Pasta Salad

New favorite salad. Easy to make and a great way to feed a crowd :)

3 cups pasta (I used bow ties, you can also use penne, rotini, medium shell macaroni, etc)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp seasoned salt
3 cups vegetable (I used chopped celery; sliced carrots, sliced zucchini or squash, peas are optional)
1/2 cup shredded cheese
1 cup halved grape/cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped onion or sliced green onions
1/2 cup sliced ripe olives
2 tbsp snipped basil
1 cup Italian dressing (or balsamic vinaigrette, caesar dressing)

Cook pasta according to package directions, drain. Rinse with cold water, drain. In a large bowl whisk together olive oil, lemon juice and salt. Add pasta, toss to coat. Cover and chill for a couple of hours.
Add vegetable, cheese, tomatoes, onion, olives and basil to pasta. Add salad dressing, toss to coat.

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Found this recipe from New Cookbook. Absolutely love it! Noodle with creamy sauce, tuna flake, and crunchy top, hmmm, so yummy!

8 ounces spaghetti, cooked, drained (or use dried wide noodles)
3/4 cup chopped sweet pepper (1 medium)
1 cup chopped celery (2 stalks)
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2&1/4 cups milk
2 cans (5-ounce each) chunk light tuna, drained
1/2 cup Japanese-style bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tbsp snipped parsley
1 tbsp butter, melted

    Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 2-quart baking dish. Cook noodles and drain.
    For sauce, in a skillet cook sweet pepper, celery, onion in 1/4 cup hot butter until tender. Stir in flour, salt, black pepper. Add milk. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Fold in tuna and cooked noodles.    
    Transfer the mixture into the baking dish.
    In a bowl combine bread crumbs, cheese, parsley and melted butter. Sprinkle crumb mixture over noodle mixture. Bake, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes.

Chocolate Cake with Mint Chocolate Chip Frosting

A recipe from Pinterest. Delicious!

For the cake:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1&1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1&1/2 cup flour

9 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup coffee, cooled (I used hot chocolate, cooled)

1/2 cup milk

For the frosting:

1 cup butter, softened

6 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp peppermint extract

1/2 cup milk plus 2 tbsp

11 oz mini chocolate chips

1/8 tsp green food color gel

For the ganache:

3/4 cup heavy cream

1&1/2 semisweet chocolate morsels

1/4 tsp peppermint extract

1. In a medium bowl, sift cocoa with flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder, set aside; Mix coffee (or     

    hot chocolate) together. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar for about 5 minutes until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time. Slowly  

    add dry ingredients alternating with coffee(hot chocolate)/milk blend. 

3. Pour cake batter into two baking pans (9-in round cake pan lined with parchment paper and greased, 

    floured). Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. After baked, allow to cool before removing from pans.  

   Cool completely before frosting.

4. For frosting, in a large bowl, beat butter, powdered sugar and milk for 5 minutes. Add extract and food 

    coloring gel. Fold in chocolate chips. Blend well.

5. Frost first layer of cake, then top it with second layer. Completely frost sides and top of the cake.

6. For ganache, heat 3/4 cup heavy cream in saucepan. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Place 

   chocolate chips in a bowl and pour hot cream and extract into the bowl. Stir until smooth and combined. 

   Pour over cake.

Crockpot Bacon Cheese Potatoes

The recipe comes from Pinterest. Everything with bacon is good :)

1/4 pound bacon, diced, cooked
2 medium onions, sliced
4 medium potatoes, sliced
1/2 pound shredded cheddar cheese
salt and black pepper
butter
green onion

  Line crockpot with foil, leaving enough to cover the potatoes (this will help to not stick and to steam the potatoes)
  Layer half each of bacon, onions, potatoes and cheese in crockpot. Season to taste with salt and pepper and dot with butter.
  Repeat layers of bacon, onions, potatoes and cheese. Season to taste and dot with butter.
  Cover with remaining foil.
  Cover and cook on low for 10 hours (or on high for 4 hours).

Crockpot Chicken Fajitas

Super easy and you will have a wonderful chicken fajita with tortilla, very Mexican :)

1 yellow onion, sliced
3 sweet peppers, sliced

1/2 cup chicken broth
1.5 pounds boneless chicken breast
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp cumin
1.5 tbsp chilli powder
lime juice
Tortillas

Combine sliced onion and peppers in the bottom of a greased crockpot. Lay chicken on top. Pour chicken broth over top. Sprinkle with cumin, salt, chilli powder. Give a squirt of lime juice on top. Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours. When it's done, shred meat with two forks ans stir back in juice. Serve on tortillas.

Nutella Banana Bread

Nutella Banana Bread
Interesting recipe. And it turned out very good. If you like Nutella and banana bread, can't miss it!

2 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1&1/4 cup mashed bananas
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup milk
3/4 cup Nutella

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 8*4-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray.
    In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.
    In a separate large bowl, beat sugar and butter with an electric mixer at medium speed until blended. Add eggs, one at a time. Add banana, milk, and vanilla, beat well. Add flour mixture, beat at low speed just until blended.
    Spoon Nutella into a small dish and soften in microwave for 15 seconds. Add 1 cup of banana batter to Nutella and stir well. Spoon Nutella batter with banana batter alternatively to the prepared loaf pan. Swirl batters with a knife.
    Bake for 1 hour. Cool before serving.