tomato – Urban Retro Recipes

Looking for Love In All The Right Places

Marci Seither — Mon, 28 Aug 2017 21:26:01 +0000

My Dining Table It the Right Place For This Pasta Dish!

I am very sure that good food is my families “Love Language”. Wehn they walk in the door and are greated with garlic and basil leaves being stirred together is is like a huge hug.
Seriously, this is one of those dished that you make and wonder why you have never thought of it before.
I love that the sauce is so much lighter than a heavy marinara sauce or Alfredo sauce and the sun dried tomatoes are the perfect touch to this Italian inspired dish.

I think we sometimes don’t stop to think about what we have in our pantry or refridge to make dinner. Sometimes we think we have to stop and get one or two things at the store every day. That is so expensive and time consuming, plus I can’t even count how many times I have walked into a store to get milk and come out with several bags of groceries I didn’t even know I needed.

So much of this recipe is from fresh food, so next time you are at the store or farmers market go ahead and pick up a few of these ingredients. You will be glad you did and so will your family.
Because this is a basic recipe you can add in what you want such as diced onions, zucchini, bell peppers and even olives.
So what are you waiting for. Apron up and let’s get some love cookin right now!

This is what Julia says about this recipe.

What makes this pasta very special is that in addition to fresh tomatoes, basil, garlic, and spinach, I also used sun-dried tomatoes and red pepper flakes to add lots of flavor!

GO TO THE NEXT PAGE FOR INGREDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS.

Quick Tip: If you would rather have swap out chicken for Italian sausage feel free!

Photo and Recipe courtesy of Julia at Julias album.

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Want to Avoid the Dinner Rush? Throw this in your Crock-pot and come home to dinner.

Marci Seither — Wed, 23 Aug 2017 17:00:52 +0000

If there was an award for the most magical kitchen appliance even invented, the slow cooker would win hands down.

Nothing like being gone all day and having to step into the house wondering what your next play will be. Seriously, sometimes I feel like I need a wipe-off board so I can do a Madden football style huddle. “Ok kids..I am going to run around the laundry and you go out for a long pass…”

I find myself thinking “Dinner? You guys just ATE!” But that is just life. One mess and chaos to the next. Wouldn’t it be nice, for once, walk into the house and have the smell of dinner greet you at the door? Now that is what I am talking about. No, you don’t have to hire someone to come in and cook for you. That is always an option, but not always practical.

With a little bit of prep you can make this dream a reality.This is a great recipe to add in some of your favorite ingredients and who know, maybe even use that left over rice from last night’s dinner!

Because it is cooked in the crock put the mess is pretty minimal. So you can spend less time geting things on the table and more time visiting with those you love around the table! Now That is an All-star Game plan!

If only laundry were this easy!

Here is what Holly from Life in the Lofthouse has to say about this easy to make family favorite.

This is probably one of the easiest soup recipes you’ll ever make AND it’s delicious. So it’s a win win! This is one that you can throw everything in the crock pot before work and just keep it on the warm setting all day. Once you get home just quickly brown up the ground beef and dinner is done. Talk about the best little dinner ever!

GO TO THE NEXT PAGE FOR LIST OF INGREDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS.

Quick Tip: Don’t want to have to cook up the ground beef after you get home? Go ahead and buy a big package and cook it up. Divide it into smaller ziplocks and stick in the freezer. Need to make tacos? Pasta with a meat sauce? Or this soup? BAM! It is cooked and ready. Planning ahead and cooking ahead saves a lot of time in the kitchen. Take it from me. A mom who has raised 6 kids!

Photo and recipe courtesy of Holly at Life in the Lofthouse

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Get it While It is HOT..hot..hot! This dish really sizzles!

Marci Seither — Sun, 13 Aug 2017 20:52:12 +0000

With this recipe, you don’t even have to fire up the grill.

I am loving the summer days, but the thought of cooking up something hot and heavy just does not appeal to me. Yet there is something about the summer sizzle that rocks the menu.

Plus, this is the kind of salad that is a full meal and can be served for lunch at the lake, or evening after a hard day at work. Add some tortilla chips and fresh salsa and you are pretty set. Margarita’s are optional!

I am such a huge fan of cooking ahead, so I will make twice as much of this chicken and put half in the freezer so when I want to have this dish again all I have to do it reheat and add to a fresh bed of lettuce and produce.

Need something even more portable? Wrap up this in a large tortilla and you are ready to go!

Here is what Katrina of Cafe Delites has to say about her sizzling hot salad.

Red chilli flakes…freshly squeezed lime juice…coriander (sub it out if you don’t like it, but man it’s good in this), garlic…cumin… so many flavours that dance together and create a steamy love affair on your tongue.

GO TO THE NEXT PAGE FOR INGREDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS.

Quick Tip: Have a hankering for beef? Just swap out beef for chicken or better yet, make a batch of each!

Photo and recipe courtesy of Katrina of Cafe Delites.

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The Farmer’s Market? Run, Don’t Walk To Get Your Hand on These Fresh Ingredients.

Marci Seither — Sun, 06 Aug 2017 20:39:31 +0000

Colorful and full of flavor, make a double batch to you can enjoy the LEFTOVERS tomorrow.

I love using fresh ingredients. Whether I buy them at a local Farmer’s Market, grow them ourselves, or are given produce from someone elses bounty, being able to eat things that are picked at their peak makes all the difference in the world when it comes to flavor.

You can taste the difference between homegrown tomatoes and ones that have been picked green for the stores.

My husband is our family green thumb and he usually plants more tomatoes than we can use which means I am always on the look out for new recipes that include some of our garden bounty.

I love caprese toast on think slices of crusty sourdough French bread but I can never get enough tomatoe and basil!

Being able to use all the ingredients and toss with orzo is a huge win! I mean you could make a big bowl of this the day before you need to serve and seriously? I would eat this for lunch! It has everything. And can be served warm or cold.

Of course I always put in extra tomato!

This is what Samantha of Five Heart Home has to say about this perfect flavor packed summer time salad.

Let’s be honest here. Caprese anything is a pretty equal opportunity-type recipe. Bottom line? This pasta salad recipe is so yummy, y’all. Like, happily-eat-it-for-lunch-every-day-until-it’s-gone yummy.

GO TO THE NEXT PAGE TO GET INGREDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS.

Quick Tip: If you are trying to shy away from pasta you could substitute this out for rice or quinoa.

Recipe and photo courtesy of Samantha at Five Heart Home

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Curry In A Hurry? Almost To Good To Be True!

Marci Seither — Sat, 05 Aug 2017 02:47:29 +0000

The aroma that fills the house will make you swoon. Seriously.

I had never cooked with curry very much, but after trying curry chicken I was hooked. I loved the tangy and savory taste that my family just couldn’t get enough of it.

I am not sure what it is about all the ingredients together but the chicken ends up like tender little morsels.

On a bed of rice, this meal is totally amazing. and when you add in some carrots and cauliflower to this dish you basically have a full meal!

Great for those nights when you are not sure when everyone is going to get home. Keep the chicken curry and sauce in a slow cooker on warm and the rice will be easy to keep warm as well.

This meal is hot, filling, and fairly easy on the budget which is nice when you are feeding a crowd or just making enough for several meals.

The greatest thing I love about this dish is being able to make extra and freeze half for later. This is also super amazing to take to work for your lunch break. Trust me on this, people will be jealous.

This is what Jennifer of Once Apon a Chef says about this dish.

In this family-friendly Indian dish, thinly sliced chicken breasts are sautéed with curry powder and simmered in an aromatic, slightly sweet curry sauce thickened with Greek yogurt. You can have it on the table in 30 minutes — or in the time it takes to make some basmati rice

GO TO THE NEXT PAGE FOR INGREDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS.

Quick Tip: I LOVE the flavor of coconut milk in this dish as well. If that is what you are accustomed to just replace 1/4 or 1/2 of the chicken broth with coconut milk.

Photo and Recipe courtesy of Jenn of Once Apon a Chef

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After making this, I will never go back to my old recipe again. Sorry MOM!

Marci Seither — Sat, 29 Jul 2017 16:37:05 +0000

I have made the same lasagna recipe since I was old enough to boil noodles. This NO-BOIL option changed everything!

My mom made lasagna a certain way, and I am pretty darned sure she learned how to make it from her mom. It was always delicious, always a hit, and always a big mess. I used all my big pans and had so much boiling going on. It was totally worth it, don’t get me wrong, but it was a commitment.

Then, my daughter had a group of friends over for a few days and they decided to make dinner. One of her friends, Emarie, took on the task of making a lasagna. When she pulled the ingredients out of her grocery bag I was skeptical. Really skeptical.

After all, that is not how I made the traditional pasta, or my mom. Really, if you are not going through all the work, can it really be authentic? But it was! It was actually BETTER than the recipe my mom passed on. (Nothing personal MOM. Just stating the fact.)

I have made lasagna twice as much after finding this No Fuss recipe and I hope you love it as much as I do.

This is what the Cento family, makers of Anna Noodles, has to say about my favorite recipe.

This comfort food favorite layers robust tomato sauce, ground beef and a mozzarella-ricotta cheese mixture between sheets of pasta. This baked dish is perfect for everything from busy weeknight dinners to parties and entertaining.

GO TO THE NEXT PAGE FOR THE INGREDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS.

Quick Tip: If you would rather not use beef, go ahead and swap out for ground chicken. I LOVE being able to use chicken sausage.

Photo and Recipe courtesy of Cento

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Bold and Spicy…Might Be the Best Thing Since The Godfather!

Marci Seither — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 02:22:32 +0000

Not sure what to fix for dinner for your family? Take it to the mattress!

Ok I admit I am one of the few adults that has never seen the Godfather. What can I say? I am a lightweight when it comes to scary movies!

But I do know that taking it to the mattress means fighting it out..which is sometimes what the dinner hour feels like.

I know the Godfather is really a movie icon but I am just not sure I can stomach the gore. But even if you haven’t seen any of the Godfather movies, chances are you have heard about several of the scenes and can quote a few of the lines.

I thought it was funny in “You’ve Got Mail” how references to the Godfather kept coming up. It really must be a guy thing. But you know what, so is food! Which is why Italians love their recipes involving pasta, marinara sauce,and would rather “leave the gun and take the cannoli”!

So get down to business in the kitchen, where it is for the whole mob or just a few and start cooking this Italian favorite that was shared to the Food Network by Giada De Laurentiis.

“Friendship is everything. Friendship is more than talent. It is more than the government. It is almost the equal of family.- Don Corleone”

GO TO THE NEXT PAGE FOR INGREDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS.

Quick Tip: For a great add on- cook up angel hair pasta and serve this over it. Add a side salad and bread sticks and you are ready to roll.

Recipe and photo courtesy of Food.com

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The Taste is Zest-acious!

Marci Seither — Fri, 21 Jul 2017 00:32:34 +0000

This is two of our Family Favorite Recipes Rolled into One Pan of Yummy Goodness!

I had never thought to use tortellini as an ingredient in what is almost like a lasagna. This recipe totally rocks!

Being able to bite into that cheesy pasta is almost too good to be true. It is savory and because it really is loaded with lots of flavor and a hearty meal, it really feeds a crowd.

Toss together a salad and slice up a french bread and there you go! In fact, this is the kind of main dish you can make ahead a d just pop in the oven 45 minutes before you want to serve it up! With a big crowd of kids, it is nice to know I can have a main dish that everyone will love.

So if I want to have a small bowl for lunch the next day I know to dish it out and HIDE it before everyone eats it all!

This is what Jen at Carlsbad Craving has to say about this recipe!

This isn’t just any Tortellini Bake. Its not just a cheese tortellini bake, or a vegetable tortellini bake, or a marinara tortellini bake but an ooey gooey, Cheesy Bolognese Tortellini Bake – which means it has it all!

GO TO THE NEXT PAGE FOR INGREDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS.

Quick Tip: If you are super short on time..which would be a shame to miss out on this sauce..go ahead and use your favorite sauce out of a jar. Really, it is OK.

Photo an recipe courtesy of Jen at Carlsbad Craving

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The Easiest Tex-Mex Skillet Recipe This Side of the Rio Grande

Marci Seither — Sat, 15 Jul 2017 05:49:41 +0000

Skip the Hamburger Helper! This is just as easy and TWICE as good!

When I was growing up my parents built a cabin near Lake Tahoe. Every weekend, for about a year, we would pile into the old Suburban and head toward the mountains where we “roughed it”.

Part of that was eating our fair share of Hamburger Helper. For being limited on having the luxury of a stocked kitchen, it was pretty darned easy. I mean cook up hamburger, dump the packet if ingredients in the same skillet, add water and simmer until cooked.

I remember sitting on paint cans with our plate of food, under the construction lamp while we were building. One night a moth flew into my plate and tried to do the butterfly stroke out of my dinner.
It must have been one of those childhood traumatizing events because think that was the last time I ever ate Hamburger Helper.EVER.

This recipe looks just like what we used to make out of the box, only better! It is one of those recipe that you can have all the ingredients for as a back up plan.

Heaven knows there are some days that you can use all the help you can get and having a dinner that is easy enough your teens can put together without trashing the kitchen is a huge bonus. Just make sure you are free of flying bugs and you will be amazed at how tasty this One Skillet meal is.

This is what Brittney of The Domestic Geek blog has to say about her creatively genius recipe.

I’ve eaten my fair share of processed food. I actually don’t want to know the percentage of my meals that were microwave ready or found in the freezer section. In fact I loved Hamburger Helpers, who doesn’t? They taste great and they’re super easy to throw together, they’re just not the greatest for you.So I came up with my own Tex-Mex skillet. This recipe is my ode to Hamburger Helper. Just as easy and so much tastier and healthier!

GO TO THE NEXT PAGE FOR INGREDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS.

Quick Tip: To really make this a super easy option for those “What are we going to have for dinner?” days. Buy 4 pounds of ground beef and cook all of it up at once. Go ahead and drain, then divide into fourths.

Make your meal out of one of the fourths and put the other three into quart size Ziploc bags and put in the freezer.

Next time you want to make this all you have to do is defrost and you are ready to roll.

Recipe and Photo by Brittney of The Domestic Geek Blog

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CHICKEN BRUSCHETTA ..Bow Ties Optional :~D

Marci Seither — Sun, 25 Jun 2017 22:24:49 +0000

Family Favorite, Fuss Free, and Flavorful in under 30 minutes! FANTASTIC!

Don’t you wish you could just hire someone to come in and cook all your meals or at least do some of the buying and prepping? Well, that is what I do part time for another family. when I was telling someone about my part time household managing job they commented, “Wow, I need to hire you to come to my house!”

I thought about it for a minute and replied..”I need me to come to my house!”

We have had so many life changes in the last few years that some of my basic homemaking skills have suffered a tad. Basically, it is easy to get out of a good routine and so much work to get back on track.

Having a handful of recipes like this one really helps. A LOT!

This is what Katerina from Diethood has to say about her recipe.

I feel that dinner is that one meal of the day that we should all try to eat together as a family, and that it should almost never be delivery. Unless it’s Friday, then it’s okay. Or Monday. Take it from someone who cooks almost all meals from scratch – this stuff is GOOD. Really, really good!

GO TO THE NEXT PAGE TO GET INGREDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS.

Quick Tip: I know I have mentioned this before, but if you don’t have time to cook up chicken, just buy a rotisserie chicken at Costco and cut it up..divide it into two bags because you might have enough for two meals!!

Photo and Recipe courtesy of Katerina of Diethood.

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tomato – Urban Retro Recipes

Looking for Love In All The Right Places

My Dining Table It the Right Place For This Pasta Dish!

Photo and Recipe courtesy of Julia at Julias album. AmpedSense.OptimizeAdSpot('BP')The post Looking for Love In All The Right Places appeared first on Urban Retro Recipes.

Want to Avoid the Dinner Rush? Throw this in your Crock-pot and come home to dinner.

Photo and recipe courtesy of Holly at Life in the Lofthouse

Get it While It is HOT..hot..hot! This dish really sizzles!

With this recipe, you don’t even have to fire up the grill.

Photo and recipe courtesy of Katrina of Cafe Delites. AmpedSense.OptimizeAdSpot('BP')The post Get it While It is HOT..hot..hot! This dish really sizzles! appeared first on Urban Retro Recipes.

The Farmer’s Market? Run, Don’t Walk To Get Your Hand on These Fresh Ingredients.

Colorful and full of flavor, make a double batch to you can enjoy the LEFTOVERS tomorrow.

Recipe and photo courtesy of Samantha at Five Heart Home AmpedSense.OptimizeAdSpot('BP')The post The Farmer’s Market? Run, Don’t Walk To Get Your Hand on These Fresh Ingredients. appeared first on Urban Retro Recipes.

Curry In A Hurry? Almost To Good To Be True!

The aroma that fills the house will make you swoon. Seriously.

Photo and Recipe courtesy of Jenn of Once Apon a Chef

After making this, I will never go back to my old recipe again. Sorry MOM!

I have made the same lasagna recipe since I was old enough to boil noodles. This NO-BOIL option changed everything!

Photo and Recipe courtesy of Cento AmpedSense.OptimizeAdSpot('BP')The post After making this, I will never go back to my old recipe again. Sorry MOM! appeared first on Urban Retro Recipes.

Bold and Spicy…Might Be the Best Thing Since The Godfather!

Not sure what to fix for dinner for your family? Take it to the mattress!

Recipe and photo courtesy of Food.com AmpedSense.OptimizeAdSpot('BP')The post Bold and Spicy…Might Be the Best Thing Since The Godfather! appeared first on Urban Retro Recipes.

The Taste is Zest-acious!

This is two of our Family Favorite Recipes Rolled into One Pan of Yummy Goodness!

Photo an recipe courtesy of Jen at Carlsbad Craving

The Easiest Tex-Mex Skillet Recipe This Side of the Rio Grande

Skip the Hamburger Helper! This is just as easy and TWICE as good!

Recipe and Photo by Brittney of The Domestic Geek Blog AmpedSense.OptimizeAdSpot('BP')The post The Easiest Tex-Mex Skillet Recipe This Side of the Rio Grande appeared first on Urban Retro Recipes.

CHICKEN BRUSCHETTA ..Bow Ties Optional :~D

Photo and Recipe courtesy of Katerina of Diethood.

Photo and Recipe courtesy of Julia at Julias album.

The post Looking for Love In All The Right Places appeared first on Urban Retro Recipes.

Photo and recipe courtesy of Katrina of Cafe Delites.

The post Get it While It is HOT..hot..hot! This dish really sizzles! appeared first on Urban Retro Recipes.

Recipe and photo courtesy of Samantha at Five Heart Home

The post The Farmer’s Market? Run, Don’t Walk To Get Your Hand on These Fresh Ingredients. appeared first on Urban Retro Recipes.

Photo and Recipe courtesy of Cento

The post After making this, I will never go back to my old recipe again. Sorry MOM! appeared first on Urban Retro Recipes.

Recipe and photo courtesy of Food.com

The post Bold and Spicy…Might Be the Best Thing Since The Godfather! appeared first on Urban Retro Recipes.

Recipe and Photo by Brittney of The Domestic Geek Blog

The post The Easiest Tex-Mex Skillet Recipe This Side of the Rio Grande appeared first on Urban Retro Recipes.