Spaghetti with Lemon and Parmesan

Brody and I thought this was pretty good, but Ross - not so much.  It was just so fast and easy to make that I think I loved it even more...haha.  Guess B and I will just have to eat one night when Ross isn't home :)

Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 cup cream
3 cups finely grated Parmesan/Pecorino cheese
juice and rind of one lemon
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley
salt and fresh black pepper to taste
1lb spaghetti, cooked and 1 cup of cooking water reserved

Combine all the sauce ingredients and mix well.

Toss with the cooked spaghetti and add some of the reserved cooking water to loosen it up a bit if necessary.

Serve with chopped parsley and some extra Parmesan if required.

Roasted Cauliflower with Calabrian chilies

My cousin Jenn and I went to Pizzeria Lola over Christmas, and we got their side dish of Cauliflower.  It was SOOOOO amazing!!!!  Jenn sent me this recipe she found, so we had to make it at cookbook!!!

This dish has become one of best selling starters at Pizzeria Lola. The key to this dish is roasting at a very high temperature, keeping the outside slightly charred/crisp and the inside delicate. Roasting brings out the natural sweetness of this vegetable.

Ingredients: 
1 medium head of cauliflower cut into 1 1/2 inch florets 
1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil 
2 tablespoons lemon juice 
2 tablespoons of diced calabrian chilies or chili flakes to taste 

flat leaf parsley diced as garnish 
lemon zest 
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. 

Place cauliflower florets in large roasting pan or baking sheet. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place the roasting pan/baking sheet in the oven and roast for 15 minutes. Stir florets occasionally to ensure an even roast. Remove from oven and toss with lemon juice and chilies. Garnish with lemon zest and chopped parsley. Serve immediately. 

Tortellini Skewers with Pesto Dipping Sauce

I had this recipe on my pinterest board FOREVER, so when we decided to do "sides" for the theme this time, I figured it was time to make these!  It wasn't anything super special, but it was yummy and Brody LOVED them :)

Makes 8 Skewers

Ingredients:
24 cheese tortellini, cooked to al dente
16 cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tbsp garlic flavored olive oil or regular olive oil 

Pesto (or just buy store bought)
2 cups clean, dry basil
2 garlic cloves 
1/3 cup fresh grated good Parmesan
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
1/4 cup olive oil

Make the Pesto
Throw everything in the food processor and chop for a few minutes. Pour in 1/4 cup of good olive oil. Process until thoroughly combined.

Skewers:
After tortellini is cooked, toss in flavored olive oil. Then alternate tortellini and tomatoes so that there are 3 tortellini's and 2 tomato halves on each skewer. Serve at room temp or chilled.

Cheesy Bacon Oven Chips

You can't really go wrong with potatoes, cheese, and bacon...I would eat each on their own every day, all day :)  This was really easy to make too!!  The sauce was YUMMY but it does have a kick - so if you don't like spicy, then maybe cut out chili powder!

Serves 6

Ingredients:

3 large, uniformly-shaped russet potato, scrubbed well and sliced into 1/8" rounds

cooking spray

2 ¼ cups shredded colby jack or cheddar cheese

salt & pepper to taste

6 tablespoons crumbled bacon (about 6 slices) - I used real bacon bits

chopped parsley or chives, for garnish (optional)

Chipotle Ranch Dipping Sauce

3 tablespoons ranch dressing

9 tablespoons sour cream

3/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder

2/3 teaspoon cayenne (adjust more or less depending on how spicy you want).

2/3 teaspoon salt

2/3 teaspoon garlic powder

Place all ingredients in a small bowl, and stir to combine.  Refrigerate any leftovers.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Bring sliced potatoes to a boil in cold, salted water to cover for 5 minutes.  Carefully drain, and transfer slices to a paper-towel lined countertop or cutting board.  Pat to dry.

Grease a baking sheet with cooking spray, and lay out potato slices so they are overlapping on it.  Spray lightly with additional cooking spray, then sprinkle with salt & pepper to taste.  Sprinkle evenly with shredded cheese & bacon.  Bake 12-14 minutes in preheated oven until cheese is melted & bubbly.  Serve with chipotle ranch sauce. 

Easter Cards

Cutie Easter cards :)

Tissue paper "stained" glass art

Yes...more inside toddler activities....hehe!  This one Brody was involved from start to finish - he LOVED being able to rip the tissue paper before sticking it :)  Another spin on this would be to let them decorate and then take and either cut it into a "holiday/fun" shape -- or put a piece of card stock behind it to keep the art work.

Supplies

Press n Seal

Tissue paper

Put press n seal on window - sticky side out...then rip up some pieces of tissue paper and let your little ones stick them up! WOOT WOOT

Picture Basket

As everyone knows - I LOVE pictures...so since I have so many laying around, I decided to make a little basket for Brody that contains fun pics for him to learn names / words!

It's awesome -- he sees himself doing fun things in them, and he has picked up on names of family members and new words!