Easy Breezy Pasta

I saw a really simple pasta dish on the Today Show one morning and I modified it with items I had lying around my kitchen. This is the perfect dish when you want something new, light, colorful, or when you are just cooking for one. I made this one night and ended up with three different meals out of the leftovers.

Fire Level: yellow – red

Ingredients

• Your favorite pasta noodle (I prefer angel hair)
• Chopped bell peppers (vary the amount depending on how many people you are cooking for. Half a bell pepper for one serving, or one chopped green and one chopped red bell pepper for a more plentiful and colorful dish)
• Crushed red pepper (for orange-red spice, leave out for yellow)
• Minced garlic
• Parsley or Dill (Fresh is preferable but I used dry spice and it was just fine)
• Olive oil (also vary depending on how much you are making)

OPTIONAL ADDITION

I also added a little lemon juice and shaved Romano cheese to the finished product to give it an extra pop of flavor.

STEP 1: Sauté the Peppers

Heat olive oil over a large skillet. Use slightly more olive oil than you normally would for sautéing. You want the bell peppers to be coated well in the oil

STEP 2: Cook Pasta

Meanwhile, bring your pasta to a boil and cook it until al dente.

STEP 3: Spice it Up

Add your crushed red pepper and minced garlic to the bell peppers. Make sure your pasta is finished before you do this. You don’t want to cook the garlic too long. Stir the spices in with the bell peppers for just a couple minutes until the garlic is tender but has not turned brown.

STEP 4: Add your Pasta

Add the pasta into the large pan with all of your spices and bell peppers. Mix until the noodles are coated in olive oil and the flavors are all mixed together.

STEP 5: Garnish

Poor your almost-finished pasta into a serving dish and sprinkle with either fresh parsley or dill, whichever flavor you prefer.

Serve with some baked bread (I like the "everything" bread from the Walmart bakery) and a dish of EVOO, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and thyme. You're set for a yummy dinner!

LEFT OVER OPTIONS

Since I was cooking for one, I had a lot of pasta left over. The next day I heated it up with a can of fire roasted, diced tomatoes. This gave it a completely different flavor and was delicious!

Spicy Poppers

Another great recipe from the Taste of Home Cooking School! These jalapeno poppers are delicious and the addition of the crescent dough takes away a little of the kick so that they aren't as spicy.

Fire level: orange-red

Crescent Jalapeno Poppers

Ingredients:

• 4 jalapeno chiles
• 1/3 cup Boursin cheese with garlic and herbs
• 8 slices packaged precooked bacon, halved
• 1 can (8 oz.) crescent dinner rolls
• 1/2 cup pineapple or fruit salsa for dipping

Directions:

STEP 1: Prepare your peppers

Destem and Deseed the chiles. The more seeds you leave in, the spicier the chiles will be. Cut each chile lengthwise, and then lengthwise again, creating four long jalapeno chile pieces from each pepper.

STEP 2: Prep your poppers

Spoon about 1 teaspoon of cheese into each chile quarter. Wrap a half slice of bacon around each stuffed chile quarter.

STEP 3: Wrap your poppers

On a cutting board, unroll the crescent dough. It should show 8 triangles. Cut each triangle in half from largest corner, creating 16 pieces. Place the chile, cheese side down, onto the middle of the dough triangle. Fold one point of triangle over filling, fold two remaining points over the first point. Place all of the poppers on ungreased cookie sheet.

STEP 4: Cook your poppers

Bake the poppers 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve with the fruit salsa and it will cut out some of the spice. Enjoy! They are quite tasty.

Beautiful Appetizer for the Holidays

Some friends and I went to a Taste of Home Cooking school a couple months ago and we witnessed a lot of yummy dishes being prepared. One appetizer in our recipe booklet stuck out to me and I made it over the Thanksgiving holiday. It looked beautiful on the table and is perfect for Holiday get togethers.

Fire level: yellow

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp

Ingredients:

• 10 bacon strips
• 20 large fresh basil leaves
• 20 uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used precooked frozen shrimp and they worked just fine)
• 1/4 cup barbecue sauce
• 1/2 cup finely crumbled goat cheese

Directions:

STEP 1: Prepare your shrimp

Cut each bacon strip in half widthwise; set aside. Wrap a basil leave around each shrimp. Wrap a piece of bacon around each; secure with a toothpick.

STEP 2: Bake the shrimp

Place all of the shrimp onto a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for around 15 minutes or until bacon is crisp.

STEP 3: Flavor the shrimp

Brush with barbecue sauce; sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 2-4 minutes more or until they are heated through.

If you want to increase the fire level you can buy a spicy barbecue sauce. The presentation of these is beautiful. Spread them out on a nice serving dish and heat up some of the barbecue sauce for dipping. Enjoy!

Quick and Easy Dip

Saturday night several people came over to my house to watch the Mizzou Tigers' disastrous loss to Texas Tech. In addition to discussing what an awful mascot a gun-slinging cowboy is for young children, we also ate some delicious food! Melanie made a dip she called "Beer Dip." It was so simple and yummy, I just had to share. If you have a last minute get together with no time to spare, this is a go-to recipe to keep in the kitchen drawer.

Beer Dip

Fire Level: Yellow

Ingredients

• 2 Packages Cream Cheese softened
• 1/3 to 1/2 a beer (depending on how runny or thick you want your dip)
• 1 Packet Ranch Dressing
• 1 1/2 Cups finely shredded cheddar cheese

STEP 1: Create your base

Mash up your cream cheese. If you have a food processor, this is the perfect time to use the "plastic blade" they gave you in the box that is gathering dust in your cabinet. Otherwise, just use a wooden spoon. While you are mashing, add in your beer until you have the consistency you want.

STEP 2: Add the rest

Add in the other two ingredients.

STEP 3: Enjoy!

Eat it up with pretzels, pretzel chips, pita chips, tortilla chips... whatever you want.

Other Options

I think this dip would be really yummy, and a bit spicier, if you add a can of diced green chiles!

Take Me Out to the... World Series!!!

Sorry it's been a while since I've updated. It has been a crazy couple weeks between Mizzou's football games, Chiefs games, and the Rangers in the World Series! When we were at the Ballpark in Arlington for Game 4, we treated ourselves to the new item they revealed for the Series: a bacon wrapped hot dog. It was delicious! I thought it would be a good thing to add to my blog because it is really simple, AND with baseball season over and football season into its second half, the time for grilling is almost over. :( So here you go and enjoy while there is still time!

Bacon Wrapped Hot Dog

Fire Level: Depends on the toppings yellow-red

Ingredients

• Hot Dogs
• Equal number of bacon strips (I suggest the thick cut premium bacon. Don't skimp on it for this)
• Equal number of buns (I suggest getting thicker, more brat-like buns if available)
• Numerous Toppings (see options below)

STEP 1: Prep the dogs

Wrap your hot dogs with the bacon. Take the end of a bacon strip and start at one end of the hot dog wrapping in a spiral formation around the dog. If the bacon has trouble staying on, you can use toothpicks to attach the ends of the bacon to the ends of the dog.

STEP 2: Cook the dogs

If you have a grill around, then great! Throw them on the grill. If not, you can use a large skillet. Cook the dogs until the bacon starts to get crispy.

STEP 3: Put your dog on your bun

No explanation needed. :)

STEP 4: Add your toppings

Topping Options

This is where the magic happens! Toppings make all the difference on the hot dogs. Here are some options based on what we had at the ballpark, and what I just think sounds really good. The fire level will change depending on how many jalepenos, siracha, etc that you add.

Ballpark in Arlington Version

During the World Series, they grilled some onions along with the dogs and added those onto the dog. Delicious!

They also had numerous other toppings:

• Pico de gallo
• Shredded cheese
• Jalepenos

A Tex Mex Version

• Shredded pepper jack cheese or even melted nacho cheese
• Avocado
• Pico de gallo or salsa
• Jalepenos

Kansas City Version

• Barbeque sauce
• Diced onion
• Shredded cheddar cheese

The Standard

• Ketchup
• Mustard
• Mayonnaise

California Cobb

• Avocado
• Bleu Cheese
• Diced tomato
• Shredded Lettuce
• Ranch Dressing

Japanese Version

• Siracha
• Teriyaki Sauce
• Spicy Mayonnaise

Balsamic Vinaigrette

I've been eating a lot of salads lately. My biggest problem with salads is finding a dressing that is not loaded with fat but is still tasty. I am a HUGE fan of ranch dressing, but let's be honest, I might as well eat french fries because ranch negates the point of eating a "healthy" salad. So, I have harkened back to my days of living in Paris when Pascale and I made our own dressing. We always made a dijon red wine vinaigrette but these days I'm a balsamic girl. So whip out those wild greens, red tomatoes, and whatever fresh vegetables you can find as we move into fall and try this really easy dressing below.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

Fire Level: yellow

INGREDIENTS

• 3 tablespoons EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
• 1.5 to 2 tablespoons balsamic vinaigrette (it depends how vinegary you like your dressing. I usually put 2 tablespoons in mine but some people like to taste the olive oil. If that is the case go with 1 1/2 or even 1 tablespoon)
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• A few shakes of salt
• A few shakes of black pepper

Mix it all up and enjoy! If you don't have one, I suggest going to your local grocery store and buying a mixer like the one in the picture. It's usually over by the oil and vinegar. All you do is pour all your ingredients in and shake it up. Simple as that!

The Best Sugar Cookies!!

Today I surprised Zerek with TCU cookies for the tailgate/game tomorrow! I made them the other night and sent them down to Dallas overnight. I love this sugar cookie recipe. It's been passed down in my family for a while and I'd love to share it with you guys. I put blue and red food coloring in the cookie dough to make it purple and I bought white frosting and dyed some of it purple too in order to add TCU onto the white frosting. I think it's the almond extract that makes these sugar cookies taste so unique!

Almond Sugar Cookies

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick) softened
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• 1 egg
• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

STEP 1: Preheat

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees

STEP 2: Mix

Mix the sugar, butter, vanilla, almond extract, and egg in a bowl until it is creamy.

STEP 3: Add dry ingredients

Add the flour, baking powder, and the salt.

STEP 4: Choose your shape

My family has made these in two different ways. One is the traditional cookie-cooking way. Use a teaspoon to put a dolup of dough onto a greased cookie sheet. The other way is to spread the entire batter over a greased cookie sheet, making more of a cookie cake.

STEP 5: Cool

Once the cookies have become brown just around the edge, remove them from the oven to cool. If you made the cookie sheet you can stick a toothpick into the center to make sure it is done. Let them cool. Frost with your favorite frosting flavor. Then, if you made the sheet, cut them into strips to make cookie bars.

STEP 6: Enjoy

Enjoy some of my favorite cookies! Make sure you share. :)