Creamy Baked Gnocchi

It's hard to believe that its been almost 2 months since I last posted. I have been so busy this summer and it is just flying by!! After a busy long weekend with ongoing activities the only thing I wanted to do on Sunday was to rent a couple movies, enjoy some comfort food, and relax. I came up with this amazing baked gnocchi recipe. It's the next best thing, if not better, than mac and cheese. This recipe is especially creamy, cheesy, and indulgent. I'm telling you, the best thing I ever learned to make is a good cheese sauce. This girl loves her cheese, and I use it as a base for so many things!! I usually take the general gist of the recipe and use whatever cheese I have on hand. You can also add so many things to it (like the ham and peas I used in this recipe!). Hope you like it (actually I know you will !!)

Ingredients:

• 1 pound gnocchi
• 1 bag frozen peas
• 1 ham steak, cubed
• 2 cups shredded cheese (i used pepper jack)
• 1 cup Gruyere cheese
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 yellow onions, chopped
• Olive oil
• Panko bread crumbs

Recipe:

• Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a pan with nonstick spray.
• Place chopped onions, cubed ham, and half a bag of frozen peas into a skillet with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Sautee on medium heat until onions are sauteed and ham is browned.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the gnocchi and cook for about 2 minutes . Drain the gnocchi, toss with olive oil, then set aside. Return the pot to the stove.
• In the large pot, melt the butter then add the flour. Wisk until combined. Add milk and cream gradually, whisking to incorporate. Bring the sauce to a simmer and cook until it thickens, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the cheese gradually, whisking until the cheese is melted.
• Once cheese sauce is thickened to your liking, add the ham, onion, and pea mixture. Then, stir in gnocchi until everything is coated with the cheese sauce.
• Place gnocchi cheese mixture in the greased pan.
• Coat the top of the gnocchi with panko bread crumbs.
• Drizzle olive oil on the top of the panko bread crumbs.
• Bake in oven for 15 minutes, then place the dish under broiler for a couple minutes to brown the top.

American Chop Suey

American chop suey is most definitely a comfort food of mine. It is also a favorite of the boyfriends, so I can imagine that this is going to be a regular dish at our house.

For those of you who are not familiar with american chop suey, it is basically just pasta with meat sauce. It is a really quick weeknight meal which makes it an easy go-to for me. 

I likes this dish because I usually always have pasta and tomato sauce in the cabinet, and I can always customize the rest of the dish. For instance, ground turkey or chicken can be used instead of beef.  You can also add whatever veggies you like in it. Plus, this meal takes no time to make.

This is just an overall awesome family dish.

Ingredients: 

• 1 pound pasta (I used ziti, but you can use your favorite pasta)
• 1 (24 oz) jar of tomato sauce
• 1-1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1 diced onion
• Italian Seasoning (dried thyme, oregano, and basil)
• salt/pepper
• red pepper flakes
• parmesan cheese for topping

Recipe:

• Cook pasta according to package directions. I like to cook it al dente (a little hard) so that the pasta does not turn into mush when you add the meat sauce. To cook it al dente, just subtract a couple minutes from the cook time on the package. 
• Add the diced onion and ground beef into a pan. Brown meat.
• Drain excess fat from pan.
• Season the meat with a few dashes of italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. 
• Heat tomato sauce in a small sauce pan.
• Combine pasta, meat mixture, and sauce in a pan.
• Serve with parmesan cheese

Lemon Ricotta Cookies and Candy Kabobs for Valentines Day!!

I love valentines day! Its my favorite holiday and YES it is a holiday. Ask my college roommates about my valentines obsession. I would put up so many decorations in our dorm room that you would wake up and instantly hit your head on floating hearts and pink streamers.

Remember this one Katie?

I made these cute candy kabobs for some of my valentines this year. They are super easy to make and you can get as creative as you want with them! I used lollipop sticks from the craft store, put on my favorite red/orange/pink candies and wrapped them up in plastic gift bags. They are so cute and easy to make for a last minute valentine gift.

If you are looking for an amazing cookie recipe, PLEASE make these cookies. They are my absolute favorite and everyone who tries them LOVES them. They are sweet, tart, soft and SOO yummy. I usually make them without red food coloring. I just decided that the red food coloring would make it festive for valentines day!

Recipe Source: Food Network

Ingredients
Cookies:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
• juice from one lemon
• 1 lemon, zested
• red food coloring 

Glaze:

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• juice from one lemon
• 1 lemon, zested

Recipe:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
• In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar using an electric mixer until light and fluffy. 
• Add eggs to the butter (1 at a time) until incorporated.
• Add ricotta cheese, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Beat until combined.
• Stir in dry ingredients.
• Add red food coloring to the batter until you reach the desired color.
• Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Spoon dough (about 1/8 of a cup for each cookie) onto the baking sheets.
• Bake for 15 minutes until slightly golden around edges.
• Remove from oven and let the cookies rest for 20 minutes.
• To make glaze, combine powdered sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest in a small bowl. Stir until combined.
• Spoon glaze onto each cookie. Ad festive sprinkles!

 

Homemade Baked Mozzarella Sticks

Sometimes I surprise myself. I knew that these mozzarella sticks would probably be delicious but I had no idea they would be AMAZING. My mom said it was the best thing I had ever made...EVER. I honestly thought they were way better than any mozzarella sticks I've had at a restaurant. These mozarella sticks aren't even fried!! AKA you can eat twice as much.... Ok maybe not, but I still did haha.

Recipe Source: Skinny Taste

Ingredients:

• 12 sticks mozzarella cheese sticks
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 4 tbsp flour
• 10 tbsp Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
• 10 tbsp panko crumbs
• 4 tsp parmesan cheese
• 2 tbsp dried parsley
• non stick cooking spray
• tomato sauce

Recipe:

• Cut all cheese sticks in half to make 24 pieces.
• Place cheese in freezer. 
• Place the beaten egg in one bowl, and the flour in a second bowl.
• Combine italian breadcrumbs, panko crumbs, parmesan cheese, and dried parsley in a third bowl.
• To make mozarella sticks, place each frozen cheese stick first in flour bowl, then in egg bowl, then in bread crumbs bowl. Repeat this process with all the cheese sticks. Once the cheese sticks are coated, place on a baking sheet with wax paper.
• Note: You will have extra breadcrumbs, flour, and egg mixture left over. 
• Place mozzarella sticks in freezer for about 20 minutes, or until frozen. 
• When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Spray a baking sheet with non stick cooking spray. Place frozen mozarella sticks on tray. Spray tops of mozarella sticks with cooking spray.
• Bake for about 4 to 5 minutes. Flip mozzarella sticks and bake for an additional 4 to 5 minutes.
• Serve with your favorite tomato sauce.