Stuffed Pork Roast

- Pork Roast

- Half a bag of fresh spinach

- Fresh herbs (thyme, parsley, rosemary)

- sour cream (or mascarpone cheese with some cream)

- a little cooking sherry (optional)

- Stuffing Mix (eyeball it, I think I had about 2 cups_

- salt, pepper, minced garlic (or garlic powder)

- bacon slices (optional)

Slice pork in a circular way to create a long piece of pork. That doesnt have to be perfect. Roll it back up and fry pork in some oil to get the outside nice and brown.

While pork cools, sautee the spinach in some olive oil and garlic, salt and pepper. Chop it up with the fresh herbs and put into a bowl.

Add breadcrums and enough sour cream to be able to mix it all nicely (if you arent worried about the fat, I recommend mascarpone cheese with some cream mixed in instead)

Add cooking sherry, just enough to keep the mixture nice and thick.. make sure it doesnt get runny

Open up the pork and spread the spinach-stuffing mixture generously on the pork then roll up tight. Put seam down (or tie it up if you want) into a roasting pan.

If you decide to use the bacon, wrap it around the pork, tugging it in underneath, so the pork is laying on it, holding the ends into place.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour, until internal temperature is 160 degrees.

Slice and serve with your favorite side dish

Herb Stuffed Chicken with Pesto-Cream Fettuchini

I made this dish up from beginning to end because I wanted to use the herbs I have in my garden and it came out so good. I will definitely make this one more often!

- 3 chicken breasts (or however many you need, adjust the amount of other ingredients then)

- 1 slice of cheese for each chicken breast (I used mozarella)

- a handful of fresh cilantro

- about 3 handful of fresh basil

- 3 Tablespoon of pinenuts or walnuts (I actually only had mixed nuts and picked the cashews and walnuts out)

- about 1 cup of parmesan cheese

- 1 glove of garlic (or more if you are a garlic lover)

- a handful of grape tomatoes (or yellow pear tomotoes if you are lucky to have them in the garden)

- olive oil

- spices of choice (I used pepper, salt, garlic powder, dried basil, paprika, oregano)

- about 1 cup of heavy cream

- about 1 cup of milk

- 1 TBL cornstarch

- 1 pack fettuchini pasta

Cut chicken breast open on the sides to create a pocket. Season the outsides of the chicken and rub it in well.

Stuff the chicken with plenty of cilantro, the slice of cheese, a little basil and some halfed grape tomatoes.

Put chicken onto a sprayed cookie sheet and preheat oven to 380 degrees. Bake chicken until internal temperture is 180 degrees, this will take about 20-30 minutes, depending on how thick your chicken is

------

For the pesto put the basil, the nuts, about 4 TBL Parmesan cheese the glove of garlic and some olive oil into a blender and blend until it becomes a creamy texture, add oil if you need to. (I actually did this with my magic stick mixer)

Put the cream and milk into a saucepan and add the pesto to it. Add the rest of the parmesan cheese as well as spices until you have the taste you like. Bring to a slow boil, stirring well. Disolve the cornstarch in some water and add it to the sauce until your sauce has the desired consistency, careful it does not take much!!! Put sauce on low heat.

In the meantime cook fettuchini according to package directions.

------------

Serve the sauce over your pasta and chicken.

Guten Appetit!!

Taquitos

- 1 pack of asian pasta wrappers (meant for egg rolls or ravioli). It's an asian product in the produce aisle

- 3 chicken breasts

- about 2 cups of corn (I use frozen)

- 1 pack of tacco seasoning

- some tacco sauce (enchilada sauce would probably work just as fine)

Boil meat until cooked through. Pull apart and fry in a hot pan, add a little water and tacco seasoning, the corn and the tacco sauce and stir well, let it all cook together.

Now put a couple of spoonful of the filling onto a piece of wrap, start rolling, flip the sides up and finish rolling up. Put seam down into a sprayed baking sheet.

Repeat until all the filling is gone. Brush them all with some vegetable oil.

Bake at 425 degrees until golden brown (about 15-18 minutes)

Serve with sides of your choice (I did guacamole and tomatoes). Great even for kids as you can see

Grilled Chicken with Caprese Skewers and Lemon Pasta

For the Chicken:

- Chicken Breasts (however many needed.. I used boneless breast with rib meat)

- Seasonings: Pepper, Salt, Lemon Pepper, Garlic Powder, Paprika, a dash red pepper flakes

- Olive Oil

Season the chicken well and add some olive oil to it, rub the marinade well into the chicken and let marinade for several hours if you have the time.

Grill on medium heat until cooked through

---------------------------------

For the Skewers:

- Cherry Tomatoes

- Small Mozarella Balls, or a chunk of Mozarella, cubed

- Fresh Basil Leaves

- Pepper, Salt and Olive Oil

Stick tomatoe onto skewerm then basil then cheese and repeat this 3 times, having a tomatoe at the end. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. You can also drizzle some balsamic vinegar on it if you want

--------------------------------------------------

For the lemon pasta:

- Pasta of choice, cooked, drained

- some lemon juice (amount depends on how sour you want it, I use just a few sprizzes for a hint of lemon

- about a cup of heavy wipping cream

- salt, lemon pepper, garlic powder

Mix pasta with the other ingredients over medium heat until it's well mixed and hot.

Greek low fat Chicken and Eggplant

For 3 Portions:

- 3 Chicken Breast

- 1 Eggplant, cut 3 slices off for the chicken (about 1/2 inch thick)

- 1 pack of low fat Feta Cheese (or regular if you dont go for the low fat version)

- a few Kalamata Olives

- Oregano, lots of Dill, Pepper, Salt, Paprika

- Farfalle Pasta

- 1/2 jar of marinara sauce (I use Bertolli Spicy Tomatoe with Basil)

- Chopped up leftover Eggplant

- Chopped fresh mushrooms (about 1/2 pack)

- a little grated cheese

- Olive Oil

Season the meat with spices listed above. Flatten chicken and sprinkle some Italian Bread crumbs over both sides.

Fry chicken in spray coated pan to just sear the outside, then take out and set aside.

Season Eggplant Slices with same spices and fry to sear outsides in a little olive oil.

Put Chicken on a cookie sheet (spraycoated), top with some feta cheese, then add the eggplant slices. Sprinkle some more breadcrumbs on it.

Last cut olives into slices and put on top of the eggplant, with a little more feta and a bit of grated cheese (I used grated parmesan)

Preheat oven to 380 degrees and bake chicken for about 20 minutes (depending on thickness of the chicken)

-------------------------------------------

In the meantime cook pasta al dente.

In the pan that you used to sear the meat, heat a little olive oil and add chopped eggplant and mushrooms, together with the same spices.

Fry for a couple of minutes then add the marinara sauce. Add leftover Feta, if there is any leftover.

Cook until veggies are nice and tender, serve over Farfalle Pasta

Best Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening (I skipped the shortening and used 1 cup butter)
1/4 cup sugar
1 (4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups chocolate chunks (or chips)

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees.

2. Combine flour and baking soda.

3. In a large bowl beat brown sugar, sugar, butter, shortening, pudding mix, vanilla, and almond extract.

4. Mix until well blended.

5. Add eggs and mix well.

6. Beat in the flour mixture.

7. Stir in chocolate chips.

8. Drop by rounded teasponful and bake 10-12 minutes. I made the big version, used a ice cream scopper and baked for about 16 minutes

Easy baked Farfalle

- 1 jar of favorite pasta sauce (I use Bertolli Basil with Burgundy wine)

- 1 can of cream of mushroom soup (I was out and used cream of chicken

- 1-2 cups of frozen corn or peas or fresh mushrooms, or all of it

- about 1lbs ground beef

- spices: Basil, garlic powder, pepper flakes, salt, pepper, dried crushed onion, oregano

- 1 pack of Farfalle noodles (or other)

- Parmesan Cheese (optional)

- grated cheese to top

Fry the beef and add plenty of spices (listed above).

Add the jar of pasta sauce and the can of cream soup. Add veggies. Mix well and let it cook on medium heat for a few minutes.

Preheat oven to 390 degrees

Cook pasta according to package directions, minus a couple of minutes... until they are almost all the way cooked, but still a bit firm to the bite. Drain.

Spray Caserole dish with cooking spray and put sauce on the bottom. Top with some Parmesan cheese if wished.

Top with pasta, then again plenty sauce, a little Parmesan and another layer of pasta.

Finish with sauce, topped with plenty of grated cheese

Bake until cheese is melted and slightly browned in some areas.

This is a serious comfort food!!!