Spinach Rotini w/ Sausage in Creamy Italian Sauce

It's always nice to have a no-fail go-to dinner on the menu. Well for me, it's pasta. Pasta dishes are so versatile! The days that I have leftover ingredients taking space in my pantry or fridge are the times that I come up with the best recipe ideas! 

This pasta came together beautifully for me. As a bonus, it is packed with flavor, with a kick of spice from the sausage and a hint of zest from the Italian dressing. Needless to say, I am looking forward to the day i can reheat the leftovers from my freezer!

Spinach Rotini w/ Sausage in Creamy Italian Sauce

12 oz uncooked rotini
1 lb spicy Italian sausage
6 oz sliced mushrooms
10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained
4 oz cream cheese
1/2 C milk
1/2 C Tuscan Italian salad dressing
1/3 C sliced green onions.

In a saucepan, cook rotini noodles according to directions, about 12 minutes. Drain.

Meanwhile, cook sausage with mushrooms over medium-high heat. Breaking up sausage. Add spinach, mix throughout. Reduce heat to medium-low. Stir in cream cheese until melted, add Italian dressing and milk. Stir well.

Add rotini, stir until coated. Toss in the green onions and serve.

Pizza Casserole w/ Ground Beef

Make-ahead dinners, I am all about them! Sure, my evenings are pretty free to be able to make a nice dinner every night, but sometimes it's nice to see that time where you need to stop what you are doing to prep for dinner, cook dinner, clean up from cooking dinner, then clean up after dinner...blah blah blah...come and go. It's nice to think to yourself, "dinner is already done, the clean up was done yesterday and all I need to do is pop it in the oven (and let my husband do the clean up after haha)"

This casserole was not intended as a make-ahead but it worked out that way as other plans came up instead, (like making that Triple Chocolate Cheesecake from yesterdays post late at night at my friends house!) 

Pizza Casserole w/ Ground Beef 
          adapted from unknown source

8oz ground beef
1 C chopped onion
14oz pizza sauce (I made Simple Pizza Sauce and weighed out the 14oz needed)--worth it over store bought 
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
4 oz dry rotini noodles
2oz pepperoni slices
1-1/4 C shredded Italian cheese blend
Italian seasoning, to taste/sprinkled over top

Preheat oven to 350º. Cook ground beef with onion until onions are tender and beef is cooked through over medium-high heat, 8-10 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook noodles according to package directions, drain.

Add pizza sauce to meat mixture, add salt and pepper. Fold in the pasta, transfer to a greased 9" round pan. Top with cheese and pepperoni (full 2 oz or just what you would on a pizza). Generously sprinkle with Italian seasoning ( I used basil, oregano, garlic powder, and onion powder).

Cover with plastic wrap and store in fridge until ready to make, uncover before baking

Bake 30 minutes, if desired put under broiler for a few minutes to get the topping nice and golden brown--yum! Allow to cool about 5 minutes before cutting into.

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Ham & Spaghetti Casserole

THIS is one casserole that I dub "comfort food"... I warn you, if you are on a diet of any sort run the other way!!!! If you are on a diet but can't help yourself, well then you and I are in the same boat; I will scooch over and make some extra room ;)

Ham, noodles, creamy (oh so creamy!), cheesy, and a few veggies so we don't feel too guilty about ourselves....do I need to even go on?!?? 

Ham & Spaghetti Casserole
(serves 4-6)

8 oz spaghetti noodles, broken in half
4 tbsp unsalted butter
8 oz sliced mushrooms
1 tbsp parsley, chopped
1-1/2 C chopped ham
3-4 sliced green onions
4 tbsp flour
2 C chicken broth
2 tbsp cooking sherry, optional
pinch of pepper
1/2 C heavy cream
1 C fresh shredded Parmesan cheese, divided
1 C frozen peas, thawed

Preheat oven to 350º. Coat a 13x9" baking dish with cooking spray.  Cook spaghetti noodles as package directs, drain & set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add mushrooms, ham, green onion, & parsley. Saute until mushrooms are tender. Add flour, stir until blended. Mix in chicken broth, sherry, & pepper. Cook, stirring until thickened. Stir in heavy cream, 1/2 C Parmesan, & peas. Fold in the spaghetti noodles. Pour into baking dish & sprinkle remaining 1/2 C Parmesan over the top. Bake 25-35 minutes until hot and bubbly.

(Source: adapted from Diana Rattray @ southernfood.com)

Chili-Spaghetti Casserole

Today I had my friend Nikki and her 3 year old son, Chase over. We had a day full of crafts planned (painting coffee cups) while our boys played nicely crazily around the house. It was a full on chaos-filled day (aren't those the best?). Despite the frenzied toddlers and the house looking like a tornado of toys, Nikki and I were able to accomplish quite a bit of what we set out to do...while downing a big raspberry-dark chocolate latte to survive the storm!

Our friends stayed for dinner, we made a wonderful (but easy) casserole. Let me tell you, even the pickiest of eaters (Chase), ate his entire serving. Nikki and I kept a look of surprise while we watched him eat with no hesitation!

     Chili-Spaghetti Casserole 
   (adapted from Best Loved Recipes)

8 oz uncooked spaghetti noodles
20 oz ground turkey
1 medium onion, chopped small
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cracked black pepper
15 oz Hormel Vegetarian Chili w/ Beans
14.5 oz can Italian-style diced tomatoes, undrained
1-1/2 C sharp cheddar cheese, divided
3/4 C sour cream  
1-1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder   

Preheat oven to 350º. Spray a 13x9" glass baking dish with non-stick cooking spray; set aside.

 In a large pot, boil salted water and cook spaghetti noodles as directed on package (about 9 min). 

Meanwhile, in a large skillet brown the turkey with the onions until cooked through and onions are translucent. Drain off fat. *Unless your skillet is large enough, pour turkey mixture into a large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients reserving 1/2 C shredded cheese.

Drain noodles and add to the mixture. Toss gently, turn out into your prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the top with remaining 1/2 C cheese. Cover with foil and bake 30 min. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.   

Rigatoni in Creamy Tomato Sauce

Ever try one of those dinners that are great the first time around....and the second? third?? This delicious pasta dish made three rounds in my house (after serving some time in our freezer) and you know what? It was just as tasty as the first day we ate it. My poor husband always has to hear me go on and on about how wonderful it is that I can put a dinner that tastes amazing in front of us that only took some thawing time in the fridge and a quick zap in the microwave and not have to spend the time in the kitchen to prepare it.

This rigatoni is simple but don't let that fool you! It is not lacking in flavor, or texture. It has diced up pepperoni (which as a bonus for me, I happened to already have some leftover in the fridge, which if you don't, well then you have an excuse to make some homemade pizza the next night!) in the sauce which adds the perfect amount of saltiness that there is no need to add any. Another bonus? the basil--yum!! .....hey, top any leftovers of that on that pizza too ;) Enough from me, here is the recipe!

Rigatoni in Creamy Tomato Sauce
(recipe found on allyou.com)

2 tbsp unsalted butter
3 oz finely diced pepperoni
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 C dry white wine
28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 C heavy cream
16 oz rigatoni
1/4 C finely chopped fresh basil

In medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add pepperoni and onion, cook until onion is soft, stirring occasionally about 3-5 minutes. Add garlic, saute about 1 min more.

Add wine and cook until almost evaporated, stirring frequently 2-3 min. Stir in tomatoes and sugar bringing to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until slightly thickened, about 15-20 min. Stir in heavy cream.

Meanwhile, cook rigatoni noodles as package directs. Drain and add noodles to the sauce, toss to coat. Fold in basil, serve immediately, you won't want to wait!

Summer Veggie Casserole w/ Ground Beef

One of my favorite things about cooking, is there are no limits! I love trying a recipe in its original form (at least once!) and although it was great the first time, and usually deserves a second round, sometimes you just have different ingredients on hand and you know that what you have will do, if not make it better! Well that is what this casserole recipe brings! I adapted this casserole from a Philadelphia Cooking Cream Contest winner (Summer Casserole Surprise w/ Zucchini & Mushrooms). My son, who isn't too crazy about mushrooms, gobbled this one up!

10oz uncooked elbow noodles
1 C sliced zucchini
6oz pkg sliced mushrooms
3/4 tub Philadelphia Savory Garlic Cooking Creme
1 Jar garlic spaghetti sauce
8oz ground beef
1/2 C shredded mozzarella

Preheat oven to 350º. Set a large pot of water to boil. Once boiling, add your noodles, cook about 7 min (or according to pkg directions.). In last min of cooking, add your zucchini to the water. Drain mixture in colander.

Meanwhile, brown ground beef over me-high heat. Add the mushrooms to the ground beef until they start to brown a little. Once beef is cooked through, stir in cooking creme. Remove from heat; set aside.

Mix about 3/4 pasta sauce with the noodles and zucchini. Pour half the mixture into the dish. Layer on top half of the mushroom mixture. repeat layers. Spread remaining pasta sauce over top, and sprinkle with shredded mozzarella. Bake in preheated oven about 15-20 min. Let stand 5 min before serving.