Cheddar Bacon Ranch Chicken Pasta and Carrabba's Dipping Spices

We just moved and things are busy.  I have blog ideas come to mind, but just haven't taken the time to sit down and write them out.  Still trying to figure out this whole blogging thing and what I want to do with my little spot of the internet.

For now, here's a restaurant quality pasta dinner.

Cheddar Bacon Ranch Chicken Pasta

Original Pin   Recipe from: Cassie Craves 

This pasta was amazing!  One that will definitely be made again.  I followed the recipe exactly.  It took quite a bit of time to make since you have to cook the bacon then the chicken but totally worth it.  I did  completely ruin the first batch of bacon. In all fairness, it was only my second attempt at cooking bacon...for some reason bacon has always made me nervous.  However I may have used a skillet with grills. Just a head's up, bacon needs a flat surface to cook evenly.  Lesson learned.

Carrabba’s Bread Dipping Spices

Original Pin   Recipe from: Macaroni and Cheesecake

The spices were just like what you would have at a nice Italian restaurant.  I left out the oil and lemon juice that was supposed to be mixed into the spices. Next time, I'll leave the garlic out and mix just the dry spices so I can keep them longer.  I will probably make a bigger batch too so we can just spoon out what we want and add garlic and the oil.

Crab-Filled Crescent Wantons with Beef Stir Fry

Normally, I'm terrible with timing in the kitchen but I was able to work it out perfectly with this meal.  I pre-cut all of my veggies and meat, made the wontons and while they were in the oven, made the rice in our new microwave rice cooker and started the stir-fry.  The wantons and rice finished first and cooled just enough by the time the stir-fry was done.  I was rather proud of myself.

Crab-Filled Crescent Wantons

Original Pin   Recipe from: Krista's Kitchen

These were simple to put together and tasty!

Hints:

• Use a pizza roller to cut the crescent rolls
• Next time, I will probably make fewer and make them larger (it made a lot)
• After making the squares initially, I would flatten each square a little bit more individually

Flavorful Beef Stir-Fry

This is a recipe my mom has been making for years.

With the fresh vegetables and the sauce that the meat released, this was amazing!  We will definitely be making this again.

Gather:

• 2 T Cornstarch
• 2 t Sugar
• 6T Soy Sauce
• 1/4 c. Water
• 1 lb steak, cut in strips
• 3 c. Broccoli
• 2 med carrots; thinly sliced
• 2 T Chopped Onion
• 2 T Vegetable oil, divided

Make:

• In a bowl, combine cornstarch, sugar, soy sauce, and water until smooth.
• Add beef and toss to coat; set aside.
• In a large skillet, stir fry vegetables in 1 T oil.  Cover and simmer for 4 min; remove and keep warm.  
• In the same skillet, stir fry beef in remaining oil until meat reaches desired doneness.  
• Return vegetables to pan; toss.  Serve over rice.

Eggs

I'm going to keep trying out new Pinterest projects.  It feels good to know that all the time in front of a computer actually leads to stuff happening in real life.  haha!

Boiling Eggs

Found here: http://its-fitting.com/2012/01/good-enough-to-eat-do-you-know-how-to-boil-an-egg.html

Apparently, I've been boiling eggs wrong for a very long time.  I used to put them in the water and boil them for 10 minutes.  What you actually need to do is bring the water to a boil, then turn the heat off.  I also have read in a few places to put a lid on the pot, take them off the burner and let them sit for 15 minutes.  Either way, the eggs turn out perfect!  After 9 years on my own, I can finally hard boil an egg. haha!  Next on the docket is learning how to peel them without loosing chunks of egg.  I resorted to running them under cold water and that worked pretty well.  Do you have a technique that works well?

Easy Deviled Eggs

Found here (tip 2):  http://www.aimlessdirection.com/2008/17-tips-to-make-your-life-easier/

Before discovering this simple trick, making deviled eggs was pretty messy and I missed out on a lot of the filling when transferring from bowl to egg.  All you have to do is put the yolks, mayonnaise and mustard in a big baggie, seal the bag, mush it all together, cut off the corner and fill!  I only got one spoon dirty to put mayo in the bag.  It was awesome!

Next time I need to make deviled eggs for something, I think I'm going to try making this.

I like my deviled eggs simple - just mayo, mustard and paprika.  What's your favorite way to make deviled eggs?  Do you have something you like to add in?