Taste of Tuesday:Ravioli Bake

With the holiday weekend, the Taste of Tuesday link up was skipped and will resume next week. I still have an easy dinner recipe for you though! I found this Ravioli Bake over at Kraft's website. The first time I made it, I found it to be a little runny so I made a few modifications to the original recipe.

 

First and foremost, I used 2 13 oz packages of frozen ravioli. Italian Village is my favorite brand.

I also used a dry packet of Zesty Italian dressing instead of liquid.

O and drain the tomatoes as much as possible!

Start by mixing the 14 oz tomato sauce, drained diced tomatoes, dressing packet, and 8 oz of beef broth together in 9x13 baking dish.

Place the raviolis in the sauce mix and coat as much as possible.

Cover with foil and bake at 375 for about 45 minutes. Remove foil and top with shredded cheese. Broil for just a few minutes until cheese is bubbling and brown in spots.

YUMMMM!!!

 

Ravioli Bake

14 oz tomato sauce

8 oz beef broth

1 can(14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, drained

1 packet Zesty Italian dressing mix

2 13 oz packages frozen raviolis

shredded cheddar and shredded mozzarella cheeses to top

 

Combine first four ingredients in 9x13 baking dish. Toss in raviolis until all are well coated. Cover with foil and bake at 375 for about 45 minutes. Remove foil, top with cheeses and broil for a few minutes until cheese starts to bubble and brown.

 

Great dish the whole family will love! I'm off now to work on my guest blog recipes for next week over at Life According to Steph. Stayed tuned for when that posts!



 





Taste of Tuesday:Homemade Mac and Beef

Recipes don't get much simpler than this one. I've seen several versions of this on Pinterest and various other sites. This is my version. It's a great dish to take to someone as well. I put it all together last week for some family and just sent it along with baking instructions. It traveled well and they said they loved it!

 

What You Need:

1 lb of ground beef

1 box (16 oz) of elbow macaroni

1 (14 oz) can of diced tomatoes-I like the petite style

1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes (or tomato sauce)-I like the texture of crushed tomatoes

salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano-or your favorite seasonings for sauce, to taste

1 cup shredded cheddar

1 cup shredded mozzarella

 

What To Do:

Cook you macaroni according to package directions.

Brown your beef and drain the fat.

 

Add the diced tomatoes and crushed tomatoes to the beef. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder and whatever other seasonings you choose. Let simmer for about 5 minutes.

Mix together with the cooked pasta in a large casserole dish.

 

Top with the cheddar and mozzarella.

Cover with foil and bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes. I will uncover after the 30 minutes and broil it for just a few minutes until the cheese bubbles and starts to brown.

There you have it! Easy, family pleasing dinner that usually ends up with leftovers for lunch the next day!

 

 

 Linking up with Let's Get Bananas and Blissfully Miller for Taste of Tuesday!

 

 



One Pan Spicy Sausage Pasta

You all know by now that I love easy dinners. This recipe here doesn't disappoint in the simplicity department...or the flavor department for that matter. I found this gem online, it's from The Best Simple Recipes by America's Test Kitchen. This dish is slightly on the spicy side, but you can use mild tomatoes and chilies if you are not a fan of heat. You have to try this dinner either way! 

 

It calls for smoked sausage, but as usual, I go the healthier route and use turkey.

The first time I made this, Shoprite didn't have regular smoked turkey sausage so I tried this turkey kielbasa and I've used it every time. Its got a great flavor and it does not taste like turkey at all!

You need a little heavy cream, chicken broth, and diced tomatoes with green chilies. As well as some pasta.

It also calls for diced onions but I'm not allowed to use them so I just add a little of this for flavor.



Add a little olive oil to an oven safe skillet and heat. Throw in your sausage and garlic (and onions if using) and cook just until lightly browned.

Here's the best part. All you have to do now is throw in the uncooked pasta and the rest of the ingredients,  saving the cheese for the end, and let it simmer. Recipe also calls for scallions which I omitted.

Mix in some of the cheese then top with the rest and throw it in the oven and broil just until the cheese bubbles and browns a little.

Serve and enjoy!!

 

 

Spicy Sausage Pasta

 

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 lb smoked (turkey) sausage

1.5 cups diced onions (I omitted)

2 cloves garlic minced

2 cups low sodium chicken broth

1 10 oz can diced tomatoes and green chilies

1/2 cup heavy cream

8 oz penne pasta ( I used almost a full 16 oz bag instead)

1 cup Monterey Jack shredded cheese (pfft just a cup? I don't think so!)

1/3 cup thinly diced scallions (I omitted)

salt and pepper to taste

 

1. Add olive oil to oven safe skillet and heat until just smoking. Add sausage and onions and cook unit lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

2. Add broth, cream, tomatoes, pasta, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat. Simmer until pasta is tender, about 15 minutes.

3. Remove skillet from heat and mix in about 1/2 cup of the cheese. Top with the remaining cheese(or a lot more like I did!) and sprinkle with scallions if you like. Broil for a few minutes, until cheese is melted, bubbly and browning in spots.

 

 



 

Race for the Cure Recap

• On Mother's Day, I participated in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure of Philadelphia.This walk supports breast cancer research, as well as mammograms and care for women in the region. Breast cancer has affected far too many people in my life and I will do everything in my power to see a cure in my lifetime. My hubby's family and I(and a few friends from my sister-in-law's work) formed a team about 2 months ago and started fundraising. We had a goal of $1000 but with the help of so many generous, caring people, we more than doubled it with a grand total of $2876! I couldn't have been more proud to be team captain! We had a great morning filled with some tears and lots of laughs. The weather was beautiful and the 5K was a breeze because we were having such a good time.

My sister-in-law Chrissy was kind enough to let me "borrow" a few of her pictures since I didn't have enough hands to take along my camera.

A few shots of some team members/family.

 

Clockwise from left: My hubby painted his nails pink in honor of the day; his string band played the event before the walk started; a shot of the survivors walking down the steps; the back of the survivor shirts-they really are an inspiration every day.

 

It was a great way to spend mother's day morning. We are already planning next year's walk, hoping our team expands and setting our fundraising goals even higher!

After we had a little lunch, I stopped to see my Mom and then was home for a nap before a home cooked dinner with my boys. They got me some new chef's knives and a cutting board-exactly what I asked for!

Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!
O and if you love all things beauty, check out my sister's blog, Scissorhands Jill!

Happy Mother's Day to my Mom

I always loved my mom's cooking when I was growing up. I'm sure most people think their mom makes the best version of every food, but my mom really does...in my eyes anyway! She's an awesome baker and dessert is always top notch! Here's a list of things my mom taught me how to make that I will always think are the best around! 

•CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES 

(Don't even bother arguing. My mom's are the best around. Period. Ok ok my mother in law's run a very close second.)

•Butter cookies. Jill and Kenny fight over them.

•Baked macaroni and cheese. I still can't make it like hers. 

•Breakfast Pizza. Every Christmas morning. Its so good!

•Pasta salad. Her version just always tastes better. 

•Pumpkin pie. 

•Apple pie...really I always make it too runny. I don't know how she does it. 

•Caesar salad. I know that sounds silly but it tastes great when she makes it. 

•Homemade spaghetti sauce. I'm still not sure how she makes it but I love her it when she makes a bigger batch and freezes it. 

I could go on, but those are a few of my favorites. Hope everyone has a Happy Mother's Day! Love you Mom! 

 

Cinco Supper, Ole!

It's Cinco De Mayo. And better yet, it's Sunday so I can actually cook a more in depth meal! Mexican fiesta? I think yes. Here I'm combining two things I love: Mexican food and stuffed peppers.

I'm making Creamy Chicken Stuffed Peppers. Word up. I've made these before but with a little bit of prep work, they don't come up in the rotation very often.

 

Creamy Chicken Stuffed Peppers

1-2 lb chicken breast

chicken broth

8 oz low fat cream cheese, softened

1 cup shredded cheddar jack, divided

1-3 jalapenos, finely diced(optional depending on your heat preference)

4 oz can chopped green chiles

8 oz frozen corn

1/4 - 1/2 cup salsa

1 1/2 tsp ground cumin

salt and pepper, to taste

4 bell peppers(any color)

 

Poach the chicken in the broth(tips on how to do so here), allow to cool slightly and shred in food processor. Shredding with two forks would work as well, but the food processor gives it a nice, even texture.

Cut your bell peppers in half, remove the seeds, and place on parchment paper lined baking sheet.

Dice your jalapenos,

and combine with shredded chicken and remaining ingredients.

Stuff the peppers and top with remaining shredded cheddar jack.

Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350. I prepped these earlier today and put them in the fridge until dinner time. I can't wait to bake them up and eat dinner!!!!

Now if only I had a margarita to go with them!

Time to talk Yonanas

When my sister-in-law Lori was home over the holidays she started telling me about this contraption called Yonanas. I listened but was having a hard time believing the praises she was singing. It's a little machine that makes homemade frozen yogurt-like desserts from bananas, other fruits, and NOTHING ELSE! So you can imagine why I was skeptical. Kenny and I went online and watched the promo video on the website and decided we had to try it. With a million different things that came up, we didn't get to buy it for a few months. I told my coworker about it and my mom and they both went and got it immediately!
Well we finally got ours this past weekend(thank you mom for picking it up for us!) Tonight, we had Yonanas. And it was damn delicious. Seriously.
We got our "cheetah spotted bananas" in the freezer yesterday and I also froze some strawberries for Kenny. That's it. The bananas are the base and must be spotted before you peel and freeze them. Any other fruit you want to add as flavor must be frozen as well. You put the fruit into the machine and out comes frozen yogurt-well its that texture but way healthier! I added a spoonful of peanut butter to mine after it was made and it was sooooo good! Definitely satisfied my sweet tooth!
You have to try this! You will be telling everyone you know about it, I swear! It's really incredible! Ours was found at Bed, Bath, and Beyond-you know they take their coupons even if they are expired so it was a deal!