Greek Rice and Lemon Soup

I can NOT remember where on the internet I found this recipe!
I found this picture that looks just like the soup I made, although I can't take credit for taking the pretty picture!

2 Tbsp butter
1/3 cup minced green onions
6 cups chicken stock
2/3 cup uncooked white rice
4 eggs
Juice of 1 lemon
1/8 tsp pepper


Melt butter in a 3 quart saucepan over medium heat. Add green onions. Cook and stir about 3 minutes or until onions are tender.
Stir in chicken broth and rice. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low; simmer, covered, for 20-25 minutes or until rice is tender.
Beat eggs in medium bowl with wire whisk until well beaten. Add lemon juice and 1/2 cup of the broth mixture to bowl. Gradually return egg mixture to broth mixture in saucepan, stirring constantly. Cook and stir over low heat for 2-3 minutes, or until broth mixture thickens enough to lightly coat a spoon. Do not boil.
Stir in pepper if desired. Garnish with fresh mint and lemon peel if desired.
Serve with pita bread and hummus and feta.

Fettuccine Alfredo with Asparagus (pretty much the easiest alfredo ever)

recipe (and picture) from www.delish.com

I just tried this new recipe out last night, and it was really good! I'll definitely do it again. In fact I had a hard time saving the leftovers for Justin...
I'm not pretending this is a HEALTHY dish, but it is delicious!

1 pound asparagus
3/4 pound fettucine noodles
4 Tbsp butter, cut into pieces
1 cup heavy cream (I didn't have any cream, but I've heard that you can substitute 3/4 cup milk plus 1/3 cup butter, so I did that. Yes, that adds up to a lot of butter!)
1 pinch nutmeg
3/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

Snap the tough ends off the asparagus and discard them. Cut the washed asparagus spears into 1 inch pieces.
In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the fettucine until almost done, about 8 minutes. Add the asparagus and cook until it and the pasta are just done, about 4 minutes longer.
Drain the pasta and asparagus. Toss with the butter, cream, nutmeg, salt, pepper, and parmesan. Yep, just throw it all in and stir.
Now, at this stage, (maybe because of my cream substitution??) mine was very liquid-y. So I just turned the heat back on while I was stirring everything up. Eventually (after a minute or so) it thickened up and I had a delicious pasta with no liquid in the bottom of the pan. Tada.
Serve with additional parmesan on top.

Zuppa Toscana

(Like Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana)

taken from several different recipes found on the internet

3/4 pound ground Italian sausage (I don't care for the spicy kind, but you might)
1 large diced white onion
1/2 pound bacon
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
10 cups water
5 cubes chicken bouillon
1 cup heavy cream
3 large russet potatoes, scrubbed clean and cubed (not too big, not too small)
1/4 of a bunch of kale, washed and chopped

Saute the Italian sausage in a frying pan. Drain excess fat and refrigerate while you prepare other ingredients.
Saute bacon, onions, and garlic for approximately 15 minutes or until the onions are soft. Drain off excess fat.
In a large soup pot, mix together the chicken bouillon and water, then add the cubed potatoes and half the bacon mixture. Bring to a boil, and then simmer over medium heat until potatoes are tender (about 1/2 hour).
Add in remaining bacon mixture, and sausage.
Add heavy cream and cook until heated through. Add kale just before serving.
At Olive Garden we've let them add freshly grated parmesan, but at home I just can't bring myself to do it. And trust me, you don't need it!

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Recipe, originally called Hershey Banana Bread, came from my sister in law Amy

1 cup mashed bananas (3 small)

1/2 cup shortening or APPLESAUCE

2 eggs

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup sugar

2 cups flour

1 cup chocolate chips

Grease bottoms only of two loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pans to wire rack. Cool completely.

Wright's Apricot Chicken

I got this recipe from my mother in law Janet, who uses her own homemade apricot jam, which makes this amazing!

1 cup apricot jam
1/3 cup orange juice concentrate
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar

4 chicken breasts
white rice

Combine jam, orange juice, soy sauce and brown sugar in a bowl. Pour over chicken breasts in a baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until chicken is well done. Serve with rice. Also great on the barbeque!

HOMEMADE PIZZA: MARGHERITA STYLE

Recipe originated from Erin Russell

DOUGH:
2 tsp yeast
1/2 cup very warm water
2 tsp sugar
Let sit a few minutes until foamy. Add:
1 1/2 cups more warm water
2 tsp salt
5-6 cups flour
Cover and let raise for a couple hours. It's so much better it you do this, so start your dough mid afternoon when you want pizza for dinner!

SAUCE:
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped coarsely
Basil, some oregano, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp sugar
Heat in small saucepan while mashing with a potato masher. Cook over medium high heat for about 10 minutes.
(Or use any good bottled sauce)

Preheat your pizza stone in 500 degree oven.
Cut your ball of dough in half (save other half for a second pizza or breadsticks).
If you have a pizza peel, sprinkle it with cornmeal so you'll easily be able to slide the pizza onto your pizza stone when you're ready to bake it.

Shape one of the halves into a disc then roll into a large flat circle and place it on the pizza peel.
Brush the dough lightly with olive oil.
Spread some of your sauce around. Lay thin slices of mozzarella cheese (or shredded is fine) over your entire pizza. Sprinkle basil (chopped fresh is AMAZINGly good) and a little salt and pepper over the pizza. Lay thinly sliced fresh tomatoes around your pizza. You can add a little more basil and salt and pepper if desired. Then I like to grate a little fresh parmesan cheese over the top of the whole thing.
Carefully slide the whole unbaked pizza from the peel onto your preheated pizza stone. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes, until the cheese slightly starts to brown.
When you pull it out, let it sit for a minute before cutting into it. Careful, it's really hot!!!


(pictured is a miniature version I made once from leftover dough)