Roasted Asparagus

Roasted Asparagus from Simply Recipes

In place of the lemon juice, you can drizzle a little balsamic vinegar over the asparagus. Add a little freshly grated Parmesan cheese for an extra touch.(I omitted this altogether based on my family’s preference…I will never steam asparagus again this was definitely the way to cook this vegetable.)

Ingredients
· 1 lb asparagus spears (thick spears are best for roasting)
· 1-2 Tbsp olive oil
· 2 cloves garlic, minced
· Kosher Salt
· Freshly grated black pepper
· Lemon juice
Method
1 Preheat oven to 400°F. Rinse clean the asparagus. Break the tough ends off of the asparagus and discard.
2 Lay the asparagus spears out in a single layer in a baking dish or a foil-covered roasting pan. Drizzle olive oil over the spears, roll the asparagus back and forth until they are all covered with a thin layer of olive oil. (Alternatively you can put the asparagus and oil in a plastic bag, and rub the bag so that the oil gets evenly distributed.) Sprinkle with minced garlic, salt, and pepper. Rub over the asparagus so that they are evenly distributed.
3 Place pan in oven and cook for approximately 8-10 minutes, depending on how thick your asparagus spears are, until lightly browned and tender when pierced with a fork. Drizzle with a little fresh lemon juice before serving.
Serves 4.

Super Easy Brownies

This brownie recipe is so simple (ONE pot!) and so delicious and it is unbeatable when topped with ice cream. I have many favorite brownie recipes (how can you choose just one?) but this is definitely in the top - these are fudgey and moist. Since they are made with chocolate chips as the base, you can tailor the flavor to your liking - if you prefer dark chocolate, then by all means use dark chocolate or semi-sweet chips, but if you like a more mild chocolate flavor, pour in milk chocolate chips.

Easiest Brownies in the World from(mykitchencafe)
1 12-ounce bag chocolate chips (use the kind you prefer)
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs at room temperature
1 1/2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt butter and chocolate chips. Stir constantly and remove from heat when chips are fully melted. In the same pot, blend in the sugar. Then add eggs, blending fully one at a time. Add flour and beat until air bubbles form in the batter. Pour into a greased 9 X 13-inch pan (this recipe works great doubled and poured into a large 11 X 17-inch rimmed baking sheet). Bake for 20 minutes. Turn heat down to 325 degrees and bake for 10 more minutes.

Taco Salad in a bag

We eat taco salad very frequently in our home and recently I decided to have some fun and make the Walking Tacos like I'd had in Utah . You can use fritos or any individual bag of taco chips.
All I did was cut open the bags and add our usual taco meat and toppings. It was a little different and therefore a little fun. You can either cut the bag like the picture above or just open it at the top. Great way to use leftover taco fixings as well. Enjoy

Italian Bow Tie Bake

8 ounces uncooked pasta

1 jar (1 lb. 10 ounces) garlic and onion spaghetti sauce (Prego )

1 envelope Italian salad dressing mix (the secret ingredient)

2 cups (8 ounces) shredded mozzarella

Cook pasta according to package directions: drain. In a bowl, combine the spaghetti sauce and salad dressing mix; add pasta and toss to coat. Transfer to a greased shallow 2 qt baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 400 for 15-20 minutes or until heated through. 4 servings