Hot Hoagies and Chicken Enchilada Pasta

My Kitchen Cafe - Hot Hoagies

My Kitchen Cafe - Chicken Enchilada Pasta

My Kitchen Cafe has brought me back to the food blog world. Now that I'm not pregnant any more I want to cook everything and try new things. I wish I would have taken my own pictures but both of these recipes were SO delicious. Olives were optional in each recipe and I used them in both recipes. I love olives so I would never leave them out. Please take it from me and go and try these recipes. I have two more recipes to try from My Kitchen Cafe so come back and see what else I have tried. Thanks for bringing me back to the food blog world My Kitchen Cafe.

Italian Tilapia

Ingredients:

4 Tilapia loins

2 Tbs Olive oil

1/2 large onion (diced)

5 button mushrooms (sliced)

1-2 cloves garlic (minced)

1 Italian zucchini (sliced)

salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp. dried basil

1 Tbs Olive oil

1 can Fire Roasted diced tomatoes

Sprinkling of Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 375. In a 13X9 pan drizzle the 1 Tbs of Olive oil in the pan. Add in the tilapia loins. Salt and pepper fish. In a medium saucepan add the 2 Tbs of Olive oil, diced onions, mushrooms. Saute them for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and zucchini and saute in extra 2 minutes. Salt and pepper this. Next add the basil and Fire Roasted tomatoes. Spoon the mixture of ingredients onto the fish.

Cook in the oven for 15 minutes or until fish is flaky.

Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the top.

The Results:

This is one of my concoctions on a night I couldn't think of anything to make. It was delicious. I love zucchini and mushrooms so they got thrown in the pot. My boys gobbled it up and my oldest son told me this is good chicken mom. He didn't care if it was fish or chicken as long as he could dip it in ranch. Whatever, he ate all his dinner. I served this with a side salad and some rice. Enjoy!

Award

I received this award from Donna at My Tasty Treasures. Her food always looks good and her blog is hilarious. Go check it out. Thanks for the award Donna.

I am sending this on to:

Spryte's Place

Cooking This and That

Two Peas and Their Pod

These three all have awesome food blogs.

** I will have new recipes up shortly. It is just taking me sometime to get some things organized.

Tortellini Soup

Ingredients:

1lb. Pork sausage

1-2 TBS Olive Oil

4 carrots (sliced)

2 celery stalks (sliced)

8 mushrooms(sliced)

1/2 large onion (diced)

2 cloves garlic (minced)

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. basil

salt and pepper

48 oz box Swanson broth

1 can Swanson broth

1/2 bag of Cheese Tortellini

1 can diced tomatoes

1/2 cup water

Directions:

Cook the sausage until no longer pink. Drain and place on a paper towel.

In a medium to large stock pot saute the carrots, celery and onions for about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and garlic in for about 1 minute.

Add the Broth, oregano, basil, salt and pepper, diced tomatoes and water. Let this simmer on low for about 20-25 minutes. Add in the tortellini and let them cook for about 5 minutes.

Enjoy!

The Results:

This was a delicious quick soup. Soup is always good because you can throw anything you want into the pot. I don't think you can really go wrong. I topped the soup off with some Parmesan cheese and some crusty bread. It was tasty and filling.

Buttery Cinnamon Cake

INGREDIENTS :

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup shortening
1 1/3 cups white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 eggs
2/3 cup milk

1/2 cup white sugar
6 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and lightly flour a 10 inch Bundt pan.

Stir together the flour, baking powder, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon and salt; set aside.
In a large bowl, beat shortening, 1 1/3 cups white sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating for at least 1 minute after each egg. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack. Remove cake from pan while it is still warm, and poke holes around the top of the cake with a fork. Pour the warm cinnamon syrup into the holes and onto the top and sides of the cake.

To Make Cinnamon Syrup: In a saucepan, combine 1/2 cup white sugar, butter, water, 1 teaspoon vanilla and 3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon. Heat and stir until butter melts.

The Results:

I got this recipe from allrecipes.com. I use it sometimes when I want a morning dessert. It is kind of like a coffee cake. It is super easy to make and tastes great right out of the oven. I ate this a couple morning with a cup of hot chocolate. YUM!

Colorful Kielbasa

Ingredients:
1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of celery soup, undiluted
1-1/2 cups water
1 tablespoon butter
1 pound smoked kielbasa, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3/4 cup uncooked long grain rice
1 package (10 ounces) frozen peas
1 jar (4-1/2 ounces) sliced mushrooms, drained
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

In a large skillet, combine the soup, water and butter; bring to a boil. Add kielbasa and rice. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 18 minutes or until rice is almost tender. Stir in peas and mushrooms. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until rice is tender and peas are heated through. Sprinkle with cheese; cover and let stand until melted. Yield: 4-6 servings.

The Results:

This was definitely a quick dinner. I like things like this when I want dinner on the table quick and the kielbasa was on sale too.Plus for me. The only thing I did different was add some corn to it because I didn't have enough peas. Also if you don't like kielbasa I'm sure you could throw in some cooked or rotisserie chicken. I got this recipe out of my Taste of Home cookbook. Since I haven't posted so much lately I have lots of good recipes coming up. Hopefully it doesn't take me so long to post them though.

Coconut-Cranberry Chews

Ingredients:
About 1½ cups (¾ lb.) Challenge Butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
1 Tablespoon grated orange peel
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 large egg
3¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1½ cups dried cranberries
1½ cups sweetened flaked dried coconut

Directions:
In a large bowl, with a mixer on medium speed, beat 1½ cups butter, sugar, orange peel, and vanilla until smooth. Beat in egg, until well blended.
In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to butter mixture, stir to mix, then beat on low speed until dough comes together, about 5 minutes (see notes). Mix in cranberries and coconut.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place about 2 inches apart on buttered 12" x 15" baking sheets.

Bake in a 350°F regular or convection oven until cookie edges just begin to brown, 11 to 15 minutes (shorter baking time will yield a chewier cookie; longer baking time will yield a crispier cookie). If baking two sheets at once in one oven, switch their positions halfway through baking.

Let cookies cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then use a wide spatula to transfer to racks to cool completely.

Yield: About 6 dozen cookies

PREP AND COOK TIME: About 1 hour

NOTES: The mixture may look dry until it comes together as a dough. If its too crumbly to form into balls, the dough need to be mixed longer; it should be a smooth homogeneous mass.

The Results:

These turned out really good. They are definitely a sweet treat. I would also suggest that they are just barely even be golden brown before you take them out. If you leave them in for long they will just be a a hard cookie. I got the recipe from www.challengediary.com.

Baked Tilapia

Ingredients:
3 Tilapias

1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 Tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon dill weed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Paprika

Directions:

Place tilapia in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Combine the sour cream, Parmesan cheese, butter, dill, salt and pepper; spoon over tilapia.

Cover and bake at 375° for 20 minutes.

Uncover; sprinkle with paprika.

Bake 10-15 minutes longer or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Parmesan Green Onion Couscous

Ingredients:

1 box of Parmesan Couscous (Follow directions according to box)

1/2 cup green onions

Directions:

Make couscous according to box. When the couscous is done add a 1/2 cup of green onions.

The Results:

The results of this dinner was good. My husband liked it alot and I just thought it was good. I was a different dinner for us and I thought it was a success. My boys both gobbled up their dinner. So I guess it was good for them too. This recipe originally called for halibut but I didn't have halibut. I changed most of the recipe but got the idea out of my Taste of Home cookbook.

Baked Ziti

Ingredients:
1 (16 ounce) package dry ziti pasta
1 pound lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 jars spaghetti sauce
2 bags mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped dried basil

Directions:
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente. Drain.

In a large skillet, brown beef over medium heat. Add onions saute until tender. Drain off fat and add spaghetti sauce. Simmer for about 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a lightly sprayed 13X9 baking dish, place some of the sauce in the pan. Place half the pasta in. Add the spaghetti sauce and spread mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese and sour cream on. Repeat layers till mozzarella cheese is on top.Sprinkle with basil.

Bake in preheated oven Covered for about 30 minutes or until cheese and sauce are bubbly.

The Results:

This was so simple to make. I've never made ziti with sour cream and thought I would give it a try. It gave the pasta a different kick then ricotta and was really good. I served this with salad and garlic bread. Oh and my pasta wasn't ziti but I can't remember what it is called. Any round noodle should work. Enjoy! :)

Oven Baked Potatoes and Award

Ingredients:

2-3 Tablespoons Olive oil

3 Baking potatoes (cubed)

1/2 onion (diced)

1/2 bell pepper (diced)

4 button mushrooms (sliced)

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 cloves garlic (minced)

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

Cut baking potatoes in 4th. Boil them for 4-5 minutes. Drain. Dice potatoes into bite size pieces. In a 9X13 pan spray pan with cooking spray. Add the olive oil to coat the potatoes. Add the onion, bell pepper, mushroom Parmesan cheese, garlic , salt and pepper. Bake in oven at 375 for 20-25 minutes. Make sure your potatoes are fork tender before pulling out. Enjoy!

The Results:

These went perfect with the Beer Bratwurst. I just kind of started to throw things in the pan and ended up with this. I love potatoes and don't get to eat enough of them due to my husband and little boy aren't big fans. Who doesn't love potatoes? Weirdos! So I got to enjoy my potatoes and they were great. Hope you enjoy.

Lemonade Award : for a refreshing blog

Spryte from Spryte's Place gave me this award. I was so happy to see a comment from her the other day. I loved being able to look around her blog and see what i could start book marking to make. Go check her blog out.

So I'm going to pass this on to:

Priscilla Bakes

Two Peas and Their Pod

For the Love of Cooking

Ezra Pound Cake

Priscilla, Maria, Pam and Rebecca all have refreshing blogs. I look forward to seeing what new things they cook all the time. They all make delicious looking food.

Beef Stuffed (or not) Sopaipillas

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup evaporated milk ( I just used milk)
1-1/2 teaspoons canola oil (I used vegetable oil)
Additional oil for frying

FILLING:
1 pound ground beef
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper

SAUCE:
1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilies
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking powder. Stir in water milk and oil with a fork until a ball forms. On a lightly floured surface, knead dough gently for 2-3 minutes. Cover and let stand for 15 minutes. Divide into four portions; roll each into a 6-1/2-in. circle.

In an electric skillet or deep-fat fryer, heat oil to 375°. Fry circles, one at a time, for 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. In a large skillet, cook beef and onion until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the salt, garlic powder and pepper.

In a large saucepan, combine the soup, broth, chilies and onion powder; cook for 10 minutes or until heated through. Cut a slit on one side of each sopaipilla; fill with 1/2 cup of meat mixture. Top with cheese. Serve with sauce. Yield: 4 servings.

The Results:

These were suppose to be stuffed with the ground beef but when I cut into the sopaipilla it split on top. Darn it! Oh well these were still good. They were like a fried bread taco. We have never had something like these so I thought they turned out pretty good for the first time. I figure if you fold it up like a taco they would be just as good if I had filled them. I got this recipe out of my Taste of Home 2002 recipe book.

Blueberry Coffee Cake Muffins

Hurry! Go and make these little muffins.

Ingredients:

by Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa)

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
8 ounces (about 1 cup) sour cream
1/4 cup milk
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 half-pints fresh blueberries, picked through for stems

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place 16 paper liners in muffin pans.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla, sour cream, and milk. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed add the flour mixture to the batter and beat until just mixed. Fold in the blueberries with a spatula and be sure the batter is completely mixed.

Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin pans, filling each cup just over the top, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the muffins are lightly browned on top and a cake tester comes out clean.

The Results:

These were the Best muffins ever. Seriously, I made these last night so we could have them for breakfast in the morning. We almost finished them all off. They will all by gone by tonight. I picked up some blueberries from the store yesterday. I knew I had to use them. So I went looking for the perfect recipe. Well I came on foodtv.com and typed in blueberry muffins. I have seen so many people into Barefoot Contessa recipes that I thought I would give it a try. Plus it had 5 stars. Ina's recipe didn't fail me. These will be made over and over again in my house. Everyone loved them. Hurry go and try this recipe. You can't go wrong.

Oh and my New Year's Resolution is to make some good food.

**My changes to the recipe were I didn't have unsalted butter so I just used my Imperial stick butter and I added only about a 1/4 teaspoon of salt instead of 1/2 tsp and it wasn't kosher salt it was plain ol' table salt.

Overnight Rolls and Award

Ingredients:
1 cup water
1 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. salt
1 cold cup of water
2 pkgs. yeast ( or I used 4 1/2 teaspoons)
1/2 cup warm water
4 eggs (beaten)
7 1/2 cups flour

butter for the tops

Directions:
In a 6 quart pan bring 1 cup of water to a boil then add the 1 cup of butter, sugar and salt to the pan. Take it off the heat and add 1 cold cup of water. Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup of warm water. When the first mixture is luke warm you add the yeast mixture and eggs. Stir for a second. Then add the flour. Stir together. Cover pan and refrigerate over night.

Divide it into 3rds. Roll it out into a circle and cut with a pizza cutter into triangle for croissants or make whatever shape you want. Butter the rolls before you roll them up. Butter the baking sheets and butter the top of the rolls and let them rise for 4 hours.
Place them on baking sheets. 12 rolls per sheet. ( I got 15 next to each other this time)

Butter the tops of rolls when they come out too.

Now pop them in the oven for 400 * degrees for 10 minutes.

The Results:
So a while ago I posted these for Easter dinner. This time I made them for Thanksgiving. I changed a couple things this time. Last time I didn't butter the crescents before I rolls them up. I did this time and they turned out even better. They cooked to perfection and they were the best dang rolls I've had. Everyone raved about them and I was glad they turned out so good. They soaked up the gravy nicely. So here is a revisited recipe for these rolls. I love them and hope you try them.

So I received this award from Teresa over at A Blog About Food. She makes some delicious looking food. If you haven't heard about her blog please take a moment and go and check her blog out.

So I'm passing this on too.

Amanda's Cookin' and to
Prudence Pennywise

These are both really good food blogs.

Fish Tacos

Ingredients:

3 Tilapia Fillets
2 TBS Olive Oil
dash of salt and pepper
dash of paprika
dash of oregano

1/2 head of cabbage (shredded)
8 corn tortillas
2limes

Sauce:
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 lime, juiced
1 jalapeno pepper, minced (I didn't add this the cayenne gave it enough kick)
1 teaspoon minced capers
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (I would cut back to 1/2 tsp.)

Directions:

Drizzle fish with olive oil and add a dash of salt, pepper, paprika, and oregano on both sides of fish. Place fish in a medium heat skillet. Cook fish on both sides for 3 minutes or until fish is flaky.

To make white sauce: In a medium bowl, mix together yogurt and mayonnaise. Gradually stir in fresh lime juice until consistency is slightly runny. Season with jalapeno, capers, oregano, cumin, dill, and cayenne.

Cut up cabbage into thin slices. Slighty warm tortillas in skillet and serve with gucamole, lime and white sauce.

The Results:
I love fish tacos and I have had a billon fish tacos in my life so I would have to say that they were average. Growing up we went to Mexico probably 4 or 5 times a year. So when we would go we always had fish tacos. I just wish I could recreate that prefect fish taco. I was trying to make these healthy though so maybe that is why these were just average. I remember the fish was fried but I am trying to eat somewhat healthy. Oh well....these were good for a healthy taco but just average for the Best fish taco. I got the White Sauce recipe from allrecipes. Also be careful of the cayenne pepper. It made the white sauce pretty hot. I would cut back on it.

Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo

Ingredients:

20 Jumbo Shrimp

1 box Fettuccine noodles

Alfredo Sauce:

1 cup butter
3/4 pint heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
1 dash garlic salt
3/4 cup grated Romano cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese



Directions:

Bring your water to a boil and add the fettuccine noodles. Cook for 8-10 minutes or until al dente. Drain.

In a large pan put heavy whipping cream in and then add your butter and let your butter melt into the cream. Do this over low heat. Then add salt, pepper and garlic salt.

Stir in your cheeses over medium heat. Let the sauce thicken.

Then add your noodles and shrimp. Coat the noodles and shrimp with sauce. Serve hot.

The Results:

I love this alfredo sauce. The last time I made it though. I just used all Parmesan cheese. It was still good. This sauce is so easy to make and it is totally worth it. I found this alfredo sauce off of allrecipes.

Blog Award

Well a little bit ago I got the Butterfly Award from Priscilla over at Priscilla Bakes. I love her blog. She makes some good looking food. I'm going to be trying out her Sour Cream Sugar Cookies soon. Please go and check out her totally awesome blog. You won't be disappointed. Well now I would like to pass on this award to some well deserving food bloggers.

Colleen over at Cooking This and That. I've been so excited to find a new food blog and I love checking out her blog to see what she cooked.

Lisa over at Jersey Girl Cooks. I look at her food blog every day. She is always cooking up something good.

Aggie over at Aggie's Kitchen . I just found Aggie's food blog too. I can't wait to try some of her delicious recipes.

HoneyB over at the Life and Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch. Her food always looks good. I can't wait to try out the White Hot Spiced Chocolate.

Now please ladies go and pass this award on to some other great blogs.

Roasted Red Pepper Italian Dressing Chicken

Ingredients:
2 Chicken Breasts
1/3 cup of Roasted Red Pepper Italian Dressing (Kraft)

Directions:
Place chicken in a round pie pan. Cover it with dressing. Let it sit for about an hour. Cook the chicken in the marinade.

Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes. Just make sure it is not longer pink in the middle.
I served with rice and a salad.

The Results:
I know this doesn't seem like much of a recipe but this was so good with this dressing that I had to share it with you. My chicken was not fully thawed out either. So I really just checked my chicken to see if it was pink. It was perfectly cooked too. We had a salad and some rice and this was really a QUICK and EASY meal. Use as many chicken breasts as you would like and just add more salad dressing on top. Make sure you cook it in the salad dressing though. Don't put it in another pan.

Apple Crisp

Ingredients:

4 medium tart apples

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 quick cooking or old fashioned oats

1/3 cup butter or stick margarine, softened

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

ice cream

caramel topping

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375. Grease bottom and sides if square pan, 8x8x2 inches, with shortening

2. Spread apples in pan. Mix remaining ingredients except ice cream; sprinkle over apples.

3. Bake about 30 minutes or until topping is golden brown and apples are tender when pierced with fork.

Serve warm with ice cream and caramel topping.

The Results:

This was sooooooo yummy. The recipe doesn't call for ice cream or caramel topping I added that. This dessert turned out so good. Just don't forget to serve it with ice cream and caramel. I got this recipe from my good ol' Betty Crocker recipe book. I have to say this recipe book comes in handy when I don't have the Internet.

Hope all you foodie bloggers are all doing good. We have just been moving. Can't wait to catch up.

I'M BACK

I was moving and lost track of things. I will have a new recipe posted tonight though. A YUMMY Apple Crisp. I will see you all tonight after dinner.

Chili

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs of stew meat (I use round steak because it's lean) diced into chunks ( I used ground beef)
1-2 tsp olive oil (I didn't need to use olive oil )
1 medium onion, diced
1 stalk of celery, diced
6 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/2 red, yellow or orange bell pepper, diced (I used a green bell pepper)
1/2 jalapeno, diced (optional)
2 16 oz cans diced tomatoes
2 tsp cumin powder
3 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp vinegar
1 7 oz can of whole green chiles, diced (I used 2 4oz cans of diced green chilies)
2 15 oz cans of tomato sauce
1 16 oz kidney or black beans
2 16 oz can chili or pinto beans

Directions:
Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven. Once the pot is hot, add beef and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally then add onions, celery, pepper, garlic and jalapeno (if using). Sauté for about 3-4 minutes before adding tomatoes, tomato sauce, green chiles and beans. Add all spices and vinegar, stir and either cook covered on low heat on the stove top,on low in your crock pot; or at 250 degrees in the oven. Cook all day stirring throughout the day if you can. Don't forget to take out the bay leaf before serving. Enjoy!

The Results:

This was the best chili I have ever made. I used what I had on hand. I didn't have any stew meat so I just used some ground beef. I'm sure the stew meat would have been fantastic too. I thought it was perfectly spiced and some thought it was too spicy. You can definitely adjust the spice level to your taste. I loved this chili. This recipe is Pam's from For The Love of Cooking. If I could find my picture I made Honey Cornbread with this. It was yummy!