Reimagining Leftovers

If you're a member of my family, leftovers never last. But in normal families having leftovers is a struggle. They tend to take up room in the refrigerator and slowly go bad. That's why I'm here to give you some ideas about how to turn those leftovers into something delicious. Of course, you can always just prepare this dish without having the leftovers. That's the beauty of it! Here we go:

 

Simple Chicken Pasta Casserole (feeds about 4)

 

What you need:

3-4 precooked chicken breasts, sliced

1 lb. cooked pasta (I prefer rotelle for this recipe, but use whatever you have!)

1 can/jar marinara

1 small can mushrooms (or fresh mushrooms)

2 cups shredded mozzarella

About a cup baby spinach

Fresh basil

Oregano, garlic and Italian seasoning

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease 9x9 inch pan or casserole dish. Combine sliced chicken breasts, cooked pasta, mushrooms, spinach and basil in large mixing bowl. Season to taste with oregano, garlic and Italian seasoning. I like to put 1/2 a cup of cheese in with this mixture. Stir in marinara then pour into pan/dish. This is what mine looked like before adding the cheese:



 

Sprinkle the remaining cheese evenly over the top of your casserole. Pop it in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until cheese on top is turning tan and bubbly. Mine took a little longer since it was a deeper dish. Just watch for the cheese changing color; that's how you know it's done! Be careful when serving. It's hot! Your family will never know what happened to the leftovers!

 

 

Celebration!

Hi all,

 

It's been awhile since my last post, so I apologize for that. College and life and work interfere with blog writing. But here I am, back at it. In honor of my new entry back into the blogosphere, I would like to share with you a simple and delicious recipe that will make people think you worked a lot harder than you did. Get ready for it: Crème de Menthe (Cream de mint) Cake.

 

This is one of my grandma's recipes, and it's one of my favorites. So here goes.

 

What you need:

 

1 box white cake mix (I prefer Betty Crocker)

Ingredients on cake mix

1 container whipped cream (I use Cool Whip)

1 container chocolate sauce

Creme de menthe (you can buy this at a liquor store)

 

After that, it's simple! Bake the cake according to box directions. After, stick the cake in the fridge to cool it quickly and make it nice and firm. I like to leave it in for 2-3 hours at the very least. Right before you take the cake out of the fridge, take the whipped cream and put it in a mixing bowl with 2-3 tablespoons of the crème de menthe depending on color and strength of taste. I prefer mine a little stronger. When you're done, the frosting should be a very light green.

 

Now that your cake is done cooling, you can frost it. First, spread the chocolate sauce evenly over the top of the cake. Feel free to warm it up a little to make the frosting process easier, but you DO NOT want it to be liquefied. Over the top, spread the crème de menthe generously. Throw it back in the fridge to solidify the chocolate sauce and form up the frosting. Give it another hour or so and serve!

 

 

Here is my finished product!

 

This is what it should look like sliced, with a layer of chocolate firm under the frosting.