SKINNY FETTUCCINE ALFREDO

SKINNY FETTUCCINE ALFREDO

This easy fettuccine alfredo recipe is made "skinny" with a lighter alfredo sauce recipe -- but it's as delicious and creamy and flavorful as ever!

PREP: 5 MINS COOK: 20 MINS TOTAL: 25 MINS

INGREDIENTS:

• 12 ounces fettuccine (or any pasta shape)
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
• 3 Tbsp. flour
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 cup low-fat milk (I used 1%)
• 3/4 cup freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• (optional topping: chopped fresh parsley)

DIRECTIONS:

Cook pasta al dente according to package directions, in generously salted water.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and saute one minute, stirring occasionally, until fragrant. Sprinkle with flour, and stir to combine. Saute for an additional minute to cook the flour, stirring occasionally.

Slowly add chicken broth, whisking to combine until smooth. Whisk in milk, and bring the mixture to a simmer. Let cook for an additional minute until thickened, then stir in Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper until the cheese melted. Reduce heat to medium-low until pasta reaches al dente.

Drain pasta, then immediately add pasta to the saute pan with alfredo sauce. Toss to combine. Serve topped with chopped fresh parsley if desired.

Karen's Broccoli Salad

Broccoli Salad

• 2-3 bunches of broccoli, raw and cut into bite size pieces (not a lot of the stem)
• 1/2 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled (I used the cooked, bagged kind this time pictured below and it worked great...no mess!)
• 1 small red onion, chopped into small pieces
• 1 cup raisins
• 1/3 cup sunflower seeds (just the seeds...no shells. A friend put the shells in hers when she tried to make this, why I don't know, I said SEEDS Lol!!)
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons white vinegar

Directions:

• In a large bowl, mix chopped raw broccoli, cooked bacon, chopped onion, raisins and sunflower seeds and set aside.
• In a small bowl, mix the mayonnaise, sugar and white vinegar to make the dressing. Pour over the broccoli mixture and mix well.
• Refrigerate for a few hours so flavors mix. I made mine in the morning and served around dinner time. Still very tasty days later too...if it lasts that long. This one is always popular!
• One tip: You may want to double the dressing recipe (mayo, sugar, vinegar) just in case your heads of broccoli are large. Dress the salad with as much as you'd like according to your own taste though.

Jo's Stir Fry Recipe

Here’s the recipe:

8 slices of bacon diced
1/2 cup onions
1 cup diced mushrooms
3 cups cold rice cooked
1 beaten egg
2 Tablespoons soy sauce

Saute bacon until brown.  Add onions and mushrooms.  Cook until tender.  Drain off all but 2 teaspoons drippings.  Add rice.  Combine egg and soy sauce.  Stir into rice mixture.  Cook egg is cooked and rice is heated through.

For the version we did above we sauteed some chicken breasts that we had cut into pieces and added that too

Lemon Crock Pot Chicken

Amazing Crock-pot Roasted Lemon Chicken

Ingredients

• 3-4 lb. whole chicken, giblets removed (yes, you can use boneless chicken breasts, but the bones give the chicken more flavor and nutrients and it is much more frugal per pound so I haven't bought boneless chicken breasts in at least a year)
• 2 lemons, sliced
• optional, 2-3 medium potatoes, cubed
• 1 onion, sliced or diced
• 1/4 cup organic olive oil
• 2 T fresh minced garlic
• 1-2 T Italian seasonings or seasonings of choice
• dash of cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Mix olive oil with all seasonings.
2. Prop up chicken, legs up, on some balls of foil or small glass bowls so the chicken doesn't touch the bottom of the crock-pot. This allows the chicken to turn out more like a roasted chicken with browned skin. Do not put any liquid in the bottom of the crock-pot. If you haven't crock-potted a chicken before, you'll be amazed at how much liquid comes out of the chicken due to the slow cooking.
3. Rub olive oil mixture all over the chicken and inside the skin (you can use a spoon to insert the oil mixture between the skin and the meat).
4. Place lemons all over the chicken, inside of the skin, and inside the cavity of the chicken.
5. Place/sprinkle onions all over the chicken.
6. If you are using potatoes, you may want to toss them with a tablespoon or two of olive oil, and then place them at the bottom of your slow cooker.
7. Cover, and cook on low for approximately 10 hours, or until the juices flow clearly and the legs can easily wiggle.

Coconut Cream Tarts

Mini Phyllo Cups with Coconut Cream, Raspberries, and Dark Chocolate

yield: 30 MINI DESSERTS

ingredients:

• 2 boxes Athens Mini Fillo Shells (30 shells total)
• 4 oz. good dark chocolate, divided
• 1-1/2 c. heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 c. instant dry vanilla pudding mix
• 1/4 c. powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. coconut extract
• 30 fresh raspberries

preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°. Remove shells from all packaging. Place empty shells on a baking sheet and bake for 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from oven and allow shells to cool completely.

Gently melt 3 ounces of the dark chocolate in a small bowl in the microwave, taking care to not let it scorch. Let chocolate cool for a bit before spooning it into the bottoms of the phyllo shells, dividing evenly between the 30 shells. Let cool completely until chocolate is hardened. To speed up the hardening, the shells can be placed in the refrigerator for a few minutes.

With an electric mixer, whip cream, dry pudding mix, and powdered sugar until stiff and thick, about 2 minutes. Add coconut extract and mix just to combine. Place coconut cream mixture in a pastry bag fitted with a large plain tip. Pipe a dollop of the mixture onto the chocolate on the bottom of each phyllo shell. Gently press a raspberry into the top of each coconut cream dollop. Chop the remaining ounce of dark chocolate into very small pieces and press a few pieces into each of the coconut cream dollops, dividing the chocolate pieces evenly amongst the 30 phyllo shells.

These can be assembled up to three hours prior to serving, stored in the refrigerator.

(If you don't have pastry bags and tips, simply use a small spoon to fill the phyllo cups with the coconut cream. Or place coconut cream in a ziplock baggie, snip off a corner of the baggie, and pipe it into the phyllo shells.)

from a farmgirl's dabbles

Crystallized Ginger Scones

Crystallized Ginger Scones:

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 12 – 15 minutes

Makes about 10 scones

·         2 cups flour

·         1 Tbsp. baking powder

·         ½ tsp baking soda

·         ½ tsp salt

·         ¼ cup sugar

·         ½ cup cold butter, cut into small pieces (or grated)

·         1/3 cup crystallized ginger, chopped into small pieces

·         1 cup buttermilk (Note:  If you don’t use much buttermilk and don’t want to buy a carton, you can get dried buttermilk powder to reconstitute with water, at the Bulk Barn at Cowichan Common)

·         1 large egg, beaten

Place the oven rack in the middle of the oven.  Preheat the oven to 425 F.  Place the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar in a bowl and stir to combine.  Add the butter and work with a pastry cutter, or your fingertips until the mixture is the size of small peas.  Mix in the ginger.  Gently stir in the buttermilk and mix until just incorporated (dough will feel a little wet).  Do not over mix or scones will be tough.  Turn onto a floured surface and with floured hands gently knead the dough until it just holds together.  Pat out into a circle that is 1-inch thick.  Cut dough into rounds and place on a non-stick or parchment lined baking sheet.  Brush tops with beaten egg. Bake 12 – 15 minutes until puffed and golden.

Candy Bar Game

Here’s a generic version of the game to get you thinking:

1. Famous swashbuckling trio of old – 3 Musketeers candy bar
2. Cemetery – Mounds candy bar
3. Galaxy – Milky Way candy bar
4. The Red Planet – Mars Bars
5. Giggles- Snickers candy bar
6. Bumpy ride- Rocky Road candy bar
7. Klutz- Butterfingers
8. Famous author – O’Henry bar
9. Famous Homerun Hitter – Baby Ruth candy bar
10. Famous NYC street – 5th Avenue
11. Twin Letters – M&Ms
12. Superman’s other identity – Clark Bar
13. A sweet sign of affection – Kisses
14. Favorite day for working people – Payday candy bar
15. What bees make – Bit o’ Honey
16. Sometimes you feel like a nut – Almond Joy candy bar
17. Pleasingly Plump – Chunky
18. Two female pronouns – Hershey candy bar
19. Dad of teenage daughter- Bonkers
20. Single women’s dream  – Mr. Goodbar or Big Hunk
21. Flotation devices – Life Savers candies
22. Sun Explosion – Starburst Candies
23. Crackling noise – Crunch bar
24. Determines who wins the game – Skor Bar
25. Dry Cows – Milk Duds
26. Power Nap- Fast Break candy bar
27. Kids- Runts
28. Money left after you pay the bills- Zero candy bar