A few recipes for you...

Everyone out there has been quiet lately...if you see something you like, please comment and let me know!

Today, I wanted to share a couple of recipes with you that I made this week. The first is for a really awesome dish that I made for dinner and the second is a great dessert!

Creamy Bow Tie Pasta

The original recipe is meant to be a side dish, so I ended up doubling it and adding chicken. DH loved it so much that he cleared the bowl in no time (it really didn't make much), so next time, I will triple or quadruple it and maybe also add peas to it. So delicious!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup uncooked bow tie pasta
• 1-1/2 teaspoons butter
• 2-1/4 teaspoons Crisco® Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1-1/2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• Dash salt
• Dash dried basil
• Dash crushed red pepper flakes
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 2 tablespoons chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon water
• 2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon sour cream

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, melt butter. Stir in the oil, flour, garlic and seasonings until blended. Gradually add the milk, broth and water. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until slightly thickened.
Remove from the heat; stir in cheese and sour cream. Drain pasta; toss with sauce. Yield: 2 servings.

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Lemon Bars

I'm making these for Easter to take to SIL's house, but I also made them on Tuesday night for our weekly bible study treat. I'm not much of a baker & DH has a real sweet tooth, so once he saw them, he ended up eating 2 before bible study, 2 during & 1 in his lunch the next day...I had to take the rest to work to prevent him from eating the whole pan! They aren't exactly good for you, but very yummy and just the right amount of lemon!

Ingredients:

Crust -
2 c flour
1/2 c powdered sugar
1 cup butter/margarine (softened, but not melted)

1. Sift the flour & powdered sugar together & then mix in the butter with your fingers. I tried to lighten it up A LITTLE by just using 1.5 sticks of butter instead of the full 2 sticks & I think it worked just fine...maybe a little crumbier
2. Press the mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish
3. Bake the crust in a preheated 350* oven for 20 minutes

Lemon Filling/Topping -
4 eggs
2 c granulated sugar
1 t baking powder
1/3 c lemon juice (I used fresh, which was about 1 whole lemon)
dash of salt

1. Beat all of the above ingredients together & pour over the baked crust.
2. Bake for 20-25 minutes until it is set (it will still be a bit jiggly, but you will notice that it is not watery and TOO oozy. Mine took about 23 minutes)
3. Cool the pan on a wire rack & then dust with powdered sugar
4. Cut into bars & enjoy!