. 
You love for me to sing to You

Lord, I know that You are for me.
I know that You are for me.
I know that You will never, 
forsake me in my weaknesses.
I know that You have come now, 
even if to write upon my heart.

To remind me that 
I know that You are for me.
I know that You are for me.
I know that You will never, 
forsake me in my weaknesses.
I know that You have come now,
even if to write upon my heart.
To remind me who You are. 

I know that You are for me.
I know that You are for me.
I know that You will never, 
forsake me in my weaknesses.
I know that You will come now,
even if to write upon my heart.
To remind me of who You are."

The first few lines are what speak to me... "So faithful. So constant. So loving and so true." Things in life can often be unreliable and as far as people go, they're always going to let you down because thats just human nature. I know for me that there are about 4 people in my life that I feel that I can completely rely on but at some point every one of those people have let me down, as I am sure I have let them down too. That line says it all though... Even though people and life can let you down and be unreliable, GOD is so FAITHFUL, CONSTANT & TRUE. Then the song goes on to say "So patient. So gracious. So merciful and true." Raise your hand if you have ever needed mercy *Raises hand.* I know I sure have. Everyday, in fact, I need God's mercy. And it's always available. Sometimes when someone does something to me or my family I tend to just write them off and, unlike God, not be merciful. One thing I am constantly learning is that you never know someone elses story. You never know where someone is coming from but regardless of that I think some times we just don't give people the benefit of the doubt. What if we all thought and loved more like Jesus? Wouldn't the world and even church be a much more pleasant place to live in? I certainly think so. Think about it... We are constantly failing God. It's human nature but he never keeps his forgiveness, love and MERCY from us. He gives is freely BECAUSE He loves us. 

Just thought I would share some of what's been on my heart lately. I know I'm not the best writer but that's ok. I hope you enjoyed this little note. Try to love someone like Jesus loves us this week :)