Alfredo Like You've Never Seen It Before

Nothing beats a good alfredo sauce. When you are cooking at home, however; it can often be difficult to get it to the perfect creamy-ness. And if you are being spontaneous and don't just have heavy cream on hand, a real alfredo sauce can seem a little out of reach.

Fortunately, there is a little known solution to all these problems.

An egg. Who would have thought of so simple an ingredient to make a perfectly creamy dish? You won't believe it until you try it for yourself.

I am giving my boyfriend total credit for this recipe. I went over his house one day after he had been watching the Food Network and he came up this dish. He said he had seen a segment on a restaurant that finished making your plate in front of you--in this case it was this alfredo dinner and they cracked the egg at your table. There was no recipe he followed, I just helped him do a makeshift alfredo and he added the egg. It was better than any other alfredo sauces I had tried before.


1/2 lb angel hair pasta
1/4 stick butter
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp flour
1/2 cup shredded cheese (Tom prefers mozzarella, while I prefer Parmesan for a more classic flavor)
1 tbsp garlic
1 egg
salt pepper

makes 2 servings

Boil the pasta until cooked. Meanwhile, in a pan over med-low heat, melt the butter (or oil if you wish) and add the garlic. Once the garlic has begun to cook, add the milk, flour, salt and pepper and stir. When your pasta is just about ready, add the cheese and stir constantly. Drain the pasta and then add it to the pan, still stirring. Finally, once the pasta and sauce are mixed well, crack an egg over the dish. Stir until the egg is completely combined and then your dish is ready to serve.

Sweet and Savory Open Faced Breakfast Sandwich

I don't get it. I went grocery shopping a week ago, and bought about $40 worth of stuff. For me. One person. And somehow most of it already appears to be gone. I can NOT afford to spend that much a week on myself for food! I'm going to go broke. Granted, most of it was a gift card, so I can't really complain yet.

Recipes like these are what comes from not wanting pasta for the thousandth day in a row. No matter how  many different delicious ways there are to make pasta, it just gets tiring after a while. I can only handle it a few times a week.

1 slice cinnamon raisin bread

1 egg

1 slice American cheese

maple syrup

ground pepper

Toast bread to preferred darkness. Meanwhile, cook egg over easy. Once one side of the egg has cooked, flip it and place the slice of cheese on top so that it melts while the egg finishes cooking. Top with maple syrup and pepper.                  

This might sound like a weird combo. It was actually quite delicious. It reminds me of something Dunkin Donuts once had, with maple syrup filled waffles hugging a breakfast sandwich, or something like that. I never tried it, but I figured the sweet and the savory had to be good together, and well, it is.

Mozzarella Sticks

While everyone is writing healthier blog posts because everyone is still trying to stick to their New Year's Resolutions, I'm here to ruin your diet with this great recipe for mozzarella sticks. If you really are trying to stick to your new diet, don't look at this blog post.

I love how if you look closely in the background, you can see my brother reaching for one and Tom pulling the string of cheese.

I found this recipe from a fellow blogger, Coconut & Lime. As soon as I saw the post I knew I had to make these. I was surprised that I didn't need a deep fryer or anything too fancy. Just some string cheese and bread crumbs. I used my mom's marinara sauce recipe for the dipping sauce.

1 package mozzarella low-moisture string cheese sticks
2 eggs
2 cups bread crumbs
1/2 tsp dried oregano, parsley and basil
1/ 2 tsp garlic and onion powder

Beat the eggs in a small bowl. Take the string cheese out of the individual wrappings and cut them in half. On a plate, mix the bread crumbs with the spices. (I didn't use as much spice as recommended because the bread crumbs were Italian style. The addition of the garlic and the onion powder is a nice addition though.) Dip the string cheese in the egg, then roll around in the bread crumbs to coat. Then dip it in the egg again and then again in the bread crumbs so that you get a thick outer breading. Arrange on a plate, cover with foil and then refrigerate for about an hour, or until the sticks are very cold.



Then in a large pan, heat about 3-4 inches of vegetable oil until boiling. Drop the mozzarella sticks into the hot oil and cook for about 2 minutes, until the outsides are golden brown. Let cool and serve with marinara sauce.




You can save the oil you use to deep fry and refrigerate for use the next time you deep fry (like making french fries or potato chips), that way you don't need to waste so much oil. These sticks are best when served hot. It's a lot easier than I thought it would be; next time I have a party I would like to make these again!

Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip

Right now I am sitting in my living room, looking at our nice array of appetizers. Fancy cheese and crackers, shrimp cocktails, mixed nuts, and the spinach artichoke dip Tom and I made. It's a nice addition to a traditional mix of foods.

It was kind of a last-minute idea, but I found this Paula Deen recipe and molded it a little bit. Here's what we came up with:

1 9oz package frozen spinach
1 10oz package frozen artichoke hearts
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp black pepper
dash of cayenne pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a casserole dish. Allow artichoke hearts to thaw and then chop coarsely. Microwave the spinach for 5 minutes. Drain the water from the spinach, and then combine the two in a large bowl. Add the mayo, sour cream, Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, and peppers and mix. Pour into casserole dish and top with the cheddar cheese. Bake for 30 minutes. Serve with crackers or fresh veggies.