Alfredo Sauce

Ingredients:

1/4 c. butter

1/4 c. flour

1 c. milk. Will add up to 2 cups more as it cooks

1 chicken bouillon cube

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 t. salt

1/4 t. pepper

1/3 c. Parmesan cheese

Recipe:

1. Combine butter and flour in a saucepan over medium heat until they combine to a ball.

2. Add milk, bouillon, garlic, salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese. Stir constantly with a wire whisk until flour and butter are smooth.

3. Continue adding milk until the sauce is desired consistency. Check spices as well.

4. TASTE, then add more salt, pepper, garlic and Parmesan if needed due to increase in milk.

Rating: 4 of 5

I love this recipe. I love that it's so easy, that all the ingredients are on hand, that it's a little different every time, and that it goes well with so many dishes. My favorite way to have it: dipping sauce for Amy Merrill's Bread sticks. Which reminds me, I need to cook those soon and add it to the database because those are good. Anyways, versatile and quick. Love it!

Source: Michelle Knebel

Broccoli and Four-Cheese Calzones

I'll just start off by saying that I didn't even do the broccoli and four-cheese part, but here is the recipe if you want it!

Ingredients:

1 1/3 c. warm water

2 T. olive oil

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. dried oregano

4 c. bread flour

1 pkg. active dry yeast

1 10-oz. frozen chopped broccoli, thawed

1/4 t. garlic powder

2 T. olive oil

1/2 c. shredded provolone cheese

1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 c. mozzarella cheese

1/2 c. ricotta cheese

1 T. olive oil

Recipe:

1. Place the water, 2 T. olive oil, salt, oregano, bread flour, and yeast in the bread machine pan in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select Dough setting and press Start.

2. Meanwhile, squeeze out excess liquid from broccoli. In a large skillet, saute the broccoli and garlic powder in 2 T. olive oil. Stir in the provolone, Parmesan, mozzarella, and ricotta cheese.

3. Once bread cycle has finished, remove dough from machine and roll in to 6 8-inch circles. Spread filling on one half of each circle, leaving a border around it for closing. Close the calzones and crimp the edges closed with your fingers or a fork. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Let rise in a draft-free area for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.

4. Brush tops lightly with 1 T. olive oil. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown. *

* For my oven 20 minutes was long enough to turn the dough the a dark brown. I think 15 minutes is probably long enough as long as the dough gets cooked.

So, instead of the broccoli and four-cheese filling here's what I did.

Ingredients:

Michelle's Alfredo Sauce

1 pkg. frozen broccoli florets

2 can. chicken breast chunks in water or 2 chicken breasts shredded or cubed

Recipe:

1. Mix all three ingredients together and spoon into dough.

Rating: 3.5 of 5

I liked my version of the filling. I didn't have the other ingredients on hand, so this was a pretty good substitute. The dough was pretty good, but like I said, it got a little too cooked. Daniel loved it which makes me happy that he ate broccoli no-questions-asked.

Source: AllRecipes, Dinner Tonight, pg. 181 and Michelle Knebel, and my brain

Bow Ties with Sausage, Tomatoes, and Cream

Ingredients:

1 12-oz package bow tie pasta

2 T. olive oil *

1 lb. sweet Italian sausage, casings removed and crumbled **

1/2 t. crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 c. diced onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 28-oz can Italian-style plum tomatoes, drained and coarsely chopped ***

1 1/2 c. heavy whipping cream

1/2 t. salt

3 T. minced fresh parsley

* I didn't use the olive oil at all.

** I just bought a package of Italian sausage, browned and drained it.

*** Bought a can of Italian-style diced tomatoes and didn't drain.

Recipe:

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook in boiling water for 8-10 minutes or until al dente; drain.

2. Heat oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Cook sausage and pepper flakes until sausage is evenly browned. Stir in onion and garlic and cook until onion is tender. Stir in tomatoes, cream, and salt. Simmer until mixture thickens, about 8-10 minutes.

3. Stir cooked pasta into sauce and heat through. Sprinkle with parsley.

Rating: 4.5 of 5

We loved it! The red pepper adds a nice little kick. The cream sauce is perfect. It's just really good. And best of all, it's served with "butterfly noodles."

Source: AllRecipes: Dinner Tonight, p. 186

Chocolate Mug Milkshakes

Ingredients:

4 c. chocolate ice cream

2 c. milk

1/4 c. packed brown sugar

1/4 c. white sugar

1/4 t. ground cinnamon

Recipe:

1. In a blender, combine all ingredients. Blend until smooth. Pour into glasses.

Rating: 2 of 5

Basically, we were really disappointed in this one. I can't believe I'm saying this, but it was TOO chocolate-y. If you really, really, really like chocolate, then this is the shake for you. We were sad this one didn't turn out as we expected it.

Source: AllRecipes: Dinner Tonight, p. 15

Hot Fudge Sauce

Ingredients:

1 c. butter

1/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

3 c. white sugar

1 12-oz. can evaporated milk

1 t. vanilla extract

Recipe:

1. Combine butter, cocoa, sugar, and evaporated milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and boil for 7 minutes.

2. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla.

3. Carefully pour hot mixture into a blender and blend for 2-4 minutes. Serve immediately and store any leftovers in refrigerator.

Rating: 3.5 of 5

This was a pretty good recipe. I liked it a lot, I just didn't think it was thick enough. Definitely only good when warm. But, I think I might have a high standard for hot fudge sauce.

Source: AllRecipes: Dinner Tonight, pg. 27

Strawberry Shortcakes

Ingredients:

1 quart strawberries, sliced

1 c. sugar

2 c. all-purpose flour

2 T. sugar

3 t. baking powder

1 t. salt

3/4 c. milk

1/3 c. margarine or butter, melted

Recipe:

1. Sprinkle strawberries with 1 c. of sugar; let stand 1 hour. *

2. Preheat the oven to 450.

3. Mix flour, 2 T. sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in milk and margarine just until blended.

4. Sprinkle a surface lightly with flour. Turn the dough onto the surface. Gently smooth into a ball.

5. Knead 20-25 times. Roll or pat dough 3/4 inch thick; cut into shortcakes with a floured 3 to 32 1/2 inch biscuit cutter. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. **

6. Bake until golden brown, 10-12 minutes.

7. Split warm shortcakes crosswise; fill and top with strawberries. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

* I put the strawberries back in the fridge for that hour.

** I don't have cookie or biscuit cutters and just used a large cup.

Rating: 4.5 of 5

I am not a huge fan of shortcake, but I thought this was pretty good. It actually tasted a lot like my Grandma's biscuits which are sooo good. You can never go wrong with strawberries and whipped cream though. LaDon declared it "perfect" while eating.

Braised Balsamic Chicken

No, this food has not been eaten yet. Just cut up a little.

Ingredients: **I halved the recipe**

6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

ground black pepper to taste

1 t. garlic salt

2 T. olive oil

1 onion, thinly sliced *

1 can diced tomatoes, undrained

1/2 c. balsamic vinegar

1 t. dried basil

1 t. oregano

1 t. rosemary

1/2 t. dried thyme

*The usual dried chopped onion substitute.

***TIP: Italian Seasoning usually is a combination of the above ingredients. The type of Italian Seasoning I buy has just oregano and thyme. This might save you a trip to the store!***

Recipe:

1. Season chicken breasts with ground black pepper and garlic salt. Heat olive oil in a medium skillet and brown the onion and seasoned chicken breasts.

2. Pour tomatoes and balsamic vinegar over chicken and add basil, oregano, rosemary, and thyme. Simmer until chicken is no longer pink and the juices run clear, about 15 minutes.

3. Serve on rice or pasta.

Rating: 3 of 5

This was a pretty good recipe. We ate the chicken on spaghetti noodles. The chicken turned out pretty tender, but we aren't a huge strong balsamic-taste fans. That being said, I liked enough to make it again some day. I honestly don't think seasoning the chicken does a thing since I couldn't taste the pepper or the garlic salt, but whatever!

Source: AllRecipes: Dinner Tonight, pg. 131