So here it goes!

Garlic French bread Recipe:

1 Loaf of French bread or Italian Bread

1/2 cup of Butter or Margarine

Generous Sprinkling of Garlic Powder (There is no set amount to use as much or as little as you want.)

2 tbsps. Of Fresh or Dried Parsley

Instructions
With a serrated knife cut the French bread or Italian bread in half once lengthwise and cut in half again. This will leave you with 4 pieces.

Mix your butter. If you use real butter please make sure its softened. Let it sit on the counter for 10 min. If you use margarine you can start adding the other ingredients right away.

In a bowl add your butter, garlic and parsley. You can use a hand mixer, mix by hand or you can use a food processor. Mix well until your compound butter is completely incorporated.

On a cookie sheet place all four pieces of bread evenly on the sheet. Cook in the oven on 400. Allow it to bake for 10 min. Take it out of the oven spread each piece with the compound butter and place back in the oven.

Bake for 15 minutes and then remove. Bake for longer if you want a crispier bread. I had to make mine softer for my father.




Baked Ziti Recipe:


3 10oz Bags of Penne Pasta
4 Jars of Classic Tomato Sauce
1 1/2 Onions
1 1/2 Bell Peppers
3 tbsp. Italian Seasonings
2 tbsps Sugar
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 tbsps Hot Sauce
1 tbsp Garlic Powder
1 tbsp Onion Powder
1 Bay Leaf
2 tbsp Basil
2 tbsp Parsley
1 tbsp Crushed Red Pepper
3 Hot Italian Sausage Links
1 4lb Pk of 73/27 Ground Beef
4 cups Mozzarella/Provolone Blend Cheese
All seasonings can and should be adjusted to your tastes!

Instructions
Cook your penne pasta for 10 minutes. It will not be done but it will finish cooking in the oven so under cooking is fine. Add plenty of salt and oil to your water. This will keep the pasta from sticking and give it plenty of flavor. Cook off and then drain.

Cooking the Meat
Take your Italian sausage and remove it from the casing. Drop into a big bowl. Add your ground beef and thoroughly mix together.

Add to a cast iron pan and cook. There will be an abundance of oil coming from the meat. Drain it out. You don't want your meat swimming in oil. Season your meat liberally with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Add your onions and bell pepper right into the meat.

 

Stir and cook. You'll see the onions and bell pepper soften. When the meat is browned turn off the heat.


Cooking the Sauce
Unless you want to make your own sauce buy classic tomato sauce. Its pretty bland so you can doctor it up to your tastes.

Add salt, sugar, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, basil, Italian seasoning, the bay leaf, parsley, hot sauce, and crushed red pepper to the sauce. Let it simmer and boil for 5 minutes. Taste your sauce. If your sauce is bland, acidic and has a strong tomato flavor add more salt and sugar.




Add a little at a time. If you add too much you'll end up with a sweet sauce for your ziti and that’s not good. You can also add more of your other seasonings. Make it so that it fits your tastes. Play around with it experiment!

Mixing
Now you can start to create your Baked Ziti. This can be done in 2 Methods:

1st Method is Layering:
Mix your penne, meat, and sauce in the pot. Let it rest for a couple minutes. You want the pasta to soak up the sauce. Get your casserole dish or roasting pan and create the first layer of ziti. Add your cheese to the top. Then add another layer of ziti, top the layer off with cheese and bake in the oven for 20 minute. Once the ziti is bubbling and the cheese is completely melted remove from the oven. Let it rest for 5 minutes then serve.

2nd Method is Fill the Pan and Top with Cheese:
Mix your penne and sauce up in a large roasting pan or casserole dish. Cook in the oven for 15 minutes. This will let the flavors marry and the pasta cook. Add the cheese to the top of the ziti. Sprinkle it liberally place back in the oven until cheese is melted. Remove let it rest for 5 minutes and then serve. (I opted for the 2nd Method)




Serve with a light salad: Romaine lettuce & cherry tomatoes, lemon vinaigrette or Caesar dressing, and homemade garlic bread. And a big pitcher of Sweet Tea!

Chop and or dice your veggies. In a saute pan cook them down until they are soft. Once cooked season them with salt and pepper and place in a blender. Blend until completely smooth.

In another pot cook your peeled tomatoes. Add the seasonings and hot sauce. Let it simmer for 15 minutes, slowly crushing and squishing the tomatoes until all the tomatoes are somewhat crushed and juicy. Remove your pureed veggies and place in a bowl or in the saute pan for a moment. Place your tomatoes in the blender and blend until velvety smooth. Add the veggie puree and stir together. Bring to a slow simmer on medium heat for 25 minutes.

Make your grilled cheese. I like mine traditional: American Cheese, White or Wheat bread and a little butter. Here's how you get fool proof grill cheese every time without adding extra butter to the pan. 

Unwrap your cheese and place in between two slices of bread. Take your butter on margarine and butter both sides of the sandwich. Place in a hot pan and let it cook for 5 to 6 minutes on both sides until golden brown. Don't press the sandwich down you'll force out the cheese. Once the cheese is fully melted and the sandwich is brown on both sides remove and wait to serve.

Now once your soup is ready all you have to do is add a dollop of sour cream a sprinkle of parsley and some bacon and you've got a delicious filling, warm soup that is just so comforting!!!!

For Christmas this year my mother didn't want Macaroni and Cheese and we needed another dish to compliment our eclectic menu. So my mom suggested we make an all cheese lasagna. I was skeptical at first but I went ahead and made the lasagna anyway and it turned out GREAT! Especially when I added a great marinara sauce. It was absolutely awesome!

Ingredients

2 Boxes Lasagna Noodles

4 c Colby Jack Cheese

4 c Mozzarella Cheese

2 c Jack Cheese

Cheese Sauce

3 c Milk

3 tsp Black Pepper

3 tsp Parsley

3 tsp Salt

2 1/2 c Flour

1 Stick of Butter

Follow the instructions on the box for the noodles. Create the cheese sauce.
Cheese Sauce: Create a rue in a large pot (use whatever fat you like bacon, olive oil, butter, etc.) Cook your fat in the pan for 5 minutes. Then add the flour. Once the flour has cooked a little bit, slowly add the buttermilk. You need to do this with a whisk. It is very difficult to incorporate the flour without it. The sauce will be thick and slightly chunky just continue to stir. You should end up with a nice béchamel sauce; add the cream cheese and butter to the mixture. Constantly stir this mixture until everything is fully combined. Then add the Mozzarella and Colby jack cheese. Whisk the cheese into the sauce 1 cup at a time. This will allow the cheese to fully blend with the béchamel until it begins to bubble. Add your seasonings and let simmer, constantly stirring to keep the cheese mixture smooth. This is very tiring so be prepared to do some work. The work is hard but the payoff is creamy cheesy goodness!

Then begin a layering process. Alternate between a layer of cheese sauce, noodles, and cheese. Or cheese sauce, cheese, noodles. Which ever way works for you. Once you've reached the top of the pan place a full layer of cheese on top and put in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes. Or until the cheese on top is bubbling brown.  Let it rest for 10 minutes. Then Serve!

However when I heard about this sandwich I said I would give them a try again. I was glad I did because this sandwich is amazing! The original version of the burger comes with sweet & smoky honey mustard sauce, melted cheddar cheese sauce, and a slice of cheddar cheese, mixed greens/tomatoes and applewood smoked bacon on a warm, soft pretzel bun. It can be made into a double or triple burger. At first I didn't think I would like it because of the honey mustard sauce. But now I'm glad it was on there because it gives the sandwich a special zing that you just can't get with any other sauce or condiment. I was very skeptical also because of Wendy's burgers. Since Dave passed they've changed their burgers I didn't mind the fact that they made them bigger but what I didn't like is the change in the texture, flavor, and the tenderness of the burger. But this one was different. The meat was juicy and had great flavor and softest bread I have ever had. The Thick n Juicy burgers are not even close to this Pretzel Bacon Burger and I don't understand why. Its a good burger. Its not healthy but every now and then you need something fatty, salty and just full of calories. You'll have to work it off at the gym but its worth the trip BELIEVE ME! Check it out.

Calories - 680

Fiber - 2 g 

Protein - 37 g

Calories From Fat - 320

Total Fat - (g)36

Saturated Fat - (g)16

Trans Fat - (g)1.5

Polyunsaturated Fat - (g)3.5

Monounsaturated Fat - (g)13

Cholesterol - (mg)115

Sodium - (mg)1110

Potassium - (mg)540

Carbohydrates - (g)46

Sugar - (g)7

Vitamin A - (%DV)20

Vitamin C - (%DV)20

Calcium - (%DV)25

Iron - (%DV)3

Source: Wendys Restaurant

Ingredients:

1 Bag of Fresh Cranberries 

2 Cups of Frozen Cherries

1 Lemon, Zested

2 Tbsp Lemon Juice

3 Tbsp Orange Juice

3 Tbsp Pineapple Juice

1 c of Sugar

Wash your berries in cool water. Gently moving them around and pick out any brown, broken or soft berries.

Add your clean berries to a pot with the one cup of sugar. Put it on medium-low heat and let the berries cook.  

The berries will begin to pop and slowly release their pectin which will cause it to thicken.

As you can see the berries have already created a thick sauce in the pot. 

*Substitutes*

Instead of citrus juices stick to the juices of the sauce. Cranberry and cherry juice will work wonders. Or better yet Pomegranate juice would add a wonderful boost in flavor. Blueberry, currant, grape, all flavors that would work very well in this sauce. Just substitute one or all of the juices for one of the subs and you'll have a new hit at your next holiday function!

Instead of using cherries use blueberries. They would add a wonderful color and beautiful flavor. 

Hope this helps! Happy Eating!

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

2 Onions

2 Bell Pepper

1 Garlic Bulb

2 Eggs

3 tbsp Salt

3 tbsp Pepper

3 Cans of Canned Salmon

2 cups Bread Crumbs

1 cup Flour

4 tbsp Olive Oil or Canola Oil

Directions

Clean the canned salmon and place the meat in a bowl. Chop onions, bell peppers (saute the veggies until soft or translucent), garlic, mix with bread crumbs, flour and eggs. Form into patties and flour each side then pan sear in olive oil or canola oil. Fry until golden brown then drain on a paper towel. Before eating squeeze some fresh lemon juice all over it'll brighten the flavor of the croquette. 

*Pair up the salmon with a nice salad w/ a light lemon vinaigrette.*

Ingredients:

4 Sweet Potatoes

1 Cup of Evaporated Milk

1 tsp. of Vanilla Extract

1 tsp. of Lemon Zest

½ stick of butter

¼ tsp. of salt

¼ tsp. of cinnamon

¼ tsp. of ground cloves

½ tsp. of Lemon Juice

2 cups Brown Sugar

2 Eggs

¼ cup of Flour

9 inch unbaked pie crust (2 deep dish)

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Polk holes into the bottom of the crust along the sides with a fork. Place in oven for 8 min. let it cool on the counter until sweet potato mixture is made. Place all 4 sweet potatoes on a baking sheet in a 350-degree oven. Cook potatoes until done (to tell if the potatoes are done use a fork to pierce the potatoes if it goes all the way through and feels soft its done) then remove from oven and rest until cool to the touch. Meanwhile mix butter, eggs, and sugar until incorporated. Peel potatoes and add to the eggs mixture, blend well. Then add the zest, lemon juice, cinnamon, salt, milk, vanilla extract, and ground cloves and blend well. If the mixture is very loose, add the ¼ cup of flour to help thicken up the pie. Pour the sweet potato mixture into the pie shell and bake for 30 to 45 minutes. Continuously check on your pie if it jiggles when you pull it out its not ready. The pie should be very firm (a good tester is to use a toothpick or knife in the center of the pie if it comes out clean then its ready). Remove the pie from the oven cover and let it rest for 10 minutes or until cool to the touch. Then serve with vanilla ice cream, pecan ice cream, praline ice cream, or simple whipped cream.

*Makes 2 full deep dish pies or 4 regular pies*

2 tbsp Parsley Flakes

Preparation:

Start a pot of boiling water with a tsp. of canola oil and a generous amount of salt. Add the macaroni to the pot cook and strain (follow the cooking directions on the box). 

Cheese Sauce: Create a rue in a large pot (use whatever fat you like bacon, olive oil, butter, etc.) Cook your fat in the pan for 5 minutes. Then add the flour. Once the flour has cooked a little bit, slowly add the milk. You need to do this with a whisk. It is very difficult to incorporate the flour without it. The sauce will be thick and slightly chunky just continue to stir. You should end up with a nice béchamel sauce; add the cream cheese and butter to the mixture. Constantly stir this mixture until everything is fully combined. Then add the Mozzarella and Colby jack cheese. Whisk the cheese into the sauce 1 cup at a time. This will allow the cheese to fully blend with the béchamel until it begins to bubble.  Add your seasonings and let simmer, constantly stirring to keep the cheese mixture smooth. This is very tiring so be prepared to do some work. The work is hard but the pay off is creamy cheesy goodness!

Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk them together. The eggs need to be tempered to prevent scrambling. Slowly add the warm cheese sauce to the eggs to temper them. Once the eggs have been tempered, add them to the sauce. Combine the macaroni and cheese sauce together. Stir until fully incorporated. Add the rest of the cheeses to the macaroni and sauce mixture. Stir until the cheeses, sauce, and macaroni are fully incorporated. Sprinkle a generous cheese mixture on top and place in the oven at 350 degrees uncovered. Once the top of the macaroni and cheese has melted and browned, take it out and cover for at least 10 minutes. Then Serve. This recipe makes at least 2 pans of Mac so scale it down for a smaller meal.



*A good way to tell that the mac is done is to check the edges of the pan. Look to the left at the picture. See how the edges of the mac is brown and golden. That's how you know when its done!

*Add seasonings on a small scale to ensure the taste is to your liking. 

*Use the substitutions to re-create the side dish on a healthier level.