Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Recipes’ Category

Manicotti

Posted in Easy Recipes, Entertaining Ideas, Main Dish, Valentine's Day on February 10, 2011| Leave a Comment »

“When the moon hits you eye like a big pizza pie
That’s amore
When the world seems to shine like you’ve had too much wine
That’s amore”

There is just something about Italian food that speaks the language of love. Dean Martin crooned about it in this well-known tune. Even Tramp knew to take Lady to an Italian restaurant when he was trying to impress her.

Although a lot of dishes seem involved and sometimes complicated, Manicotti is one that is simple and so good. If you want to your food to speak of your love, give this main dish a whirl. It will set your Valentine’s heart a-flutter. (Or at least make them drool and beg you to share your dinner!)

Cast of characters for Manicotti

Cook pasta shells for seven minutes.

Drain pasta, rinse in cold water, set aside.

While meat is browning, mix together ricotta and parmesan cheeses, parsley flakes and salt.

Add browned meat to filling mix then start filling the shells.

Pour 3/4 cup alfredo sauce in bottom of baking dish and spread evenly. Top with filled Manicotti shells then pour rest of jar of sauce over shells, top with Parmesan cheese and bake!

Manicotti - hot out of the oven and ready to eat. (Please note to not overcook yours like I did mine because my dad called about three seconds before I needed to take this out of the oven!)

Garnish with marinara sauce and more cheese then savor ever delicious bite!

Manicotti
1 box Manicotti shells
1 pound ground pork sausage
1 pound ground beef
1 tsp. all-purpose seasoning
1 tsp. onion flakes
2 eggs
1 15-ounce container ricotta cheese
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. parsley flakes
3/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 jar alfredo sauce
1/2 cup marinara sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook Manicotti shells 7 minutes in boiling water. Drain and rinse in cool water. Set aside.

In a large skillet, cook beef and sausage with seasoning and onion flakes until brown. Drain any grease and set aside.

Beat eggs lightly in a medium bowl. Stir in ricotta, 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, parsley flakes and salt. Mix in meat.

Grease a 13x9x2 inch baking dish and spread 3/4 cup alfredo sauce in the bottom of the pan. Fill Manicotti shells with cheese and meat mixture. I use a teaspoon to stuff the filling in. You can also load a ziploc bag and cut a sizeable whole in one corner and squeeze it in, but I think the teaspoon method is faster. Place filled Manicotti in pan. Pour remaining sauce evenly over filled shells, sprinkle with remaining cheese and cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and continue baking 5-10 minutes until cheese is melted.

Put a large spoonful of marinara sauce on a plate, top with two Manicotti shells, drizzle with marinara sauce and top with another sprinkling of cheese, if desired. Serve alongside a fresh, green salad and Cupid’s Bread.

Prepare to be overwhelmed with the undying devotion of your sweetheart for making them such a marvelous meal!

That’s Amore!

Happy Valentine’s Entertaining!


Read Full Post »

Cupid’s Bread

Posted in Easy Recipes, Recipes, Valentine's Day on February 9, 2011| 2 Comments »

If you want a sweet accent for your Valentine’s Dinner, try this easy bread. It comes together in just a minute or two and Cupid himself couldn’t make it any cuter!

Ingredients for Cupid's Bread

Form two breadsticks into a heart and crimp together at top and bottom points. Hubby made this twisted heart. I'm not entirely sure I want to know the significance of that...

I stuck with a non-twisted curly at the top heart.

Brush with olive oil

Sprinkle on seasoning

Hearts - fully seasoned and ready for some lovin' in the oven.

Baked hearts - all golden brown and lovely.

Right before serving, cut hearts out of firm butter with a cookie cutter and accent your Cupid's Bread. Sure to melt your Valentine's heart!

 

Cupid’s Bread

1 tube refrigerated breadsticks

1 tbsp. olive oil

Seasoning (I used a Tuscan blend since the meal we are preparing is Italian themed)

Butter (optional)

Separate breadsticks and form two sticks into a heart. Seal (crimp together) at bottom and top edges. Continue until you have used all the breadsticks. Place on a baking sheet and brush the bread with olive oil. Sprinkle on seasoning and bake at 375 degrees about 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Using a small heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut a pat of butter from a firm stick, then cut out heart shape.

Enjoy!

Happy Valentine’s Entertaining

 

 

Read Full Post »

Slushy Fruit Salad

Posted in Easy Recipes, Entertaining at Home, Fast Recipes, Recipes, Salads, Valentine's Day on February 8, 2011| 2 Comments »

Since Valentine’s Day is Monday and since I’m known to be a bit sappy, I just couldn’t help thinking of some fun Valentine recipes to share.

So if you check back every day this week and put all the recipes together, you’ll end up with a fantastic meal to serve your sweetie.

Today’s recipe is super easy, very refreshing and just doggone pretty!

Ingredients

Mix all ingredients together, cover and freeze for about 8 hours or until firmly set.

About 20 minutes before serving, remove from freezer. Use an ice cream scoop to scoop into individual dessert cups or pretty bowls.

Enjoy!

Fruit Slush

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
1/2 cup frozen pink lemonade concentrate
1 large banana, halved and sliced
1 small can pineapple chunks
1 can mandarin oranges
1/2 cup frozen raspberries
1/2 cup Maraschino cherries, stems removed
few additional Marachino cherries, for garnish
In a large bowl, combine all ingredients, including juice from pineapple and mandarin oranges.  Cover and freeze for 8 hours or until firm.

Remove from freezer about 20 minutes before serving. Scoop into individual serving cups or bowls. Garnish with a Maraschino cherry.

Read Full Post »

Chocolate French Toast

Posted in Breakfast, Entertaining at Home, Recipes, tagged , , , on February 7, 2011| 4 Comments »

 

Chocolate French Toast

 

 

If the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, this recipe for Chocolate French Toast will turn him into your slave for life.

Oh. My. Goodness.

If your sweetheart likes chocolate, you must, must, MUST make this for him. It was delicious – to put it mildly. And it was pretty simple to make, which makes it even better.

Think about making your Valentine a special breakfast and make sure you include this recipe as the focal point!

 

Ingredients

 

 

 

Cut crusts off bread

 

 

 

Mix egg, milk, sugar, vanilla, salt together and pour into a baking dish or bowl.

 

 

 

Put a piece of bread in and top with half a Hershey's bar.

 

 

Put another piece of bread on top and pour batter over to completely cover

 

 

Soak bread for a couple minutes then remove to warm skillet. I soaked my sandwiches one at a time and used a square bowl rather than a casserole pan.

 

 

Fry until golden brown on both sides

 

 

Remove from skillet, slice in half diagonally and dust with confectioner's sugar.

 

 

 

Chocolate French Toast

 

 

 

Chocolate French Toast
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt
12 slices day-old bread, crusts removed
3 plain Hershey’s milk chocolate candy bars, halved
2 tbsp. butter
Confectioner’s sugar

In a bowl, beat eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla and salt. Pour half of the mix into a 13 x 9 x 2 inch casserole dish. Arrange six slices of bread in a single layer over egg mixture. Place one piece of chocolate in the center of each piece of bread. Top with remaining bread and pour on the rest of the egg mixture. Let stand for about three minutes. (Note: If you do not have day old bread, toast it a bit to dry it out or cut down the time you let it stand in the egg mixture. You do not want the bread to get soggy because it will result in a mushy mess! Not that I would know these things first hand. But trust me on this one!).

In a large non-stick skillet or griddle, melt butter over medium heat. Fry sandwiches until golden brown on both sides. (If you do not have a skillet large enough to cook these all at once, soak them one at a time in the casserole dish so they do not absorb too much liquid.)

Remove from pan, cut in half diagonally and dust with confectioner’s sugar. Garnish with fruit if desired and watch your sweetheart savor the sweet goodness of chocolate french toast.

Happy Valentine’s Entertaining,

She who needs chocolate

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »