Penne a la Betsy

Original recipe and photo.

The Pioneer Woman blog is a good one if you are looking for some yummy recipes with step by step instructions, fyi.

This is a pretty good pasta and it isn't difficult to make.  I personally think it needs a nice pinch of red pepper flakes.... but I think I say that about everything!  Since the original recipe feeds more people than we have in my house, I cut it down.  Plus I swapped the heavy cream for half and half.  I served this with some green beans.  Here it is my way:

Penne a la Betsy
Serves: 4
Calories:  Approx 525 per serving

1/2 pound Penne Pasta  (I used mini penne and ended up not stirring in all of the cooked pasta
3/4 pound Shrimp  (I used frozen, 26-30/pound size I think)
2.25 Tablespoons Butter
2.25 Tablespoons Olive Oil
3/4 whole Onion (small)
2 cloves Garlic1/2 cup White Wine, Or To Taste
1 can Tomato Sauce (8 Oz)
3/4 cup Half and Half
Fresh Parsley, to taste
Fresh Basil - To Taste
Salt To Taste
Pepper To Taste

Cook the penne pasta until tender-firm, also known as al dente.

Heat about 1 tbsp. butter and olive oil in a skillet. Add the shrimp and cook for a couple minutes until just opaque. Do not overcook them. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes. Now, put the cooked shrimp on the cutting board and pull off the tails. Chop the shrimp into bite –sized pieces and set aside.

Finely dice the onion. Mince two cloves of garlic.
In a large skillet heat 1.25 tablespoons of butter and 1.25 tablespoons olive oil. Add the garlic and onion and sauté, stirring occasionally. After the garlic and onions have cooked a bit add your white wine. Let the wine evaporate for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. If you would rather not use wine, you can use low-sodium chicken broth instead (about ½ cup).

Now add an 8-ounce can of plain tomato sauce. Stir well until combined. Then add 3/4 cup of half and half. Continue stirring. Turn heat down to low and let simmer.

Now chop your herbs, about a tablespoon of chopped parsley and about the same amount of chopped basil, or if you’re feeling very proper, chiffonaded.

Now add your chopped shrimp back into the tomato cream sauce. Give it a stir and add salt and pepper to taste. Throw in your herbs and stir until combined. Finally add your cooked penne pasta and give it a good stir.

Black Bean, Chicken and Red Pepper Stew

 
This is the original recipe. (and not my photo)
Below are my modifications.  I served it with a small quesadilla.  This was super easy and healthy, so you should try it.

Black Bean, Chicken and Red Pepper Stew
Serves- 4
Approx. Calories: 220 per serving
Ingredients:
1 tbsp. olive oil, divided
1.5 chicken breasts, cut up into chunks
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes
1/2 (12 oz.) jar roasted red peppers, chopped
1 (4 oz.) can diced green chiles
2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1.5 tbsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
In a large Dutch oven or stockpot, heat 1/2 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add chicken pieces and cook, stirring, until browned and cooked through.  Transfer to a bowl with a slotted spoon and set aside.  Heat the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of oil.  Add the onion to the pot and saute until tender, about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more.  Mix in the black beans, diced tomatoes, red peppers, green chiles, chicken broth, cumin, and cayenne.  Return the chicken to the pot.  Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer.  Allow to simmer uncovered for 45 minutes.  When finished, remove from the heat, season with salt and pepper.

Turkey Bolognese

This was adapted from the Family Circle cookbook.  Excuse the camera phone picture.  This recipe was originally served over polenta... we discovered we don't like polenta.  So this time, pasta it is!
Note:  Matt says this is gross leftover and microwaved despite being very tasty fresh.

Turkey Bolognese over Pasta
Serves: 4-6
Calories: about 333 for 1/6 of recipe

1 package ground turkey (20 oz)
4 oz restaurant blend fresh mushrooms
1 jar Marinara (I used Newman's Own)
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
2.5 cups dry penne pasta

In a pot, start the water boiling and cook the pasta per the directions.

Meanwhile in a 10" or larger pan, saute the mushrooms in a little oil for 3-5 minutes.  Crumble in the turkey, basil, oregano, salt & pepper and cook for another 5 minutes until turkey is cooked thru.  Add the marinara and reduce heat, cook for 5 minutes.  Stir in the cream until heated thru.  Serve over pasta.  This is light on the pasta, heavy on the sauce, which is thick and chunky.

Chicken Ranch Ranchero Over Rice

Here is another recipe I marked on Pinterest.  Not a very healthy one (again), so it won't be in the regular rotation, but it was easy to make.  I only had 1 pound of chicken, so I cut the recipe to 2/3... I have no idea how you would fit the whole recipe in an 8x8 because mine filled it up, so keep that in mind.  Matt liked this more than I did... definitely needed more seasoning and spice.


Chicken Ranch Ranchero Over Rice
Serves: 4 (I say this serves closer to 6)
Calories: Approx 550 per serving (1/6 of recipe)

• 3 cups rice, cooked
• 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 0.25 cups onion, chopped
• 1 medium serrano pepper, seeded and diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 30 ounces tomatoes, diced (or be really authentic and use fresh tomatoes!)
• 1 Tablespoons oregano
• 0.5 teaspoons chili powder
• 0.25 teaspoons salt
• 1.5 pounds chicken breasts
• 1 cups Ranch dressing
• 1.5 cups Colby Jack cheese
• 1  deep dish 8×8 pan

In a saucepan, heat the oil and saute the garlic, serrano pepper and onions for 2-3 minutes. Reduce the heat and add the tomatoes. Cook the tomatoes for 5-6 minutes. Add in the seasonings and simmer for about 5 more minutes. Set aside. Place the cooked rice in the bottom of the baking pan. Place the chicken breasts on top of the rice in a single layer. Add the Ranch dressing on top of the chicken. Pour the Ranchero Sauce (cooked tomato mixture) over the whole dish.  Sprinkle cheese on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Serve.

Freezing Directions:
Follow directions above, but instead of baking, cover and freeze. To serve: Thaw. Uncover and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Serve. (Double cooking time if chicken is still or partially frozen.)

Applesauce

I have never made applesauce before, but I will be doing this over and over again.. so easy and yummy!!  The store had apples for 59c a pound, so the first time I made this with Cortland and McIntosh.  The second time I made it with honeycrisp because they were on super sale.  Both times it was delicious!  You really should have an apple peeler/slicer machine thing for this.

I like my applesauce chunky so I cut the water and cooked it a little less.  All I needed was a hand potato masher (barely) because they just fell apart.   The second time I did cut back on the sugar some. 

Homemade Applesauce
Makes about 2.5 cups

• 10 cups apples, peeled, cored, and cut into chunks
  
• 0.5 cup water
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
• 0.5 cup sugar or Splenda (optional, or to taste)

Place apples, water, cinnamon, and sugar in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours or high 3-4 hours or until apples are tender and easily mash. Mash with a potato masher, or puree in blender or food processor until you teach the desired consistency.

Freezing Directions:
Divide and place among freezer bags or containers. Seal, label, and freeze. To serve: Thaw. Serve warm or cold.

Manicotti

This was borrowed from here.  So was the picture.  I of course made modifications... and I agree, this is definitely a keeper!  Matt actually said he wouldn't change anything (well, to my version).  I think next time I would add some red pepper flakes to the sauce =)  And magically figure out how to cut the calories in half haha.

Chicken Manicotti with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
Serves:  3-4
Calories:  640 calories in 2 pieces (ouch)


Cannelloni
9 manicotti shells
2 cups chicken, cooked and finely chopped
1 (8 ounce) container chive and onion cream cheese
3-4 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
1 cup frozen tri color pepper and onion mix from Kroger
1/2 cup mozzerella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp pepper

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
Combine all:
7 ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained, I pulsed them in my mini food processor
1 (16 ounce) jar creamy Alfredo sauce
1.5 ounces of grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp pepper
 
Cook pasta according to package directions; drain and set aside.

Stir together chicken and next seven ingredients.  (I cooked the spinach and peppers/onions in the pasta pot for a couple minutes to heat them thru and drain the liquid easier).

Put all the filling into a large plastic baggie and snip the tip.  Squeeze filling into the manicotti.  If you put some pressure on the pasta, the filling shoots right thru and doesn't split the pasta.  Place in a 8x11  baking dish.  Pour roasted red pepper sauce evenly over cannelloni.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until heated through.

Mexican Baked Penne

You should definitely make this.  I am also "borrowing" her photo because I am too lazy to take my own photos.  Click the link for the original recipe, my modifications are below (like cutting the recipe in half because I am not cooking for an army).



Mexican Baked Penne
Serves:  6
Approx 410 calories per serving

1/4 pound Garden Delight Radiatore Pasta from Ronzoni
12 oz ground beef
1 TBSP olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
12 oz frozen veggies (onion and 3 pepper blend from Kroger)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 jars salsa - 16 oz of Chi Chis Thick and Chunky Hot Salsa
1/2 can black beans, drained and rinsed
salt and pepper
1.5 cups shredded cheese, I used 'casserole' blend and pepper jack

Preheat oven to 350*.  Boil pasta according to package instructions.

Meanwhile, saute garlic, onions, and peppers in the olive oil over medium~high heat in a large non~stick skillet.  Season ground beef with salt and pepper and add to pan.  Add spices and additional salt and pepper to taste.  Cook ground beef until browned.  Drain and add to a large bowl.  Add the beans, salsa and pasta. Stir to combine.

Spray a 9×13″ (I think mine is a little smaller than this) baking dish with non~stick cooking spray.  Pour half the pasta mixture into the pan.  Top with 1/2 of the cheese cheese.  Cover with remaining pasta.  Then top with remaining cheese.  Bake for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly and the cheese is golden.

I topped with some green onions and sour cream... I think it definitely made the dish.

CMC 3

This year's cider mill crawl was a huge success... the weather was gorgeous, the donuts and cider were awesome, and the company was so much fun.

If you missed out on previous cider mill blog posts, here is some background:
CMC 1
CMC 2

Because we have already mostly covered the southwestern metro Detroit area mills, we headed to the northwestern area.  Next year, east bound!  Check out a few pictures from the day here, but if we are friends on Facebook I will upload a bunch more when I am done blogging.

 Place settings with judging card

 Bags for this year's crawl... resuable totes from JoAnn's with little apple trees!

 Jacki and Katie enjoying the first taste of the day at Spicer's in Fenton

 Jill is very excited about the cider at Spicer's

 While Steph and I are stoked about the donuts at Spicer's!

 Second stop, Parshallville Grist mill in Parshallville just down the road from Spicer's

 Very tasty... Steph had to grab a bowl of caramel apple slices too mmmmm

 Jacki is impressed at Parshallville's selection of apples

 Hanging out at Diehl's in Holly... Katie is excited because she just caught a bee under a cup

 Slightly less excited faces at Long's in Commerce... something broke in their barn and it was closed inside.

 Back to my house for tasting and judging

 Katie had to leave early, but here is the rest of the cider mill gang

 After all that sugar and carbs, we had a light dinner of wraps, veggies, fruit, and salad

Thanks girls for another awesome crawl!  I cannot wait until next year for CMC4!

And now, for the results!!!!

Overall Experience:
1st-  Parshallville
2nd- Spicer's
3rd-  Diehl's
4th-  Long's

Best Donut:
1st-  Spicer's
2nd-  Parshallville
3rd-  Long's
4th-  Diehl's

Best Cider:
1st-  Spicer's
2nd-  Parshallville
3rd-  Long's
4th-  Diehl's

OVERALL RANKING (120 points possible)

1st-  Spicer's with 106 points  WINNER!

2nd-  Parshallville with 100 points
3rd-  Long's with 81.5 points
4th-  Diehl's with 62 points


Here are my thoughts:
Spicer's - It was very busy and seemed like there was a ton to do there.  Parking sucked and the line for donuts was confusing.  But... the cider and donuts were seriously amazing and would probably beat out any of the previous year's winners.

Parshallville Grist-  Adorable.  It was pretty empty but the other customers said that wasn't usually the case.  No activities to do here, but a very nice store area.  The cider and donuts were very close to Spicer's, so it is worth the visit.

Diehl's-  Not very impressive.  The cider was like apple juice and while the donuts were flaming hot, they were just ok.  There is a large parking area with tables and play areas but it is in the middle of nowhere.

Long's-  This is a little hard to judge because the barn was under repair so we could only buy donuts and cider from the stand in the parking lot.  The cinnamon sugar was coarser than the other places so it was crunchy.  These donuts actually held up the best over the couple days following the crawl.  I would have loved to have had them fresh and hot.

Definitely try this at home!!  Grab a few friends and head out to a couple places and do your own judging!  Here are a few tips:
1.  I highly recommend light meals before/after.
2.  Don't eat more than 1/4 donut of each kind at each mill if you are doing a tasting later as well.  It is hard, but limit yourself.
3.  Bring napkins because most places don't have them.  They usually have small cups for the cider.
4.  Throw a cooler in the car if you want to keep your cider cold.  Also, throw in some water because you will need something after all the cider.
5.  Three mills is really what you should be doing, we added a fourth because it made sense geographically.  But when you get to that fourth mill, you are a little sugared up and need a break.

Thanks for reading and good luck with your own crawls!!

Salsa Chicken Tacos

 

So my random return to the food blog world is a fail in the picture department.  Sorry, you will just have to trust me that this is delicious.  I make it as often as I can but realized I never blogged it... at least I don't think so.  Either way, it deserves a quick post.

Salsa Chicken Tacos

Serves: 4ish

-3 frozen chicken breasts
-3/4-1 jar salsa (I like Pace thick and chunky- hot)
-1 cup frozen corn kernels
-1/2 block cream cheese
-1 cup canned (rinsed) black beans
-shredded cheese
-10 pk taco sized tortillas
-rice (plain white instant... 1 cup water/1 cup rice)

In a crockpot, throw in the frozen chicken and dump salsa over top.  Cook on low for about 6 hours.

Break up chicken in the crock, throw in the corn, cream cheese, and beans and stir.  Turn up to high and cook for about 30 minutes.  Stir to make sure it is all mixed up and hot.

Spoon into tortilla shells.  Top with cheese if you want.  We usually add some plain rice to the shell first because it can be kinda juicy and the rice will soak it up.

TA DA!  Difficult right?  Well it is ridiculously awesome so you should go make it (looking at you Pete).  It even works great as a dip... just add more salsa to make it thinner and scoop with chips.

Steak and Potato Salad

Matt insisted I blog this so we remember to make it in the future........Adapted from the Family Circle cookbook.

1 lb red-skin potatoes (3-4 large), cut into 8 pieces each
4 strips bacon
1 small red onion, chopped
1 lb steak, cut into strips
salt
steak seasoning
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 tsp cornstarch mixed with 1/2 tsp cold water
baby spinach
Crumbled gorgonzola cheese

In a very large pan (I think it is a deep 12" pan), boil some water and throw in potatoes with salt.  Boil for about 15 minutes and drain, set aside.

In the same pan, cook the bacon until crisp, set aside to drain on paper towel.  In the bacon grease, throw in the onion for a minute over medium then add steak strips, season with steak seasoning, for about 2 minutes.  Remove and set aside.

Dump in the honey and vinegar, cook over medium for 2 minutes then add the corn starch solution for a minute.  Add the potatoes, steak, onion, crumbled bacon and stir to coat/warm up everything.

Spoon over a bed of fresh spinach.  Add cheese crumbles to taste.

Serves 4.  Per serving (approx): 450 calories; 15 g fat.

Cider Mill Crawl 2010

If you don't know what a cider mill crawl is... check out last year's post:  http://lovestonom.blogspot.com/2009/10/cider-mill-crawl.html

For more pictures of this year's crawl, check out Molly's blog post: http://myhappycasa.blogspot.com/2010/09/2nd-annual-cider-mill-prep-recap.html

Cider Mill #1:
Plymouth Orchards-  This was last year's winner so we decided to keep it in the rotation and add 2 other local mills.  I like this place.  It has a nice store, large seating area inside, hayrides, animal farm, cut outs to stick your head thru, and delicious donut and cider.

Cider Mill #2:
Wiard's-  This was easily our least favorite place.  However, this is the only one of the 3 that offered pasteurized cider for the preggos and their plain donuts were very cakey.  Plus they had a DIY caramel apple bar!  But the store was a maze and we had to walk like a million miles from the parking lot.  Plus you had to pay for all the added activities on the grounds.

Cider Mill #3:
Apple Charlie's:  Their freshly fried plain donuts are super delicious.  Nice crunch outside and warm and fluffy on the inside.  They had lots of crazy animals on their farm (like an ostrich) and they had face painting and tons of other food like hot dogs.  Parking was annoying and it was very busy with children everywhere.

Here are the results:
We voted 1-5 for the overall experience of the mill, then 1-10 each for donuts and cider for a potential score of 25 points.  There were 5 people voting so a perfect score would be 125.

Overall score:  Apple Charlie's 104, Plymouth 103, Wiard's 83
WINNER:  Apple Charlie's, new champion by 1 point!

Donut score:  Apple Charlie's 46, Plymouth 41, Wiard's 34
WINNER:  Apple Charlie's

Cider score:  Apple Charlie's 43, Plymouth 41, Wiard's 34
WINNER:  Apple Charlie's

Experience score:  Apple Charlie's 15, Plymouth 22, Wiard's 17

WINNER:  Plymouth

Mmmm first taste at Plymouth

Molly and Katie....

....sampling the goodies

Cute group shot... Monica, Stephanie, Me, Molly, Katie

Yes it is sideways.... Baby H's first trip to a cider mill! haha

Molly thinks tractors are the best.

Katie laughing with a mouthful of donut at Wiard's

Group shot at Wiard's (missing me)

I made little shopping bags for us....yes I am a dork.

Molly was fascinated with the donut maker at Apple Charlie's

Molly's tablescape.... isn't she awesome at this?

We had salad for lunch.... last year we had lunch then did the crawl then had dinner then did the donut tasting.... BAD IDEA

Awwww so cute!

I think I still prefer Plymouth Orchard and Cider Mill in all 3 categories, but majority rules!  I can't wait until next year's crawl!!!  We were already planning for next year while scarfing down the donuts this year =)  Thanks girls for making this year's crawl super fun!!!  Love you all.

It is that time of year again...

You all were super amazing last year and submitted your votes... and Simplicity placed in the top 5 of WDIV's Vote 4 the Best Contest.  Thank you soooo much for your support.

But it is that time of year where we need your help again.... we have once again been nominated for Best Wedding Planner in Detroit and we would love to have your continued support!

If you could take 2 minutes to vote for us we would be super excited.  If you voted last year, you can still use the same log in information.  THANKS!!!!!!!!!!! 

http://wdiv.cityvoter.com/simplicity/biz/334808

Remember to check out/become a follower of our blog!  www.simplicitydoc.com

Cajun Pasta and Shrimp

(sorry no pictures) This was pretty darn tasty and we will definitely make it again.  Matt rejected my idea of Jambalaya for dinner last week so I snuck the flavors into our standard shrimp pasta we make sometimes.  Evil delicious genius.

Cajun Pasta and Shrimp
Serves: 2

-2/3 box linguine
-about 18 shrimp (the 36-40/lb size), tails removed
-1 tablespoon butter
-1 garlic clove minced
-2 tablespoons butter
-2 tablespoons flour
-3/4 cup diced green pepper (I used frozen)
-3/4 cup diced onion (again, frozen)
-1/2-3/4 can petite diced tomatoes, drained
-2 cups half and half
-1.5 tablespoons cajun seasoning (I used 1 T but it wasn't enough)

1.  Add 1 tablespoon butter to a 10" skillet and melt, add the garlic and the shrimp.  Cook just until done and remove to a plate and dump out any liquid.
2.  Start boiling a pot of water and cook the pasta according to the box.
3.  Add the other 2 tablespoons to the skillet and melt, add the flour and cook over medium until it thickens.  Add the onions and green peppers.  Cook until done.  Add the tomatoes.  Add the half and half and the seasoning.  Bring to a bubble and simmer over medium until thickened (about 10 minutes).
4.  Throw the shrimp back into the sauce to warm up.  Serve over pasta.

If you want to spice it up (because it is actually pretty mild) add some cayenne pepper or Franks Red Hot Sauce.  Yum.

Marshmallow Cakes

So I have baked oreos and raw cookie dough into cupcakes, I started wondering what else I could do.  I had this bag of marshmallows ... I have no idea why I bought them since I don't really ever use them.  Well.... that led me to thinking about baking mallows into cakes.  My friends were split 50/50 on whether or not this could be done.  My friend Stephanie decided to be my mallow sous chef and see if we could try a whole bunch of combinations to see if it would work.

We tried mini muffin cups, regular sized, and texas sized.  We tried whole mallows, cut up ones, and marshmallow fluff.  Plus we tried putting them inside the batter, on top of the batter, during the last half of baking, after baking.................. pretty much anything we could think of.   We even tried squishing a mini cake between two grahams frosted with fluff.

The verdict?  If you encase the mallow in batter, it mostly bakes away into the batter.  If you put it on top and bake it, it blows up all huge and then loses all its air and deflates after you take it out.  The best solution was a full sized marshmallow placed into the regular sized cupcake halfway thru baking.  This yielded a slightly browned mallow while still holding most of its shape.

The biggest problem, surprisingly, is we couldn't get the right chocolate flavor to make it taste smore-y.  We used a devil's food cake with chocolate pudding to make it more dense.... it just wasn't a strong enough chocolate flavor.  I stuck with a box cake mix and canned frosting just to make it easy and concentrate on techniques of stuffing the mallow inside.  We also tried putting chocolate chips inside the cakes to get more chocolate flavor.  Then for the graham taste we tried straight graham crackers.  Then we tried the recipe for a graham cracker topping we found on top of the box.

I still haven't tried all the different combinations yet, but overall the ones we did taste just weren't DELICIOUS.  So get the real marshmallow taste you really need to put the fluff on after the fact, and then it is just a cupcake frosted with fluff.... boring.  It might be tastier if I had one of those little creme brulee torch thingies to get some color on the fluff.