Manicotti

I love this dish! I make it the night before so when I come home from school I can just put it in the oven. I usually have a salad and garlic bread on the sid

e. Hope you enjoy it!

1/2 (8oz) pkg manicotti pasta (7 tubes)

1 cup cottage cheese

1 cup grated Mozzarella cheese

1/8 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 1/2 tsp parsely flakes

1/8 tsp black pepper

1 1/2 cups tomato sacue

Additional 3/4 cup Mozzarella cheese for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Cook manicotti pasta according to pkg directions. Drain. Place on foil or wax paper to cool.

In large bowl, stir together cheeses, parsely and pepper. For easier handling, refregerate at leaste 15 min.) Fill cooled pasta tubes with mixture using a small spoon or use large decorator cylinder or disposable pastry bag without a tip to fill the tubes.

Spread 1/2 cup tomato sacue in 7"x11" oblong baking dish. Arrange filled pasta in a single layer over sauce. Pour 1 cup tomato sauce over pasta and cover with foil. Bake 30 min.

Remove foil. Top with grated Mozzarella cheese. Bake additional 10 min or until cheese is melted.

Serves 4

Make ahead directions:

After assembling manicoti, do not bake.

Cover dish tightly with foil, then plastic wrap. Freeze up to two months.

Remove plastic wrap; leave tightly covered foil. Bake 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.

Remove foil. Add mozzarella cheese. Bake additional 10 min or until cheese is melted.

Key Lime- Grilled Chicken

I really enjoyed this recipe. It's was full of flavor and we just had it on top of rice. Hope you enjoy it like we did.

Key lime Sauce:

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter

1/4 cup key lime juice

1/4 cup chili sauce

2 tsp all-purpose poultry seasoning mix

Ingredients:

4 lbs chicken pieces (breasts or thighs)

1 Tbl all purpose-poultry seasoning mix

Set up grill for direct cooking over med. heat. Oil grate when ready to start cooking.

To prepare Key lime sauce, melt butter in a small sacuepan over med. heat. Stir in lime juice, chili sacue and 2 tsp poultry seasoning mix. Cook for 1 min. Remove from the heat; set aside.

Season chicken with 1 Tbl poultry seasoning mix. Place chicken on the hot, oiled grill and cook for 18-22 min perside, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear, basting with Key lime Sauce every few min until the last 2 min of cooking. Discard any remaining sauce.

Makes 4 servings

Tip: To cook indoors, preheat broiler. Prepare chicken and Key lime sacue as directed. Place chicken on a foil-lined baking sheet or broiler pan. Broil chicken 6-8 inches form the heat source for about 15-20 min per side, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear, basting with Key lime Sauce every few min until the last 2 min of cooking. Discard any remaining sauce.

I used the George Foreman Grill.

Chocolate Covered Oreo Cookie Cake

I absolutely love this cake! It's very impressive looking and so simple. The best part is how it tastes though. I have made this cake twice for two different birthdays and plan to make it again many more times.

Ingredients:

1 (18 ounce) package devil’s food cake mix
1/4 cup oil
2 eggs
4 baker’s semi-sweet chocolate baking squares
1/4 cup butter, cut up
1 (8 ounce) package Philadelphia Cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups thawed Cool Whip Topping
12 Oreo cookies, coarsely crushed

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare and bake cake mix in two 9-inch round cake pans (I used 8 inch and they turned out fine) as directed on package. Cool in pans 5 minute. Invert onto wire racks; remove pans. Cool layers completely. Place chocolate and butter in small microwaveable bowl. Microwave on HIGH 2 minute or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Cool 5 minute. Beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add the whipped topping and cookie crumbs; mix lightly. Place 1 of the cake layers, top-side down, on serving plate; spread with the cream cheese mixture. Cover with the remaining cake layer, top-side up. Spoon glaze over top of cake. Let stand until set (I didn't...I like the chocolate a little melted). Store in fridge.

* I put some cookie bits on top of the cake the first time and then not the second time...both ways were delicious!
* It looks like a ton of filling when you put it in the middle, but trust me, put it all. You will like it.
* Recipe found here: http://dineanddish.net/2009/04/standing-ovation-recipe-chocolate-covered-oreo-cookie-cake/

Brownie Trifle

We tried this recipe when some of my family was in town way back in April. It was a big hit! Very very easy (seems like the theme of the recipes I post) and very delicious.

Ingredients:
9X13 pan brownies, cut into bite size pieces
1 large or 2 small boxes of chocolate pudding (made)
1 large container of Cool Whip
1 package crushed toffee bits (I used a bag of crushed Skor)

Directions:
In a trifle bowl layer half brownies, half pudding, half Cool Whip and then half toffee bits. Repeat layers using remaining of the ingredients. That's it! Yum! I want to have some now.

Applebee's Oriental Chicken Salad

I really, really enjoyed this recipe. I got it at an enrichment activity cooking class. I'm not sure if I've ever had the salad it was named after at Applebee's, but if it's anything like this salad, I'm sure I'd love it! The dressing is my favorite part. :) If you're not a Dijon mustard person, don't worry, I couldn't taste the mustard in the dressing.

Applebee's Oriental Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

Dressing

6 T. honey

3 T. rice wine vinegar

1/2 c. mayonnaise

2 t. Dijon mustard

1/2 t. sesame oil

Salad

1-2 frozen, breaded chicken tenderloin(s) per person (or more, if you are Paul ;) )

2 c. green cabbage, sliced thin

2 c. red cabbage, sliced thin

6 c. romaine lettuce, chopped (I just bought a bag of it, pre-chopped.)

1 carrot, shredded

2 green onions, chopped (including the green part)

1/4 c. toasted sliced almonds (I left this out because I don't care for nuts in salads.)

2/3 c. chow mein noodles

Directions:

Cook the chicken according to the directions on the package (you can also cook your own if you're feeling ambitious, or use grilled chicken to make it more healthy). Mix all the dressing ingredients together. I recommend using an airtight container and shaking it to thoroughly mix the ingredients. Toss the ingredients for the salad. You can either toss the salad with the dressing, or pour the dressing on top of each serving.* Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and put it on top of each salad.

*I knew that Paul and I could never finish this much salad in one sitting, so I didn't toss the whole salad with the dressing. Instead, I saved the dressing and salad in different containers and was able to enjoy the leftovers for lunch over the next couple days! :) I don't think it would save very well with the dressing already on it (it would become soggy).

Chicken Tikka Masala

Wow, it has been way too long since I posted a recipe! I'm going to try and do a bit of catch-up over the next week. Maybe we can revive this blog!

A couple months ago I decided to be brave and try making something I've never made before: Chicken Tikka Masala. I had eaten it at an Indian restaurant once before, and I knew I liked it, but I never would have thought to make it myself until I read Pastor Ryan's recipe for it over at The Pioneer Woman. It didn't seem too hard! So I went out and got the ingredients and gave it a try.

Despite the bad lighting in my picture, it turned out a lot like it looked in the pictures on PW. I was secretly very impressed with myself. ;) A couple words of warning, though:

First, this is a PUNGEANT dish. It smelled up our little apartment and sort of leaked out all over the place. You could smell it walking up to our front door. And the smell lingered. And lingered. I did all the dishes, sent the leftovers with Paul to work, lit candles, and sprayed Febreze. And I could STILL smell it! It took about two days for the smell to be completely gone.

Second, turmeric is the spice that makes the rice turn bright yellow. It is strong stuff! If you use it in a rice cooker, be sure to wash it immediately afterwards to keep it from staining. Also, you shouldn't use your cute little white rice scooper to serve it up. Ours is still slightly yellow. Stick with something that won't stain quite so easily.

Third, it is a spicy dish. I think I must be a bit of a wimp when it comes to spicy foods, but I didn't even add in the optional chili peppers and it was almost too spicy for me!

Overall though, it had a great flavor, and I was glad I tried it. I'll probably even make it again sometime as long as no one is coming over for a little while afterwards. ;)

It's a long recipe, so I'm not going to type it all out this time. Here's the link again, though: Pastor Ryan's Chicken Tikka Masala.

Oh, and incidentally, I use this blog basically every week when I plan my menus. I really do! It sure is handy! I don't want it to fall into inactivity. :)