Raviolis

We all probably grew up eating canned ravioli and sauce, and as kids it was delicious but for some reason, they don’t taste the same as they did when I was a kid. It could be they changed their recipe over the years, or as I stared making more homemade meals it became less appealing. So, after I learned how to make homemade pasta, ravioli was one of the first things on my list to make! So, we got a ravioli maker for our kitchen aid off of amazon and got to work. They came out so amazing and extremely worth it! I do recommend practicing making your pasta dough and spaghetti and cooking it first, but if you wanna wing it, do it!!

(also remember that you can top these raviolis with any topping of your choice as well doesn’t have to be just red sauce)

Ingredients:

-3 cups of flour and 6 eggs (for pasta dough)

-2lbs ground beef (can substitute with any ground meat of your choice)

-16oz of ricotta cheese

-32oz of pasta sauce

-1 pepper

-1 onion

-1 tbsp garlic powder

-1 tbsp onion powder

½ tbsp Italian seasoning

(you can use any seasoning of your choice)

Directions:

-Mix your pasta dough by placing your flour rate on the counter or in a bowl and make a well in the center. then crack your eggs into the well mix with fingers or a fork and start folding the flour into the egg and then knead till everything is mixed well and form a ball. Cover in plastic wrap or cover the bowl with a towel and let rest while you are working on the next step.

-Heat your skillet and lightly coat with oil, then add your ground beef to the skillet and cook on low/medium heat till ground beef is cooked through then take off heat and add your ricotta cheese and mix well and set aside

-grab your pasta dough you set aside and cut into 4 small sections and run thorough your pasta roller attachment till you have 4 long sheets

-After your sheets are made you want to put them onto your ravioli attachment without the fill guard, making sure the middle of your sheet is placed first then put your fill guard back on and spoon some of your ricotta and beef mix into the pasta and rotate the handle to fill and crimp the ravioli and add more filling as needed to the hopper till sheet is done then repeat with remaining three sheets (whatever is left for mixture you can save or add to your sauce, I like to throw it rate into my sauce)

-After your done making your sheets get a large pot and fill ¾ and heat to a boil

-While that is heating you can cut your ravioli squares out, lightly dust with flour if stacking or use parchment paper to separate so they don’t stick to each other

once water is to a boil add your raviolis to the pot and cook for about 5 min then strain and leave ravioli in strainer

-In that same pot you cooked your pasta in add your chopped pepper and onion and cover and heat till start to brown, then add your sauce and any of the left-over beef and ricotta and heat on low/medium till warm

-Once heated through add your cooked ravioli and continue to heat on low for another 5 to 10 min then shut burner off and you can serve as is or top with mozzarella or parmesan and cover till melted then serve and enjoy!

Chicken stuffing casserol

Is there anything better than comfort food? We are big on comfort food in our house, and chicken stuffing casserole is one of our favorites and go to meals. It is super easy to make, and everyone will love it! My mom used to make this all the time and it was very much one of my favorite meals, she still makes it when she comes to visit. I have taken this meal, a regular from my childhood and make it often for my family. and you will too. You can prep it the night before and refrigerate to cook the next night, or you can cook it all on the stove top if you don’t want to run the oven or don’t have one, and also just fill a big casserole pan and bake in the oven. No matter how you prepare this meal it is awesome!

 -This ingredients list is made for a family of six. If you're a smaller family cut ingredients in half, if a larger family double the recipe, or if you just like having leftovers make as much you like because it makes a great lunch for the next day as well! -

Ingredients:

3 lbs. of chicken

3 cups Cream of chicken (see homemade cream of chicken recipe)

8oz Mexican blend shredded cheese (or your choice of cheese)

2 boxes of your favorite Stuffing

Green onions (optional)

Directions:

1- Cube up your chicken of choice, I usually use chicken breast or chicken thighs. If you want to cook the chicken whole and shred afterwards that works great too! Once cut season your chicken how you like, I like to use garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, and Cajun seasoning. Then cook your chicken and set to the side, DONT drain the broth from your cooked chicken!

2- Next you will want to prepare your cream of chicken, click this link -Cream of Chicken- to see my recipe for homemade cream of chicken. if you are using canned cream of chicken skip this step and wait to add it to your chicken until after you use the broth from the chicken in your stuffing.

3- Remember the broth from your cooked chicken? Time to use that in your stuffing. Pour your stuffing into your pan of choice that you are using, I use a 12in by 4in deep Dutch oven on my stove stop for this. Once your stuffing is in your pan strain your broth from your cooked chicken into your stuffing and mix till it is all coated and spread out to cover the bottom of your pan.

4- Now take your cream of chicken and mix it into your cooked chicken. After you have mixed those, you can pour the mixture over the top of your stuffing and spread evenly over the stuffing. Now the cheese part is really up to you, but I usually use about a full 8oz bag of Mexican blend cheese, sometimes more cause well cheese is cheese! Spread your cheese out to cover the top of your chicken and then if you are cooking stove top like I do just put the cover on and set it to low medium heat and let it cook for about 20 min till the cheese is all melted and a little bubbly. If you are using the oven, cover your casserole pan with tin foil and cook at 350 degrees for 20 minutes then remove tinfoil and cook for another 10 minutes.

After cooking you can top with chopped green onions or just enjoy as is. You're going to love this easy, yummy, comfort meal and so will your family. Enjoy!

Basic white sauce

Basic whit sauce is one of the best most simple things I have ever learned to make, you can make cream of chicken, cream of mushroom, cheese sauce for mac n cheese, nacho cheese, and so much more!! I always bought canned cream of chicken and nacho sauce, or the bags and bricks of velveta, but I wanted to learn how to make it on my own and make it a bit healthier for my family. When I started, I had never made a roux before and if you don’t know what that is don’t worry, I had no clue either, so I hope this helps a bit. A roux is a mix of butter and flour that is the start of your white sauce, and it is what makes your sauce thicken up.

I love love love me some comfort food and I love cooking it too. Chicken casserole with homemade cream of chicken made from the basic white sauce, or homemade mac n cheese made with homemade cheese sauce from the basic white sauce, same thing with green bean casserole. Once you have made it you will not want to go back to canned.

A tip I have learned making basic white sauce and the many uses for it is that when making cheese sauce of any kind you should whisk continuously until the sauce has thickened then remove from heat before you add the cheese, or it will become tacky in texture. Also learned with cream of chicken that salt and pepper do just fine for a seasoning, but I prefer to skip those and add a teaspoon of Cajun seasoning, but that’s not really a tip its more of a preference so I guess my tip out of that is play with spices to make it fit your wants.

Ingredients for Basic white sauce:

4 tbsp of butter

6 tbsp of flour

3 cups of whole milk (you can use your preference this is just what I have made it with)

1 tsp of Cajun seasoning (or spices of your choice)

Ingredients for cream of chicken:

4 tbsp of butter

6 tbsp of flour

2 cups of whole milk

1 cup of chicken stock

½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

Ingredients for cheese sauce:

4 tbsp of butter

6 tbsp flour

3 cups of whole milk

1 cup of cheddar cheese ( I have even used the pre mixed bag fiesta blend)

½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

Basic White Sauce-

First, I start by getting all my ingredients measured out cause when you start your going to want all your ingredients close by cause you need to whisk continuously. Put your 4 tbsp of butter into a medium to large sauce pan over medium/high heat and melt the butter. Once the butter is melted you will want to whisk in the flour and make your roux, then add the milk slowly while whisking.

once all is added continuously whisk your sauce until it starts to thicken. Once it starts to thicken continue to whisk until its thickness coats the whisk nicely without dripping off like water, you don’t want it to thick though so keep checking as you whisk. When that is done take off heat and add your spices.

For Cream of Chicken-

Put your 4 tbsp of butter into a medium to large saucepan over medium/high heat and melt the butter. Once the butter is melted you will want to whisk in the flour and make your roux, then add your chicken stock and milk slowly while whisking. once all is added continuously whisk your sauce until it starts to thicken. Once it starts to thicken continue to whisk until its thickness coats the whisk nicely without dripping off like water, you don’t want it to thick though so keep checking as you whisk. When that is done take off heat and add your spices, mix and enjoy!

For Cheese Sauce-

Put your 4 tbsp of butter into a medium to large saucepan over medium/high heat and melt the butter. Once the butter is melted you will want to whisk in the flour and make your roux, then add your milk slowly while whisking. Once all is added continuously whisk your sauce until it starts to thicken. Once it starts to thicken continue to whisk until its thickness coats the whisk nicely without dripping off like water, you don’t want it to thick though so keep checking as you whisk. When that is done take off heat and add your cheese and spices, then mix well till creamy and add to your meal.

Tuna melt bake

Do you like tuna salad? How about Tuna melts? This recipe is a great mix of the two in my opinion! So simple to make, and taste so good too. Its great a side for a meal, also a very good dish on its own. I recommend doubling this recipe if you are a larger family and this is the main course, because it will go fast! You can make this recipe completely on the stove top, or you can finish it off in the oven for a crispy cheese top. I prefer to make my own cream of chicken for all my recipes because I find the cans to be too salty, but canned cream of chicken works just fine here too, and I imagine you could also use cream of mushroom as well. You can go to my Basic white sauce recipe for how to make a basic white sauce, cream of chicken, cheese sauce. Basic white sauce can be configured in so many ways and used in so many recipes!

If you are going to finish this off in the oven or on the grill for that nice brown cheesed finish, I recommend using a cast iron wok, or nice wide Dutch oven so that you can keep it a one pan dish, but you can also transfer to a glass baking dish and bake that way.

-Tuna Melt Bake Ingredients-

-15oz of tuna

-16oz of elbow macaroni or shell pasta (or a pasta of your choice)

-4 Tbsp of butter

-6 Tbsp of flour

-1 Cup of chicken stock

-2 Cups of whole milk

-4oz of white cheddar cheese (or cheese of your choice)

-2 whole pickles (optional- or can always add more!)

-Ground pepper and Cajun seasoning to taste (or whatever you like best)

Directions:

1. Cook your pasta accordingly, then strain and lightly coat with oil and stir and set off to the side

2. Using that same pan, you are going to take your butter, flour, chicken stock, and milk and create your cream of chicken (click here to see how to make)

*If you are using canned cream of chicken, skip the step above^

3. Once your cream of chicken is done shut your burner off and add your tuna, pickles, and seasoning of choice and mix together.

4. Then add in your pasta and mix together and top with your cheese

5. At this point you if you are going to finish it off on the stove top, just set your burner on low and cover till cheese is melted.

-If you are finishing it off in the oven, leave uncovered and cook on top rack for 10 to 15 min at 350º till cheese starts to brown