What's for Dinner? A New Chef Cooks Vegetable Carbonara

It's time for the Wednesday dinner post. This week things are just a bit different, because my husband was the chef... somehow I have hurt my neck/shoulder quite badly, so he graciously offered to make dinner for us last night. I had this recipe I had been wanting to try and was almost in tears when I knew an hour over the stove wasn't in my future. So, after leaving the house before the sun came up, he walked in the door around 5:30 and cheerfully started to cook.

My contribution was chopping the vegetables the dish would need... which greatly sped up the process. (Do you have a Crinkle Cutter? - I love mine for chopping veggies!) This recipe is perfect for what will be coming out of gardens in the coming months!

We highly recommend this recipe - it's the best meal we've made at home in several months!

Garden Carbonara

Ingredients:

3 large eggs
1/2 cup cream or milk
8 slices bacon
2 tbs. vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1 cup cauliflower florets
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup sliced zucchini
16 oz. fettuccine
1/4 cup melted butter
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

• Beat eggs and cream; set aside
• Cook bacon until crisp; drain on paper towel
• In large frying pan, saute vegetables in oil 5-7 minutes; Cover and set aside.
• Cook fettuccine according to package directions; toss with butter.
• Add eggs and cream, toss.
• Add vegetables, toss.
• Add cheese, toss. Heat through and serve warm

*This recipe contains uncooked egg yolks/whites.

What's for dinner at your house? Feel free to leave me a comment or grab my button and link up to your post. You may grab the cute "What's for Dinner?" button from my sidebar to use in your post or site.

What's for Dinner? Barbequed Crockpot Chicken

Happy Wednesday! My crockpot is pretty much my best friend. I use it at least twice a week, so I'm always looking for interesting, easy recipes. While browsing through recipe blogs I stumbled upon Vanderbilt Wife - I've really enjoyed this blog and I asked the owner (Jessie) if I could use one of her recipes I had made and use it in today's post. She said sure - so I hope you visit her site and tell her I sent you. What I love about Jessie is that she admits she isn't perfect - well, who is? But, I appreciate her honesty.

Now, on to the recipe:

Barbeque Crockpot Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I used chicken thighs and they were wonderful... basically I buy what's on sale!)
1 bottle any barbecue sauce (I used Publix brand - yum!)
1 can pineapple chunks with juice
1 green pepper, large dice
1 onion, large dice

Mix all together and cook on low 8-10 hours in the crockpot. Mine was done after 7 hours, so just watch it carefully near the end - you don't want the chicken to dry out. I served it with crescent rolls (my son is addicted to them, and he's always happy about a meal if they are involved) and additional steamed veggies.

Here it is before I turned the crockpot on -- I love the peppers and onions!

Feel free to link your dinner recipe today and tomorrow. All I ask is that you either link back to my post or grab my cute button (in my sidebar) to use in your post. Last week so many people linked up! I am not at a loss for dinner ideas for the next few weeks - which was my goal for this linky - to provide people with all kinds of easy and delicious meals for their families.

There are also other fun recipe hops each week, so you can get even more recipes and ideas.

What's for Dinner? My FAVORITE Side Dish!

This recipe is just a winner. You can make it at home as a side dish for dinner. You can also take it to a potluck or cookout. I even made it for a Christmas party last year and it received rave reviews. The recipe comes from my dear friend, DeAnna. She was my supervising teacher during student teaching twenty years ago. In addition to being a great teacher, she's a fabulous cook, too!

Since these posts are supposed to be "What's for DINNER?" I guess you could make a simple ham slice, green beans, crescent rolls, and this fabulous side dish. Here goes! (btw, I don't know who Aunt Frieda is, but I'd sure like to thank her!)

Aunt Frieda's Grapes 'n Cream Salad

Freida’s Grapes ‘n Cream

1 ½ lbs red grapes (rinsed and dried)

1 ½ lbs green grapes (rinsed and dried)

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

8 oz. sour cream, stirred

¾ cup sugar (I used ½ Splenda, ½ sugar)

1 tsp vanilla

Mix creams/sugar until sugar is dissolved. Then pour cream mixture over grapes and fold together. Spoon evenly into an oblong serving dish.

Topping:

1 cup pretzel crumbs (just crushed in a zip-loc bag. If you use the food processor they get too fine.)

1 cup brown sugar

Mix pretzels and sugar

Sprinkle/spread mixture on top of grapes. Refrigerate.

What's for dinner in your house this week? Feel free to share a main dish, side, or dessert. Anything goes - as long as it can be for dinner! Please link back to my blog somewhere in your post, or use my cute button.

There are also other fun recipe hops, so check them out!