Million $ Spaghetti

I'm about to change your life!  Seriously! 

Okay, so if you are crazy about health foods you probably should exit off of this recipe right now.  Though we do eat healthier, this is a special treat to wow your taste buds!  I found an original recipe on pinterest, but as always, tweaked it and made it my own!  Give it a whirl, you won't be sorry you did!

What I used:
1 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
8oz. cream cheese (best if used at room temperature)
spaghetti noodles
spaghetti sauce (I made my own recipe for this but a jar of it would be fine I'm sure)
butter

Pre-heat your oven to 350* and get water boiling in a pot for your pasta while you brown your ground beef.  Once your meat is browned add your sauce.  I use two cans of tomato sauce, and season with cilantro, basil, and garlic.... so yummy! 

While your pasta is cooking get your cream cheese in the kitchen aid and beat it with your sour cream and cottage cheese.  Mix until your cream cheese mixture is smooth.  Get out a baking dish, I used a dish smaller than a 9x13 because we didn't need to make a batch that big!  Put a few tablespoons of butter in the bottom of the dish and then pour your cream cheese mixture on top of it.  Then pour your cooked and drained pasta on top of the cream cheese mixture and add a few more tablespoons of butter.  Last, pour your meat mixture on top of the noddles.  Do not mix, just layer it all.

Place in the oven and bake for 30 min.  

Remove from oven and serve. 

Seriously guys, this is A-MA-ZING! 

Photo courtesy of this blogger!

From my kitchen to yours, ENJOY!

Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta

So I have a new love for a website....it is complete with so many meal ideas that I am just going nuts enjoying all the new recipes!!  When I saw this one I knew I needed to try it.  Sooooo, we had it for dinner the other day :)  I switched up the recipe I found and here's how I made it.  Just so you know, it was a HUGE hit! :)

What I used:

1 lb. Pasta (You can use many different kinds if you so choose.)
1 cup Chicken Breasts, cooked and cubed
1 cup bacon, cooked and cut up
1 1/2 cups Milk
8 oz. Cream Cheese (softened)
2 Tbsp. Garlic Powder
2 cups Mozzarella cheese, shredded
Salt
Pepper
Dash of Seasoned salt
1 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/2 cup Butter, melted

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add the pasta; cook until al dente.  Drain and return to the pot. While Pasta is cooking go ahead and cook your chicken and bacon.  Add in the chicken and bacon to your pasta and mix well.

Preheat your broiler. In a medium saucepan, combine the milk, cream cheese and garlic powder over low-medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until it becomes a smooth texture (about 5 minutes). Stir into the pasta mixture. Add in the Mozzarella cheese and seasoned salt along with salt and pepper to taste.

Transfer pasta to a 9x13 baking dish and top with Italian bread crumbs. Pour melted butter over crumbs and broil until browned, around 5 minutes or so. 

Photo credit  

From my kitchen to yours, enjoy!

Rolled up lasagna

This is a GREAT recipe to make when you have company.  It is one of those recipes that can easily be added to for having extra people over.  It is lasagna with a twist!

What I used:
1lb ground beef
10 lasagna noodles, uncooked
1 jar green pepper and mushroom spaghetti sauce
1 package cream cheese, softned
1 1/4 cup cheese, shredded

Get your water boiling for your pasta and start browning your beef.  Once your water is ready add pasta and let cook until softened. 
Once meat is browned add 1/2 of sauce and all of cream cheese.  Cook until creamy.
In a glass baking dish, spray with non-stick cooking spray and spread just a small amount of sauce from jar into bottom of dish.  Once pasta is cooked and cooled a bit lay out each noodle and spread enough meat mixture onto each noodle to cover the noodle, top with a small amount of cheese and roll up.  Place in baking dish and once all the noodles are rolled up and placed in dish, top with remaining sauce and cheese.
Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 20 min.  Remove foil and cook a remaining 10 minutes. 
Before being cooked this is what it would look like.

The finished product.....Sooooooo yummy!

Southwest Chicken and Pasta Skillet

If I had to sum up this recipe in one word it would be flavorful!  Having not tried this recipe before myself I was a bit skeptical but with some tweaking (of course!) it turned out SUPER tasty! 

What I used:
1 chicken breast, cut up
2 cups elbow pasta, uncooked
1 24oz. jar salsa
4 oz. cream cheese, cubed
1/4 tsp. ground sage
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 cup Mexican style shredded cheese

Get your water boiling for your pasta and while the water is boiling, instead of watching it boil, start cutting up your chicken.

Spray pan with cooking spray and begin to cook chicken over med/high heat.  Cook until no longer pink.

Add jar of salsa, sage, cream cheese and taco seasoning.  Bring to boil and turn low to simmer stirring every now and then.

Don't forget about your pasta!  Make sure it is boiling!

Once pasta is ready, drain and add pasta to salsa mixture.  Mix well and top with cheese.

Super duper tasty and the great thing about this meal is that it does not require the oven to be turned on thus not heating up the house on those already warm days! 

From our table to yours, bon appetite!

Next Day Spaghetti

This dish is SO tasty!!

What I used:
Spaghetti noodles
Ragu roasted garlic spaghetti sauce
1 jar of cheese sauce
3 chicken tenders cut up, cooked
Parmesan cheese

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Cook your spaghetti noodles. Put the cheese, sauce, chicken, parmesan cheese and pasta in a ziploc bag. Mix up well. Pour into a 9" sprayed pie plate. Bake for 20 min.

From our table to yours, bon appetite!

Pasta Salad

With the summer months right at our front door it is the perfect time to bring on the salads! Not just green salads, but all kinds of salads such as this Pasta Salad! I started out following a recipe, but ended up switching a few things around! So you can click here for the original recipe, or you can follow the one I did below!

What I used:
1 cup miracle whip dressing

1/4 cup Light Zesty Italian Dressing

2 cups elbow macaroni, cooked, drained

1/2 cup of colby and monterey jack cheese, grated very finely

1 cup mixed veggies, cooked and drained

1/2 cup chopped red peppers

Mix your dressings together then add all the other ingredients. Be sure to mix it all up well. Cover and refrigerate 30 min. to an hr. before serving.

From our table to yours, bon appetite!

photo comes from Kraftfoods.com

Penne Chicken Bake

Looking for a great meal to serve to company? This is a great tasting and beautiful looking pasta and chicken bake!

What I used:
1 1/2 cups penne pasta, uncooked
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
1 tsp. dried basil leaves
3/4 jar Ragu Roasted Garlic spaghetti sauce
1/2 red pepper, cut up
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
2 oz. cream cheese
1 cup colby and montery jack cheese

Preheat oven to 375. Cook pasta according to package directions. While your pasta is cooking, cook up your chicken in a non-stick skillet. Add your basil, pepper, spaghetti sauce and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Simmer on low heat for 3 min. or until the chicken is done. Stir in your cream cheese.
Drain your pasta. In a 2qt. casserole dish pour your pasta and your chicken mixture along with 1/2 cup of cheese. Mix well. Bake 20 min. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses and bake 3 min. longer.

From our table to yours, bon appetite!

Weeknight Lasagna Toss

Talk about one easy lasagna recipe! The oven ready noodles make it even more easy! It really doesn't take all that long to make and you can be sitting down to eat with your family within 30 min. or so. This is another Kraft Foods recipe and it is tried and true!

What the recipe called for:

1 lb. lean ground beef

2 green peppers, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 jar (26 oz.) spaghetti sauce

1-2/3 cups water

1/4 cup Zesty Italian Dressing

12 oven-ready lasagna noodles, broken into quarters

1 cup Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese
Actually, I even added cottage cheese to this and it added a little more pizazz!

BROWN meat in large saucepan; drain.

ADD peppers, garlic, spaghetti sauce, water and dressing; bring to boil. Stir in noodles; cover.

COOK on medium-low heat 10 to 15 min. or until noodles are tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Sprinkle with cheese; cover. Let stand 5 min. or until cheese is melted.

From our table to yours, bon appetite!

Angel Hair Al Fresco

What a wonderful light meal this is! It is a quick dish and can easily be paired up with some veggies and bread! I made cornbread with this particular meal.

What I used:
2 boxes Pasta Roni Angel Hair Pasta with herbs
1 Can tuna
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 Tbsp. dried basil

Make your Pasta Roni according to directions. Once you are ready to add your pasta, add your tuna, tomatoes and basil as well. Return to a boil; reduce heat to med. Boil, uncovered, stirring frequently, 6-8 minutes. Sauce will be thin, but will thicken upon standing. Let it stand about 3 min. or until the sauce is thick enough for your liking.

From our table to yours, bon appetite!

Favorite Lasagna Recipe

Ok, we all know how lasagna can take FOREVER to make, right? Well, it doesn't have to anymore!! With this recipe you can have it made up in as quickly as 30 min.!! No joke! I served it up tonight and it was a huge hit! I made Lima Beans and home made garlic bread on the side. It was delicious!

What I used:
1 lb. ground venison (you can use beef if you want)
1 can (large size) of spaghetti sauce with mushrooms
6 no need to boil ahead of time lasagna noodles
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 Carton of small curd cottage cheese, the large carton

Preheat oven to 350. Brown your meat. Place a small amount of sauce in the bottom of a baking dish. I used a smaller dish than a 9x13 but you can change up the recipe and dish size according to your family size. Layer three noodles then add more sauce, meat, cheddar cheese and cottage cheese. Repeat layer again and end with shredded cheese on the top. No need to cover, just put in the oven for 30 min. tops and there you have it! I was a little leery about using the no need to boil noodles, simply because I had never used them before. However, I am pleased to tell you they work so great and take away the hastle of boiling noodles then dealing with hot noodles as you place them in your dish!

From our table to yours, bon appetite!

Easy Pasta Dish

The other day I really wasn't feeling well and wanted to fix something that didn't have much of an aroma :) I remembered a simple dish I had while in college, so you KNOW it must be inexpensive if a college student can afford it!!

What I used:
Bow Tie pasta (you can use any pasta though)
butter
Parmesan Cheese

Get your water rumbling and boil that pasta! Once it is tender drain and put in enough butter to coat the noodles. Once noodles are coated you can sprinkle on the parmesan cheese enough to coat. You can also add something like crab or shrimp if you so choose. It is a light easy meal that doesn't hurt the budget one bit!

From our table to yours, bon appetite!

Primavera Beefy Pasta

I wasn't really sure what to call this dish, but that name sounds pretty sophisticated to me! It was one of those recipes that started out as one thing but because of my love for "tweaking" it became something totally else! My hubby RAVED about it so it must have turned out pretty decent :)

What I used:
1 lb. ground beef
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 cup (or so) of Zesty Italian dressing
A sprinkling of Mozz. cheese
A sprinkling of Cheddar cheese
Pasta (any small kind you wish really) I used the kind that looks like mini lasagna noodles because they were cute! :)

Get your water going for the pasta. Brown your ground beef then add your garlic and saute together. Add your dressing and tomatoes. Once it is all heated through and your noodles are cooked and drained mix it all together. Sprinkle on your cheeses and a dash of salt if you wish. There you have it!

From our table to yours, bon appetite!

Cheesy Stuffed Shells

These are so full of flavor! They make a perfect meal for company of anytime! It really is not that time consuming to make and the taste in the end makes it all worth it!

What I used:
One carton of cottage cheese (the tall size)
25 jumbo pasta shells
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
dash of Italian seasoning
1 cup peas
1 can spaghetti sauce

Bring water to a boil and cook pasta. While pasta is cooking combine all your cheeses, Italian seasoning and peas. Pour half of your sauce in the bottom of your baking dish. Once your pasta is cooked and cooled begin filling the shells about 3/4 of the way full. Place in baking dish and pour the rest of your sauce over the top. Cover with foil and cook for 20 min. at 350. Uncover and cook 5 min. longer. You can add more Mozz. cheese at this point if you wish.

From our table to yours, bon appetite!

Tortellini

We had this meal last night and it was so wonderful!

What I used:
2 pkgs. Tortellini
Your favorite pasta sauce, I used Ragu Parmesan Cheese and Moz. sauce (warmed up)

Yup, that is all! This is stuffed pasta and everything you need is right in the pasta shell already! I have yet to learn how to make this homemade, so the package works for me! All you have to do is boil the pasta for 12-14 min., drain and put your favorite pasta sauce over it and your meal is ready to serve! Enjoy!

From our table to yours, bon appetite!