A Katie Concotion

Growing up my mom would always concoct things for dinner with what she had in the cupboards and freezer or fridge. I took a lesson from Mom and concocted some pretty good pasta for dinner last night.

Ingredients:
Chicken breast, thawed
Pepper and some seasonings for the chicken
Pasta (I used penne)
1 1/2 sticks of butter
Garlic
Lemon Juice
Diced Tomatoes
Onions


- Season the chicken and grill it
- Boil the pasta until al dente, drain
-Chop onion and saute in some olive oil in a skillet
- Add the cooked pasta
-Add the butter and stir until melted
-Drizzle lemon juice on top and stir
-Mix in some garlic
-Stir in diced tomatoes
-Let simmer for 5 minutes
-Cut chicken in to strips
-Dish the pasta and put chicken on top and top with shredded cheese.

It's pretty quick and easy but tasted like something you could get at Olive Garden or another tasty Italian restaurant.

Mini quiches for a morning breakfast or a special occasion

Since it's Mother's Day even though I'm not a mother I thought I'd make something different for breakfast this morning. Since it turned out good, I know it's worthy enough to make for my mother or company.

Bacon Quiche Tarts
Ingredients:
5 or 6 slices of bacon
8 oz package of cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons of milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup of cheese (I used Colby Jack)
1 bunch of green onions
1 10 oz can of flaky biscuit dough
Process:
-Preheat oven to 375 degrees
-Grease a muffin pan with cooking spray (I used an extra large muffin pan because I used Grands biscuits)
-Cook the bacon, Drain and crumble
-Mix cream cheese, milk, and eggs with a mixer on low.
-Stir in cheese and onions.
-Separate biscuits
-Press into muffin pan-Sprinkle bacon at the bottom
-Spoon mixture into cups
-Bake 20-25 minutes or until filling is set and crust is golden brown.
-Remove from oven and sprinkle with remaining bacon, pressing it into the filling.
-Remove from oven pan and serve warm.

Starting the cooking blog back up

I've decided since my life is kind of crazy with school right now that a great way to relieve stress is cooking and blogging. So I'm making a concerted effort to update my cooking blog at least once a week if not more. I've become quite a skilled cook, I won't say I'm amazing but I'm getting better and better. So here's a quick meal I made on Saturday since it felt like fall in May.

French Onion Soup & Cuban Sandwich Calzones

Ingredients for Soup:
2 Onions
1/4 cup of butter
2 Tablespoons of flour
2 cans of beef broth
2 1/2 cups of water
Croutons
Cheese

Process:
Slice the onions








Saute onions in butter







Stir in flour and gradually add broth and water








Simmer for 30 minutes of for a couple hours on low
Add croutons and shredded cheese when hot and ready to serve




Cuban Sandwich Calzones
(I got this recipe in an email and figured I'd try it)

Ingredients:
Pillsbury Frozen biscuits
1 1/2 teaspoon mustard (we used spicy)
1 1/2 teaspoon mayonnaise
Pickles
Cheese slices (I used Colby Jack)
Sliced Ham and one other sliced meat (I used chicken breast)
1 egg, beaten

Process:
-Heat oven to 350 degrees and spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray
-Microwave biscuits for 30-45 seconds turning over half way through, they should still be cold when you take them out.
-Stretch each biscuit to six inches round. (It was easier to do this by laying them flat on the cookie sheet.
-Mix mustard and mayo together and spread within 1/2 inch of the edge of the biscuit.
-Layer pickles, meat and cheese, folding if necessary.
-Brush egg on edges.
-Fold over and press with a fork
(You can use left over egg to brush on top and sprinkle with minced onions or garlic powder if you like.)
-Bake 15-20 minutes in the oven until cheese is melted and biscuit is cooked.




Please forgive the messy cookie sheet, it's a sign that we use it a lot! :)

The only thing I would change about this recipe is the biscuits, they were hard to fold out, maybe try a flat bread or something thinner next time. Other than that the soup and sandwiches were a quick and tasty meal! If you try it, let me know what you think.