Alfredo Sauce To Die For

My favorite place to order fettuccine alfredo is Olive Garden. Well actually, I just really like dipping the breadsticks into my alfredo sauce...oh that's a little slice of heaven! But back to the point. I scoured the internet for an alfredo sauce worthy of my Olive Garden standards and came across this quick alfredo recipe on allrecipes.com. It's creamy and flavorful and delicious! And dare I say...better than Olive Garden?! Well, you'll have to try it to find out :)

Alfredo Sauce
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp garlic garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cups half & half
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1/3 cup parmesan cheese

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk the flour and garlic salt into the melted butter until mixture is smooth. Slowly beat the half & half into the sauce until completely incorporated. I pour a 1/4 cup of half & half into the saucepan at a time, stirring completely before pouring the next 1/4 cup in. Stir the garlic, parsley and parmesan cheese into the sauce, whisking continually. Bring the sauce to a simmer. Cook, stirring regularly, until the sauce has thickened (4-5 minutes). Use immediately or refrigerate. [This sauce reheats in the microwave very well! It's just as good the next day!]

Sausage Stuffed Stromboli

John and I have been enjoying home-made pizza about once a week since I found this pizza dough recipe. I wrote about our Chicken Alfredo Pizza a few weeks ago. This week I wanted to try something similar but different. So I went with Stromboli.

I realize that the above picture does not show you all the yummy, goodness inside. And for that I am extremely sorry. It was so delicious I didn't even spare one second to take a picture! Inside, I spread a very minimal amount of pasta sauce on the dough, then piled ground sausage, deli ham, onions and mozzarella cheese on top. It wasn't super fancy and I just used stuff that we had in the fridge. Then I rolled up the dough and tucked in the ends. I placed on my Pampered Chef pizza stone and baked for about 20 minutes. John dipped his in pasta sauce and I dipped mine in ranch dressing. Yum!!

I love making pizza at home. It's so much more versatile and we love being able to personalize our pizza with our favorite toppings. Ham and pineapple, BBQ chicken, chicken alfredo, sausage and onions...whatever your hearts desire!

What do you like on your pizza?

Pizza Dough
1 package (2 1/2 tsp) active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water
2 tsp sugar
2 cups bread flour (I use 1 cup white & 1 cup wheat)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tsp salt

In a large electric mixer bowl, mix yeast, water and sugar. Let stand until creamy (about 10 minutes). Mix in oil, salt and bread flour using dough hook. Beat well until a stiff dough has formed. You may have to add more or less flour based on the consistency of the dough. You don't want it to be sticky. It should pull away from the sides of the bowl while mixing. I usually mix it 95% of the way with the mixer and then turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead the last 5% by hand. Place dough in a well oiled bowl. Cover and rise until doubled in volume. This takes about an hour in our condo. I place to bowl on top of the oven and set the oven on warm (about 150 degrees). Turn dough out onto floured surface again. Form dough into a pizza crust shape. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees without any toppings. This allows the dough to set and it doesn't become soggy in the middle. Cover with your favorite sauce and toppings. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.

For Stromboli - You don't need to bake dough without any toppings for 10 minutes. Instead, cover with sauce and toppings directly onto uncooked dough. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Broccoli-Cheese Soup in a Breadbowl

It isn't exactly fall weather quite yet, but John and I were craving soup so we said "Heck with it! Who cares if it's not fall!" John found this recipe for Broccoli-Cheese soup in the Martha Stewart Cookbook that we got as a wedding gift. This is actually the first recipe of Martha's that I have tried. And I would have been extremely disappointed if it had turned out anything but amazing...this is Martha Stewart we're talking about. John and I give this soup 2 thumbs up! But my favorite part was the breadbowl. :)


The bread recipe is from a cooking class that John took years ago. I found the packet of recipes when I was cleaning out a box of John's "really important stuff" that sat in our closet, untouched, for more than a year. It's called Peasant Bread and it's actually surprisingly easy to make. I've made it two times in the past few weeks, because it's that good! I can't wait to fill these breadbowls with all types of soup as the weather turns cooler.



Peasant Bread
2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons active yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
4 cups bread flour (extra for kneading)

In a large bowl of the electric mixer, combine water, yeast, sugar and salt. Stir until yeast dissolves. Slowly add bread flour and mix with dough hook until thoroughly combined. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead until thumb punched in center rises back immediately. (This won't take long. Don't over knead.) Place dough in well oiled bowl and allow to double in size.

Cover baking sheet with parchment paper. If making bread bowls, divide risen dough into 4 loaves and place on covered baking sheet. If not, dividing the dough into 2 makes good sized loaves.

Place the bread in an oven set at 135 degrees and allow to rise for a second time for 10 minutes. Take bread out and turn up the oven to 425 degrees. Bake bread at 425 for 10 minutes. Keep bread in the oven and turn down to 375 degrees. Bake for an additional 20 minutes.

Remove bread from oven. While still hot, brush the top with melted butter. Allow to cool slightly before slicing. [John and I prefer to spread butter on the slice of bread rather than brushing melted butter on top.] Eat and enjoy!!


Broccoli-Cheese Soup
2 1/2 cups fat-free chicken broth
6 ounces chopped fresh broccoli -or- 10 ounce package frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
1 medium carrot, chopped (optional)
1 medium rib of celery, chopped (optional)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup fat-free half & half
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 slices low-fat cheddar cheese -or- 1/2 cup shredded low-fat cheddar cheese

In a large saucepan, stir together the broth, broccoli, carrot, celery, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 6-8 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. In a small bowl, whisk together the half & half and flour. Stir into the saucepan. Simmer for 1-2 minutes, or until thickened, stirring occasionally. Add the cheese. Remove from the heat. Stir until the cheese is melted.

Before & After: Thrift Store Chairs

A few weeks ago, I got these

at a local thrift store,

for this much

I used some white paint leftover from another project
("Swiss Coffee" by Behr) and went to town.

Then used some random fabric from the closet,

along with our new staple gun,
to get this

They're nice and simple. I don't have a picture of the second one,

but it looks identical to the one above.

I imagine them around my new dining table (that I don't have, yet).

Looking splendid and fabulous.

Overall, my first chair makeover gets an A.