Chicken Marinade - Rosemary Lime

I made chicken breasts the other night and wanted to marinade them, so I made up a marinade with pretty much a bunch of random stuff from the fridge. Weird thing...it was SO DELICIOUS! So here it is before I forget...

All these measurements are approximate because I didn't measure anything!

Ingredients:

1 cup Vegetable Oil

2 Tblsp Mustard

1 Tblsp Lime Juice

1 Tsp Garlic Salt

1 Tsp Rosemary

Tsp(ish) fresh ground pepper

Wisk all the ingredients together and marinade your chicken in it for at least an hour.

Sorry, I didn't take a picture...it kinda just looks like chicken!

Glass Block Jello

I found this recipe HERE and made it for Christmas and LOVED IT!

It was a hit. :)

INGREDIENTS:

4 3-oz. packages assorted Jello (in whatever colors you want)
2 packets unflavored gelatin
1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk


Spray 4 small food storage containers (like Tupperware/Gladware/Rubbermaid) with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.


Bring 5+ cups of water to a boil. Combine 1 c. boiling water with 1 package of Jello, stirring until dissolved. Place the dissolved Jello in one of the prepared containers. Repeat with the remaining packages of Jello. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferable overnight.


When the Jello has set, bring another 1 1/2 c. of water to a boil. While the water is heating, sprinkle 2 packets of unflavored gelatin over 1/2 c. of cold water. Allow to stand for about 4 minutes. When the water is boiling, pour 1 1/2 c. boiling water over the dissolved gelatin and stir to combine. Add the sweetened condensed milk and mix well. Allow to come to room temperature.

Lightly spray a 9x13" pan with non-stick cooking spray. Carefully cut the colored Jello into cubes and gently toss to combine in the 9x13" pan. Pour the cooled milk mixture over the colored Jello and, if necessary, rearrange some of the colored Jello to make sure it is evenly distributed and not sticking out of the white mixture too far.

Place the 9x13" pan in the refrigerator and chill overnight. Cut into squares, rectangles, or various shapes with cookie cutters and serve.

Baked Ziti

Sorry for the semi-gross picture.
I forgot to take a picture before we dug in.
Also, I used bow tie pasta because I didn't have ziti on hand.
Sara Knutson gave me this recipe a few years back and it's one of our favorites!

Ingredients:
1/2 box Ziti pasta
1 onion
1/2 lb. ground beef
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1/2 lb. provolone cheese slices
8 oz sour cream
bag of shredded mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese

Spray casserole dish
Cook pasta
Fry beef with onion (you can add some minced garlic and fresh mushrooms if choose). Add spaghetti sauce. Simmer
Layer:
1/2 ziti, provolone cheese, sour cream, 1/2 sauce mixture, remaining ziti, mozz. cheese, remaining sauce, sprinkle w/ parm. cheese.

Mushroom Canopes

These can be made from beginning to end in about 10 minutes and they are AMAZING!

Ingredients:
Party Bread (pumpernickel or party rye...I used pumpernickel)
2 cans sliced mushrooms (I sauteed fresh mushrooms in olive oil)
1 cup mayonnaise
1 small container french fried onions
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Toast 15 pieces of the party bread in a 350 degree oven for approximately 5 minutes. While that is toasting, mix all of the ingredients (I used fresh mushrooms sauteed in olive oil with garlic salt and spices which will make this MUCH richer, so if you want it more light, canned mushrooms might be better). Pile a spoonful of the mixture on each piece of bread and place on a cookie sheet and broil for about 3 minutes or until they're browned on top.

This makes about 15 pieces. You could stretch it to probably 20 pieces if you put less topping.

Spinach and Tomato Spaghetti

Today for lunch, we didn't really have anything that sounded good. So I scoured the cupboards and created this pasta dish that turned out really delicious and it was FAST and EASY!
Had I had a couple of other ingredients, I probably would have added them, but I will post the recipe just as I made it and then below specify the other ingredients that would be good added to it.

Ingredients:
16 oz. spaghetti noodles
4 Tblsp Olive Oil
5 or 6 cloves of garlic chopped
1 onion chopped
1 pkg frozen spinach
1 can stewed tomatoes (fresh tomatoes would be better!)
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Boil Spaghetti while you heat the olive oil in a pan. Once the oil is hot, add the garlic and onions and saute. Once the garlic is browned and onions are tender, turn the pan down to low and add the spinach and let cook until the pasta is done. Once the pasta is done, add it to the veggies and stir. Then add the tomatoes and cook through for a few minutes. Stir in the cheese and a ladle of the pasta water. Stir together until cheese is melted and serve.
It was actually really delicious!

*Had I had fresh mushrooms, I would have sauteed those with the garlic and onions and it would have been delicious! Also, chicken or shrimp would be great in it if you want meat in it. And instead of stewed tomatoes, grape or cherry tomatoes halved would have probably been better. You could also substitute broccoli for the spinach if you want.

Roasted Cabbage w/ Lemon

Can you say yummy?!

Ingredients:
1 medium head of green cabbage
2T Olive Oil
3-4T Lemon Juice
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450F. Spray a roasting pan (I use a cookie sheet) with non-stick spray or olive oil. Cut the head of cabbage into 8 same-size wedges, cutting through the core and stem end. Then carefully trim the core strip and stem from each wedge and arrange wedges in a single layer on the roasting pan (leave some space around them as much as you can.)
Whisk together the olive oil and lemon juice (use the larger amount of lemon juice if you like a lot of lemon like I do.) Then use a pastry brush to brush the top sides of each cabbage wedge with the mixture and season generously with salt and fresh ground black pepper. Turn cabbage wedges carefully, then brush the second side with the olive oil/lemon juice mixture and season with salt and pepper.
Roast cabbage for about 15 minutes, or until the side touching the pan is nicely browned. Then turn each wedge carefully and roast 10-15 minutes more, until the cabbage is nicely browned and cooked through with a bit of chewiness remaining. Serve hot, with additional lemon slices to squeeze lemon juice on at the table if desired.

Tomato Salad w/ Balsamic Vinegar

Super easy, super delicious and super pretty!

Ingredients:
1 small package grape tomatoes (whole)
green onions (approx. 3 stems)
red onion (just a little, a small wedge finely chopped)
fresh basil chopped (3-4 leaves)
1/3 cup crumbled feta
drizzle of olive oil
healthy drizzle of balsamic vinegar (probably twice as much as the olive oil)
salt and cracked pepper

Stir it all together and enjoy!