Sour Cream Noodle Bake

The Pioneer Woman posted this recipe recently. I wanted to try it because it looked really fast and easy. It was also quite delicious, comfort food at its best. I changed the original recipe just a bit for our taste. I think I had this all assembled in about 15 minutes, it is great for those busy weeknights when you want something fast to throw together yet everyone loves. Even tastier for leftovers. This recipe fed my family of 6 with leftovers for a couple of us the next day.

Sour Cream Noodle Bake

1 package egg noodles

1 pound ground beef

1/2 teaspoon salt

fresh ground pepper

2 garlic cloves

2 small cans tomato sauce (not spaghetti sauce, just plain ol' tomato sauce)

1/2 cup sour cream

1 1/4 cup cottage cheese

1/2 cup green onions, sliced

1 small bag frozen corn

1 cup shredded cheese ( I used cheddar)

Brown ground beef in skillet with garlic cloves. Drain fat and add tomato sauce, salt and pepper and allow to simmer while you prepare the rest. Cook egg noodles al dente. Drain pasta and toss with the cottage cheese, sour cream, fresh ground pepper and green onions.

Add half the noodle mixture to a baking dish, top with half the ground beef, top with cheese then frozen corn. Finish with the remainder of the noodles, ground beef and top with more cheese.

Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes until cheese is melted.

Adapted from The Pioneer Woman

Manicotti w/ Meat Sauce and some mishaps

I came across this while reading a Cook's Country magazine. I thought it looked so good and was looking for a new Italian meal for my menu. My family loved this and I am sure it will be great tomorrow as leftovers. I will never use manicotti noodles again when making manicotti (that sounded funny). Using softened no boil lasagne noodles softened and rolling them is 100 times easier than trying to stuff manicotti. They are fragile and it is a mess, at least when I have tried anyway.

Meat Sauce

1 onion, chopped

6 ounce package sliced pepperoni
1 pound lean ground beef
1 tablespoon tomato paste
5 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
Salt and pepper

Manicotti

3 cups ricotta cheese
4 cups shredded provolone and mozzarella mix (I found it shredded together in a package)

1 large egg , lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil
16 no-boil lasagna noodles

Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees.

Pulse onion and pepperoni in food processor until coarsely ground. Put in large saucepan with ground beef, mix together well over medium heat until no longer pink.

Transfer 1 cup beef mixture to paper towel-lined plate and set aside. Add tomato paste, garlic, and pepper flakes to pot with remaining meat mixture and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes and simmer until sauce is slightly thickened, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Combine cheeses (mozzarella, ricotta and provolone), egg, salt, pepper, basil, and reserved meat mixture in large bowl. Place noodles in a 9 x 13 pan and pour boiling water over them to soak until pliable, about 5 minutes. Drain noodles on kitchen towel, discard water and dry pan for manicotti.

Spread half of meat sauce over bottom of baking dish. Place ¼ cup cheese filling on each noodle and roll up. Arrange with seam-side down over sauce in baking dish. Spread remaining sauce over manicotti. Cover with foil and bake about 40 minutes, until bubbly. Remove foil and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and provolone. Bake until cheese is melted, about 5 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes. Serve.

Tonight was the second time I made this, but the first we actually ate it. I first tried yesterday but noticed some paper in the ground onion and pepperoni. I just thought it was a sticker from the meat or something then I realized it waas one of these:

I guess there was one in the pepperoni. I was too disturbed to even research to see if it would hurt and dumped the whole thing down the sink. Strike one.

Tonight when I was seasoning the sauce with pepper, the lid wasn't on the pepper. Oops. Strike two.

By the time I scooped out all the pepper, about 3 cups of the sauce was gone. So, our manicotti wasn't sauce-y enough but delicious nonetheless. Just thought I would share my mistakes of the day. Please learn from mine, these aren't my first kitchen mishaps and certainly won't be the last.

Marinara Sauce and Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs

This is the sauce I make if I am having company and want something tastier than jar sauce. I mostly use jar sauce and doctor it up a bit with tomatoes and some seasonings.

Marinara Sauce

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup sliced mushrooms

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon fennel seed

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 8 ounce tomato sauce

1 6 ounce tomato paste

2 14 ounce cans diced tomatoes

saute onion in olive oil until translucent. Add garlic, mushrooms, parsley and spices. Stir to combine. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce and tomato paste. Fill empty tomato cans and tomato paste cans with water and add to sauce. Allow to simmer for up to an hour.

Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs

1 pound lean ground beef

1 pound ground pork (or you can use all beef)

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

2 Tablespoons dried or fresh parsley

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

salt and pepper

2 eggs

1 cup bread crumbs

8 ounce package mozzarella, cut into small cubes (about 1/4 inch in size)

Mix all ingredients and form into walnut sized balls, forming meat around cheese cube. Cook in olive oil in a large pan. Try to be gentle, the cheese tends to ooze out if you turn too much. Serve over pasta and marinara. Top with parmesan.

This makes about 2 1/2 dozen meatballs. I usually use half and freeze the rest or save them for leftovers. Or, just cut the recipe in half.

Sloppy Joes

I decided to try the Pioneer Woman's sloppy Joe recipe and it was so good! They are a little on the hot and spicy side, I thought my kids would complain but they all ate them all gone. I will absolutely make these again, my husband really loved them.

Sloppy Joe's

2 Tablespoons Butter

2-½ pounds Ground Beef

½ whole Large Onion, Diced

1 whole Large Green Bell Pepper, Diced

5 cloves Garlic, Minced

1-½ cup Ketchup

1 cup Water

2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

2 teaspoons Chili Powder (more To Taste)

1 teaspoon Dry Mustard

½ teaspoons Red Pepper Flakes (more To Taste)

Worcestershire Sauce To Taste

2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste (optional)

Tabasco Sauce (optional; To Taste)

Salt To Taste

Freshly Ground Black Pepper, To Taste

Kaiser Rolls

Butter

Add butter to a large skillet over medium high heat. Add ground beef and cook until brown. Drain most of the fat.

Add onions, green pepper, and garlic. Cook until vegetables are a little soft.

Add ketchup, brown sugar, chili pepper, dry mustard, and water. Stir to combine and simmer for 15 minutes, adding salt and pepper to taste. Also add tomato paste, Worcestershire, and Tabasco if desired. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

Spread rolls with butter and brown on griddle or under the broiler.

Spaghetti Pie

This is one of those meals that I like even better the second day. You can prepare it ahead of time and refrigerate. It is just good, homemade spaghetti. I love the taste of the green peppers added in it, it gives it a fresh, homemade taste. Then again, I love any recipe where green peppers are involved.

Spaghetti Pie

1 pound angel hair pasta
1/2 stick butter (4 TBS), melted
1 cup parmesan cheese
3 eggs
1 carton cottage cheese
1 pound ground beef
1 1/2 to 2 jars of your favorite spaghetti sauce
onion
green pepper
mushrooms
mozzarella cheese, grated

Cook meet with onion, green pepper, and mushrooms. Drain fat and add sauce to meat.

Cook pasta and drain. Place pasta in baking dish (9x13) and toss with melted butter, parmesan and eggs. Top with cottage cheese and then meat mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 house.

Top with mozzarella cheese the last 5 minutes.

Baked Ziti

This always gets rave reviews and every time I have made it for someone else they asked for the recipe. It is one of those dishes that taste even better the next day. I just made this for a birthday dinner and doubled it. I assembled it in the morning and put it in the fridge until it was time to eat. If you put it in the oven cold be sure to add at least 30 minutes to cooking time. Also, if you make it for a crowd and double it, only use three jars of sauce, not four.

Baked Ziti

(printable version)

1 pound ziti

1 onion, chopped
1 pound lean ground beef
2 jars spaghetti sauce
6 ounces provolone cheese, sliced
1 1/2 cups sour cream
6 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Cook ziti until al dente, drain and set aside. Cook the ground beef with the onion and drain fat. Add spaghetti sauce and let simmer for at least 15 minutes. In a 9 x 13 pan, layer 1/2 the ziti, provolone cheese, sour cream, 1/2 the sauce mixture, remaining ziti, mozzarella, remaining sauce and top with parmesan cheese.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Walking Tacos

I absolutely LOVE this meal, I don't know where it first came from but I have many memories eating this at family gatherings whether it was at Lake Powell on a houseboat or in Greer, AZ at my grandparents cabin. There are 43 cousins on my mom's side, add a bunch of adults and this was a great meal for a crowd if you need because it is so easy to double, triple or more, it is cheap, easy and oh so delish! I always serve it with Baked Tostitos. It really isn't that bad if you use fat free sour cream and baked chips. In fact, it is rather low points on the Weight Watchers scale, if you are into that kind of thing. My kids ask for seconds without fail every time we have this.

Walking Tacos

(printable version here)

1 lb. ground beef

1 can chili beans

1 can refried beans

1 can stewed tomatoes

1 onion, chopped

1 can chopped green chilies

salt

pepper

cumin powder

chili powder

garlic powder

Cook meat with onion, drain fat and add beans, tomatoes and green chilies. Season with salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder and garlic powder to taste.

Layer the following:

tortilla chips

meat/bean mixtures

cheese

sour cream

avacado

olives

green onions

lettuce

tomato

salsa

Sweet and Sour Meatballs and Fried Rice

This is one of my very favorite things to have for dinner. It comes from The Lion House cookbook. Every time I make this for company they have seconds and thirds, it is just too good to stop at one serving!

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

From The Lion House

(printable version here)

1 to 1-1/2 lbs. lean ground beef

3/4 cup oats

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Mix ingredients and form into 12 2-inch balls. Place in casserole dish, cover with sauce (recipe follows) and bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Sauce for meatballs

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup vinegar

1 tsp mustard

1/4 cup barbecue sauce

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Fried Rice

1/4 lb. bacon

1 cup diced onion

3/4 cup diced celery

1 bell pepper, diced

3 T soy sauce

3 cups COLD, cooked rice

Cook bacon until crisp. Remove from pan and Sauté vegetables in bacon fat. Add rice and soy sauce until heated through. Add bacon.