Italian Butter

You can use this on fish, beef, bread, or even potatoes.  It's super simple to make.

Ingredients

1 stick of salted butter

2 T of Italian parsley

3 cloves of garlic (or 2 large)

1/4 t of kosher salt

Zest of 1 lemon

Let your butter soften at room temperature until it is easily broken up by a fork.

Cut up the parsley and garlic until finely chopped.  Add to the room temperature butter.  Add in the zest of 1 lemon (about 2 teaspoons), and the salt.  

Mix up with a fork until all ingredients are incorporated.  Put in a glass jar and store in the refrigerator until hardened.

Stuffed Zucchini

Ingredients
3 zucchinis
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/4 c diced white mushrooms
1/4 c diced Italian parsley
1/4 parmesan cheese
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
Olive oil, to drizzle




Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Lightly spray a sheet pan so the zucchini won't stick after baking.  

Slice the zucchini in half length-wise.  Using a spoon run it along the center to "scoop" out an area to place your "stuffing".

Next, dice the red bell pepper, mushrooms, and parsley and place in a bowl.  FOODIE TIP: use a spoon to scrape out the stump and the brown insides of the mushrooms.

Mince the garlic and add to the bowl, along with the parmesan, salt, and pepper.  Give it a good toss to mix everything evenly. Spoon the mixture into the middle of each zucchini.

Over the top of the zucchini, drizzle a little olive oil.  
Cook for about 45-55 minutes or until the zucchini has softened and the stuffing has browned.

Sliced Baked Potatoes

 Ingredients
4 small russet potatoes
4 T of butter, melted
3 cloves of garlic, minced,
1/2 t of crushed dried rosemary
1/2 t of season salt (or kosher salt)


Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Scrub and wash your potatoes.  With a sharp knife, cut small vertical slits across the potato.  You will want to cut almost to the bottom of the potato, but not all the way through.  Place the potatoes on a baking sheet with non-stick spray.  
Melt your butter and add minced garlic, rosemary, and season salt.  Give it a quick stir and drizzle the butter mixture over your potatoes.  Make sure to get the butter in the cracks and crevices of each potato.  

Cook for about 40-50 minutes.  Once done, add a little sour cream and serve.  

Sausage and Veggie Pasta

Ingredients
6 links of mild Italian sausage
1/2 pound of pasta
1 green pepper
1.5 cups of spinach
1/2 cup of chopped kale
1 red tomato
3 cloves of garlic
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper
1 t. of olive oil

1/2 cup of parmesan cheese

First, start cooking your sausage in a grill pan.  While it's cooking, boil your water and get your pasta cooked.   Once it's cooked, drain the pasta and add it to a large bowl. I chose pasta "wheels" but bow tie, penne, or any other chunky pasta works.  After the sausage is browned and cooked thoroughly, set it off to the side to rest.  Keep the pan on the stove for your veggies.

Dice up your green pepper and tomato.  Throw on the pan you used to cook your sausage (no olive oil needed).  Add minced garlic in with the green pepper and tomato and let cook until browned.  While the pepper, tomato, and garlic are cooking, put a little olive oil into a small lidded pot and add in the kale and spinach.  Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and cover with a lid to let it steam.  This only takes a couple of minutes at most.   

Cut up your sausage into small bite-sized rounds and add to pasta.  Add in all of your veggies and give a good toss.  Sprinkle on some parmesan cheese and serve. 

Holiday White Sangria

Make this ahead of time to let the fruit and wine meld together.  Let it set for at least 4 hours and then serve in wine glasses.  It's sweet and fruity so it goes best with dessert or with some cheese and crackers.

Ingredients
1 bottle of pinot grigio
1 cup of simple syrup
1/4 cup of orange curacao  
1 lemon
1 clementine
1 green apple
1/2 cup of whole cranberries


First you'll want to make the simple syrup, which is just literally equal parts water and sugar heated up until the sugar dissolves.  I use 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar.  Make sure you don't over heat it or else you end up with a very thick syrup.  As soon as the sugar dissolves, let it sit and cool to room temperature before adding to your sangria.

Add your simple syrup into a large pitcher, along with the pinot grigio and orange curacao. 

Next, slice up half of the lemon and the whole clementine into rounds.  Make sure to remove any seeds before adding into the pitcher.  Cut up about half of the apple into thick chunks and add to your sangria.  Add the cranberries and give it a stir.  

Place in the fridge immediately and let the flavors come together.  Serve in glasses and enjoy!

Cranberry Clementine Cake with a Sugar Glaze

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Ingredients
1 box of butter golden cake mix
3/4 cup of chopped cranberries
3/4 cup of chopped clementines (about 3)
1/2 powdered sugar
1 T of milk
1/2 t of vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Use vegetable spray to coat two loaf pans (you can choose to use 8x8 pan, 9x9 pan, or make these into cupcakes).

Follow the directions on the cake mix box to create the cake base.  You will typically use water, eggs, and butter, but the exact amounts may vary by brand.  Use your mixer and combine until smooth, about 4 minutes.


Chop up the cranberries and clementines into bite-sized chunks.  Fold the cranberries and clementines into the cake batter.

Pour the mixture into the two loaf pans and bake for about 35 minutes.  The top should be golden and the middle should be firm.

Let the cake loaves cool on a rack completely.

While the loaves cool, combine the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract into a small bowl.  Stir the ingredients with a spoon until they are combined and smooth.  Drizzle over the top of the cake loaves.  

Eat within a few days or freeze immediately.

Quick Pick: Beef Stew

Ingredients
1 lb to 1.5 lbs. beef roast
1 large russet potato
3/4 cup of chopped carrots
1/2 red onion chopped into large chunks
1 large (or 2 small) garlic cloves minced
1 package of onion soup mix 
1 t. rosemary
1 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
32 oz. of beef stock


I usually create this the night before, stick it in the fridge overnight, and then pull it out in the morning and place it in my slow cooker

base.  It cooks all day and makes for a nice warm meal when you get home.  

Make sure you place your beef at the bottom of the slow cooker pot.  I then chop up my carrots, potato, and onion and place the ingredients around the outside of the slow cooker around the meat.  I add all the herbs and spices and then dump my stock over top of everything.  

I would let this cook 6-8 hours.  Basically, fix it and forget it.  Once you get home from work all you have to do is grab a bowl.