Easy Fresh Spinach with Pasta

Another Food Network creation I saw by Giada De Laurentis.

What you'll need:
Cooked, hot pasta--I used about 8 ounces of spiral shaped pasta.
Fresh Spinach--I used one half bag of fresh Popeye brand.
Black or Green Olives
Olive Oil
Parmesan Cheese
Cracked Black Pepper ...all of these to taste....
Salt
Garlic Powder

Pour hot pasta over fresh spinach and stir until the spinach is wilted. It's good and makes a pretty presentation.
I used a pretty bowl and added some black olives and Parmesan cheese.
Photo to come.

Ice Cream with Sherbert

I didn't make this, I bought it. Breyers has a box of half vanilla ice cream and half orange sherbet and it's delicious! Even my parrot likes it! (he gets only a little for a treat.)

We've been looking for a "name" brand sherbet hoping to find one that tastes better than the usual store brand sherbets we've tried. Although, the Kroger store brand is pretty good and comes in a lot of flavors.

The vanilla ice cream has the usual Breyers touch and tastes great! I like having both to choose from. To mix or not or both is easy to answer...it's all right there!

Looking Forward to Shrimp Season

I want to try a dish I saw on the Food Network. He saute'd the shrimp in their shells in butter and garlic. It sounds messy to eat but I bet it helps the shrimp meat stay moist.

I also like to make shrimp scampi using lots of real butter and a nice al dente pasta.

I have tried frying shrimp cakes using a mixture of cornmeal and flour and whole shrimp to make shrimp pancakes. Maybe these would be good on a bun with sauce.

elle's Easy Cheesy Brown Rice

Today's side dish was brown boil-in-bag rice cooked in the microwave for 10 minutes. Carefully drain but leave a little water to make it saucier.

On the hot rice I added a little olive oil, a lot of real butter, salt, fresh cracked black pepper, dried chives, parsley, and a palmful of Parmesan cheese.

Mix well and serve warm.

Using a mixture of white and brown rice would be good and add extra nutrients and fiber.

Easy Oven Baked Barbecued Chicken

What you will need:

Chicken/cut up - I like using boneless, skinless chicken thighs that I bought on sale.
Chicken rub herbs - look in the seasoning section. The chicken and rib rub taste like BBQ seasoning.
Olive Oil
Garlic Powder
Salt
Pepper

Coat the chicken with a generous amount of olive oil and sprinkle with the seasonings.
Place pieces into a roasting pan so they are not touching. Cover loosely with foil.
After baking for 15-20 minutes, ucover and coat the tops of the chicken pieces with your favorite barbecue sauce.
Leave uncovered for the remainder of cooking time.

Oven Temperature - 375 (medium hot)
Cook for 30 minutes and check for doneness by cutting into a thick portion.

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Easy Buttered Rice With Parmesan Cheese

Another idea from the Food Network. Alton was making risotto and when it was finally finished, he added cooked vegetables and Parmesan cheese. My family likes regular rice but I thought maybe I could flavor it like a risotto dish.

I used boil-in-bag, store brand, white rice, cooked in the microwave for 10 minutes and then added butter, salt, pepper and Parmesan and mixed until melted and combined. Then I sprinkled on some dried chives and parsley.

My husband liked it very much and wanted seconds!

The rice dish was a good side to my oven barbecued chicken and canned whole green beans.

I used the Rachael Ray "eyeball measuring trick" with the butter and cheese and other ingredients. Start with one tablespoon of the butter and cheese and taste for flavor.

Spinach Egg Scramble

What You Will Need:

Two eggs-I like jumbo sized eggs
Small palmful of frozen spinach-or use fresh
Small palmful of frozen chopped onion-or fresh
salt
pepper
Olive oil for cooking

Add olive oil to a nonstick pan and put over medium heat.
Add onions and cook for one minute and then add spinach. Stir and cook for two minutes.
Add eggs that you have whisked till a little bubbly and add to the hot pan on top of the vegetables.
Let sit briefly and then start stirring until done to taste.
I like mine more dry than wet.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Serve warm.

This would be a cute way to have "green" eggs and ham.

Hamburger Ball Game

Saw it on Food Network.
Make your burgers into balls but don't flatten them. Put them into the hot pan and let cook a couple of minutes and then using a strong spatula or turner, flatten the burgers and continue to cook for several minutes, turn and cook until the juice runs clear when you press down on the pattie.

For these burgers , I put the ground beef into a bowl and mixed in some olive oil, chopped onions, and minced garlic. I did wear gloves because the icky factor is pretty high.
The olive oil helps everything mix smoothly together.

Simple Pasta Salad

What you will need:

One Pound of Dry Pasta; Rotinni, for example.
One Small Can of Medium Whole Black Olives, drained.
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
Parsley
Olive Oil

Cook pasta in salted, boiling water according to directions. I like mine firm.
Drain and pour up to one third cup of olive oil on the pasta. Add seasonings to taste starting with just of little of the garlic powder and taste testing until satisfied. Add the can of olives and mix well.

Serve warm or cold.

Is fine alone or as a side dish to soup or sandwiches.

Protein additions to make this a main meal could include:
Chicken, fresh cooked or canned, drained, cut up into bite size pieces
Tuna
Steak
Shrimp