Tortellini Chili & Cheesy Fondue Bread

Posted on November 4, 2013 by Mom of 4

Did you all have a fun weekend? We don’t love Halloween and all that surrounds it, but we do love to dress up! So, we either head to Fall Fest at church, or we go see family members … Continue reading →

Lasagna Style Rigatoni Bake with Sour Cream Cheesy Bread

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Mom of 4

I started with a recipe for Baked Ziti, and somehow ended up with this delicious casserole we dubbed “Lasagna Style Rigatoni Bake”.

I think Rigatoni is a VERY under used noodle, and I am proud to give it a day to SHINE. Rigatoni are the big, fat, round noodles that look like tubes. They hold all kinds of yummy bits of cheese and sauce when you use it in a bake like this.

Lasagna Style Rigatoni Bake

{click title for printable}

FOR THE MEAT SAUCE:

1 pound Sausage
1 pound Hamburger
1 whole Onion, Chopped
6 cloves Garlic, Pressed
28 ounces, weight Peeled, Crushed Tomatoes
2 cans (14 Oz Each) Tomato Sauce
1 teaspoon Oregano
¾ teaspoons Each Rosemary And Thyme
½ teaspoons Red Pepper Flakes
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Fresh Ground Pepper
2 teaspoons Garlic Powder

FOR THE NOODLES:

1 box (16oz) Rigatoni Noodles, Cooked
16 ounces, weight Tub Of Cottage Cheese
5 ounces, fluid Philidelphia Italian Herb And Cheese Cooking Creme
2-½ teaspoons Italian Seasoning
1 whole Egg
½ cups Shredded Parmesan Cheese
2-½ pounds Of Freshly Shredded Mozzarella Cheese {Shredding Fresh Is SO Much Better Than The Pre-shredded Stuff!}
Dried Parsley, For Garnish

In a large family sized skillet or stock pot, cook sausage and beef with onions and garlic. Drain most of the grease.
Add canned tomatoes, tomato sauce and seasonings. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes to meld flavors while you boil, drain and cool water rinse your Rigatoni noodles.
In a large, separate bowl, combine cottage cheese, cooking creme, one egg, Italian seasoning, parmesan cheese and 2 cups of the mozzarella cheese. Stir in noodles.
Spray an oversized 10×14 baking dish, and over flow to a 2 qt casserole dish. That is because this dish is ALMOST too big for a 10×14, and rather than overflow it, we will make 2 dishes, one large and one small.

Spread a layer of almost half the cheese covered noodles into main pan. Next, spread nearly 1/2 of the meat sauce, top this layer with mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers, ending with more cheese. Scrape remaining cheese covered noodles and sauce into your 1 qt baking dish, and top with mozz cheese.

Sprinkle with dried parsley for pretty over the tops of both.

Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted. Pop the second pan into the fridge for an easy later day lunch, or run it next door to your favorite shut in.

Serve with Sour Cream Cheesy Bread and a big salad.

What is Sour Cream Cheesy Bread, you ask?

Well, it’s so gooey, creamy and rich, it makes me weak in the knees! YUMMO.

This recipe comes from my childhood, my pastor’s wife made it for us one time, and it was love at first BITE!

Please forgive me, I may or may not have forgotten the bread in the oven, and it may or may not look a little bit “DONE” in the photo. Boo.

Don’t burn yours, mk? Just set a timer. I did not, because I knew it would only be a moment until the cheese was perfect.

Moment here, gone and good bye soft bread.

Oops.

Sour Cream Cheesy Bread

{click title to print}

1 loaf Of Whole Wheat French Bread
2 cups Colby Jack Cheese
8 ounces, weight Sour Cream
½ sticks Butter, Softened
Garlic Salt, to taste

Slice french bread loaf in half. Spread each side to the edge with softened butter, then sprinkle with a generous amount of garlic salt.
Next, spread a nice layer of sour cream to the edge, and sprinkle with cheese.
Bake at 350* for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted. {set a timer!}

Dig in!

Savory Baked Spaghetti, again?

Posted on October 28, 2011 by Mom of 4

Well, this is just plain embarrassing. I spend all this time preparing this blog post for you, only to realize……

I’ve already blogged this recipe.

What?

I suppose, it was bound to happen sooner or later, as much stuff as I have going on in my brain at all times. Jeepers. On the bright side, at LEAST I made it to the year mark before the first recipe repeat happened. 🙂

I suppose this will start to happen more and more as the blog grows. Plus, there are recipes that come up annually by season, so maybe this is something that I start doing regularly, you know, like a recipe flash back? A blast from the past? Maybe a Flashback Friday or something? Hmm, I’ll think on that.

Anyhow, I bet you’ll forgive my repeat once you make this! It’s GOOOOOD!!!! If you know me, you know I don’t like to repeat recipes much, but this one gets put in the rotation between new recipes.

SAVORY BAKED SPAGHETTI

A delicious alternative to plain old spaghetti . . . think lasagna style! Super easy and super good flavor!

Ingredients

16 ounces, weight Spaghetti Noodles
1 pound Ground Italian Sausage
4 cloves Garlic, Pressed
1 whole Onion, Chopped
1 jar (26 Oz. Jar) Meatless Spaghetti Sauce
½ teaspoons Seasoned Salt
5 Tablespoons Butter, Melted
2 whole Eggs
⅓ cups Grated Parmesan Cheese
Italian Seasoning, to taste
2 cups Small Curd Cottage Cheese (Only 2 people in our family even like cottage cheese, but TRUST me, it just adds moisture, don’t skip it!)
4 cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese (Freshly Shredded Is Best!)

Preparation Instructions

Cook spaghetti noodles according to package directions; then drain and rinse with cool water. Set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium heat, cook meat, garlic cloves and onions until meat is no longer pink. Drain grease if necessary. Stir in a jar of spaghetti sauce and seasoned salt and set aside.

In the now empty spaghetti noodle pot, melt 5 Tablespoons of butter over low heat. Remove from heat. Add eggs, whisk. Stir in parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning to taste. Add drained spaghetti to the egg mixture. Toss to coat.

Place half of the spaghetti mix in a greased 9 x 13 pan. Top with half the cottage cheese, half the meat sauce and half of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers once.

Cover and bake at 350F for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake 20-25 minutes more or until cheese is melted.

Dig in!

See that Ooey-gooey Cheesy Bread in the back of the photo?

BEST. BREAD. EVER.

And super easy too, this is one of those “Non-recipe” recipes with no measurements, just shake, schmear and spread to your liking.

EASY CHEESY BREAD

Leftover hamburger buns, or whole wheat french loaf, cut in half

Spread each half with butter and a generous amount of Garlic salt.

Spread with a nice layer of sour cream.

Sprinkle with your favorite shredded cheese, like Colby Jack or Mexican Blend.

Bake 350* for 10 minutes or until melted.

DEEEEEEEEEEEEELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!

Mmmm!

P.S. May I just take a moment to point out, that although this is not my finest food photograph moment, the Savory Spaghetti Bake photo taken for this post is still much improved over the one from last year, thankyouverymuch?

THEN: