Cajun Alfredo

I ordered an amazingly tasty cajun alfredo dish while I was in New Orleans and attempted to recreate it at home (with a few lower-fat changes). It came out tasting pretty close to the real deal.

INGREDIENTS

4 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 (8 ounce) container of tofutti

2 c. milk

2 tsp crushed garlic or garlic paste
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp ground white pepper
1/8 tsp ground red pepper
1/8 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp onion powder

1 c. corn
1 c. finely diced carrots
1/2 diced red bell pepper

5-6 c. cooked pasta

DIRECTIONS

Heat olive oil in saucepan over medium heat. Add tofutti and stir with wire whisk until smooth and creamy. Add milk a little at a time while stirring with whisk. Stir in spices (garlic, parmesan, the three ground peppers, paprika, and onion powder).

Continue stirring over medium heat until sauce thickens. Add corn, carrots, and bell pepper. Toss with hot pasta and done.

My pasta was served with grilled chicken.

Lemon Cookies

1 cup butter

2.5 cups powdered sugar

2 Tbsp lemon zest

.5 tsp salt

2 c flour

2 Tbsp sugar

4 oz cream cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Beat butter, 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 Tbsp lemon zest and salt until combined. Add flour. Turn dough onto piece of plastic wrap; pat into 1/2 in thick disk; wrap and chill until firm, about 1 hr. Un wrap dough; place on lightly floured parchment paper and roll about 1/8 in thick. Cut out cookies and place 1 in apart on baking sheets; sprinkly with granulated sugar. Bake until barely beginning to brown, 15-20 min. Cool. Make lemon filling by mixing cream cheese and 1 Tbsp lemon zest until smooth; gradually add 1 cup powdered sugar, mixing until smooth; mix in another 1/2 cup powdered sugar or enough to create a firm but spreadable filling. Form sandwiches by placing 1 tsp filling between two cookies, sugar side out, and squeezing gently.

Paula Deen's Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:
1/2 c. butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
3 c. confectioner's sugar
1 t. vanilla

Directions:
1- In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, and confectioners' sugar and 1 t. vanilla.
2- Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy.

Cream Cheese Penguins

Someone made these for a party recently and they were a big hit. If you need a fun, winter appetizer for a party, here you go.

18 jumbo black olives, pitted 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

18 small black olives 1 carrot

Directions:

1.

Cut a slit from top to bottom, lengthwise, into the side of each jumbo olive. Carefully insert about 1 teaspoon of cream cheese into each olive. Slice the carrot into eighteen 1/4 inch thick rounds; cut a small notch out of each carrot slice to form feet. Save the cut out piece and press into center of small olive to form the beak. If necessary cut a small slit into each olive before inserting the beak.

2.

Set a big olive, large hole side down, onto a carrot slice. Then, set a small olive onto the large olive, adjusting so that the beak, cream cheese chest and notch in the carrot slice line up. Secure with a toothpick.