Celery Risotto with Apples and Basil

This crazy recipe was discovered when I was looking to do something with limp celery that wasn't a soup. The original recipe called for Asian Pears and Shiso, so I substituted with Apples and Basil instead. I also didn't have ricotta or Romano, so I substituted for mozzarella and grated parmesan; I also used Chardonnay rather than vermouth. This was probably one of the most bizaare but totally worth it recipes I've made in a long time. So delicious! This might be one of my staple party side dishes in the future. :)

https://food52.com/recipes/14444-celery-risotto-with-asian-pear-and-shiso

Cheesy Chicken Zucchini Casserole

It's the month of Zucchini and I always get excited to see what Pinterest has for me each year. I literally started with the first and have been working my way down. Per the hubby's request, I added chicken as well as little bit of kale for more color/vitamins. This was definitely a keeper "comfort food". :)

https://natashaskitchen.com/2017/07/25/cheesy-zucchini-casserole/

Chicken Broccoli Shells and Cheese

This was definitely as good as it looked. The teenager coined the term "gravy cheese"--I mean, who doesn't love cheesy gravy?! We had some friends over for dinner, so I ended up doubling the recipe. I also accidentally pulled out chicken thighs instead of breasts, and unsure if they would like the combo, I cooked the chicken seperately. Served with salad and corn-on-the-cob, it was a big hit. Definitely an easy one to prepare and worth the effort.

http://diethood.com/chicken-broccoli-shells-cheese/

Creamy Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti

Tonight I put on my lunch lady hat and "re-purposed" last night's spaghetti dinner. I ended up with WAY too many noodles and needed to come up with a solution. I also had cooked a whole chicken a couple of days ago (in the crockpot and give the broth to the dogs). So tonight I'm using half of the spaghetti as a mexican bake and tomorrow will be a cold spaghetti salad. I was able to get this one together in less than 10 minutes and bake for 30. Easy peesy. :)

http://www.thecountrycook.net/creamy-cheesy-chicken-spaghetti/

World's Best Lasagna

I'm on a bread-making journey thanks to the hubby buying me a stand mixer and the Mixer Bible . I decided it was time to try the breadsticks. I'll actually post that one separately. It had been a long time since I'd made traditional lasagna so, while browsing the internet, I found a recipe that claimed to be the "World's Best Lasagna". Ok, you have my attention. I decided to give it a go. My only mistake was adding ALL of the noodles. I remembered (after the fact) that I usually only added 1/2 to 2/3 of the box. This recipe was a little sweeter than I would have liked too. Next time I'll taste the sauce and try to decrease the level of sweetness. The breadsticks were not bad for a first try, but I clearly have work to do to perfect that one. ;)

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/23600/worlds-best-lasagna/

Broccoli Cheese Casserole

Tonight was all about comfort foods. I've been craving broccoli and cheese casserole, so I found this recipe. The boys prefer it with rice, but I enjoyed the low(er) carb option. It worked perfect to cook it in the oven with the meatloaf recipe at 350 degrees. Next time I will find a recipe with rice to make the rest of the family happy.

http://theviewfromgreatisland.com/broccoli-cheese-casserole/