Madison's Shrimp Lasagna Rolls

Madison's Shrimp Lasagna Rolls lightens up what is traditionally a heavier dish and gives you a portion controlled serving of the traditional Italian classic lasagna recipe. This easy recipe uses fresh ingredients to maximize flavor and is a real crowd pleaser!

Meatball Pizza Bread

Meatball Pizza Bread is a tasty kid-friendly recipe that is easy to make any night of the week! Pair it with a salad for a fun dinner or serve it as a party appetizer! Either way, this is sure to be a big hit with everyone!

Mac and Cheese with Marinara Sauce

Mac and Cheese with Marinara Sauce is a tomato based mac and cheese recipe that is easy to make and loaded with creamy, cheesy goodness!

Chicken Parmigiana

Chicken Parmigiana is a Southern Italian dish consisting of breaded chicken smothered in tomato sauce and cheese. It is delicious, of course, but it kind of gets a bad rap from busy cooks who feel it is too messy and time consuming to make.  It can definitely be messy and time consuming - no argument there, but with a little organization it is quite easy and well worth a little extra effort.

I like to make my own bread crumbs for this dish. You can add any kind of herb you want and it really takes the dish to a new level.  Of course, if you don't have that kind of time you can always use store bought Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs. In addition to homemade bread crumbs, I also like to use my Red Sauce recipe. Typically, I will make the red sauce to use with spaghetti and meatballs and save the leftovers for Chicken Parm. The sauce freezes well too, so it's nice to set 3-4 cups aside for when you want to make this. Once again, you can use your favorite jarred sauce for this to save time.

Homemade Dried Bread Crumbs - Ingredients

3-4 slices Italian Bread

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 - 2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning

Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Start with 3-4 slices of day old Italian Bread. I leave the crusts on, but you can cut them off if you prefer. I used this to coat 3 large chicken breasts. If you are making more, be sure to use more bread slices accordingly

Cut it into strips...

Place bread strips into a food processor or a blender...

and blend until finely chopped. Remove from blender and spread onto a baking sheet in a single layer

Season with 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and 1 - 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning and then drizzle with olive oil. I like to drizzle in a zig zag fashion from one end of the tray to the other. Then use a spoon to mix it well. Be sure to coat all the bread crumbs with seasoning and oil and spread them out into a single layer again.  Bake in a preheated 300 degree F. oven for about 20 mins.

While the bread crumbs are baking, you can start to assemble what you need for coating the chicken. I like to assemble all my ingredients and make an assembly line to coat the chicken and then put it right into the prepared baking dish.

Chicken Parmigiana Ingredients

2 lbs chicken breasts

1/3 cup all purpose flour

2 eggs, lightly beaten

Homemade Bread Crumbs or 

1 1/2 cups store bought Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs

3-4 slices Mozzarella Cheese

3-4 cups Red Sauce

or your favorite jarred marinara sauce

Prepare your chicken by laying it on a cutting board with the bottom side up...

Using your hands, open the breast up where both sides come together, so it lays more flat...

sorry for the blurry photos - my old eyes fail me sometimes ;)

Continue to spread it apart until it is all the way open, and looks like a heart shape... sort of

Now turn the chicken over, so the top side is up, and flatten the largest side with the palm of your hand. You don't want to mutilate it, just flatten it so it will cook evenly. Do this for each piece of chicken you are breading.

Set up your assembly line like so....

Measure out 1/3 cup flour into one dish (paper plates work well for this too and make for an easier clean-up), 2 eggs slightly beaten into the next dish, and your home made bread crumbs into the last dish (or 1.5 cups store bought bread crumbs). Spray your baking tray with cooking spray and put that next to the bread crumbs. I've found that this helps to keep things clean and makes quick work of breading the chicken.

Working with one piece of chicken at a time, dip it into the flour, being sure to coat both sides well...

The flour helps the egg stick to the chicken. Then dip that same piece of chicken into the egg. Again, coat both sides well...

Finish by dipping that same piece of chicken into the bread crumbs, coating both sides well. I like to press down on the crumbs to ensure they get a good stick.  Then place that piece of chicken into the baking dish and repeat with remaining chicken pieces until all are coated and ready to go in the oven. I use a 13x9" baking dish. Be sure to discard any unused flour, egg, and bread crumbs.

You can make this ahead of time up to this point and freeze the chicken for later use.  Sometimes I like to double the recipe and put some in the freezer for the next time, but I prefer to eat it fresh for the best flavor and texture.

If I am making this to freeze, I put the chicken on a parchment lined baking sheet and then put in the freezer for about an hour or two. Then I remove from the freezer and put in a Ziploc freezer bag to store and save space in my freezer. This will keep in your freezer for a couple months and you can bake as normal when ready to use.

When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Place baking dish in oven and bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes.  Next, pour sauce over chicken evenly and continue baking for 10 minutes more or until an instant-read thermometer reads 160 degrees F. when inserted into thickest part of chicken. Place a slice of cheese on top of each piece of chicken and bake until melted. Serve with a salad or some spaghetti noodles and enjoy!

This recipe is inspired by allrecipes.com Chicken Parmigiana

An Italian Feast

The Myers' family gathered at my house over the weekend to celebrate the matriarch's birthday. We were originally going to eat out at an Italian restaurant, but decided to stay home. I stayed with the Italian theme and it turned out to be an easy feast to make for a group

I was too busy cooking to get pictures of the food, but it was delish! I promise!

First things first! This dinner party was a last minute decision we made the night before, so I didn't really have the time or the energy to make homemade bread. I went with the next best thing - Bridgford Frozen Ready Dough. I took 2 loaves out of the freezer very early in the day and let it thaw a bit. These are very easy to make in a loaf pan. Just spray the pan and plop the frozen loaf into it. It will thaw and rise and will be ready to go in the oven when you are! I didn't want the mess of slicing the bread (I'm lazy like that), so I decided to make these into rolls. I sprayed 2 pie plates and pulled the dough into 8 pieces each. I rolled the pieces into balls (sort of - they look kind of rough but that is okay) and placed them into the pie plates. 8 dough balls in each one. Then I left them alone to rise until I was ready to bake them

I started the Red Sauce early in the day. I chose to make it in a slow cooker to save room on the cook top. This ended up being a wonderful idea. It is the first time I made this sauce in a slow cooker - it turned out really delicious. This is a wonderful sauce that I normally cook low and slow, but for some reason the flavors were intensified making it in the slow cooker - I will only make it this way from now on!

After the red sauce was simmering nicely, I mixed up the Meatball ingredients. I love these meatballs - the fresh basil really adds a nice flavor! I could eat these all day long! I popped these in the oven about 45 minutes before dinner was to be ready. I let them rest and kept them warm until ready to serve. At this time, you could put them in with the sauce if you desire, but I was concerned they would make the sauce greasy, so I decided against that idea

After I took the meatballs out of the oven, I let it cool down a bit to about 375 degrees. Now I was ready to cook the bread. I wanted to leave one set of rolls plain and one I dressed with a delicious parsley herb butter. We had steaks the previous night, and I made this butter to go with the steaks - it was so good! I knew it would be great on the rolls...

1 stick butter, softened

1/2 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh chives

1 good sized garlic clove, minced

1 teaspoon dry white wine

salt and pepper to taste

Mix everything together. Give it a taste and make any necessary adjustments and then chill until ready to use

I melted about 1 tablespoon of this and then brushed it all over the rolls. I put both pans of rolls in the oven and cooked at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. I let them cool a few minutes, pulled them apart and served. Delicious!

While the bread was baking, I started heating the water for the noodles, and while the water was coming to a boil I started the Alfredo sauce.

 I absolutely love this Alfredo sauce recipe from Kittencal on food.com  I found this several years ago and have been making it this way ever since. I found the flour measurement to make this too thick, so I recommend using only 1/2 the amount of flour called for in the recipe. Other than that, make it just as stated and go on the heavy side for the thyme (I use fresh thyme)- it is a nice addition! Don't skimp on the garlic either! and don't try making it low-fat. It is Alfredo sauce and has lots of fat and calories - that is just the way it is. Beware! You won't ever eat Alfredo out again!

By this time my water was boiling and I was ready to make the noodles. I purchased the refrigerated noodles because they cook in boiling water about 2-3 minutes and they taste so much better than the dried - in my opinion (and I don't have the KitchenAid pasta roller/cutter set yet to make my own - hint hint to the hubs). I also picked up some cheese ravioli for something different

Everyone had arrived by this time and helped me get everything into serving dishes and set out on the table. Served with a salad and Italian dressing - It was an easy and delicious meal to enjoy with the family!

My brother-in-law and his wife Amanda brought a yummy key lime pie for dessert to round out our meal - it was so nice to have everyone together...well almost everyone...Madison is in GA and was missed!

Red Sauce

This is my go-to Red Sauce I use in a variety of recipes, but always for spaghetti and meatballs.

I love how easy this sauce is to make! It uses canned tomatoes, fresh herbs, and loads of heavenly garlic. Everything gets tossed into the slow cooker and cooks all day. The house always smells amazing on Red Sauce day! No slow cooker? No problemo! This sauce can also be made in a large pot on the stove-top with good results!

I prefer using fresh instead of dried herbs in this recipe. If you have the dried and want to use them, no worries, it will still be yummy.  The fresh herbs take it to a new level, so I highly suggest them! I know, I know! You don't want to do all the chopping, right? I completely understand. I used to feel the same way, but now that I chop ALL! THE! TIME! I've gotten pretty quick at it, and it actually is very therapeutic.