Muegge Classic Cannelloni with a Twist...

When Kyle and I celebrated our first Valentine's Day, we'd only been dating 3 months, but we'd already been engaged for 1 month...!! Yeah... when you know, you know, right?! Yup!! My parents were out of town that year and Kyle and I decided to make a special evening at their house vs. trying to fight the crowds at the popular restaurants or deal with his manly roommates (love you Rick and Joe, and whoever else called that house home at that time!!). So, we decided we'd cook a new meal and do it together and spend the evening alone with great food. The problem was... what to eat?! We did some research on things we liked but had not cooked before. Usually when Kyle and I go new, we go Italian. It's comfort food for both of us. After days of research we decided on cannelloni but we couldn't find a recipe we both liked. I do not like beef or pork in pasta... I usually want chicken or no meat. Kyle would eat it all, ha! So that made it easy, chicken... But... then what else? We found most recipes had spinach and of course ricotta and Parmesan cheese, so from there we just winged it. We pieced together parts we liked and weeded out what we didn't and came up with this... an amazing, filling, very delicious dish. We serve this anytime we have somebody new over for dinner, so if you've ever eaten at my house, you've been served cannelloni... guaranteed!

Over the years we've found some ways to simplify the recipe - mainly making it the night before and cooking it the day of the dinner party. Which is WONDERFUL! No dishes the day of, no staying in the kitchen all afternoon... great! I've been craving it for some time now, but as stuffing those shells can be mighty time consuming, we decided to make it as a lasagna. I would do this again to serve Kyle and I but I think it is much more company presentable as cannelloni. I'll share instructions for both!!

Muegge Classic Cannelloni

Ingredients:

1 lb chicken breast; boneless, skinless, cubed

1 Tbsp Italian Seasoning

1 Tbsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp crushed black pepper

1/3 cup white onion, chopped

2 Tbsp garlic, minced

1 (10 oz) pkg sliced button mushrooms

2/3 pkg baby spinach

1 (15 oz) tub whole milk ricotta cheese

1 cup Parmesan Cheese, shredded
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 pkg Manicotti/Cannelloni shells OR 1 pkg lasagna noodles
1 (16 oz) jar Alfredo sauce
1 (16 oz) jar Spaghetti sauce
Parmesan cheese, for topping

Directions:

In a large pot, boil water for pasta. Cook according to directions on package to al dente. Drain pasta and set aside.

In large pan, heat vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic, cook just about one minute, to infuse flavors into oil.



Place the chicken in the pan and cook until slightly pink in the center. * NOTE: I should have added the Italian seasoning, salt and pepper her... BUT... I forgot!! So, add it now!! *





Add mushrooms and finish cooking chicken.

And... here is where I remembered to season my meat... haha!

When the meat has finished cooking, add in the spinach and mix it in just until it begins to wilt.

Preheat oven to 375°.

In a large mixing bowl, mix ricotta cheese with 1 cup Parmesan cheese, set aside.

Use a slotted spoon to drain the chicken and veggies and place them in your food processor.



Use the food processor to shred the chicken mix finely.



Thoroughly mix shredded chicken into cheeses.

For traditional cannelloni: stuff the mixture into shells, gently (these shells tear easily). You can use a piping bag to do this but Kyle and I generally hand stuff them. Place stuffed shells in 13x9 baking dish. Cover one half of shells with Alfredo sauce, the other half with spaghetti sauce. Bake about 20 minutes, until sauces bubble. Serve with fresh Parmesan cheese grated over the top.

For lasagna: butter a 13x9 baking dish and spread thin layer of Alfredo sauce on half the dish and a thin layer of spaghetti sauce on the other half.



Lay down 4-5 lasagna noodles.



Layer with 1/3 stuffing mixture.



Keep your Alfredo/spaghetti sauce boundaries and spread Alfredo on one half and spaghetti sauce on the other.





Repeat layers with noodles, filling and sauces twice more. Top of with noodles and remaining sauce.

You *could* do Alfredo on one layer, spaghetti sauce on the next, but we like to keep them separate since Kyle prefers spaghetti sauce and I prefer Alfredo sauce! Bake about 20 minutes, until sauces bubble. Serve with fresh Parmesan cheese grated over the top.

As I said earlier, you can make this recipe early, just don't bake until time to serve and make sure you allow 45-50 minutes to bake since the dish will be cold. Also, this recipe doubles very easily. You can feed a lot of people very easily!!

I cooked it straight through from chopping the chicken to baking and it took about 45 minutes start to finish - not too bad!! Enjoy!!

Entree, Recipes

Share:

Cupcakes, cupcakes everywhere!!

Cupcakes are perfect. They are just the right size, they are easy to make, they taste delicious and there are ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES of flavor and decorating options. Seriously, what more could you ask for?! I have been seeing some AMAZING cupcakes float around Pinterest for some time now and I just HAD to bring them your way! So... I created a collage of the best 50 cupcake flavors I could find. None of these amazing cupcakes are my own creation but I've linked you to the creator as well as the recipe - because who needs pictures of cupcakes if you can't actually make them, right?! Here you go... happy cupcake making!!

click photo to enlarge

We'll go across and then down...

Row 1

1-A -Bailey's Irish Cream Cupcakes - Bailey's and chocolate chips mixed into the cake itself and Bailey's buttercream frosting?! Well slap me a leprechaun! I'm in!!

2-A - S'More Cupcakes - Courtney over at Pizzazzerie brings us these amazing S'Mores cupcakes along with S'Mores truffles. Uh huh... you read that right!

3-A - Chocolate Turtle Cupcakes - Chocolate cake filled with caramel sauce and topped with caramel buttercream icing? I might pass out from a sugar coma just LOOKING at that thing!!

4-A - Vanilla Chai Tea Cupcakes - This recipe comes at you from across the pond, so make sure you're good at conversions!

5-A - Toffee Mocha Cupcakes - Espresso buttercream icing?! Do I REALLY need to say anything more?!

6-A - Oreo Cupcakes - As if the cookies and cream whipped cream frosting wasn't enough, there is actually a double stuffed Oreo in the bottom of this baby! Oy...!!

7-A - Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes - Do you have a weakness for Boston cream pie? Yeah... me too... Must try!!

8-A - Dulce de Leche Cupcakes - Dulce de leche is just about my favorite flavor under the sun. I get dulce de leche cheesecake at Cheesecake Factory, I ♥ dulce de leche Haggen-Daz ice cream and I pretty much crave anything with that name!

9-A - Tres Leches Cupcakes - Don't confuse Dulce de Leche (sweet milk) with Tres Leches (three milk)... there's a BIG difference! Although this particular cupcake does have dulce de leche buttercream icing. The major difference here is that one of the three milks is coconut milk. Ahhhh....! Splendid!

10-A - Pistachio Cupcake - This cupcake, made with honey buttercream was actually adapted from the cake recipe in the link provided.

Row 2

1-B - Oatmeal Cupcakes - This cupcake has a coconut icing filling and is topped with caramel whipped cream. Say what?! You had me at coconut...!!! And did you see that caramel drizzle on top?!

2-B - Cinnamon Cupcakes - These amazing little goodies are topped with a cinnamon cream cheese frosting. Hello breakfast!

3-B - Apple Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes - Yes... this is actually a cinnamon roll wrapped up like a cupcake... isn't that amazing?! I've seen plenty of these floating around but the apple addition made this one catch my eye.

4-B - Banana Split Cupcakes - I can't stand the cuteness!! ADORBS!! And hello... check this out... banana cake, strawberry and pineapple filling with vanilla frosting topped with chocolate ganache, sprinkles AND a cherry on top!! Sinful...

5-B - Vegan Red Velvet Cake Cupcakes - Yes that gorgeous little creature is completely vegan and topped with vegan cream cheese frosting.

6-B - Mississippi Mud Pie Cupcakes - Chocolate cake topped with toasted marshmallows, toasted pecans and chocolate frosting. Hello Heaven!

7-B - Pink Champagne Cupcakes - This recipe takes a simple boxed cake mix and turns it into a bubbly masterpiece! And how adorable do they look?! These would be perfect for a bridal shower or bridal brunch and the decor, as great as that looks, is actually quite simple! Amazing :0)

8-B - Coconut Lime Cupcakes - Here is another vegan treat - a lime and coconut cake topped with a lime buttercream icing and flaky coconut! I can taste the summer goodness just looking at it!!

9-B - Pina Colada Cupcakes - Pineapple cupcakes with coconut cream cheese icing. Topped with toasted coconut, a sliver of pineapple and a cherry - perfect for backyard entertaining all summer long!

10-B - Orange and Cranberry Cupcakes - Any type of orange cake is a fave of mine! My great-grandmother always had orange cakes :0) Add in cranberries, um yes!!

Row 3

1-C - Meyer Lemon Cranberry Cupcakes - I'm really loving the cupcakes baked in paper ramekins. How cute?! And these cupcakes topped with sugared cranberries are gorgeous.

2-C - Rocky Road Cupcakes - Well, hello there Paula Deen! I would venture to say these are NOT vegan cupcakes...! Never seen a Paula recipe that didn't have at least 2 sticks of butter... this one has 3 :0) My favorite saying is, "Can't go wrong with Paula" - I've never had a single recipe turn out badly.

3-C - Lemon Drop Cupcakes - Yes, this actually has crushed lemon drop candy in it! Jolie, are you reading this?! Immediately thought of YOU! Plus, the directions include instructions for making those adorable and bright lemon wheels.

4-C - Margarita Cupcakes - Uh huh... I said margarita!! WOO HOO!! The icing on top is the perfect shade to mimic the amazing frozen concoction. And yes, the cake itself has a small amount of tequila baked in. Having friends over for fajitas by the pool?! Must.serve.these!

5-C - Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes - Lemon zest and fresh blueberries mixed right on in to this cake mix, then topped with lemon cream cheese frosting and a fresh berry. Simple. Elegant. Delicious!

6-C - Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes - In Corpus there was a small restaurant and bakery that made creamsicle muffins... if these are anything like those... well, let's just say my hips won't be nearly as happy as my taste buds!! Orange cake with marshmallow icing AND orange buttercream icing!!

7-C - Nutella Cupcakes - These chocolate cupcakes are filled with nutella and then topped with a nutella buttercream icing. My husband would go bananas for these! B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

8-C - Raspberry Cupcakes - What do you do with leftover marshmallow icing?! You put it on raspberry cupcakes, of course! These are guaranteed to be moist, they have raspberry yogurt baked into the cake. Delish!

9-C - Lavender Cupcakes - This one also comes at you from across the pond, so make sure you're willing to convert the measurements. I think these are lovely... I'm thinking spa day delight!

10-C - French Toast and Bacon Cupcakes - Yes, bacon... on a cupcake! It's kinda the newest hottest trend in cupcakes... and no, it's not vegan either!! I'm contemplating making these for Father's Day, my hubby sure loves french toast AND bacon... I'll keep you posted, LOL!

Row 4

1-D - Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes - These are so cute and I bet they are scrumptious!! You actually bake the jelly into the cupcakes, which I've done with cookies before and it was delicious. Then top them with peanut butter buttercream icing and a little powdered sugar -yummy!! I love the blue wrappers in this picture... for muted cupcakes, adding some color in that form is a MUST!

2-D - Mint Chocolate Cupcakes - This blogger uses Andes mints to create a chocolate-mint wonder! And... they're topped off with mint cream cheese frosting...!

3-D - Pink Lemonade Cupcakes - These are the cupcakes that started it all for me. A few weeks ago, I was browsing Pinterest and saw these cupcakes and fell in love. I really didn't know there was this large of a world of flavored cupcakes out there! These would have been PERFECT for Reagan's 3rd birthday party. I will make these soon, for sure!! Add pink lemonade drink mix in the cake batter and then top with a pink lemonade buttercream. Refreshing!!

4-D - Green Tea and Strawberry Cupcakes - I'm totally loving these in miniature! So adorable. These green tea cupcakes are filled with strawberry custard and topped with strawberry swiss meringue buttercream icing. This would be another great shower or party cupcake.

5-D - Triple Butterscotch Cupcakes - You had me at butterscotch, that's for sure! Butterscotch cupcakes, butterscotch frosting and butterscotch drizzle? Oh wow....

6-D - Peach and Bourbon Cupcakes - That just sounds sinful and delightful all at once, now doesn't it?! And it makes me want to talk with a deep southern drawl... which I really don't to start with! Thinking sweet, southern, Georgia Belle with a little sweet peach tea... and that silly girl added some bourbon to that tea! Can't you just hear them talkin' about her, bless her heart! Ahh... onto the cupcake! This peachy cupcake is topped with a peach and bourbon buttercream!!

7-D - Peach Tea Cupcake - Maybe I should have saved my sweet Southern Belle story for this cupcake?! Oh well...! Tea infused butter graces this cupcake which is then topped with a Lemon cream cheese frosting. That's it... I'm making these now! Well, after I finish this post anyway!!

8-D - Pumpkin Cupcakes - I know pumpkin is usually reserved for the fall, but if you're like me - you miss it in the summer! This is a traditional pumpkin cake with cream cheese icing, but Ihad to include it... ooey-gooey-pumpkiny goodness!! Come to mommy!!!

9-D - Banana Cream Pie Cupcakes - Banana cupcakes with banana pudding filling, topped with vanilla pudding frosting and graham cracker crumbs and a banana slice. Wonder how this would be with Nilla wafers instead of graham crackers?! Ahhhh....!!

10-D - Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes - I had to include this one... even in summer heat we can long for Christmas!! These are so cute with those pink wrappers and pink icing... I bet they are just as delicious too!! These peppermint mocha cupcakes are topped with a peppermint meringue style frosting. Oh Christmas... please come!!

Row 5

1-E - Tiramisu Cupcake - Oy... oy, oy oy...!! Tiramisu is my all time, absolute favorite dessert. I have an AWESOME recipe for the traditional dessert that I will share with you soon, promise!! In the mean time you get this... a tramisu cupcake!! Any vanilla cake mix you like mixed with Kahlua and coffee and topped with mascarpone cheese icing. Let me say this though... she uses cream cheese and states that the original has mascarpone and it's just all the same...! No. No. No. It is not the same! Use the mascarpone. You may need to add a little more sugar though, LOL.

2-E - Watermelon Cupcakes - CUTE. CUTE. CUTE!!! Did I mention these are cute?! These watermelon flavored cupcakes actually have "seeds" in them courtesy of black sugar pearls!! The cupcake is topped with watermelon buttercream and more black sugar pearls, coat the edges in sugar and viola! An adorable watermelon cupcake!!

3-E - Creme Brulee Cupcakes - Chocolate cake stuffed with creme brulee that has been sugared and torched and topped with fresh strawberries. Do I really need to say anything else?!

4-E - Root Beer Float Cupcake - What do you top a root beer float cupcake with?! Ice cream!! Root beer cupcakes topped with ice cream and drizzled with root beer syrup. So neat!!!!

5-E - Grapefruit Cupcakes - These might just be perfectly adorable... but grapefruit too?! How light and crisp does that sound?! Grapefruit cupcakes topped with honeyed Italian meringue buttercream. WOW!

6-E - Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes - Chocolate cupcakes with a cherry sour cream icing and topped with chocolate covered cherries!!! Amazing!! And I must say, the double liner on this is SO cute!! Totally worth presentation points, and how hard is it to add an extra liner?! ♥

7-E - White Chocolate Mud Cupcakes - This fabulously simple recipe looks spectacular! White chocolate cupcake, white chocolate ganache and white chocolate shavings... perfect white chocolate combination. Ohhhh.... have a groom-to-be who loves white chocolate?! GREAT option for grooms cake!!

8-E - Carrot Cake Cupcakes - I just made carrot cake cupcakes at Easter! Wish I'd seen these...! Carrot cake cupcakes with white chocolate cream cheese frosting and topped with chopped walnuts. I don't even like carrot cake, but for walnuts, I'll try anything!!

9-E - Cappuccino Cupcakes - This may be the most moist cupcake ever... made with cream cheese and sour cream and topped with a double shot latte buttercream... add a chocolate covered coffee bean and viola! Cappuccino cupcakes - late night study group, anybody?!

10-E - Key Lime Cupcakes - Key limes are special - they are tart and they are perfection in the shape of a small green ball. My aunt and uncle grow them in their backyard, Uncle Rick's key lime juice is my daughters fave drink!! So delish!! These adorably green key lime flavored cupcakes are topped with key lime cream cheese icing and zest from the lime itself. I really wish I could just grab it through the screen right now...!!

And there, my friends... are 50 amazing cupcakes!! ENJOY!!

Cupcakes, Inspiration, Miscellaneous Recipes, Recipes

Share:

Texas Caviar

Growing up, I hated cilantro. Hated it. Wouldn't touch it or anything with it in there. When Kyle and I were dating, we loved eating at this Laotian restaurant and they would put cilantro in their fried rice. I hated it so much that I would actually tell them I was allergic to it to stress the DO NOT PUT CILANTRO IN MY FOOD point!! I wouldn't touch anything with cilantro in it until I ate this... Texas Caviar and not only did I fall in love with the dip itself but cilantro. Now I add it to everything and can't get enough of it! They say your tastes really do change every 7 years AND with pregnancy, so somewhere in between all of that I became obsessed with cilantro.

So, this has a funny name... Texas Caviar... but it fits! It's kinda a cross between a dip of sorts and a bean salsa.

Texas Caviar

Ingredients

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/8 tsp Tabasco

2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed

2 cans Mexicorn, drained

2 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 cup cilantro, chopped

1/2 medium red onion, chopped

6 tsp garlic, minced

2 large Haas avocados, peeled and chopped

** NOTE: I only made a half batch, so you'll need more beans, Mexicorn, olive oil, red wine vinegar, tomato and avocado. It's very easy to cut this in half though! **

Directions

In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, red wine vinegar and Tabasco. Mix well and set aside.

I usually don't walk through the chopping, but I wanted to share a few tricks with you today. I cut my veggies pretty small for this recipe.

We'll start with the bell pepper (yes, I realize I forgot the sticker when I washed it!!). I slice the top of the pepper off and set it aside for a moment.



Stand the pepper up on its bottom and slice in half vertically.



Remove all the seeds and veins (the light parts inside the pepper).



Then cut each half in half to create quarters. Take the top and cut out the stem. Again, remove any seeds and veins in the top of the pepper.



Start with the quarters and slice into 1/8" thick strips then into 1/8" squares.

For the tomato, I slice off the top and the bottom so it stands on it's own. Standing the tomato up, slice down vertically in half and then into quarters.



I seed the tomato by cutting everything out of the middle and then using the knife to scoop out any seeds. (We didn't get the best pictures of this process, sorry!)



Once you just have the skin, slice in 1/8" strips and then into 1/8" squares.

I like to pick my cilantro off the stems, but it is a little time consuming. I just pick off each leaf and form a pile of them. Once I have the amount I need, I roll the leaves, similar to the way you cut basil. It is tough to get a perfect roll, but try to get it all in there, it's so much easier to chop this way!





Begin by slicing from one end of the roll to the other then come back across from the top to the bottom.



After a few runs with the knife, the cilantro will be perfect!

As for the onion... well, I've never found an absolute fave way to cut those things! So sorry, no pics for that one!

Once you have everything chopped and ready, start mixing! After you've drained your Mexicorn, put it in a large bowl. Add in the drained and rinsed beans.



Then add tomatoes, red bell pepper, cilantro, onion and garlic.



Mix it thoroughly. We'll add the avocado later....



Pour the olive oil dressing mix on top and mix until everything is covered.





Chill for 2 hours.

When you're ready to serve it, halve your avocados (see this post: Sharla's Famous Guacamole for a great tutorial on halving your avocados). Once you've halved them and removed the seeds, use your knife to slice just the meat and not the shell. Make 4-5 slices vertically and 4-5 slices horizontally then use a spoon to scoop out your chunks of avocado. Mix the avocado in and serve! It is delicious and will go very quickly... thankfully it makes a HUGE bowl!!

YUMM-O!!!

Appetizers, Miscellaneous Recipes, Recipes

Share:

Sharla's Perfect Guacamole

If you live anywhere in Texas, chances are guacamole is a staple at any get together. No? Well, it is in my family! My daddy was always the guacamole maker and I was probably 9 or 10 when he taught me how to make it. Since then, I've experimented with it a little and figured out the absolute best way to make it... ever! Everytime I make it and take it somewhere people want to know the secret, which really... there's not one! I often wonder what makes it so wonderful, there are few ingredients... but I think I've narrowed it down to the one that counts: GARLIC POWDER. It packs the most punch. This recipe makes about 3 cups of guacamole, so you may want to double it for a larger party.

Sharla's Perfect Guacamole

Ingredients

6 medium Haas avocados

2 medium tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped

3/4 white onion, finely chopped

1 serrano pepper, seeded and finely chopped

2 Tbsp garlic powder

1 Tbsp kosher salt

fresh cracked pepper

1/2 lime, juiced

Directions

Halve and peel avocados. The best way to get the seed out is to whack it with a knife and twist... if you've never done this before, do so with caution! I really don't want to see any comments about missing fingers after trying to make my guacamole, ha!! Hold the side of the avocado in your left hand (assuming you use your right for cutting!) and tuck your fingers in. Bring the knife down smack in the center of the seed, wedging it about 1/4 of the way in. With the knife secure in the seed, twist the knife to twist the seed... this should loosen the seed enough to pull it out. Pull and viola! no more seed, perfectly in tact avocado!! I learned this when I was like 22... late to the party, as usual! Anyway, you'll never try another way to de-seed an avocado once you try this one... unless you do happen to cut of a digit or two!! :0) I'm sorry I didn't get any pictures of this method but my husband was outside playing with Reagan and it would have been hard to take those pics by myself... LOL! Make sure you keep 2-3 seeds, you'll need them in a bit. OK, so now... you have two halves with no seed... take a spoon and scoop that baby out!! Dump them all into a bowl.



I prefer to use a metal potato masher to smash the avocados, but you can use a fork.



Don't mash them too much, you want this to be slightly chunky, not smooth.



Dump in your tomatoes, onion and pepper. Mix to incorporate.





I said to use 2 Tbsp of garlic powder, and that is probably very close, but really I sprinkle it to cover the surface three times. This may be a little more or less than 2 exact tablespoons. When in doubt, do less and add more later. Sorry I can't be super specific on that!!





Add salt, pepper and lime juice and mix thoroughly.



You now have the absolute best guacamole you'll ever eat!! Remember the seeds we saved?? Place those in the bowl you serve the guacamole in, they really do help to keep it fresh.



The lime juice also keeps it from oxidizing. It will stay green for hours.

Now, here's another little tip... the best chips in the whole wide world are Julio's chips. They are these amazing tortilla chips that are seasoned. Julio's is a Mexican restaurant in Laredo, Texas and while we've never been to Laredo or eaten there... we definitely buy a lot of their products! If you don't live in Texas you may not have any luck finding these... but it's worth looking for sure!!

One last note... you can make this recipe in the food processor, it's just not as chunky (obviously!). I do this if I'm in a BIG hurry... just put the tomato, onion and seeded pepper into the food processor until it is fine but NOT pureed. I do dump it out before adding the avocado in case there is too much, you don't want runny guacamole, that's for sure! Then I puree the avocados in the food processor, remove to a bowl and mix in the tomato blend slowly, stirring to the right consistency. Then add the garlic powder, salt, pepper and lime juice the same as above. This will obviously be a lot more smooth, it tastes the same, but I TOTALLY prefer the chunky texture!!

ENJOY!!

Appetizers, Miscellaneous Recipes, Recipes

Share: