Sausage with Cajun Alfredo

I feel like a genius after having made this dinner. This only came about because I thought I had everything I needed for dinner…until time to make dinner and it turns out I had about half. Half one one recipe and half of another.

My first reaction was panic. I’m not usually the “wing it” cook. But, I knew the two recipes well enough that I thought I could mix it. Of course, when Hubs asked what was for dinner I answered with a “we’ll see!” Turns out, it was a blessing for our tummies!

So I combined my Sausage Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce (cajun style) with my Cheesy Garlic Chicken Alfredo.

You’ll need:

For the Alfredo:
2 cups milk
4 ounces cream cheese (1/2 a block)
2 Tbs flour
½ tsp salt
3 Tbs butter
1 cup grated Mozzarella cheese ( or Cheddar!)

For the Sausage pasta:
8+ ounces penne pasta (or whatever you prefer, I used small shells)
12 oz smoked sausage or Chicken!
14-oz can petite diced tomatoes with onion, drained well
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1-2 Tablespoons cajun seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste

What to do:

First, I started my pasta cooking and then made the Alfredo just as I do for the regular recipe:

Use a mixer or blender to mix together the milk, flour, salt, and cream cheese until it is smooth. I also added butter to this mix and heated it until it thickens then added the shredded cheese and let it sit.

Then, while those two were going, I sliced up my sausage and sautéed it and then added my tomatoes and onion, garlic and cajun spices, and a little S&P. Mix well

Finally, once my Alfredo was ready I slowly stirred it into my pan of sausage. making sure to coat everything and mix in the cajun spice. Then I added the pasta and mixed again.

This was one of the best outcomes of not having what you need!! This mix may be one of my favorites!

Outstanding Sausage Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce!

Being 8 months pregnant, I’ve had constant cravings. Nothing weird or even odd combinations, but rather for specific foods. I went through a 2 week span of wanting lasagna. That soon morphed into a desire for desserts…hot fudge sundaes to be exact. My sweet husband has endured all the changes and even indulged me in the week of only fast food and eating out because I couldn’t stand the smells of cooking in the kitchen.

Although I’ve had a beastly heartburn problem lately, I still love my saucy pastas and spicy foods. I was so excited when I came across this pin. It was everything I wanted and then some. I started to follow this great blog, South Your Mouth written by Mandy Rivers. You can hear the southern in her writing and it makes me feel at home. Plus it doesn’t hurt that I can barely make it through reading a recipe without drooling.

This is my second time making this and my result is a bit different, but on purpose! The changes I made were due to wanting to eat this but not having her exact ingredients on hand at the time and I liked it so much I just went with it again. But isn’t that part of the fun of cooking? You can make alterations that you’d prefer or just to work with what you have! Next time I’m going to use cajun sausage! But trust me folks, this is so good! It fits all of the most important criteria: fast, easy, delicious, and better reheated! You can find the link to her recipe here, mine, with alterations, is below.

Sausage Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce

8+ ounces penne pasta (or whatever you prefer)

12 oz smoked sausage

2 14-oz can petite diced tomatoes, drained well

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 pint (2 cups) heavy cream

1/4 cup mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Cook pasta per manufacturer’s instructions for al dente preparation then drain well.

2. I sliced the sausage and threw into a hot deep skillet, with a little water for a good browning while the pasta cooked.

If you use some other meat and need to drain fat or some of your water do so now after everything is browned and yummy.

3. Add drained tomatoes, oregano, garlic powder and salt and stir well. Add cream and bring to a slight boil.

4. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, for 8-10 (I usually do 10 or 12ish) minutes or until sauce is reduced and thickened. Add cheese a little at a time to blend it in.

5. Remove skillet from heat then add cooked pasta. Stir well to combine then serve.

UPDATE! Last night as I didn’t have the usual ingredients to make this, I substituted with wonderful results. I used small shells instead of penne, 1 can diced tomatoes with onion instead of 2, cheddar cheese instead of mozz, and added CAJUN seasoning!!!! SO SO GOOD! My leftovers for lunch today were so good I had to have seconds!

Crab Bites

No matter if it’s Sunday, Monday, Thursday, or Saturday, you’re probably watching football. Let’s face it, the game is always more fun when you invite people over to watch it with you. This delicious appetizer will fill you up and have your guests inviting themselves over for the next game. My hubby LOVES these and it has become a staple snack in our house. This was given to me from a former co-worker. While I didn’t get this from Pinterest, I hope it will make it now! These are too good not to share.

The best part? You can freeze batches ahead of time and just pop them into the oven as needed!

Crab Bites

Ingredients:

6 English Muffins

5oz Old English Cheese

8oz Crab meat, imitation or real, we prefer the real deal!

1 stick of butter

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp garlic powder

Directions:

1. Combine cheese spread, butter, salt, and garlic powder in a bowl. I like to soften the cheese spread and butter first so its easier to mix and dish out. Then mix in your crab meat.

2. Separate your english muffins into halves, then cut each half into 1/4’s. Then set them out on baking sheets.

3. Scoop out your crab mixture onto each piece if the muffins. About a tablespoon size per piece. You can always go back over with the remainder.

4. Cover with aluminum foil and freeze for at least 1 hour, or even for up to several weeks. When you’re ready, just pop them in the broiler for about 10 min. Just remember to watch them to make sure they don’t burn. Enjoy!

Teriyaki Chicken

Anyone who knows me is fully aware of my addiction to Mexican and Chinese/Japanese food. Thus, it is my passion to find recipes that will satisfy my thirst for these foods with out having to go out to eat. While my Mexican Stuffed Shells (and soon to post enchiladas) fit the bill for my Mexican food fix, I had yet to find something for the latter. Enter teriyaki chicken!! I had tried several different recipes before, none worth posting about. They always lacked that certain something. I believe it’s all about the sauce and this sauce is unbelievable. I guess the recipe in total is mine, however, the teriyaki sauce is from Food.com.

Ingredients:

1lb chicken (I buy the lean thin cut chicken as a time saver)

Soy Sauce

Rice (white or brown, I used white rice)

Sauce:

1/4 cup soy sauce
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (didn’t have it this time but was still delish)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
5 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 -2 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water

1. Start the sauce and get it simmering over a low heat. Mix all but cornstarch and 1/4c water in a sauce pan and begin heating. Mix cornstarch and cold water in a bowl and dissolve. Add to sauce in pan. I like to bring it to a boil first then let it simmer on low while I prepare the rest of the meal. Stir occasionally as you cook the chicken.

2. Cut up the chicken into bite size pieces.

3. Cook the chicken in a little bit of soy sauce.

4. Remove the sauce from heat and let stand. It will thicken. This is when I prepare the minute rice, because why not make it as easy as possible? One cup of rice, one cup of boiling water, let stand and voila! 2 servings of rice.

5. Add rice to plate.

6. Add chicken to rice.

7. Top with your sauce and enjoy! I won’t be ordering take out as long as I can make this goodie!

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I came. I saw. I tried it!

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