Broccoli Pot Pie

Ingredients:

2 (1 box) - premade pie crust (or home made - top and bottom)

1 lbs - turkey sausage (or plain ground turkey or chicken)

1-2 bags - frozen broccoli cauliflower mix (depending how full you want your pie)

for cheese sauce:

1 cup - any flavor cheese (I did a blend of cheddar and monterey jack)

1/4 cup - skim milk

1/4-1/2 cup - chicken broth

1-2 cloves - garlic minced

salt, peppep, and onion powder to taste

egg + water for egg wash for top crust

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Line 9in pie pan with 1 crust.

In a large skillet brown sausage, once cooked through add frozen broccoli mix and heat slightly. Pour mixture into prepared pie dish leaving some of the grease in the skillet for the cheese sauce.

For the cheese sauce, in the same skillet saute garlic, pour in milk and slowly add cheese, stirring in a little at a time until it is completely melted, alternate between cheese and chicken broth until all cheese has been added and is melted. Add chicken broth until it is to the consistency you like, I like mine thick so I didn't add all the chicken broth.

Pour cheese sauce over broccoli sausage mix, cover with other pie crust, pinching the ends to seal. Prick air holes in top of pie crust, then brush with egg wash.

Bake 30-45 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

*For a little fun I added a pinch of red pepper flakes to the cheese sauce for a little extra spice!

Shrimp and Cheese Grits

Ingredients:

For the Grits:

3/4 c grits

1 14oz can Chicken Broth + water (Should be 3 cups of liquid)

2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (or your cheese preference)

1 tbsp butter

pinch of salt

For the Shrimp:

24 shrimp, cleaned

4 slices of bacon

1-2 cloves garlic minced

1 lbs asparagus, cut into pieces

pinch of red pepper flakes

pepper to taste

Directions:

Bring chicken broth-water mixture to a boil, stir in grits and lower heat to medium-low and cover, stirring occasionally, let cook for 5-7 minutes. Add butter and gradually stir in cheese.

Brown bacon in pan, remove crumbles to a plate lines with a paper towel. Drain bacon fat, saving about a tablespoon. Add garlic to bacon grease and stir until fragrant, about a minute. Add shrimp, pepper and pepper flakes, cook until shrimp is almost done. Add asparagus and bacon, cook until done.

Serve warm.

My grits came out fairly thick and cakey, if you want more creamy add more liquid, but I like grit cakes ^_^

Asparagus Tart

So this really isn't a tart, but I don't know what else to call it...maybe a flatbread thing? But I don't care what you call it, it's still tasty!

Ingredients:

1 container/roll refrigerated pizza crust, or fresh

1.5-2lbs of fresh asparagus, depending on the size of the spears

1/2 lbs of shrimp

1/2 container of button mushrooms sliced

1 container shredded parmesan cheese

1tbsp EVOO, enough to drizzle

salt and pepper to taste

1tsp Italian Seasoning (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F

On a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with nonstick spray, unroll pizza crust and press into pan, be sure to fix any holes made. Poke holes with a fork in the middle of the crust leaving about a 1/2-1 in border. Bake crust for 3-4 minutes. Pull out of oven and place asparagus tip to end to cover crust. Spread mushrooms and shrimp evenly over top of asparagus. Drizzle EVOO and then sprinkle salt and pepper to taste. Bake for 15-20 more minutes or until shrimp are cooked through. Pull out of oven and sprinkle cheese and italian seasoning over the top and put back into oven for a couple more minutes until cheese is melted.

*Dipping in fat free ranch is very tasty, marinara is good too ^_^*

Starry Broccoli Cheese

I tweaked a recipe I found on allrecipes.com I made a few changes to my taste. So here we go...

Ingredients:

1 tbsp butter

1/2 tsp onion powder (you can use real onion, but I just wanted a slight taste instead of onion pieces)

1 clove garlic, minced

1 brick- velveeta cheese, cut into cubes

2 (14oz) cans - Chicken broth

1 1/2 cups milk, I used fat free

1 1/2 cups water (for the milk and water I filled the can from the chicken broth)

1 (16oz) bag - frozen broccoli/broccoli cauliflower mix

1 bag star shaped pasta

shredded cheese for garnish

pepper to taste

Directions:

In a soup pot melt butter and saute garlic with onion powder. Add chicken broth and water and bring to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 2-3 minutes, not completely cooked.Reduce heat to medium and add broccoli, milk and velveeta, stirring constantly until cheese is melted, do not let come to a boil or cheese will burn. Serve immediately and garnish with shredded cheese on top.

Lasagna Rolls

I made these the other night and they came out really good, I'm not exactly sure on how long to bake them because I was getting ready to put them in the oven and my power went out ='(

Luckily the oven was completely preheated so I threw them in really fast and left them in there until I could smell them, They still came out tasting really good though, I even made some italian bread sticks to go with them, after the power came back on of course =p

Ingredients:

1 box (12 noodles) lasagna noodles

1 small bag baby spinach

1 jar marinara sauce

1 (15oz) ricotta cheese

1 package turkey breast lunch meat

2+ cups of your favorite shredded cheese, I had cheddar and monterey jack on hand

Italian Seasoning

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 F

Prepare lasagna noodles as stated on box, drain and lay flat to cool before handling.

On each noodle spread about 1.5 tbsp ricotta cheese, 1tbsp marinara sauce, then 3-4(depending on size) spinach leaves, finally 2-3 slices turkey, sprinkle with italian seasoning and roll. Place seam side down in a prepared baking dish, repeat for all noodles. Pour remaining marinara sauce on top of lasagna rolls, then sprinkle as much shredded cheese as desired on top.

Bake 20-25 minutes, or until everything is heated through and the cheese on top is completely melted!

Zesty Chicken Parmesan

I made this last night and served it over whole wheat angel hair pasta, my favorite pasta sauce and fresh grated cheese. This makes enough for 2 servings, but is easily doubled.

Ingredients:

2- Chicken Breasts, pounded to the thinness desired, the thinker it is the faster they cook!

1 cup- mixture of zesty and italian bread crumbs and grated parmesan cheese

1 tsp Italian seasoning

salt and pepper to tasty

cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 F and either line or spray a baking sheet

Once chicken is pounded to desired thickness, salt and pepper each side.

Dredge each breast through the bread crumb mixture, your you can pour it over on the prepared dish.

Sprinkle the Italian seasoning over the top of the breasts.

Spray the cooking spray over the top of the breast, it helps the tops to come out nice and crispy.

Bake for 25 minutes or until chicken is cooked all the way though, don't over cook!

Easy Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

Made these tonight, makes 8 enchiladas!

Ingredients:

8-16 corn tortillas, if you want to double up use 16 since they do rip easily

2 chicken breast, about a pound, boiled and shredded

2+ cups of mexican blend cheese

1 (8oz) can Old El Paso enchilada sauce, I used the mild sauce

Directions:

Preheat ove to 375 degrees

Spray cooking dish

For boiling the chicken: in 6 or so cups of water boil both chicken breast, salt and pepper the water, or add a chicken bouillon cube. remove chicken once cooked all the way through, let cool then shred. Save about 1/2 cup of the broth to pour over the enchiladas.

For enchiladas: in a bowl mix together shredded chicken, 3/4 can of enchilada sauce and 1 cup of cheese. Spoon mixture onto one end of tortilla and roll, place in dish with seam side down. Repeat 7 more times. There might be some chicken mixture left over, just pour the rest on top of the enchiladas. Then pour remaining sauce over enchiladas. Cover the top with remaining cheese.

Cook in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, until cheese is melted and everything is heated through.

**To spice it up add a couple spoonfuls of salsa to the chicken mixture, tasty!!

Broccoli Cheese Stuffed Chicken

So I made this tonight and though it needs a little tweaking it was SUPER good!

Ingredients:

4 - boneless skinless chicken breast pounded to about 1/4in thick

1 can - Campbell's Cheddar Cheese Soup or Broccoli Cheese Soup

1.5-2 cups - frozen broccoli florets

1-1.5 cups - Italian Style Bread Crumbs (enough to dredge the stuffed chicken in)

Salt and Pepper to taste

toothpick to keep chicken together

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 Degrees

Put frozen broccoli in microwaveable bowl with a little water and steam in microwave for 1-1.5 mins. Once broccoli is finished drain and give it a rough chop.

Add cheddar cheese soup to chopped broccoli and salt and pepper to taste.

Take chicken and salt and pepper both sides (completely optional, I do this all the time though)

Put 1-2 spoonfuls, just enough to not make pouch over flow too much, of cheese and broccoli mixture into center of chicken breast and then close and hold chicken with toothpicks.

Dredge each breast through the breadcrumbs and place on baking sheet, I would line it just incase the cheese boils over.

Bake for 20-30 mins, or until chicken is cooked all the way through.

Serve over brown or white rice and enjoy! Please feel free to comment with tweaking suggestions! Picture to come soon I promise!

Chicken Divan

Made this last night, it was very tasty and super filling! It makes at least 2 servings.

Ingredients:

2- Skinless Chicken Breast, pounded to about an inch thick

1-can Campbell's Broccoli Cheese Soup

1/2- can water or fat free milk

1.5 cups - Broccoli and Cauliflower mix(or just Broccoli)

1/2 cup - bread crumbs, I did a mixture of plain and Italian

1 cup - mixed shredded cheese, I used a mexican blend

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Salt and peper both sides of chicken breast. Place chicken in a glass baking dish.

Pour/spread broccoli cheese soup over chicken and then pour the water over.

Sprinkle half the bread crumbs over chicken.

Bake chicken for 15 mins. Remove chicken from oven.

Pour broccoli and cauliflower over top. Sprinkle with rest of bread crumbs and cover with shredded cheese. Return to oven for an additional 10 mins or until chicken is cooke all the way through.

Served over white rice and enjoy!

Cauliflower "Mac" and Cheese Casserole

I'm going cauliflower crazy today!

Ingredients:

• Kosher salt, as needed, plus 1/2 teaspoon
• 1 large head cauliflower, cut into small florets
• Vegetable oil spray
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 ounces cream cheese cut into small pieces
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar, plus 1/2 cup for topping the casserole
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• Equipment: 8 by 8-inch baking dish

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Season the water with salt.

Spray the baking dish with vegetable oil spray.

Cook the cauliflower in the boiling water until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Drain well and pat between several layers of paper towels to dry. Transfer the cauliflower to the baking dish and set aside.

Bring the cream to a simmer in a small saucepan, and whisk in the cream cheese and mustard until smooth. Stir in 1 cup of the cheese, salt, pepper and garlic and whisk just until the cheese melts, about 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat, pour over the cauliflower, and stir to combine. Top with the remaining 1/2 cup cheese and bake until browned and bubbly hot, about 15 minutes. Serve.

Cheesy Cauliflower Gratin

So all who know me know how much I LOVE me some cauliflower, so when I saw this on Sandra Lee's (a.k.a. the alchies) show I had to share it with everyone...and I plan on trying it at some point...I mean cauliflower and cheese, what more could you ask for?!

Ingredients:
1 (10-ounce) package frozen cauliflower florets (recommended: Pictsweet)
1 (10.75-ounce) can condensed Cheddar cheese soup (recommended: Campbell's)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Mexican style shredded cheese (recommended: Kraft)
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan (recommended: Di Giorno)
2 tablespoons Italian style bread crumbs (recommended: Progresso)
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:
Preheat the broiler.

In a microwave-safe casserole dish, stir to combine cauliflower, soup, cayenne pepper, salt and shredded cheese. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high setting for 6 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine grated Parmesan, bread crumbs, and olive oil. Remove cauliflower from microwave and remove plastic wrap. Spoon bread crumb mixture over cauliflower and broil for 1 to 2 minutes until top is golden brown. Serve hot.