Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Mix together the Neufchâtel cheese, sour cream and ranch dip mix.

   

2. Mix in the chopped artichoke hearts.

   

3. Add half the chopped parsley, half the mozzarella cheese and some kosher salt and pepper to taste. Combine and spread evenly into an oven safe baking dish.

   

4. Evenly sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top. Add the rest of the parsley. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

   

5. To serve with crostini, turn the oven up to 400 degrees. On a baking sheet lay out your bread slices and drizzle with some olive oil. Bake for 5-8 minutes until the crostini is golden brown. Enjoy!!!  😀

   

It all starts with this delicious recipe: Friday Night “Fast Food” Parmesan Chicken Tenders.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce

1. In a crockpot or slow cooker (whichever term you prefer) place your ground beef. Add the jar of spaghetti sauce, bay leaves, dried oregano, garlic powder, pepper, onion and 3 whole cloves of garlic.
2. Mix all the ingredients together and set the timer to cook for 4-6 hours. Stir every hour or so if you are home. The garlic will start to soften and just permeate the sauce.

   

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   Garlic Breadcrumb Topping

   1. Melt 1/2 cup butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add the garlic and bring it to a sizzle about 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat, add the breadcrumbs and combine, coating all of the breadcrumbs.

   

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Faux Lasagna Assembly

1. Cook the lasagna noodles according to package directions.
2. Layer the bottom of an oven safe baking dish with enough noodles to cover the bottom.
3. Layer a cup or so of the crockpot spaghetti sauce over the noodles.
4. Add half of the mozzarella cheese and spread to cover the sauce.
5. Add half of the garlic breadcrumb topping, spread out over the mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle this layer with some parmesan cheese.
6. REPEAT the layers and sprinkle with parmesan cheese and a little olive oil over the top to add a golden color when baking.
7. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let stand 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!  😛

   

   

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

1. In an oven proof good sized fry pan, on medium heat, add the center cut bacon and fry to your desired crispness. Remove the bacon to a paper toweled plate to drain. Keep the bacon drippings in the pan.
2. Add the olive oil to the bacon drippings. Sauté the onion and garlic for a few minutes and add the gnocchi. Stir to combine. Sauté all together for 5 minutes.
3. Add the marinara sauce, mustard powder, paprika, 1/2 the parsley flakes and salt & pepper to taste. Simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and add half the mozzarella cheese to the gnocchi and combine.
5. Spread the rest of the mozzarella on top with the rest of the parsley. Sprinkle the crumbled bacon over the top OR mix half in with the gnocchi and sprinkle the remaining on top. Bake for 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Enjoy!  😀

   

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**Be VERY careful when removing the pan from the oven, the handle will be HOT.

As a visual reminder I always put an oven mitt over the handle in addition to using a pot holder.**

1. To make the “stuffing” sauté your chopped onion in olive oil on medium heat until they are translucent about 5 minutes. Add your chopped green olive and sauté for another 2 minutes to meld the flavors. Take your pan off the heat and add the breadcrumbs and mozzarella cheese. Combine and let the mozzarella slightly melt to bind the “stuffing” together and set aside. As always add pepper and salt to taste but be very careful with the salt because the green olives are very salty, that is why so few are used in this recipe. But the taste is incredible!!!

   

   

   

2. Butterfly your chicken breasts, or in other words slice them in half, being careful not to slice all the way through. Season them liberally with some pepper (remember what I said about the salt in step 1). Now stuff those babies with the stuffing. Bring the two edges together and insert 3 toothpicks into each breast to keep them together during the baking process. Lastly wrap those gorgeous breasts with the 2 slices of bacon to keep that outer chicken nice and juicy, the stuffing, believe me, will take care of the inside in just the same way! Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.

   

   

   

   

3. Time to get that glace ready! My demi-glace though not made with two different stocks as customary, is super easy and just as tasty in my humble opinion. In a pan, add 1/2 cup of the beef broth to start (add more if you like a wetter sauce) and turn the heat to medium. Add your mushrooms to cook for about 5 minutes and then turn the heat up just a bit to boil the broth and reduce it a little. When the sauce is reduced to your liking and the mushrooms to your desired consistency add the beautiful whipped butter and allow it to melt into the glace. This will create that ultra creamy, dreamy sauce to compliment that delicious moist chicken. Season with pepper to taste and a pinch of kosher salt (I did add salt to the glace) to elevate the flavor.

   

   

   

4. To crisp the bacon turn your broiler to high and broil on each side about 3-4 minutes or until desired bacon crispness. This step will not, I repeat will not dry out the chicken.

   

5. Finally plate those babies up! Remove the toothpicks from the chicken and discard. Pour some of that creamy mushroom glace over the top and add your desired vege on the side. So, So, So Tasty! Enjoy!  😀

   

   P.S. I also made chocolate chip cookies with a surprise filling. I used this Land O’ Lakes Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, with a few tweaks. I used whipped Land O’ Lakes butter instead of regular and I also up the brown sugar portion to 1 cup and lower the regular sugar to 1/2 cup. It was a tip I tried one time and loved it so much I do it all the time. I also left out the nuts, that is your choice. I then took a portion of the dough flattened it out and added the Oreo cookie surprise, took another portion of dough and sandwiched it on top. I baked them about 14 minutes give or take and there is only one left!  😛

   

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