Salami Boats
My husband and I found this sandwich at a deli near the hospital where our kids were born. After every check-up before the "big day", we'd head to this place for lunch. The "salami [...]
Chicken and Rice Soup?
There is a good reason for the question mark in the title of this recipe. There isn't much soup in this soup! It definitely started out as a soup, but over the years I [...]
Beer Pretzels
I was looking for some finger foods for a new years' eve gathering. That led me to try a beer cheese recipe, and that led me to wonder what I could dip in the [...]
Pepperoni Bread
This is one of my mom's specialties. She would make this as an appetizer for a party or sometimes in lieu of Christmas cookies she would deliver warm loaves of pepperoni bread. I changed [...]
CPS Strike Chowder
This recipe was born out of the frustration of the Chicago Public School strike of 2019. It went on far longer than anticipated, and we got a bit of cabin fever while it wore [...]
Beef enchiladas
Slow cooked beef, cheese, tomato sauce, cilantro, corn tortillas all adds up to warm gooey goodness. If there are any enchiladas leftover, they make a great lunch the next day. The last time I [...]
Chopped beef and gravy
Chopped beef and gravy has been a Pannucci family staple since I can remember. The name is a little misleading, as the "chopped beef" in this recipe is only one part of the final [...]
Robbie’s Mac and Cheese
Mac and cheese is heaven in a bowl to me, except when it comes out of a box and involves powder. I have been in search of the combination that makes you close your eyes [...]
Ropa Vieja
My husband loves this recipe so much that when I just say the words "ropa vieja", he starts salivating. For me it's not even that difficult a recipe to make, since it cooks all [...]
Milan Elementary Peanut Butter Bars
These peanut butter bars were dessert with our school lunch at Milan Elementary. Since mom was a teacher at the school, she knew the cooks and was able to get her hands on the [...]
Slow Cooker Meatloaf
This meatloaf has become the preferred version in our house. Nothing wrong with the tried and true original, but there's something satisfying about starting this early in the day and either coming home to [...]
Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
These cookies are magical — there really is no other way to describe them. They are great anytime, but you MUST eat one that is still warm and about 10 minutes out of the [...]
Pasta Bolognese
Halloween is one of those days that starts off like any other, but doesn't end until much later, and no one can say exactly when that will be. I thought it would be a great [...]
Paper Bag Popcorn
Popcorn seems like a pretty straight forward thing to make, so why bother with a recipe? And what the heck could a paper bag have to do with it anyway? Glad you asked! Good [...]
Pistachio Chicken
The combination of pistachios and chicken might sound odd to some people, but it's delicious trust me! As an added bonus, recruit a family member to help shell the pistachios or even quicker, buy [...]
Eventually Award Winning BBQ Sauce
This certainly isn't a complicated sauce, but it makes ribs and chicken taste like I have been slaving over a hot grill all day. The ingredients make a great sauce, but you could adjust [...]
Ranch dressing chicken tenders
My husband accidentally bought chicken tenders instead of chicken breasts one day, so I decided to make the most of it. I scrounged around in our pantry and had the idea to make a [...]
Arugula salad with toasted pistachios
I'm always in search of a good salad, and I prefer one with a lot of bits and pieces. Starting with a generous serving of arugula, I added shredded carrots, toasted pistachios (chopped into [...]
Pasta with Vodka Sauce
Another recipe I altered to be more to my liking. But ultimately just a relatively quick dinner to make after a long day that pleases everyone and usually leaves a few leftovers. [...]
Autumn Soup
After having a bowl of butternut squash soup at Panera I wanted to make my own version for next week's lunch. Prep time - 15 minutes / Cook time - 40 minutes [...]
Baby Bahana pasta
Let's start with the name of this one. The first thing my kids would say when I used to have to pick them up after school was "what's for dinner?" No pleasantries about our [...]
Homemade Beef Stew
This is a family favorite when it gets cold out -- warm, savory and comforting. While Sabina and I prefer the beef and carrots, Rob and Robbie look forward to the dumplings that go on [...]
Chocolate Chip Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting
The title of this recipe is misleading, it really should be peanut butter frosting and cake. I usually just use a box white cake mix and add shaved bittersweet chocolate to the batter -- [...]
Sabina’s “Desert Island” Pancakes
Every weekend I ask the kids what they want for breakfast on Sunday. Sabina asks for pancakes. Every. Single. Time. Never mind that she has had frozen pancakes for breakfast the past six days [...]
Braided Butter Bread
If bread were a dessert, this would be it. Delicious warm from the oven, but also tasty toasted the next day with butter and strawberry jam. For a sweeter bread, roll the ropes in [...]
Mom’s Potato Salad
This is my mom's FAMOUS potato salad recipe. And I say famous because everyone else's mom made potato salad with egg or pickles or Miracle Whip. Nothing tasted as good as my mom's and [...]
Lasagna Rolls
Looking for something that would be easy to make on a weeknight and provide some leftovers this is a good option. For my cheese adverse daughter I omitted the ricotta filling and just used [...]
Easy Chicken Parmesan
The smell of pan fried chicken coated in bread crumbs and parmesan cheese along with a pot of simmering sauce is delicious. Add a side of spaghetti (or bucatini) and some green beans — [...]
Noodles with Banchetto Sauce
This is a great meaty weeknight pasta sauce courtesy of my great Aunt Gerri. If you use a spicy pepperoni or Italian sausage the leftovers will have a bit of kick. Prep [...]
Red, Hot and Blue (Pulled Pork)
The name of this recipe comes from a restaurant in Alexandria Virginia where my husband and I ate pulled pork served this way. At the time, this combination of ingredients sounded pretty unusual to [...]
Summer Corn Salad
While many of my recipes are ones I've seen in magazines and modified to my taste, this one is a salad I've made up in it's entirety. The truth is I have no idea [...]
Sunday gravy (macaroni and meatballs)
Macaroni and meatballs (or Sunday gravy) has always been an important meal to me. Growing up, this was a familiar dinner shared with friends or family on Sunday. When I sat down to write [...]
Taco Skillet
My husband sent this recipe to me because he thought it looked interesting and I agreed with him. As usual, I saw plenty of things in the list of ingredients to tinker with. First [...]
Short Rib Ragu with Polenta
I always add short ribs to the mix when I make Sunday Gravy, but no one ever has any interest in them when they are next to meatballs. It was such a waste to [...]
Peanut Butter Granola
After I couldn’t find a decent peanut granola at the grocery store I started tinkering with ratios to make one with a decent peanut flavor, but not overly sweet. You can substitute honey roasted [...]
Chicken with Mustard Cream Sauce
When I found this recipe online, I knew I would need to alter it to be more in line with my family's taste buds. I reduced the amount of mustard to mellow it out [...]
Buttermilk Biscuits
I must have tried a six or seven biscuit recipes until I found this one. The right amount of butter and of course buttermilk make for flaky biscuits. The yield is over a dozen, [...]
Secret Ingredient Mashed Potatoes
You may already have a recipe for mashed potatoes that you love and if so, I encourage you to use it. They can be a very personal thing! But if you don't, or you [...]
Simple Strawberry Shortcake
Skirt steak is a hit or miss kind of dish. Often times the meat comes out chewy and not tender. It can be a workout for your jaw to make it through your serving. [...]
Smash Burgers
We used to have a favorite brew pub in the neighborhood called Breakroom. Unfortunately for them, the food was better than the beer and they closed only after a year or so. But the [...]
My version of tomato soup
When I find something that I enjoy eating, sort of like the arugula salad, I tend to have it often. For the first two weeks of January I have been having soup for lunch, mostly [...]
Bacon Wrapped Cream Cheese Chicken
I don't even remember where this recipe came from. I do remember that the original recipe called for grilling the chicken, and it made a huge mess so I took it out. Now the [...]
Chicken Tinga Tacos
I've never had much success with slow cooker chicken recipes because there is usually a can of soup involved. However, this one seemed like it had promise and it turned out great. The simplicity [...]
Choose Your Own Adventure Sandwich
My husband wishes he could eat potatoes in some form for every meal, and he loves sandwiches. So for Father's Day this year, I invented this- a breakfast sandwich that manages to squeeze hash [...]
Ham, Egg and Cheese Cups
This is what I usually make on Saturday mornings to prep breakfast for the week. Just nuke ‘em for 40 seconds or so and they are good to go. Prep time - [...]
Oven-Braised Beef with Tomatoes and Garlic
No real story with this one, just a new thing we added to the dinner rotation. Next time, I would probably substitute egg noodles for the orzo so each bite could be a combination [...]
Too Much Credit Skirt Steak
Skirt steak is a hit or miss kind of dish. Often times the meat comes out chewy and not tender. It can be a workout for your jaw to make it through your serving. [...]
Chewy Ginger Snaps
I have a few "go to" cookies and these are one of them. They're a family favorite, so I can usually get someone to help roll them in sugar in order to get them [...]
Meatloaf & Mashed Potatoes
I wish there was a good story behind this meatloaf but really it's just the version I've settled on over the years. My recipe has one important change from others I've tried, and it's [...]
Leftover Parts Lasagne
I get a thrill out of using all the leftovers in our fridge. It means we got everything there was out of the food we purchased and the money that was spent. But if [...]
Chicken with Tomato Cream Sauce
The original recipe had two other kinds of meat and jarred sauce, so I modified it to use what I had on hand and more to my liking. Plus a new way to make [...]
Seasoned Cheez-its
Cheeze-its are pretty good by themselves, but when you make them this way they'll disappear faster than ever. I usually make a double batch (just double the recipe here) to make sure everyone gets [...]
Steak & Veggie Rice Bowls
When we order Chipotle, my daughter gets a bowl of just rice and meat. But Chioptle still charges the same as if it has every ingredient in the bowl. Not worth it! I figured [...]
Buttermilk waffles from scratch
Another Sunday morning staple in our house and another reason to always have buttermilk in the fridge. We have two waffle irons -- barnyard animals, which are thick like Belgian waffles and the classic [...]
Cheeseburger soup, yes really!
This is definitely a cool weather food and my family usually requests it as soon as the weather changes. And they keep asking for it all winter. Not a fan of processed food, but [...]
Corn Chip Taco Salad
I really enjoy a good salad, and the more "bits" in there, the better in my opinion. And when the salad has a protein in it, so much the better. This version of a taco [...]
Mom’s Chicken Noodle Soup
This isn't just one of my favorite soups, it's one of my favorite smells. The onions, celery and carrots when they go into the pot, combined with the chicken broth and herbs fills the house [...]
Banana Muffins With Chocolate Chips
I think the kids leave a few bananas in the fruit bowl just so I have to make these muffins. One of the ingredients is overly ripe bananas. As in the blacker, the better. [...]
Ribs on The Grill
True story- I once completely ruined an outdoor gas grill when I made the "old" version of these ribs. One minute it was a nice smoky smell, the next it was just smoke with [...]
Lazarus Cheesecake
Back in my high school days, my mother and I would shop at the mall and lunch was always at Lazarus, a local department store. Our meals were any number of things, but dessert [...]
Bread Salad
I don't know what made me decide to put this group of ingredients together one day. But I do know that it's become a favorite for both me and my husband as a lunchtime [...]
Pretzel Chicken
Prep time - 10 minutes / Cook time - 20 minutes This recipe was originally a Rachel Ray creation, heavily modified over the years in an attempt to make home made chicken [...]
The Best Ricotta You’ve Ever Had
A few years ago we hosted an Italian dinner as part of a school fundraiser and I wanted to make fresh mozzarella. After some research it turned out to more trouble then it was worth. [...]
Hawaiian Macaroni Salad
When summer comes, and it's time to cook out, my husband prefers macaroni salad to potato salad. Up until the day he asked for it I had never actually made macaroni salad of any [...]
Pineapple Upside Down Kebobs
Looking for an easy meal on a lazy Sunday I just threw some ingreidents in a bowl and mixed up this marinade. The orange juice and soy sauce are strong flavors that gives the [...]
Any Given Sunday Nachos
This isn't so much a recipe as it is a good use of extra meat from my beef enchilada recipe. As far as nachos go, it's fairly standard, but the meat on top of [...]
Bacon Corn Cheddar Pie
This recipe is a family favorite and is usually gone in less than 24 hours. And like other favorites in this house, it tastes even better the next day after sitting in the fridge overnight. [...]