Cream Sauce for Pasta

This is my favorite way to make pasta and the possibilities are endless with the simple yet delicious cream sauce recipe. I hope it becomes a staple in your home as it has in mine.

Ingredients for sauce:
10 slices of bacon, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 cup chicken broth (I dilute 1 tablespoon of chicken base into a cup of water)
1 cup of heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed in a small amount of cool water

Additions at our home:
Seasoned Chicken, diced
Shrimp
Mushrooms
*you can add anything you'd like to make the meal your own
cooked pasta

Begin by frying bacon, once bacon is almost done add in onion and turn heat down to medium low and saute until onions are almost translucent (don't cook them all the way because they will continue to cook in the sauce) Drain mixture on a paper towel and throw out excess oil that was left in the pan.

At this point I cook whatever meat I will be using for my pasta recipe. I often use shrimp or chicken. (You can also marinate the chicken in any flavor you choose the McCormick grill mates marinades that come in the small packet that you add oil, vinegar and water to are my favorite. If you do this your sauce will also pick up the flavor that you marinated in. I like to use the chipotle pepper seasoning to make a spicy chicken pasta)

After I cook the chicken until almost done I always add in mushrooms (we love mushrooms at my house) then add in the bacon/onion mixture. Add in the chicken broth then the whipping cream then the Parmesan cheese. Bring mixture to a boil and then turn down to low and continue to cook on low. I always taste the sauce to make sure its exactly how I like it and you can add more cheese or whipping cream depending on what you like. The sauce should not be mild because the sauce is going over pasta so it will mellow out some then. Do not season with more salt because there is salt in the bacon and the chicken broth. You can season with pepper if you'd like. After about 5-7 minutes on a low boil add in the cornstarch and cook until the sauce thickens up about 2-3 minutes. Add this mixture over your favorite pasta for a Delicious meal.

The sauce itself will take on any flavor you want it to. I've added fresh herbs in the summertime such as basil, oregano, parsley to add a boost of flavor. You can adjust the seasonings however you'd like. This recipe feeds my family of 2 adults and 1 child (who eats a lot) and there is usually enough left over for us all a small lunch the next day. I also butter some barbecue bread and bake it to go along side of it. You can also add garlic if you like a garlic cream sauce. Basically this sauce is a chameleon and will be great with any additions you can think of. I haven't tried artichokes yet but I bet they would be great too!

Buffalo Chicken Taquitos

1-2 lbs chicken breast
1-2 T buffalo wing sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
10-20 egg roll wrappers
Oil for frying or a fry daddy
Small cup of cool water

Season chicken with salt and pepper and bake at 400 degrees F for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown and baked through. Let cool and shred.

Add buffalo wing sauce depending on how hot you'd like your taquitos to be. I added enough so that the taste was just spicy enough. But after they fry the taste mellows out so I recommend adding a little more.

Lay out one egg roll wrapper and and wet the edges with your fingers. Put some of the chicken mixture (about 2 T, don't make them too big because you don't want the filling coming out) in one corner of the egg roll wrapper. At this point you can add anything you want, I added about a tablespoon of mozzarella cheese. Other recipes I've seen added blue cheese, broccili slaw or cabbage. It was very delicious with the mozzarella cheese though...made me think of the chicken taquitos we get at the mexican restaurant (hence the name).

Making the egg roll wraps:
Begin by rolling up the corner until you have overlapped the chicken mixture completely (tuck the corner of the egg roll wrapper into itself over the chicken, then bring in the sides one at a time to make an envelope. More water may be needed to seal the seams. Then fold the top of the envelope down adding more water to seal if necessary. Repeat with the remaining egg roll wrappers, I used 14 wrappers, but you may need more or less depending on how large you make your taquitos.

I layed all my egg roll wraps on a baking sheet lined with paper towels so they could drain after frying. Another recipe I found baked them in the oven for 400 degrees F for about 10-15 minutes. In order to do this you will need a cooling rack inside a baking pan and you will also need to spray the wraps with oil to get a crispy texture on the outside. I haven't tried them this way but I doubt they will get as crispy as frying in oil.

Heat oil to 400 degrees F. Add 2-3 taquitos into the oil at a time, fry until golden brown (about 5-7 minutes). Repeat until all taquitos are fried up. I also fried a plan chicken one for my son because I didnt think he would like the spicy sauce on his.

I served our Buffalo Chicken Taquitos along side a salad and it was a delicious dinner. Will definitely be making these again. They are also great dipped in ranch dressing as I'm sure they would be great with blue cheese dressing. They are also just good by themselves. These would be a great treat for a superbowl party or any party! Hope you enjoy!

This was a great way to change up the menu and I think I will be putting a lot more items into an egg roll wrapper!

Shrimp and Crab Salad

I know I promised I would blog about the rice krispies but they didn't turn out the way I'd like because they kept falling apart on me so I will tweak the recipe and hopefully next time it will work. But I did make a delicious meal tonight that I'd like to share with you.

Shrimp and Crab Salad

20 medium shrimp (8 ounces) tails removed and sliced in half

1 can crab meat

3 tablespoons mayo

1 small onion diced

1 celery stalk diced

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

3 splashes of Worcestershire sauce

3 splashes texas pete

Cajun Seasoning

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

Marinate shrimp with 1-2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning. (I left mine in the fridge for a few hours while the shrimp defrosted) Saute onion and celery in olive oil on medium heat (season with a little salt and pepper), add butter crab meat and marinated shrimp. Cook until warmed through. Put in a separate bowl and add mayo, Parmesan cheese, Worcestershire sauce and texas pete. We put this on hoagie rolls and broiled in oven until bread was toasted. I topped with tomato and Todd ate his plain. I think this would be a great appetizer served with crackers. You could also slice baguettes and top with the mixture. Endless possibilities! Hope you enjoy!

No pictures because we ate it all up so quickly!

Blueberry Upside Down Cake

Well, I can't take credit for this recipe as I found it on the internet while searching for a way to use up all the blueberries Todd brought home from the garden center. (Side note: They have some great blueberry bushes that are producing "boocoodles" of blueberries if you are in the market for a blueberry bush this summer...it would be well worth the cost for all the blueberry desserts you could make this summer!) I however am not a fan of fresh blueberries...I like them in smoothies, sometimes parfaits but best in blueberry pancakes I make at home! This dessert I think will soon be a favorite. It's quite simple, you take fresh blueberries, sugar, lemon juice, cornstarch and a boxed cake mix (who doesnt have one of those lying around the house?) and put it all together for a beautiful and delicious dessert. I just had my first piece and as I write this I keep glancing at my now empty plate debating if I will take a shower before or after I have my second piece (just a little one I promise). Before I give you this recipe I just want to make one confession...I have began walking with my two children...well pushing one in the stroller and holding the other in his now too small carrier (I have a hold him in order to get my workout since he walks super slow and tries to stop and play with everything...then of course we play on the playground and I get in some lunges and push ups). Anyways...back to my confession...If only I could stop eating desserts I would probably begin to lose some baby weight...excuse me make that "babies" weight since I didnt lose the weight from my first child before I got pregnant with the second. I love to bake and when one dessert gets gone at our house I have to decipher what I plan on making next. As some of you know I took cake decorating classes and enjoying making cakes and decorating them. I am partial to my chocolate cake with chocolate ganache filling and recently added toffee chips to the filling as well...hmmm. If I had the money I would love to open up a desserts shop that also made cakes for weddings, birthdays and such...but I dont know how it would do in roxboro and where in the world would I get the money to open up such a business. Nevertheless it is a dream of mine all because I love to bake and concoct new desserts to satisfy my ultimate sweet tooth. So back to the real reason for this blog Blueberry Upside Down Cake...again not my recipe...I found it on the internet!

Blueberry Upside Down Cake

3 c. fresh blueberries (or frozen, thawed & drained)

1 1/2 tbsp. tbsp. lemon juice

3/4 c. sugar

1 1/2 tbsp. corn starch

2-3 tbsp. butter

1 yellow cake mix

Spread berries evenly in bottom of 9 x 13 inch greased cake pan. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Combine sugar and corn starch and pour over berries. Dot with butter.Top with prepared cake batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until done. Invert pan before cake gets cool. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

*I topped with fresh blueberries because I had some on hand and it was a great way to cut the sweetness of the dessert with a punch of tart blueberry!

Summertime food favorite

So far this summer I have made this dish for my family 3 times and here is the 4th and each time was different. I think I have finally found the perfect recipe. Todd who doesnt like tomatoes loves this and a couple of others I have made this for dont like tomatoes, but still enjoy this so try it out and you might be suprised!

Cilantro Bruchetta

1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

1 tablespoon tomato sauce (no salt added)

4-5 roma tomatoes finely diced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon chopped garlic or 1 garlic clove

(I buy the garlic already prechopped in a jar or else my hands smell like garlic for a week)

salt and pepper to taste

1 baguette sliced

sliced fresh mozzarella cheese (you can also use shredded from a bag)

I've used different baguettes each time I've made this dish, I think I like the ones I get from Sam's club the best. They come two to a bag and are really hard. It makes for crispier bruchetta but its still good. If you cant get to sams club you can also get the take and bake long baguette bread from Food Lion. I slice and bake it a little then add the cheese and so on.

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together except bread and cheese, set aside.

Layer bread with one slice of cheese and bake in oven on 350 until cheese is melted.

Add a spoonful of tomato mixture to each slice of bread and bake for about 5-7 minutes on 400.

Enjoy!

You can also skip the tomato sauce and instead pulse a few pieces of tomato, cilantro, and garlic clove in food processor to get a finer chop on the cilantro and garlic. (You could also be like Rachael Ray and micro grate the garlic into the mixture) Then add that to the diced tomatoes.

I'd love your feedback on this recipe if you try it and any recommendations if you tried something different!

Why I Became a Teacher

Well its friday and that means I get to spend the weekend with my babes. This friday I am off work for the last time because Camdyn Cate has a doctors appointment to check for hip dysplasia. It is also day two of exams at our HS which means that we will be out of school very soon. I just got back from maternity leave this past monday so I am super busy trying to grade everything the students did while I was out. I started grading my dance II's choreography projects. Basically students chose an idea to use as the inspiration for their dance and choreographed a dance as well as used manipulations to create new choreography based on their idea's. It is an extremely hard project, which uses a lot of the information I learned in college. I think some of my students believe me to be a "hard" teacher and think dance shouldnt be this academic but I want students to really learn from my class, not just learn combinations and perform them in class but learn how to choreograph as well as how to take their feelings and put them into the form of a dance. The style of dance I focus on in my class is based on their interpretation of feelings and movement. I want my students to express their emotions through dance. While grading these project on wednesday and thursday I was extremely proud of my students. I kept remembering how a particular student danced in Dance I and I was amazed at the transformation. I knew I had a great dance II this semester because the class was very supportive of each other and willing to try anything for me as well as extremely talented dancers so I wasnt expecting bad projects. I do understand that my expectations for students are extreme sometimes but I have faith that all my students can do what I expect. Basically I remembered why I became a teacher, to see this type of growth in my students. It is very fulfilling to see what you had a part in creating whether it is a productive student in society or just a self confident dancer who successfully put an idea into movements to form a dance! I am just so proud of my students and what they have accomplished so far. I really hope each of them decides to take Dance III but most of the time students are taking so many classes to prepare for college they just dont have room in their schedule for another dance class. I hope by reading this post you will encourage your children to take arts classes. It gives them a chance to be creative and excell at something other than academics. It is amazing what our arts department students can accomplish in 18 weeks. I wish the arts were more important in our school systems but for now they can only be described as an "elective" and not required for graduation.