yum yum yummy!

[6under1roof]

Here lately I've been exploring various recipe books and websites and seeking out recipes that I've never tried and probably never considered trying before. I've always WANTED to make great food, and always thought I did OK.  When it came down to it I really only put forth my best efforts once in a while... Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthdays, the occasional saturday I felt like spending all day slaving away in the kitchen. Otherwise it was a good effort, but nothing spectacular.It had a lot to do with budget. Fresh produce is just plain expensive. Oddly enough, produce is MUUUCH more expensive up here in MT than back in KY, AND is of lower quality, but my budget for food is much higher here thanks to my husband's kick ass income. Thankfully he has that income because my gardening up here is a much greater struggle than it was out there thanks to the craptastic weather. And I have about 1/3 the garden space here than I had out there too. So feeding my family from my back yard isn't as easy here. Last year we had about 10 inches of snow in September, everything but Kale and Cabbage bit the dust.

So here I am now, spending gobs more money on food than I ever have in my life, but cooking very exotic, spectacular recipes. I try to incorporate broccoli (fresh or frozen), fresh spinach, and (thanks to my garden) fresh zucchini into as many meals as possible. I've also tested the Tofu waters. While not awful, it's not something I'll purchase very often. I can inforporate it into things like Lasagna and it's basically a tasteless addition of vitamins. I even made these pita pockets where I marinated strips of tofu in a barbecue sauce mixture, then stuffed them along with a touch of mayo, some romaine lettuce, and alfalfa sprouts into the pockets. That was pretty darn good- but the extra pitas started molding pretty fast, which was slightly disappointing.

I love cooking from scratch. While time consuming, it's a load of fun- and, to me, tastes 1000 times better! I made scratch ravaoli a few weeks ago that was so good I can't even find words that really explore the beauty of the flavors! The Calzones I made 2 nights ago were spectacular- there are a few adjustments I'll make next time I make them, but since it was my first time I wasn't really expecting fireworks. Last night I made a "Tater-Tot Hot Dish" that was really wonderful- and great for a shoestring budget! I even sneaked some zucchini into it!

Well, tonight I started with a scratch Alfredo sauce recipe. I wanted to make my fetuccini pasta from scratch as well, but we had a soccer game, so I didn't really have time. So the box it was! I took about 3 chicken breasts and cut them into small toddler bite size pieces (because otherwise my 2 year old shoves adult bite size pieces into his mouth and chokes) and put them in my totally awesome Royal Prestige skillet and let them cook. Other than chicken, alfredo sauce, and fetuccini pasta I wasn't really sure what I was going to do for the course. I did know what sides I was going to make- maple acorn squash, steamed brocccoli, and creamed spinach. Funny thing was I decided after I made the first batch of Alfredo sauce it was so good I wanted to double it to make sure I had plenty.  Of course I didn't start on the creamed spinach until AFTER I made the double order of sauce- that's when I realized I bought the big carton of heavy whipping cream so I'd have enough for both recipes, and since I used it all on the Alfredo I didn't have any left to cream the spinach! SO I just boiled the spinach and ate it that way :)

I also didn't think to look at how long it would take to make the maple acorn squash either and waited too long to get it started, so I had quite a bit of time to fingure the chicken out. I diced up some leftover zucchini, some onion and scooped out some garlic and sauteed it all in some butter. Then I threw the cooked chicken in with it and covered it on low so it would all mix together in a wonderful blend of goodness. The Alfredo sauce only called for 1/4 cup Parmesean and 1/4 cup Romano cheeses. but my family and I are cheese fanatics, so I bought a bag of an Italian mixture of shredded Asaigo, Romano, Parmesean, Mozzerella, Provolone and Fontina which ironically was cheaper than buying a wedge of Parmesean and Romano seperately, go figure.

I put the pasta on my plate, topped it with the chicken mixture, then coated it with the Alfredo sauce. The mixture was totally devine! It was like poetry in my mouth! I garnished it with some snipped fresh basil, from my container garden and a pinch of the shredded cheese on top. After my first helping I was stuffed, but I wanted that flavor in my mouth again, so I had a second helping. I had to let my daughter finish it though befcause I could only eat about 1/3 of it! LOL

The sides were just icing on the cake... or maybe cake for the icing, since everyone knows the icing is the best part! The broccoli was steamed to perfection with JUST the right amount of salt, and the spinach was wonderful! SOOO much better than anything you can get out of a can! Now let me tell you about the maple acorn squash!! I have never had acorn squash before. In fact the only squash I can even remember ever eating is yellow crookneck, zucchini, and pumpkin! I've never even had butternut or spaghetti! They are on my to cook list! LOL Nevertheless I jumped in to the acorn squash with both feet. I was pleased to find one at Walmart for a decent price. The recipe for the 'maple' aspect was very simple- 1/4 cup maple syrup, I use fat free syrup so that's a plus, 3 tbsp melted butter, and 1/8 tsp cinnamon all mixed together. I was to cut the acorn in half, de-seed it, then lay the halves inside down on a baking dish and bake at 375 for 45 min. Then pour the maple mixture into the bowls the acorn halves made, then re-bake inside UP for another 20 minutes. We actually started eating before they were completely done- I have to do this sometimes when I stupidly dont' get my cooking times organized BEFORE I start cooking! It was certainly a nice surprise for the kids! I cut a few slits into the squash so the cooked maple concotion would get into the meat real well, then sliced it into wedges and served them up. What a deliciously sweet addition to the bounty of greenage. It really complimented the cheesy creaminess of the alfredo sauce as well- and the squash was just as tender and soft as I could be! It just fell right out of the skin! The kids liked it better than they did the chicken!

I should really be ashamed for making such a magnificent meal while hubby is at work on nights this week.... but now I have a great excuse to make it all over again!