Dinner in 10 minutes! No joke!!!

I'm trying to eat healthy so I wanted to try out a healthy Pampered Chef recipe.  We heard about this one at Feast and I knew I was going to have to try it!  Oh My Gosh, its sooo good, and keep in mind, I don't even like zucchini!! 

This was so easy to make!  It took 10 minutes, fridge to plate, no joke!  I got out my beloved Deep Covered Baker (DCB) and my Spiral and Slice.  I used the spiral function to spiral the zucchini into spiraled rotini.

 



 How great does that look?!?!  It took me about two minutes to spiral three zucchini!  Then I poured some marinara on top and finished it off with some shaved mozzarella right on top.  Put the lid on and popped it in the microwave for six minutes.  And Voila!! 

 

 

It was delicious!!! Below is the recipe:

 

Zucchini Rotini

 

3 zucchini

1 cup Marinara (your favorite jar or homemade variety is great)

1/2 cup mozzarella

 

Use the spiral 'n slice to spiral the zucchini.  Cover with marinara, top with cheese and microwave for 6 minutes.  Seriously that's all there is to it!  I had it as my main dish, but it would be a great side to some chicken Parmesan!

 

 

As always, visit my Pampered Chef website if you'd like to purchase the Deep Covered Baker, Spiral 'n slice, or any other items.  You can also email me at Tara.Lenaburg@gmail.com for questions or to book a party.  Host a cooking show in the Denver, San Diego or Visalia, CA areas or host a Facebook party if you are out of area!

Amazing Baked Potato Soup!

I am way overdue for another post!  Sorry for the delay, loads of people have asked for this recipe but its been a crazy couple of weeks.  I was visiting my family in California for the holidays and having so much fun with my family and friends I just didn't find any time to sit down and write up a recipe.

I don't have an exact recipe for this, its a little bit of a guessing game, but trust me its sooo delicious and everyone will love it.  Its pretty much a fully loaded baked potato disguised as soup.  I don't even like soup and I've already made this one four times!

For this recipe you will need:

6-7 russet potatoes (it really depends how big they are how many you are going to need)
1 8 oz package of cream cheese
4 tablespoons of butter (I made without this once to save a few calorie and still liked it just fine, so you can omit if you'd like to save some)
3-4 cups of milk (how much you use depends on how thick you like it)
Green onions (again how much you need depends on your tastes, I use an entire bunch, you could put half in and half on the side for people to top their soup with if you aren't a big fan)
8 oz of Cheddar cheese + more for topping
1 lb bacon

This recipe is super easy thanks to the Deep Covered Baker (or DCB for the Pampered Chef fans out there!)  First chop up the potatoes and load them in the DCB.  Microwave (covered) for 15-20 minutes.  Here's a picture of my DCB loaded up with the potatoes so you can see how full I load it.

I used my crinkle cutter to chop them up because my knives stink and it is so sharp it was super quick!  Can't wait to get the full line of Pampered Chef Knives, but until I do I'll find a way! haha!

While the potatoes are cooking cook up that bacon.  You are going to crumble it into bacon bits.  I chop it up and fry it in a pan on the stove top but you could also lay it on a foil lined pan and cook in the oven, then crumble it.  Its up to you, just cook it into bacon bits.

Once the potatoes are fully cooked (they should slide off a fork or knife if poked and lifted) its time to add the cream cheese, butter and green onions.  I chopped the cream cheese into six squares and dropped in the DCB randomly spaced out.  I dropped the butter in by the tablespoon full and then threw in all of the green onions.  Again, if you or your guests don't like green onions you could leave these let the guest add them in to their individual bowl as they like. 

Then time to get out the Pampered Chef Mix 'n Chop!  I bought this awesome tool because one of the guests at my very first Pampered Chef parties told me it was her favorite kitchen tool.  She was a Pampered Chef expert who seemed to own most of the catalog so I figured it was worth buying this $11.50 tool if she was soo fond of it.  I have to say, I think she is right, I LOVE this!! I don't like my mashed potatoes lump free like baby food, I prefer them chunky and this is great!  Its also great for Carrots and Rutabagas, one of our family's favorite side dishes, a recipe I can share later if you are interested.  Its also great for ground beef or chorizo, it breaks up while stirring.  Anyway, back to the recipe, picture of my mix 'n chop workin its magic.

Next, add the milk, bacon and cheddar cheese and stir.  You can also add salt and pepper, or if you are like my mom Nature's Seasoning.  Stir it all up, cover it up again, and back in the microwave for another 10 minutes.  Be prepared, when the microwave goes off and you take it out you will be attacked, everyone will want it right now, because it smells amazing!!!  Seriously!  This is a pic of my soup about two minutes after I took it out...

That's right, I just took it out and its half way gone!  All I did was spoon a little out to prepare a picture perfect bowl and I turn back around and the family was digging in!  How great is that?!  Amazing soup the whole family will love in about 30 minutes with almost no fuss!!  Here's my pretty bowl I made

Mmmmm Mmmmm!!  That's how I like to do it!  I think it looks so pretty with some cheddar cheese, green onions, bacon and a dollop of sour cream on top, who doesn't want to dive right into that?  I hope you enjoy!

To order your own DCP or Mix 'n Chop visit my web page at www.pamperedchef.biz/taralenaburg.  Or if you'd like to get it for free email me for information on hosting your own cooking show (available in Denver area or California) or a Facebook or Catalog party.  I'll assist you every step of the way!  If you have any product or recipe questions feel free to email or post in the comments.

Super Easy Pizza Cupcakes

Monday was an exciting day, not only did my new consultant kit arrive, it was also my very first Pampered Chef team meeting!!  We were all asked to bring an appetizer to share.  I had to think of something quick and easy to make, hot (since its been so cold out), that carries well, and is a crowd pleaser.  These pizza cupcakes have become a go-to app for me.  I originally thought they'd be great to make with my niece (Callie LOVED making these with me) but I've found that adults love them too!

I was super excited to test out my new The Pampered Chef microplane grater with food holder.  I don't like to use the bagged grated cheese as it just doesn't seem to melt as well, I just use a giant block of cheese from Costco now.  I HATE when it gets to the end, I pretty much always bloody up at least one knuckle trying to get it all grated.  Enter the Microplane with food holder, no more bloody knuckles!  sweet!  Another great feature is you don't have to use the food holder and the handle rotates so it folds flat for storage, can be used to hold the microplane up like a normal grater or it can be straight up and down as a handle.  Below is a picture of the two ways I used it.  Folded when using the food holder for the last of the mozzarella and straight when I was shredding the giant block of cheddar. 

Sorry, very excited about the new Pampered Chef products I get to use!  On to the making of the pizza cupcakes.  First the ingredients, so simple, Mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese, flaky layers biscuits, and turkey pepperoni (you can use regular of course, to me its too greasy).

Preheat the oven to350 degrees, then, I start by shredding the cheeses.

 

 

Next, peel the layers of the biscuits, I usually get three layers per biscuit.

 

 



 



Then time to assemble.  First, place one layer of biscuit in each cupcake, you want it to be up the sides a bit as well.  Second, squeeze some pizza sauce onto each biscuit.  Third, add your shredded cheese.  Fourth, add two or three slices of pepperoni.  Fifth, add a bit more cheese on top. 

Finally, bake for about 20 minutes, until golden brown and bubbly.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

If you'd like to purchase your own microplane grater with food holder you can get one on my The Pampered Chef site http://new.pamperedchef.com/pws/taralenaburg/product/1129 or you can host a party with me and get yours for free!  Just send me an email at Tara.Lenaburg@yahoo.com for more information (catalog party or cooking shows available depending on your area).

I hope you and your family enjoy these as much as we do!!  These were originally a Pinterest find that I pinned ages ago http://www.daydreamkitchen.com/2012/09/pizza-cupcakes-how-cool-is-that/. 

It's official, I'm a Pampered Chef Consultant!

That's right, I've officially registered as an Independent Consultant with The Pampered Chef!!  I'm so excited about this new journey!  I've always loved Pampered Chef products and I've debated selling it many times over the years, I've finally decided its time to give it a go.

On this blog I'll feature recipes utilizing my favorite Pampered Chef products.  I'll include pictures of the process and the final result.  If you are interested in buying any of the featured products you can visit my website at www.pamperedchef.biz/taralenaburg.  You can also email me at Tara.Lenaburg@gmail.com with any questions or to book a party.  There are always hostess specials and you can earn free product the higher the sales are at your party.  Not in the Greenwood Village, Co or Visalia, CA area?  That's ok, you can always choose to host a catalog party.

I hope you'll follow the blog and enjoy the recipes I sample.  I'll try to post a recipe a week, but since I do live alone that might be a lot of food! haha!  It might not be quite that often, but it will be close.