Farfalle with Creamy Mushroom Gorgonzola Sauce

This is my kind of pasta. A white sauce, blue cheese and mushrooms. It doesn't get any better than that.
2 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp. flour
2 1/2 c. milk
5 oz. gorgonzola
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 lb. assorted mushrooms, sliced
3/4 c. frozen peas, thawed
1 lb. farfalle pasta

Melt butter over medium heat, then add flour and whisk until smooth. Allow to cook 1-2 minutes. Add milk and whisk until smooth. bring to a simmer and simmer for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in crumbled gorgonzola. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Heat oil over medium heat and add mushrooms. Saute 12 min. stir in peas. Season with salt and pepper.
Cook pasta. Combine with gorgonzola sauce and mushrooms.

Brown Sugar Chicken

I got this off the What's Cookin? site linked on my other blog. My former neighbor Wendy Brinkerhoff contributes recipes. You should totally check it out. They have so much good stuff on there and it is updated all the time. i can't even keep up with it. Anyway, I thought this one looked good and decided to try it. I was right. It was good. Samantha loved it. I hope they don't mind me posting it here. We cut it up and served it over rice and it was just like a teriyaki bowl. Unfortunately, my picture is unappetizing, so I left it off.

6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup lemon-lime soda
2/3 cup vinegar
3 cloves smashed and chopped garlic
2 T soy sauce
1 tsp ground black pepper

Place Chicken in a crockpot. Combine all remaining ingredients in a bowl, mix together then pour over chicken in crockpot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 4-6 hours. Serve over rice with sauce.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

I didn't have enough food coloring so they turned out kind of pink. The frosting was the best part. I have another red velvet recipe I'm going to try once we get all these eaten. I got this one off Joy the Baker.

2 c. flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
10 Tbsp. butter, softened
1 c. sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
scant 1 c. milk
1 Tbsp. red food coloring

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. In a mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, beating in between each addition for 1 minute. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture alternately with milk and red dye in 3 batches, beginning and ending with flour. Beat just until incorporated. Bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes.

Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting:
3/4 c. butter, softened
4 oz. cream cheese
1/8 c. brown sugar, packed
1 tsp. vanilla
pinch of salt
2-3 c. powdered sugar
1-2 Tbsp. milk
Beat cream cheese, then add butter and beat until incorporated. Add brown sugar, salt, and vanilla. Add powdered sugar and milk to desired consistency.

Raddiatore With Goat Cheese

I adapted this from Everyday Pasta. You would be surprised how much Amy likes it. Even Scott ate the noodles with just goat cheese and asked for more. I didn't tell him what kind of cheese it was. You can make it with or without chicken. I had leftover KFC and added it for some protein. Sorry it is such a bad picture. I will have to replace it next time I make it. I was in a hurry. (it was driving me so crazy I took it off)

1 lb. raddiatore pasta
1 pkg. spring mix lettuce
6 oz. creamy goat cheese
1/2 c. parmesan
3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. pepper

Cook pasta and drain, reserving 1 c. pasta water. Place the lettuce in a bowl and top with warm pasta and 1/2 c. pasta water. Toss to combine. Add cheeses, salt and pepper. Toss with remaining pasta water if needed.

Caramel Popcorn

Scott and I made this yesterday. Samantha was so excited. When she walked through the door, she immediately knew what it was, even though it's been quite a while since I've made it.

6 qts. Popped popcorn
2 c. packed brown sugar
1 c. butter
½ c. corn syrup
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. vanilla
½ tsp. baking soda

Combine brown sugar, butter, corn syrup and salt. bring to a boil over medium heat stirring constantly. Boil 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and baking soda. Mix well. Pour over popcorn and stir until well coated. Pour into 2 greased 13x9x2” pans. Bake uncovered @ 250° for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Cool completely.

Rigatoni with Sausage, Peppers and Onions

I made this for my mother and Tyler and they really liked it. Marshall did too. I got it from Giada De Laurentiis and made a few changes for us. It is a great pasta dish, especially if you are sick of canned spaghetti sauce. This has so much more flavor.

1 lb. mild Italian sausage, casings removed
1 red pepper, sliced
1 yellow onions, sliced
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried basil
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 c. beef broth
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, with juice
1/4 tsp. pepper flakes
1 lb. rigatoni
Heat a drizzle of olive oil over medium heat and add sausages. Cook until brown and remove from pan. Add pepper. onion, salt and pepper and saute until golden, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, oregano and basil and cook 2 minutes. Add tomato paste. When it is all mixed in, add beef broth, tomatoes with juice and red pepper flakes. Stir and scrape bottom of pan with wooden spoon. Bring to a simmer. Return sausage to pan. Simmer uncovered about 20 minutes. Cook pasta. Add to sauce and toss to combine. Serve with parmesan cheese.

Marinara Sauce

I had leftover spaghetti for lunch, since I am not a sandwich person and it actually tasted better the next day. We added ground turkey to make it meaty.

1/4 c. olive oil
2 small onions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
2 (28 oz) cans crushed tomatoes
2 dried bay leaves
1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning

Heat oil over Medium high heat and saute onion and garlic until tender. Add celery, carrots, salt and pepper and saute until soft. Add tomatoes and bay leaves and simmer uncovered 1 hour. Season with Italian seasoning.