Sour Cream Noodle Bake

This recipe is from The Pioneer Woman. Our family gave it 4 stars! It is a simple, fast meal.

• 1-1/4 pound Ground Chuck
• 1 can 15-ounces Tomato Sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• 8 ounces, weight Egg Noodles
• 1/2 cup Sour Cream
• 1-1/4 cup Small Curd Cottage Cheese
• 1/2 cup Sliced Green Onions (less To Taste)
• 1 cup Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Brown ground chuck in a large skillet. Drain fat, then add tomato sauce. 1/2 teaspoon salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Stir, then simmer while you prepare the other ingredients.

Cook egg noodles until al dente. Drain and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine sour cream and cottage cheese. Add plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Add to noodles and stir. Add green onions and stir.

To assemble, add half of the noodles to a baking dish. Top with half the meat mixture, then sprinkle on half the grated cheddar. Repeat with noodles, meat, then a final layer of cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, or until all cheese is melted.

Serve with crusty French bread.

Chicken Pesto Pasta

Another new recipe...and another yummy hit! This was fabulous. Note that it is better fresh. The leftovers tend to get clumpy.

Chicken Pesto Pasta by Make and Takes
(go to the link for more pics and tutorial)

Recipe for Chicken Pesto Pasta – makes 4 servings

• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup pesto – in the summer I make it with Homemade Basil Pesto
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 box cooked pasta – we’ve got bowtie
• 3 cups cooked chicken shredded or cubed

Cook and prep your chicken and pasta to your liking and combine in a bowl. Set aside.

For the sauce, bring your heavy cream to a boil, stirring constantly, it will come to a boil fast. Let this boil on medium heat for 4-5 minutes until it thickens up. Add your pesto and stir. Add your parmesan and stir until most of the cheese is melted in the sauce. Add your salt and pepper, not too much as the pesto and cheese have a lot of flavor by themselves.

Pour your pesto cream sauce over the chicken and pasta, and stir to combine.

Pizza Rolls

We had these for dinner tonight and they were so delicious! They looked so good and tasted even better! This is another great recipe from sisterscafe.blogspot.com. I'm sure it will be a big hit with all your kids.

Pizza Dough
1 c warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 Tb (1/4 oz package) active dry yeast
3 Tbsp olive oil

2 ½ c flour
1 tsp salt

Put warm water in bowl. Stir in sugar and yeast and let proof for 1o minutes. Stir in rest of ingredients. Mix until a ball, knead 10 minutes by hand or 5 minutes in mixer. Let rise for 1.5 hours. Roll out and arrange pizza toppings on top. Bake in 400 degree oven (on preheated pizza stone for best results).

Pizza dough, raw (see above)
mozzarella cheese, shredded or cubed

pepperoni, cut into fourths

1/2 green bell pepper, diced small

1/2 small onion, diced small

1/4 cup chopped olives

Roll pizza dough out into a large rectangle. Using a pizza cutter, cut into 12 pieces. Layer the toppings in the center of each square of dough; about 2-3 Tb total of toppings on each. Now stretch and fold the dough around the toppings, pinching to seal edges. This is the tricky part - the more toppings you use, the harder it gets to tuck them all within the dough! (fyi: pepperoni and cheese or ham and pineapple are much easier, as you can imagine.) Now place seam side down in a lightly greased casserole dish or glass baking dish. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle generously with garlic salt and Italian seasoning. (oregano, basil and thyme, etc) Bake in a 400 degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until rolls are light brown. Serve with your favorite marinara sauce for dipping. Dig in and have fun!
We just used some Ragu spaghetti sauce to dip these in and it was great (instead of marinara). I think it is a good idea to let them rise for a little bit after you get them rolled and in you baking dish.

Cheesy Roll Ups

Recipe from A Thrifty Mom

1 box lasagna noodles
1 jar spaghetti sauce

Cheese Mixture:
1 16 oz pkg ricotta cheese
1 1/2 c. fresh grated parmesean cheese (set aside 1/2 cup for the top)
2 c. mozzarella cheese, grated
1 large egg
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp nutmeg
2 Tbl. parsley, fresh or dry

Start cooking your pasta. Put the noodles in a large pot. As they soften up you can slide them down into the pan so they are totally covered with water. Just don't push them as you don't want them to break. Cook them for 10 minutes. (while they are cooking make the cheese mixture). Do not overcook! When done drain and rinse so they are cool enough to handle. Pour the spaghetti sauce in your baking dish.

In a bowl add all the cheese mixture ingredients. Mix until well blended. Lay out the noodles and pat them dry with paper towels. Spread the filling mixture out in a flat layer over the noodle. Leave the last inch open so the noodle will stick together. Roll it up and place seam side down in a pan with the spaghetti sauce. Sprinkle the 1/2 c. parmesean cheese on the top. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes, then another 10 minutes without foil for a total of 35 minutes.

When I make this I put the other half in a foil disposable pan and cover with foil to freeze. I write the directions & label it on top in a permanent marker so I don't forget what's in there or how to bake it.

Lasagna

This is a recipe from Better Homes and Gardens. I have a lot of home canned tomatoes I need to use so I tried this recipe. It is the best lasagna we have ever had. YUM!!! Pair it with homemade breadsticks.

2 Tbl. Onion Flakes
1/8 tsp Garlic Powder
1 qt. tomatoes
2 6oz cans tomato paste
1/2 c. water
2 Tbl. Sugar
1 lb mozzarella cheese
1 lb. cottage cheese
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 tsp oregano
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
12 lasagna noodles
Parmesan cheese

Blend tomatoes, tomato paste, onion flakes, garlic powder, salt, pepper, oregano, sugar and water. Brown ground beef, drain, and add to above blended ingredients in a large pot. Add bay leaf and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Boil 12 lasagna noodles in salted water (1 Tbl), also add a little vegetable oil to keep the noodles from sticking together. Boil for 10 minutes. Drain in a colander and rinse well. Pat dry with paper towels. Fill 9x13 greased pan with alternate layers of noodles, grated mozzarella cheese, cottage cheese, sauce, and Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

This works great as a freezer meal too! Just like if  you were to buy a Stouffer's lasagna. Assemble the lasagna, then freeze. 

Fabulous Fettucine

1/2 lb. sliced bacon, diced (Iuse precooked bacon)
3 Tbls. olive oil
2 onions, chopped
3 lbs. fresh tomatoes (peeled,seeded, and chopped) or 2 cans diced tomatoes
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbls. fresh tarragon or 2 tsp. dried tarragon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
pinch cayenne pepper
1 lb. fettuccine
shredded parmesan cheese

In skillet, cook bacon until crisp. Remove to paper towls. Drain, reserving 1 Tbls. drippings. Add oil and onions to drippings; saute until tender. Add tomatoes and garlic; simmer, uncovered for 5 minutes. Stir in tarragon, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Simmer for 20 minutes stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, prepare fettucine according to package directions. Stir in bacon to tomato mixture. Drain fettucine; top with tomato mixture. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Capellini Pomodoro

Ingredients



4 garlic cloves, minced
2 lbs plum tomatoes, diced
1 ounce fresh basil minced
1/3 cup olive oil
3 ounces fresh parmesan cheese
12 ounces angel hair pasta cooked
1/4 teaspoon black pepper



Directions
1Heat olive oil and add garlic, cook until garlic turns white.
2Add diced tomatoes and pepper.
3Heat through stirring constantly.
4About 2 to 3 minutes.
5Remove from heat and add basil and half of the cheese.
6Toss gently with the pasta.
7Serve at once and top with remaining cheese.