CRISTINA'S LAW

My husband and I hosted his family for Thanksgiving this year. That meant that 9 adults and 3 kids were going to be piling into our house expecting a delicious Thanksgiving dinner....talk about stress! Fortunately my in-laws are absolutely AMAZING and brought pretty much everything we'd need to make dinner. And to top it off my mother in law taught me her recipes and helped me cook everything!! We had a 26 pound turkey, homemade mashed potatos, sweet potatos with brown sugar topping, green bean casserole, creamed corn, stuffing, homemade applesauce, and my sister in law brought homemade rolls! It was not only extremely filling but also delicious!

Yes, we had an extra table added at the end of our dining room table. My husband and I are not used to hosting 12 people for dinner yet. It was great though. Thanksgiving is probably one of my favorite holiday, after all, it revolves around food! But we do take the time to go around the table saying what each one of us is thankful for in our lives. It is times like this that you realize how great your family really is....even if you think they're crazy 99% of the rest of the year!

The other great thing about Thanksgiving is the leftovers!! Turkey sandwiches with mayo and salt is one of my favorites. Since we hosted this year we got to keep all the leftover food...which was surprisingly a lot of food considering we had 12 people at dinner!  My father in law is a caterer and as he was leaving to go back home he mentioned that I should use the leftover turkey to make Turkey Tetrazinni. And since I LOVE pasta and had more turkey than I knew what to do with, I thought it was a great idea! I found this recipe for Turkey Tetrazinni by googling it. After looking at a handful of recipes I thought this one looked simple and delicious. It has a very earthy, woodsy taste to the sauce but it works wonderfully with the turkey.

Turkey Tetrazzini
Simplyrecipes.com

• 12 oz egg noodles, spaghetti, linguini or other pasta (I used egg noodles)
• 12 ounces mushrooms, sliced (about 4-5 cups)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups of milk
• 1/4 cup cream
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/4 cup dry sherry (or vermouth or dry white wine)
• 3 cups coarsely chopped cooked turkey
• 1 cup peas
• 2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan (divided into 1/3 and 1/3 cups)
• 1/3 cup shredded Swiss cheese (I used Monterey Jack b/c I'm not fond of Swiss)
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• Salt and Pepper
• Ground nutmeg (optional - I did not use)
• 1/3 cup fine fresh bread crumbs (or panko - I used Italian bread crumbs)
• Freshly chopped parsley for garnish (optional)

1 Preheat oven to 375°F. Start heating 2 to 3 quarts of water for the pasta. Add 1 teaspoon of salt for each quart of water.

2 Cook the mushrooms in 3 Tbsp of the butter over medium heat, stirring, until all of the liquid the mushrooms give off has evaporated, 5-10 minutes. Set aside.

3 In a large, heavy saucepan, melt 1/4 cup of butter. Stir in the flour, and cook the mixture over low heat, stirring, for 3 minutes.

4 About now, put the pasta into the boiling water you've heated. Follow the package directions and cook until al dente. While the pasta is cooking continue on with the recipe.

5 Into the saucepan with the butter and flour, slowly whisk in the milk, cream, broth, and the sherry. Bring to a simmer and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, for about 5 to 8 minutes.

6 When the pasta is ready, drain it. In a large bowl combine the pasta, the sauce, the mushrooms, the turkey, and the peas. Stir in 1/3 cup of the Parmesan and the 1/3 cup of Swiss cheese. Stir in the lemon juice. Add salt and pepper to taste. Note that if you have been using unsalted butter, and/or unsalted or low sodium stock, you will need to add more salt than you might expect. Just keep sprinkling it in until it is seasoned to your taste. Add a pinch of ground nutmeg if using, again to taste. Transfer the mixture to a buttered 3-quart casserole.

7 In a small bowl combine well the remaining 1/3 cup Parmesan and the bread crumbs. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the tetrazzini, and dot the top with the remaining 1 tablespoon butter, cut into bits.

8 Bake the Tetrazzini in the middle rack of the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until it is bubbling and the top is golden. Garnish individual servings with chopped parsley.

Serves 4 to 6.

I haven't posted in a while so here's a catch up post for you. I was having a major case of "we have nothing to eat and I don't want to cook" a couple weeks ago. My hubby left for bowling league and I was just going to pull something together for myself. I was totally craving some mac & cheese but we didn't have any Kraft and I didn't want to spend any money. I knew we had velveeta so I googled the recipe and made some Velveeta mac & cheese. This was definitely NOT a fave recipe and I probably wouldn't make it again. I think it's because I don't really like Velveeta cheese. Regardless, here it is in case anyone needs a quick mac & cheese or loves Velveeta cheese. I also made this with a side of frozen chicken nuggets (yummmm) to get a little protein in there.

Velveeta Mac & Cheese
2 cups (8 oz.) elbow macaroni, uncooked
3/4 lb. (12 oz.) Velveeta cheese product, cut up
1/3 cup milk
1/8 tsp. pepper
Ingredients:

Directions:
1.Cook macaroni as directed on package; drain well. Return to pan.

2. Add remaining ingredients; mix well. Cook on low heat until prepared cheese product is melted, stirring frequently.

I always loved my mom's beef stroganoff growing up. The meat was so tender and the sauce was so rich and savory. I keep asking my mom for the recipe (when I remember that is) but she was never one to measure and I just need to watch her make it to learn. Well I was craving some delicious stroganoff on this cold and rainy day. So I found this recipe on one of my favorite food websites...Kraftfoods.com! It got rave reviews and almost everyone gave it 5 of 5 stars. I gave it a whirl tonight and it was husband approved!! Needless to say this will go on my menu rotation.

Beef Stroganoff from Kraftfoods.com

1 boneless beef sirloin steak, 3/4 inch thick (1 lb.)
1 cup  BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream, any variety
2 Tbsp. flour
1/2 cup  water
2 tsp. instant beef bouillon granules
1/4 tsp.  pepper
2 Tbsp. butter or margarine
1-1/2 cups  sliced fresh mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 clove  garlic, minced
4 cups hot cooked noodles 

Placesteak in freezer 30 minutes to firm. Cut across grain into 2x1/2-inch strips.

Mix sour cream and flour in small bowl. Stir in water, bouillon and pepper; set aside.

Meltbutter in large skillet on medium-high heat. Add 1/2 of the steak; cook and stir until steak is cooked through. Remove steak from skillet. Add remaining steak and vegetables to skillet; cook and stir until steak is cooked through and onion is tender. Return all steak to skillet. Reduce heat to medium.

Addsour cream mixture; cook until bubbly, stirring constantly. Cook an additional minute. Spoon over hot noodles.

So I'm a bad blogger. I made two great dinners this week and haven't gotten the recipes out there and I forgot to take pictures of them! My bad. I'll try to remember to take pictures of these dishes next time and add them.

Monday: Penne Pasta with Vodka Cream Sauce
I got this recipe from my brother and since he's going to school to be a chef he's not very good at giving me exact portions. Here's my best go at it!

Penne Pasta with Vodka Cream Sauce
28 oz. stewed tomatos (I use 1 can stewed and 1 can diced)
1 med-large onion chopped
sm. container cream
1/2 lb. penne pasta 
1-2 shots vodka
herbs de provance (spelling?) or rosemary, oregano, and thyme.
red pepper flakes to taste

Bring water to a boil and cook pasta according to directions, leaving just shy of al dente (it will cook more in the sauce). In a large pan or pot, sweat chopped onion in some EVOO. When onions are transluscent, add stewed tomatos breaking them up a bit as they cook. Add herbs de provance and red pepper flakes to taste - I always add a tidbit more than I think I need as I seem to underseason everything!

When penne is done, drain and add to sauce. Remove sauce and pasta from heat and add cream (usually not full container) and vodka. Stir and let sit a little bit to let the penne absorb some of the sauce. I usually serve with chicken but my brother always serves it with a pork tenderloin.
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Tuesday: Foil-Pack Chicken & Artichoke Dinner
From: Kraftfoods.com
3 cups instant white rice, uncooked
3 cups  warm water
6 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1-1/2 lb.), 1/2 inch thick
1 can  (13-3/4 oz.) artichoke hearts, drained, quartered ]2 cups chopped tomatoes (about 2 large)
1/2 cup  KRAFT Zesty Italian Dressing
1/4 cup pesto

PREHEAT oven to 400°F. Mix rice and water; spoon evenly onto center of each of six large sheets of heavy-duty foil. Top each with 1 chicken breast. Cover evenly with the artichokes and tomatoes, then drizzle evenly with the combined dressing and pesto.

BRING up foil sides. Double fold top and both ends to seal each packet, leaving room for heat circulation inside. Place packets in single layer in 15x10x1-inch baking pan.

BAKE 30 to 35 min. or until chicken is cooked through (170°F). Remove packets from oven; let stand 5 min. Place one packet on each of six dinner plates. Cut slits in foil with sharp knife to release steam before opening. 

I'm on an artichoke kick so I thought to try this recipe. I actually did mine a little different. I used about half of everything since it was just for me and my hubby. I didn't have any pesto so I omitted it (but it would have helped with flavor) and used sliced, stewed tomatoes instead of chopped tomatos. I also thought the rice would be a bit bland so I used a little over a cup of water and about 1/2 cup of cream of chicken soup for some flavor. It turned out great actually! I think I'll try it next time with the pesto b/c we felt like it was missing something. Very easy to make, quick clean up, and yummy. Pretty healthy overall too!