Old Spaghetti Factory Mizithra Pasta

• 1 c. butter
• 1 c. Mizithra cheese (a greek hard cheese)
• pasta of choice

Cut 2 sticks of butter into 8 pieces and place in a sauce pan. Place the pan of butter over medium high heat. Bring the butter to a slow boil. Once the butter begins to boil, stir constantly to prevent residue from sticking to the bottom of the pan. As the butter cooks, it will start to foam and rise. continue stirring, otherwise the butter foam could overflow (about 5 minutes).
Once the butter stops foaming and rising, cook until amber in color (another 1-2 minutes). It will start to smell like caramel. (yum). Turn off the heat and remove the pan from the burner. Let the sediment settle to the bottom then pour the browned butter Through a strainer into a small bowl. Do not distrub the residue at the bottom of the pan.
Boil your pasta of choice (we use spaghetti noodles). Drain pasta and divide into four servings, then spread 1/4 c. of Mizithra over each pasta serving. Top with 1/4 c. hot browned butter.

****In the restaurant you can order this dish with another sauce along side. That's how I like it. So I made some fresh meatballs and served those with marinara, and then this along side. Delish! However, because I did this, I probably didn't even use 1/4 of the butter it calls for. Next time I'll cut it in 1/4. Oh, and I also bought fresh pasta----WOW--I'm not sure I'll be able to go back!

overnight cinnamon apple oatmeal

I found this recipie in a new slow cooker book. Here is my version.

1 cup old-fashioned oats (not instant or 2 minute)
1 cup steel cut oats (use more of the other if you don't have them)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 t salt
5 cups water ( subsitute some apple juice if you like, but more than 2 cups of juice makes it really sweet).

1-2 apples or pears chopped (I don't bother to peel them) The smaller the dice the more it blends into the oatmeal

combine all the ingredients in the slow cooker, cover and cook on low for 7-9 hours or hight for 2-3 hours. If you use a smaller crock pot its best.
We added a little butter when we served it. This fed 3 kids and two adults with a little to spare.

MMMmmm

Since it's Sunday night and we're all thinking about dessert (we are, aren't we?) I thought I'd share my find of the week. If you like mint chocolate, pick up a bag of Andes mint chips next to the chocolate chips and follow the quick and easy recipe on the back of the bag for cookies!
We LOVED them.

Eating Preference:

1. Hot out of the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.
2. Pulled out of the freezer and eaten frozen!

Mmmmmm Good!

Lemon Salad Dressing

Super easy, very yummy dressing, great for spring salad dressings.

1/3 C Sugar
1/2 C Lemon Juice
Mix well
Add
1/2-1 t dry mustard
1/2 C Oil
some lemon zest if you have it.
salt and pepper to taste

Asian Coleslaw

This is my favorite salad of all times. It is something DIFFERENT, than what usually circulates the mormon kitchens. Enjoy!

Asian Coleslaw

2/3 cup slivered almonds
8 cups (1 lb) Napa cabbage,
coarsely shredded12 oz snow peas, strings removed, rinsed and thinly sliced
1 1/3 cup thinly sliced radishes
1 1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions
1 1/3 cup lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves, rinsed
Bake almonds at 350 degrees for 6-9 min. Shake. Mix the rest of the ingredients. Toss with creamy soy dressing.

Creamy Soy Dressing
3 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1 Tbsp soy sauce
3 Tbsp sugar
½ tsp ground ginger
1 clove minced garlic
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp Asian sesame oil
1 cup mayonnaise
Mix all ingredients except mayonnaise until smooth. Slowly whisk mayonnaise with rest of ingredients until well blended.

Every time I've taken this salad somewhere everyone goes nuts over it. When serving this for dinner I grill some chicken and serve with bread!