Pepperoni Pasta

Ingredients:

Bow tie pasta

Ragu

Peperoni's

Mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Cook noodles according to package instructions.

Drain noodles and pour into a glass cooking pan.

Stir in ragu, cheese, and peperoni's.

Verdict:

This is a very simple meal. Quick, easy, filling. Just what I like. You can also heat everything up in the microwave if you don't want to use the oven. All you are doing is warming everything up so just be sure your cheese melts and you'll be good to go.

Rating:

Ashley: 8 belches       Scott: grunts       Payton: 10 wags

Cook in the oven for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. 

Top with a layer of cheese and place back in oven for a few minutes to melt cheese.

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Ingredients:

Chicken breasts

Celery

Grapes

Mayo

Lemon juice

Crescents

Salt and pepper

Directions:

Cook chicken breasts (I used the george forman) until cooked through.

Cut into bite size pieces.

Slice grapes in halves and chop celery into small pieces.

Add celery, grapes, chicken, and mayo together in a bowl.

Pour a small amount of lemon juice in (like a cap full.. not much at all)

Salt and pepper to taste

Cut crescents in half and spoon chicken salad into it. 

Verdict:

The ingredients and directions on this one are all very vague. What my mom told me when I called home from college to make this recipe on my own for the first time was "Just make it look like it's the right consistency". So the amount of grapes, celery, mayo, it's all really up to you. Just for some information I used 3 celery sticks.. and as many grapes as needed to get that "right consistency" :) love you mom! We enjoy this meal a lot! It's very easy and you can add as much variation as you want. Some people do apples or almonds.. spice it up a little I guess?

Rating:

Ashley: belches       Scott: grunts       Payton: 10 wags

Swiss Chicken

Ingredients:

4 Chicken breasts

4 slices swiss cheese

Box of stuffing mix

1/4 cube butter

2 cans cream of chicken soup

Water

Directions:

Place chicken breasts in a pyrex pan.

Cover each piece of chicken with a slice of swiss cheese

Pour cream of chicken cans into a seperate bowl.

Dilute with water until its a gravy consistency.

Pour soup mixture over the top of chicken.

Cook in the oven for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Mix stuffing with 1/4 cube melted butter.

Pour stuffing over the top of each chicken the last 15 mintues of cooking.

Verdict:

My chicken breasts were frozen when I started so the cooking time could change if you are starting with thawed meat. We really enjoy this meal, however, everytime I cook it I get super sick feeling! I don't know what it is but by the time it's cooking in the oven I'm ready to throw up. The dinner always turns out really good! It's a good amount of cheesey which I always love!!

Ratings:

Ashley: 8.5 belches       Scott: 9 belches       Payton: 10 wags

Calzones

Ingredients:

1 cup lukewarm water

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon sugar

3 cups flour

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Toppings for pizza

Mozzarella cheese

Marinara sauce

Directions:

Combine water, yeast, salt and sugar.

Stir to dissolve and set aside for 15 minutes

Add flour and mix til smooth

Put on a flour surface and knead for 10 minutes

(It should feel smooth and elasticy)

Lightly oil a bowl and place the dough in it.

Let it rise in a warm place til it doubles in size (1 hour)

Cut into fourths and roll into a ball.
Cover and rise for 15 minutes.

Roll flat and place toppings, cheese, and sauce inside

Fold over and pinch shut. Cut an incision on top.

Brush with an eggwash (1 beaten egg and 2 teaspoons water)

Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes or til golden brown.

Verdict:

This dough took forever to make!!! It was good, but I don't know if it's worth the effort to make the dough. Kneading for 10 minutes gets tiring quick!! The eggwash helps to make the top of the calzone crusty and brown up a little more. Ours didnt get super golden brown, but they were still good. We also decided to only make 2 and used one fourth for the bottom and the other fourth for the top.. this made the calzones HUGE!! Next time we'll make them just individual ones with only one of  the fourth of doughs. Overall a fun meal because you can put your own goodness inside of them. Sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, olives.. you name it!

Ratings:

Ashley: 7.8 belches       Scott: 7.9 grunts       Payton: 10 wags

Applebees Oriental Chicken Salad

No Picture.. Sorry :(

Ingredients:

Dressing: 3 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 tablespoon rice vinegar
1/4 cup mayo
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon sesame oil

Salad: 1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup corn flakes crumbs
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 chicken breasts
2 cups vegetable oil (to fry)
3 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1 cup red cabbage
1 cup napa cabbage
1/2 carrots (shredded)
1 green onion (chopped)
1 tablespoon sliced almonds
1/3 cup chow mein noodles

Directions:

Salad: Preheat a deep pan to medium heat with oil in it
Beat egg and add milk to it
In a seperate bowl combine flour, corn flakes, salt, and pepper
Cut chicken into thin strips and dip into egg mix and than flour mix
Put into the pan and fry for 5 minutes or until brown and cooked through
Wash and cut romaine lettuce, red cabbage, and napa cabbage
Toss salads with carrots
Sprinkle onion, almonds, and chow mein noodles on top

 

Dressing: Mix all ingredients listed for dressing.

Refridgerate until ready to use on salad.

Verdict:

This recipe was pretty good! It definitely needs a little tweaking the next time around though. The dressing tastes exactly like the applebees dressing but it's a little too thin, so I've got to come up with a way to thicken it next time. Also the crunchy chow mein noodles we used had too much of a different taste and were too thick compared to the ones they use. Other than that this recipe is really good! I didnt have time to bread the chicken so I just grilled it in the george forman. It still tasted just fine. I also owe a big thanks to my mom for this dinner!! She helped me whip it together so fast!! Couldn't have done it without you mom, love you!

Ratings:

Ashley: 7 belches       Scott: 8.6 grunts       Payton: 10 wags

Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts
Spaghetti noodles
2 teaspoons cajun seasoning
2 tablespoons butter
1 green onion
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons sundried tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/8 groung black pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 cupe grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

Coat chicken with cajun seasoning
Saute chicken in butter in a large skillet
Thinly chop the green onion, cut tomatoes in halves
Add onion, tomatoes, basil, salt, garlic, pepper, and cream
Heat through.
Pour over cooked spaghetti and top with parmesan cheese.

Verdict:

I really enjoyed this dinner! Maybe part of it was because I didn't cook it, and I think everything tastes better when you didn't have to do all the work right? Thanks to my wonderful husband for cooking this one! We added a lot more cheese than what the recipe called for and it made it delicious!!! I'm a cheese-a-holic though so of course the more cheese the better for me. The sauce was nice and creamy and the tomatoes were perfect!! Scott sugggested next time to add the cajun seasoning to the sauce rather than coat the chicken with it.. I thought it tasted just fine the way it was but we'll try it different next time. Either way we'll be trying this recipe again once this challege is over. I also didn't care too much for the specifics. I used cherry tomatoes instead of "sun dried" and just regular pepper. You can also use whatever noodles you want. I used spaghetti because I already had it at home.

Ratings:

Ashley: 8.7 belches       Scott: 8 grunts       Payton: 10 wags

Hot Dogs

Ingredients:

Hot dogs (Scott wanted some sausage ones)

Buns

Any condiments you want

Directions:

Warm up hot dog

Place on bun

Add desired condiments

Enjoy!

Verdict:

It's another classic meal that is super easy. We enjoyed a night out by having a picnic at the park with this meal. Scott hates hot dogs boiled in water so cooking them over a grill is a much better option for him. For a side dish we had some suddenly salad, it's quick and easy to make!

Ratings:

Ashley: 7.7 grunts       Scott:       Payton: 10 wags