New Recipe: Baked Three Cheese Gnocchi Mac & Cheese

This is the last of my new recipes from last week. I've always been intrigued by gnocchi and a little intimidated by it. Plus, most of the gnocchi dishes I've seen have either been served with a tomato based sauce (doesn't excite me) or a pesto (can't stand pesto). When I found this recipe for Baked Three Cheese Gnocchi Mac & Cheese it seemed very first-time-gnocchi-cooker-and-eater friendly. 

I was right! I love that the cheeses in it aren't crazy specialty cheeses, that always makes me more likely to make something. I got this dish ready to go the night before so I could just pop it in the oven when I got home and it could bake while Husband grilled some pork tenderloin and my beans cooked. We ate it as a side dish but I'm thinking it could totally hold it's own as a main dish.

Looking at this picture makes me sad because I know there
are no more leftovers in my fridge. (Also, I doubled the recipe...
that's why it's in the 9x13 casserole dish.)

Baked Three Cheese Gnocchi Mac & Cheese

Ingredients:

• 1 pound Potato Gnocchi (found in the pasta aisle)
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/2 tablespoons flour
• 3/4 cup milk (I used skim)
• 1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley (or chopped fresh, if you want)

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and spray your casserole dish with cooking spray (If you're not doubling the above recipe, like I did, an 8x8 casserole dish should work. If doubling, use a 9x13 dish.) 
2. Cook your gnocchi according to the package directions. Drain and transfer to your casserole dish. 
3. Original recipe says to do this in a skillet but I used a sauce pan. In a medium sauce pan, melt butter then add your garlic and onion powder. Let that cook a few minutes to soften your garlic then add the flour and whisk until it's bubbly.
4. Add the milk, salt, and pepper. Stir until its thickened (2-3 minutes?).
5. Add the cheddar, mozzarella, and 1/3 cup Parmesan and remove from the heat. Continue to whisk until the cheese is melted. 
6. Pour the cheese sauce over the gnocchi (you may have to mix it some). Top with the remaining Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, and sprinkle with parsley. 
7. Bake for 20 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Let stand a few minutes before serving...try not to attack the casserole pan with your fork while try to be patient.

Recipe Source: Living Better Together

Notes/Suggestions:

• Like I said, I love that this recipe uses "normal" cheeses. It's what made me pick it. I did shred the cheddar cheese & Parmesan cheese myself (I used a sharp white cheddar and fresh Parmesan) but my mozzarella was the pre-shredded in the bag kind. 
• I love leftovers, that's why I doubled this. It reheated pretty well, a little greasy but that's normal with mac & cheese.
• Grant didn't want to try this, he said "I don't like it". I ended up telling him that it was mac & cheese with special noodles (Is that a lie? I'm not sure). He ended up trying it and ate at least half of what I put on his plate and told me "Mmmm. That is good. Mama. You...are the best cooker." I think he got a popsicle that night.
• I served this with THIS pork tenderloin recipe and some green beans (Grant's current favorite vegetable - he had two huge helpings that night). Awesome flavor and you can grill it or cook it in the oven (we've always grilled it but I like that the oven can be my back-up plan in case of rain).

Enjoy!

New Recipe: Million Dollar Spaghetti

Comfort Food Week continues! Much like Monday night's Chicken & Dumplings Casserole, I wasn't thinking "healthy" when I picked this meal...I was thinking "How much of that can I cram in my face before I hate myself?" 

Spaghetti is pretty basic, right? I mean, who doesn't love spaghetti? 

Me. 

I don't love it. I eat it, I don't hate it or anything. But it's not one of those meals that makes me excited to sit down to the dinner table. But I live with two spaghetti lovers so I make spaghetti (Grant did a serious happy dance in the kitchen when he found me making spaghetti). But that's why I love recipes like this Million Dollar Spaghetti. We can all get excited about it. It's sort of like deconstructed lasagna. Spaghetti casserole. Fancy spaghetti. Spaghetti that got dressed up for a really important job interview. Whatever. It was loved in my house.

Million Dollar Spaghetti
(this is the recipe as I found it; I'll add my notes, as usual, at the end)

Look at those layers...and the cheesy goodness.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 can of spaghetti sauce (I used Hunts)
• 8 oz. package of cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/2 lb. cottage cheese (I prefer small curd, not low-fat)
• 1 stick of butter
• 8 ounces of spaghetti noodles
• 1 bag of cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350. Boil your noodles according to the package directions (if you haven't already skipped ahead and done this.
2. While your noodles boil, mix together the cream cheese, sour cream, and cottage cheese. Make sure they are mixed well.
3. Cook your ground beef, drain it, add your can of spaghetti sauce to it.
4. Now for layering: put a few slices of your stick of butter on the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish; on top of that layer half your noodles; pour the cream cheese mixture (all of it) on top of the noodles and spread it around so it's even; add the rest of your noodles on top of that and put a few more slices of butter on top of those noodles; pour your meat sauce on the top of all that and spread it around so it's even. Bake for 30 minutes.
5. When it's baked for 30 minutes, add your cheese to the top. The whole bag...there's really no point in cutting calories now. Bake for 15 more minutes or until it's a little brown on top.
6. Unless you're starving, I'd let it sit for 5-10 minutes before serving (use that time, like I did, to pop some frozen garlic bread in the oven - its Fall, your body needs the extra carbs).

Recipe Source: being grown up

Notes/Suggestions:

• I omitted the butter entirely from this dish. I guess that makes the above recipe a bit of a lie. I sprayed my pan with non-stick cooking spray and everywhere where it says to put slices of butter...I did not. I've never used butter in spaghetti and it just seemed unnecessary here. I didn't miss it.
• I felt like the cream cheese/sour cream/cottage cheese mixture was a large amount for only 8 ounces of noodles. I cooked a whole 16 ounce package and ended up using almost all of it.
• If - like me - you go with extra noodles, you'll want to up your sauce to. My meat sauce had about 1 1/2 cans of sauce and I ended up heating the extra 1/2 can for us to spoon on top if needed (Husband always likes extra sauce).
• I added some parmesan cheese to my cream cheese mixture and I used and italian cheese blend on top in place of cheddar. It was really good but cheddar would have been too.
• BIG hit in my house! Husband had two servings and Grant couldn't get his into his face fast enough. At one point Grant leaned back, looked down and rubbed his stomach saying "Mmm mmmm. This is good. This is yummy in my tummy."

Enjoy!

New Recipe: PW's Tortellini Primavera

I saw this recipe on the Pioneer Woman's site last week and it immediately went on my menu for the week. Then I ran out of steam toward the end of the week...so I made it this week. I thought the combination of pasta and fresh veggies would be a tasty spring meal and it was! Even Grant ate it.

Tortellini Primavera

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 whole medium onion, finely diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 whole carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 cup cauliflower, broken or cut into small pieces
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• salt & pepper, to taste
• 8 whole basil leaves, chopped
• 3/4 cup cooked ham, diced
• 1 cup frozen peas
• Extra Parmesan & basil for serving
• 1 pound cheese (or spinach) tortellini

Directions:

1. Cook tortellini a couple of minutes less than package directions call for. Drain and set aside.
2. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and garlic and stir to cook for 1 minute.
3. Add the carrots and cauliflower, stir, cook for 1 minute.
4. Add the wine and broth, then cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until the liquid reduced some.
5. Add in cream and Parmesan cheese, stir. 
6. When mixture is hot, add the peas, ham, salt, and pepper. Allow them to heat up in the sauce. When the sauce is hot, stir in the cooked tortellini.
7. Taste test your seasonings and add more if necessary. Serve with extra Parmesan and basil, if desired.

Recipe Source: The very awesome Pioneer Woman

Notes/Suggestions:

• The above recipe is PW's original recipe. I didn't use wine or basil. We don't keep wine of any sort around this house so I substituted more chicken broth in place of the wine. I thought it tasted fantastic. And I just don't like basil but if you do, I bet its very tasty on this dish. But if you're like me and you don't like it, your dinner will not be ruined by the absence of basil.
• I highly recommend checking out the recipe on PW's site. Not only are there, as usual, step-by-step pictures but also a list of things she recommends as add-ins for this dish. I added 3-4 ounces of cream cheese since she suggested it (which I added at the same time as the cream and Parmesan). It was great!
• Next time I'll thaw my peas. I was leery of the peas anyway because...well, they're peas. However, this pea hater ate every pea on her plate because they were so yummy in this dish...just a bit too crunchy. Your cauliflower & carrots may be crunchy too but I'm good with that.
• Ham! Oh how I love ham. I used pre-diced ham since this was going to be a weeknight meal and I wanted to cut down on prep. I chose the smaller diced pieces but they ended up sort of disappearing into the dish. Next time, I'd go with larger pieces or just buy ham steaks and chop them myself.

I've never made a PW recipe that I didn't like or that turned out bad. Check out her stuff, she's awesome! 

ENJOY!

New Recipe: Pizza Casserole

I love a casserole. I am always on the prowl for a new and delicious casserole recipe. Sometimes they make me feel lazy. Even though they're not all as simple as throwing some ingredients into a 9 x 13 pan. This one was pretty easy by casserole standards. And it was tasty. Score! This Pizza Casserole recipe is another that I found on Pinterest. Besides the food blogs that I read, it's really my favorite place to find new recipes.

I sort of forgot to take a picture before we attacked it with the serving spoon.

Pizza Casserole

• 1 bag of Egg Noodles (I think mine was a 16 oz bag)
• 1 extra large can of Ragu sauce (or any tomato sauce you prefer)
• 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (or more depending on how much you like cheese!)
• 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
• 1 package pepperoni

Directions:

1. Boil the noodles according to package directions.
2. While the noodles cook, brown the ground beef and drain it.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
4. Now you can start layering your casserole like this: Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce on the bottom of your casserole dish. Then layer half your noodles, then half the meat, then half your sauce. On top of that, layer the rest of your noodles, half of the cheese, the rest of your meat, the rest of your sauce, and then the rest of your cheese. Spread your pepperoni on top of that (However much or little of the package as you want. It depends on your pepperoni preference.)
5. Cover the casserole dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes. After the 30 minutes, remove the foil and bake for another 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for about 10 minutes before serving.

Recipe Source: For Mamas

Toddler tested. Toddler approved.

Notes/Suggestions:

• When re-typing the recipe I debated on what to put for the cooking temperature. She has 350 but this casserole is HUGE. I recommend 375 degrees. I did mine at 350 and took it out after about 25 minutes and some of the middle cheese hadn't even melted. So I turned up the oven after that and left the foil off (although the foil is necessary for most of the process). But after that it cooked fine and the pepperoni got nice and crispy :)
• I added black olives to the one of the meat layers because all three of us (yes, Grant included) are black olive fans. Yum!
• I used a little extra cheese. Ok, I used a whole cup of extra cheese. (So that's 4 cups instead of the original 3 cups.)
• Lots of room with this recipe to be creative and make it your own. Anything you like on a pizza could pretty much be added to one of the layers. As long as you have a big enough casserole dish :)
• Great weeknight meal because it doesn't take too much time to get together. It could even be put together the night before if you're feeling ambitious and then just throw it in the oven when you get home.
• HUGE casserole. It makes a ton. So it's great for leftovers or to feed a crowd (hello potluck!).

This one was a big hit with the three of us. Even me and I'm really not a fan of spaghetti/pizza sauce. Grant, who isn't a big meat eater, couldn't get it in his mouth fast enough and never stopped to think about the hamburger meat. I'll definitely be making it again. I'd love to know how it turns out if anyone tries it. Enjoy!

New Recipe: Cheesy Chicken Casserole

I have lost count of how many recipe websites have my e-mail address. But there are enough that I get at least 20 new recipes in my e-mail every day. Some I delete because I know I'd never attempt to make them and some I delete because they just don't look good. But the ones that look yummy AND Grant friendly? Keepers. This recipe for Cheesy Chicken Casserole I saw in an e-mail and I made it the next night. It's a little bit like the Chicken Tetrazzini that I posted a while back. Nothing went to waste, it was super yum.

Cheesy Chicken Casserole

3 to 4 cooked chicken breasts, chopped

(you can use the meat from a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store deli)

1 (16 oz.) package egg noodles, cooked

1 (24 oz.) container light sour cream

2 cans Campbell's Healthy Request cream of chicken soup

1 (8 oz.) package shredded cheddar cheese

1 (8 oz.) package shredded mozzarella cheese

1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed

1/4 cup margarine, melted

1. Combine chicken, noodles, sour cream, soup, and cheese in a large bowl.
2. Pour into a 13" x 9" baking dish that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
3. Mix together cracker crumbs and margarine and sprinkle over the top.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until the crackers are golden brown.

Adapted from: myrecipes.com



Toddler tested. Toddler approved.

Notes/Suggestions:

• My only real problem with this recipe was that it needed a vegetable added to it to make it feel like it was better for me. Only that didn't occur to me until we were eating it. Next time I'll probably add some broccoli and/or maybe some carrots because that's Grant's favorite veggie.
• Reheats well for lunch the next day. And then for dinner again. It's kind of a huge casserole. 

Enjoy!

New Recipe: Chicken Tetrazzini

Yesterday Nate came home after a very long week (for both of us) away on business. I figured that he would probably be tired of eating out so I wanted to make him something yummy for dinner. I got this Chicken Tetrazzini recipe from my friend Henri - who was also the provider of the yummy Pork Tenderloin recipe. She's made it a few times for our work luncheons and it's always so good, I figured Husband would like it too. And I was right. He had two big helpings and then I walked into the kitchen to catch him eating straight from the casserole dish with a fork. I guess I'll be making this one again.

I altered the recipe slightly so I'll give you the original and put my alterations in my notes/suggestions.

Chicken Tetrazzini

1 box (7 oz.) thin spaghetti

1 jar (6 oz.) sliced mushrooms, drained

1 large onion, diced

1/2 cup butter or margarine

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked

2 (10 oz.) cans cream of chicken soup

2 cups sour cream

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Break spaghetti into 1-inch to 2-inch pieces. Cook in salted water until tender. Drain. Saute mushrooms and onions in butter. Cut chicken into 1 to 2 inch pieces. Combine chicken with spaghetti, mushrooms, onions, soup and sour cream. Stir and turn into a buttered dish (2 quart casserole dish). Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 40 minutes. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Sounds good, doesn't it? It was. The best thing was that I was able to put it all together Thursday night (thank you Grant for behaving) and refrigerate it over night. All I had to do when I got home last night was put it in the oven. 



Cooked spaghetti



Pulled rotisserie chicken

Mixing everything together



Grant and Mortimer watching Mommy cook.



Ready to go in the fridge for the night!

 

Cooking the mushrooms for Husband



Yum! Ready to eat.

 

You can't have pasta without garlic bread! Yes, I use the frozen kind. Don't judge.



Notes/Suggestions:

• I use the Ronzoni Smart Taste pasta whenever I can find it. The box of thin spaghetti was 14.75 oz. so I only cooked half. It wasn't enough so I ended up cooking the rest of the box and used almost all of it. So I would suggest cooking the whole box and adding it little by little when you mix up the sauce. I think I used about 3/4 of the pasta that I cooked.
• I once again used rotisserie chicken in place of the cooked chicken breasts. I will say it again: I love, love, love rotisserie chicken. SO convenient and tasty.
• I don't like mushrooms and I used onion powder in place of the onions. That allowed me to leave out ALL the butter in the recipe. I cooked the mushrooms on the side for Nate to add to his meal because he loves them so that was the only butter used in the recipe. I did add a little bit of milk when I mixed up the ingredients to thin out the sauce.
• I used reduced fat sour cream (Henri suggested that because she does it too). One 16 ounce container of sour cream is 2 cups. You don't need to bust out the measuring cup.
• This a great recipe to make up ahead of time but you don't have to. It's also a great recipe to make if you are bringing a meal to a friend/family (new baby, illness, etc.).
• I spell rotisserie wrong every time I type it. Thank you spell check.

New Recipe: Lasagna Rolls

Last night I decided to try something different making this my first new recipe of February. Yay me! This is a fun version of lasagna. The recipe can be found HERE courtesy of Holly at Life as a Lofthouse. It was so yummy! I'm really glad I decided to try it. I forgot to take pictures of my steps, but Holly has great ones in her post. Here is my finished product:

Notes/Suggestions:

• I wouldn't say this is an easy weeknight meal. If you want to attempt it after you get home from work, more power to you. Not me though. I'm glad I saved it for a weekend night.
• The recipe can easily be doubled for a larger family/crowd.
• In place of the 2 chicken breasts I just used chicken pulled from a rotisserire chicken. It's my favorite recipe shortcut.
• I replaced the chive & onion cream cheese with plain and I left out the basil. I'm not a fan of many flavored cream cheeses and I think basil is gross.
• I used extra cheese...SUPRISE!