A Cooking Baker

I pretty much always have the ingredients to whip up a pasta dish like this for the fam.  It's something I know everyone will eat without complaining or picking things out.   It's a great way to use up things in the fridge, too.  Here's the basic recipe - use what you have on hand and tweak as you like. Easy Penne with Chicken & Broccoli Serves 4-6 1 box (8 oz.) penne or your favorite pasta noodles 1 rotisserie chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces, or 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, or 1 whole chicken, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces 2-3 crowns of broccoli (asparagus is good, too), cut into spears 1 c. chicken broth (I use Swanson Natural Goodness) 1/2 c. Asiago cheese, grated 1/4 c. Parmesan cheese, grated 1/4 c. (ish) Half & Half (I just poured a little - may have been a little more) 1/2 container (ish) of grape tomatoes, halved (or use 2 Romas, seeded & diced) 2 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 biggie) 1/2 small onion, diced salt...

I hosted my first "carbo cram" recently (a big carbohydrate-laden meal the night before a sporting event, mostly meant for team bonding).  It never ceases to amaze me how much food 10 teenage dudes can put away!  I made spaghetti & meatballs (the meatballs are based on a recipe from a friend - I sort of 1-1/2'd it, and are GREAT for freezing, so make a big batch and freeze them, and take out as many as you need for dinner, or to bring to someone), baked penne alfredo, bread, salad and ice cream dessert. Meatballs 3 lbs. ground chuck 2-1/3 c. Italian bread crumbs (I used Panko with some Italian seasoning - it's what I had) 3 eggs 2-1/4 c. sour cream (I used light) 1/2 tsp. garlic powder 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. pepper Preheat oven to 375.  Mix all ingredients well and form into loosely-packed balls.  I actually weighed all of mine, and it made 57 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 oz. meatballs.  Bake on a rimmed baking sheet for about 25 minutes. I froze min...

I made this dessert for the first time for a carbo cram for my son's team.  It's great for a crowd, and you can, of course, make it in advance, which is hugely helpful when you're entertaining lots of people. I didn't make everything from scratch for this dessert, and I decided to live dangerously and serve it anyway.  You do what you need to do - find a better, super healthy dessert, make your own homemade components of this one, or just go nuts and do it this way.  An offset spatula is a handy tool for building this dessert, if you have one. Oreo Ice Cream Dessert 1 pkg. regular Oreos 3 tbsp. butter, melted 1 1/2 gallon container chocolate ice cream, softened 1 1/2 gallon container vanilla (or cookies & cream, or mint chip), softened 1 jar of fudge sauce (I grabbed Mrs. Richardson's) 1 container Cool Whip Line a 9" x 13" baking dish with foil or parchment.  Set aside.  Process 30 Oreos (the whole cookie - none of this scraping out the ...