Baked Spaghetti

This is cheesy, easy and yummy! The picture is of the recipe halfed, which is a good amount to feed my family of 5.

Ingredients:

8oz cream cheese

8 oz sour cream

8 oz cottage cheese

8 oz grated parmesan cheese

9oz cooked spaghetti

1 lrg jar of spaghetti sauce

2 cups mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Mix cream cheese, sour cream, cottage cheese and parmesan cheese. Put in bottom of grease 9 x13 in dish. Top cheese mixture with spaghetti, then the spaghetti sauce and then the mozzarella cheese. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

NoT Spaghetti-- Spaghetti

Okay so this is a recipe that my friend Emily pretty much whipped together and told me how to make-- I make it quite often now-- I LOVE it! It sounds complicated but it is so easy-- try it and you will not be disappointed!

Ingredients:
1 onion (yellow) chopped
1 pepper (red or yellow) chopped
1/3c olive oil
1 can (24 oz) crushed tomatoes (I used diced tomatoes and liked it better)
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cube butter
handful of chopped fresh basil
about 10 leaves fresh sage chopped
1 pkg spaghetti (large bag/ box)
1 cup romana or parm cheese (freshly graded is best but works either way)

Okay-- so cook spaghetti noodles according to pkg. While that is cooking make the sauce. First, saute onion and pepper in oil for 15 min or until soft. Take off heat and add tomatoes and garlic and stir. Set aside. In different pan melt butter then add fresh herbs stir until wilted-- take off heat. Once noodles are done drain then add cheese and herbs-- stir well-- then add sauce-- again stir well. Then serve. You can add meat to your liking. My friend Emily got a roasted chicken at Costco and just let us add our own chicken to our own plate. Would probably taste great with shrimp. Delicious.

I will add a picture next time I make it. I keep forgetting every time I make it.

Penne with Asparagus, Spinach and Bacon

Ok, so I know I already posted a recipe, but we made this tonight and it was fast and yummy. We live in Seattle, and have no air condtioner and so in the summer I like to mostly grill or cook things that don't require the oven. It is also from Cooking Light.

Penne with Asparagus, Spinach and Bacon

8 oz. penne pasta, cooked according to package directions
2 bacon slices
½ cup chopped sweet onion
2 ½ cups (1-inch) slices asparagus (about 1 pound)
1 ½ cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
4 cups bagged baby spinach leaves
½ cup (2 ounces) preshredded Parmesan cheese, divided
¼ teaspoon black pepper

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain
Cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan; crumble. Add onion to drippings in pan; sauté 1 minute. Add asparagus and broth to pan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes or until asparagus is crisp-tender. Add pasta, spinach, and ¼ cup of cheese, and pepper to pan; toss well. Sprinkle with remaining ¼ cup cheese and bacon.

Penne Pasta

Thanks to The Pioneer Women! I found this recipe a couple of monthes ago and tried it out. It was DELICIOUS!! My kids all really liked it too, and they had no idea it was shrimp, until my lovely daughter said "yummy, this is shrimp, not chicken huh mom?" Then my other daughter picked all the shrimp out, even though she had already had some and didn't even notice! Little stinker! but thanks to The pioneer woman here is a picture too! I am so bad at remembering to take a picture of the food I make, unlike Shannon, who I think has a year supply of pictures of food! haha! Shannon...you are awesome!

1 lb. box penne pasta (you will only need to use about 3/4 of it)
1 lb shrimp -deveined and peeled and rinsed well under cold water
3 TBSP Butter
3 TBSP Olive oil
1 small onion -diced
2 garlic cloves - diced
1/2 cup Chicken broth
8 oz. can Tomato sauce
1 cup Heavy whipping cream
1 TBSP Fresh Parsley - diced
4-5 fresh basil leaves - diced (or more if you desire)

Boil pasta. Saute shrimp in 1 TBSP of olive oil and 1 TBSP butter; cook for a couple of min. Remove from pan. Heat the rest of the butter and olive oil (2 TBSP each) add the garlic and onion. Pull off tails of Shrimp and chop into bite size pieces; set aside. Add chicken broth, tomato sauce, and heavy cream to the onion & garlic mixture; stir. Add shrimp to sauce. Add the parsley & basil to sauce. Drain pasta and add to the sauce. Salt & pepper to taste. YUM! Enjoy!

Tex-Mex Lasagna

I know there are a couple of lasagna posts already, but this is a real different type of lasagna, not really a lasagna at all. Every time I make this for people, I'm asked for the recipe. It's yummy, it's easy and it's from Cooking Light. You can really vary the flavor by using different types of salsa. Scott (my husband) likes to put sour cream on it. The no boil noodles are usually right with the pasta but they are much shorter than regular lasagna noodles.

Tex-Mex Lasagna

¾ cup salsa
1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
1 14.5 ounce can no-salt added diced tomatoes
1 8-ounce can no salt-added tomato sauce
Cooking Spray
6 pre-cooked (no boil) lasagna noodles
1 cup frozen whole-kernel corn, thawed
1 15 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups (8 ounces) preshredded reduced-fat 4 cheese Mexican blend cheese
¼ cup chopped green onions

Preheat oven to 450º.
Combine salsa, cumin, tomatoes, and tomato sauce; spread 2/3 cup of sauce in bottom of an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange 2 noodles over sauce; top with ½ cup corn and half of beans. Sprinkle with ½ cup cheese; top with 2/3 cup sauce. Repeat layers once; top with remaining 2 noodles. Spread remaining sauce over noodles. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup of cheese.
Cover and bake at 450º for 30 minutes or until noodles are tender and sauce is bubbly. Let stand 15 minutes. Sprinkle with onions.

World's Best LASAGNA!

This recipe is loved by adults AND children! I have taken it to families I needed to make meals for, and they always want the recipe! I think it is the yummy basil flavor that makes it so tasty!

Meat Mixture:

1 pound ground beef, browned

1 teaspoon salt

1 clove garlic

1 Tablespoon basil

1 Tablespoon parsley

16 ounces tomatoes, diced

12 ounces tomato paste

Cheese Mixture:

3 cups cottage cheese

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

2 Tablespoons parsley

1 1/2 pounds mozzarella cheese, grated

10 ounces lasagna noodles (about 9-10 noodles), cooked to box directions

After browning ground beef, simmer together all meat mixture ingredients for 30 minutes or until the majority of the liquid is simmered out. In a bowl combine cheese mixture ingredients. In a 9x11 pan, layer noodles, cheese mixture, meat mixture and mozzarella cheese. Repeat 3 times, ending with mozzarella cheese. Bake at 375, uncovered, for 45 minutes. If cheese begins to brown, cover with foil and continue cooking.

Lasagna

This is a great lasagna recipe if you have a little time... This is my Mom's recipe, and as a child I thought it was so hard to make because she made it so rarely. I can usually have it ready to go in the oven in less than an hour, and it's delicious. So she was very sneaky with her time spent on lasagna!

2 lb Italian Sausage (mild or medium)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cans tomatoes (1 lb each can)
1 Tablespoon whole basil
1 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
3-6 oz cans tomato paste
10 oz lasagna noodles
3 cups Ricotta cheese
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 Tablespoons parsley flakes
3 beaten eggs
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
2 lb mozzarella (sliced thin)

Brown meat slowly; spoon off excess fat. Add next 5 ingredients. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cook noodles in large amount of boiling water (little olive oil and salt in water) until tender; drain, rinse. Combine remaining ingredients, except mozzarella cheese. Layer in a deep dish pan 1) noodles (I overlap a little so pan is totally covered on bottom) 2) Ricotta mix 3) mozzarella 4) Meat sauce; repeat. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes (at least) before cutting. Makes approximately 12 servings.

Sorry no picture - I haven't been able to cook for ages, but will add a photo if I can find one.