Alfredo Add-in

Here's a small variation on our alfredo we love so much. This ended up being so darn tasty, I had to share how easy it is to spice up your meals.

The original Alfredo recipe is here.

All we did was steam some broccoli on the side and add it in. It was so yummy and such a great addition. It's so easy to spice up simple dishes.

Roasted Asparagus

This is one I found on Food Network's website a long time ago. It was super simple and went something like this.

Ingredients

1 pound asparagus, trimmed

1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Snap or cut the dry stem ends off each asparagus and place on a heavy baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss. Roast until the asparagus is tender, about 15 minutes. Cool slightly and serve warm or at room temperature.

I was using garden asparagus, and it wasn't as thick and they weren't all the same size. So some of ours got crispy, like in the picture. But honestly, I kinda liked it. Made them kinda taste like french fries. I'm sure if you used a bunch from the store they'd all cook up real uniform though.

Guacamole

This is my mom's guacamole. I absolutely love it. Eat it with her homemade chips and you might not be able to stop before the whole bowl is gone.

Ingredients

2 avocadoes peeled and pitted
1 medium onion finely chopped
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt
½ tsp coarsely ground black pepper
½ tsp ascorbic acid mixture (optional)
1 medium tomato peeled and sliced

Beat avocadoes, onion, lemon juice, salt, pepper and ascorbic acid mixture until creamy. Fold in tomato. Cover and refrigerate. Stir before serving. For a chunkier guacamole, mix avocadoes with a fork.

I make mine chunky and mash it all up with my fork. We LOVE it.

Breadsticks

This recipe is from my cooking class in college.  Basically everything in her cooking book is magic and I love it. (My fave alfredo sauce is from there.)

Ingredients

2 cups flour

2 T. sugar

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1 t. salt

2 T. olive oil (I just use vegetable)

2/3 cup milk

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1/2 t. garlic powder

1/2 t. dried parsley

1 t. sesame seeds

Combine dry ingredients in medium bowl. Add oil and milk and mix with a fork until dough clings together. Knead 10-12 times on floured surface. Roll into an 8" square. (I'm awful at this stuff, but just try and aim for this size, since that'll be the pan you bake them in.) Cut into strips. Place on greased baking sheet (Can use an 8x8 dish) and brush with melted butter. Combine parmesan cheese, garlic powder, parsley and sesame seeds in a bowl. Sprinkle breadsticks with cheese mixture and bake at 400 for 10-15 minutes until golden brown.

Yes, they're nummy.

Egg Flippin' Fun

Thought I'd try this out. If I can do it, anyone can!

Ramen lunch

This is pretty similar to the Ramen Fried Rice I posted a while back, just a bit more simple.

Ingredients

Ramen Noodles

Broccoli, steamed or pan fry

Eggs, scrambled

Again, like last time, very simple. Cook the noodles like you would for Top Ramen. Strain them if needed.  In the meantime, scramble your eggs and cook your broccoli however you prefer. Throw it all in together and add sauces of your choosing. We like to have a wide variety of asian sauces. Soy sauce, of course, but more exciting ones. Black Bean and Garlic, Hoison, General Tsao, and many others. They're not too expensive and they last a while. We think they're worth it because they can really spice up the meals and make them taste great!

 

You can easily spice this up with other ingredients that you like. I remember, this kind of reminded me of Chow Mein because it was noodle heavy, which I love. You could get very creative with any other ingredients to suit the tastes of your eaters. :)

French Fries

We made these a while ago. I'm always interested in finding different and yummy ways to eat those potatoes. I know I posted another french fry recipe a while back. Last time I didn't have a real specific recipe, but this time I do. The flavor was really yummy, and depending on how you cut them, the cook time will differ, so just be aware.

Ingredients

1 large baking potato

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).  Cut potato into wedges. Mix olive oil, paprika, garlic powder, chili powder and onion powder together. Coat potatoes with oil/spice mixture and place on a baking sheet.  Bake for 45 minutes in preheated oven.

I put mine on foil to ease the mess clean-up, althought that might also change exactly how they bake. Like I said, you'll just have to be aware. The thinner the fry, the faster they bake and vice versa. But the flavor is really yummy and easy to alter depending on your tastes.