Tag Archives: pasta

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

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

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

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

Jul15

Spicing Up Spaghetti

Posted on July 15, 2022 by lifewithlilred

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Hello!! I absolutely LOVE cooking in my new apartment and have the best time making delicious meals for me and Johnny. I try to cook an actual dinner at least a couple of nights per week but sometimes nothing hits better than an oven pizza or a simple spaghetti dinner. This past Monday, I was craving spaghetti something fierce and whipped up a pot of angel hair and some oven cheese filled bread sticks. While Johnny just wanted Alfredo sauce, I made a little something extra for me to spice up the dish:

Pesto is my absolute favorite pasta topping and I had a lone tomato sitting in my crisper drawer. So, I decided to make a super easy addition to my spaghetti with four ingredients: tomato, mozzarella cheese, basil, and a light drizzle of balsamic vinegar. Of course, fresh mozzarella and basil are the best but I only had shredded cheese and dried basil so you work with what you’ve got!

All I did was slice the tomato, top it with cheese and basil, and poured some balsamic on top. Then, I let it broil in the oven until the cheese browned and bubbled and the tomatoes were tender. This process took about ten minutes in total and I couldn’t believe that I haven’t done this all the time when I make spaghetti.

I have made this pasta add on a few times before in the past and it was just as good as I remember it being. It was a little something that I dreamed up but I am sure you can find fancier recipes on Pinterest. Next time I make it, fresh mozzarella and basil will be the way to go but what can you do when your supplies in the fridge are minimal?!

There are so many ways to spice up a classic spaghetti dinner and this is just one of them. Fresh veggies and cheese go a long way in making a no fuss meal something to blog about!

What is your favorite pasta topping? How do you improve upon classic dishes? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Apr22

Dinner Time!

Posted on April 22, 2022 by lifewithlilred

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Hello! Something that brings me great joy is cooking and I love making delicious meals for Johnny and our friends and family. This past week, my sister and niece joined us for dinner and it was an absolute delight. I texted her a list of options that I could make and she chose lemon pasta. I was excited because I have had that saved on my Pinterest for forever and really wanted to make it!

I prepared the pasta dish with garlic bread and salad and it was a raging success. I also made air fried Oreos for dessert. These pictures are actually of leftovers because I was so hungry I forgot to snap some pics when it was fresh lol:

You can view the entire recipe for lemon pasta at Contentedness Cooking!

The lemon pasta was an ultra easy and super tasty dish that I most definitely plan on making again. It is nice and light and will make for a perfect meal on a warm spring or summer day. It also tasted great leftover too and was even more lemony after it had time to sit.

When cooking a new recipe, I tend to follow it pretty closely. Then, I add my own variations if I like it enough to make again. The only thing I did differently when making the lemon pasta was use way more garlic than what was called for because we all know that three cloves is simply not enough! The taste of this dish was so yummy but we all agreed that it could use something extra. The next time I make it, I plan on adding the following:

Feta cheese
Cherry tomatoes
Spinach
Fresh parsley
Pine nuts

Any type of pasta is my favorite food and this recipe is one that will be enjoyed by anyone who shares my sentiments. It is really good as is but if the recipe looks a little too bland for you, adding extra veggies or herbs will help to kick things up a notch (In the eternal words of Emeril Lagasse)!

Have you tried any new recipes lately? 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

Jul5

Summer Spaghetti Recipe

Posted on July 5, 2020 by lifewithlilred

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Hello! On our last day of staycation in Lexington, Kentucky we had a great big cookout. My sister’s boyfriend, Ramon, was the grill master for all of the guys and I was in charge of the vegetarian dish for the ladies: Spaghetti. At first, I was fine with just heating up some sauce and calling it a day. However, Ramon was creating grill magic and I wasn’t going to be caught dead just serving spaghetti with red sauce!

So, I got to work. And, I must say, thanks to the friendly competition, I think I created a masterpiece that I would definitely serve for myself and Johnny again. My entire family loved it and I think all of you will, too! Check it out:

Ingredients:

1 box spaghetti
7 cloves garlic
1 eggplant
2 medium zucchinis
1/2 of a large, red onion
2 lemons
Butter
Olive oil
Red wine vinegar
Salt, pepper, parsley, oregano

Directions:

We all know how to make spaghetti so we are going to talk about the saute I made to put on top of it. I wanted the dish to be really light so I didn’t want to go with a heavy sauce. So, I created a dressing in the vegetable saute by doing the following:

In your frying pan, add butter and olive oil and season it with the herbs of your choosing. I kept it light with salt, pepper, parsley, and oregano.
Once your mixture is all melted, add the vegetables. Then, squeeze the juice from one full lemon over top. If the mixture still looks dry like mine did, add more butter and olive oil. To top it off, add five to six splashes of red wine vinegar and continue seasoning to your heart’s content.

By now, your vegetables should be frying away in its own sauce, which is going to make them literally burst with flavor. I kept mine cooking on a medium to high heat until the last five minutes or so when I brought it down to a simmer. I wanted to make sure they were all thoroughly cooked but I also didn’t want them to shrink away into nothing!

3. Once your pasta is cooked, simply add your saute to it and mix it well. Then, you’re going to take the juice from another full lemon to add in as well as any additional seasoning to taste.

The end result? A light, lemony pasta dish that is amazing on its own or, according to the meat eaters in my family, fabulous with chicken over top. I would have snapped some pictures of my creation but, by the time I thought to do it, the pasta was long gone. Lol, WHOOPS. 😀

My entire family agreed that another cookout needs to happen this summer and, this time, Ramon and I agreed that he will make the chicken and I will make the pasta again because it was such a hit. Bon appetit! ❤

How do you like to get creative in the kitchen? Have you had any cooking success or failures lately? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb23

Delicious Baked Ziti Recipe

Posted on February 23, 2016 by lifewithlilred

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Hiii everyone and happy Tuesday! So in yesterday’s Monday Update I mentioned that I made my boyfriend a baked ziti dish for our six month anniversary. It turned out amazing and my beau and family really enjoyed it. The recipe I found on allrecipes was way too good not to share so I thought that I would post it for your super cheesy pleasure today! You’re welcome! 🙂

Ingredients:

4 cups ziti pasta, uncooked
1 (26) oz jar marinara sauce (Instead of plain old Ragu, I used a specialty sauce with extra garlic and herb flavoring to kick things up a little)
1 (14.5) oz can diced tomatoes, undrained (I used a can that had additional oregano and Italian herb seasoning)
6 oz cream cheese, cubed (The blocked cream cheese usually comes in 8 oz packaging so I just used the whole thing)
3/4 cup sour cream
8 oz package of shredded mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Ingredients That I Added:

8 cloves garlic
salt
pepper
basil
parsley
oregano
Italian seasoning

Ingredients I Will Use Next Time:

More seasoning
Onions
Green pepper
Zuchinni
Yellow squash

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
Cook pasta, using the directions on the packaging. Once the pasta is done cooking, remove and drain.
After you have removed the pasta, turn the burner down to medium heat. Add the rest of your ingredients in the pan and let it cook for about 5 min. or until the cheese is completely melted.
Add the pasta into the sauce and mix thoroughly.
Layer the pasta into a 13×9 in. baking pan and then top with extra mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.
Bake for 20 min. or until heated through.

*** A word to the wise: This recipe made a GIGANTIC amount of food so be prepared for left overs! Here is the link to the recipe that I used, if you would like to reference it for any reason! Special thanks to whomever posted it, it was delicious! 🙂

The baked ziti was a hit for my family and my boyfriend so I hope all of you enjoy it as much as we did! What is your favorite food to make? What is your favorite food to eat? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

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