Creating in the Kitchen-- Delicious Dinners (& Dessert!)

I confess, I have an addiction to recipe blogs. I think it started because I never collected my favorite recipes that my mom made, so I had to keep looking for new things to make for dinner online. Now I've acquired a bunch of my favorites, but I still love finding and trying new recipes to add to my collection. Now that I've found so many tasty things out there, I hate re-making something that I've made already. I want to try all of them!

Here's a few that I've made in the last little while that I love. I had to include both pizzas because they were both so good!
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Garlic-Ranch Chicken Pizza

(recipe from Favorite Family Recipes)

1 large pizza dough, uncooked (fresh, frozen, or whatever you like best)
3/4 c. ranch dressing (*see recipe below or the homemade ranch dressing recipe)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 c. Mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 c. bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 c. chicken, cooked and cut into strips (**I like to rub the chicken with olive oil and generously sprinkle with Montreal Chicken Seasoning on both sides. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.)
2-3 tomatoes, sliced

Mix ranch dressing and crushed garlic together then spread evenly on the pizza dough. Sprinkle a little cheese over the ranch dressing then add chicken and bacon. Sprinkle more of the cheese over that, add the tomatoes, then add the remaining cheese. Put in the oven at 350 degrees for about 12-15 minutes (or until crust is a nice golden-brown). Top with parsley flakes to make it look fancy and serve!

*Ranch Dressing:

1 packet TRADITIONAL Hidden Valley Ranch mix (not BUTTERMILK)
1 c. mayonnaise
1 c. buttermilk

Whisk ranch mix and mayo together, slowly add buttermilk. When well blended, cover and refrigerate.

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The Best Spinach Alfredo Pizza Ever

(from RecipeZaar)

• 2/3-1 cup classico alfredo sauce
• 25 leaves spinach
• 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
• pizza dough (enough for one 12-inch pizza)

1. Roll out the fresh pizza dough into a 12 inch circle, and place onto your stone or sheet.
2. Spread the alfredo sauce around and out to the edges and then lay the spinach on top of that, making sure not to overlap pieces of spinach.
3. Then sprinkle cheeses on top and bake at 475 for 10-13 minutes, or whatever you normally bake your pizza pie at.
   
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Cheesy Baked Mexi-Rigatoni

(recipe by picky-palate.com)

1 lb dry Rigatoni pasta or any other pasta of choice
2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 Anaheim green chili’s finely chopped
1 lb lean ground beef
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon Lawry’s garlic salt
1 can cheddar cheese soup
½ Cup milk or half and half
1 Cup sour cream
2 15 oz cans fire roasted tomatoes
Heaping ½ Cup fresh chopped cilantro leaves (add more if you love cilantro)
2 Cups Mexican blend shredded cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook pasta according to package directions, making sure it’s not overcooked. Drain and set aside.

2. Place olive oil into a large skillet or pan over medium heat. Saute onions and chilies until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in beef, salt, pepper and garlic salt; cook and crumble until browned. Stir in soup, milk, sour cream and tomatoes. Stir until well combined. Reduce heat to low. Stir in cilantro and cooked pasta.

3. Pour mixture into a large 9 x 13 inch baking dish or individual size baking dishes of choice, see my link above. Sprinkle with shredded cheese and bake until cheese is melted and bubbly, about 20-25 minutes.

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And, since I made it last night, I figured I'd include a favorite that we used to make a lot in my college apartments. Everyone need to try this recipe at least once in their life!

Better Than *Anything* Cake

1 box Devils Food cake
1 jar caramel topping
1 jar sweetened condensed milk
1 8 oz tub of whipped topping
1 toffee bar (like Skor or Heath), crumbled or chopped - or a few Fun Size from Halloween





Bake the cake as directed on the box in a 9 x 13 pan. When cooled, use a knife to cut and "drill" holes all over the cake. The more the better! And make sure you get around the edges. It will something look like this: (I made this in two separate pans so I could bring 1/2 of it somewhere and keep me from eating it all...)
Pour the sweetened condensed milk and caramel topping over the holes in the cake, making sure to get in all the holes. We used to use the entire can/jar, but I usually can't make myself put it all in anymore. Put a lot of it on it though :)
Now cover it with the tub of whipped topping and sprinkle with your toffee bars. (If your cake isn't cooled complete the topping melts easily, so be patient before applying!)
And it's complete!

Mmmm. (I recommend waiting a little while before eating it because it's always much better the next day.) Just don't let yourself eat it out of the pan, because you will want to eat the whole thing.
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My challenge to you: Browse some new recipes and try something new this week!

Some of my favorite places are:

Favorite Family Recipes
My Kitchen Cafe
Picky Palate
The Sisters Cafe
Allrecipes.com

Enjoy!