Bacon Pasta Salad

Day 2 of Bacon Love Week

My sister Kim made this dish for the party, and it was more than a hit. It was justification to keep on eating! LOL The only addition that actually had greens in it (it is a salad, after all), it was the “healthy” dish that whispered the necessity of second helpings. :)

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Fresh Basil Pesto

One of my year-round kitchen staples is pesto sauce. It’s one of the few things I know I can use to make a quick meal when there is no other option.

A quick pesto pasta with chicken or shrimp or just veggies is simple and quick and ends up as our weeknight meal…well, pretty often. ;) Good think even picky ol’ C. likes it. lol

I usually have 1/2 an opened jar in the fridge and an unopened jar in the pantry–just to be safe. But I had no idea the difference a fresh blend would make! It tastes sooo much better

15 Minute Marinara Sauce

I have to thank Laura from Tide and Thyme blog for this one. She posted this fabulously easy, quick, and delicious marinara recipe on her blog yesterday; and I could not wait to try it!

I’ve never attempted a homemade spaghetti sauce (or in this case, semi-homemade), but this was so easy I thought I could manage. Add to that the fact that I desperately need to go grocery shopping, so there wasn’t much choice in what was for dinner last night. I had everything I needed for spaghetti…except sauce!

Enter Laura to the rescue…

Lemon & Basil Orzo Salad

At April 25, 2012
By Spiceblogger
In MexiCajun Recipes, Pasta, Recipes, Seafood
16

Last week I hosted a salad party for my mardi gras krewe. It was our first meeting of the new mardi gras year, and we wanted to have an informal meet and greet poolside.

Everyone brought her favorite salad and a lawn chair, and we all had a wonderful time welcoming new members and catching up with each other. The weather was beautifully mild, the food was delicious, and we even managed to get some krewe business accomplished.

Oyster Fettucini en Provence

Last week I shared our attempt at charbroiled oysters based on the recipe from Drago’s restaurant in New Orleans. In celebration of my sister’s birthday, we cooked these again this weekend; and again, they were excellent.

We cooked nearly 150 oysters and fed about 10 people. That’s A LOT of oysters! And, of course, there were leftovers.

Since I never cook with oysters… like, NEVER… I had no idea what to do with the leftovers! But I figured since these were so good the first time around, I probably couldn’t go wrong using them in a secondary recipe.

Crawfish & Tasso Pasta

At January 11, 2012
By Spiceblogger
In MexiCajun Recipes, One Dish Meals, Pasta, Recipes, Seafood
12

I recently had this recipe published in a local home & garden magazine. A friend mentioned to me a few nights ago that she made it and was very pleased with the outcome. (I always love hearing feedback from anyone who actually tries my recipes, don’t you?!) :)

Anyway, our conversation got me thinking of this particular recipe and wondering if I had ever published it here. It’s been on my Facebook page for over a year; but funny enough, I had not posted it to my little blog! Silly me. I get so caught up in things that I forget what I’ve done and what I’ve only imagined I’ve done! LOL

Turkey Pasta Salad

At November 29, 2011
By Spiceblogger
In MexiCajun Recipes, One Dish Meals, Pasta, Recipes
1

Still wondering what to do with those turkey leftovers? I have seen lots of wonderful recipes over the past couple of days with great ideas for that leftover bird. Turkey pot pie (yum!), turkey gumbo (had some last night), turkey sandwiches (always a favorite, easy go-to), turkey roll-ups.. Turkey! Turkey! Turkey!

LOL

I contemplated making a turkey gumbo, but I had so much to do (like shopping and rearranging furniture in preparation for Christmas decorations) that I didn’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. (Plus, a friend invited us over to eat hers–which was delicious!) So instead I opted for an easier solution: a pasta salad. So quick and easy, and you can stretch your ingredients to feed a lot of people.

Macaroni & Cheese Pie

I suppose I’m jumping the gun just a bit on comfort food. Summer is still playing out its last few days, but I couldn’t help firing up the oven and making one of my favorite, classic comfort foods: Mac n cheese!

There are probably as many mac n cheese recipes as there are families in the US. And I don’t think there’s ever a wrong way to combine cheese and pasta! It’s just. SO. GOOD.

Easy Shrimp Lo Mien

As most of my recipes are, this is a quick dish that’s super easy for a week night. I had never actually tried to make this before, so I was a bit apprehensive at the outcome. (I had all these ingredients on hand and REALLY didn’t want to make a trip to the grocery for a Plan B in case this was a failure!)
No worries, because it was actually really good. And so…I pass it on to you. ☺

Chicken Pasta/Spinach Salad

At May 21, 2011
By Spiceblogger
In Chicken, MexiCajun Recipes, Pasta, Recipes
0

I’ve been so busy with work lately that I’ve had little time for anything else. Very little time in the kitchen. No time to write. Not even much time to keep track of all my peeps and tweeps online! I was beginning to have serious withdrawals! But not to worry. I am still alive and kicking! ☺

Since I’ve spent my whole day and now most of my evening preparing for Saturday’s farmer’s market, I had to think fast and act quickly for supper. This is one of my easy go-to recipes.