Penne with Tomato Basil Cream Sauce

 

I saw an episode of Pioneer Woman and was inspired to create this recipe.  I can’t even link to her blog because I don’t even know the recipe she was doing, just saw it part way through and used some of her ideas to create something that I thought was new and that our family would like.  It was funny, Brady was helping me and I was pouring ingredients into the pan.  He asked, “Aren’t you going to measure anything?”  I said, “no, don’t you trust me?  I know what I’m doing, I’m the cook”

This is what I came up with:

1 lb Turkey sausage (I like Jenni O or Honeysuckle white- I use the breakfast sausage and not just ground turkey- I love the flavor)  (I’m on a turkey sausage kick lately, its healthier and has more flavor that regular ground beef)

Brown the sausage and remove from the pan

Saute 1/2 an onion and 2-3 cloves of garlic in the sausage drippings and a little olive oil

Add 1/2 cup chicken stock

Add 1 jar or your favorite Pasta Sauce- I used and we LOVED it Ragu Parmesan and Romano

stir until bubbly

Add 1 cup of cream (I used heavy whipping cream)

Salt, Pepper to taste

Chopped Italian Parsley and Fresh Basil

Add to pan and simmer until thickened

Pour over Penne pasta, or your favorite pasta and Enjoy!!  (WE DID- for 2 nights)

Lasagna Roll-Ups

I saw this recipe on the Two Peas and Their Pod Recipe blog here.   I was so excited to try it.  I’ve been in a rut in my cooking and was really looking forward to trying something new.  This looked great and I thought my kids would go for it too.  I took their recipe and, like always, did my own version.

12 Lasagna Noodles, cooked in salted water to aldente, dained, rinsed, and layed out on parchment paper to cool

Filling:

1 15 oz tub of Ricotta Cheese (that is how big the Great Value container was, the TPTP blog recipe said 2 cups)

4 oz cream cheese (I added this to my recipe for the creamy texture and to make up for the less ricotta cheese in my container)

2 cloves garlic, minced (I used the squeeze kind that you store fridge that is already minced)

1 egg

2 cups fresh spinach chopped fine (the original recipe call for a 10 oz frozen spinach, but why use frozen when you have fresh)

1 cup chopped canned artichoke hearts

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

1/2 tsp dried Italian Seasoning (the blend of oregano, basil, etc)

Pinch of Nutmeg

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella  cheese

Mix all these ingredients together and spread on the flattened noodles.  I had more filling left over than I could fill in 12 noodles, so I guess can add more noodles to the recipe next time.  Then sprinkle some more mozzarella over the filling and roll up.  In the original recipe they put some marinara sauce on top of the shredded cheese before they rolled it up.  I didn’t because I got ahead of myself.  However, I would have run out of sauce had I done that.  It called for 4 cups of marinara sauce and I only had one jar.  I think that I’ll probably do it the same next time too though because I think that the cheese against noodles as I rolled it up helped keep it together and not be as slippery when you cut into them out of the oven.

Place some of the Jar of Marinara sauce on the bottom of a glass rectangle backing dish (I had to use one rectangle and one square because my rectangular dish was too small).  Place the rolled up noodles over the sauce and pour the remaining sauce over the rolls.  Sprinkle with Mozzarella or Italian Style shredded cheese and cover with foil.  Cook for 35-40 min. at 350.

I’m excited to try this again.  I’d like to try and add some ground beef or ground turkey next time… maybe to the sauce before I pour it over the rolls, or add some finely shredded chicken to the cheese mixture.  So many fun things to do inside the Lasagna Rolls!!  And the best thing is… my kids LOVED them and said they wanted to eat them AGAIN  TOMORROW!!

Homemade Mac N Cheese

This was a really yummy recipe that I got off of the Betty Crocker website.  It calls for cooking the dish like a casserole once it is finished, however, when I make it again, I’ll probably skip that step.  It seemed to overcook the noodles and the sauce was less creamy than when we tasted it right after I added the noodles and the sauce together.  The recipe also didn’t call for ham, but I added it to give it some more protein and make it a complete meal rather than just like a side-dish.

2 cups elbow macaroni- cook with a little salted water

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp ground mustard (the dry kind)

1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce (I didn’t measure this out- just poured some in- it was probably more than 1/4 tsp, but it was yummy)

2 cups milk

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (I actually used a Mexican blend because that is what I had on hand)

Chopped turkey ham (my personal addition if you like)

While macaroni is cooking, melt butter in a large sauce pan over low heat.  Stir in flour, salt, pepper, ground mustard and W. sauce.  Mix it into melted butter until smooth- this is a roux (pronounced roo) and is what will make the mixture thicken.  Stir in milk and heat to boiling- stirring constantly so the milk doesn’t scald.  Heat until it is thickened- kind of like gravy. Stir in cheese until melted.  Stir in cooked macaroni and ham if desired.

It calls for baking it uncovered for 20-25 min at 350 in a casserole dish.  I think I’ll skip this part next time.

Let me know if you guys like this recipe too.

I Love To Cook/ Alfredo Sauce

First and foremost, I love good food!! I love to cook and I love to try new recipies and change them around. But most of all, I love to share those recipies with friends and family. Since I have been blogging and sharing pictures and stories with friends and family, I thought it would be fun to have a blog to share my favorite recipies; What's For Dinner???? Try it, comment about it, change it to fit your family, it would even be great to have other bloggers post their great recipies. Make a great dinner, take a picture, post the recipie!!


Easy Alfredo Sauce
-Audrey Cox

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) Margarine or Butter
2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream
2 TBSP Cream Cheese
3/4-1 cup Grated Parmasen Cheese
1 tsp Garlic Powder

Combine butter, cream, and cream cheese in a saucepan until melted and heated through. Whisk in Parmasen Cheese and garlic powder. Simmer on stove for 20 min or until thickened. (The cream cheese is what helps this sauce become thick so if you skimp on it, it will be runny. Also, Heavy cream versus regular cream makes a difference in the thickness.)
Serve over noodles. I like to add shredded cooked chicken to the sauce. Enjoy!!