Chow Mein

Whenever I would go to Panda Express growing up I always got the fried rice. The Chow mein always looked so gross to me, but whenever we would go to any type of Chinese restaurant, my mom would get it. Since Panda changed their rice recipe a while ago (I actually have no idea how long ago it was haha) I decided one day a couple years ago to venture out and try the chow mein. Okay, normally I have a hard time saying that my mom knew what she was talking about ;) but she did. Chow mein rocks! I've never gone back to the fried rice and always get the chow mein now and trust me I have a hard time resisting the urge to tell them to just fill up the whole container and forget the main dishes.
This recipe is a great mock version of the Panda Express kind. It has very similar ingredients, as far as I can tell, and it tastes just as good if not better.
It also comes together very quick so its an easy side to pair with your favorite dishes.  SO YUMMY!
Anyway, enjoy!

Chicken Alfredo Pasta

My absolute favorite way to use my Homemade Alfredo Sauce is to combine it with grilled or roasted chicken and put it all on top of penne! I feel like I say this about every recipe, but, this really is one of my families favorite recipes!! It's also one of my favorite meals to make for people either when they come to visit my house, or if they need a meal brought to them. It's always a crowd pleaser for both adults and kids. I mean, it's full of cheese...so why wouldn't people like it?!
A few years ago, this recipe was one that my husband would ask for every single week. I generally ask him to think of one recipe that he would like to have the following week and this my friends was always his response, "oh I don't know, maybe some chicken...with some white sauce...and some penne?" EVERYTIME!!! It got so old that I kind of stopped asking him, which I think was his intention all along.

Drunken Italian Noodles

This recipe is AMAZING! It is fast and easy to make which is great for a weeknight or weekend meal. The longest part is prepping your vegetables.This recipe has all your veggies, meat, and carbs all in one dish so really you can't beat that. One of my favorite parts about this dish is using fresh noodles and herbs. I never realized just how much better fresh noodles are vs. boxed dried noodles from the store are until I had this dish. BIG DIFFERENCE!
Now I've never been to Italy so I cannot verify if this truly is "Italian" but it has good flavors nonetheless.

Italian Beef and Noodles

This is one of my "go to" meals that we have ALL the time because everybody likes it! It's great when served hot, but I also like the leftovers cold.
If your on a budget this is a great meal to make because you can limit how much meat goes into the dish. I like to cut the meat thinner, which makes it appear to have more in it (nice trick right?!) This would be good with any assortment of vegetables in it, but zucchini is generally what I use.

Gnocchi Alla Sorrentina

Don't be scared off by the fancy title. In our house it is known as the "yummy red sauce". This is my husbands favorite way to eat gnocchi hands down. This sauce is filled with two different types of cheese which makes it incredibly delicious. The flavors are simple, which is what I like best about it because you really get to taste each ingredient.
You can either use this sauce alone with some boxed gnocchi or you can try making your own homemade gnocchi. I shared a great gnocchi recipe yesterday on the blog and it can be found here.

Gnocchi

Gnocchi brings back some good memories for me. About 8 years ago my sister and I decided to have a girls weekend in Las Vegas. It was one of the most memorable weekends of my life. We spent our time being silly and eating the best food ever. For one brunch we stopped at this little Italian restaurant by our hotel where my sister decided to order gnocchi because she had always wanted to try it. It was literally one of the best things I have ever eaten. Ever since then I became obsessed with ordering gnocchi every place I could and never could find anything that tasted quite as good as that. This is when I turned to trying to find a good recipe to use at home. I used to use the boxed kind that you find next to the pasta in the grocery store. It's alright in a pinch but I highly recommend taking the extra time to make it from scratch. It really isn't that hard, just a little time consuming, but I promise it's worth it.

Cheesy Broccoli Mac n Cheese

Growing up I always loved ripping open a box of mac n cheese and having that with some hot dogs for lunch.
As an adult I must admit I still really enjoy having mac n cheese and hot dogs but I don't like the taste of boxed mac n cheese any more. It tastes soooo processed and just flat out gross ro me.
I have been making homemade for many years now because not only is it just as easy, it tastes a million times better and is very versitle.
For example I use the cheese sauce recipe, add broccoli and serve it over baked potatoes as well, DELISH.

Avocado Pesto with Zucchini Noodles

I've been trying out some new recipes over the past couple of weeks for my fellow anti-inflammatory dieters. This is one that we really enjoyed in our household. This is a great recipe because its so simple and tastes really good. I believe from start to finish this meal took me maybe 10 minutes. That's pretty awesome in my book.
Zucchini noodles have been kind of a fad lately. I see them popping up all over pinterest and to be honest I have always wanted to try them but just never have. When cooked up they do look just like spaghetti noodles so you don't even miss having the real noodles in there.

Spaghetti Meat Sauce

On my way to church yesterday for some reason I started thinking about spaghetti. Kinda strange since it was 9:00 AM, but I couldn't get spaghetti out of my head all day. I just happened to have some ground turkey sitting in my fridge that I WAS going to make some stuffed peppers with but instead decided to whip up a homemade meat sauce instead. It turned out great! It involved ingredients that I had in my pantry and fridge, throw it all on the stove and let it simmer together to make a fantastic flavorful sauce!
Enjoy!

Italian Turkey Meatballs

If you are looking for a lower calorie and still fantastic tasting meatball then give this recipe a try. Ground beef? Who needs it when you can jazz up some extra lean ground turkey and save a few million calories :)
These meatballs are so flavor packed that you won't even miss the extra grease.
And in my personal opinion if your meatballs are good, then you don't have to go completely extravagant on your sauce. These meatballs are great in spaghetti, as subs, in a soup, or plain! I've tried them all three ways and they are simply fantastic. Give them a try and let me know what you think!

Chicken With Sundried Tomato Basil Cream Sauce

I love it when Sam ends a meal by saying that what I had made tasted just as good if not better then food he would order at a restaurant. This meal happened to be one of those times. The meal really isn't that hard to make and has so much flavor in it.
If you are looking for a recipe that looks super complicated and that will make you look like you are a master chef, this is one of them. Give this a try next time you are trying to impress somebody special.

Creamy Pesto Sauce

This is a great pesto sauce. Of course I found this lovely recipe on Pinterest, which has now become my go to source for finding recipes. I needed to find a homemade pesto sauce recipe for a couple of reasons...1- My brother said that it would be the best sauce to go with these fantastic Chicken Sausage and Kale Ravioli's that I got at Costco..and 2- I have an abundance of basil growing in my herb garden and it was getting a little tall and needed some thinning. Enjoy!

Vegetable LoMein

I don't know why I don't make this more often. It really isn't difficult at all and its really yummy. I got this recipe from my mom, but I think she got it from my sister?! Anywho...I got it, and thats the point :)
A fantastic dish, that's what this is. It's jam packed with vegetables and guess what, you don't even miss the fact that there is no meat in it. I usually serve this up as a main dish. Its plenty filling and tastes absolutely fantastic!

Lobster Ravioli in Tomato Cream Sauce with Shrimp

This recipe was sooooo good. I made this for my sweetie for our special Valentines Day dinner and I'll tell you what...it tasted like something you would get from any seafood or Italian place...well to us anyway. It is a little more complicated then my normal fast and easy, but hey, sometimes I do enjoy doing a little more then quick fix meals :)

Shrimp Scampi with Linguini

This is a recipe I first made when I was dating Sam and trying to impress him and his friends with my cooking skills. I guess it paid off cuz Sam asks me to make this all the time lol. This is a light and refreshing pasta which I really enjoy when its hot outside.