Chicken and Pepper Pasta with a Balsamic Cream Sauce

My husband didn't want our usual chicken and peppers dish this week, but that's what I had originally planned for dinner.  He wanted pasta.  So, this was the end result and if his stomach could hold that much food, he would have eaten every last bit!  Believe it or not, if you serve 4 with this batch, it's around 725 calories per serving, but if you add a salad and serve 6, it's only about 500 calories per serving.  You'd think pasta with a cream sauce would be far worse for you, but this isn't too bad.  Enjoy!

Red Wine Strawberries and Cream Crepes

I'm not the best at food photography, but if you could taste this, you'd know how amazing it is.  We had some left over macerated strawberries from dinner on Friday and I figured crepes would be a great way to utilize them instead of having to go get (or make) some pastry to go with them.  I hope you enjoy them as much as we did!  This recipe requires a little thinking ahead for the berries, but it is well worth it.

Beef Stew from Scratch

For the past few years, my husband and I have wanted to make a good beef stew that didn't involve using a packet of seasoning mix from the store.  I know... there's lots of recipes out there for this kind of thing, but I either didn't think about looking one up or was more intrigued by creating my own version without help.  So, after much experimenting, I finally got a batch right, and it was GREAT.  I know it hasn't been that cold here, but you can't go through winter without having beef stew at least once (or so my husband says!).  So, give it a try and let me know what you think.  Maybe next post I'll get back to baking... :)

Curry Carrot Soup

To start off the new year (and because I was bored at home), I chose to try something new tonight for dinner.  I saw several bags of carrots in the fridge from the last sale at the store that were begging to be used and began thinking of a carrot soup.  Originally I was going toward a pea soup kind of idea, but wanted something healthy and still flavorful.  I found several recipes on the internet regarding carrot curry soups and carrot and ginger soups, but nothing really struck my fancy exactly.  So, I mixed up a batch using the concepts I found online and ended up with an amazingly delicious (and healthy) soup!  Well, I didn't end up using it in a soup-like way, I put the thick puree on top of quinoa (a very healthy grain that is full of protien) and as I eat, I decided it must go into the "keep" pile of recipes.  So, here it is, for those of you interested.

Cookie Truffles

A few years ago, I stumbled across a cookbook with a recipe for Oreo Truffles.  Some of you may have had the pleasure of sampling these the last time I made them, but if not, you are in for something amazing that is incredibly simple!  Since then, I've made these using Oreos and Nutter Butter cookies.  My friend and I have never been able to decide which one is better because they are both so yummy.  I hope you find this recipe a delightful addition to your holiday cookie/candy lists.

Meta's Hashbrown Casserole

This is a recipe to ignore if you're on a diet looking for something healthy... but I guarantee it tastes delicious.  This is one of the more popular side dishes I have requests for at family get togethers.  I hope you find it as enjoyable as they do!  It goes great with a main dish like my Prime Rib recipe or even just turkey or ham.

Prime Rib

For those of you looking for a recipe for something rich and delicious this holiday season and looking for a good recipe... here you go.  We've made this a few times now and it never ceases to be delicious, whether you let it sit for the 10 days or just the time it takes to preheat the oven!