What to do with a can of leftover artichoke hearts...

I hosted my sister's bachelorette party this weekend and I was left with a lot of leftover snacks as well as some ingredients that just never got used.  I make a mean spinach and artichoke dip and had originally planned on doubling the recipe but never got around to it.  That left me with a can of artichoke hearts  that I just couldn't let go to waste!  I ended up finding a couple of recipes for artichoke pasta sauce and figured that I could fine tune my own crockpot recipe in no time.  This was what we ended up with, we all liked it but my oldest and youngest daughters LOVED it.  I served the sauce on some bowtie pasta with chickpea nuggets and a green salad!

Tomato Artichoke Pasta

Olive Oil

1 chopped onion

5 cloves minced garlic

2-28 oz cans of diced tomatoes, one can drained of juice

2 tsp basil

2 tsp oregano

2 tsp thyme

2 tsp brown sugar

2-14 oz cans of artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

1/2 cup vegetable stock

red pepper flakes

*Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until soft

*Transfer to slow cooker and add tomatoes (along with juice from only one can), and remaining ingredients

*Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Oscar night!

While planning our menu for the week I forgot about our annual Oscar party.  So tonight was a deviation from our menu and it wasn't really a meal at all. It was a lot of good food for my husband's favourite night of the year. We managed to fit a few of our good friends into our attic and feed them some delicious snacks, appetizers and desserts. To wash it all down, I made some of my very special lemonade.  What a great night!

 We had homemade (vegetarian) sushi, mozza sticks, stuffed jalapenos, veggies and dip, hummus and pitas, spinach and artichoke dip, and a curry dip.  (Not pictured: housepoets cookies and lemonade!)

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I recently bought my sushi loving husband a sushi-making kit.  There couldn't have been a better night to try it out and he was so eager.  Glad they turned out :)

Mozzarella Sticks

1 block mozzarella cut into strips

3 cups panko bread crumbs

basil, garlic powder, salt and pepper

chili powder

4 eggs, beaten

2 cups flour

*Mix together spices and bread crumbs

*Dip cheese into flour, then egg, then bread crumbs, then egg, then bread crumbs again!

*Place on baking sheet and broil for 2-3 minutes per side

Stuffed Jalapenos

10 jalapenos

1 package of cream cheese

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 tsp basil

salt and pepper

*Core and wash jalapenos

*Mix together rest of the ingredients and stuff jalapenos

*Place on baking sheet and brush lightly with olive oil

*Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes, turning once

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

1 package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/3 cup grated Romano cheese

3 clove garlic, peeled and minced

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

salt and pepper to taste

1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

2 cups of fresh spinach, chopped

1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

*Saute garlic and spinach in olive oil for a couple of minutes

*Combine with cream cheese, mayo, parmesan, romano, and spices

*Gently mix in artichokes and transfer to a lightly greased baking dish

*Top with remaining cheese and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes