Quick Cheesy Pasta

I was short on time making supper one night and needed something to go with our grilled chicken. I had no pasta sauce of any kind in the house and so decided to try something for a creamy cheesy side. It took only minutes and turned out great.

Ingredients:
Pasta
¼ cup milk (I used 1%)
2 Laughing cow light cheese
1 tsp Italian seasoning.

Directions:
1. Cook pasta according to the package instructions.
2. Drain the pasta and place it back in the pot. Over low heat add the milk, cheese and seasoning.
3. Stir the pasta until the cheese has melted and the pasta is coated.
4. Serve and enjoy.

Reviews:
This turned out great! It was quick and easy, but oh so creamy and delicious. You would never guess that I made it with light ingredients.

Banana Boat Cookies

I loved Banana boats as a kid (bananas filled with mini marshmallows and chocolate chips, mmmmmmmmm) but sadly only have them while camping (I will have to remember to post those sometime this year). Well I always get a craving for them at some point during the year when I just can’t make them – winter or when the first signs of spring are coming out, so I decided to make a cookie to try and replicate them. What I came up with is a soft delicious banana cookie filled with chocolate chips toped with toasted marshmallows.

Ingredients:
½ cup butter (room temp)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup mashed bananas (2-3 bananas – I like to use 3 big bananas and not care if it is a little over. The riper the bananas, the stronger the flavour)
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups flour
1 cup chocolate chips
Mini marshmallows

Directions:
1.Preheat the oven to 350F while you make the dough.
2.Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg until it is light and fluffy.
3.In another bowl mix the mashed bananas and baking soda, let sit 2 minutes.
4.Mix the banana and butter mixtures.
5.Add the flour until just combined – don’t overmix.
6.Fold in the chocolate chips. Drop cookies onto a cookie sheet, top with 1 mini marshmallow.
7.Bake for 11-13 minutes (will be golden) and let cool on wire racks. While cookies are still warm press another marshmallow into the top of the melted marshmallow in the cookie.
8.If you would like to go the extra little bit, you can put the cookies under the broiler for a few seconds to toast the top of the marshmallow – devine!

Reviews:
Oh, how I love these little delights, so moist and delicious. Oh, and there is bananas in them, so I can almost trick myself into thinking they are healthy – right?

The first batch of these I made were supposed to go to the bulldogs during their season, but somehow ended up at the team Captain’s house and never made it to the game, hmmm.

Grilled Salmon Steaks

For Father’s day, we were visiting with both sets of parents. O and I decided that for a special treat for the parents we would pick up some fresh fish at the local fish market and grill it for them. They had some great looking salmon that we picked up and took home. I decided to marinade the steaks before grilling them and found a great looking recipe on all recipes. I changed the recipe a little just to make it easier and so I had to handle to fish less – I am not a huge fan of fish.

Ingredients:
1 ½ lbs salmon ( I used steaks)
Lemon pepper to taste – about ½ to 1 tbsp
1 tsp garlic powder
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup water
¼ cup vegetable oil

Direction:
1.Mix together the lemon pepper, garlic powder, soy sauce, brown sugar, water and vegetable oil.
2.Pour the marinade into a large Ziploc bag and add the salmon. Press out the air and seal. Marinade in the fridge for at least 2 hours (I had mine in for a few more hours).
3.Grill the salmon over medium heat on the grill, until it flakes easily. Don’t overcook or it will become dry.

Reviews:
Everyone loved the salmon! The marinade was simple and didn’t overpower the fish. It was a big hit and some people thought it was better than any salmon they had ever had a restaurant.

Citrus Ginger Spice Cookies

I received a cookie press and off course I had to try it out right away. Upon flipping through the book that came with the press I came across the recipe for ginger cookies, and had to try them. Now, first, these are not a ginger snap, nor a molasses cookie, but a more citrus like cookie.

Recipe:
1 ½ cup all purpose flour
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 cup room temp butter
¾ cup packed brown sugar
1 tbsp orange zest (zest of 1 large orange)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs

Directions:
1.Preheat the oven to 350F while you prepare the dough.
2.Mix the flour and pumpkin pie spice together and set aside.
3.Cream the butter and sugar together, add the orange zest and vanilla extract and mix until light and fluffy.
4.Beat in the eggs. Mix in the flour and spice mixture. The dough will be soft.
5.At this point either pack into the cookie press and press cookies, or spoon on to a cookie sheet (cookies should be small).
6.Bake for 12-15 minutes. The cookies should be just firm to the touch. Cool and enjoy.

These cookies made the kitchen smell so good. I loved it. The cookies were a big hit, even though they were not a traditional ginger cookie. The one comment I did get was that they went great with either a glass of milk or coffee – whichever you are into.

Despite this being a recipe for a “cookie press” I am sure it would work fine with just spooning out small teaspoon sized cookies.