Italian Stew

I am a huge fan of crock pots...

I don't know about you all, but I just love being able to throw something in

it in the am and then  8 hours later come back to a finished product!

This particular recipe for Italian Stew comes

from a dear friend of our family

Ingredients::

• 2 1/2 lbs mild Italian sausage
• 1 medium green pepper
• 1 onion
• 2 c of carrots
• 7 c of beef broth
• 1 6oz can of tomato paste
• 4 c tomato juice or pureed stewed tomatoes
• 1 T seasoning salt
• 1 t garlic powder
• 1 t basil
• 1 t oregano
• 1 bag of frozen cheese tortellini

Chop your vegetables

Cook the sausage and then add peppers and onions

and seasoning salt

Drain grease from sausage and vegetables

Combine the rest of the ingredients into the crockpot and add the meat and vegetables

Cook on high for 2 hours and then set on low for remainder of the time

About 30 minutes prior to serving add the frozen tortellini

Top with mozzarella cheese if you desire

Bon appetit!

Come see some of my photography over at Serendipity-Images.

a month gone by

I have been a horrific blogger as has been pointed out by some sweet friends of mine (you know who you are, ahem!), but living life has just gotten in the way of my posting as often as I would like.  So, before I reach the one month mark of not blogging I thought I should get up a post and let you all know what I have been up to!

Those of you who know me well or who read my blog would be able to list things I regularly blog about and it would be similar to something like this::
(Not in order of importance here...)
1.  Photography
2.  Crafting
3.  Family
4.  Cooking
5.  Reading
6.  Friends
So, I shall try to let you know what all I have done in each of these areas...

Photography:  I do use my camera every day although my work hours do not permit me to get outside and take as many pictures as I would like as it is dark when I get off.  (So, looking forward to spring! Itching to go for a walk and get some nature shots)  I am trying to keep up with a P52 project hosted by my3boybarians, you can view what I have submitted on my photography blog.  I have a few senior portraits that need to be scheduled but we are waiting on either some more snow or the arrival of an early spring...fingers crossed for either soon!

Crafting:  has been limited to
turning my-----

      {Thankful Tree}                                            to                      {Winter Tree}

to...

{Valentine Tree}

Family:  my sisters are both back into the swing of college.  Brooke is finishing up her final semester, which I can hardly believe.  And Lauren is finishing up her first semester.  Lauren also started up a blog, so be sure to follow her over at Seek Ye First...  With school back in session the girls are constantly going separate ways or busy working on projects.  It is nice when we can gather round the living room at the end of the day and discuss and usually laugh about our eventful days...

Cooking::  I  really enjoy making new things that I find on Pinterest.  One thing that I made for a game night at Jack's was Italian skewers.  They were good and I thought them so fun and colorful that I had to take some pictures...after all food makes for great photography subjects! ;)

Reading:  I made a list of books to read in 2012, but unfortunately I have not been able to cross one off yet. These are two of the four I am in the middle of:

Does anyone else read more than one book at once??  I suppose if I just tackled one book at a time, I would finish them in a more timely fashion...

Friends: Liz came to IN, not under the best circumstances, but I was glad for the time we had together.  She was also thoughtful enough to bring back a special bracelet that I have enjoyed taking my turn with...

{Liz, I love you girl and am praying for you!}

Also, this month I have enjoyed spending some more time and getting to know a certain special young man. (Insert large smiley face here...)  Jack hosted a game night and Brooke and I had a great time meeting more of the McDonnell family as well as the Thackers.

I also was glad to have Jack up after we received a significant amount of snow. 

And although it was not good for packing, we still had fun as you can see from our snow covered attire! :)

 {If you notice Jack is more covered in snow, because I have better aim...} ;)

This past weekend I was able to meet a group (and Jack) in Illinois for some ice skating.  I was rather nervous about skating as I have only been twice and the most recent time was 6 1/2 years ago.  However, I thoroughly enjoyed it and am looking forward to another opportunity to do it again!

And so concludes my busy month of January.  Hopefully I will blog again before March comes...:)

Come see some of my photography over at Serendipity-Images.

and yet another pasta dish...

 I have this addiction to pasta.

When I was deciding what to make for dinner the other day, all of my ideas were pasta.

So I decided to try something new from my pinterest board;

something called Crispy Chicken with Creamy Italian Sauce and Bowtie Pasta.

(Kind of complex, I know, therefore I have renamed it::

Italian Manna) :)

Ingredients::

{serves 6}

• 3 chicken breasts
• 5 C corn flakes
• 3/4 C flour
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 C milk
• 6 T olive oil
• 1 12 oz package of bowtie pasta

Sauce::

• 1 10 oz Philadelphia cooking cream (Italian Cheese & Herb flavor)
• 2 cans cream of chicken soup
• 1 C chicken broth
• 1/2 C milk
• fresh parsley

  

Crush the corn flakes into crumbs and put in a loaf or pie pan.

Add the salt to the flour and put into another pan.

Place the milk in a separate pan.

Split the chicken breasts into two

Pound the chicken flat with a meat mallet. 

Dredge the chicken in flour

Lay the chicken on a plate and put in the freezer.

Let sit for 5-10 min.

Prepare the pasta

 

Remove the chicken from the freezer and dredge each piece in milk and then into the corn flake crumbs.

Lay the chicken in the hot oil.  

Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

  

Cook both sides until golden brown,

then let sit on medium heat for 7 minutes.

When the chicken is cooked through remove and place on a plate.

Cover with tin foil.

Into the skillet pour your chicken broth, cooking cream, cream of chicken and milk.

Whisk the sauce until it is warm and bubbly.

Approximately 3-5 minutes.

Slice your chicken into strips 

and serve over cooked pasta and sauce.

Garnish with parsley.

Enjoy!

 

Bon Appetit.

Come see some of my photography over at Serendipity-Images.

Dessert for breakfast?

Eating this breakfast treat is a delicious way to jumpstart a morning!

I stumbled across Paula Deen's gorilla bread on Pinterest.

You can blame my lack of blogging on pinterest; it has become a slight addiction of mine.  :)

I have gotten several crafting, decorating, and cooking ideas from there and I

have had the pleasure of trying dozens of things out, you can view my boards here.

Ingredients:

1/2 c of sugar

1 T of cinnamon

1 stick of butter

1 c of brown sugar

8 oz pkg of cream cheese

2 - 12 oz cans of refrigerated biscuits

1 1/2 c of coarsely chopped walnuts 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Spray bundt pan with cooking spray.

Mix the sugar and cinnamon.

In a small sauce pan, melt the butter and brown sugar over low heat.  Set aside.

Cut the cream cheese into 20 equal cubes.

Press the biscuits out with your fingers and sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar mixture on it and then place a cream cheese cube in the center wrapping and sealing the dough around the cream cheese.

Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the walnuts onto the bottom of the bundt pan.

Place half of the prepared biscuits into the pan and then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, pour half of the butter mixture, and sprinkle with walnuts.

Layer the remaining biscuits and follow with cinnamon sugar, butter and walnuts.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Cool, then place a plate on top of the bundt pan and invert.

Enjoy with a large glass of milk!!

Bon apetit! :)

Come see some of my photography over at Serendipity-Images.

Linguine Carbonara

I have been slacking on my weekly meals and so this week I finally determined 

to get to the store and make my family a meal. 

Being Italian, I, of course, decided on an Italian dish; one we had never had before...

Ingredients:

2 c. grated Parmesan cheese

3 eggs

1 1/4 c. heavy whipping cream

16 oz. of linguine

10 bacon slices chopped

1 lrg. onion chopped

1 T. minced garlic

1 t. crushed red pepper

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Whisk 1 1/2 c. Parmesan, eggs, and cream in a bowl and set aside.

Cook linguine and drain, setting aside 1/2 c. of cooking liquid.

Meanwhile saute bacon in a large skillet until crisp.

Add onions, garlic, and crushed red pepper.

Saute until onion is translucent about 8 minutes.

Add onion mixture and cream mixture to pasta.

Toss over medium heat, until mixture thickens and coats pasta.

Add reserved cooking liquid by t. if sauce is too thick about 4 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper and garnish with parsley and grated Parmesan.

Bon Appetit!

Celebrating Home

Look what I received in the mail this week...

Seven boxes which contain a decoration of some sort

{mirrors, sconces, vanity tray, glass vase, picture, etc}

to someday beautify a home of my own!

AND...

I got them all for only $30, even though their value was...$164!!!

Talk about a deal!

Of course you are thinking, "How?" "Where?" and "No fair!"

A couple of weeks ago my mom hosted a Celebrating Home Party at

our house. It was a great party; boy, do I have alot to live up to...

Besides gorging myself on my Mom's fine delicacies, I also decided to have a book party of my own. I took the books to work not really expecting my coworkers to make any purchases.

I was wrong...

I ended up having SEVERAL purchases; so many that I received $88 of FREE (don't we all love that word) merchandise, as well as four items at 1/2 price!!

I was shocked and thrilled beyond words.

Those seven boxes are still on bedroom floor; I shake my head in amazement every time I look at them...

So, if you want to receive great home decor for discounted, unbelievable prices, think about hosting a Celebrating Home Party; you won't be disappointed.

Italian Dish!

Despite living in a predominately Italian family, we do not eat Italian dishes as often as I would like. Since my Father grew up eating it almost every day, we usually limit it to once a week for him! One (of many) of my favorites though is...

LASAGNA!

Can't help my taste buds from watering just

looking at this deliciousness...:)

Start by browning 1/2 lb. of ground beef

Cook lasagna noodles according to back

of box...

Combine 12 oz. of ricotta cheese with two eggs and 1 1/2 c. of mozzarella,

and sprinkle in some garlic powder and oregano with a touch of cinnamon.

Set aside.

Once hamburger is browned add 1/2 lb. of Italian sausage,

then mix in 1/2 jar of Spaghetti sauce to moisten the meat.

Tell your mother (who has these Italian dishes down)

to pause so you can get a picture of both the food process and

of course, its lovely chef!

Pour spaghetti sauce, just enough to cover the bottom of

a 9x13 pan then start to layer with cooked noodles followed by

1/2 ricotta mixture...

...then 1/2 meat mixture, followed by lasagna noodles, etc.

For the last layer cover with the remaining spaghetti sauce

and Parmesan cheese. Generously sprinkle with Italian seasoning.

Bake covered with aluminum foil for 40 minutes, then uncover

and cook for another 10.

Bon Appetit!