Sunday, June 16, 2013

Pasta Alfredo

We've been so busy lately!  So so so busy!  Time has been flying by and it's been difficult to blog too. 
I made hubby a big pot of spaghetti sauce the other day and I"m not too fond of red sauce.  Whenever I make the hubs a meal that isn't my fave I usually whip this up for my dinner.  
It's super fast~  
Enough time to boil the pasta and about 3 minutes to whip up the alfredo sauce.  
It is SO easy! I aint gonna lie.  Hubby had spagetti 2 nights in a row and I had this.  ;)
 1/3 cup of whipping cream
6 ounces of favorite frozen ravioli (or other pasta of your choice)
1 1/2 ounces of mozzarella cheese (I've used Monterey Jack in a pinch and it works fine)
Butter
Bring water in a saucepan to boil and throw in ravioli.  
Boil for a few minutes.  Drain and Set aside. 
Using the same pot that you boiled your pasta in melt about 1 tsp- 1 tbsp of butter.  Add cream and cheese.  Over  very low heat stir until cheese is melted.  If you turn up the heat too high the cheese will get grainy.  Add more milk if neccesary to desired texture.   Add ravioli to sauce and toss to coat.  
Top with cracked pepper and Parmesan Cheese if desired. 
Eat! 
Been toying around with making some recipe cards.  ;)  Here's my first one!  

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Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Rednesday~ June 12, 2013

Welcome to Rednesday!  We've got lots of Rednesday Goodness to share with you today!

Have you seen the new blog header up there? ^^^  I've been playing with that and finally put it up today.  I've made a new Rednesday Grab Box and if you could grab the pretty new code and box to link up I'd be grateful!  Of course it isn't neccesary but it looks so much better!
Check the sidebar for the html~
Thank you so much for linking up Friends! 
If you could  please link up with your individual post and not the URL of your blog it would be most appreciated and take everyone to the direct link!
My apologies Friends, if I've not linked up to the correct post or chosen the wrong picture for the last few weeks I recomend you checking what URL you are linking up to. 
If you click on the title of your blog post that you want to feature and share that url it would take me to the right place.  
Your blog url looks like this~
And your direct blog post link looks like this~ 

Inlinks doesn't allow me to have thumbnails unless I pay for a premium account and, sorry dear friends, that just isn't happening.  :)  If you know of another linkup that will feature thumbnails please feel free to leave me a comment and I'll switch over!  For now, text links will have to suffice!

All technicalities aside~  Here's our weekly Rednesday round up!
Please visit others and leave a comment!

Have a wonderful Rednesday and see you next week!

LaVoice shared some wonderful flowers on her blog. 
Ann over at My walk with food and beatiful plants and flowers is raring for a cruise in a red motorcycle.  What better way to see the summer sights! 
Paintin Patti made this wonderful patchwork quilt decoupage on her chair!  
Myrna shared this wonderful vintage clown in a cup toy~  isn't it adorable? 
I'm a sucker for jewelry and this vintage jewelry is no exception in wonderful red hues from Virginia Retro. 
I loved playing with dolls as a girl and Sally Annie Magundy did too.  She has shared some wonderful vintage doll clothes.  
Debbie Dabble shared this lovely red vignette from her home and other lovelies too! 
Debbie also shared her lovely back patio at her blog.  You can find lots of lovely pictures there! 
Sentimentally Me shared a beatiful red, blue and pink strawberry quilt that is adorable! 
Happy Rednesday Friends!  Thank you for joining me!  
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Oven Chicken Stew

I've tried Chicken Stew in the crockpot and it wasn't as good as this.  I've also tried it in a Dutch oven on the burner and, again, it wasn't as good as this.  I don't know why, but the flavors are wonderful in this when it's cooked in the oven.   I make this the same with Pork cubes for Pork Stew and it's even better.  
It's not an exact 'by the book' recipe and I 'm sure if you personalize it to your liking using seasonings you like you can make it yours!  I love recipes that come out exactly the same every time.  It's easy and makes for some good home cooking.

Black Pepper
Season Salt 
Cajun Seasoning 
One bag of Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs
One bag baby carrotts
1-2 cans of tomato sauce 
One Bag of Mixed Veggies 
flour (not shown)
1-2 cans of sliced potatoes or you can cube and cook your own 
or you can use 1 cup of coked elbow macaroni) (not shown)
Wash chicken and place in greased 15 by 10 pan.
Season your chicken well on all sides.
Sprinkle some flour on top.  Depending on how much juices and water are in your pan, you want to absorb all the water with the flour.  This will thicken the stew later on.  
Mix it in really good and make sure there are no dry spots on the bottom of the pan.  Yes it's kind of like glue but this really simplifies everything since nothing has to be browned before putting it in the pan.  
Add 1-2 cans of tomato sauce.  I used 2.
Mix it all together.
Add baby carrots and coat with tomato sauce.
Cover and cook at 350.
About an hour later remove from oven and break chicken apart with a spoon.  If it's still tough put it back in the oven till tender.  
Add potatoes and mixed vegetables and mix everything together.  
Put it back in oven for another 20 minutes or so until everything is heated through.  I put mine back in for about another 30 minutes because I love my chicken when it shreds.  
The baby carrotts will have cooked to perfection and are SO yummy!  
A Favorite Thing at Mockingbird Hill Lane Cottage

Women Living Well Monthly Link Up
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Thursday, June 6, 2013

No Knead Butter Rolls

Easy No Knead Buttery Rolls.  I can eat these for breakfast, lunch and dinner... in fact I'm getting ready to fry up an egg for the hubs to have on top of one of these for a quick brekky.  Yummo.   I won't tell you how many of these I ate when they came out of the oven yesterday.  Okay.  I ate 4!  haha!
The dough can be mixed together and kept covered in the refrigerator and dough can be pulled off, let rise and bake for easy fresh rolls.
. 
A quick word about flour.  I've noticed that in the bag of flour that I am currently using I need less flours when making bread so for this recipe I'm using 6 cups.  Use your own judgement and use the amount that works best for what you have.  Every flour brand is different and, every bag as well.  
3 cups Warm Water
2 Tbsp yeast
½ cups Sugar
½ cups Vegetable Oil (canola Works Best)
2 teaspoons Salt
6 cups To 7 Cups White Flour
1 stick Butter
375 degree oven.  Measure out water in a large mixing bowl.  Sprinkle the yeast on top of the water, add the sugar and salt and whisk together using wire whisk.  Let sit for a few minutes to make sure yeast is activated.  Add enough flour till dough is moistened and incorporated.  Dough will be sticky and not dry like traditional bread doughs.  

Cover dough and let rise till double about an hour or so but I don't wait that long.  ha!  Melt butter in microwave for a few seconds just until it melts.  If you overmelt  it then it will seperate.  Grease cookie sheet and hands and pull off chunks of dough of equal sizes and dipping them in butter then put them on the baking sheet.  I make about 26 rolls per recipe but mine are pretty big.  Pour the remaining butter over rolls.

Let rise 20 minutes and bake for 20 minutes.  I cooked two trays in one oven and won't do that again.  One at a time for great ventilation and so they dont get too brown on the bottom.  But....that being sad... the brown on the bottom was crunchy buttery good and not burnt so whatever yur preference is.

If you make these on a cookie sheet they tend to spread out.  I mad these today in good quality muffin pans and~ wowser~  they were much better.  The bread became crusty and golden and they were able to rise and be fluffy.  I'm definitely going to make these ONLY in the muffin tins.  (I uploaded new pics too!)


A Favorite Thing at Mockingbird Hill Lane Cottage

Women Living Well Monthly Link Up
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Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Rednesday and a Rednesday Round Up! June 5, 2013

It's Rednesday!

I was so tickled to have 16 entries last week and am hoping for more this week!  Please spread the word and the grab box if you don't mind!

Today is my Mom's birthday so in her memory I'm sharing this photo of she and I.  Oh how I love my mother and I'm sure I'm not the only one that will say there's nothing like a Mom's love.
If you'd like to read a tribute to her I wrote on Mom's Day you can click here.
Here are last week's link ups.  Please visit someone before you and share the love by leaving a comment!  Guidelines are at the bottom of this post.  

Cutie Pie Cottage shared some adorable red canisters and a red candled chandy that I love!
Second Time Around Finds shared lovely colored (pyrex or corning ware?) bowls for the kitchen.  I love them!
A Visit from Friends shared a sweet little kitty with a red bandana.  Awwww!!!
A vintage green shared some lovely plum blossoms.  Oh how I love this photo!
Virginia Retro shared some wonderful red tablecloths that will make you red with envy. 
Glass slipper and all sorts of stuff shared their homemade jam made for memorial day.  Nom Nom! 
Pyrex Thrifter Sisters shared a lovely vintage looking tablecloth hanging out on a clothesline.  Love! 
Mecky  at Kettle Korner Kottage shared some wonderful vintage red handled utensils that would look great in any kitchen. 
Nora shared her love of music with us.
Debbie Dabble shared her patriotic front porch with us and then gave us a double header with another holiday themes inside vignette
Since I was little I had always wanted a doll house.  A victorian doll house would have made me ecstatic!  Debbie does it again with this lovely patriotic doll house. 
 
Andromeda Village asks for shopping advice for chairs and I say go with the red.  
Myrna from My Enchanted Home shared an awesome landscape of a red barn.  *love*
Sally has been a long time visitor of my blog and I love it when she stops by and leaves a comment.  She shares, not a sock monkey, but a SOCK DOG!  He's vintage and the most adorable thing ever!!!  
And, last but not least...  Farmgirl Pink shares a vintage red and green vintage looking tablecloth that is so pretty! 
Ann has also left a comment and shared her wonderful Aukland floral garden pic.  
We're so glad she has joined us!  


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