Lea Lambert's Alfredo Sauce

Hooray for cousins and their yummy recipes!  This has become my family's favorite Alfredo sauce recipe.  It is quick and easy.  I often quadruple the recipe so there are plenty of leftovers.  We've found that leftovers work best when the sauce and pasta are combined before refrigerating.  

Serves 6

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter

2 TBS (= 1 oz) cream cheese

1 pint heavy whipping cream

1 tsp garlic powder

a pretty good amount of pepper--at least 1 tsp, maybe more

            (that's how Lea does it--the recipe lists it as no amount, just an ingredient)

2/3 c grated parmesan cheese

1 lb fettuccine, bow tie pasta, penne, linguini, or whatever other pasta you have on hand (leftovers are a little easier with shaped pasta, such as bow tie or penne).

Instructions:

In medium saucepan melt butter.

When melted, add cream cheese.

When cream cheese is softened, add whipping cream.

Season with garlic powder, salt (if you want, we don't add it), pepper.

Simmer for 15-20 minutes over low heat, stirring continuously. 

Add parmesan. Continue stirring until melted. Remove from heat.

While preparing the sauce, cook pasta according to package instructions.

We like to pour enough sauce into all the pasta to coat everything to the desired consistency, rather than put sauce over individual portions of pasta.  

Hawaiian Haystacks

 I really like Hawaiian Haystacks.  I don't love all the prep, but just make a bunch and then enjoy the leftovers.  I highly prefer this homemade sauce recipe to the traditional cream of chicken soup.  I typically double or triple the recipe so I have plenty for leftovers.  I found the recipe here.

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ cup finely chopped onion
• 3 cloves garlic; finely minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• ⅓ cup flour
• 1 cup chicken broth (I use low sodium)
• 2 cups milk
• 3 to 4 cups cooked, cubed chicken (see note)

Instructions 

• In a large skillet or saucepan, melt the butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until translucent, 3-4 minutes.
• Add the garlic and cook for about one minute, stirring, until fragrant.
• Combine the flour, broth, and milk in a blender (or use a handheld whisk and a bowl or liquid measuring cup) and blend until smooth.
• Pour the mixture into the pan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture simmers and thickens, 2-3 minutes.
• Stir in the cooked chicken, salt and pepper. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring often.
• Season to taste with additional salt and pepper, if needed.
• Serve over rice with toppings such as: carrots, peas (thawed from frozen, but not cooked), celery, olives, tomatoes, shredded cheddar cheese, green onions, mandarin oranges, pineapple, and chow mein or Asian rice noodles.

Notes

Chicken: the meat of a rotisserie chicken, cubed or shredded, works great here, as does canned chicken, if you prefer to use that. If you want to use uncooked chicken, use about 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Cut them into bite-size pieces and saute them until cooked through in step #1 with the onions. 

Original Recipe: over the years, I've changed how I make this recipe to make it even easier. If you are looking for the original recipe, it called for melting 3 tablespoons butter, cooking the onion and raw chicken pieces until the chicken is cooked through, adding the garlic and 1/4 cup flour and cooking for a couple minutes before whisking in the broth and milk and simmering until thickened. 

Ground Turkey Enchiladas (or Enchilada Casserole)

This is a very fast, easy recipe, and gratefully, my kids liked it!  The recipe as written is for individual enchiladas, but I didn't have time to cook the tortillas and fill individual enchiladas, so I just made it into a casserole.  As written, this serves 6.  I doubled the recipe and had plenty for my family, as well as a pan to give away. I made this recipe based on this recipe and this recipe.

Ingredients

Filling:

1.5 pounds lean ground turkey

1 onion diced

2 tablespoons taco seasoning

1 can black beans (not a part of the original recipe, but extra fiber and protein are always great)

2-3 cups cooked brown rice (also not part of the original recipe.  I just used leftover rice from another meal)

Enchiladas:

12 corn tortillas (I bought a package of street taco tortilla from Costco, and used 3/4 of it)

3 tablespoons cooking oil vegetable oil or canola oil (I did not use this for the casserole)

20 ounces red enchilada sauce (1 medium can or 2 small cans) (I prefer homemade or Las Palmas)

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Garnish (optional)

freshly chopped cilantro

freshly chopped green onion

pico de gallo

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350˚F (for the casserole I did 425).

In a large skillet, cook the ground turkey and chopped onion over medium heat. Break the meat up as it cooks until it is cooked through and no longer pink. Drain any excess grease and mix in the taco seasoning.

Once done, remove from heat. (For the casserole, I then poured enough enchilada sauce into the meat to make it a sloppy joe consistency.)

Add 1 tablespoon of oil to a small skillet over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the tortillas and flip each side to quickly warm and coat with oil. Repeat with all tortillas, adding additional oil to the skillet as needed. (I skipped this step for the casserole - I just used the tortillas straight out of the bag.)

Pour 1/4 cup of the enchilada sauce in the bottom of a large baking dish. I used a 9x13 inch casserole. Spread to coat the bottom.

Fill each tortilla with a spoonful of meat mixture and roll tightly placing seam side down in the baking dish. Repeat until all of the turkey filled enchiladas are rolled and in the pan. (Instead of this, I put a layer of tortillas on the bottom of the pan, then layered it with meat, black beans, brown rice, and cheese, then another layer of tortillas and fillings, then a final layer of tortillas on top.)

Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the enchiladas so that they are all covered in sauce, then sprinkle the cheese over the top.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the edges start to bubble. Garnish with your choice of chopped cilantro, green onions, or pico de gallo.

Notes

Substitutions: 

Swap the meat – Substitute ground chicken or a lean ground beef for more variations for enchiladas.

Onion – white onions are traditional for Mexican cuisine, but sweet, yellow, or red would also work.

Cheese – My cheese of choice is sharp cheddar because it has a stronger flavor, is less greasy than other cheeses, and is a great melting cheese. Mexican blend, colby jack, and Monterey jack are also good options.

Corn tortillas – Use corn shells for a traditional Mexican flavor. I use 8 regular size corn tortillas, but if you can find the street size corn taco shells, the work the best. 

Flour tortillas can be substituted but it will not have the same taste and texture as the corn shells.

How to Store: To save leftovers, separate into meal sized portions and then place in an airtight container and store them in the refrigerator for 3-4 days or in the freezer up to a month

How to Freeze: This recipe freezes well. It can be frozen up to 3 months in advance or after cooking. See “how to freeze” section in original post for full instructions.

How to Reheat: This can be reheated in the microwave in 30 second increments, or cover with tin foil and place into the oven to reheat.

How to Scale: This recipe can easily be doubled if you are feeding a crowd or halved for smaller portions.

Crescent Dinner Rolls

 My family loves these bake-off winning rolls!  I found the recipe here.

Prep time:  3 hours

Cook time:  20 minutesServings: 24 crescent rolls

Ingredients

  

• 1 ½ cups warm water around 95°F
• ½ cup warm milk around 95°F
• 1 Tablespoon instant yeast*
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• ½ cup boxed potato flakes
• 2 large eggs room temperature
• ½ cup butter flavored shortening
• ¼ cup unsalted butter softened
• 6 cups bread flour divided

For rolling up:

• ¼ cup unsalted butter melted

Instructions

 

Prepare the crescent roll dough

• To the bowl of a stand mixer, add the ingredients for the cinnamon roll dough: the water, milk, instant yeast, sugar, salt, dry potato flakes, eggs, shortening, butter, and half the flour. Mix with the dough hook attachment, on low speed until combined and smooth, about 1 minute.
• While on low speed, gradually add the remaining flour, about 1/2 cup at a time. You may or may not need the entire amount of flour. You can stop the mixer and check the dough by lightly tapping on it with your fingertip - it should feel soft, slightly tacky, but not wet. *When in doubt, it’s always best to go lighter on the flour. You can always add more flour later, but you can’t take flour away. Too much flour in your dough will give you dry, dense rolls.
• Knead the dough on low speed for 10-15 minutes, or until it's smooth and cohesive. It should be mostly cleaning the sides of the bowl. If you take a piece of dough, you should be able to stretch it a few inches apart without it tearing.

Bulk Fermentation

• Spray a large bowl with nonstick baking spray. Remove the dough from the mixer and place it the bowl. Cover it with a clean kitchen towel and let it rise until doubled in size, about 60-90 minutes.

Rolling out crescent rolls

• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Melt the 1/4 cup of butter and set aside.
• Flour your work surface and divide the dough into two equal pieces. If you are weighing it, each piece should weigh about 28 ounces/790 grams. Round each piece into a ball shape by pulling the sides under and pinching the dough together underneath. This will make it easier to roll out into a circle.
• Flour your work surface. Working with one ball of dough, use a rolling pin to roll it to a 16-inch circle, about ¼ inch thick. Brush the top with 2 Tablespoons of the melted butter.
• With a pizza cutter, cut the dough into 12 equal wedges, just as you would a pizza. Stretch one of the wedges to lengthen a bit. Starting with the wider end, roll it up, pulling slightly to tighten it up as go. Tuck the end under and place the crescent roll on the prepared baking sheet with the tip side underneath. Roll up the remaining rolls.

Final Proof

• Allow the crescent rolls to rise in a warm place until puffy and doubled in size, about 45-60 minutes.

Bake

• Bake on the middle rack, in preheated 350°F oven for 16-20 minutes or until golden brown.
• Allow to cool on the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Or serve warm. Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 6 days.

Notes

1. This recipe has been updated from its original version. The original version called for 2 cups of warm water and 1/4 cup of powdered milk. I updated the recipe because I found that using regular milk was more available for bakers, and it yields the same results.
2. *You can replace the instant yeast with active dry yeast – be sure to proof it first. Proof it by adding the active dry yeast to the water with 1 Tablespoon of the sugar. Let it sit for up to 15 minutes to foam up. If it doesn’t foam, replace yeast with a fresh package.
3. Freeze unbaked crescent rolls: You can freeze the rolls to bake later. After rolling up and placing the them on parchment lined cookie sheet, put the entire pan in the freezer and allow the rolls to freeze for 24 hours. Once frozen, remove the sheet pan and you can pop them off, place them in a ziplock bag, and store in the freezer for later use. When baking frozen rolls, remove them from the freezer bag and place on a baking sheet. Allow them to rise at room temperature and bake as usual. This could take 3-5 hours, depending on how warm your kitchen is. 
4. Overnight rolls: Make overnight crescent rolls by rolling them out, place on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator overnight. They tend to rise quickly, even in the refrigerator, so I suggest only refrigerating for 8 hours. 
5. Make the dough the night before: You can make the dough the night before and refrigerate - roll them up in the morning and let rise to double in size, about 45 minutes before baking.
6. This is the same dough for my Homemade Cinnamon Rolls. You can double this recipe and make both dinner rolls and cinnamon rolls with the same dough.
7. Substitutions: You can swap out butter for the butter flavored shortening. You can also swap out 1/3 cup cooked potato for every 1/2 cup of the potato flakes. You can use all-purpose flour instead of bread flour - you may need a little bit extra to make it less sticky.

Herb and Butter Stuffing

 This is a really yummy stuffing - nothing crazy about it, just good. It really does taste like a better version of Stove Top.  And it freezes great, too, so you can make it ahead of time! I found the recipe at Plum Street Collective.

 Servings12

 AuthorShannon Lyon

Ingredients

• 1½ loaves of crusty white bread, dried and cubed (about 15 cups) (I like the Italian round loaves in the bakery section of the grocery store)
• 1 ¼ cups unsalted butter (2.5 sticks)
• 1 yellow onion, diced small (medium sized onion)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons celery seed
• 2 teaspoons dried onion flakes
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh sage, chopped
• 4 cups chicken stock
• cooking spray

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Chop bread into roughly 1-inch cubes and lay out onto a large baking sheet. (I like to chop it into smaller cubes - easier to eat!)
• Bake bread for 20-35 minutes until very well dried out. You want it to be completely dry and hard.
• Once bread is dried and cooked, transfer to a large bowl. Then you can begin cooking down the onions.
• In a large saucepan, add butter and diced onions. Cover and cook over medium heat until onions are translucent.
• Once onions are cooked, add salt, celery seed, and dried onions. Stir to coat celery seed and dried onions in the butter.
• Add chopped fresh herbs (parsley, thyme, and sage). Mix well.
• Slowly add the chicken stock and mix until incorporated.
• Remove mixture from heat and slowly and evenly pour over the dried bread in the large bowl. Once poured, mix well with two large spoons until bread is evenly coated. Make sure you mix it really well, so there are no dry pieces of bread. They should all be hydrated.
• Spray a 9x13" baking dish with cooking spray, then pour stuffing mixture into pan. Spray top of bread with a little additional cooking spray to keep the top from drying out.
• Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.
• After 30 minutes remove aluminum foil and bake uncovered for 5-7 more minutes, until top is golden.
• Remove from oven and serve immediately.

Cranberry Orange Relish

 This has been our go-to cranberry dish the past few Thanksgivings.  It is the perfect complement to the other Thanksgiving staples.  I found the recipe at Plum Street Collective.

A fresh burst of flavors - made with only a couple ingredients and no cooking! This Cranberry Orange Relish will complete your Thanksgiving meal.

Perfect on turkey, stuffing, rolls, and even mashed potatoes!

 Servings12

 AuthorJessica Allred

Ingredients

• 3 cups fresh cranberries (one 12 oz. bag) (can use them from frozen too)
• 1 apple, rough chopped
• 3 small mandarin or clementine oranges, rough chopped (peel on) (or you can use 1 large navel orange - but zest it and only add the zest, not the whole peel- the peel on a large orange is much thicker than the clementines)
• 1 2/3 cups white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice

Instructions

• In a food processor or high-powered blender, add cranberries, apple, sugar, oranges, lemon juice, and spices.
• Blend ingredients together until relish consistency (not a smooth puree but no huge chunks).
• Pour Cranberry Orange Relish into an airtight container. It needs to chill for 4 hours, up to overnight before serving. This allows the flavors to come together. (And you can store in the fridge for 7-10 days.)
• Once it has chilled for several hours, enjoy!

Firecracker Chicken

It's been a crazy summer and a minute since I cooked dinner.  When I saw this recipe here, it looked quick, delicious, and worth a try.  I made a few modifications to ensure it wasn't too hot for my heat-averse husband (iykyk), and it was a winner! It got the "I'd eat this twice a week" rating from said husband :).  The original recipe post has a lot of tips for making this chicken, so if you're looking for more detailed instructions, visit the link above.  

Prep Time:  10 minutes

Cook Time: 8 minutes

Servings: 6 servings (I had to double this for my family, but will probably triple or quadruple it in the future so there will be plenty, with leftovers for lunches)

Ingredients

For the Chicken:

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into 1 inch pieces

2 tbsp corn starch

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp vegetable oil (or canola) (I used olive oil)

4 cloves garlic pressed

2 tsp fresh ginger grated

For the Sauce:

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup orange juice

2 tbsp sriracha (I substituted an equal amount of Thai sweet chili sauce (Trader Joe's) to minimize heat)

2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (I omitted this, but let those who wished add some to their plate)

1/4 cup green onions sliced

Instructions

Make the sauce by whisking together the brown sugar, orange juice, sriracha (or sweet chili sauce), rice wine vinegar, and crushed red pepper (if you're using it).

Season the chicken with salt, then toss it with the cornstarch until evenly coated.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Once the oil is hot, place the chicken in the skillet and let it cook for 2 minutes, then flip it and let it cook for 2 additional minutes.

Stir in the garlic and ginger then add the sauce mixture and reduce the heat to low. Let the sauce simmer for 3-4 minutes or until it reduces and becomes thick. 

Stir in the green onions and remove from heat.  Garnish with fresh green onions and additional red pepper flakes and sriracha as desired and serve hot with rice (we used brown).

Notes

Substitutions:

• Chicken breast – You can substitute chicken thighs or tenderloins per your preference
• Spiciness:  As mentioned above, to minimize the heat, you can substitute Thai sweet chili sauce for the sriracha, and you can omit the red chili flakes
• How to Store: To save leftovers, separate into meal sized portions and then place in an airtight container and store:
• in the refrigerator for 3-4 days
• in the freezer up to a month

How to Freeze: This meal can be prepared as a freezer meal and will keep for up to 6 months in the freezer.

• Prepare and cook chicken as directed.
• Mix ingredients for sauce and store in a freezer bag or freezer friendly container.
• Store chicken in a separate container.
• Freeze.
• Once ready to eat, reheat chicken in a hot skillet and then add sauce and reduce as directed.

How to Reheat: This can be reheated in the microwave in 30 second increments, or cover with tin foil and place into the oven to reheat.