Tag Archives: kitchen

Apr17

TGI Fridays Cajun Pasta Taste Alike Recipe

Posted on April 17, 2024 by lifewithlilred

Hello!! Johnny and I are so lucky to have such a wonderful downstairs neighbor. We make frequent visits to his apartment to hang out or go on adventures like trips to the shooting range. About once a month or so, we also like to do a dinner out and we swap whose turn it is to pay each time. Our neighbor is a huge TGI Fridays fan and we both order the same thing every time: Cajun pasta except hold the meat for mine! After our last TGIs trip, I decided that a recipe for Cajun pasta wouldn’t be too hard to make and found one by My Heavenly Recipes. It turned out heavenly! Check it out:

I came across several taste alike recipes for the TGI Fridays Cajun pasta and all of them looked easy enough. As per ushe, I went with the one by My Heavenly Recipes because it only required nine ingredients, a majority of which I already had. All I needed from the store was red pepper, red onion, and chicken breast. Say what?! I cooked chicken?! Yes, I did for the very first time lol. I am truly expanding my culinary horizons because I recently tried my hand at cooking steak too. It wasn’t the worst thing ever, but I hate not being able to taste something that I have made!

The prep work for this recipe was minimal. I cut the peppers, garlic, and onion and let them saute with cayenne pepper. Then, once the veggies were softened, I added in water and tomato sauce to make the sauce and let it simmer. I also had the chicken that I coated in onion powder, black pepper, and Cajun seasoning cooking too. Although I normally try to follow a new recipe to the T, I did make some modifications this time around. Since I wasn’t going to have the extra heat to my dish sans chicken, I added the same seasoning to the sauce and I am glad I did. I did a quick taste test of it and it definitely needed a little something something.

Once the chicken and sauce were at a good place, I began to boil the fettuccine. During that time, the sauce was thickening nicely and the chicken was getting there. The cuts from the store were pretty big so once I was able to, I cut them up to not only speed up the process but ensure that it was fully cooked as our meat thermometer is useless lol. I couldn’t wait to dig in by the time everything was done and I am pleased to report that it was fantastic. This taste alike recipe was spot on and both myself and my neighbor can attest to it. Considering Cajun pasta is one of our favorite meals, this was the best compliment!

I cannot recommend My Heavenly Recipes’ take on Cajun pasta enough regardless of whether you have tried it at TGI Fridays or not. It was so flavorful and had just the right amount of bold heat without going overboard. It was delicious and I can’t wait to make it again!

What is your go to order at your favorite restaurant? What is one of the best taste alike recipes you have tried? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Apr7

The Vegetarian Cooking Steak

Posted on April 7, 2024 by lifewithlilred

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Hello!! I have been a vegetarian for a very long time and Johnny very much isn’t lol. However, he eats all of the MorningStar and Gardein products and typically orders out if he’s craving a burger. In our almost half a decade long relationship, I think I have cooked bacon five times and steak once. Twice if you count this past Wednesday! I often get asked if it bothers me to cook meat and it honestly doesn’t so much. I just hate to touch it and also the fact that I’m serving a food that I can’t taste for quality control. I am pleased to report that the steaks I made were top notch according to Johnny and our best boy, Cliff, so that’s not bad at all for a second go! Check it out:

Our bestie has been feeling a little low and Johnny asked me if it would be okay if I cooked a homemade dinner to cheer him up. He is so thoughtful and I was more than happy to accommodate. The guys requested my seasoned baked potatoes and steaks and that seemed easy enough! I decided that if I was going to do steaks, I was going to do it right and wanted to find a mesquite marinade recipe to compliment the potatoes. I clicked around online for a bit and ultimately ended up choosing what was the most simple and had the fewest ingredients from The Spruce Eats.

The recipe for the marinade was easy peasy lemon squeezy and used less than ten items – most of which I already had at home. It needed red wine, rice wine vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, sugar, salt, and pepper. On Tuesday, I mixed the ingredients and let the steaks sit in zip lock bags until it was time to cook them Wednesday evening. To cook the steaks, I fried them in butter with salt, pepper, and a dash of hope that all would go well…

It went… Fine lol. The meat thermometer I was using wasn’t the best and I couldn’t seem to get a clear read on it. The steaks felt like they took forever to cook and by the time I thought to just cut into it to see what was going on, they were already done and should have come off the heat a few minutes prior. Despite that mix up, I was thrilled that both Johnny and Cliff enjoyed them so much and that the marinade was bold, flavorful, and smokey. They both completely cleaned their plates and that was good enough for me!

The next time we have Cliff over for dinner, I’m going to try cooking chicken for the first time ever so we’ll see what happens!

What is something that you have never cooked before? What is a food that you refuse to eat? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Mar18

ALL Of The Coffee

Posted on March 18, 2024 by lifewithlilred

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Hello!! Back in the summer of 2022, the Great Kitchen Flood happened when a pipe burst in mine and Johnny’s apartment building. It was insane! The water was literally pouring out of the walls and it was so gross because the water was straight up dirty. It completely waterlogged all of my countertop appliances, including my Keurig, toaster, and air fryer. At the time, I wasn’t using my Keurig very often so I never bothered replacing it. Fast forward to this past year and my schedule changed to having to get up at three AM three days a week. Needless to say, I need ALL of the coffee those mornings!

For Valentine’s Day, Johnny and I simply told each other what we wanted and then we ordered it. A new single cup Keurig for me and a new Levi’s jean jacket for him. I have been using my gift religiously since receiving it and all I have to say is: How did I survive this long without it?! Prior to V-Day, I was more than fine with stopping at Starbucks for a coffee or McDonald’s for a crispy Diet Coke during my early mornings. While I miss my little treats during those shifts, I am perfectly content with the K-Pod challenge… AKA just using my Keurig now lol.

I have been enjoying testing out all of the different K-Pods and my mind is never not blown by the infinite selection at the grocery stores. I started out with French Vanilla by Green Mountain Coffee and have since graduated to a Snickers flavored blend by The Donut Shop. They are both pretty good! My favorite part of the Keurig, however, is not so much the coffee as it is the coffee mugs. Lol, I have a substantial collection of coffee mugs and although I use them for any beverage, they hit different with coffee! It is also nice to remember the occasions that they were given to me for because a majority of them were gifts. In fact, the one pictured above was a mug that I got forever ago from my bestie and the sentiments ring true… Coffee always comes first! 😀

I have had my Keurig for well over a month now and I am just as obsessed with it as the day I got it. So glad that my fallen friend from the Great Kitchen Flood of 2022 finally got replaced!

What is your favorite kind of K-Cup? How many cups of coffee do you drink per day? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb21

Fried String Cheese Bites

Posted on February 21, 2024 by lifewithlilred

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Hello!!! I don’t know about all of you, but I am feeling so refreshed! I had a very restful three day weekend and sleeping in until nine in the morning every day was just what the doctor ordered. Normally on Sundays, Johnny and I tend to binge watch the day away to gather our strength for the week ahead. Don’t get me wrong, we still binge watched the day away lol, but I did manage to cook a little snack that I have been dying to try! The Fried String Cheese Bites I made thanks to Dancing Through The Rain’s recipe turned out as good as I was hoping they’d be:

I was scrolling through Facebook when I saw this recipe and I was instantly intrigued. What can I say, it had me at “fried cheese”! Of course, this snack was also very appealing because it looked so darn easy to make and I had all of the ingredients minus the string cheese readily available. In fact, it used all of the same things that I needed to make fried mozzarella sandwiches a few weeks ago. This is always a high selling point to me because I can try something new with the supplies I already have!

Prepping the fried cheese bites was really easy. I set up a station to coat them in with three bowls. One for flour, a wash of milk and egg, and Italian bread crumbs. All that was left to do was coat the cut up string cheese in the flour, the wash, the crumbs, and fry them up. This was a bit of a time consuming process because I made thirty bites in total and was SO ready to be done afterwards lol. On the bright side, the bites took minimal time to fry (Thirty seconds, tops.) and they were fabulous. The bites tasted just like mini mozzarella sticks and I definitely plan on making them again.

One thing I plan on doing differently next time I make Fried String Cheese Bites is adding some more cayenne pepper, as per the recipe’s recommendation. What I put in was not enough and I think these would be even better with a bit of kick to them!

What is your favorite thing to snack on? Have you tried any new recipes recently? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb6

Cooking Extravaganza

Posted on February 6, 2024 by lifewithlilred

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Hello!! To me, there is nothing better than grocery shopping. I love that first week of groceries feeling when you have all of the ingredients you need to make delicious meals. Despite a crazy busy schedule, I try to cook dinner as often as I can. Cooking is something I take a lot of joy in and it makes me feel good to make something that other people are going to enjoy. Whenever I make anything, I like to bring a serving to my beloved downstairs neighbor and parents too and I live for when the food is praised! I am seriously one of those people that ask “Do you like it?” ten times during a meal lol. What can I say, I thrive on positive reinforcement!

This past week, I truly outdid myself with fried mozzarella sandwiches, jalapeno popper quesadillas, and baked cacio e pepe. Everything turned out amazing and we had leftovers for days! Check it out:

When I go grocery shopping, I like to get the ingredients to try at least one new recipe. Other than that, Johnny and I have a lot of tried and true meals and will both be happy whenever I make them. This is my second time making the baked cacio e pepe and it turned out even better than my first attempt. I thought the sauce turned out much creamier, it wasn’t as overpoweringly peppery, and the gnocchi was cooked to perfection. I was thrilled about this because I hosted a friend for dinner when I made it and I never want to serve anything that is less than awesome.

Last weekend, Johnny and I had some friends over for a viewing of the Royal Rumble. Jalapeno popper quesadillas were the way to go to feed our guests and they are always a huge hit. Although the prep work is a bit tedious, it’s such an easy meal to make and turns out fabulous every time. Literally all you have to do is cut the jalapenos and broil them. Then you assemble the quesadillas with cream cheese, shredded cheese, crushed up tortilla chips or Nacho Cheese Doritos, and the jalapenos. All that’s left is to fry them up!

While I love cooking for just me and Johnny, it was a huge treat to be able to share meals with our friends too. And also a huge treat to have tons of leftovers! 😀

What are some of your favorite meals to make? What is something that you take pride in? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec27

Creamy Lemon Ricotta Pasta

Posted on December 27, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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Hello!!! I always enjoy trying out new recipes and had a few random odds and ends of ingredients that I didn’t end up using for other meals. This included some lemons and a container of ricotta cheese. I originally planned on using the ricotta for baked ziti, but decided that I wanted to try something different. I knew that I could turn lemons into lemonade with these randos in my fridge and found a recipe by Savoring Italy for Creamy Lemon Ricotta Pasta on Pinterest. Both Johnny and I really enjoyed it and it is definitely one that I will make again! Check it out:

I am a huge fan of lemon pasta dishes. Well, let’s be real – any pasta dish lol. What I like about lemon pasta specifically is how light it is. The zingy flavor reminds me of summertime and after lots of snow in Ohio, it is just what I needed! I thought the last lemon pasta recipe I made was good, but the one by Savoring Italy was infinitely better. The ricotta cheese made it so rich and savory and every bite was a little slice of heaven. My only qualm with the recipe was that it tasted much better the second day. While it was very good freshly made, I always prefer something that I am making to taste its best immediately.

The recipe for this pasta was insanely easy and other than cooking the angel hair pasta that I opted for, the prep time took less than five minutes. All I needed to do was zest and juice the lemons, brown some butter in a pan, and mix it all together with the noodles and cheese. This is probably the fastest recipe I have ever made, which was excellent on a work night. It also used under ten ingredients and I didn’t have to buy anything different to make this recipe in its entirety. There is nothing better than that!

I am eager to make the Creamy Lemon Ricotta Pasta by Savoring Italy again. Now that I have made it once by staying true to the recipe, I plan on doctoring it up with some garlic, spinach, and pine nuts to give it a bit more variety. This meal was a huge success because Johnny was SO sure he wasn’t going to like it and ended up having seconds!

Have you tried any new recipes recently? How did it turn out? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec17

Chipotle Taste Alike Recipes

Posted on December 17, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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Hello!! Taco Bell will always be my A1 ride or die fast food establishment. However, I also have a very soft spot in my heart for Chipotle too. I like to think that my homemade guacamole is very similar to their recipe and I found an awesome cilantro lime rice taste alike recipe on Pinterest that I love to make. I decided to try making the additional fixings for a Chipotle burrito bowl from home this past week and it turned out pretty good! Thanks to Pinterest, I found tons of recipes for black beans, fajita veggies, and steak for Johnny that all claimed to be just like Chipotle’s. Take a look at some pics and let’s discuss further:

Recipes Used:

Cilantro Lime Rice: Downshiftology

Black Beans: Dinner Then Dessert

Fajita Veggies: Downshiftology

Steak: Culinary Hill

To make my at home Chipotle burrito bowls, I cooked five different recipes that took about two and a half hours to make in total. None of these recipes were difficult to make and the most time consuming thing was chopping all of the different veggies. To start, I prepared my own personal recipe for guacamole which wouldn’t have taken long at all, but the avocados were really hard. To rectify this, I cut each avocado in half, wrapped them in paper towel, and microwaved them to soften them up. It worked like a charm even though it was a slow going process and I was able to cross it off of my “to cook” list.

Next, I started prepping the fajita veggies and black beans. Overall, I was happy with the fajita veggies but they were missing that extra something. The only seasoning this recipe called for was oregano and salt and pepper to taste. When I make it again, I plan on adding a bit of spice to give the veggies some more kick. The black beans was my biggest bugaboo from this cooking session and is the one recipe I wouldn’t make again. This recipe turned out really saucy and I didn’t care for the amount of onions it called for. I almost think I would be better off cooking the beans in vegetable broth along with the seasoning so I will be winging it the next time I have a taste for Chipotle taste alikes.

The final steps in my cookathon was making the rice and steak. As always, the cilantro lime rice turned out delicious and was easily the best copycat recipe out of all of them. It definitely helped invoke all of the Chipotle vibes and I really think it tastes exactly like theirs. This was my first time ever cooking steak and I can’t say if it was a true Chipotle taste alike or not as a vegetarian, but Johnny loved it and that’s good enough for me! The only thing that I would do differently about the steak is marinate it longer. I let mine sit for over an hour and we both felt that it could benefit from some more time. I definitely breathed a sigh of relief when Johnny gave me his stamp of approval, though, because I had no idea how it would turn out!

The finishing touches on my burrito bowl was adding lettuce, cheese, sour cream, and salsa on top. Even though I wasn’t wowed by the black beans, I was pleased with everything else and it was fun to try and make recipes from one of my favorite eateries from scratch!

What is your favorite copycat recipe? What is your favorite fast food spot? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec9

Linguine With Sun Dried Tomato Cream Sauce

Posted on December 9, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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Linguine With Sun Dried Tomato Cream Sauce

Howdy!! Johnny and I finally went grocery shopping this past week and I could not wait to try out some new recipes. I am planning on doing a Chipotle taste alike meal this weekend and I am most excited for that! During the week days, however, I am always looking for recipes that are easy to make with a limited amount of ingredients. My original plan for a meal this past week was to make sun dried tomato, spinach, and ricotta stuffed shells. Unfortunately, jumbo shells weren’t available at the grocery store, but I bought the ingredients anyways thinking the filling would still be good over linguine.

Later that evening, however, I began to pivot as I was fearful that the filling wouldn’t have enough sauce to coat the noodles with. I decided to start searching for a sun dried tomato sauce that would use some of the ingredients that I already had. After lots of scrolling through Pinterest, I found a recipe for a Sun Dried Tomato Cream Sauce by Midwest Foodie that I thought would work. The end result was, sadly, one that I was not pleased with. Let’s discuss:

The Sun Dried Tomato Cream Sauce recipe was an incredibly easy one to make. All I needed to do was blend the tomatoes, oil from the jar, and garlic in a food processor. After everything was blended to a pesto like texture, I put it in a pan with more oil from the tomato jar and let it cook for about a minute. Herbs and vegetable stock came next and once that mixture had a chance to simmer, all that was left was to add the cheese and heavy cream. I followed the instructions to the letter and the only things I changed was using dried parsley instead of fresh and grated Parmesan instead of shredded.

This meal took me about thirty minutes to make and I was really excited to try it. I wanted to like it so badly and Johnny and I both agreed that it was good, but not great. The flavors in this sauce were fairly subtle and they didn’t pack as much of a punch as I would have liked. Granted, this might be due to the fact that I didn’t have fresh parsley or shaved Parmesan. This wasn’t a huge deal and could be fixed with some additional seasoning. The biggest issue was the sauce’s consistency. It was very, very thin and runny. Was it because I didn’t use the shaved Parm? Who’s to say? But, I don’t think it would have made that big of a difference.

I expect this sauce to thicken in the fridge and I’ll add more seasoning to it as I heat it up on the stove top for leftovers. I think that will help a lot, but I do not plan on making this Midwest Foodie recipe again. It’s always disappointing when a new recipe doesn’t go accordingly to plan, but it was fun to cook something brand new!

Have you tried any new recipes recently? How did they turn out? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Nov1

Roasted Corn Queso Fundido

Posted on November 1, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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Hello!!! Johnny and I had a fabulous Halloween weekend and I hope that all of you did too! On Friday, we hosted our bestie, Cliff, for dinner and scary movies and we helped pass out candy in my parents’ neighborhood on Saturday. We had a blast and I wish the weekend could have lasted forever! For Friday night’s dinner, I made all of the fixings for tacos including cilantro lime rice and my homemade guacamole. I also wanted to try something new by making a Roasted Corn Queso Fundido dip from closetcooking. The recipe sounded awesome but it was not that great in execution. Check it out:

This Fundido dip required minimal ingredients and simple steps. Literally all I had to do was chop some peppers and onion and let it start to char in the pan. Once the veggies were ready, it was time to add mayo, lime juice, and the cheese and mix it all up. In theory, I thought that this recipe would be really yummy and it was good. However, it wasn’t great and I definitely wouldn’t make it again.

My biggest qualm with this dip was its consistency. It wasn’t ooey gooey like I was hoping for and was essentially just veggies wadded up in melted cheese. With little to no liquid in this recipe, it makes sense and I should have thought to add some cream to it while the cheese was melting. Hindsight is, as always, twenty/twenty and I don’t really like to make tweaks on the spot with a brand new recipe. Even if this dip did have a thinner consistency, it still wouldn’t have blown me away. The flavor of it was okay, but it didn’t pack a punch and would need some doctoring up for sure.

New recipes can’t all be winners and this one from closetcooking was not the best and I don’t recommend it. I would like to try and make a Queso Blanco dip next and will hopefully have more success with that!

What is your favorite snack food? What do you like to cook when you have guests over? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Oct27

Cacio E Pepe Baked Gnocchi

Posted on October 27, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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Hellooooo! Johnny and I finally went grocery shopping and it couldn’t have come a moment too soon. We had literally nothing to eat at the apartment and there were several Pinterest recipes that I have been dying to try – one of which being a Cacio E Pepe Baked Gnocchi by Simply Delicious. I am pleased to report that it turned out amazing and both myself and my picky eater husband absolutely loved it. This recipe had minimal ingredients, took under an hour to make, and allowed for plenty of leftovers too. Check it out:

When it comes to cooking during the work week, it is a must for the recipes to be easy peasy. While I really enjoy cooking, I really enjoy relaxing after a long day too lol. The Cacio E Pepe recipe by Simply Delicious was extremely straight forward. All I did was cook the gnocchi, prepare the sauce, stick it in the oven for fifteen minutes and dinner was served. There were no crazy techniques or a litany of ingredients involved and that is something I appreciate. Although I am a great cook, I am definitely no Master Chef!

Speaking of ingredients, there were only ten needed to prepare this dish. The beauty of this recipe is that a majority of the ingredients are things that you more than likely already have. The only items I needed to purchase was the milk, cream, and gnocchi. Not only was the recipe completely new to me, but it included an ingredient that is new to me too – cream!

I have never made a recipe that called for cream and even if it did, I probably would have used milk because that’s what my mom would do. However, I decided to go all out for this dish and use the cream and calories be damned lol. I am so glad that I did because I don’t think the end result would be the same without it. My baked gnocchi turned out divine. It was incredibly rich and just one serving filled me up. Despite it being a short lived meal, each bite was heavenly. The sauce was so bold and flavorful, the gnocchi was tender, and it is one of my favorite things that I have ever made.

As per both mine and Johnny’s request, I will one thousand percent be making the Cacio E Pepe Baked Gnocchi again. Huge shout out to Simply Delicious as the mastermind behind this dish!

What is your favorite kind of pasta? What do you normally cook during the work week? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

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