Tomato and Spinach Pasta Toss

I know that this one doesn't have chicken in it, but I've been meaning to put this up. This is currently my husband's FAVORITE meal. It has been a hit with everyone we've shared it with. You have to try this.

Tomato and Spinach Pasta Toss

12 oz Italian Sausage
6 oz baby spinach leaves
2 1/2 c rotini pasta
2 T Parmesan cheese, grated
1 c mozzarella cheese, grated
14-20 oz diced tomatoes, Italian style

Brown sausage in large nonstick skillet. Drain grease, lower heat, then add tomatoes and spinach to the meat. Heat until spinach is wilted.

Cook pasta according to directions. Drain water.

Add meat mixture and pasta together. Stir, and add both cheeses just before serving. Toss just until mixed through.

Be prepared to be wowed. This stuff is so good. And it's really yummy as leftovers because the noodles absorb the sauce. Oh man, good!!

Szechuan Chicken Noodle Toss

I just made this for my family a couple days ago and we all loved it. Plus it was really easy, so I loved it even more.

Szechuan Chicken Noodle Toss

4 quarts of water
6 oz thin spaghetti
1 pkg (16 oz) frozen oriental vegetables
1 T margarine
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2-inch strips
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/8 t crushed red pepper flakes
1 T canola oil
1/3 c stir fry sauce
3 green onions, chopped

Bring water to a boil, add spaghetti; cook for 4 minutes, then add veggies; cook 3-4 min longer until spaghetti and veggies are tender. Drain. Toss with margarine; set aside and keep warm.

In nonstick skillet, stir-fry the chicken, garlic and red pepper flakes in oil until chicken is no longer pink. Add stir fry sauce; heat through. Add onions and spaghetti mixture; toss to coat.

Yield: 4 servings

Pasta Salad

This is perfect for summer and I am always asked for this simple recipe.

1 16 oz box tri-colored rotini pasta
1 large crown broccoli, chopped
2 thick slices Provalone cheese, cubed
2 thick slices hard salami, cubed
1 can large black olives, sliced
1 16 oz bottle Ken's Italian with Aged Romano salad dressing

Cook pasta till al dente. Rinse with cold water, drain, and pour into large serving bowl and add everything but the dressing. Chill till ready to serve(chill dressing separately). Take dressing bottle and do not shake. Pour off half the oil at the top of the bottle, then shake the rest and pour on pasta till well covered, about half a bottle. Add more dressing if necessary or on leftovers.

This is a very colorful dish and easy to pick stuff out or add stuff in.

Pasta!!

We had this at a friends house recently and it was SO yummy, I'm planning on making it for dinner tonight!

CHICKEN, GARLIC & SUNDRIED TOMATO PASTA   

INGREDIENTS

1 (16 ounce) package farfalle pasta
1/2 cup butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 cooked skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into bite-size pieces (what I usually do is 2 or even 2 ½ large chicken breasts – a little more chicken than what this asks for, and a little less pasta – maybe 12-13 ounces pasta so it is more meaty but the “sauce ratio” is still the same)
1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes, rehydrated in water and chopped into pieces
2 tablespoons grated Romano cheese (I use more, probably about ¼ cup or so)

DIRECTIONS
In a large pot with boiling salted water cook farfalle pasta until al dente. Drain.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a large saucepan. Add garlic cloves and cook until garlic browns. Add the cream of chicken soup and milk, stirring until smooth. Stir in the dried parsley, salt, and ground fresh pepper. Let simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Add bite size chicken pieces and hydrated sun dried tomatoes. Simmer for 6 to 8 minutes. Mix in grated Romano cheese.

Toss cooked and drained pasta with chicken sauce. Serve warm.

Easy Homemade Macaroni & Cheese

I have married a big kid. Frequently when we go out to eat, my husband will still order macaroni and cheese. He loves it. He is always asking me to find a good homemade mac and cheese recipe. I've tried several.

I think this one is one of his favorites. And I made this for the missionaries last time we had them over for dinner and they loved it. (I tripled the batch, and it was ALL gone by the time they were done with it.) This recipe is from Kraftfoods.com.

It is easy, and really good, if you like mac and cheese...

1 can (5 oz.) evaporated milk

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted

1/4 to 1/2 tsp. ground red pepper

1/2 lb. (8 oz.) VELVEETA Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product, cut up

1 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese

2 cups (8 oz.) elbow macaroni, cooked, drained

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Mix milk and eggs in large bowl. Add butter, red pepper, prepared cheese product and Cheddar cheese. Stir in macaroni; mix lightly.

POUR into 1-1/2-quart casserole.

BAKE 20 minutes or until heated through.

Enjoy!

Martha's

Here is my pasta recipe, it is our favorite way to "lasagna" - the recipe is one I've had since college, so it doesn't really give specific measurments, you can just make it up, make more or less as you go. Good luck!!

Brown some hamburger and season with salt and pepper or whatever you want. Garlic, basil? Add some tomato sauce (probably about an 8 oz can) In a big bowl mix cream cheese, cottage cheese, and sour cream - equal parts of all, it is usually small tubs of sour cream and cottage cheese and an 8 oz cream cheese. Oh, don't forget to be cooking some noodles at the same time.

Now, start to layer. Noodles, cream cheese mix, noodles, meat, olives, and grate a little cheddar or parmesan cheese on top. I promise your family and hubby will love this. We can eat almost a whole 9 x 13 pan in one night for dinner!!!

Weekly Ingredient: Pasta

Tomato Soup:

(All ingredients are to size of family... it's a very easy recipe)

Salad Macaroni Noodles (the elbow less ones)

Tomato Juice

Parmesan Cheese

Salt and Pepper

Directions:
Cook noodles to your liking. Add in tomato juice and heat through. Season with cheese and salt and pepper.

Voila!

There's really a trick to this. It never tastes as good if you try to add other things to it. My mother-in-law raised 13 children on this recipe and she swears they wouldn't touch it if she tried anything new. My husband still loves it... and he's 31.

-cannwin

Princess Pasta

I noticed the ingredient this week was parmesan and thought it's about time I posted something on here, so here we go. This is a really yummy dish that a friend mad and since it's simple to make I have loved it ever since. My husband and I enjoy it a lot and there are hardly leftovers. A good side dish for this is some steamed broccoli with lemon. On little side note is that I do not like mushrooms so I don't add them and sometimes I do not have minced onion or parsley on hand so I leave those out and it's still pretty good.

Ingredients:
2 T butter
1 T minced onion
4 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced
1/8 t salt
4 oz. ham, cut in thin strips
1 T fresh parsley, minced
1 pound short pasta such as penne
½ pint whipping cream
1 c grated Parmesan cheese

Melt the butter in a skillet on medium heat. Add onion and sauté it until soft and white. Add mushrooms and salt. When mushrooms are done, stir in the ham and parsley. Remove the skillet from the stove. Cook the pasta and drain completely (do not rinse). Return the pasta
to its pot on medium high heat. Pour in the cream. Stir the pasta until the cream begins to bubble. Add 3/4 cup of the cheese. Blend well and remove the pot from the heat source. Stir in the ham mixture, holding some back for topping. Put the pasta in a serving dish, scraping cream from the sides of the pan. Sprinkle the pasta with remaining cheese and arrange the ham topping in the center. Garnish the pasta with parsley. Enjoy!

EASY Spaghetti

When I first started dating my husband, he lived at home, so I saw his family ALOT. That also meant that I ate dinner with them a lot. His mom makes wonderful spaghetti and after watching her do it time and time again, I finally caught on to why it was so good and how to do it.

Just take a jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce and doll it up! I like to add lots of fresh veggies: peppers, zuchini, grated carrots, etc. Then I always add some cooked ground sausage, and probably about 2-3 T. of brown sugar (depending on how much sauce you have). It is so yummy, it gives it a great flavor, along with the sausage. Then, after I cook the noodles I add some butter or olive oil and sprinkle them with garlic powder and italian herbs/seasoning.

Add some good garlic bread and a salad and dinner is delicious!!!

Easy Manacotti

This recipe was given to me by a member of my new ward here in Charlottesville. I have only made it once so far and we really liked it. It got a little messy in the prep, I think it was mostly because It was my first time. It is a pretty simple recipe to make!

Manacotti

2 C Mozzarella cheese (keep 1/2 C for the top)
16 oz. Cottage cheese
1 10 oz. pkg frozen chopped spinach (defrost in microwave and dry with paper towel)
1/4 C Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 tsp Oregano
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
crushed red pepper (to taste)

Puree above ingredients until smooth (or just hand stir). Place in a big ziploc bag. Cut corner of bag and squeeze into uncooked manacotti shells. Place in 9"x13" baking dish.

You will use one whole package of manacotti shells.

on top pour:
1 jar of pasta sauce
1 C water

Sprinkle 1/2 C mozzarella cheese on top of sauce. Cover tight with foil and bake at 375 for 1 hr or until shells are cooked.

Remove foil to melt cheese, about 10 min.
Serve with bread and a salad.

(This can be frozen well for a make-a-head meal. Just place plastic wrap then foil over the dish to keep fresh. You may have to increase baking time. remember to remove plastic wrap before cooking.)

Lisey's Alfredo

This may not seem like something that I would make when there is nothing else, but for some strange reason I always have parmesan cheese in my freezer and cream in my fridge.
Lisey's Alfredo
Serves 4 (I usually triple the sauce recipe and double the noodles because we like it creamy. We also use bowtie pasta or even elbow macaroni because it is easier for the kids)
Cook 4 oz fettuccini noodles until tender in boiling water. Add 1 tsp oil to the water so the noodles don't stick together. Drain noodles and set aside.
In a saucepan combine:
1/4 C. Butter
1/2 C. cream
1 tsp. Parsley flakes
1/8 tsp Salt.
1/8 tsp. Nutmeg (I don't use this because I don't like it)
1/4 c. Parmesan Cheese
Bring to low boil, simmer for 4-5 min. Toss noodles with sauce vigorously, serve warm :)
I like to also add a grilled chicken breast or 2 and some cooked broccoli for a well rounded meal

I have to make dinner, again?

Now that we are getting nicer weather I have loved being at the park in the afternoons...and so have my kids!! It's fun to ask the other moms..."what are you making tonight?" By the time we get in from the out there's not much time to whip anything extravagant together. So here is a list of dinners that are a cinch to make...hence there are no real recipes attached...just good old easy ideas. I think sometimes it takes me longer to think of what to make than to actually make it. Here's some ideas with things people could have on hand, who spent too long at the park and need to whip something together quickly.


Idea #1--"The Pizza spin-off" English muffins topped with your favorite pizza toppers and baked until the cheese oozes.

Idea #2--"Cheesadillas" Fry a tortilla in a buttered pan with cheese and lunch ham inside (yes, we speak spanish in our house occasionally but for some reason quesadilla just sounds more fun when we call it a cheesadilla with a spanish accent.)

Idea #3--"The mac 'n cheese spin off" Cook some pasta, drain it, add some butter and some Parmesan cheese (NO! NOT THE GREEN CAN OF YUCK...I'm talking real Parmesan cheese grated) while it's still hot.

hmmm...what did everyone eat for dinner tonight?

Orzo Pasta Salad

My sister made this for Lijah's birthday party last summer and it was a hit! Monica can attest to that, right Monica? I learned the hard way that this does not freeze well, so I guess you'll have to eat it all right away. I usually don't have a problem with that.

Kosher salt
Good olive oil
3/4 pound orzo pasta (rice-shaped pasta)
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (3 lemons)
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup minced scallions, white and green parts
1 cup chopped fresh dill
1 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and medium-diced
1/2 cup small-diced red onion
3/4 pound good feta cheese, large diced

Fill a large pot with water, add 1 tablespoon of salt and a splash of oil, and bring the water to a boil. Add the orzo and simmer for 9 to 11 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it's cooked al dente. Drain and pour into a large bowl. Whisk together the lemon juice, 1/2 cup olive oil, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Pour over the hot pasta and stir well.

Add the scallions, dill, parsley, cucumber, onion, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Toss well. Add the feta and stir carefully. Set aside at room temperature for 1 hour to allow the flavors to blend, or refrigerate overnight. If refrigerated, taste again for seasonings and bring back to room temperature before serving.

Chicken Satay Noodles and No Bake Cookies

I was planning on posting this No Bake Cookie recipe all week. But then yesterday we tried out a Rachael Ray recipe that also had peanut butter in it and it was actually pretty good and not too hard. So I figured I could put up the cookie one and the link to the Rachael Ray recipe.
So for Cold Chicken Satay Noodles click below:

Cold Chicken Satay Noodles Recipe

I left out the scallions and the cilantro and it was great! And I just noticed on the recipe that the last 2 steps are in the wrong order. You're supposed to add the tamari, garlic, etc. before the oil and noodles, etc.

And now... this is one of my favorite cookie recipes! They are so good and way too easy to make! And the recipe says the peanut butter is optional but I can't imagine them being as good if you leave it out.

No Bake Cookies
2 C sugar
1/4 C cocoa
1/2 C butter
1/2 C milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
3 C oats
1/2 C peanut butter (optional)

Mix sugar, cocoa, butter and milk in large saucepan. Bring to boil. Remove from heat. Let cool for 1 minute. Add remaining ingredients and stir well. Drop spoonful sized balls onto waxed paper. Let cool maybe 30 min before ready to eat.
Hint: When bringing to a boil, let top get all bubbly. Add oatmeal last. If runny, add more oatmeal, no more than a cup extra.

Tortellini Soup

Here's my favorite pasta soup recipe. My kids even eat the tomatoes and spinach (usually), so that should speak for itself! It's also my sneaky way to introduce you to another favorite site, Domestication in Progress. It was started by an LDS girl, and it's all recipes with photos. YUM!

Olive Garden Pasta

You will die at the calories that go into this, but it is so yummy. And supposedly, it is from the olive garden. I only make this occasionally, but when I do, we always love it. I like to add peas or broccoli, and of course, crumbled bacon on top.

1 8oz. pkg. cream cheese
1 stick butter
3/4 c. parmesan cheese
1/2 c. milk
10 oz. pasta

Melt butter, cream cheese, and milk all together. Stir in cheese, and toss with noodles. I found it works best to stir constantly on a low heat setting, that way the cheese and butter don't separate as much. Enjoy!... And try not to think about the calories you are eating!

Pasta and Meatball soup

This one is more soup than pasta - but it has pasta in it so it fits the bill. Just throw it all in the pot and relax!

Pasta and Meatball soup

1 cup spiral pasta
1 lb meatballs
29oz vegetable broth
28 oz diced tomatoes
1 ½ cup frozen sliced carrots
16 oz kidney beans
14 oz spaghetti sauce
4.5 oz sliced mushrooms
1 cup frozen peas
water

Cook pasta
Combine all ingredients except the frozen peas in a Dutch oven
Bring to a boil
Reduce heat and simmer 20-30 minutes
Add the frozen peas during the last 5 minutes or so
Add water to thin it out if you like a thinner soup

*brown meatballs well before adding to Dutch oven

Herbed Chicken Fettuccine

This is SO good! I love pretty much all pasta, but this is probably my favorite thing that I cook. It looks harder than it is, so definitely give it a try!

1 to 2 t. seasoned salt
1 t. poultry seasoning (I've never actually used this ingredient)
1 lb. diced chicken breasts
2 t. olive oil
4 T. butter (divided)
2/3 c. water
2 T teriyaki sauce
2 T onion soup mix
1 envelope Savory Herb with Garlic Soup Mix (Lipton)(divided)
8-12 oz. fettuccine
2 T Parmesan cheese
1 T worchestire sauce

Combine seasoned salt and poultry seasoning, sprinkle over chicken. Saute chicken in oil and 2 T butter for 5 minutes. Add water, teriyaki sauce, onion soup mix and 2 T herb and garlic soup mix. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer (covered) for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, cook fettuccine and drain. Add pasta to chicken mixture. Add cheese, worchestire sauce, remaining butter, and remaining herb and garlic soup mix. Toss to coat.

**We also love this pasta with the Lipton's Onion and Mushroom Soup Mix instead of the Herb and Garlic. Both are delicious! I also love these soup mixes to cook mixed vegetables (tossed with olive oil) in the oven for 30 minutes at 350. Yummm!

Simply Lasagna

Okay, so for my hamburger recipe I'm just doing a link to the Kraft recipe that our family loves for an easy lasagna. What's great about this recipe is that you don't have to cook the noodles before putting them into the lasagna, so it save a lot of time and in my case a lot of scorch-marks on your fingers!

With this fun idea for a weekly ingredient, you'll probably figure out that I'm addicted to Kraft recipes. We get a quarterly (free!) magazine with their recipe ideas and it has been a fun way for me to try new things. If you're interested, check out this magazine online.

Baked Spaghetti

Here's mine. I love this stuff but it's got brown sugar in it so how could it not be good? And we are not huge onion or celery fans over here so I always leave those out and I just add more green pepper.

Baked Spaghetti

Ingredients:
8 oz spaghetti, cooked
1 ½ lbs hamburger
1 large onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1-2 stocks celery, chopped (optional)
1 16 oz can stewed tomatoes
16 oz ketchup
3 T brown sugar

Brown hamburger, onion, green pepper and celery in skillet. Salt and pepper to taste. Mix in spaghetti, tomatoes, ketchup and sugar and pour into large pan. Bake

Temp- 400 degrees
Bake Time- 30 min
Serves- 6-8