Minestrone Casserole

I LOVE minestrone soup, but it isn't really soup season...although soup would be good at anytime. But I saw this on $5 dinners last week and thought it was perfect! I did alter it a bit, because I was missing some of the ingredients, but you can put anything you like it in as far as veggies go and also came together fast!

Minestrone Casserole-adapted from $5 Dinners
3 Italian Sausage links, casing removed
2 cups beans(I used small white beans)
1-2 cups sliced zucchini(mine was pre-cooked)
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 tbsp italian seasoning
2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/2 lb egg noodles, cooked(or pasta of your choice)
10 oz box chopped frozen spinach, thawed and drained well(omitted)

Cook and crumble sausage until browned. Add in garlic and saute for 5 mins. Add in zucchini and cook until tender. Stir in beans, italian seasoning, and tomatoes. Cook until heated through. Stir in noodles. Serve with parmesan cheese.

I didn't bake it into a casserole. If you wanted to do that place the noodle mixture into a pan and top with cheese bake at 350 degrees for 20 mins until cheese is melted.

**This

Creamy Sausage Rigatoni and first garden harvest!

I originally saw this recipe in the Taste of Home Cooking School book. K LOVES this combination of food and I thought this was an interesting twist...I do have to say that we will probably never make it another way again!*Picture coming soon!

Creamy Sausage Rigatoni
1 lb rigatoni(or any pasta)
1 lb sausage(sweet or hot),sliced
1 onion, sliced
1 sweet pepper, sliced
1/2 pkg chopped baby carrots
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 26 oz jar spaghetti sauce

Bring water to a boil and add in rigatoni. Brown sausage, drain. Remove from pan, add in carrots, onions, and peppers. Cook for 5-10 mins until soft. Add sausage back in along with sauce and cheese. Stir and cook to combine sauce until heated through. Drain pasta, mix in with sauce and enjoy!

*The cream cheese adds a delicious creaminess and take on this dish! Next time I'll remember to add in more garlic. I added in the carrots to help boost the veggies as we did not have any peppers. I loved the sweetness they added!

First Garden Harvest
I was able to have my first good size garden harvest after coming back from vacation. The loot included:
-2 jalapeno peppers that for some reason turned red....not sure why, anyone know?
-4 of the funniest shaped cucumbers
-1 zucchini
-4 grape tomatoes that never even saw the inside of the house
-lettuce...that was very bitter. I wasn't expecting it to grow as much as it did while I was gone and should have told K to harvest it...it is HUGE probably 2-3 ft tall now. I have a feeling it may be gone by b/c of how bitter it was, but it is still out there.
-I sadly pulled all my broccoli plants and my cauliflower...well 1 of those only to discover that 2 now have something going on in them so we will see if i actually get cauliflower!

This post has been linked to Finding Joy in my Kitchen

Spanish Rice Casserole

This was another meal made on cooking day. I had taken it out on Wednesday night and it was still frozen solid when I went to bake it on Thursday.

So we ended up heading to a Taste Of festival. I decided to be adventurous and tried Indian food, I LOVED the chicken Tika Masala, K thought it was ok. The boys had french fries, and K had a steak fajita. I know they aren't too adventurous. We also had a triple berry shortcake that was better than I expected it to be. I love going to things like this as you only pay $3-4 dollars for a serving and you can try all kinds of food. This way I'm not waisting $12 on a meal I won't like. I also love trying new dishes so I can figure out how to make them at home, I love a challenge!

So back to the rice....it was FINALLY thawed and we were home for dinner so I popped it out of the zip top bag and into the slow cooker. Amy's directions do say to cook it in the oven, but it was a little warm for that. It worked out great in the slow cooker. I cooked it on low for 4 hours, which I'm sure was probably a bit long, but it still tasted great!

Both boys loved it! It is also a great way to use up your surplus of summer veggies! I would definitely add more veggies in next time. A liked the "cucumbers" in it....aka zucchini. I told him it was zucchini and he informed me he didn't like it, so I told him it was a cucumber and he ate it with no problem!

Spanish Rice Casserole courtesy of A Foodie Fairytale

Leftover Turkey Bake

This is essentially homemade stuffing with cranberries and turkey already mixed in. It was pretty simple to prepare once you have the bread made. I love Thanksgiving dinner so this was just about all the essentials in one casserole!

Leftover Turkey Bake-adapted from Taste of Home
6 cups cubed whole wheat french bread(or any bread)
2-3 cups cooked, cubed, turkey
1 onion, diced
3-4 stalks celery, sliced
2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup cranberries, fresh or frozen
2 tsp poultry seasoning
pepper to taste

Saute onions and celery for about 5 mins. Add in turkey. Pour in broth,cranberries, and seasonings. Stir in bread until completely moistened. Place in 350 degree oven for 20-30 mins until heated through.

**My mom thought something was missing, so I was a bit hesitant to try it. But I found that it was quite tasty(a bit on the salty side, but that was because I used bouillion). I think serving it with cranberry sauce would be a nice

Buffalo Chicken Pot Pie

This was not on the menu this week. Actually half of the stuff I've made this week wasn't on the list, but I didn't have to go to the store so it still worked. I'm still tweaking monthly meal planning. I was supposed to make buffalo chicken pizza, but I made a pizza last night so I didn't want pizza again. I had put buffalo chicken lasagna on the menu, but I was not in the mood for that either. So while driving home from the park, I thought of this recipe and that was ALL I wanted...plus I had to use up my celery.

Buffalo Chicken Pot Pie-adapted from Rachael Ray
1 lb chicken, cut into pieces
3 carrots, sliced
1 onion, diced
3-4 stalks celery, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced(which I forgot)
2 tbsp olive oil, divided
4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp flour
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/4-1/3 cup hot sauce(more if you want it spicier)
recipe for corn bread
1 cup blue cheese crumbles

Place oil in pan and brown chicken. Remove chicken and keep warm. Place 1 tbsp olive oil in pan and saute veggies with garlic until tender. Melt in butter. Add in flour and cook for 2-3 mins. Slowly whisk in chicken broth and hot sauce. Bring to a boil and simmer until thickened. Add in chicken. Stir and place into 9x13 casserole dish.

Mix together ingredients for corn bread. Fold in blue cheese. Scoop batter over chicken mix and place in 350 degree oven for 20-30 mins until cornbread is cooked through.

**I love this dish and it is delicious! K and I both enjoy it, the boys not so much as it is too spicy for them.

Honey Dijon Chicken Casserole

While I was looking around for the cream soup recipe I stumbled upon this recipe. It sounded different so I wanted to give it a try. Of course for some reason, I missed in the original recipe that it needed potatoes, so I improvised and used egg noodles. They seemed to work very well.

Honey Dijon Chicken Casserole-adapted from Kitchen Stewardship
2 cups of cream soup
1 pkg egg noodles, cooked and drained
1/2 pkg baby carrots, chopped
3/4 cup plain yogurt(w/ 1 tsp balsamic vinegar, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1 tbsp lemon juice(omitted)*
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup dijon mustard
4 cups chicken, cooked/chopped(I only used 2)
1 onion, chopped(optional)
2 cups shredded cheese

*instead of the yogurt you can use a 3/4 cup mayo or half and half)
Mix all ingredients together and top with the cheese. Cover and cook in the oven for 30-40 mins. Uncover for the last 10 mins. You may have to cook it a little longer if you want your carrots cooked more.

**This was quite tasty and made a huge batch. I had enough to freeze another casserole and this will feed us 2 meals. I added extra carrots to help compensate for the other 2 cups of chicken, again I over looked that part, but it still worked very well.

Italian Sausage Shepherd's Pie

I got this recipe from a message board I used to frequent. I am always looking for new ways to serve italian sausage. K loves it, but you can only eat it the same way so many times before you get sick of it. This is a delicious take on shepherd's pie and I did change it up this time, but I will also share the original recipe.

Italian Sausage Shepherd's Pie-(this is the original recipe)
1 pie crust
1 lb italian sausage, crumbed, browned, drained
1 cup small, curd cottage cheese
1 egg
1.5 cups warm mashed potatoes
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 cup shredded cheese

Bake pie shell for 8 mins at 350 degrees. Place cottage cheese and egg in a blender and puree until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl, add in potatoes, sour cream, and spices. Place sausage into pie crust, sprinkle with cheese, and top with potato mixture. Place in oven for 50-60 mins at 350 degrees.(or until set)

**I used cream cheese and chive potatoes this time. This didn't have to cook as long.

Beef Pot Pie

This clearly wasn't on the menu this week, but my husband and boys have been sick. K called on the way home yesterday wanting soup, which is great, but I didn't have any. So I told him I could make some, which took part of the veggie beef soup I was going to make and I didn't want another soup. This recipe was on the same page as the ricotta pancakes, but I didn't follow it, just got the idea!

Beef Pot Pie
1 lb stew beef, cubed
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp flour
2-3 small potatoes, cubed
4-5 carrots, sliced
1 large onion, diced
3-4 celery stalks, sliced
2 bay leaves
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp italian seasoning
3-4 cups water
2 beef bouillon cubes
1/4 cornstarch(more or less may be needed)+water
1 batch crescent roll dough
salt and pepper to taste

Place oil in pan and brown meat season with salt and pepper. (I use a large stock/soup pot) Sprinkle with flour and stir. Let cook 1-2 mins. Add in veggies, spices, water, and bouillon. There should be enough water so that it covers all the ingredients.Bring to a boil and lower heat to a simmer. Mix together cornstarch and 1/4 cup water add to "soup". This should thicken it up nicely, you may need to add more cornstarch and water until it is the thickness you like. Simmer on the stove for 1-2 hours until meat is tender. **This can also be transferred to a Crockpot and cooked on low for 8 hrs or high for 4 hrs.

Once filling is done, roll out dough and place on top of "stew". This was enough stew for me to get 2 8x8 pans, so one will be going in the freezer. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 mins until crust is golden brown.

**This was tasty, I kept adding more seasonings as I felt something was missing. Not sure what yet, but it was still delicious and something we don't have very often!

Brunch Lasagna

I knew we would have leftover ham from Easter so I made to find something new to do with it. We don't have ham very often and I just don't know what to do with it sometimes! Its also not one of my favorites...I found this recipe and had to try it because it sounded different!

Brunch Lasagna-Taste of Home 2009 or 2010
8 lasagna noodles, cooked according the the pkg
8 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 red or green pepper, chopped
double batch of alfredo sauce(with or without garlic)
2 cups shredded cheese(I used swiss)
2-3 cups chopped ham

Whisk together eggs ad milk. Cook eggs until set, but still moist. Take a half cup of sauce and place it in the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan. Place 4 noodles in the bottom of the pan. Top with peppers, ham, and more sauce. Top with 4 more noodles. Top with eggs and more alfredo, sprinkle with cheese.Cover and bake at 350 for 40-50 mins until hot and bubbly.

**We had this for dinner after Q's party today. K LOVED it and had seconds, I thought it was pretty good. My mom thought it was good and different. I have decided I like it better than the french toast casseroles. My mom thinks it would work well with any pasta, just to mix it all together instead of the layers, she is probably right! The hardest part was probably making the alfredo sauce!

Chicken Pot Pie

I had a craving for chicken pot pie ever since someone mentioned it, so I tried a new recipe! The filling is great and I tried making my own crust, it wasn't hard, I just never made it before! It's not as pretty as some, but I do hope it tastes good!

Chicken Pot Pie-shared from Hallee the Homemaker
1 recipe for 2 pie crust
3 cups cooked, cubed chicken
3 celery stalks, sliced
1 onion, diced
carrots, sliced(i used baby carrots and it was about 1/2 a bag)
1/2 bag frozen peas
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup flour
salt and pepper to taste
1 3/4 cups chicken broth(i used water and 2 bouillon cubes)
2/3 cup milk
2-3 potatoes, baked(i used the microwave)

Melt butter, saute celery, onions, and carrots until tender. Sprinkle in flour and cook for 1-2 mins. Add in broth/water(and bouillon) and milk. Bring to a boil and simmer, this will thicken the sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Add in chicken. Peel potatoes(I did leave the skin on mine) and dice. Add into veggie/chicken  mixture, until heated through. Turn off heat and mix in peas.

Place filling into a 9 inch pie pan(or in my case a 9x13) that has 1 crust in bottom. Top with second crust and crimp/seal. Make sure to vent pie with fork, knife, or cookie cutters. Bake at 425 for 35 mins until golden brown.

Chicken Alfredo Rice Casserole

I needed something quick and easy to leave with my inlaws tomorrow night. I was leaning towards a crock pot meal, but my crock pot has a mind of its own sometimes and  I didn't want soup. I thought of this recipe and knew I had most of the stuff already on hand!

Chicken Alfredo Rice Casserole
recipe for alfredo sauce(or 10-16 oz jar)
2 cups, chopped, cooked chicken
2-3 roasted red peppers, chopped
3 cups cooked rice
1/2 bag frozen peas
2 cups shredded cheese

Combine chicken, sauce, peas, peppers, and rice. Stir to combine. Place in a 9x13 inch pan, top with cheese, cover with foil and place in 350 degree oven for 20-30 mins until heated through. Take foil off and cook another 10 mins until cheese is brown and bubbly.

Sloppy Joe Casserole

This has become one of my all time favorite casseroles. It freezes very well and is hearty. It's so yummy...I made it for my brother's in law for christmas. I altered the veggies because one of them doesn't eat green veggies. I wasn't about to take all this time to make them food and then they don't eat it. I used frozen corn and it made it WAY to sweet...so seriously use the mixed veggies!

Sloppy Joe Casserole

1 Recipe for sloppy joes
1 16 oz pkg frozen mixed vegetables
prepared mashed potatoes

Mix together sloppy joes and veggies. Top with mashed potatoes and bake in 350 degree oven for 20-25 mins until warmed through.

To make mashed potatoes, peel and chop potatoes. Place in a pot of water and bring to a boil. Let boil 10-15 mins until fork tender. Drain. Add in butter, milk, and seasoned salt. This is done by taste...and mash.

Chicken Pot Pie 1

I found one lonely piece of a pie crust that I bought and wanted to use up, so I decided to make a chicken pot pie. I only had one, so I put a layer of mashed potatoes as the bottom crust. K and I decided we wanted the flaky crust for the top! (Beware there are a couple processed foods in this pie, but you can easily use homemade versions!)

Chicken Pot Pie

2 cups diced cooked chicken
1 stalk of celery, sliced
1-2 cups chopped carrots(I chopped some baby ones)
1 onion, chopped
1 can of low fat/sodium cream of mushroom
1/2 can milk
1 bag of frozen peas
1 pie crust
2 cups prepared mashed potatoes
pepper
Italian seasoning

Heat skillet with 2 tsp olive oil, once warm add in carrots, onion, and celery. Saute until soft. Add in chicken, soup, and milk. Cook until heated through. Season to taste. Add in frozen peas.  In a 2 qt casserole dish(or pie pan), layer in mashed potatoes. Top with pie filling and cover with pie crust and seal. Poke holes(or design in top). Bake at 350 for 40-50 mins or until heated through and crust is golden brown

**This can be easily frozen for later use!