One pan meals are great, and this meal is a great option if you have lots of pasta and lots of hungry people. This dish is flavorful and requires very inexpensive ingredients. This recipe gave us 6 servings of this pasta, and we only used one tilapia fillet! Everything else was just herbs, oils, and salt! I would recommend adding a frozen veggie to the dish after you’ve broken up the fish or, like we did, serve it with a side of veggies or salad. This is a heavy dish with an oil base, so a fresh flavor is needed to balance it out!
Heat medium sauce pan of water to a boil. Add 12 oz of Rotini, boil until al dente, 12-15 minutes. Reserve 1/4 cup pasta water. Strain noodles.
In a large dutch oven, bring 1/3 cup oil, and 1/4 cup pasta water to shimmering. Add 2 Tbsp garlic powder. Cook for 2 minutes. Add to oil, 1 tbsp oragano, 1 tbsp red pepper flakes, 1 tbsp basil, and 2 tbsp parsely. Heat through spices.
Add 1 tilapia fillet. Cook on each side for 2 minutes. Break up tilapia into large pieces.
Add strained pasta to sauce, and stir. Add 3 Tbsp salted butter, and add about 1 1/2 Tbsp salt. Stir till butter is melted. Remove from heat. Top each bowl with parmasean.
Hello again! I’ve been working on compiling this list for a while. Here are some of my recipes that would work really well for Valentine’s day dinner for you and anyone else you want to share it with. Below each photo will be a link to the recipe on my site. And, added to the bottom are three new recipes just added to the website!
Carbonara is always a date night classic, and you will find nearly every list of Valentine’s day dinners will include it. Many people use some sort of protein, usually either bacon or prosciutto, but my recipe doesn’t, nor does it need it!
Chicken Fajitas is a great option if it’s been a while since you’ve had some spice in your diet. These are a fun meal that may make a mess, but are fun finger food!
No one can go wrong with a steak dinner for Valentine’s day, assuming your not vegan. Sous Vide is also the way to go, if you have it as an option. They cook your steak perfectly every time. If you don’t have a sous vide, steak is still a great option, just cook in a frying pan with some butter and herbs for 5 minutes each side (cut depending).
Stuffed chicken breasts can also be a fun choice for you. The Italian hints to this dish makes it more exotic and surprising than your typical baked chicken breast.
If you want something more oriental for this holiday, look no further than Venison Stir Fry. This stir fry recipe uses typical ingredients you may have at home and creates a savory dish that is perfectly balanced when stacked atop white rice.
Want to do a quick meal before all the plans you have for tonight? Look no further than breakfast for dinner. This could be for breakfast in bed this Saturday morning, or you can spice up your routine with this fun and simple Scrambled Eggs, Cheese, and Salsa.
Deviled eggs are a great source of protein and are easy to eat. They are fun to make and everyone that likes them raves about how delicious they are! Make this as an appetizer and you’ll surely blow them away!
A simple stroganoff that will impress your guest. Using what you have in your cupboard, you can make this savory dish that will satisfy your stomach and your taste buds.
Shrimp scampi is an easy dish that will surely impress. Though the garlic is strong, this romantic dish will be a great treat for your valentine’s day.
Meatloaf is a classic hearty meal that can be delicious and filling. Meatloaf is also a fun meal to make that takes little effort once it is mixed and baking.
Mac & Cheese is another one of my favorite childhood foods. It is cheesy and packed with carbs. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water! My mom made a roux based sauce, that is butter and flour, then we add milk and an entire block (8 oz) of cubed white sharp cheese. The recipe below is enough for pretty much just me and my husband since I love it so much, however there is enough in the recipe to serve another person if it is paired with a protein and a veggie. Also, some cheese brands don’t melt as evenly as others, so if your cheese tastes a bit gritty once it’s cooked, you should probably use a different brand next time. I usually use Aldi’s brand, cracker barrel brand, or Kraft. We have had Cabot work out sometimes while other times it is gritty, and Helluvagood always comes out gritty.
Cook 1 1/2 cup of macaroni to al dente and drain.
While that is cooking, preheat oven to 375 F. Dice 1 small onion (1/2 cup) and cook in 4 Tbsp of butter until translucent.
Once onions are translucent, add 4 Tbsp of flour stir, then add 2 cups of milk. Heat to a slight simmer.
While that is heating, cube one block of cheese (8 oz) by cutting the block in half the short way, then slicing into slices 1/4 inch thick. Once milk is simmering, remove milk from heat and immediately add cheese and start stirring until all cheese is melted.
Place drained macaroni into a 2 quart size or bigger backing/casserole dish. Then pour the hot cheese over top and carefully stir.
Bake your mac & cheese for 30 minutes until the top has begun to brown and is bubbling hot.
With only 10 minutes left, slice ham and fry in a frying pan with 1 Tbsp butter. Serve together.
I am a Ham Lover. We’ve had just about every type of ham you can get, and they always turn out well if they are cooked enough with a good glaze. When I was growing up, we always got a 5 lb canned ham. But over the years, even the price of canned ham has risen, which has led us to try spiral cut hams, pre-cooked & sliced hams without the bone, ham steaks, and we’ve even done a roast for Christmas! Ham is the tradition, and I personally never miss out on a holiday where I can have a nice ham.
I do like spiral cut hams, but it’s very important to cook them “low and slow” because you want the internal temp to come high enough to melt the internal fat. It is also important to remove it from the glaze once it’s finished cooking, because the fat will re-solidify and ruin your remaining ham if you don’t remove it from the fat and bone after you finish eating. Some people don’t like canned hams because they seem fake or overly processed, and though that is a good concern and it doesn’t look like real ham anymore, it also has less fat and tends to be an easier eat if you have bad teeth or want a meal that requires less chewing. Processed ham steaks are definitely less food than the other types. They also tend to be a mix in textures being mostly ham-like with it having pieces that seem less processed than canned hams. Each type of ham has a draw back to different people, however most of the problems arise in how the meat is prepped and cooked.
Though it seems old fashioned, I always go with the honey and brown sugar glaze even for my non-holiday hams. I find the sweetness to go so well with the savory aspect of the ham. But, for Christmas, we also top our ham with pineapple and cherries, so when we make up the glaze we also add a bit of acidity by adding some pineapple juice to the honey brown sugar. The acidity does really well to compliment the saltiness of ham. When we make our glaze, we usually do 1:2 Honey to brown sugar. When we make our Christmas ham, we usually go for 60% brown sugar, 30% honey, 2% cherry juice and 8% pineapple juice. You are looking for a consistency where the glaze is mostly solid and won’t run completely off the ham. If it is too liquidy, add more brown sugar and honey, and stir well.
Tuna noodle casserole is a staple of depression era cooking. It’s a simple dish that requires very little to feed many people for the night. Though I’m sure there are fancier ways to make tuna noodle, this is the way I grew up with and the way my mom grew up with too. This recipe makes enough to serve 3 adults, but the recipe can easily be stretched by adding more noodles, or doubling/tripling the existing recipe. You can also then stick it in a casserole dish once mixed and add a crisp topping and bake, however I’ve always had it without, and I tend to prefer it quick and easy. Since I don’t do the casserole step, I tend to just call it tuna noodle, since I don’t make it into a casserole.
Bring a pot of water to a boil
Add 1/2 a bag (8oz) of egg noodles and cook to al dente, and strain.
In a dutch oven add one strained can of tuna, one can of cream of mushroom soup, and one can of Milk. Bring to a boil and stir till smooth.
Once smooth, add the noodles and cook for 3-5 minutes, and serve. Sauce thickens upon standing. Best serves with buttered bread and sweet peas.
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