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Go to Sleep - The Avett Brothers

Salmon with Creamy Pesto Sauce

Ok this was so freaking good. I am a new seafood eater and am very wary of really fishy tasting stuff but am coming to like salmon. And especially this recipe! We served it with couscous and put some of the sauce on the couscous. The below recipe says to grill, but Tommy just pan fried the fillets with some oil.

What you need:
4 salmon fillets (1 lb.)
1/4 tsp. each salt and pepper
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cup milk
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) Cream Cheese, cubed
2 Tbsp. pesto
1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh parsley

What you need to do:
Heat grill to medium heat. Brush both sides of fish with oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill, skin-sides down, 10 min. or until fish flakes easily with fork.
Meanwhile, cook cream cheese and milk in saucepan on medium heat 2 to 3 min. or until cream cheese is completely melted and sauce is well blended, stirring constantly. Stir in pesto. Serve fish topped with sauce and parsley.

Sausage Stars

These are really cute little appetizers, especially to make at Christmas time because of the red and green peppers in them. (This picture was taken before they were actually baked, just fyi).

What you need:
1 pound hot sausage, cooked, crumbled, and drained
1 cup ranch dressing
1.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1.5 cups shredded monty jack cheese
1/2 cup chopped peppers (I used green normally, but the recipe actually calls for red)
1 package wonton wrappers (48 count) - these are in refridgerated section - by produce usually
1 (2.25 oz) can sliced black olives (I don't like olives so i skip this)
Vegetable Oil

What you need to do:
Heat oven to 350. Find your mini muffin tin and press one wonton wrapper into each muffin mold so that the 4 corners stick out to form a cup. Brush with oil (I usually just spray mine with pam instead...). Bake 5 minutes. While thats baking, get out a bowl and combine drained cooked sausage, ranch, cheeses, peppers, and olives. When the wonton wrappers are done cooking, take them out of the oven and fill each cup with the sausage mixture and bake for 5 more minutes or until cheese is melted.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

MMMMM. Anything with cream of anything soup in it is amazing, including this recipe!

What you need:
1 (10.75 ounce) can cream of chicken soup
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
1 cup Picante Sauce
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 cups chopped cooked chicken (sometimes I do 1 pound of chicken breasts, sometimes I do 1 pound of ground chicken)
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
10 Fajita Size Flour Tortillas, warmed
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 green onion, sliced

What you need to do:
Mix soup, sour cream, picante sauce and chili powder. Mix 1 cup picante sauce mixture, chicken and cheese. Spread about 1/4 cup chicken mixture down center of each tortilla. Roll up and place seam-side down in 3-quart shallow baking dish. Pour remaining picante sauce mixture over enchiladas. Cover. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes or until hot. Top with tomato and onion.

Easy Baked Tomato Pasta with Spinach

This is a recipe from Shape magazine. Really easy, pretty good, pretty healthy. I will definitely make this again as a quick and easy week night meal. Serves 5 and takes about 30 minutes.

What you need:
2 cup whole-wheat penne (I used Rotini bc thats what I had on hand)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon olive oil, divided
1 clove garlic, minced
4 cup baby spinach
3 cup diced tomato, divided (I used two cans of diced toms, drained)
1 T dried oregano (or any herb)
Pinch of salt
3/4 cup shredded low- fat cheddar cheese, divided

What you need to do:
Preheat oven to 350 F. In a large pot of boiling water, cook pasta according to package directions until al dente, about 12 minutes. Rinse penne under cold water and drain; set aside. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a skillet over medium. Add garlic and stir until fragrant. Add spinach and 2 cups of tomato; cook for 4 minutes, until spinach wilts. In a medium bowl, combine remaining 1 cup of tomato, herbs, and salt. Transfer the cooked tomato mixture to the bowl and stir well. Add pasta to tomato mixture and combine thoroughly. Stir in 1∕2 cup of the cheese.
5. Grease bottom of baking dish with remaining 1 teaspoon oil. Pour tomato pasta mixture into dish. Bake uncovered for 15 minutes, then remove from oven and sprinkle with remaining 1∕4 cup cheese. Bake until cheese melts, about 4 more minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Nutrition info per serving (2.5 cups): 338 calories, 10g fat, 3g saturated fat, 50g carbs, 15g protein, 8g fiber, 236mg calcium, 4mg iron, 169mg sodium

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Hi there! Long time no blog! I have many recipes to catch up on, but I thought I'd start with these. Brought these to work today and they were gobbled up fast. They are super easy too. Looks like you spent a lot more time than you actually did!

What you need:
1 pkg. (2-layer size) red velvet cake mix (and whatever the cake mix called for - mine called for 3 eggs, water, and vegetable oil)
1 pkg. (3.9 oz.) Jello Chocolate Instant Pudding
1 pkg. (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 pkg. (16 oz.) powdered sugar (about 4 cups) - The reviews online suggest to HALF this amount of sugar...
1 cup thawed cool Whip Whipped Topping
1 square Baker's White Chocolate, shaved into curls (I was lazy and just used white chocolate chips)

What you need to do:
Prepare cake batter and bake as directed on package for 24 cupcakes, blending dry pudding mix into batter before spooning into prepared muffin cups. I never ever let baked goods cook as long as it says to. The box for mine said to cook for 22 and I cooked for 19 and they turned out perfect. But every oven is different. The longer they cook, the drier they turn out. Anyway, after they cook, let them cool for about 15 minutes. Get a wooden spoon and poke a small hole in the center of each cupcake with the handle so you can fill it with icing.

Meanwhile, beat cream cheese and butter in large bowl with mixer until well blended. Gradually beat in sugar. Whisk in Cool Whip. Spoon 1-1/2 cups into small freezer-weight resealable plastic bag; seal bag. Cut small corner off bottom of bag. Insert tip of bag into hole you made with spoon in each cupcake to pipe about 1 Tbsp. frosting into center of each cupcake. Frost cupcakes with remaining frosting. Top with chocolate curls (or white chocolate chips). Keep refrigerated.

Ok I have a confession... I actually used store bought cream cheese icing. SHHHHH!!! FYI - if you go the lazy route like me, you'll definitely need two cans of icing, or even more. I ran out of icing (only bought one tub).