Angel Hair With Artichokes

This is one of those things I throw together when I make something for my family that I won't eat. I make a few different variations. You could easily add sliced chicken breast to this if you wanted some meat in your meal. If I have fresh spinach, I will throw that in also.

Ingredients:

Angel hair pasta

2 Tablespoons Olive oil

2 garlic cloves or 1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 14oz. can petite diced tomatoes, drained or 1 small container fresh grape tomatoes, halved

1 14oz. can quartered artichoke hearts

1 small can sliced black olives, drained

2 Tablespoons capers, drained

fresh basil

grated Parmesan

1. Saute garlic in olive oil. Add tomatoes, artichokes, and black olives. Bring to a boil. (If using fresh tomatoes, heat until tomatoes are soft.

2. Reduce heat to low. Add capers and basil. Simmer about 5 minutes.

3. Salt and pepper to taste. Toss with angel hair pasta. Top with Parmesan.

Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball

I made the next two recipes for our neighborhood party last night. This is SOO good but don't sit near it!! I'm scared to think how much I ate!! I was going to take a picture of these but couldn't find the camera and we were running late. I got this recipe from our friend Laura. There are more to come from her!

1 pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
mini chocolate chips
chopped peacans, optional
Chocolate graham cracker sticks and cinnamon sugar pita chips for serving.

Beat the cream cheese and butter. Add the sugars and vanilla. Beat really well until it's smooth. It takes a few minutes for the brown sugar to mix in and not be grainy. Stir in a cup of mini chocolate chips. Chill for 1 hour and then roll into a ball. Roll in leftover chocolate chips and pecans. I didn't do this part for lack of time. I just scooped it into a chip and dip dish and spread the crackers and pita chips around the outside. I couldn't find graham cracker sticks so I just used the regular crackers and stuck a little serving knife in the dip. This is fast and easy!!

Buffalo Chicken Dip

This is spicy but really good! It would be great to make for a football party. It came from the Kraft magazine.

1 pkg. cream cheese, cubed
1 1/2 cups finely chopped chicken (I actually doubled the chicken to make it more hearty)
1/2 cup blue cheese dressing (I used Marzetti's Ultimate Blue Cheese dressing-my favorite!) You could use Ranch if you don't like Blue Cheese but it's not overwhelming.
1/2 cup Buffalo wing sauce (I used Louisiana Wing Sauce)
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
celery and crackers for serving

Mix all ingredients in a microwaveable bowl. Heat on high for 5 minutes or until cream cheese is melted and mixture is heated thru. Stir after 3 minutes. Serve hot with crackers, wheat thins, or celery.

Calling All Panini Lovers!

My friend Amy introduced me to the panini press last summer and we've been addicted ever since. We usually just use our regular sandwich bread but our favorites are sourdough and sliced french. Here are a few of our favorites.

Pizza Dip Sandwich

Sourdough bread (presliced)
Pepperoni
Salami
Ham
Provolone (it's not as messy as shredded mozzarella)
Pizza sauce

Put the meat and cheese on the bread (I layer it cheese, meats, cheese so that it all sticks together). Drizzle a little olive oil on the bread and toast it in the press. Heat up the pizza sauce and dip the sandwich in it. YUMMY! We had these for dinner last night. Zane's friend took a bite, turned around and said, "This is the best thing EVER!" and then to Zane, "Dude, how often do you get to eat these?" That made me feel like these were blog worthy :).

Roast Beef Dip

Bread
Deli Roast Beef
Swiss cheese
Horseradish Sauce (not the strong prepared horseradish) I think it's by the mayo at the store.
Beeth broth (I made it from the cubes and just made it a little stronger so that it tasted like aus jus).

Spread the bread with horseradish sauce. Put the meat and cheese on it and grill (drizzle olive oil or butter on the bread first). Dip in the beef broth. This is one of their favorites!

Spicy Turkey

Bread
Turkey
Jalepenos
Muenster cheese
Honey Mustard (We use Inglehoffer and it's great! I bought it at Wal-Mart)

Spread the bread with the honey mustard (I put it on both pieces). Put the meat, cheese, and peppers on it and grill (I put butter on the outside first). This is one of my favorites!

Veggie

Sourdough bread
Cream cheese
Guacamole or avocado slices
Black olives
Red onion slices
Tomatoes
Cucumber

Spread the cream cheese on one piece of bread. Put all of the ingredients on it and grill. Drizzle olive oil on the outside first. This is REALLY good. You can add any kind of veggie that you want. Don't skip the cream cheese!! It sounds weird but it's really good.