Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo
This recipe has been a favorite of mine for many years. It is one that my Mom would make while I was growing up and that I still continue to make. Funny story, I haven’t ruined many recipes in my time cooking, but this is the one I have the most trouble with. When adding the garlic salt you need to have a light hand, and there has been a couple of times when I’ve accidently added too much! So be careful, doing this will absolutely ruin the recipe.If you eat gluten free you can simply substitute gluten free spaghetti or penne noodles into the recipe. Either will work and the recipe is then gluten free! The chicken is also optional. I personally like to serve it on the side so people can add as much chicken as they like on their individual plates.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:165]
I love experimenting with kale, quinoa and sweet potatoes. There are just so many different ways you can prepare them! And almost all of them are super tasty. This recipe is no exception. I’ve used a lot of fresh herbs which lends the recipe a brighter quality. While you certainly don’t need to use fresh herbs, I highly suggest it if you happen to have them on hand.This dish is very much on the savory side. I personally love the combination of thyme and nutmeg in a dish together. However, Alex doesn’t like nutmeg at all so this wasn’t his favorite dish in the world. Since this dish has both quinoa and sweet potato it is very hearty. If you would like a lighter dish you can leave one of them out.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:164]
Alex specially requested that I make a ham for his birthday dinner. I’ve never made a ham before so I decided to try an Old Fashioned style ham. He was very happy with the end result. This is a great recipe for a large gathering or any time you really want to impress guests.This recipe is for a very sweet ham. If you don’t prefer your meat on the sweeter side this probably isn’t the right recipe for you. I personally love sweet ham so I found this to be a great recipe. Alex prefers slightly saltier ham but he still liked this recipe when finished.
Personally, I’ve used a roaster and a cooking bag for this particular recipe. I find using these things get the ham cooked nicely and it doesn’t take up additional space in my oven. If you decide not to use a roaster or don’t happen to have one on hand simply follow the directions on your ham in order to cook and then follow the last few directions here to glaze.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:163]
This is a recipe I absolutely love! It is from my Mother in Law and every time she makes it I just can’t get enough. Not only is this recipe easy to make it is also super variable depending on what flavors you use. I’ve included my personal favorites in the recipe below but you can use whatever you like.My mother in law likes to use the cranberry sierra mist and strawberry concentrate. I haven’t been able to find that exact juice concentrate around here so I typically just purchase the fruit punch. If you prefer a citrus punch you could use orange juice concentrate and regular Sierra Mist or 7 Up. It really just depends on what your local grocery stocks and what your flavor preferences are.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:162]
This is another classic recipe that I really wanted to find a gluten free option for. While I don’t actually like this dish, I wanted to have a gluten free option for my blog readers. This recipe takes the basic casserole recipe and just substitutes gluten free options.I found 
Once you know how to make butternut squash it is super easy to make it again and again. We love to have squash, especially with large meals. This particular recipe we served for the last large family dinner we hosted.This recipe errs slightly on the spicy side. I personally don’t like this combination of spices, but Alex and his family really did. This is a great recipe to try if you like spicy food. You can amp up the chili powder if you’d like it spicier, or you can lighten it up of you want something less.Squash is super easy to make, the longest part is the time in the oven. It is best to serve it straight out of the oven so it is piping hot. I find it best to poke the squash with a fork to see when it’s done. If it is done the squash will be very soft and pliable.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:159]
I know I’ve said this before, but when I cook a large meal I tend to run out of oven and/or stove burner space. I also don’t seem to have time for futzy-putzy dishes. I decided this last time around to try making mashed potatoes in a crockpot. This not only saved me time, it kept me from using a burner on the stove and they turned out amazing!These were fantastic mashed potatoes. Since they cook for such a long time with a ton of moisture they are amazingly soft and smushy when you go to mash them. I highly suggest using a potato masher or a hand mixer to mash these. It will save you a lot of time and energy when you probably don’t have much to spare.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:157]
When you’re cooking a giant meal the last thing you need is to run out of space in the oven. I always run into this problem with a big meal so I decided to try and make as many things in the crockpot as I could the last time we had family over. We have two different sized crockpots and a large roaster so this is a viable option for us.Stuffing is a huge part of any family holiday celebration and since I was trying to make an entirely gluten free Christmas feast the stuffing had to be included. I had two loaves of Udi’s bread that had been sitting in my freezer for several months and I decided it was time to make use of them. I find Udi’s too dry to eat by itself so I was saving it for an occasion such as this.The other large alteration I made to this stuffing recipe was to cook it in a crockpot. Although this didn’t give the crispy crust some people love it did work well. If you’re really concerned about a crispy top you can always stick the finished product under the broiler for a few minutes to crisp up right before you serve it.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:155]Source: Adapted from: Food Network Magazine, November 2015
I love this pie, it is probably my favorite pie of all time. I have fond memories of my Dad making these the morning of any holiday that contained a family gathering. I have really never found any pumpkin pie that compares to this one.This pie is super quick and easy. Personally, I prefer to use prepared pie crusts since (imho) the effort you put into making your own isn’t worth the end result. This makes the recipe even easier. If you need a gluten free option simply replace the pie crust with a gluten free one and you’re all set! It’s entirely gluten free.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:154]
Alex asked me the other week to make a new wild rice soup. He said he wanted it to be full of wild rice, no chicken and really cheesy. I said ok, and came up with this recipe! I wanted to combine several hearty ingredients to make a thick, chunky chowder that he would enjoy. I think you’ll like this recipe as much as we did!This is a seriously thick soup. Between the cheese and regular creaminess of a wild rice soup this ends up being SO creamy and thick! The chunky vegetables perfectly compliment the wild rice and potatoes. I used crumbled bacon in this recipe because I didn’t have any ham or beef chunks pre-prepared. Alex said he really enjoyed that, but he wouldn’t want it every time. I highly suggest using cubed ham if you have it on hand.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:153]
Alex has been asking me to figure out how to make Chicken Pot Pie for ages now. I figured it was finally time to make his “dream” become reality. However, I wanted to be able to eat too so I decided to make some minor alterations to make this recipe gluten free.This recipe is WAY easy! As long as you have cooked the chicken before you go to make this recipe you can go from nothing to dinner in less than 45 minutes. I would highly suggest using shredded chicken instead of cubed. The shredded would give a better consistency in my opinion.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:151]Source: Adapted from 
I randomly decided to make this pie one day when Alex and I didn’t want a whole pan of brownies left over. I was still in the peppermint mood and decided to make this pie minty fresh! It is really amazing…it tastes like a chocolate candy cane and the brownie part is so light and fluffy.This is perfect for a small dinner party or even if you just need a special dessert to have all to yourself. It is pretty quick and very easy to make. The best part is that even though the brownie is pretty thick it is soft and delicious in the middle. The secret is the sour cream you add to the mixture. It make sure the brownie stays soft and pliable no matter how long it sits on the calendar. This is really a dessert you don’t want to miss![amd-yrecipe-recipe:150]Source: Adapted from Gluten Free on a Shoestring – Nicole Hunn
My Mom loves cheesecake and we have a tradition of making her one every year on her birthday. However, I really wanted to make something new and with my sister being lactose intolerant I figured making a dairy-free cheesecake would be the perfect birthday cake for my Mom!I found dairy-free cream cheese at Trader Joes. I was worried about the taste since I’ve never worked with it before but all my concerns were for nothing. This was one of the best cheesecakes I’ve ever made. My brother even said he couldn’t really tell the difference between a real cheesecake and this one, and the rest of my family was SUPER impressed with the taste.This is a super rich, chocolaty cheesecake that is sure to please the whole family. It would be absolutely perfect for a New Year’s Eve party with friends even if they’re not dairy free! You can make this recipe Vegan by substituting some form of egg-substitute for the egg. Everything else is already vegan! I chose not to make this substitution since we can all digest eggs and none of us are vegan.
[amd-yrecipe-recipe:149]Source: Adapted from 
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This recipe is a holiday tradition in my family. As long as I can remember this has been served at every single family holiday gathering. I have no idea where this recipe originated, Mom or an Aunt, any idea who introduced this recipe? I have to admit to you, I actually can’t stand this recipe. However, I’ve started making it for Alex’s family gatherings because it doesn’t feel like a holiday if this isn’t on the table.The nuts in the recipe are completely optional. My Mom makes it both ways when she brings it to a family gathering since one of my cousins doesn’t like it with the nuts. It is entirely up to you if you want to add them. I had maple candied pecans on hand so that’s what I used, you can use walnuts too if you like.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:145]
Last week I was a very bad blogger. We were in Tech for The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, a Community Theatre show I am directing. I’ve barely been home in the last few weeks so last week I had to go awol as a blogger since I didn’t have time to post anything! Well, we’ve made it through the first weekend of shows, and I finally have time to do other things.Today’s recipe is actually something Alex found and adapted. Since I haven’t been home much in the last couple weeks he’s been having to make his own dinner most nights. This is one of the recipes he came up with! I asked if I could steal it and post since it was SO easy!While Alex paired this with a spice rice you can definitely serve it over plain white rice if you prefer. Alex really loves spicy food, so he created this amped up rice recipe. He said it was the absolute best part of the dinner![amd-yrecipe-recipe:144]
