Minestrone and Blackforest Ham Panini

Since the weather is starting to cool down some, I was in the mood for some soup. I love the Minestrone at Olive Garden, so I thought I'd give it a try....I found several "copycat" recipes of the Olive Garden version....funny thing, they were ALL different. So I just took a little from them all and came up with my own. Soup didn't seem like enough, so I decided to make some paninis. The soup makes A LOT!

Ingredients for the Minestrone:

• 2 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 small yellow onion - chopped
• 1 small zucchini - chopped
• 2 garlic cloves - minced
• 1/2 cup frozen cut Italian green beans
• 1 stalk celery - chopped
• 4 cups Vegetable Broth
• 1 can kidney beans - drained
• 1 can Great Northern Beans - drained
• 2 cans diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots
• 2 tbsp. minced parsley
• 1 tsp. Oregano
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. basil
• 1/4 tsp. thyme
• 1.5 cups hot water
• 3 cups fresh baby spinach
• 1/2 cup pasta (I used rotini) but most recipes call for the shell pasta

Ingredients for Panini's

• Black Forest Ham
• Fontina Cheese - shredded
• Italian Bread
• Dijon Mustard

Steps for Minestrone:

• Heat Olive oil in stock pot on Medium High heat

• Add in onion, garlic, celery, zucchini, and green beans....saute for about 5 min

• Add in broth, tomatoes, beans, and hot water

• Next add in the carrots and spices

• Stir, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 20 minutes

• Add in pasta and spinach, and let simmer for another 20 minutes (or longer)

Steps for Paninis:

• Turn on panini grill or in my case - the George Foreman
• Spread mustard onto 1 side of the bread for each sandwich you are making

• Top with Black Forest Ham (1-2 pieces or more if you like)

• Top with some of the fontina cheese

• Then top with your bread
• I sprayed each side of the sandwich with a small amount of olive oil
• Spray the foreman with a small amount of oil on each place
• Place sandwiches on the grill, and shut the lid, but do not push it down on the sandwich.

• Cook for about 5 minutes, once cheese is melted and bread is toasted to your liking

• Slice in half and serve alongside the soup....Enjoy!

Buffalo Chicken Bites

I made these for the first football weekend too....just haven't had time to post it. I didn't eat or cook these, Jeremy was in charge of it and ate them while I was gone. They were eaten tho, so I am pretty sure they were good....I will cook them again.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups shredded cooked chicken
• about 1/2 cup hot sauce.....I didn't really measure, just added until it looked ok.
• 3 1/2 oz. softened cream cheese
• 1 3/4 cup shredded cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped green onion
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 4 eggs beaten
• about 3 cups crushed corn flakes

Steps:

• If you are making them same time/day - preheat your oven to 350
• In large bowl, mix chicken, cream cheese and hot sauce until well mixed

• Add in onion and cheese, mix.

• Form mixture into 1- 2 inch balls and set out on wax paper

• In 3 small bowls, separate flour, eggs and corn flakes.

• Drop the chicken into the flour, then eggs, then corn flakes one at a time until well coated.

• Place on to baking sheet if cooking now, or a baking sheet w/ wax paper if cooking later.

• If cooking now - put in oven for about 30 minutes to crispy golden brown.
• If cooking later - flash freeze for about 15 minutes, remove from freezer, place in freezer bags and freeze until ready to cook.
• Remove from freezer bags, place on baking sheet, cook for 30 minutes
• Serve with bleu cheese or ranch dressing.
• Enjoy!  (Sorry no pictures were taken after they were cooked....)

Mini Pizza Bites

My new obsession with Pinterest led me to this recipe, I adapted mine from For the Love of Cooking.  I make a lot of pizza....probably b/c it's Jeremy's favorite....and the day I came across the recipe I was bored and actually had all the ingredients in my kitchen....so I decided to try it out. It would be a great thing to make for a party or for kids!


(sorry, didn't take pictures when I started cooking)

Ingredients:

• 1 package Grands Biscuits
• Pizza Sauce
• Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
• Pepperoni (and any other toppings you prefer)
• Pizza Seasoning (or Oregano and basil)
• Parmesan Cheese
• Cooking Spray
• Muffin Pan

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375
• Spray muffin pan with cooking oil
• Cut the grands biscuits in half, flatten out slightly and push into the muffin pan onto the bottom and halfway up the sides

• Place about a tbsp. of pizza sauce in each biscuit

• Put any toppings (other than pepperoni you want in the pizza)
• Place about a tbsp. of mozzarella cheese into the pizza

• Place a pepperoni on top, cover with a little more cheese if you like.

• Sprinkle top with parmesan cheese and pizza seasoning

• Place in oven and cook for about 15 minutes until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is melted

• Let sit for a few minutes, the pizza should just slide right out of the pan.

• Enjoy!

Mexican Lasagna

I haven't updated in awhile....oops.
I actually got this recipe on the back of a Kraft Mexican 4 cheese Shredded Cheese bag, very easy and yummy!


Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 pack taco seasoning
• 3 - 8inch soft tortillas
• 1 8 inch baking dish
• 3/4 cup salsa
• 1 can pinto beans - rinsed and drained
• about 1/2 bag of Kraft mexican 4 cheese shredded cheese and about 1/4 of a bag of shredded pepper jack (but you could just use the mexican cheese if you wanted - we just had some pepper jack, so I used it)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400

• Brown meat in skillet, drain off grease, add in salsa and taco seasoning, stir, let simmer for 10 minutes

• In your baking dish, spray with cooking oil, place one 8 inch tortilla in the bottom of the dish.

• Apply half the meat mixture, half the pinto beans, and cover with cheese (use as much as you need)

• Top with another 8 inch tortilla

• Top with the rest of the meat mixture, the rest of the pinto beans and the rest of your cheese (as much as you like)

• Top with last 8 inch tortilla

• I spray a little cooking spray on top of the tortilla so it will crisp a little in the oven
• Cover and put in the oven for 30 minutes, let sit and cool for about 5-10 minutes before cutting and serving!

• ENJOY!