A HOLY PURSUIT

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Simple & Savory Alfredo Sauce Recipe (Better Than a Restaurant!)

HomemakingDianne JagoComment

Who says you can’t have restaurant cuisine at home? But to be honest, this recipe far surpasses the Alfredo I’ve tasted at numerous restaurants (and I’ve probably tried a few dozen from all our moves across the U.S.) I absolutely love a good Alfredo sauce and I’ll be honest, the more I’ve made this and honed it in, the more I find I don’t like it elsewhere. And to keep you from thinking I’m in my own echo chamber, I’ve made this for multiple guests having dinner in our home and they seem to love it just as much as we do!

Why am I sharing this recipe with you? The easy answer is that it’s too good for me to not share, but I also want to encourage women who struggle in the kitchen to expand their repertoire a bit. Scripture admonishes us to be keepers of our home (Titus 2:5, Prov. 31) and while that will look different from person to person, we can strive for excellence in all areas—even in our cooking. This is a story for another day but I will briefly say that I wasn’t born a natural cook. One of the first meals I made for other guests was spaghetti—boxed noodles, frozen meatballs, and jarred sauce—and somehow I ruined that, lol. Out of a desire to serve others well, I aimed to grow in my skills as a meal maker and loved seeing others reap the fruit of my labor. I hope to start sharing more recipes for this reason!

This is one of my go-to meals that I probably make on a bi-weekly basis and never get sick of. The sauce takes less than 15’ to make and can easily be thrown over a bed of noodles or used for Alfredo pizza. It can easily be doubled or tripled. I usually always double it for our family of 5. We always smoke chicken to go along with this but it honestly tastes great on its own or with other forms of protein. If you’re looking for a quick weeknight meal that also tastes gourmet, you’re welcome.

Let me know in the comments if you love it or have any questions.

Simply & Savory Alfredo Sauce Recipe

  • .1 stick or .5 cup of Salted Butter

  • 1.5 cups Heavy Whipping Cream*

  • 3 cloves of Garlic minced

  • .5 tsp Organic Garlic Powder

  • salt (to desired taste)

  • Freshly Ground Black Peppercorn (to desired taste)

  • 2 cups shredded or freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

  • optional: pasta, protein, freshly grated romano cheese and fresh basil or parsley

  1. Cube the butter into tablespoon sized pieces.

  2. Add the cubed butter and all of the cream to a large, cold skillet.

  3. Simmer over low heat for 2-3 minutes or until it is all melted.

  4. Whisk in the minced garlic, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, and pepper for one minute.

  5. Whisk in the parmesan cheese until melted.**

  6. Pour over pasta noodles of choice and add protein (optional). Garnish with fresh parsley or basil and freshly grated Romano cheese.

  7. Serve immediately.

*Half and half can be substituted if you don’t have heavy cream on hand, however, heavy cream has a higher fat content and performs better so if you’re an Alfredo newbie, don’t skimp on this.
**If the parmesan cheese or butter separates from the sauce, that means that you heated the sauce too much. This is called “breaking” the sauce. However, it can be easily fixed by using a hand-held immersion blender to blend the sauce together.

NOTE: Every sauce will vary depending on the quality of ingredients you source. I try to use all organic products but sometimes it’s not cost effective. I often use Walmart brand shredded parmesan cheese because it is cheap and it makes a delicious Alfredo. I’ve used expensive parmesan cheese before but my kids seems to prefer the Walmart brand. Even if that cheese isn’t organic, I still try to use organic cream.

DIY Almond Butter

Homemakingadmin2 Comments
diyalmondbutter.jpg

I've kind of been on a health kick lately. I always get health-high's and you will know when I'm on one because my Pinterest boards are usually flooded with pins of whatever I'm currently obsessing over. We've always eaten relatively healthy, considering the fact that I do cook almost everything from scratch, but there are still several things I buy in the jar or the can. Sometimes, it's just sheer convenience that I buy canned stewed tomatoes to put into my "from scratch" spaghetti sauce, which is why I'm attempting to make those very things on my own so it will be truly homemade. The more research I do, the more I realize how disgusting the process is that foods go through for preservation's sake. Now, I realize that this will not be practical for everything. I actually tried making my own homemade butter and it took FOREVER. I definitely don't think it will be something I do very often. However, there are other things like "from scratch" salsa that has prompted me to ditch the jarred stuff indefinitely. I saw a friend post about her great success with almond butter and today I tried it out. I bought a $2.00 pack of almonds from the commissary and spent about 30 minutes making this deliciousness. Here's how I did it (because I think you should do it too!) >>>>>You will need >> a food processor, a bag of almonds, an oven and some patience :)Roast your almonds in the oven for 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees. Place your almonds in a food processor and start to blend. The initial process will look like fine almond pieces. Keep blending. Keep blending. Keep blending. You will probably have to process your almonds for a good 15 minutes which is when the oils will start to release and you will begin to see the "mush" take a creamier form. It was tiring for me because my processor requires me to hold the button down to process and I have to press hard! However, the results were worth it. It was neat to watch the action happen in stages and it was extremely rewarding to spread the end result onto a piece of toast! Happy almond butter making!  

50 Meal Ideas

Homemaking, Momhoodadmin1 Comment

I'm the kind of person that doesn't like to make the same thing twice. I like to change up what I cook and so I'm constantly searching for new recipes -- which is why Pinterest has really come in handy. I've compiled a list of all the different things I make from month to month, so that hopefully you can shake things up and find some new go-to meals!Just a note: I've linked some of the recipes I use from actual sites...the rest are just ones I put together based off common knowledge or my own version of cooking the particular meal.  For the most part, everything I make is from scratch unless noted. Some things are just easier to buy. I divided the meals by genre so that they would be easy to find in case you were in the mood for some flavor in particular. Also, I don't have many asian recipes because if I'm in the mood I usually just order takeout. It's a lot less messier and that way I don't have to stock up on crazy sauces I won't use very often.

Main Dishes

American/Traditional

  1. Beef Stroganoff
  2. Chicken Caesar Wraps
  3. Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad
  4. Homemade Pizza (Pepperoni/Margherita are our favorites)
  5. Classic Cheeseburgers
  6. Turkey-burgers
  7. Chicken Salad Sandwiches (Use mayo or avacado for a healthier twist)
  8. Grilled Chicken Sandwiches with avacado, bacon and tomato
  9. Steak Ciabatta Sandwich
  10. Baked Mac & Cheese (<< I'm a HUGE Mac+Cheese fan and this is my favorite recipe, by far!)
  11. Tuna Casserole
  12. Tuna Melt Slider's
  13. Baked Salmon
  14. Pulled Pork Sandwich (I buy Jack Daniel's pre-made pulled pork from the grocery store...it's the best!)
  15. Crock Pot French Dip
  16. Homemade Chicken Nuggets
  17. Lemon-Pepper Chicken
  18. Grilled Steak
  19. Baked Pork Chops
  20. Slow Cooker Pot Roast
  21. Chicken Pot Pie
  22. Cobb Salad with Ham or Chicken
  23. Shredded BBQ Chicken Sandwich
  24. Chicken Cordon Bleu
  25. Buffalo Chicken Bites
  26. Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
  27. Deli Sandwiches/Sub/Open-faced Sandwiches/Panini's
  28. Turkey and Cheese Crescent Wrap Pinwheels
  29. Paula Deen's Chicken Divan
  30. Pork Tenderloin
  31. Chicken Kiev

Italian

  1. Cajun Chicken Fettucine Alfredo
  2. Garlic Baked Shrimp with Penne Pasta
  3. Spicy Chicken Rigatoni
  4. Tuscan Sun-dried Tomato Ravioli
  5. Baked Ziti
  6. World's Best Lasagna
  7. Traditional Spaghetti/Baked Spaghetti

Mexican

  1. Southwestern Spring Rolls
  2. Chicken Tacos
  3. Beef Tacos
  4. Burrito's
  5. Chicken Quessadillas
  6. Beef or Chicken Chimichangas
  7. Chicken Enchiladas
  8. Crunch-wrap Supreme
  9. Baked Nachos
  10. Spicy Chicken Tortilla Roll Ups

Misc.

  1. Homemade Sweet and Sour Chicken
  2. Chicken and Benihana's Copy-cat Fried Rice
  3. Basil Chicken with Coconut Curry Sauce
  4. Greek Chicken Gyro's 

Side Dish Ideas

  1. French fries 
  2. Sweet Potato Fries with Avacado Dipping Sauce
  3. Red Skinned Mashed Potatoes
  4. Baked Potato (Sweet or Regular)
  5. Twice Baked Potatoes
  6. Au Gratin Potatoes (*I usually buy boxed)
  7. Summer Corn Cakes with Tomato and Avacado Salsa
  8. Grilled Zuchinni and Squash
  9. Side Salad (Greek/Balsamic/Caesar/Ranch)
  10. Guacamole and Chips
  11. Chips and Salsa
  12. Mexican Rice (I usually buy boxed)
  13. Brown Rice
  14. White Rice
  15. Veggies (Steamed Broccoli/Carrots/Pioneer Woman Green Beans/ Cauliflower)
  16. Baked Beans (I usually buy canned)
  17. Garlic Bread
  18. French Bread and butter (*I usually buy from our local bakery)
  19. Soup (Split Pea Soup/Tomato/Chicken Noodle)
  20. Baked Cauliflower Poppers
  21. No Potato Salad

I'm sure I forgot several but as I remember them, I'll be sure to update and add! What are some of your go-to meals? Comment below and do share!