MommaCooks

posted by Nina on Mar 16

Everyone in our house loved this recipe and I feel like that hasn’t happened in a really long time. This was also super, duper easy which was also awesome.

Ingredients:
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 jar (24 oz.) spaghetti sauce
2 1/2 cups water
12 lasagna noodles, broken
1 tub (10 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Tomato & Basil Cooking Creme

Instructions:
Brown meat in a deep large nonstick skillet; drain.

Stir in spaghetti sauce and water. Bring to boil. Stir in noodles; cover. Simmer on medium-low heat 18 to 20 min. or until noodles are tender, stirring occasionally.

Stir in cooking creme. Remove from heat. Let stand covered for 3 minutes.

What did the family think? Everyone loved this and most of us went back for seconds.

Did I change anything? The original recipe called for some chopped green and red peppers. I left those out. Next time I might add some chopped zucchini or some spinach though. Also, I have a feeling that any sort of macaroni/penne-type noodle would probably work just fine.

Where did this recipe come from? The back of the carton of the tomato and basil cooking creme

posted by Nina on Feb 24

This dish was a huge ginormous hit at our house. I have to admit that as I was making it I wasn’t sure how it was going to go over. First, I thought I had bought the right type of pasta, but it turned out I didn’t and then I wasn’t sure I had enough meatballs. Did I mention that I didn’t even start cooking dinner until after 8:00? If this dish was a bomb I had no idea what Plan B was going to be, especially since it was so late. Thankfully everything worked out beautifully and there were happy bellies all around the table.

Ingredients:
1 (16-ounce) package frozen precooked meatballs, thawed
1 (16-ounce) package orzo pasta (or any other type of small pasta)
1-1/2 cups baby frozen peas
1 (16-ounce) jar Alfredo sauce
1 (6 to 7-ounce) container basil pesto
1/3 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 2-1/2 quart casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add orzo and cook until almost al dente, about 1 minute less cooking time than the package suggests.

Place peas in colander and drain pasta over peas; return all to pot. Add meatballs, Alfredo sauce, sour cream, milk, and pesto and mix gently. Pour milk into Alfredo sauce jar, close lid, and shake; add that to the pasta mixture and stir. (By doing this you can get more of the Alfredo sauce out of the jar.)

Pour into 2-1/2 quart casserole dish and top with Parmesan cheese. Bake for 25-35 minutes until casserole is bubbly and top begins to brown.

What did the family think? They loved it! I think everyone had seconds.

Did I change anything? I left out the peas…no time for drama at the dinner table last night. Also, since I didn’t have the right type of pasta, I used some pasta that I had bought for another recipe that never got made…it was teeny tiny star-shaped pasta…it worked beautifully.

Where did this recipe come from? Busycooks

photo from Busycooks

posted by Nina on Feb 17

My kids like lasagna and I thought maybe they’d like it in a little muffin cup. These are super easy to make and are easy to heat up if you have leftovers, too.

Ingredients:
2 packages plain or buttermilk biscuits
1 jar pasta sauce, divided
1 lb Italian sausage
1 cup Mozzarella Cheese
Ricotta cheese

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cook Italian sausage in a pan over medium heat.

Spray muffin pan.

Press one biscuit into each muffin cup, pressing around the edges forming a cup.

Mix sausage, cheese, and 1/2 cup pasta sauce in a mixing bowl.

Place a spoonful of the sausage/cheese mixture in each muffin cup and
top with a small dollop of ricotta cheese.

Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.

Serve with pasta sauce on the side for dipping.

What did the family think? These went over VERY well. I think our oldest went back for thirds.

Where did this recipe come from? Spark Recipes

posted by Nina on Feb 2

This recipe is from The Biggest Loser. I have never personally watched the show, but it seems like they make some pretty good pancakes.

Ingredients:
6 egg whites
1 cup rolled oats, dry
1 cup cottage cheese
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:
In a blender, blend all ingredients until smooth.

Heat a griddle or large non-stick skillet over medium-low heat. Spray with non-stick cooking spray.

For each pancake pour 1/4 cup of batter onto griddle. Flip when they start to bubble. Cook until golden brown. Repeat with remaining batches, spraying the griddle as needed.

We had these with eggs, sausage and fruit salad.

What did the family think? I thought these turned out great. I put a little extra cinnamon in them, so they were great with butter and syrup on them. Everyone else at the table gobbled them down, too.

Did I change anything? Just a teensy bit more cinnamon was added.

Where did this recipe come from? The Biggest Loser

photo from Goop

posted by Nina on Feb 1

This turned out SO yummy…I loved the cranberries in this! I also thought this might make the perfect Valentine’s dinner with the pinkish/reddish cranberries.

Ingredients:
6 pork chops
2 cups frozen cranberries
3/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
water as needed

Instructions:
In a skillet, brown chops slowly in oil; drain.

Add cranberries, sugar, salt and pepper to chops with 1/2 cup water to start.

Bring to boil; reduce heat*. Simmer, covered, for about 45 minutes or until tender but not dry. Add water if necessary to keep chops from drying out.

*Note: It says reduce heat. That means DON’T LET IT BOIL OVER. I made this mistake and let me just say that the sugary cranberry mess left all over my cooktop was a bear to clean up. Sugar caramelizes…yep, it was bad. It smelled like burnt marshmallows.

We had this with risotto and buttery French green beans.

What did the family think? Everybody liked it!!!!

Where did this recipe come from? Allrecipes

photo from Bon Appetit

posted by Nina on Jan 26

I don’t know why, but it took me forever to learn how to make a pancake without either burning it or having it be soggy in the middle. I think it was a matter of realizing that I didn’t have to turn the heat up to max…pancakes cook slow and steady and take a little bit of patience and watching. I must have figured it out because these pancakes were scrumptious and I didn’t burn any of them.

Ingredients:
1 cup ricotta cheese
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
pinch salt
3/4 cup milk
3 eggs, divided
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:
Whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Combine ricotta**, milk, egg yolks, and vanilla in a separate bowl.

Beat the egg whites in an electric mixer until stiff. Add the dry ingredients to the ricotta and milk mixture, stirring gently until just combined. Whisk in a small amount of the egg whites to lighten the batter, then fold in the remaining whites.

Heat a griddle over medium-high heat, and brush the surface with butter. Use a ladle or measuring scoop (we used a 1/3 cup measure) to pour batter onto the griddle. Cook pancakes for about 3 or 4 minutes, then flip, cooking until both sides are golden brown.

**Sometimes foods like yogurt and ricotta form a little puddle on top when they are in their packaging. When spooning out the ricotta to make these pancakes, pour off that liquid first.

We had these with scrambled eggs and a fruit salad.

What did the family think? Everyone who was here for dinner last night LOVED them. (Hubs was out of town.)

Did I change anything? I was out of vanilla (STILL! I thought I had purchased some) so I used a teensy weensy bit of almond extract instead and it turn out great.

Where did this recipe come from? The Kitchn

Photo from Goop

posted by Nina on Jan 13

This recipe was actually supposed to be a carrot cake, but cake implies there will be icing involved and in an effort to reduce the amount of sugar my children eat I decided to make it into carrot bread instead.

Ingredients:
2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 c. sugar
3/4 c. oil
1/2 cup applesauce
2 jars (jr. baby food) carrots
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

Instructions:
Mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.

Mix sugar and oil together. To this sugar and oil mixture add applesauce, carrots, eggs and vanilla. Mix thoroughly.

Add the dry ingredients and mix well. Bake in an ungreased standard-sized loaf pan for about 45 minutes (or until done) in a 350 degree oven.

What did the family think? Everyone who has had some so far loves it.

Did I change anything? I reduced the amount of sugar and oil. I also had run out of cinnamon so I used apple pie spice instead. It worked just fine. All of the changes I made are reflected in the recipe above except for the apple pie spice part.

Where did this recipe come from? Cooks.com

photo from Food People Want

posted by Nina on Jan 5

I love risotto and this looked like it might be a good dish for a chilly night, too. I am so glad we gave this a try. It was SO good and pretty easy too.

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 bunch broccolini, roughly chopped (about 8 ounces)
12 ounces sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
1 cup arborio rice
1 clove garlic, minced
1/3 cup dry white wine
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a Dutch oven or ovenproof pot over high heat. Add the broccolini and stir-fry until just tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate using a slotted spoon. Add the sausage, Italian seasoning, onion and carrot to the pot and cook, breaking up the meat, until browned, about 5 more minutes. Add the rice and garlic and cook, stirring, 1 more minute.

Add the wine to the pot and cook until evaporated, about 2 minutes. Add the chicken broth, tomatoes and 1 cup water; cover and bring to a boil.

Transfer the pot to the oven and bake until the rice is tender, about 15 minutes.

Remove the pot from the oven. (Don’t worry if the risotto seems wet; it will thicken when you add the cheese.) Vigorously stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and the cheese until creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the broccolini and divide among bowls.

Did I change anything? I added the Italian seasoning and I changed the cheese in the recipe from fontina to Parmesan.

What did the family think? Everybody ate it, even our youngest,even after he had spent a good 15 minutes telling us all the reasons why he couldn’t/shouldn’t/wouldn’t eat it.

Where did this recipe come from? Food Network

Photo from Food Network

posted by Nina on Jan 2

The other day my good friend, Candy, had said that she was going to make baked spaghetti and chocolate chip cookies for dinner. That just sounded so good to me, so I went searching for a baked spaghetti recipe. This is an adapted version of Paula Deen’s baked spaghetti.

Ingredients:
4 cups pasta sauce
1 1/2 pounds ground beef, turkey or chicken
8 ounces uncooked angel hair pasta
1 cup grated cheddar
1 cup grated Monterey Jack

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Cook the pasta according to the package directions.

Heat pasta sauce over medium heat in a medium sauce pan.

Crumble the ground beef in a large skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until fully cooked, with no pink color remaining. Drain the fat from the meat, and then add the ground beef to the sauce.

Cover the bottom of a 13 by 9 by 2-inch pan with sauce/meat mixture. Add a layer of pasta and then a little less than 1/2 of each cheese; repeat the layers, ending with the sauce. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Top the casserole with the remaining cheese, return it to the oven, and continue to cook until the cheese is melted and bubbly, about 5 more minutes.

Did I change anything? This recipe has been greatly simplified by using jarred pasta sauce.

What did the family think? They really liked it. I thought it might be a bit disappointing because I thought it might taste too much just like plain spaghetti, but it was different enough to be interesting.

Where did this recipe come from? adapted from Paula Deen

photo from about.com

posted by Nina on Jan 1

These were a great addition to our New Year’s morning brunch. They are crispy and buttery with just a hint of vanilla…so good!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups buttermilk (shake before pouring into measuring cup)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:
Preheat waffle iron.

Melt the stick of butter in a heat-proof measuring cup. Set aside to cool. You might even want to stick it in the freezer of refrigerator to speed up the cooling process.

In a large batter bowl, measure out the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt, stirring well to combine ingredients. Create a depression in the center of the dry ingredients for the buttermilk mixture.

Beat the eggs in a medium-sized mixing bowl until frothy and well-combined. Add the vanilla extract, buttermilk and cooled butter. Beat until well-combined.

Pour the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredient’s depression and stir rapidly with a wooden spoon until well combined.

Using the wooden spoon, push 1/4 to 1/5 of the batter onto your waffle iron and bake until steam stops rising from the waffle iron or your personal degree of doneness is achieved.

What did the family think? Thumbs up!

Where did this recipe come from? Food. com

photo from Becoming Lola