Baked Spaghetti Dinner

With school winding down, I haven't been blogging a lot. I read plenty of blogs, but mine seems to get pushed aside. Whoops! I'm caught up with end of the year stuff, and preparing for college next year. Which, I will tell you guys more about later in a special post=)

This dish was easy, though I didn't think some of the instructions were that clear. The good thing is that it is so flexible. So do it how you want=) I didn't use real pesto leaves, but like a squeeze tube bottle my mom bought. I was still very good with this substitution.

I liked eating spaghetti like this. The sauce and meat are distributed nice and it was quite tasty. It was a hit in my family=)

Interesting tidbit, I took these photos with my phone. I think they turned out pretty well. Then again, most of my pictures are pretty mediocre so it doesn't really make that big of a different haha.

Baked Spaghetti Dinner
found at How Sweet It Is

serves 4-6
3/4 pound whole wheat spaghetti
1/2 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/4 pounds ground beef
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
10-12 fresh basil leaves, chopped
2 cups of your favorite pasta sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep water to boil for pasta. I cooked a spaghetti with a 10-minute cooking time for 7 minutes since it was going in the oven.

Heat a skillet on medium heat and add olive oil. Add onions with a sprinkle of salt and pepper and saute until soft, about 5-6 minutes. Add garlic and stir for another minute. Season ground beef with the teaspoon of salt and pepper and add to skillet. Break apart with a wooden spoon and brown on both sides. This should only take about 5-6 minutes.

Stir in one cup of pasta sauce and half of the chopped fresh basil. Mix to combine. Spray a 9×13 baking dish (or baking dish of your choice, I used an 8-inch round, 4-inch deep dish) with non-stick spray. Add half of the spaghetti mixture to the dish, then top with 1/2 cup tomato sauce and half of each cheese. Add the remaining spaghetti and top with the rest of the sauce and cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, or until cheese is golden brown and bubbly.

Dinner Updates

I have been making some fabulous dinners. I may sound a little full of myself, but that's because I am. I'm full in my stomach from all these incredible dinners! Get it?! Me neither... But seriously, I need to give some shout outs to where I've been getting my dinner inspirations from. Now, I'm not very skilled at the whole photography thing, so I decided not to take pictures of most of the meals. But I captured a few for you=)

Pizza Mac N' Cheese- This in in my family's top 5 favorite meals I've made! Cassie Craves is such a great dinner resource whenever I don't know that to make. She has never steered me wrong and I love this recipe. It sounds like a heavy dish, but there's a ton of veggies in there surprisingly. I definitely will be making this again.

Chicken with Pesto Mushrrom Cream Sauce- One of the comments we kept saying about this dish was how juicy the chicken was! I don't know if that was more due to the recipe or me, but we loved that. The pesto mushroom cream suace was great and great for dipping breadsticks into. This meal packed so much taste and it reminded me of something you would get at Olive Garden. Thanks again Cassie!

Garlic Breadsticks- I was so excited to make these! I've never thaought about making something like this from scratch and it always seemed impossible. But really, these were incredibly easy. I loved adding butter, garlic, italian seasoning, and tons of parmesan cheese on top. We really personalized them to our tastes. I made them really huge, but that didn't stop me from having seconds=)

Mexican Sour Cream Rice- This was from quite awhile ago but I remember we defnitely enjoyed it!

Salsa Verde Turkey Burgers- These were some fantastic looking burgers! They were so fun to make and I loved the avocado aioli sauce that came with it. I went a little crazy with the red onion, so don't do that. Overall, these were a disappointement. They looked great and had some great components, but the taste just wasn't there. No amount of salt could fix it either, though ketchup helped.='(

Cowboy Quesadillas- These were very easy to put together and since we haven't had quesadillas in awhile, they were much welcomed. I especially loved the bbq ranch dipping sauce, but I am a lover of all dips=) So this gets a thumbs up!

Well these are some of the meals I have been cooking up for my family! It's a little strange for an 18 year old girl to be cooking dinner for her family most nights, but I love it! Hopefully I post up our dinners sooner so I can remember what we thought of them while it's still fresh in my mind. It was one of my New Years Resolutions to cook more homemade dinners for my family, and so far  I think I'm doing fabulously=)

Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed Shells

I made this recipe a while ago, but it has a lot to do with what I've been doing recently! For this new year, I'm really working on planning dinners for the week for my family. Both of my parents arrive home pretty late from work (6 o'clock if I'm lucky), and they don't have time to get dinner on the table at a reasonable hour. So, being the self-proclaimed foodie that I am, I feel it is my duty to help out.


One of my favorite reliable blogs, Cassie Craves, has been helping me through this resolution. And though this recipe wasn't from there since I made it way before this resolution, all the dinner recipes you'll see coming are. So be sure to check back!


Now, onto this dinner. There isn't too much to this recipe, which is great. I loved it! My big mistake, as always, is that I forget to thaw my spinach, so that did add some time onto it=/ I also have a hard time judging how much filling to put in each shell so that they are all even and I don't have left overs or not enough to finish. But I have to realize, things don't have to be perfect. It'll taste fine anyways. And it did. Unfortunately, certain members of my family don't like red sauce, so only half of us enjoyed this meal. (I'll let you guess who)


Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed Shells
from Cooking Light

Ingredients
2 cups Basic Marinara, divided
2 1/2 cups part-skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
1 large egg yolk
1 garlic clove, minced
24 cooked jumbo pasta shells

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350°.

Spread 1/2 cup Basic Marinara over bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Combine ricotta and next 8 ingredients (through garlic) in a large bowl, stirring well. Spoon about 1 1/2 tablespoons filling into each pasta shell. Arrange stuffed shells in prepared dish; spread with remaining 1 1/2 cups Basic Marinara. Cover and bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

White Chicken Enchiladas & Spinach and Artichoke Macaroni and Cheese

As part of a new initiative to try to have more home cooked meals, my mom and I picked out three meals to make for one week. We gathered our ingredients at the store and put ourselves in the mindset that, yes, we were going to do the dang thing.

When looking for great dinner ideas, I recommend Cassie Craves. She promptly posts daily and has the most amazing breakfast, lunch, and dinner recipes. They are all doable and nothing too elaborate. Perfect for anyone's family! I admire her great dishes all the time (and drool a little), but now it was time I finally tried one! I did attempt her stick chicken drumsticks a long while back, and they were a HIT! So I knew I could trust in her other recipes;)

We actually made two of her recipes. First: White Chicken Enchiladas with Green Chile Sour Cream Sauce.

The ingredients for this recipe are so simple, but you're still creating a masterpiece of a dish. Cassie has signature enchiladas she makes from time to time and they are just adorable. I liked the looks of this one especially. It all was so easy to make and the results we amazing! I just loved this dish so much. I can't wait to try the other varieties of enchiladas she has on her blog. Check her out!

White Chicken Enchiladas with Green Chile Sour Cream Sauce
from Cassie Craves

8-10 soft taco size flour tortillas

2 cups shredded Monterey jack cheese, divided

2 cups shredded cooked chicken
3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1 can chicken broth
1 cup sour cream

1 7-ounce can diced green chiles
Cilantro for garnish, if desired

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix together 1 cup of the cheese and the chicken. Place an equal amount of the mixture into each tortilla, roll up and place seam side down into a 9 x 13-inch pan.

2. In a skillet or saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Add the chicken broth, whisking until smooth. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly. Stir in sour cream and green chiles. Pour over the top of the enchiladas; sprinkle with remaining shredded cheese.

3. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Sprinkle with cilantro, if desired.

Second: Spinach and Artichoke Macaroni and Cheese

This looked too good not to try. I love spinach and artichoke dip and this turns it into a main course. And, like Cassie mentions, it's a great way to sneak in veggies! My dad and sister actually ate this. And that's saying something. I loved the cheesey goodness and also have healthy veggies tucked.

Please excuse my lack of photos=(

Spinach and Artichoke Macaroni and Cheese
from Cassie Craves

1 pound short-cut pasta
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 cups milk
1 10-ounce box frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and drained
1 can chopped artichoke hearts in water, drained
2 cups shredded Italian cheese blend, plus additional for sprinkling on top
1 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus additional for sprinkling on top

1. Place a large pot of water over high heat to cook the pasta. When the water is boiling, salt it well and drop in the pasta. Cook to al dente, according to the package directions. Drain the pasta and reserve.

2. While the pasta is cooking, place a medium pot over medium-low heat with the olive oil and the butter. Add the onion and garlic to the pan and cook the veggies until very soft, about 10 minutes.

3. Turn the heat up to medium-high and sprinkle the flour into the pan. Cook for about 1 minute, then whisk the chicken stock into the pan, cooking for another minute. Whisk the milk into the pan and bring up to a bubble. Add the vegetables and salt and pepper to taste to the sauce and simmer until thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the cheeses to the sauce and stir until melted.

4. Toss the prepared sauce with the cooked pasta and transfer to a casserole dish. Sprinkle more of the cheeses over the top and broil under low heat until the cheese has melted and the top is golden brown.

I will definitely be making more of her recipes in the future!!

Dad's Delish Dish

My dad came home one day and told me he was going to make dinner for the family. This is pretty surprising to hear because that never happens. But he had tried a dish somebody at his work had brought in and got the recipe for it. He prepared in advance and got all his ingredients together for when he'd make his big meal. And when it was time to start, he laid out all of what he needed before him.

Your basic low down of the recipe is:
A layer of spiral pasta, then a layer of cream spinach spread. Top with some small halved meatballs and red sauce. Sprinkle some mozzarella cheese and you're done.

This dish was simple and honestly incredible. I seriously can not even begin to describe to you how delicious this was. I paired it with some garlic bread to complete the meal.

The cream cheesy spinach was out of this world. Meatballs are perfect fillers and paired with a red sauce and pasta, you've created a meal of perfection!!

Please try this. YOU MUST.
Dad's Delish Dish
*Bear with me on these ingredients. My dad could not remember exact numbers and sizes of anything! So, trust your judgment and add to taste.






Ingredients:
Spiral noodles- enough to lightly cover a 9 x 13 pan
1 bag of frozen spinach, thawed
1 pkg of cream cheese, room temp!
1 bag of frozen meatballs, prepared as directed, halved
red sauce w/:
1 tablespoon parsley flakes
1 tablespoon dry chives
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Prepare and cook the noodles as directed on the package. Layer your spiral noodles along the bottom of your pan. Note: You can use a dish of any size or shape as long as you adapt the other ingredients to fit it.



Cream together your cream cheese and spinach and spread over top the noodles. Place your halved meatballs over the spread with the rounded side up. Then, layer over top with your red sauce. Sprinkle some mozzarella cheese over the whole thing.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes?, or longer if it needs more. The time is really just preference because nothing needs cooked, just heated and until the cheese is melted on top.

Pea & Roasted Red Pepper Vinagarette Pasta Toss

So real quick I wanted to tell you about this salad I tried out. It was from Smitten Kitchen's lovely blog. Usually she never steers me wrong, but I'd have to say I wasn't too wowed by this one.


Without vinaigrette

It was a really basic idea for a pasta salad. I think it would work best as a starting point, but definitely needs things added to it. I guess that sounds pretty harsh, but that's what I thought. It consisted primarily of peas and pasta. Then the vinaigrette is added for some color, flavor, and fluidity between the noodles. I give the vinaigrette two thumbs up! It was slightly frothy with a wonderful "pucker inducing effect" from the added red wine vinegar. I will certainly make this one again and again, experimenting with it on all kinds of things!



So the vinaigrette was great, but the rest was lacking. I served this at a family picnic type thing and it got pretty good reviews. But it was agreeably decided that one could/should build off from it. And I hope to soon. I do think it was saved a little when my mom and I ran to the local corner market and bought some asiago cheese to sprinkle throughout it right before serving. Thank goodness for cheese!! In the original recipe cheese isn't recommended because it was thought to be just fine without it. I thought the cheese was a must!

Also, the ratio of peas to pasta didn't look so good in my bowl. I was really concerned about why my pasta looked so whelming against the peas. I think I figured it out, though. It says to use a small sized pasta whereas I bought medium-sized pasta shells. That's where I think I messed up. But I also think my peas looked really inconsistent in size which didn't look so attractive.

And not to complain anymore but... it was pretty dry tasting to me. Add more dressing if necessary!



To make it was easy enough, I suppose. Boil your two types of peas and then shock 'em in an ice bath. Cook pasta until al dente. Slice one type of pea and then pop peas out of the other type. Combine and stir dressing throughout. But just peas and pasta weren't enough for me. I needed more. So I think I might continue to work with this one, trying out different varieties. It's a great healthy pasta dish idea that I'm hoping to just make my own. So again, no offense to Smitten Kitchen (love your blog!).

Summer Pea and Roasted Red Pepper Pasta
from Smitten Kitchen

1 pound of small pasta (preferably shells because it looks cuter when you find surprise peas inside)
1/4 pound snow pea pods, ends trimmed
1/2 pound fresh summer peas (I don't know if I got the right kind she called for, but I tasted fine)
3/4 to 1 cup Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette (recipe below)
cheese added to taste and for visual attractiveness

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and prepare a small ice water bath. Boil the snow pea pods for about two minutes, or until just barely cooked but still crisp. Scoop them out with a large slotted spoon and drop them in the ice water bath. Cook the summer peas for about 10 minutes (once again, this will be al dente, you can cook them longer if you prefer them softer), scoop them out with a large slotted spoon and plunge them into the ice water bath as well. Drain both peas. Cut the snow peas into thin slivers.

Add the pasta into the boiling water and cook it according to package instructions. Drain and let cool, then toss in a large bowl with peas and Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette, seasoning to taste.

Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette

Makes about one cup of dressing

1 red bell pepper, roasted, skinned and seeded or the equivalent from a jar, drained (I used jarred which worked beautifully)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar (add to taste, really)
1 tablespoon chopped shallot (about 1 small)
1/2 teaspoon salt
Several grinds of black pepper

Puree the red bell pepper in a food processor or blender as much as possible, then add the remaining ingredients and running the machine until the dressing is silky smooth. Adjust the vinegar level and seasonings to taste.

My notes:
-smaller shells
-asiago cheese (or your favorite)
-larger peas or more of them
-increase amount of dressing added (make multiple batches because trust me, you'll love it and use it)
-be creative! Add other veggies, different cheeses, herbs, or pasta types.