Crockin' Fettucini

Ingredients:

2-3 chicken breasts, cut into pieces

1 pkg. dry Italian salad dressing mix

2 T. olive oil

1 can cream of chicken soup

8 oz. cream cheese

1 c. chicken broth

Fettucini noodles

Recipe:

1. Place chicken in slow cooker and sprinkle Italian dressing over chicken. Drizzle with olive oil.

2. Cook on low for 4-6 hours.

3. Mix soup, cream cheese, and broth until smooth.

4. Add soup mixture to slow cooker and cook on low for 1 more hour.

5. Serve over hot, cooked noodles.

Rating: 3.75 of 5

I'm relying on LaDon's judgment tonight. I've got a cold and can't taste a thing. But, I do know that Daniel really liked his with Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. From what I can tell, it is very similar to zesty chicken, just a lot more runny instead of thick. Although I couldn't taste it, you can't go wrong with a crock pot and small children eating it up!

Source: Crockingirls.com, Crockin' Fettucini

Skinny Baked Mozzarella Sticks

Ingredients:

12 sticks part-skim, reduced sodium mozzarella sting cheese (Sargento) *

1 large egg, beaten

2 T. flour

5 T. Italian seasoned breadcrumbs

5 T. panko crumbs (confused? just a fancy word for Japanese bread crumbs.) **

2 t. Parmesan cheese

1 T. dried parsley

olive oil cooking spray ***

* I just used the cheese sticks I had in the fridge.

** Didn't have any on hand, so I didn't include them.

*** Just used the cooking spray I had on hand

Recipe:

1. Cut cheese in half to give you 24 pieces. Place cheese in the freezer until cheese is frozen.

2. In small bowl, whisk the egg. Place the flour on another small dish. In separate bowl, combine bread crumbs, panko, Parmesan cheese, and dried parsley.

3. Dip the frozen sticks in flour, shaking off excess, then into the egg, then coast with the crumbs. Repeat this process with the remaining cheese placing them on a try with wax paper.

4. Place cheese back into the freezer until ready to bake (this is a must or they will melt before the crumbs get golden.)

5. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and lightly spray with oil.

6. Place frozen cheese sticks on baking sheet. Spray the stops of the mozzarella sticks with a little more oil and bake in the bottom third of your oven until crisp, about 4-5 minutes.

7. Turn and bake an additional 4-5 minutes watching them closely so they don't melt.

Rating: 3.75 of 5

Well, our mozzarella sticks completely melted out. I should have taken them out at 5 minutes rather than sticking them in for the second 4-5 minutes. They were already pretty melted when I turned them. That went wrong, and I think my parsley is a little old. I kept tasting dirt. Gross. So, the melted cheese part was good, but new parsley and less cooking would make these really good.

Source: skinnytaste.com, Skinny Baked Mozzarella Sticks

Pocket Pizza

Ingredients:

Pizza Dough

1 T. vegetable oil *

1/4 c. pizza sauce

1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 c. cooked Italian sausage

1 T. finely chopped onion**

1/8 -1/4 t. garlic powder***

1/4 pkg. (3-oz size) sliced pepperoni

2-3 T. pizza sauce

1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

* I didn't use the vegetable oil because I thought the meats would run enough oils alone.

** I didn't add the onion because the sauce is pretty tasty.

*** I didn't add the garlic powder for the same reason as the onion.

Recipe:

1. Heat oven to 425. Lightly grease a cookie sheet.

2. Prepare Pizza Dough. Roll into a 12-inch circle. Fold loosely in half; place on cookie sheet and unfold. Brush with oil.

3. Layer remaining ingredients on half of the circle in order listed; fold dough over filling. Turn edge of the lower dough over dege of the top dough; pinch edge to seal.

4. Prick top with a fork. Bake until golden brown, 20-25 minutes.

Rating: 3.5 of 5

This was a pretty good recipe. I think it would be great with pineapple and ham. All of the pepperoni and sausage made it pretty heavy, but it's still delicious. The pizza sauce was flavorful enough that I didn't feel like I needed to add the onion and garlic powder. The next time I make these I'll do Hawaiian, as that is LaDon's favorite!

Source: Alpha-Bakery: Children's Cookbook, pg. 34

Tuscan Lamb Chop Skillet

Ingredients:

8 lamb rib chops, cut 1 in thick

2 t. olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 19-oz white kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 8-oz can Italian style stewed tomatoes, undrained

1 T. balsamic vinegar

2 t. snipped fresh rosemary

Recipe:

1. Trim fat from chops. In a large skillet cook chops in hot oil over medium heat for 9 to 11 minutes for medium, turning once. Transfer chops to a plate; keep warm.

2. Stir garlic into drippings in skillet. Cook and stir for 1 minute. Stir in beans, undrained tomatoes, vinegar, and snipped rosemary. bring to boiling; reduce heat. simmer, uncovered, for 3 minutes. Spoon bean mixture onto 4 dinner plates. arrange 2 chops on each plate. If desired, garnish with rosemary sprigs.

4. Serve with Italian bread and some mixed greens.

Rating: 1.5 of 5

Maybe we aren't lamb people. The bean mixture was okay, but we didn't like the meat. Maybe that's also because it didn't have any kind of seasoning that went into cooking it. But we do like gyros. I dunno. Most definitely won't be making this one again. Sorry, Better Homes and Gardens!

Source: Better Homes and Garden New Cook Book, pg. 354

Baked Ziti

Ingredients:

1 lb. dry ziti pasta

1 onion, chopped

1 lb. lean ground beef

2 (26 oz) jars spaghetti sauce *

6 oz provolone cheese, sliced

1 1/2 c. sour cream

6 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded

2 T. grated Parmesan cheese

* I say use your favorite kind of sauce. Tonight we had meat flavored.

Recipe:

1. Cook pasta until al dente, about 8 minutes; drain.

2. In a large skillet, brown onion and ground beef over medium heat.

3. Add spaghetti sauce, and simmer 15 minutes.

4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9x13 baking dish.

5. Layer as follows: half of the ziti, Provolone cheese, sour cream, half of the sauce mixture, remaining ziti, mozzarella cheese, and remaining sauce mixture. Top with Pramesan cheese. *

6. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheesees are melted.

* Haha....as if I did that. I just started throwing things in and mixing it around. It turned out great. Actually the mozzarella and Parmesan ended up as the top layer and was really good.

Rating: 4 of 5

This was basically a ziti version of lasagna. We like noodles and we love cheese in this family. So, that basically hit the spot.

Source: Allrecipes.com