RECIPE: Chicken Alfredo Lasagna Rollups

I've been dying to try this recipe ever since I found it on Pinterest. I was worried I might mess it up but managed to make it work by taking it slow. I've never made lasagna, so I was proud of myself for pulling this one off. 

Chicken Alfredo Lasagna Roll Ups

You can find the original pinned post at Mmm...Cafe.

Ingredients

9 lasagna noodles

2 1/2 cups Alfredo sauce

2 cups cooked chicken, shredded

oregano

garlic salt

3 cups shredded mozzarella (or cheese of your choice)

1. Pour a 1/2 cup of Alfredo sauce in a 8" x 8" greased dish or just enough to cover the bottom of the dish.

2. Boil 8-10 cups of water and cook lasagna noodles until al dente.
3. Drain and rinse noodles with cold water to prevent them from sticking to each other and lay each out individually. Blot dry.
4. Spread approximately two tablespoons of Alfredo sauce over each noodle. Sprinkle oregano and garlic salt on top of sauce.

5. Spread shredded chicken out over each noodle. (The recipe says 1/9th of the chicken for each noodle, but I never measure that type of stuff out.)

6. Add approximately three tablespoons of cheese. 

7. To roll up the noodles, start at one end and roll the noodle over the toppings.

8. Place the roll ups in the pan layered with sauce, one by one with seam down.

9. Pour the remaining Alfredo sauce over the roll ups and top with remaining cheese.

10. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the cheese on top is completely melted.

Voila!

The finished product:

I had a lot of fun making this recipe and it was quite tasty, too. If you're a fan of Chicken Alfredo, you should try this twist on a classic Italian dish.

RECIPE: Hamburger Mess

I changed it quite a bit, but you can find the original recipe here.

Ingredients

1 Onion; Diced
1 tbs. Canola Oil
1 28 oz. Can Whole Tomatoes
1 16 oz. Can Pasta Sauce 
2 lb. Ground Beef
1 Box of Large Macaroni Noodles
1 c. of Grated Cheddar
1 c. of Monterey Jack (the original recipe called for mozzarella but I substituted what I had in the fridge)
Salt and other optional seasonings, to taste

Directions

1. Sweat the onions in 1 tbs. of canola oil in a large pan with one pinch of salt.

2. Add the ground beef and cook until brown. Drain.

3. Transfer the meat to a large pot, add whole tomatoes and the pasta sauce, as well as any seasonings you wish. I used a pinch of oregano and a dash of Italian seasoning mix. I also mashed up the tomatoes really well.

4. Bring meat, tomatoes, and sauce to a boil. Once it starts boiling, reduce the heat and simmer for 45-60 mins. Stir occasionally.

5. When meat/tomatoes are almost finished, cook the pasta in a large pot (as box instructions suggest).

6. Drain the noodles. Once the meat/tomatoes are done, add the noodles to the mix (and mix well).

7. Transfer contents to a 9" x 13" dish and top with cheese(s).

8. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 400° for 10-12 minutes or until cheeses have fully melted.

Notes

The original recipe was made without pasta sauce, but I like for my noodles to be really moist. I felt like something was missing, so I added a small can of pasta sauce.

It also said to allow the tomatoes/noodles/meat mixture to sit for a few hours before baking, to allow the tomatoes to soak into the noodles. Because I added the tomato sauce, this wasn't necessary and I skipped it.

Lastly, the recipe said to cook for one hour. I had to no reason to bake it for that long because I didn't let the noodles sit out. The dish was already warm and didn't need re-heating (like it would have if the noodles had been sitting out for a while). I only baked it long enough to melt the cheese.

I served my Hamburger Mess with a side of cinnamon toast.
Yum!

RECIPE: Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels

INGREDIENTS

16 oz bag of unsalted pretzels
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
2 tbs cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

1. Place pretzels on the bottom of roasting or baking pan. (I used a Pyrex dish.)
2. Mix vegetable oil, sugar, and cinnamon in bowl. Stir until evenly mixed.
3. Immediately drizzle mixture over pretzels and stir well.
4. Bake in pre-heated 300 degree oven for 30 minutes, remove twice to stir.
5. Let stand for five minutes or until cool.

...AND VOILA!

RECIPE: Chocolate Chip Oreo Cookies

This cookie was so quick and easy to whip up. Plus, it's quite tasty. You can find the original recipe here.

Ingredients

1 stick softened butter
6 tablespoons brown sugar
6 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
11 broken pieces of broken Oreo cookies
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream butter and sugars together until well blended. Add egg and vanilla until well mixed.

2. Place flour, baking soda, and salt into large bowl and stir together. Slowly add dry mix to wet mix. Stir in broken Oreo's and chocolate chips until well combined.

3. Using a cookie scoop, scoop batter onto cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool on baking sheet for three minutes prior to moving cookies to cooling rack.

RECIPE: Cheesy Ranch Potato Bake

I cooked this dish without realizing that it's probably best served as a side dish. Oh well, I still ate a hearty helping of it anyway. You can find the recipe listed here.

Ingredients

4 lbs of russet potatoes, cut into 1/4 inch squares
2 tsp of chili powder
1 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of ground black pepper
6 tbs of butter, cubed
1 8 oz package of shredded Colby Jack/Monterey cheese blend
1 8 oz bottle of ranch dressing

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13x3 inch baking dish. 
2. Place potatoes in the baking dish. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and chili powder.

3. Evenly distribute the butter of the potatoes.

5. Cover dish with foil and bake for one hour, until potatoes are tender. Remove from oven and mix in cheese and ranch dressing. Cook for an additional 10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.

I wish I had a better picture because this one doesn't do it justice. It was very good but also very greasy. I will definitely use less butter if I make it again.

Side note: The prep of the cubed potatoes was a lot of work. 

RECIPE: Ruby Tuesday's Ham & Pea Pasta Salad

Ruby Tuesday's pasta salad is like crack to me. I could eat a plate of that stuff -- forget the lettuce, tomatoes, and whatever else. 

I set out to find the perfect copycat recipe. I found many different websites, with many different recipes, and I've tried several different versions. I've tweaked an ingredient here and there, and now I've finally got the perfect version.

This isn't an exact recipe (clearly, as I omit the peas) but tastes very similar. Honestly, in my humble opinion, this one tastes even better.

INGREDIENTS

1 lb. box of rotini
1 c. ranch dressing (I used Hidden Valley Ranch)
1 c. mayo
1 (small) pkg. diced ham
8 oz bag cheddar cheese, shredded
2 tbs. of french fry seasoning
(I use Paula Deen's seasoning mix because it's delicious.)

Paula Deen's seasoning mix: 1 c. salt, 1/4 c. pepper, 1/4 c. garlic powder
Mix them together in a small bowl and pour into an empty salt shaker.
(Caution: This is a lot of seasoning -- way more than 2 tbs. So, don't dump the entire thing into with the pasta salad.)

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook noodles; drain. Allow noodles to cool.

2. Mix noodles with the remaining ingredients -- ranch, mayo, ham, cheese, and french fry seasoning (or the seasoning mix); stir well.

3. Refrigerate at least two hours prior to serving.

PS. You can always add the peas if you'd prefer. I always end up picking around them, so I chose to omit them from my recipe altogether.