I made these for dinner tonight. It was quick and easy and very delicious!

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 medium red or green sweet pepper, seeded and cut into thin strips
1 tablespoon olive oil
16 ounces frozen cooked Italian meatballs
2 cups refrigerated marinara sauce
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
6 hoagie buns or ciabatta rolls, split
6 slices provolone cheese (6 ounces)

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan, cook onion and sweet pepper in hot oil over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add meatballs, marinara sauce, and crushed red pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, about 15 minutes or until meatballs are heated through.

2. To serve, place provolone cheese on bottom halves of rolls. Spoon meatball mixture onto each roll. If desired, broil sandwiches 4 to 5 inches from heat for 1 to 2 minutes or until cheese melts.

Makes 6 sandwiches.

Hat tip: Better Homes & Gardens

I made this recipe for lunch today and it was delicious (and easy)!

Ingredients:

18 Ritz crackers (I used whole wheat Ritz crackers)
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 TBsp olive oil
¾ teaspoon dried basil
4 tilapia fillets, about 1 ½ pounds total
2 TBsp Dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
Lemon wedges

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Crush crackers in a plastic bag. Add cheese, oil and basil. Shake to combine.
3. Place tilapia on prepared baking sheet. Brush top side of each piece with about ½ tablespoon of the mustard and season with salt and pepper. Press the cracker mixture onto the mustard-coated side of the fillets.
4. Bake for 15 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Serve with lemon wedges.

Enjoy!

PS Even if you don’t like fish, you should try this recipe. Tilapia doesn’t have a very fishy taste. Joey liked this recipe and he says he’s not a “fish person”.

I made this recipe the other night and it was easy and delicious. It’s a “keeper” at our house so I thought I’d share the recipe with you.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 lb. boneless beef sirloin steak, cut into 1/2″ strips
1 can (10 3/4 oz.) Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 can (10 1/2 oz.) Condensed Beef Broth
1 cup water
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
3 cups uncooked corkscrew-shaped pasta
1/2 cup sour cream

Directions:

1. Heat oil in skillet. Add beef and cook until browned and juices evaporate, stirring often.
2. Add soup, broth, water, Worcestershire and pasta. Heat to a boil. Cook over medium heat 15 min. or until pasta is done, stirring often. Add sour cream. Heat through.

Hat Tip: Campbell’s

I made this recipe last night and it was delicious. It also tastes great alone as a salad without the tortilla.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups torn romaine lettuce
• 1 (6 oz) package southwestern seasoned or grilled chicken breasts strips
• 1 large tomato chopped
• 1 can (11 oz) corn, drained
• 1/2 cup Mexican style grated cheese
• 1/4 cup ranch dressing
• 1/4 cup salsa
• 8 flour tortillas

Directions:

1. Toss lettuce, chicken, tomato and corn in large bowl; sprinkle with cheese.
2. Mix dressing and salsa. Pour over lettuce mixture; toss to coat. Spoon evenly into tortillas and roll up.

Hat Tip: Kraft Foods

One of my favorite things to do is cook. I especially enjoy trying new recipes. I get bored eating the same things over and over so trying new things makes it fun and new. If I have Mexican food for lunch, I don’t want Mexican food for dinner or for the rest of the week for that matter. Weird I know. Especially when I am married to someone who can eat the same thing over and over and over.

I subscribe to a couple of food magazines and recipe RSS feeds so I have plenty of recipe ideas. I really enjoy watching cooking shows too. I wouldn’t mind taking some cooking classes either. I can’t wait until I have a bigger kitchen so I can try new things and entertain more. I think when we start looking for a house, the kitchen (and master bedroom closet) will be my top deciding factors. Just kidding.

Joey has been very good at trying my new recipes. He usually asks “what’s in this?” or “what do you call this?” I try and make things we both will like. However, one time I made a chicken recipe with peaches and peas (I knew it was a stretch) and Joey asked me to never make it again. I am just glad he tried it. Sometimes he’ll try something he likes and will say “this is a keeper.”

A couple of months after we were married Joey asked me if we could have tacos or hamburgers for dinner. He just wanted something “normal”. So now I make something “normal” every so often so we are both happy. Sometimes it’s easier to make the “normal” recipes anyway.

I think I might start posting recipes I like on my website. Let me know if you have any good recipe ideas/resources.

I’ve added links on my sidebar to a few of my favorite resources.