Bacon Fried Rice

From Everyday with Rachael Ray August/September 2006



Ingredients:
long-grain rice
bacon
vegetable oil
onion
scallions
garlic
peas
eggs
sesame oil
salt & pepper

Comments:
I made this dish at the same time I was making Adam's shrimp. They used a lot of the same ingredients and I figured they'd go well together. (Plus, this would give us both something to eat.) This was a bit more complicated than the shrimp, but still totally managable. Of course I got all the spices and such prepped and chopped and then noticed I didn't have bacon. Oops. Must have used it sometime and forgot about it. So I sent Adam out for some bacon (so he was bringing home the bacon... tee hee) while I finished the shrimp dish. After I got everything together it went well. Tasted great, and it wasn't as greasy as Chinese take-out.

Ginger, Scallion, and Garlic Shrimp

From Everyday with Rachael Ray August/September 2006



Ingredients:
egg white
cornstarch
sugar
salt & pepper
shrimp
garlic
ginger
red pepper flakes
vegetable oil
scallions

Comments:
I made this dish for Adam. It was pretty simple. The first few ingredients make a marinade for the shrimp which then gets tossed into a hot pan and cooked. The rest of the stuff goes in afterwards to heat up for a minute or so. I don't know how it tasted, Adam will have to pipe up on that one. It smelled good though. :)

Penne with Two-Tomato Sauce

From Everyday with Rachael Ray August/September 2006



Ingredients:
penne
EVOO
garlic
onion
sun-dried tomatoes
red wine
crushed tomatoes
heavy cream
salt & pepper

Comments:
Another simple pasta dish. The two textures of the tomatoes make an interesting combination. The sauce itself was kind of blah - perhaps I'd add some more spices to it next time...

Peanut Butter Cheese Fudge

From Paula's Home Cooking on Food Network



Ingredients:
Velveeta cheese
butter
peanut butter
vanilla
chopped nuts (I used pecans)
confectioner's sugar

Comments:
This was an easy dessert to make. Adam saw it on the show in the morning and I went out and bought the few ingredients we didn't have and I made it while he was at work. It's definately rich, so cut the pieces small!

Super Herbed Sauteed Salmon with Creamy Leeks and Bacon

From Rachael Ray's Express Lane Meals



Ingredients:
EVOO
bacon
leeks
garlic
thyme
red pepper flakes
salt & pepper
white wine
chicken stock
half & half
salmon
parsley
dill
lemon

Comments:
Another fish dish. I actually ate a bite of this one, declared it too fishy, and put the rest of the fillet on Adam's plate. He seemed to enjoy it though. The leeks were good too. I love leeks. They have such an interesting flavor.

Pasta with Bacon, Tomatoes, and Cheese

From Rachael Ray's Express Lane Meals



Ingredients:
salt & pepper
pasta
bacon
onion
garlic
red pepper flakes
white wine
chicken stock
grape tomatoes
mozzarella cheese
chives
basil
parmesan cheese

Comments:
I was able to make this without even going to the grocery store. It kind of used up all kinds of random ingredients I had sitting in the fridge. Woo! It also tasted great. The mozzarella is cubed and added at the end so there are chunks of cheese throughout the pasta that get melty as you eat it. Delish!

Fabulous Baked Fish and Asparagus Spears

From Rachael Ray's Express Lane Meals



Ingredients:
EVOO
garlic
shallot
haddock
salt & pepper
diced tomatoes
balsamic vinegar
basil
clam juice
crusty bread
asparagus
lemon

Comments:
I don't eat fishy fish and haddock is a fishy fish. Adam seemed to like it though so perhaps he'll come comment on it. The asparagus was good. The lemon really lightens the flavor.

Chicken with Scallion-Lime sauce and Sweet Carrot Rice

From Rachael Ray's Express Lane Meals



Ingredients:
EVOO
carrots
salt & pepper
rice
chicken stock
thyme
limes
boneless, skinless, chx breasts
garlic
red pepper flakes
coriander
scallions
parsley
butter

Comments:
This dish has great flavor. The lime really balances out the hotness of the red pepper flakes and garlic. The rice was good and soaked up a lot of the lime sauce as well.

Spaghetti Carbonara

From my mother and my own memory



Ingredients:
spaghetti
bacon
green pepper
egg
salt & pepper
some other spices (I used margerum, thyme)
parmesan cheese

Comments:
Every once in a while I have a craving for greasy bacon and spaghetti so I whip up a batch of this stuff. I never wrote down the recipe my mom used so I just kind of made it up. It's pretty close and tastes good even if it's wrong. :)

Spaghetti alla Ceci

From Rachael Ray's Express Lane Meals



Ingredients:
spaghetti
EVOO
red pepper flakes
garlic
chickpeas
thyme
salt & pepper
white wine
crushed tomatoes
parsley
parmesan cheese

Comments:
This is the first recipe I've tried out of the newest Rachael Ray book I bought. I wasn't sure if I'd like chickpeas since I didn't have any idea what they were. It's actually pretty good. Kind of spicy hot even though I only put in half of the red pepper in the recipe. It had good flavor and the chickpeas gave the sauce texture.

Crunchy Chicken Parmesan

From a Sanderson Farms ad in the Everyday with Rachael Ray June/July 2006 issue.



Ingredients:
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
ritz crackers
parmesan cheese
parsley
margarine
Salt & pepper

Comments:
Another easy recipe: Just throw the stuff together and bake it. I went a little wild with the broiling part and actually managed to set a potholder on fire in the process. Oops. It was good anyway. (The chicken, not the potholder.)

Caribbean Taco Salad

From a Jennie-O ad in the Everyday with Rachael Ray June/July 2006 issue.



Ingredients:
Flour tortillas
ground turkey
taco seasoning
mangos
red pepper
green onion
cilantro
brown sugar
lime peel
spinach leaves

Comments:
This was pretty simple to make. The most difficult part was peeling and chopping the mangoes. I've decided I don't like to do that. I'm amazed I escaped with all my fingers attached. We bought tortillas that came with these little cardboard shaper things so forming the bowls was simple. Everything else is basically a cook and mix process. You might notice that I omitted the red peppers since Adam doesn't like them. I might leave out the cilantro if I make this again. I'm not too fond of its flavor.

Not-Your-Mama's Tuna (or Chicken) Salad

From Everyday with Rachael Ray June/July 2006



Ingredients:
pesto
lemon juice
canned tuna (but I used chicken)
scallions
roasted red pepper
grape tomatoes
shell pasta
salt & pepper

Comments:
Both Adam and I dislike tuna so it seemed logical to replace it with something we did like - chicken. And since both meats come in basically the same form it was pretty simple. I also didn't have any shell pasta so I just threw in some campanelle instead. It's a pretty shape too so I figured it would perform the same functions. You can't cook if you can't make substitutions with confidence. :)

The flavor on this "salad" is amazing. The pesto adds so much zing and the tomatoes and scallions and peppers all blend together nicely. I bet it will taste even better as leftovers for lunch tomorrow!

Greek Chicken and Mashed Potatoes with Carrots

From Redbook via MSN (I think)



Ingredients:
For Chicken:
Lemon juice
olive oil
parsley
oregano
garlic clove
boneless, skinless chicken breasts

For Potatoes:
potatoes
chicken broth
a carrot
butter
salt
scallions

Comments:
Adam found this recipe online and suggested it might be good. So we tried it. It was good. It's a very simple marinade and there's very little prep work for either of the dishes. My kind of meal. :)

Pretzel-Crusted Chicken Breasts

From Rachael Ray's 365: No Repeats - #267



Ingredients:
boneless, skinless chx breasts
Pretzels
thyme
pepper
eggs
vegetable oil

Comments:
I've made this a couple times before but I've never taken a picture so I could post it. Obviously we like this one. The original recipe has a cheddar mustard sauce that goes with it. It was good, but didn't store well so we don't make it anymore. The chicken is great without it anyway.

Chicken, Biscuits 'n' Gravy Casserole

From Everyday with Rachael Ray April/May 2006



Ingredients:
one chicken (cooked)
butter
mushrooms (I omitted since I don't like them)
onion
celery
flour
chicken broth
milk
lemon juice
garlic
biscuit mix
cheddar cheese

Comments: This recipe is pretty simple. You make a gravy-ish sauce to pour over the chicken and bake the biscuits on top of it. It tasted good. The cheese in the biscuit mix definately added something different. But in a good way.

Spaghetti with Mozzarella-Stuffed Meatballs

From Everyday with Rachael Ray April/May 2006



Ingredients:
bread crumbs
milk
EVOO
garlic
crushed tomatoes
ground sirloin
parsley
parmigiano-reggiano
an egg
mozzarella cheese
spaghetti

Comments: This was kind of fun to make. The meatballs involved smooshing a cube of cheese into a ball of the hamburger. Messy, but fun (in my opinion anyway, but I might be weird.) I managed to get only one spot of sauce on my khaki colored pants. Not bad. The meatballs and light sauce went well with the pasta. It re-heated pretty well for lunch today as well. :)

Turkey Mini-Burgers with Warm Potato Salad

From Everyday with Rachael Ray April/May 2006



Ingredients:
red potatoes
salt
ground turkey
bread crumbs
an egg
sage
EVOO
white wine vinegar
chives
dinner rolls

Comments: This is the first recipe I've tried out of the new magazine that Ms. Ray came out with. It was definately a success. The potato salad had a great zing from the vinegar and the burgers were smooth and juicy (and good for you too since they were turkey.) As Adam said, "Definitely a keeper."

Pineapple-Rum Chicken

From Rachael Ray's 365: No Repeats - #95



Ingredients:
jasmine rice
pineapple
onion
garlic
red pepper flakes
salt & pepper
rum
chicken stock
boneless, skinless chx breasts
parsley

Comments:
This was not quite as easy as the previous couple, but it still wasn't bad. I had some pineapple juice issues (as in I dropped the pineapple back into the container and doused myself with the juice) but in general it went smoothly. It was spicier than I like (it's those red pepper flakes I tell ya) but it tasted great.

Pan-Roasted Garlic & Herb Chicken Breasts

From Rachael Ray's 365: No Repeats - #165



Ingredients:
garlic
parsley
EVOO
salt & pepper
boneless, skinless chx breasts

Comments:
Another easy one! The first four ingredients form a quick marinade of sorts for the chicken which is then browned quickly on the stovetop and then thrown in the oven to finish cooking. In the book it is supposed to be served with some icky sounding salad. I skipped that and just made some mashed potatoes instead. I've done that quite a bit it seems - made the main course and skipped the less-than-appetizing side dish. It works and it also eliminates some of the ingredients needed. :)