Category Archives: Recipes
Apple Pie
Pastries are my weakness. Luckily, I had a houseful of teenagers that devoured this pie and saved me from the mental anguish of trying to avoid it after the first slice. This pie uses our bulk pie crust recipe, which makes 6 crusts for the freezer. I took 2 crusts out to thaw the morning I made the pie and by afternoon they were thawed and ready to go. You can use any fresh fruit in this recipe, just be sure to omit the cinnamon if you are not using apples, peaches, or another fruit that goes well with cinnamon.
Spinach Ravioli with Sun-Dried Tomatoes in Cream Sauce
Easy Orecchiette Florentine
Tonight’s dinner was supposed to be Chicken Marsala but alas, my distracted nature had me running all over the grocery store for items needed for a science experiment and I didn’t realize until I got home that I forgot to get the mushrooms I needed. I didn’t want to head back to the store so I decided to figure something out using what I had on hand: pasta, a jar of roasted red peppers, grilled and chopped chicken in the freezer, an onion, some bacon, a jar of Alfredo sauce, and a bag of baby spinach that I had planned to use in a salad. Everyone loved it and the name was voted to be Orecchiette Florentine. Doesn’t it look yummy?
Nutella Peanut Butter Cookies
Honestly, I will never make these cookies again. Okay, I’m lying. I will make them again, but not often. I am pretty sure that I ate most of them myself – they were that good. My daughter assures me that she ate her fair share of them, but honestly, I couldn’t eat one cookie without eating three. Without further ado, I present to you… Nutella Peanut Butter Cookies.
Lemon Bars
Lemon Bars just might be my favorite dessert. This is my "go to" recipe when I have to take a dessert to a get-together because I always have the ingredients on hand and they are simple to make. Now that my daughter is old enough to cook, she has taken over as the lemon bar baker in our house. She made the batch in the photo below, and I am thoroughly enjoying them.
Chicken with Basil Cream Sauce
This rich and creamy chicken dish is one of the recipes first featured in our Busy Mom Menu. Served over pasta, it is delicious with a salad and bread. Start with chicken (flattened to an even thickness works best), milk, and bread crumbs in an assembly line. Other ingredients include cream, basil (fresh if you have it available), Parmesan cheese, pimientos, chicken broth, cornstarch, pepper, and thin spaghetti or angel hair pasta.
Cheddary Chicken and Broccoli
This is my favorite go-to recipe when I have no time or inspiration but I do have all of the ingredients (which are all either shelf- or freezer- stable so I try to keep them on hand at all times). In addition to making you look like you spent lots of time in the kitchen, it tastes delicious. Unfortunately, everyone loves it so much that even if I double the recipe there are only enough leftovers for my husband to take for lunch the next day! It goes well with a salad or fresh fruit on the side.
Festive 4th of July Flag Cake
Frozen Lemonade Pie
Tomato Squash Bake
With our squash harvest starting to come in, I wanted to try some new veggie dishes. This delicious tomato and squash dish with an Italian flavor is adapted from a recipe that I saw in the Costco Connection magazine. I’ll be glad when our Roma tomatoes start producing – the Romas we bought to use in this recipe were over a dollar each! Later in the summer when we can get all of the vegetables and herbs from our garden, I will definitely be making this again.