Lasagna Soup

I don't know about where you live...but the weather here is so totally up and down! Chilly, jacket wearing weather followed up by searing humidity.
Huh?
I don't know how to dress, I certainly don't know what to cook!
One night it's comfort food for chilly winds, the next night we don't even want to turn the oven on because it's sticky and humid.

I am such a fall/winter person that I am LOVING when we get the chilly weather.
So into stews, chowders, casseroles...all the comfort foods that the fall bring.

What is your favorite comfort food?



Ingredients:

2 Tsp Olive oil

1 ½ Lbs Italian sausage (bulk)

2 Onions (diced)

4 Garlic cloves (minced)

2 Tsp Oregano

½ Tsp Red pepper flakes

2 Tbsp Tomato paste

1 (28 oz) Can diced tomatoes

6 Cups Chicken broth

2 Bay Leaves

8 oz Rotini pasta

½ Cup Basil (finely chopped)

8 oz Ricotta

½ Cup Parmesan (grated)

½ Tsp Salt

Pepper (to taste)

2 Cups Mozzarella (shredded)

Directions:

1. In large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat

2. Add sausage and saute, breaking into small pieces

3. Cook until sausage is no longer pink

4. Drain any excess fat

5. Add onions and saute until softened

6. Add garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes

7. Add tomato paste and saute until it turns a rusty brown

8. Add diced tomato (undrained), chicken broth, and bay leaves

9. Bring soup to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes

10. Add pasta, increase heat to boil, and cook as long as directed on pasta package

11. Discard bay leaves, add basil

12. Add salt and pepper to taste

13. To each bowl add some ricotta and parmesan

14. Ladle the soup into the bowl

15. Top with mozzarella

Print

Yup, left out my basil. Whoops!

Ricotta and Parmesan in the bowl

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Shrimp and Pasta Casserole

I cannot believe how long I have been "gone". Seriously, it went in the blink of an eye.
My last post re-hashed my fabulous experience with my first kidney stone.
Gah.
I would like to never do that again.

Since then, it has been a whirlwind of not-so-spectacular experiences.
Nobody needs to hear about that though.

We did have some really great stuff going on too!
My (not so little) cousin turned 21 and we got to have some fun.
Another cousin graduated college with a double major.
Hired some great new employees at work.

I'm OK (if you wondered) I truly just did not realize how long I had been gone!
Back to it!!



Ingredients:

1 ½ Lb Shrimp

1 (16oz) jar Salsa

1 (9oz) Box Angel hair pasta

1 Tsp Dried oregano

1 Tsp Dried basil

1 Tsp Crushed red pepper

⅓ Cup Parsley (chopped)

⅓ Cup Feta cheese

½ Cup Swiss cheese (grated)

1 Cup Plain yogurt

1 ½ Cup Half and Half

2 Eggs

½ Cup Monterrey Jack cheese (grated)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350

2. Cook pasta per package directions. Drain and set aside.

3. In large bowl, combine eggs, half & half, yogurt, swiss cheese, feta cheese, parsley, basil, and oregano

4. Grease a 9 x 13 pan

5. Spread half of the pasta on the bottom of the dish

6. Pour all the salsa over the pasta

7. Add half the shrimp

8. Top with monterrey jack cheese

9. Add remaining pasta

10. Top with remainder of the shrimp

11. Pour egg mixture over the top

12. Bake 35-40 minutes or until bubbly

Print

Adapted from: Kitchen Life of the Navy Wife

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Pierogi Casserole

I feel like I have been MIA for the last few weeks. Not much blogging going on.

I'm hoping I can get back in to it starting now. I miss talking to you all!
Like I said last time...my world was switching to a better place. It still is...but it took a small detour.
Been down this road before, we will get through it.


I had my first free weekend in years. Two days of no plans.
Saturday we ran a few errands.
Since I was going to be home, I made plans to actually make some lunch. Hubby threw a wrench when he wasn't hungry. Sigh.
Just did gooey nachos for dinner though as we were watching a movie.
(The Dark Tower. I do not recommend it. As a lover of the series, I died a little on the inside)

Sunday we have some more errands, but decided to make it a family day and enjoy a little lunch. The three of us rarely have the same time off, so we took advantage.

Tomorrow will start a week of insanity for me, but, a relaxing weekend will certainly help deal with that.
How is your week looking?



Ingredients:

¾ LB Lasagna noodles (cooked and drained)

¾ Cup butter

5 Cups Mashed potato (cooked)

12 Slices cheddar cheese

2 Large onions (minced)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Melt butter and saute onions until tender

3. Place half of the cooked noodles into the bottom of a 9x13 pan

4. Place 6 slices of cheese on noodles

5. Add mashed potato, spreading evenly

6. Top with noodles

7. Add remaining cheese

8. Poke holes in cheese layer

9. Pour butter/onion mixture over top

10. Bake 15 minutes, or until cheese is slightly browned

Print

I used instant potato just for the ease factor, but please feel free to make extra the next time you have some with dinner. Steam and Mash should work well too. Just seasoned with butter, salt, and pepper, didn't want to distract from the simplicity of this meal.

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Adapted from: Moms Who Think

Sour Cream Noodle Bake

Hubby and I ran to Target yesterday to pick up some necessities...and all those random items that somehow make their way into the cart.

We were walking down the main aisle at the back of the store and I saw two kids, a girl and boy. Both young, he might have been 5-ish and she maybe 7.
She was standing on the bar at the base of the cart, leaning over the handlebar and he was pushing. He was too short to see over the handle, so she was directing "straight" " a little left" etc.

Passed them and kept on going.
Next thing I hear is a crash and hubby sort of yelling out "Ow! you didn't have to do that!"
I turned around and he was bent over, grabbing his ankle.
The kids had rammed him with the cart. Whoops.

Dad was headed our way.

Here's the part that gets me.
Sadly, in this day and age, my first thought was "oh man, this guy is going to come have a fit that hubby said anything to his precious babies".
So many times now, it's never the kid's fault, and heaven forbid the parent take blame for not watching them.
Then my second thought (as the poor dad was watching gimpy husband and looking at me with wide eyes) was....holy schnikes, he's afraid we are going to sue. (once again, it's the effect of this day and age)
All these thoughts took less than 10 seconds.

Then, I felt totally guilty for all my thoughts because all Dad was concerned about was if hubby was OK, explaining to his kids why this was wrong, and trying to get the little one to apologize.

Hubby has a very deep voice, and when it (rarely) gets raised, it's a scary sound. The little boy was so shy and nervous that he refused to apologize. Understand. Loud voices are super scary to little people.
Hubby looked at the kids and said "it's OK. I got hurt, but it will go away", which I think relaxed the little girl a bit.
Then he joked around with the dad a second about rubbing mud into it and walking it off.

I was proud of the other dad for making his kids aware they did wrong.
I was proud of hubby for biting his lip and joking with the family.
I was proud of everyone for just realizing that kids will do silly things, they certainly didn't mean to hurt anyone. 
More than anything, my faith has been a slight bit restored. Not everyone is "my kids do no wrong" ridiculous.
Hubby has an ugly bruise, but that will go away, everyone involved will remember this little moment that we all feared would be so much worse, worked out just fine.

'Tis the season...remember that in everything you experience.



Ingredients:

1 ¼ Lb Ground beef

15 oz Tomato sauce

½ Tsp Salt

Ground black pepper

8 oz Egg noodles

½ Cup Sour Cream

1 ¼ Cup Small curd cottage cheese

½ Cup sliced green onion

1 Cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Brown meat in a large skillet, drain fat

3. Add tomato sauce, ½ Tsp salt and pepper to taste

4. Cook egg noodles until al dente, drain and set aside

5. In medium bowl, combine sour cream and cottage cheese

6. Add plenty of pepper

7. Add noodles to sour cream mixture, add green onions

8. Add half of noodles to a 9x13 baking dish

9. Top with half of the meat mixture

10. Sprinkle on half of the grated cheese

11. Repeat

12. Bake 20 minutes

Print

Adapted from: Tasty Kitchen

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Spaghetti with Broccoli Pesto

My magazine swapping friend handed me a copy of All You magazine one day.
I flipped through, per usual, and came across this recipe.

Maybe we be weird type folks, but Hubby and I love us some broccoli. Even the girl child has always loved broccoli.
(grammar nazis...I know, I know...but it just felt right to say it that way!)

As I am one of those deprived wives, I have no food processor. (sigh) Anyone else out there have this problem?
If so, I was able to do this in my blender just fine! I just did it in batches, adding some oil and garlic in with each batch of broccoli.

Oh the garlic smell is delicious.
The broccoli and Parmesan paired perfectly!
I have leftovers in the fridge...I might need some now, hey, it's veggie, right?! Good for you and all that stuff!

Ingredients:

Salt and Pepper

1 Lb broccoli stems and florets (chopped into 1 inch pieces)

1 Lb spaghetti

¼ Cup olive oil

1 Clove garlic (minced)

½ Cup heavy cream

1 Cup grated Parmesan

Directions:

1. Bring large pot of salted water to boil

2. Add broccoli and cook until soft

3. Remove with a slotted spoon and add to food processor

4. Add spaghetti to pot and cook to al dente

5. Add olive oil and garlic to broccoli and process until smooth

6. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in heavy cream and parmesan

7. Season to taste with salt and pepper

8. Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup cooking water

9. Mix pasta with pesto adding water 1 Tbsp at a time if pesto seems to dry

Print

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Farfelle with Kale and Bacon

I really really did!!

OMGosh guys...

I skipped one week of blogging and it turned into two before I knew it!

I knew I was going to be busy for awhile...but it just steamrolled as this sort of stuff tends to do.

My birthday just passed, hubby took me out for a nice breakfast and a day of putzing around in stores with him and my mother in law. He even bought me a gorgeous cast iron pan...so excited!

My mother in law went into the hospital a couple of days later to have her knee replaced. She had one done a couple of years ago and is very happy with the results. 

Hubby and I took a mini vacation with my aunt and uncle, just a weekend away, but it was so nice! A couple of the cousins (4...so more than a couple) decided to join us, and then friends came up for the day as well. We celebrated one of the younger cousin's birthday while together.

On the way home, the girl child called me to let me know she was stranded on the side of the road. The brakes on her car went.

Sadly, this is not the first time this has happened to her!

When she was learning to drive, it happened while driving hubby's truck. On the plus side, I think she was a little more prepared than most when it happened. She found a great place to pull over and was able to tell us exactly where she was. We were two states away, which stunk...but my amazing sister in law and brother in law dropped everything to go get her for us.

We limped her car to the shop...and got a flat tire in the meantime. 

Craziness I tell ya!

A couple of days later, she was driving hubby's truck (as hers is still in the shop) and called to say it wasn't turning over. Turn the key...nothing. Sigh. Hubby was walking out the door to go get her and he had a thought and called her back

Hubby: "so...it was dark when you drove this morning, did you, by chance, leave your lights on?"

Girl Child: "oh...um, yes I did"

One jump start later and she was on her way home.

I was getting text messages about this as I am sitting in a work-required BLS certification class.

(yes, I did pass in case you are interested)

My mother in law's discharge was delayed due to a random phantom pain in her ankle (ultrasound showed nothing) and a teeny tiny fever. Just by a day, but she was bummed. 

She's home now and loving life. 

Off today to visit her and bring her some of her faves, just because.

Asparagus Soup

Baked Beans

Long story short....
I'm BAAAAAACK
Missed ya!

Ingredients:

8 oz Farfelle (Bow Ties)

5 Cups kale (torn to bite size)

5 Bacon slices (cooked)

1 Tbsp bacon drippings

⅓ Cup sun dried tomatoes (rough chopped)

¼ Tsp red chili pepper flakes

5 Cloves garlic (minced)

Salt

Parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions:

1. Cook pasta until almost al dente

2. With 2 minutes remaining, add kale to pasta water

3. Reserve ½ cup pasta water

4. Drain pasta kale mix

5. Add bacon drippings to a skillet

6. Add sun dried tomatoes, chili flakes, and garlic

7. Stir about a minute, or until garlic is golden brown

8. Add pasta and kale to skillet, pour in enough cooking water to ensure pasta will not be dry

9. Crumble bacon into skillet, toss to combine

10. Add salt to taste

11. Top with Parmesan if desired

Print

Adapted from Iowa Girl Eats

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