Cooking Challenge #1

I like to cook and bake but lately I've been rather uninspired.  So today when my email inbox had a message from Food.com (formerly known as Recipezaar) about their top 25 summer menu ideas, I decided to use that list as my inspiration for some more interesting meals.  The amazing Rhonda is baking her way through Martha Stewart's Baking Cookbook (while being a mama to 3 little ones, a wife to a medical resident and running a photography business) so I decided I could certainly cook my way through this much shorter list.

Tonight for supper we had Better Than Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce - and it was scrumptious!!

Cooking notes:
- I used 1 cup of coffee cream (18% fat) and 1 cup of whipping cream (35% fat) so this is not a low fat meal.  As I was cooking,  I felt rather like Pioneer Woman who has a love affair with butter and cream!
- The sauce was nicely simmering as I reached into the fridge for parmesan cheese - and came up empty handed.  There was a container of cottage cheese so I used that instead for a further reduction in the total fat content.
- I also substituted white cheddar for the mozzarella.
- I cooked fettucini this morning and just poured boiling water over it and let it sit for 2 minutes to rewarm it tonight before draining it and adding the sauce.
- My garden has an abundance of swiss chard so I lightly sauteed 6 chopped cups of it in a non-stick pan and added it to the sauce at serving time.  It added some color and more nutrition to the meal.
- I guess I kind of made the dish my own!  I decided to go with what I have in the cupboard and fridge as I work through this list of recipes, rather than specifically shopping.  I don't have a time line in mind but I do want to make every single one of them.

Next up - Soft Snickerdoodle Cookies!