Hot Italian Sausage and Brussels Sprouts 'Assemble'

My niece had made this dish and posted it on Facebook, it looked yummy and I asked her for the recipe. She said it was more of an 'assemble' than a recipe since she just threw some things together, but she told me what she did. I did pretty much what she did except I threw in some sun dried tomatoes along with the oil it comes in, love that stuff. And I used Orecchiette pasta, but seashell pasta works too. Serve with crispy french bread and a side salad. YUMMO!

Hot Italian Sausage and Brussels Sprouts 'Assemble'
1 package fresh Brussels Sprouts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Clean the sprouts and cut in half lengthwise. Place in bowl and drizzle a tablespoon or two of Olive oil over the sprouts, add dash or two of salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Place sprouts on a parchment lined cookie sheet and spread out evenly. Roast in the oven for about 20 to 25 minutes. 
1 package Johnsonville Hot Italian sausage, casings removed.1/2 large onion, diced
1 heaping teaspoon minced garlic
2 Tablespoons chopped Sun dried tomatoes in oil
about 5 fresh basil leaves or 3 Tablespoons fresh basil that comes in a tube (roll the leaves up together and slice into thin strips, this is called Chiffonading)
1 Tablespoon of butter
1/4 cup (or more) grated Parmesan cheese
2 or 3 cups uncooked Oreccchiette or seashell pasta

While your sprouts are roasting, brown your sausage by removing from casings and placing into a large skillet. Cook over medium high heat, chopping up with a spatula while browning. While your sausage is cooking, cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta and set aside. When sausage is almost browned through, drain fat then add the diced onion, garlic, and sun dried tomatoes with a little of the oil, continue to cook and stir occasionally until the onions are tender. Then add your basil, cooked pasta, and roasted Brussels Sprouts; stir to heat through. If needed add the tablespoon butter stirring to melt and make a little sauce; then add in the Parmesan cheese tossing to combine.
Enjoy!

White Chili

Jim found this recipe on WebMD and requested I make it. It was an easy delicious White chili recipe and didn't take very long at all. I made it just like the recipe only I added an extra cup of water, I thought it needed a bit more broth. I served mine with fresh cornbread on the side. Enjoy!

White Chili
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1- 1/2 cups chopped Onion
2-4oz cans chopped green chilies
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried cumin
1/8-1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3-15oz cans great northern beans, drained and rinsed
4 cups chicken broth
1 or 2 cups water (depending on how brothy you like it
4 cups cooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1-2 Tablespoons cider vinegar (I added 1)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Sour cream (optional)
Grated Cheese for topping

Heat oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in chiles, oregano, cumin and cayenne. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Stir in beans, broth and water; bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes. Add chicken and vinegar; cook for 5 minutes more. Serve.
Garnish with a dollop of sour cream and grated cheese for toppings
Enjoy!

The Worlds Best Chicken

I found this recipe on Pinterest. It's a really easy, quick recipe and delicious! I followed it pretty much as it was written, except I put dried rosemary on the top of my chicken before baking. Just a pinch sprinkled over each chicken breast!  You can use fresh rosemary if desired, I just didn't have any at the time. I hope you think it was as YUMMO! as I did!

The Worlds Best Chicken

Ingredients

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (**see note below)
• 1/2 cup Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• Salt & pepper
• Dried Rosemary
• 
  
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• In a small bowl, mix together mustard, syrup, and vinegar.
• Place chicken breasts into 9×13 greased baking dish. Season with salt & lots of pepper. Pour mustard mixture over chicken. Make sure each breast is coated. Sprinkle each chicken breast with a pinch of dried rosemary.
• Bake for about 30-40 minutes.
• Served with steamed Veggies or a crispy salad and you have a perfect light dinner. Enjoy!

**Just made this recipe with pork chops tonight!! Also really good!! :) Instead of pouring the sauce over the pork chops, I just dipped mine in it and then placed on the baking sheet. I'm going to do that from now on. They seem to get coated with the sauce better :)

Southwestern Black Bean and Ham Soup

I love making soups and eating soups in the winter time! It's always a good thing when the weather is cold. We had ham for our Christmas dinner (I know I'm slow posting this recipe, life gets way too busy sometimes) so I had a really meaty ham hock to use up. I ran across this recipe here (I love the prepared pantry) but I added some things and more broth than the original asked for. It was soooo good! I love ham and bean soup but usually make ham and navy bean soup. This was a nice twist to change things up a bit. I garnished with grated cheese, a dollop of sour cream and a handful of Fritos! Sooooo good! If you have a ham hock in the freezer I suggest making this soup. YUMMO!

Southwestern Black Bean and Ham Soup
Ingredients:

1 large meaty ham hock
4 cups chicken broth
1/2  stalk of celery
1/4 onion, (just a chunk of onion to flavor broth)
Place the ham hock, broth, piece of onion,and piece of celery in a large soup pot. Bring to a boil then turn down and cover. Let this simmer for about an hour or until the ham is falling off of the bone. Remove the ham hock from the broth and set aside. I strain the broth just in case some of the ham bone has broken off into it and it removes the onion and celery that has been  over cooked. Pour the broth back into the soup pot. If there are any good pieces of ham in the strainer put that back in the broth too, and throw the rest away.
Now make your soup by adding the following:

1 large onion, diced
2-3 stalks celery diced
1 or 2  large carrots, diced
1 teaspoon garlic
6 cups water
2 (15-ounce) cans diced tomatoes
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon smokey paprika
1 (4-ounce) can peeled, chopped, mild green chilies
Bring this to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes or until your celery and carrots are tender. 
Then add:
4 (15-ounce) cans of black beans, drained
Fresh cilantro (about 2 Tablespoons of chopped cilantro that you find in the tubes in the produce dept.)
salt to taste
Simmer this for another 10 minutes.
 Serve in individual bowls and garnish with the following:
Grated Cheese
Sour Cream
Frito corn chips

Enjoy!