Cheese & Spinach Baked Ziti

I made this last night, and it was really yummy! It wasn't as complicated as it sounded. Although I had to exclude the spinach because I didn't get on the making of this dish before my spinach leaves liquidized in my fridge. The girls ate it up- I wish there would have been spinach to get some vegetables down them. Next time! I will not procrastinate until the produce is spoiled!

What you need:

16 oz. penne pasta
1 bag (6 oz) baby spinach leaves
1 jar marinara sauce
1 c. ricotta cheese
1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
3/4 c. grated parmesan
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. pepper

Preheat your oven to 350. Cook pasta to al dente or less (so the noodles will soak up the sauce when baking) Add spinach during the last minute. Drain pasta & spinach, then return to (large) saucepan. Stir in marinara sauce, ricotta, 1/2 c. mozzarella, 1/2 c. parmesan, garlic powder, and black pepper into pasta. Pour into 9x13 pan, sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Bake for 30 mins. uncovered.

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Chicken Stuffed Tomato Bakes

This particular meal came to me nearly by accident.  I had about ten tomatoes in my fridge that were starting to get soft, so I knew I had to eat them soon.  I also made my own chicken broth earlier that week, so I had a lot of chicken that I needed to eat up too.  Last night, I didn't have any any clue of what to cook for dinner... until it hit me: "How about I make some sort of chicken stuffing and put it in hollowed tomatoes... they do stuff like that as appetizers in fancy restaurants, right?" So I started looking through my fridge to see what I could use to make the "stuffing part". After looking, here's the ingredients I came up with:

10 vine tomatoes (they work best because they are round enough on the bottom, and not too big)

1 chicken breast , cooked and shredded

1/2 large onion

4 garlic cloves

1 handful of spinach

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1 tsp basil

1 tsp parsley

1 tsp salt

1/3 cup parmesan cheese

oil for drizzling

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Rinse tomatoes. Slice off tops of tomatoes, then with a spoon, carve out the inside pulp of each tomato. Place hollowed tomatoes onto baking sheet, set aside.

 Place pulp remains into food processor of blender.  Add to pulp the remaining ingredients (except parmesan and oil), and blend until you have a pulpy mixture.

Spoon mixture into each tomato, leveling off the top of each.

Sprinkle each tomato with parmesan cheese, then drizzle the top with oil.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.  Let cool for 5 minutes, then enjoy!  Serves 2-3

Can be served as an appetizer or a main dish. We ate it as a main dish, with garlic toast as a side.

*Note: There will be left over stuffing. You can use it to stuff other tomatoes, or save it for the next morning to  be the filling of an omelet for two (which is what we did)!  :)

**Note Note: If you want it to be more creamy, try adding 4 oz. of cream cheese. I didn't add any because 1. I wanted it to be healthier, and 2. I didn't have any! haha

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Meatball Subs

Meatballs:
1 cup unseasoned bread crumbs or crushed saltines
3/4 cup shredded Parmesan or mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup low-sodium beef broth
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 tablespoons dried oregano
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
2 teaspoons dried basil
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
2 pounds ground beef or ground turkey

To dredge the meatballs:
1 1/2 cups flour in a shallow baking dish

In a large bowl, mix all of the meatball ingredients together EXCEPT the meat. Let the mixture sit for 10-15 minutes so the breadcrumbs/crackers can soak up the liquid a little bit. Add the meat and mix well with your hands until all the ingredients are combined.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and lightly grease the foil. Form golf ball-sized meatballs and dredge them in the flour until lightly coated. Place the meatballs on the baking sheet about one inch apart. Bake for 20 -25 minutes until the meatballs are completely cooked through.

When the meatballs come out of the oven, let them sit for about 15 minutes. Gently scrape off any fat and place the meatballs in a 9X13-inch baking dish (or similar size). Pour the hot tomato sauce over the meatballs.

Sauce:
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes (or tomato sauce) 
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon sugar (this helps cut the acidity of the tomatoes)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine the sauce ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a low simmer. Simmer for 10-15 minutes on low. Keep warm until the meatballs are finished baking.

To assemble the sandwiches, slice the buns in half. Place 3-4 meatballs on each bun and cover with desired amount of sauce, top with Mozzarella cheese, sliced or shredded. Serve immediately with lots of napkins.

*Note: When I make these, I often prepare and bake the meatballs earlier in the day. To reheat, I place the meatballs in the pot with the simmering sauce and let them warm up together. And since I know someone will ask, the meatballs freeze great. Freeze them, unbaked, on a baking sheet. Once frozen, they can be placed in a freezer-safe ziploc bag. Bake them (without thawing first), adding 6-7 minutes to the baking time. Incidentally, they also freeze great after they have been baked. Freeze them in a freezer-safe ziploc bag and reheat them in the simmering sauce until they are warmed through.

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Crock Pot Lasagna

This is the only way I make lasagna. I can't cook those big long noodles. And this one's relatively cheap! Yay!

12 uncooked lasagna noodles
2 lbs. browned ground beef, drained
1 tea. Italian seasoning
1 jar (28 oz.) spaghetti sauce
1/4 c. water (I tend to use a bit more- it's more art than science)
1 carton (16 oz.) cottage cheese (cheaper than ricotta!)
2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Layer half of noodles at the bottom of the crock pot, you may have to break them to conform to the size. Stir Italian seasoning into the meat and spread half of it over noodles, then half of the sauce. Add the water and 1/2 of cottage cheese, 1/2 of the shredded Mozz. cheese. Repeat the layers. Sprinkle a bit of water on top, cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours. Don't cook any more than 5 hrs. because of the cottage cheese.
Makes 6-8 servings.

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Crockpot Fetticini Alfredo

I love my crockpot, so I have quite a few recipes. This one serves quite a bit and we eat leftovers for a week I swear! (but there is only 2 of us).

4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves, cubed (I use my chicken from the cannery and shred it)
2 jars of Alfredo sauce
4 slices of swiss cheese
3 TBS grated parmesan cheese
1 TSP garlic powder and salt and pepper to taste
1 package fettuccine noodles (you'll need the whole package for as much sauce as this makes)

Mix chicken cubes and alfredo sauce in crockpot and cook on low for 2 hours (my cannery chicken is already cooked, so I usually just cook it for 1 hour). Then place swiss cheese and Parmesan cheese on top and cook for another 30 minutes. Add garlic powder and salt and pepper and stir everything together. Cook noodles according to package. Then you can either pour the sauce over the noodles, or just mix the noodles with the sauce and serve from the crockpot.

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No Bake Ziti

This may not even qualify as a "recipe" but it's a nice changeup from cooked pasta with some jarred sauce on top. (my old standby)

1 lb. italian sausage (I like it hot- but if you have kids, get mild)
1 c. chopped onion
1 c. diced green bell pepper
1 jar marinara sauce- any variety (today I had Prego Garlic & Parmesan- really, whatever's in your cabinet)
4 1/2 c. hot, cooked penne pasta

In skillet, over medium heat, cook sausage, onion, and bell pepper until sausage is cooked through, drain fat.
Add pasta sauce and heat to boil, then serve over penne (the longer the sauce simmers, the better it tastes!)

Side note: picky husband prefers this with cheese melted on top.

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Cheesy Bruschetta Toast

Ok, so I had a picture of these. But I can'tforthelifeofme find it! Perhaps I deleted it. Dumbness. But they look really snazzy, like you know how to cook or something. Impress your friends! My kids have been known to nosh on them too!

Stuff you need:

whole grain baguette/French bread/whatever... the long skinny kind, like tall as a toddler.
2 roma tomatoes
1 tea. olive oil
1 tbl. fresh basil (finely chopped- or use a food processor)
salt & pepper (to taste)
shredded mozzarella cheese


Slice a 1/2 lb. baguette into small ovals and arrange on a baking sheet. Bake at 450 for 6-8 mins until toasted, turning once. (you can skip this step if you're lazy like me- it will just be a bit squishy in the middle)
In a small bowl, stir together seeded and chopped roma tomatoes, olive oil, basil, salt and pepper. Spoon small amount of mixture atop each bread slice, sprinkle with mozzerella cheese. Return to oven and bake 2 mins, until cheese is melted.

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