You may have noticed this from previous posts, or maybe not, but Adam is the cook in our house. I enjoy baking, but when it comes to meal planning and cooking, it’s 85% Adam. He gets a lot of ideas from the Serious Eats site and often emails them to me with “will you eat this?” (I’m a bit of a picky eater. A bit is an understatement.)
A few years ago, a friend of mine gave me a recipe for Baked Ziti. Her husband was stationed in Naples, Italy for a few years and she got the recipe from a local. The recipe included a homemade red sauce that we really liked, but it wasn’t quite perfect. Adam has spent the last few years tweaking it and he’s finally determined that it’s as good as it’s going to get. And it’s good, really good. We use it now any time we need red sauce. Anytime Adam makes it for friends, they ask for the recipe so he asked that I share it here, so it’s easier for him to share with everyone. Enjoy!!
Baked Blueberry French Toast just sounds incredible, doesn’t it? It tastes incredible too. Even better, it is very easy to make. Even my cooking-challenged self hasn’t managed to screw this one up yet! We make it every year for breakfast Christmas morning and it is my go-to dish for breakfast potlucks.
Gouda is quite possibly one of my most favorite foods. Nearly every day, I eat an apple with gouda for lunch. Smoked gouda? Even better! (FYI – You can buy a huge wedge of it at Costco for much cheaper than the grocery store!) This pasta salad was seriously delicious and even better the next day. I was worried the sauce would be too heavy with the mayo, but it wasn’t at all. I think next time we make it, we’ll throw in some bacon too. Bacon and gouda together.. does it get any better than that?
They’re called lactation cookies because they’re full of delicious stuff that’s wonderful for nursing mama’s — lots of good-for-you ingredients, some of which have also been shown to help boost milk supply. As a lot of you know, I battled with supply issues with Braden the entire time he was nursing, then again with Mackenzie as she got closer to a year old. I ate a LOT of these cookies (did I mention that they’re delicious??). I promise you, they’re good. Even Adam and my dad gobbled them up.
I’ve never been a big fan of sweet potatoes. At least that is what I thought. I’m a super picky eater and they just didn’t look all that appetizing, so I never tried them. Orange and mushy just wasn’t doing it for me. Mature, right? A few years ago, we were at Disney World with Adam’s aunt and uncle and sweet potato chips came as a side with the sandwich I ordered. I tried them, since they weren’t mushy, and they were pretty good. Lately, I’ve been trying to make healthier choices when eating out, so I’v been ordering sweet potato fries instead of regular fries. I’ve become quite the addict too, they are SO good.
The original recipe for this makes a thicker chicken mixture and they recommend serving it over rice. I wasn’t a huge fan of it that way, so I add in some pureed tomatoes and make it into a soup. We top ours with shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, and a bit of fresh cilantro. Super easy to make and absolutely delicious. It freezes really well and is great as leftovers too.
We have made this a few times and everyone always begs for the recipe. It’s incredibly easy to throw together and seriously delicious. We cut the sugar in half from the original Paula Deen recipe. I love Paula and I have a sweet tooth, but it was way too sweet for us. I also like to use low fat mayo, turkey bacon, and low fat cheese to help make it a bit healthier. We’ve also used craisins instead of raisins, or a mixture of both. I think next time I may try adding in some chopped pecans, I love the way they taste with craisins and cheese.
Please forgive this absolutely horrible picture. I couldn’t find my 50mm lens and the lighting in my kitchen is beyond awful and to be completely honest, I was hungry and this smelled incredible, so I really wanted to eat it and not go looking for the other camera lens. I promise though, we will make it again, and I’ll update this with a picture that makes it look as yummy as it tastes! Because seriously, it was incredible. So good!
I originally got this recipe from my friend Natalie. Her husband was stationed in Naples, Italy for a few years and got the recipe from a local. We really liked the original recipe, but changed a few things (modified sauce, added sausage) to better suit our tastes.
