{eggplant and tomato sauce with turkey sausage}

recipe source:: Ginas WW Recipes

I've never really had eggplant before and since I'm branching out I decided to give it a shot with this recipe. I had some turkey sausage left over from the stromboli so I added it to the recipe. It was delicious. Plenty of eggplant and good flavored tomato sauce. The best part was that it took only about 30 minutes to make!

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{sausage, pepperoni, peppers + onion stromboli}

recipe source:: My Kitchen Addiction
I have to say that this was by far the best stromboli I've ever had. It used chicken sausage, red + green peppers with some onions. I also had some pepperoni that I tossed into the mix. The topping I put on the crust was a little oregano, parsly, basil and freshly grated parmesan cheese. I could have eaten it all by itself! We put a little Trader Joes marinara on top and it was simply heaven.

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{crock pot santa fe chicken}

recipe source:: Ginas WW Recipes
I am really starting to like cooking with my Grandma's crock pot. This dish took all of about 10 minutes to prep and filled the house with a delicious aroma. Since we didn't have any rice to serve it over we ate it with some tortillas but it is fine on its own. The one teaspoon of cayenne pepper really spiced it up a lot! Next time I'll make sure to add a bit of sour cream on top to help cool our tongues.

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{january daring bakers: nanaimo bars}

The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca.

This is my first time participating in the Daring Bakers challenge and I absolutely loved it! The challenge had two parts to it: 1) bake homemade graham crackers and 2) use the graham crackers you made to create Canadian Nanaimo Bars (pronounced Nah-nye-Moh). We had the option to make this a gluten free recipe but since all-purpose is what I had on hand, I opted for it.

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{flemish beef stew}

recipe source:: Eating Well
This is a wonderful slow cooker recipe that has delicious flavors. I prepped it all in about 45 minutes this morning and cooked it on low for 8 hours. Everything came out nice and tender. I think next time I will add in more carrots and some potatoes. There was definitely a lot of meat in the stew and it easily could have had less. Of course John thought it was great!

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{mozzerella stuffed turkey burgers}

recipe source:: Eating Well
nomnomnom.

John loves burgers. Beef burgers. This dish had him drooling and wanting more.

Turkey burgers can dry out, but the way that these were created left them nice and moist and the marinara sauce was some of the best I've ever had. Make these, you will love them.

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{parmesan crusted chicken with tomato-basil cream sauce}

recipe source:: Life Ambrosia
Last summer John and I went on a deep sea fishing trip and caught a lot of different fish that are now in our freezer. This dish was originally supposed to be parmesan crusted *insert fish here*.Since we're not big fish eaters I thought I could try this out as a first. Well, neither of us could motivate ourselves to eat the fish so I ended up substituting chicken. It turned out great and we will be making it again sans the fish of course. Peas + a baked potato made the dish complete.

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{cheese tortellini with pesto + sundried tomatoes}

recipe source:: Life Ambrosia
This was my second attempt at a meatless dish. It went over about the same on John as the Pasta Primavera did the other week...he would like it better with meat. I thought the flavors were outstanding though. I used some basil pesto I had frozen from my basil plant and bought three cheese tortellini from the grocery store. The sundried tomatoes packed in oil were too expensive so I thought I could get away with plain ones. I have now learned why you should get them packed in oil...they don't soften while cooking unless they've been soaked in oil so they were a little on the tough side. Having never cooked with sundried tomatoes before, I wasn't aware that they had such a strong taste. They were not bad, but in this dish I think putting in some halved cherry tomatoes would be even better. I will definitely make this again with those adjustments and a little chicken for John.

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{honey kissed crispy chicken}

recipe source:: Life Ambrosia
This dish was originally supposed to be made into a sandwhich, however, I felt it would be perfect on its own. I served it with a side of sweet potatoes with goat cheese + sage.

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{cheesy chicken + pasta}

recipe source:: Kraft Foods
omg, this was amazing. You really can't go wrong with cheese and salsa. I did add in a half can of black beans to the mix...you can't have mexican without them. The dish was very easy to make and we had plenty of leftovers to enjoy. Unfortunately this dish disappeared before any photos could be taken.

{pasta primavera}

recipe source:: The Pioneer Woman
I am trying to cook more meatless meals and this one was my first. It was delicious! John of course wanted meat, but he still liked how it all tasted. The recipe made a ton of food so, if cooking for two, I recommend making a half recipe. You will still have enough for leftovers. Next time I will add in a little chicken for John, while still letting the main part be the veggies + pasta.

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{mexican pizza}

recipe source:: Food Network

My first time eating this dish was with some my girlfriends from work...it was so good I've added it to our favorites list of eats. We adapted the recipe a bit. Instead of using tortillas, I used a pre-made pizza crust. We also added cilantro to the toppings put on after baking. We found its best to only put the lettuce, tomatoes + salsa/sour cream mixture on the pieces you plan on eating. This way your leftovers don't get soggy.

{roasted duck with bubble + squeak}

recipe source:: Jaime's Kitchen
This was supposed to be our New Years Day lunch...3 bottles of bubbly on New Years Eve changed that. This was my first time cooking an entire bird, or duck for that matter. I almost became a vegetarian while dressing it. However, the dish ended up being pretty good. The flavors were very different from anything we've ever eaten before. The colors and smells were lovely, although, I think that will be my last time cooking an entire duck.

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