Thursday, April 7, 2011

Girls Night In

Tonight I hosted a girls night in with some AMAZING girls. Our dinner menu was as follows:

Appetizers:
Pineapple and strawberries with Fruit Dip.
We had virgin Pinacoladas. (pina colada mix, pineapple juice, ice and mix, garnish with a pineapple)
Lindsay brought a yummy dip that I forgot to get the recipe for and chips.

Main Dish
Cheesy Chicken Tortellini

 
Ingredients:
Pasta Mixture:
½ cup chopped onion                              
1 teaspoon olive oil                                              
1 garlic clove, pressed                               
1 jar (16 oz) white Alfredo pasta sauce         
2 packages (9 oz each) refrigerated
cheese filled tortellini       
1 ½ cups cubed cooked chicken                   
1 cup milk         
1 cup water                                                        
1 cup chopped green peppers
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper                 
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves

Crumb Topping:                                               
¼ cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons butter melted
1 cup fresh bread crumbs



Directions:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Heat oil over medium-high heat; add onion and garlic. Cook and stir 2-3 minutes or until onion is tender. Stir in pasta sauce, tortellini, chicken, milk, water, peppers and black pepper. Heat until mixture just comes to a boil; remove from heat. Stir in basil into pasta mixture. Mix crumb topping together, set aside. Spoon pasta mixture into baking dish and sprinkle with crumb topping. Bake 15-20 minutes or until edges are bubbly and topping is golden brown.

Side Dishes:
Olive Garden Salad



SALAD RECIPE:
1 bag American Blend Salad (Dole works well)
4-5 slices Red Onion
4-6 Black Olives
2-4 Pickled Pepperoncini
1/2 cup Croutons
1 small Tomato sliced
Freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

DRESSING RECIPE:
1/2 cup Mayonnaise
1/3 cup White Vinegar
1 tsp. Vegetable Oil
2 Tbsp. Corn Syrup
2 Tbsp. Parmesan Cheese
2 Tbsp. Romano Cheese
1 clove garlic minced
1/2 tsp. Italian Seasoning
1/2 tsp. Parsley Flakes
1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
Sugar (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
Dressing:
Mix all ingredients in a blender until well mixed (approximately 30 seconds).
If this is a little to tart for your own personal tastes please add a little extra sugar.
Chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Salad:
Chill a glass salad bowl in freezer for at least 30 minutes.
Place the bag of salad in bowl.
Place on top of the lettuce – red onion, black olives, banana peppers, tomatoes, and croutons.
Add some freshly grated Parmesan cheese if you like.
Add plenty of Olive Garden™ Salad Dressing on top.

Homemade Breadsticks


Use the dough recipe:
2 cups heated milk
2 tablespooons butter
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
4 1/2 -5 cups flour
2 teaspoons yeast

If you have a bread maker just put the ingredients in the bread maker in that order on the dough setting. If not just use a mixer. Melt the butter in the milk. Pour milk into mixer. Add sugar and salt. Slowly add half of the flour. Add the yeast and the rest of the flour. Knead for 5-10 minutes. Dough should be soft. Let stand for 10 minutes.


Form the dough to a long roll.


 
 

 



Divide dough into 18 pieces using a knife.










Roll the dough into a long rope.








 Pick piece up from the middle of the snake and twist around.







Let raise til doubled in size.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes until golden on top.

While cooking, melt 1/3 cube butter in microwave. Mix in small bowl about 1/3 cup parmesan cheese, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon garlic salt. (You can alter to your liking).

Take breadsticks out of the oven and immediately baste the butter on the bread and sprinkle with cheese.

Let cool before covering or storing. 

Dessert:
Lindsay also brought dessert.
Strawberries in a Delicious syrup!, vanilla pudding mixed with cool whip, angel food cake, and cool whip to top it off!

It was so much fun. So fun in fact that I forgot to take pictures! They are a great bunch of girls and it was so much fun to learn more about all of them! And girls, if you are reading this I am mad at you! You know why ;)

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