How Bout Some Recipes!

Have I ever mentioned I have a serious passion about cooking!  It is something that truly brings joy to my soul.  I love creating something, and then sharing it with others.  When they are happy with something I cooked, I feel a great accomplishment.  Does anyone else feel this way?  Maybe not about cooking, but what is something you get that feeling from?

Well in honor of my passion I figured I would share a couple recipes I have made this week.  These are plenty more where this came from...this is just my most recent creations!

First up, Oven Cooked Ribs!  Not gonna lie, but I can cook ribs better than Justin.  Now dont get me wrong I love ribs cooked on the grill, but when it's raining and you already had them unthawing you have to improvise!  These are some of the best I have ever had.

Oven Cooked Ribs
What you will need:

• Ribs (I used baby back pork ribs)
• BBQ Sauce (my favorite is the Sweet Baby Rays Sweet and Spicy, but you can use your favorite)
• Season Salt
• Black Pepper
• Garlic Powder
• Aluminum Foil

So first start off by preheating your oven to 300 degrees.  Next take you baking sheet and roll out your aluminum foil.  You are going to make a foil packet so be sure to give yourself extra that you will fold around the ribs.  Take your ribs and lay them on your baking sheet.  Season them liberally with the season salt, pepper and garlic powder.  You can add other seasoning that you like, or use your favorite dry rub...I usually season with whatever sounds good at that time lol.  This is just a basic rub.  As you season both sides be sure you massage the seasoning into the meat.  Once you are done, fold your packet about the meat, be sure its completely covered.  Then pop it in the oven.  It will cook for 2 hours.  After the 2 hours have passed, take out the ribs and drain all the grease that has developed.  Next open the packet and brush liberally with BBQ sauce.  You can brush both sides, or just the top...whatever you heart desires.  Then pop them uncovered back into the oven for another hour or until they are super tender.  You can also bump the temperature down if you want to cook them longer, it is completely up to you.  Trust me either way they are so amazing!  

With the ribs int he pics we also had some roasted potatoes cooked with butter and a seasoning called Nature's Season you can find at Walmart.  Those we cooked until tender.  And also oven cooked corn on the cob.  I actually threw them in the last hour with the ribs and bumped the temperature of the oven down to 250 and it turned out perfect!

Another recipe I actually made tonight includes one of my favorite foods...PASTA!!  I love pasta and always have at least 4 different kinds in my cabinet haha.  So this recipe is for Stuffed Chicken Manacotti!

Stuffed Chicken Manocotti

What you will need:

• Manocotti Pasta (or you could use jumbo shells)
• Chicken
• Ricotta Cheese
• Alfredo (or you could use marinara sauce)
• Shredded Cheese (whatever you prefer, I used the Italian blend)

Start off by cooking your pasta.  When I make something like this I always make a little more than I need, just in case the pasta breaks.  Also cook your chicken.  You can bake it, boil it, whatever you prefer.  I pan cooked it.  I seasoned it with a little of the Natural Season, but you can use whatever you prefer.  Oh and dont forget to preheat your oven to 350!  After you cook your chicken shred it up, you may need to let it cool first...dont want you to burn your fingers lol.  Now the amount of chicken and pasta you cook and the amount of ricotta you use depends on how many you are cooking for.  In a mixing bowl add your chicken, then add ricotta...if you are cooking for 2 you may use half the container if that...for more people you may use the whole thing.  I add it until the chicken looks well mixed in with it.  I also add some seasoning to this, a little salt, pepper, Italian seasoning and a some crushed red pepper flakes.  Then add some of your shredded cheese and make sure it is all mixed together.  Next take your casserole dish and add a thin layer of your sauce.  Then comes the fun part...stuffing!!  Be sure not to over stuff your pasta because it will break!  After you get all of them full of the yummy goodness and have them in the casserole dish add more sauce to the top.  You can add as much or as little as you want.  After that its time for the cheese...once again add as much or as little as you want!  Then pop it in the oven until the cheese is melted and bubbly!  You can also use marinara sauce instead of the alfredo.  And I even like to use the jumbo shells, you can to this recipe or instead of chicken use hamburger!  With the hamburger I would def use the marinara sauce instead of the alfredo...but other than that make it the same way.  Pasta is so universal, I love it!

If you try any of the recipes please feel free to leave me a comment and let me know how it turned out!  I would love to hear your feed back! Sorry this was a long post, just had to share both of them lol.  Now that my mouth is watering talking about food, I am going to enjoy a midnight snack and hit the sheets.  Have a good one!!