Bowdabra Dinner easy recipe

Each week Bowdabra blog brings you recipes from around the blogosphere that are quick and easy and of course delicious!  The name "dinner easy" says it all!  So if your looking for a great recipe you can make any day of the week look no more.

This week Bowdabra brings you a great restaurant copycat recipe from blogger mommalew.

Check out this Outback restaurant copycat coconut shrimp recipe today.  I just love restaurant copycat recipes and this recipe is magic, because they will disappear as fast as you make them! 

Have a great weekend!

Greek Easter cookies | koulourakia

Every year I make these Greek Easter cookies called Koulourakia.  Greek Easter is on May 1st this year and quite a bit later than regular Easter but these cookies are delicious any time of the year.   When we were kids, we got to celebrate two Easters.  My parents would make our Easter baskets on regular Easter and then we'd get a re-run on Greek Easter, although the second one was more focused on celebrating with church and food.  Since Greek Easter is often a week later my parents would be able to buy up all the leftover Easter candies.  Then when Greek Easter came around we'd dye our eggs.

Now traditionally Greeks only dye their eggs red.  There are many theories about why red and only red.  One story credits it to Mary Magdalene going to the Roman emperor to tell him of the miracle of resurrection and he told her he would believe her if the eggs in her basket turned red, which they did.  Another is that the color red is in memory of the blood of Jesus.  A red egg is also baked into an Easter sweet bread called Tsoureki.

When I was a kid we would gather in the kitchen and make these Easter butter cookies called Koulorakia. They are delicious with coffee or as a treat any time. Not too sweet, buttery and crispy good. The rolling is fun and although I’ve just made them in twists you can make all sorts of shapes, so it’s fun to bake these with your kids.

For the Greek Easter cookie recipe card, click on the photo and print at 5 x 7 size

Happy Easter and if you meet a Greek after May 1 be sure to say Christos Anesti, which means-- Christ is risen!

Citrus Avocado Salmon - Dinner easy recipe

This week for Dinner easy Make it easy crafts and Bowdabra blog are featuring a delicious, fresh and flavorful Citrus Avocado Salmon.  Doesn't it look yummy.  I got to say there is one thing that I really love and that is avocado. Then again I love Salmon too, and salsa, oops I guess that's more than one.  Well whats not to love?

Hop on over to Bowdabra blog to get Momma Lew's entire recipe today and dinner will be, well... easy!

Citrus Avocado Salmon recipe

About Author

Momma Lew 

After fumbling through the first few years of motherhood, I found it my passion to enlighten fellow parents on how to take time to enjoy their lives and take the stress out of parenthood. I married my husband in 2005 and we had our first child (a boy) in 2008 and in 2011 his sister came along. We are a military family that resides in central New Jersey. I enjoy creating easy and delicious recipes for my family. I am a gluten-free mom and my daughter has a food-dye allergy, so you will find a lot of allergy-friendly recipes as well. We love to travel and I am always searching for the best bang for our buck when it comes to new locations. I started Momma Lew in 2010 and I quickly realized it was an outlet for me to voice my opinions, as well as offering the flexibility of being a work-at-home-mom. In 2014, I found the need for a more cohesive Blogger Network here in the greater New Jersey region and I founded the New Jersey Blogger Network.

Easy Bacon Breakfast Pizza

These cheesy bacon pizzas on a crisp flatbread crust are great for breakfast, brunch and even cut into smaller pieces for those super bowl parties coming up.  It’s so easy you will be amazed.  Make some in advance and keep in the fridge up to a week or wrap and keep in the freezer for up to 6 months.

And if you don’t like bacon, turkey bacon is just as delicious! 

Ingredients:

For four individual pizzas

Artisan flatbread (two) 12” x 6” in each package (One flat bread cut in four 3” x 6” pieces)

5 slices thick cut bacon cooked and crumbled (about ½ cup)

1 mild cheddar snack stick

Cheese sauce:

3 tbsps. Butter

3 tbsps. Flour

¾ cup milk

¾ cup shredded Italian cheese blend

Directions:

In a small saucepan melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the flour and whisk together till smooth.  Add the milk and stir.  Continue cooking and stirring until the sauce thickens.  Remove from heat and add the cheese blend stirring well.  Cook on low till all the cheese is melted.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Meanwhile cut the flat bread into the individual pieces.  Cover a cookie sheet with non-stick aluminum foil and place the flat bread pieces on it.  Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. 

Spread a layer of cheese sauce on the flatbread the cheese sauce will be oozy and stringy.  Spread the cheese right up to the edges of the flat bread.  Add crumbled bacon evenly on top of each flat bread pizza. 

Cut a cheddar snack stick into little squares and place about 6 or 7 pieces on each pizza.  Cook in the pre-heated oven for about 30 minutes till the crust is crispy and the cheese is bubbly.

Focus on creative designer Gail, Purple hues and me

For the last few months I’ve had the pleasure of working with craft designer, Gail of purple hues and me.  Let me tell you this gal is so very creative.  She is my kind of person who always thinks outside the box and comes up with the most awesome crafts. 

You really need to head on over to Gail’s blog and check out some of her newest craft tutorials.  You will find fantastic recycled crafts like this Valentine heart that uses a coat hanger and some leftover wrapping paper!!!

Although Gail insists she’s not a cook, she recently added her crockpot lasagna recipe to Bowdabra’s weekly dinner easy segment and let me tell you my mouth is watering just viewing the photos! 

Gail is one of the super creative design team members at Bowdabra blog contributing weekly free crafts, tutorials and recipes. 

Slow cooker beef vegetable soup

What would you love to have on the table when you come home from a cold, snowy winter’s day?  Wouldn’t some hot, delicious beef vegetable soup fit the bill?

Here on the east coast we are bracing ourselves for the first big snow of the season.  Considering I had to turn on my air conditioner this Christmas day, it’s kind of a surprise that here in January (Famous for thaws) they are predicting a blizzard! 

So since I had to go to work today I loaded my slow cooker with the ingredients for a savory beef vegetable soup.  When I came home I had a savory and delicious meal all ready to enjoy. I picked up the cutest little potatoes so I didn’t even have to chop them. If you can’t find them at your local grocer you can just substitute regular potatoes cut into bite sized pieces. This is for a large sized slow cooker.

Mini potatoes

Ingredients:

1 ½ lbs. Sirloin steak cut into bite sized pieces

¾ cup flour

1 tbsp. steak seasoning

2 tbsps. Light Olive oil

2 small zucchini cut into bite sized pieces

1 medium onion, chopped

½ cup sliced carrots

1 ½ lbs. mini potatoes or three medium potatoes cut into bite sized pieces

1-quart beef stock

1 14.5 oz. can fire roasted tomatoes

½ tsp. thyme

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

½ 14 oz. bag frozen soup vegetables

½ cup white rice (optional)

Mix the steak seasoning with the flour.  Dredge the steak pieces in the flour.  Add some oil to a large non-stick skillet and cook the steak on medium heat till browned.  Add the meat to the slow cooker. 

Chop the zucchini, onion, carrots and potatoes and add to the slow cooker.  Add the fire roasted tomatoes, beef stock, thyme, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper.  If you choose to add rice add it now. Cook on low for 8 hours.  About a half an hour before serving add the half bag of frozen soup veggies. 

Serve with biscuits or corn muffins.

Be sure and visit Bowdabra blog for more dinner easy recipes, craft tutorials and more!

Easy and creamy Mac and cheese recipe

The holidays are history.  Now we settle down for the winter.  When the wind is blowing and the flakes are falling the best thing to come home to is warm comfort foods.  When you think of comfort food the first thing that usually comes to mind is Mac and cheese.  Who doesn’t love Mac and cheese?  If you have a picky eater in your house Mac and cheese will have them cleaning their plates. 

Mac and cheese is so quick and easy, simply add an entrée and veggie for a great winter meal.  And with lent right around the corner you will have a perfect dinner solution.

I must note that this is not a diet meal, but you know what they say, anything in moderation right?  And if you want, you can lighten this up by using whole-wheat pasta and low fat cheese.

Ingredients:

6 oz. Velveeta (about ¼ block)

1 lb. elbow macaroni, penne or any shape pasta

½ cup shredded cheddar cheese

4 tbsp. butter

2 tbsp. flour

½ tsp. paprika

Dash of Worcestershire sauce

1-cup milk

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Cook the pasta according to package directions and set aside.  Make the cheese sauce.  In a large pot melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the flour and stir till smooth.  Add the milk whisking to blend in the flour/butter mixture. 

Cut the Velveeta into small squares and add to the milk mixture.  Cook on medium heat till the Velveeta has melted and the mixture is smooth.  Add the cheddar cheese, paprika Worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper.  Continue to cook till all the ingredients have blended and the sauce is smooth and creamy. 

Add the sauce mixture to the cooked pasta stir till blended and serve. 

Note:  If you would like baked macaroni add the pasta and sauce to a baking pan and cover with more shredded cheese.  Bake in a 350-degree oven until the cheese has melted.

Visit Bowdabra blog for more free recipes and easy crafty tutorials!