Three Alarm Italian Style Chili Mac

Three-Alarm Italian Style Chili Mac
Courtesy of Rachel Ray

1 pound penne pasta or cavatappi (hollow pasta spirals)
Salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
1 1/2 pounds ground sirloin
2 tablespoons chili powder, 2 palmfuls
Black pepper
1 onion, chopped
1 cubanelle pepper, seeded and chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
3 to 4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup beef stock
1 (28-ounce) can fire roasted crushed tomatoes (I couldn't find fire-roasted so I just added a couple dashes cayenne to the regular...or if you don't like it spicy, just leave it out all together)
Handful basil leaves, torn
2 cups shredded smoked Cheddar or scamorza ( smoked aged mozzarella)

Cook pasta in salted water until al dente. Preheat broiler to high.
Meanwhile, heat a deep skillet over medium high heat with extra-virgin olive oil. When oil ripples or smokes, crumble beef and brown, 5 to 6 minutes. Season the meat with chili powder, salt and pepper. When meat has browned, add onions, peppers and garlic. Cook vegetables until soft, 6 to 7 minutes. Add stock and scrape up pan drippings. Stir in crushed tomatoes, simmer sauce 10 minutes and fold in basil. Drain pasta and add to sauce. Toss to combine and transfer to a casserole dish. Cover with cheese and brown under broiler 3 to 4 minutes.
**Served this with roasted garlic asparagus.

Awesome Slow-Cooker Roast

Awesome Slow-Cooker Pot Roast
(courtesy of allrecipes.com)

2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup (I used one can COM and one can COC)
1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix
1 1/4 cups water (I used beef broth)
5 1/2 pounds pot roast

In a slow cooker, mix cream of mushroom soup, dry onion soup mix and water (or broth). Place pot roast in slow cooker and coat with soup mixture.
Cook on High setting for 3 to 4 hours, or on Low setting for 8 to 9 hours.

**I seared my pot roast before putting it into the crock pot. I also added carrots, potatoes and onions. I added carrots and onions about 2 hours before eating, and potatoes 1 1/2 hours before eating. Because it is a gravy base it takes a little longer for the veggies to cook. I also added a little more broth when adding the veggies. Then about 20 min before eating...I thickened the gravy a little more by adding flour, gravy mix or cornstarch...or a little of all of them.

Spaghetti Carbonara

Spaghetti Carbonara (picture coming soon)

1 lb. dry spaghetti
1 lb. cooked bacon, crumbled
1 cup frozen petite peas (broccoli works as well)
2 1/2 C heavy cream
1 C fresh Parmesan cheese, grated
1 T. fresh Italian Parsley, chopped
Fresh ground black pepper
yields six servings

Bring large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook al dente, about 8-9 minutes. Drain pasta and set aside. In large frying pan over medium-high heat, heat bacon pieces until they begin to sizzle. (if you like your bacon on the more crispy side, like me, then cook it until done)Don't drain grease. Add peas & cream. Bring sauce to a boil, reduce heat slightly and boil gently for about 8 minutes. Sprinkle in Parmesan cheese, stirring continuously until blended and sauce is slightly thickened.
Mix pasta & sauce together in large serving bowl. Garnish w/ chopped parsley and black pepper to taste.
**I served this with garlic bread and green salad.

Philly Brownie Cheesecake

Philly Brownie Cheesecake
(courtesy of kraftfoods.com)

1 pkg. (19 to 21 oz.) brownie mix (13x9-inch pan size)
4 pkg. (8 oz. each) Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup Sour Cream
3 eggs
2 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate

PREHEAT oven to 325°F. Spray 13x9-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Prepare brownie batter as directed on package; pour into prepared pan. Bake 25 min. or until top of brownie is shiny and center is almost set.

MEANWHILE, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add sour cream; mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended. Gently pour over brownie layer in pan. (Filling will come almost to top of pan.)

BAKE 40 min. or until center is almost set. Run knife or metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen side of dessert from pan; cool. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.

MELT chocolate as directed on package; drizzle over cheesecake. Refrigerate 15 min. or until chocolate is firm. Cut cheesecake into 16 pieces to serve. Store any leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.

Carolina Pork Twirl

Carolina Pork Twirls
(Courtesy of allrecipes.com)

1 pound sliced bacon
1 (1 1/2 pound) fat-trimmed pork tenderloin
1 1/2 cups mustard-based barbecue sauce
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat a grill for medium heat. When hot, lightly oil the grate.
While the grill is heating, slice the pork tenderloin into flat strips similar to the bacon. Roll up strips of bacon inside strips of pork tenderloin and secure with moistened toothpicks. Season with salt and pepper.
Grill the rolls for about 5-7 minutes on one side, then turn over. Slather some barbecue sauce over them and cook for another 5-7 minutes. Remove from the grill and let rest for 2 minutes before serving.

**If you like crispier bacon, then you may want to fry the bacon a little before you wrap in the pork.

Chicken Divan

Chicken Divan
(courtesy of Paula Dean)

2 (10-ounce) packages frozen broccoli, chopped
6 cups shredded chicken, cooked
2 (10 3/4-ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream (I actually ran out of S.C. so I used cream cheese...I am sure either would be good.)
1 cup grated sharp Cheddar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon curry powder
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine (I used chicken broth)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/2 cup soft bread crumbs
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove the outer wrappers from the boxes of broccoli. Open 1 end of each box. Microwave on full power for 2 minutes, until thawed. Drain the broccoli and put into a casserole dish. Add the shredded chicken.

In a medium bowl, combine the soup, mayonnaise, sour cream, Cheddar, lemon juice, curry powder, salt and pepper, to taste, and wine or chicken broth. Whisk together to make a sauce. Pour the sauce over the broccoli and chicken. Mix well with a spatula.

Place the mixture into an 11 by 7-inch casserole dish or 2 (9-inch) square disposable aluminum foil pans that have been sprayed with vegetable oil cooking spray. Pat down evenly and smooth with a spatula. Combine the Parmesan, bread crumbs and butter and sprinkle over the top.

Bake for about 30 to 45 minutes.
**For my family, I actually used half of this recipe and it was plenty. I served with wild rice. Or you could make the whole thing and freeze half of it.

Snicker Bar Trifle

Here are a couple of new recipes we have tried. The first one I forgot to take a picture of...but it is made with snickers so how can you go wrong. For those of you who don't already know, I try at least 1 new recipe every week (sometimes 2-3 new recipes). If they make them on the blog then my family thought they were pretty good. We also cook for families on average once a week, so a lot of these recipes were also tried by others who also liked them. So I would love for you to try them too and then let me know what you think.

Snicker Bar Trifle
1 angel food cake (I used the rectangular one)
2 cups heavy whipped cream (or you can use Cool Whip)
2 jar caramel ice cream topping
1 large package of chocolate pudding
4 regular snicker bars (I actually used 5)

Whip cream until stiff (if using heavy cream). Fold in jar of caramel. Make pudding according to directions. Chop snickers bars. Put half of cake cubes in bottom of trifle bowl. Layer half of whipped cream, pudding and snickers. Repeat. Can be eaten immediately or refrigerated.