Lemon Pasta with Asparagus

Long time no update! I started this post well over a year ago but never got around to finishing it.

This is one of our favorite go-to week night dishes. Seriously, we fix it (or some version of it) all the time. Even C loves it, which is always a plus. It's also super easy and quick. My mom made a version of it (the main difference was that it had goat cheese instead of cream, I think) the first night we were home from the hospital with Sallie Cate, and I wolfed it down like I hadn't eaten in 10 years. That recipe was just a little dry for me, so I prefer this one. It seems light, even though it has butter and heavy cream. :)

1 lb spaghetti noodles/linguine
1 lb asparagus
3 Tbsp unsalted butter
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp lemon zest
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup basil, finely chopped
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Cut the asparagus into 1/2 slices on the diagonal, or just break into 3 pieces. Steam or boil until done, about 3 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Bring 5 quarts salted water to a boil for pasta.

In a deep, 12" skillet, heat butter and cream over moderately low heat until butter is melted, and stir in zest, lemon juice and salt. Remove from skillet and keep sauce warm, covered.

Add pasta to boiling water and boil, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Ladle 1/4 cup pasta water into sauce and drain pasta.

Immediately add pasta and asparagus to sauce and cook over moderate heat, tossing, about 1 min or until heated through. Add basil as well as salt and pepper to taste and toss well.

Sprinkle pasta with a Parmesan cheese.

Ok, so I do not follow this exactly but it's pretty close. I have never added the basil b/c I hate buying herbs if I know I can't use them all before they go bad. If I grew them in my back yard and had them readily available, I'm sure I would add the basil. We also almost never add the Parmesan (I think maybe only once we did that). I never add the extra pasta water either. The sauce is plenty moist {ehh, sorry} for my taste but that might be because I sometimes add more then 3/4 cup of cream. If I buy the 8 oz cream then it all goes in. Again, I hate to waste. I also never measure the lemon zest or juice. That's usually based off how many lemons I have on hand. But trust me, this is yummy!

This recipe is from food.com and is listed as "The Best Lemon Asparagus Pasta" on there.

Waffles with Praline Butter

Praline Butter:

125 gm butter, softened {I just used one stick}

1 Tbsp icing sugar mixture {not sure what this is- I omitted it}

1 Tbsp maple syrup

1/3 cup almonds, chopped {I didn't have almonds, so I used walnuts}

Waffles:

3 large eggs, separated

1/4 cup brown sugar

6 Tbsp butter, melted

3 Tbsp bourbon {I only used 2 because Curran was eating the waffles, too, and I wasn't sure how much would cook out since waffles don't cook for very long :) }

1 Tbsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups milk

2 1/4 cups sifted flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

Beat egg yolks and brown sugar with an electric mixer until thick and pale yellow in color {about 3 min}. Set aside. Combine butter, bourbon, vanilla and milk in a mixing bowl and stir. Add milk mixture to eggs and stir batter well. Sift flour and baking powder together and add to batter. Stir well. Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until firm but not dry. Gently fold into batter. Makes 6 waffles. 

Lemony Chicken Kabobs

I made this tonight and John, Curran and I really liked it! It was very easy and a fresh, summery supper.

Lemony Chicken Kabobs:

2 Tbsp grated lemon peel
2/3 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp vinegar
4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground red pepper
8 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cubed
1 1/2 lbs small zucchini, sliced
1 lb mushrooms, stems trimmed

Combine first 7 ingredients to make marinade (reserve some marinade for basting while grilling). Pour marinade over chicken and zucchini. Refrigerate for 6-12 hours, stirring occasionally. Add mushrooms to marinade 1 hour before cooking. Place chicken, zucchini, and mushrooms on skewers. Grill approx 15 min. Brush kabobs frequently with reserved marinade.

{I didn't ever put the vegetables in with the chicken to marinade, and I thought with all the basting they had plenty of flavor. I served it with basmati rice and asparagus. I reduced the marinade to mix with the rice and added some fresh cracked black pepper. I usually flavor asparagus with melted butter and lemon juice, so I just used the reduction for it too. It was really good and definitely a meal we'll have again!}

This little lady LOVES asparagus! She ate 8 or 9 spears.

Recipe from Food for Thought.

Banana Pudding

This recipe is straight off the Nilla Wafers box, but to me, it is by far the best one I've found. I'm kind of a snob about my banana pudding and don't like recipes that use instant pudding mix or Cool Whip. And this is easy and delicious!


Banana Pudding:

1/3 cup flour

dash salt

3/4 cup sugar, divided

3 eggs, separated

2 cups milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 cups milk

45 Nilla Wafers, divided

5 bananas, sliced


*Sorry this is showing up so funky! I can't seem to fix it!

HEAT oven to 350°F.

MIX 1/2 cup sugar, flour and salt in top of double boiler. Blend in 3 egg yolks and milk. Cook, uncovered, over boiling water 10 to 12 min. or until thickened, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla.
RESERVE 12 wafers for garnish. Spread small amount of custard onto bottom of 1-1/2-qt. baking dish. Cover with layers of 1/3 each of the remaining wafers, bananas and remaining custard. Repeat layers 2 times. {I usually only do two layers of the bananas and end with the vanilla wafers on top prior to topping with the meringue.} 
BEAT egg whites on high speed of mixer until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in remaining sugar until stiff peaks form. Spread over custard, sealing well to edge of dish.
BAKE 15 to 20 min. or until lightly browned. Cool slightly. Top with reserved wafers just before serving.

Potato Soup

I am all about soups this time of year, and with this pregnancy I haven't had much of an appetite, so I've really enjoyed soup. I cooked this last night and thought it was pretty good and easy. This is a crock pot recipe but I ended up putting it on the stove because I didn't want to wait the 6 hours it called for.

Potato Soup:
2 potatoes, peeled and chopped into small pieces
3 Tbsp butter
2 cups onions, chopped
1 cup water
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
4 cups low-sodium chicken stock
1 cup water
8 oz bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
1 cup half & half
1 1/2 cups instant potato flakes
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp basil
1 cup (4 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
2 green onions, chopped

Combine the potatoes with enough water to cover in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes and drain. Melt the butter in a large saucepan and add the onions. Saute until tender. Remove the onions to a bowl using a slotted spoon, reserving the pan drippings. Stir 1 cup water and the flour into the reserved pan drippings. Cook until a roux forms, stirring constantly.

Combine the roux, cooked potatoes, onions, stock and 1 cup water in a slow cooker and mix well. Mix in the bacon, half & half, potato flakes, salt, pepper, and basil, and cook, covered, on low heat for 6 hours. Ladle into soup bowls and top with cheese and green onions.

{I mixed all the ingredients in a big pot, brought it to a boil and then let it simmer until it was thick.}

Peach Crisp

I meant to put this recipe on here last summer but never got around to it. It's super easy and so good! The first time I made it, I used fresh peaches, but it was way too labor intensive, so I recommend using the canned peaches it calls for.

(I had a picture but I can't find it now.)

Peach Crisp:

1 (29 oz) can of sliced peaches, drained {I would recommend using two cans}
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups white sugar {I think I do half brown, half white}
1 pinch salt
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup butter, chilled

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Layer the peaches in a 9x13 baking dish. In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon. Slice the butter into chunks and mix it into the dry ingredients until it looks like pea size crumbs {I use my mixer for this}. Sprinkle crumbs over peaches. Bake for 40 minutes or until lightly golden. Serve with vanilla ice cream.


Recipe from allrecipes.com. 

Blueberry Muffins

I prefer to make most things from scratch, but I have always thought that you can't really beat Duncan Hines when it comes to blueberry muffins. But recently my MIL gave me some fresh blueberries that she had picked on a friend's farm, so I decided I needed to make some muffins from scratch. It turns out that it's not hard and not much more time consuming than making them from the box mix. You just have to dump and stir a few more things into the bowl. :) And everyone seems to like these!

Sweetish Hill's Blueberry Muffins: {this recipe is from Nesbit Blueberry Farm}

2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup powdered milk {I didn't have this ingredient so I looked it up in my substitutions cookbook and it said you can use an equal amount of regular milk instead, so I used whole milk}
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup canola oil1 egg
1 1/2 cups water
2-3 cups blueberries (if using frozen blueberries, lightly dust them with
flour)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with paper or carefully butter and flour the cups. Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another. Reserve the blueberries. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet mixture. Mix with a wooden or nylon spoon just until combined. Do not over mix. Carefully fold in the blueberries. Fill the cups until almost full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack. Makes approx 24 muffins. (I usually end up with 28 muffins.)