Creamy Feta and Red Onion Dressing

Some may disagree, but sometimes the best topper to a salad is the dressing.

Today I wanted to share with your a creamy feta dressing that's a little bit zippy.  This dressing has bite.  It will liven up your salad, making you say Mmmmnnn!

It's creamy, cheesy, and a little zippy.  Oh, and it's super simple to make and keeps in the fridge for 5 days.  You can also use it as a dip with cut vegetables.  Yum!

Let's make dressing:
Place sour cream, milk, feta cheese, red onion, and cracked black pepper in a medium bowl.  You can adjust the amount of milk to make this thicker or more thin.

Stir until well combined.

I hope you make the dressing and try it on your salad tonight!

Creamy Feta and Red Onion Dressing

1/2 c lite sour cream
4 T 2% milk
1/3 c crumbled feta cheese
2 T chopped red onion
1/2 t cracked black pepper

In a medium bowl combine all ingredients and stir together until well blended.  Serve over salad.

French Toast Waffles

Sunday Breakfast

Time to slow down, savor the weekend with family, and have a nice hearty breakfast. 

I think I may have mentioned that I LOVE breakfast!  There's something so homey about eating a great breakfast.  Most days I don't have time...it's more of a grab and go thing.  But when the weekend comes...oh boy, look out!  I always make a special something for breakfast!

I love pancakes, waffles, biscuits, french toast, muffins, bagels, hash browns, and we can through some eggs in there too for good measure.

So when I came across this recipe from Cooking Light for French Toast Waffles, I thought, "How cool!  French toast that looks like a waffle...how'd they do that?"

Well it's easy as can be and comes out tasting great, and looks really cute too!  You just make your french toast, and then cook it in a waffle iron instead of a skillet.  The iron make those cute little waffle dents in the toast, and still toast the bread up all nice an custardy!  How cool is that?

So let's make some French Toast Waffles.

Get out your waffle iron and spray it with some non stick spray, then let it heat up while you get the french toast ready.

Take your milk, Splenda, melted butter, cinnamon, vanilla, and eggs and place them in a medium bowl.  Whisk until everything is incorporated and light.

Cut some french bread in to 1/2 thick slices and place it in a 9x13 pan.  I used some day old french bread that I made in my bread machine, so my slice were long, almost like two pieces together.  Woohoo, bigger pieces!

Pour the custard over the bread.  Make sure to push the bread down in the custard so that it is completely soaked.  Let the bread stand in the custard for about 5 minutes.

Tick-tock, tick-tock...hard to wait....!

Place the pieces of bread in the hot waffle iron.  Close the lid and cook 5 - 7 minutes.  Check to make sure they are done and golden brown.  As you see my bread was long and my iron only hold 2 slices.  Your may hold 4 if you cut them smaller, or have a larger iron.

Repeat with all pieces of bread.  Serve with some heated syrup and some bacon, and it's chow time!  Man, I'm getting hungry just writing this!

See how cute they look?

Make sure to carve out some time to have a Sunday Breakfast, or any day will do!  Oh, and try these cute French Toast Waffles...they are fabulous!

French Toast Waffles

Adapted from Cooking Light
serves 4 (4 waffles each)

Ingredients

Cooking Spray
1 cup fat-free milk
1 tablespoon Splenda
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
16 (1/2-inch-thick) slices day-old French bread (about 7 ounces)

Preparation

Coat waffle iron with cooking spray, and preheat.

Combine milk and the next 5 ingredients (milk through eggs), stirring well with a whisk. Place bread in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish; pour milk mixture over bread, turning to coat. Let stand 5 minutes.

Place bread slices on hot waffle iron.  (mine holds 2 slices, large irons may hold up to 4 slices) Cook for 5 - 7 minutes or until done; repeat the procedure with the remaining bread.


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Sunday Supper: One Pot Pasta

What's more comforting than a big bowl of pasta?

Not much...

This is a great meal to serve for Sunday Supper.  It's quick, hearty, and best of all it's a One Pot Meal!  Oh yea, it really, really, tasty too!

I found this recipe from Southern Living magazine...one of my all time favorite sources.  It was just unique enough to catch my eye and to try it right away.  The uniqueness is that you make a sauce and then use "ravioli" as your pasta, cooked right in the pot.  Almost like a baked dish, without the baking of course, but the result is similar.

I was so pleased with the flavors, and that I could get a hearty meal on the table in about 30 minutes.  Just serve with a nice Italian salad and some garlic bread and you are all set.

Here's how you make it:

Take your ground beef and place it in a dutch oven or large pot over medium heat.  Cook, breaking up the meat in to crumbles, until no longer pink.

Meanwhile, chop your onion and slice the mushrooms.

Remove the meat from the pan and place on a plate.  If you have a lot of grease left in the pot, wipe it clean.  I used ground sirloin so mine didn't leave any.

Add your oil to the pot and heat.  Add the slice mushrooms and onions.  Cook until caramelized about 10 min.

Add the garlic and let it cook, stirring frequently, for about 1 min.

Add your meat back to the pot, add the marinara sauce (I used Trader Joe's Traditional Marinara), water, Italian seasonings, salt & pepper.  Stir to blend. 

Lookin' good!  Smells great!

Bring your sauce to a boil.  Add the ravioli, and using a spoon depress them into the sauce.

Turn down the heat to a simmer.  Cover, and cook for about 10 minutes or until the pasta is done.

Now for the good part!  Remove the lid and add the cheese!  Yes, cheesy goodness.  This makes the dish creamy and gooey...yum!

Stir it all together so the cheese melts.  Your done!  A One-Pot Wonder.  Get your salad and your garlic bread and it's manga time!  Buon Appetito!

Like my fall table runner??

Can you say comfort food?

Happy Sunday Supper!

One Pot Pasta

by Southern Living

Serves 4

1 pound lean ground beef
1 small onion, diced
1 (8-ounce) package sliced fresh mushrooms
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 (26-ounce) jars tomato-basil pasta sauce
1 cup water
1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 (20-ounce) package refrigerated four-cheese ravioli
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese

Cook ground beef in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, stirring until it crumbles and is no longer pink; drain. Wipe Dutch oven clean.

Saute onion and mushrooms in hot oil over medium-high heat 8 minutes or until tender. Add garlic, and saute 1 minute. Stir in beef, pasta sauce, 1 cup water, and next 3 ingredients.

Bring sauce to a boil; add ravioli. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes or until pasta is done. Stir in cheese. Serve immediately.


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