What I Made {Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad}

Hi friends,  hope you all are enjoying this gorgeous Sunday....

 

 Despite all the forecasts calling for rain earlier in the week, yesterday

 

 turned out to be a perfectly lovely day for a 2nd birthday party!!

 

The water slide was a huge hit along with my Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad!!

 

I can not tell you how many people asked me what it was and who made it!

 

This time I did not get the recipe off of Pinterest! Shocker, I know, and I'm

 

pretty sure no one believed me! What makes this pasta salad different is that

 

 I used actually "buffalo chicken"

 

 in this recipe! My family is addicted to the Tyson Buffalo Chicken Strips so

 

I thought it would be the perfect addition to this pasta salad, and boy was it

 

 ever!! I also used Frank's Red Hot Sauce, but not to much as I knew the

 

 kiddos would be eating this as well! This recipe is really very simple and

 

 great for large parties! To make it for a small gathering simply cut the

 

 recipe in half! It's that easy!

 

I guarantee it will be a hit at your next barbecue!!

 

Ingredients:

 

2 boxes Farfalle pasta

1 (25 oz) bag Tyson Buffalo Chicken Strips chopped

1/4-1/2 cup Frank's Red Hot Sauce

 4 - (9oz) bottles Ken's Steakhouse Blue Cheese Dressing

 1 cup chopped carrots

 1 cup diced celery

 1 large chopped red onion

Directions:

Pour 2 of the 9oz bottles of the Ken's Blue Cheese dressing and Frank's Red Hot sauce into a large mixing bowl.

Chop red onion, celery and carrots and add to bowl with dressing.

Prepare Tyson Buffalo Chicken Strips according to package directions and let cool completely. Once cooled, chop and add to bowl with dressing.

Gently mix all ingredients in bowl until combined. Set aside or in refrigerator to keep cool.

Prepare the pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water.

Place cooled pasta into a large serving bowl.

 Add the remaining ingredients to the serving bowl with pasta, along with the 2 remaining bottles of Ken's Blue Cheese Dressing. Mix well until all of the pasta is covered in dressing.

Chill in refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

Mix thoroughly again before serving.

  Add more hot sauce if you like it really spicy and enjoy!!!

*You saw this recipe first here @ Gracie Blue ~ The Blog*

 

Happy Sunday {No Fail Sugar Cookies}

Happy Sunday friends!

 

I thought I would pop in and share my go to sugar cookie recipe. It's the one

 

 I  used for all those communion cookies I made last weekend.

 

This "secret" recipe came from a cute little baking site call

 

Fancy Flours. They have all kinds of cute things for baking cookies

 

and confections. I have ordered a ton of cookie cutters from them and

 

with each order I received this no fail sugar cookie recipe.

 

I tweaked it a little bit to give it a bit more flavor, but the thing that

 

truly makes this recipe "no fail" is the technique used.

 

If you plan on baking surgar cookies anytime soon

 

this recipe is a must!

 

 

 

 

No Fail Sugar Cookies

 

derived from fancyflours.com

 

Ingredients:

 

6 cups flour

2 tsp. vanilla

1/2. tsp lemon extract

1/2. tsp almond extract

3 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

2 cups sugar

2 cups butter (4 sticks softened - NOT melted)

2 large eggs

 

Directions:

 

Cream sugar and butter together until fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Add eggs and extracts until well blended.

Mix dry ingredients in separate bowl.

Add dry ingredients to butter mixture slowly. Mix well.

 

Put a handful of the freshly made cookie dough in between two sheets of

parchment paper and roll to desired thickness (thicker is best!).

Once rolled place dough on cookie sheet and refrigerate for at least

20min to and hour. The dough will be chilled and ready to cut and bake

with no wait and no added flour. Repeat with scraps after cutting cookies.

 

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10min (if using a confection oven 11min).

Let cool completely before removing from baking sheet.

 

Decorate any way you like and enjoy!

 

 

 

This recipe is perfect for when using cookie cutters!

 

It doesn't spread! They hold their shape which is so important for a

 

crisp clean looking cookie! This recipe makes up to 8 dozen 3" cookies.

 

Don't need 8 dozen cookies?? No problem! Just cut the recipe in half

 

or freeze remaining dough for next time!!

 

Perfect right??

 

You can thank me later!

 

What I Made {The Ultimate Easter Sugar Cookie}

Happy Easter friends!!

 

Just stopping in to wish you all a blessed Easter Sunday and share my recipe

 

for a super quick and easy Easter sugar cookie. I call it the ultimate Easter

 

sugar cookie because it has three of my favorite Easter candy...

 

Cadbury Mini Eggs, Rolo's & Nestle Crunch Eggs!!

 

You can use any Easter candy you have left over and whip these up

 

in less than ten minutes!!

 

 

 

The Ultimate Easter Sugar Cookie

 

 Ingredients:

 

1 (15oz) package Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix

 

1 Egg

 

1 Stick (1/2 cup) butter softened (not melted)

 

Assorted Easter Candy (shelled candy works best)

 

1 tsp vanilla extract

 

Directions:

 

Heat oven to 350 degrees

 

Prepare your candy. You will need at least a cup of candy chopped. If you are using shelled candy or large pieces of candy be sure to chop them up well using a knife or I used my mini Cuisinart food processor.

 

Stir cookie mix, softened butter, egg and vanilla in a large bowl.

Once mixed well fold in your candy mixture.

 

Scoop cookie & candy dough mixture and place on a ungreased cookie sheet. I used a small ice cream scoop.

 

Bake for 5-10 minutes or until light golden brown.

Be sure not to over cook!

 

Cool 1 min before removing from cookie sheet.

 

There are great a little on the warm side!!

 

This is the prefect recipe for the kids to help make & enjoy!! 

 

Enjoy and have a wonderful Easter!! 

 

 

What I Made {Orecchiette with Sausage and Toasted Breadcrumbs}

Hi friends! Here we are the last day of March and yes, it's snowing!!

 

Not sure how much more of this weather I can take! I feel like that is

 

a recurring theme here!!

 

Today I'm here with my What I Made feature!

 

As I've told you all before Sunday is family day.... It's the one day of the

 

week my husband and I don't work and we spend the day with our children

 

and then my dad and his girlfriend come over for Sunday dinner.

 

I have a special Pinterest board dedicated to just dinners that I know my

 

dad will enjoy.... Being that my dad is a very picky Italian and not fond of

 

chicken or fish, that pretty much guarantees I will be making pasta or

 

steak for Sunday dinner....

 

Pasta dishes are usually the norm! Last night I made one of my mom's

 

favorite pasta dishes, which also happens to be one of the very few she

 

actually wrote down.... I know my Nonna never wrote down any recipes!

 

She would always say with her cute little Italian accent:

 

"I gotta in my head!" Miss her & my mom so much....

 

Ok, no tears! Back to this scrumptious pasta dish which is derived

 

from one of my favorite recipes from Giada De Laurentiis.

 

In this recipe I used Italian sausage in stead if the prosciutto. If  you prefer

 

the prosciutto instead, just add 1/4 lb fresh prosciutto chopped instead of

 

the sausage! Either way this dish is a winner!!

 

 

Orecchiette with Italian Sausage & Toasted Breadcrumbs

 

4 servings

 

     Ingredients

 

1 pound Italian Sausage (I used half hot, half sweet) castings removed

 

1 pound Orecchiette pasta

 

3/4 cup olive oil

 

1 cup seasoned breadcrumbs

 

1 cup frozen peas

 

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

 

2 tbs fresh chopped parsley

 

Directions

 

 

Spray a large sauté pan with non stick cooking spray.

Cook Italian sausage thoroughly. Remove from pan and set aside.

 

Boil pasta in a non-salted water per package instructions.

Add frozen peas last minute of cooking.

 

In large sauté pan, heat oil until warm.

Add breadcrumbs and stir until breadcrumbs are browned (about 2-3min).

*Be careful not to burn the breadcrumbs!!*

 

Drain Pasta and combine pasta, breadcrumbs, cheese and sausage into

a large serving bowl.

Garnish with parsley.

 

Note: Do not add salt to anything. The sausage and cheese will

provide plenty of flavor!

 

Enjoy!!

 

 

 

This recipe is full of flavor and the best part is that it only takes about

 

thirty minutes from start to finish!!

 

What did you make this weekend?? I'd love to hear from you!!

 

Hope you had a great weekend and I'll be back soon

 

with a master bedroom update!!

 

 

What I made {Sunday Dinner | Ravioli Soup with Sausage}

Hi friends!

 

Happy Monday!!

 

I'm looking forward to some warm weather this week! I have had a cold for

 

over a week now and I am so ready for sun and warm weather!!

 

Today I have an excellent recipe to share with you. If you are Italian like

 

myself you know that pasta is sort of a big deal on Sundays, at least in our

 

family it is!! Sunday has always been "family" day in my family since I can

 

remember. When I was little we would spend Sundays at my grandparents

 

and there was always food! Whether dessert, dinner or a snack you had to

 

eat something! Can you relate??

 

Ever since my mom passed away almost four years ago, my dad and his

 

girlfriend come up for dinner every Sunday. I have to admit it is my favorite

 

day of the week! I don't really cook big meals during the week because my

 

husband has long work hours and usually doesn't get home until way after

 

dinner time, so Sundays are the perfect time for me to get my cooking on

 

and try out all those recipes I pinned on Pinterest! I have a board

 

specifically for recipes that I know my dad would enjoy. He is a very picky

 

eater and really doesn't eat chicken or fish, so pasta and meat it is!

 

Last night I used this recipe for reference for a ravioli soup. I doubled

 

the recipe and added some of my own ingredients to make it into a soup

 

and it was a hit!

 

 

 

Ravioli Soup

 

servings 6-10

 

Ingredients:

 

2 lbs Italian Sausage (1 hot, 1 sweet) castings removed

 

1 Large white onion

 

1 Stick butter

 

6 Cloves fresh garlic

 

2 tsp garlic powder

 

1 tbs Italian seasoning

 

2 tbs tomato paste

 

2 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce

 

2 (12- ounce) can fire roasted tomatoes with juice

 

2 (14- ounce) packages frozen cheese ravioli

 

2 cups Mozzarella cheese

 

3 cups water or chicken broth

 

 

Instructions:

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

 

In a large sauce pan or dutch oven, melt butter and sauté onions and garlic.

Remove sausage from castings and add to onions and garlic making sure to

crumble sausage as it cooks.

 

Once sausage is fully cooked and no longer pink add tomatoes with juices, tomato sauce, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt & pepper to taste. Cook sauce about 20 to 30 minutes until sauce begins to thicken.

 

Stir in ravioli and add 3 cups of water or chicken broth. Bring to a boil and cover, reduce heat and simmer until ravioli is cooked (about 15min).

 

Remove from heat, top with mozzarella and place into oven and let cook a little loner until cheese has melted into the soup.

 

Serve immediately and enjoy!!

 

That's it! Super simple and delicious!!

 

I'll be back Wednesday with another wish list!!

 

 

Healthy Me {turkey chili}

Hi all!!

 

Still trying to keep warm here in Connecticut but it seems like it's a never

 

ending battle of single digit days!! I'd like to say that it truly bothers me

 

and that I would love the warm summer weather, but I'm not going to lie

 

I like to think of this weather as the "prelude" to summer days! What I'm

 

trying to say is I like to see these type of cold winter days as the

 

preparation for the warmer months.... I eat right, workout at least every

 

other day and just keep thinking that six months from now I'm going

 

to be glad I did as I sit at the pool (in my bikini) and actually enjoy

 

the summer months!!

 

Let's face it being in great shape all year long is hard work and takes time,

 

consistency and effort. Why not put in all that effort now while its freezing

 

 (literally) and enjoy the warmer months without having to worry about  that

 

 day when  "OMG its 80 degrees

 

and nothing fits!!"

 

So to help make it a little easier for you I'm going to share my "healthy"

 

turkey chili recipe with you... Ok, so it's not exactly a "chili", but it's

 

yummy, low in fat & carbs and high in protein! Just what you need to

 

be healthy and help shed those "winter" pounds!

 

Healthy ME ~ Turkey Chili

 

 

 

Ingredients

 

Non-fat Cooking spay

 

2 tbs olive oil

 

1 large onion ~ chopped

 

2 tsp Goya minced garlic (or two fresh garlic cloves minced)

 

1.5 lbs Lean Ground Turkey

 

1 8oz can Tomato Sauce

 

1 tbs Dijon Mustard

 

1tbs Tomato Paste

 

Goya Adobo Light Seasoning mix ~ to taste (about 2  or 3 tsp)

 

Italian Seasoning ~ to taste (two or three shakes from the bottle)

 

Salt & Pepper ~ to taste

 

Directions:

 

Spray large sauce pan with non-stick spray add olive oil and heat.

 

Chop onions and sauté about 3 or 4 minutes.

 

Add minced garlic sauté about 2 minutes (do not burn).

 

Add ground turkey to pan and cook through.

 

Once turkey is no longer pink, drain excess fat and add tomato sauce and

 

the tomato paste. Stir through and add all seasonings and Dijon mustard.

 

Cook and let tomato sauce reduce ~ about 5 to 10 min.

 

Serve with sour cream and cheddar cheese and enjoy!

 

Like I said, not your usual "chili" recipe, but it takes delicious and it's

 

totally good for you!! I like to eat mine with green beans, but for you carb

 

lovers and some brown rice and you have a perfectly balanced meal!!

 

Enjoy and be healthy!!

 

 

Giving Thanks.... {For Dessert!}

Morning friends....

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone and I hope it was a blessed one for  you and yours...

 

I want to share my two home made Thanksgiving Day desserts with you. These are kind of "unconventional" but it is what the family requested this year so here it goes! Don't worry we had plenty of pumpkin & apple pie to go around!!

 

My family is always requesting peanut butter pie so I thought I would "jazz" it up a bit and create a trifle. Trifles are so very easy and you can make thousands of combinations to make it your very own!!

 

 

Peanut Butter Pie Trifle

 

Ingredients:

 

1 cup peanut butter (I used all natural creamy).

 

1 8oz package cream cheese

 

1 cup confectioners sugar

 

1 12oz tub Cool Whip - Plus more for garnishing top of trifle (you can whip up your own whipped cream too)

 

Large Reece's for decorating the bowl and for chopping up to layer pie filling. (I went through almost 3 bags!!)

 

2 tsp vanilla extract

 

1/4 cup granulated sugar

 

1 1lb package of Golden Oreo's

 

Reece's Pieces for garnish.

 

Directions:

 

Combine peanut butter, cream cheese and sugar in a large mixing bowl until thoroughly mixed. I used a wooden spoon. You can use a mixer but it is not required. Put aside.

 

Combine vanilla and 1/4 c granulated sugar into Cool Whip and mix until combined.

 

Fold Cool Whip mixture into peanut butter mixture. Mix until smooth and creamy.

 

Crush Oreos until it makes a crumb like texture. I used a mini food processor. You can use a zip lock bag and rolling pin if you don't have a food processor.

 

Do the same with some of the large Reece's I just chopped mine coarsely with a knife.

 

Garnish bottom of trifle bowl with Oreo crumbs.

 

Line large Reece's on sides of trifle dish.

 

Layer peanut butter filling. and layer with Oreo crumbs and chopped Reece's. Repeat until trifle dish is filled. Garnish with Cool Whip and Reece's pieces.

 

This is how I created my trifle but you can add anything you like! Trifles are very forgiving and the more flavor the better!

 

The next dessert has my favorite thing in the whole wide world!! Nutella!!

This dessert is simple and only requires three ingredients. You can omit the pumpkin and it is still yummy!!

 

 

 

Pumpkin Nutella Dip

 

Ingredients:

 

1/2 cup Nutella

 

1/2 cup pumkin puree (not pie filling!)

 

1 8oz tub Cool Whip

 

Directions:

 

Combine all ingredients until smooth and creamy.

 

Serve with cookies or pretzels!

 

And your done!!

 

Hope you try these soon!!!

 

Enjoy the weekend!!

 

 

.... and just a reminder!!!!

 

 

 

Perfectly Pumpkin {Chocolate Chip Cookies}

Well aren't you so proud? This is my third post in three days!! Yay!! I figured I owed you all a few since I've been MIA for a few weeks!

Since the weather here in CT has taken a nice change for the "cooler" finally I figured it would be a great day to share my favorite pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe. It's super easy and great to do with the kiddos, especially since you don't even need a mixer!! These are so good and really do not have that much sugar in them which a good because it's really impossible to eat just one!!

Hope you enjoy them as much as we do!!

Perfectly {Pumpkin} Chocolate Chip Cookies



Ingredients:

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 egg

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp milk

1 TB vanilla extract

1 11oz bag chocolate chips

Instructions:

Mix pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, egg and vanilla in a large bowl. In a separate bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and add to the wet ingredients and mix well. Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and mix well. Fold in chocolate chips. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or baking mat. Drop cookies onto baking sheet using a medium size ice cream scoop.

Bake at 350 for 10-13 minutes depending on your oven.

Let cool completely as these cookies are very moist and will fall apart in your hand if they are picked up when they are still hot.

I like to dollop a small scoop of  French Vanilla Cool Whip on top of each before serving!!

For more fall recipes and inspiration check out my It's Fall Y'all board on Pinterest!

Happy Wednesday!!!

Cupcake Family Tree {Offical End of Summer}

Holy September already??!! Where the heck did August go?

Well.... It's the official end of summer and our little girl is officially not so little anymore.... Our Gracie had her first day of Kindergarten last week.... She did such a great job. It's still so hard to believe that I had her almost five years ago!! Gosh I feel old!!

 

 

And here she is....Sparkly shoes, leopard hat and all!!

 

As Labor Day has come and gone I thought I would share a special cupcake family tree I created in honor of my husbands 60th Family Picnic. It's a weekend celebration that brings together more than 100 family members on my husbands maternal side of the family. It's the one time of year where we all get together, eat, drink and share stories, memories, laughter and tears all weekend long..... For us this is the "official" end of summer...

This tree took me a total of eight hours to create, bake and ice and it was worth every second! It was the least I could for such a special family!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

A little history on this family tree....

It all started with my mother in laws grandparents that migrated here from Italy. Rocco & Carmella made their home in the United States and had nine children which are represented by the nine apples on the tree....

From the "original nine" as everyone in the family refers to them, has evolved a growing family of 158 (and counting) and I am honored to be able to say I am a part of it!!

Happy "Official" end of summer!!!

How did you spend your Labor Day??

 

 

 

 

Happy 4th!!! {Strawberry Shortcake Trifle}

Hi all!! Hope you had an amazing 4th of July!! Sorry this post is a bit late, but time flies when you having fun (with two young kids, working full time & sitting in traffic!!)

I came across this recipe and I had plans to make it for Memorial Day, but I never got to it so here it is... You can find the more yummy desserts from Sprinkle Bakes here!!

Enjoy your weekend!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

White Chocolate Chip Valentine Cookies.....

Being in doors for three days with 35" of snow outside really I wanted to  make something for Valentines Day since I won't have time the rest of the week. I decided to put my own spin on an excellent recipe I found this past Christmas on this great blog Sally's Baking Addiction. This blog is full of yummy treats, but this recipe takes the cake! Since I didn't have any pretzels on hand (shocker I know!) I decided to just use what I had on hand, white chocolate chips, mini milk chocolate chips, red and pink sprinkles and Dove dark chocolate hearts....
I have to say this recipe is so simple I've made these cookies a total of three times and have memorized it already! And here they are!!

                                              

    White Chocolate Chip Valentine Cookies

 

3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter at room temp

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg, at room temp

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp cornstarch (yup you read right cornstrach!!)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 bag white chocolate chips

1/2 bag mini milk chocolate chips

2 tbs pink sprinkles

2tbs red sprinkles

 

Line an ungreased cookie sheet with parchment paper (I used a silpat sheet). Set aside. In a stand mixer with paddle attachment cream together butter and sugars until mixture is no loner "gritty" to the touch. About 3 min. Mix in egg and vanilla. Mix well. In a seperate bowl whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. With mixer on low speed gradually add the flour mixture until combined well. Fold in white chocolate chips, mini chocolate chips and sprinkles. Blend well.

Preheat oven to 350F. Drop a large tablespoon of cookie dough onto cookie sheet (I used a small ice cream scoop!). Bake for 10 min Only!!

Remove and let cool for about 3 min (no longer) then add Dove chocolates (I used peanut butter hearts the other day!!)

Let cool on cookie sheet for 10min more.

ENJOY!!!

 

*adapted from White chocolate covered pretzel cookies*

 

 

Our Tree & Eggnog Pound Cake....

Happy Sunday all.... This year we decided to go with a little smaller tree than usual. Gracie and I fell in love with this little guy so we brought him home. We couldn't fit all our ornaments but it is a cozy little thing.....

 

I was feeling very festive today decorating the tree, finishing up some ornaments and listening to Christmas music that I decided to bake some eggnog pound cake.

 

Eggnog Pound Cake

3 cups flour, sifted

2tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp cinnamon

8 oz (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temp

2 cups granulated sugar

3 large eggs

1 cup eggnog (I used sugar cookie flavor)

1 tsp vanilla extract

pre heat oven to 350 degrees

 

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg & cinnamon.

Beat the butter in a bowl of a stand mixer until creamy and smooth (about 1 min). Slowly add the sugar and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 min. Add eggs on at a time and mix well after each addition. Turn mixer on low speed and add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with eggnog and vanilla. Mix on low speed until completely incorporated. Spoon batter into a bunt pan, tube pan or two loaf pans.

Bake at 350 for 55 to 65 minutes (I baked for 55min and it was perfect).

Dust with confection sugar and serve warm with vanilla ice cream!

 

 

Strawberry Donut Hole Kabobs.....

Another excellent idea found on Pintrest.... I made these for our family picnic on Labor Day weekend and the kids LOVED them!! They were super easy to make and transport! Just be sure to cut the sharp end of the kabob stick once all the strawberries and donut holes are on it!
All you need are 2 packages fresh washed strawberries, tips cut, 50 munchkins. You may have a few extra! And finally kabob skewers. Your local grocery store should carry them. I found mine in the baking isle.
To assemble I started with a munchkin first then a strawberry. I was able to fit three munchkins and two strawberries on each stick, but you can arrange they how ever you wish depending on the size of your strawberries!
Enjoy!!