If you are like most homes with small children in residence, spaghetti is a popular menu item. It's quick, easy, and photo ops abound. Who doesn't have a collection of pictures of toddlers with upside-down bowls on their heads?
In an effort to change up our pasta routine, I tried out this recipe, found through the wonderful world of Pinterest. I loved the "make ahead" nature of this dish and the ability to throw it together with ingredients on hand. The original recipe calls for ground beef, but I have used turkey Italian sausage (which was very good), and chopped up turkey pepperoni (which was delicious and the clear winner). My kids love it and it's earned a permanent spot in our meal rotation. Enjoy!
~Erin
Creamy Baked Spaghetti
Author: Erin (adapted from Plain Chicken)
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6
Ingredients
12 oz spaghetti
1 28 oz. jar of your favorite prepared pasta sauce
1 lb cooked, drained Italian sausage OR 1 c. of roughly chopped pepperoni
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 clove garlic, minced
8 oz. cream cheese, softened and cubed
1/2 c. parmesan cheese, grated
1 c. mozzarella cheese, shredded
Instructions
Stir your choice of meat into pasta sauce.
Prepare spaghetti noodles according to package directions. Drain cooking water and return hot pasta to pot. Immediately stir cream cheese, Italian seasoning, and garlic in to pasta until noodles are coated.
Lightly spray a 9x13 pan. Spread a small amount of sauce mixture on bottom of pan. Spread spaghetti in pan, then top with sauce. Sprinkle with parmesan and mozzarella cheeses.
Bake at 350 for approximately 30 minutes, until bubbly.
Notes
Save yourself a lot of frustration and make sure your cream cheese is thoroughly softened and cut into small chunks before stirring into noodles. Even after following these steps myself, I was a little surprised how "melt resistant" my full fat cream cheese could be. Putting the lid on the pot and letting it sit for a few minutes usually helps. Definitely avoid using a fat free cream cheese as it's melting capabilities are severely limited. :)
I suppose this would be called a "bonus recipe" this week! If you read the recipe posted yesterday you'll see a cranberry dipping sauce to be used with the Sausage Balls. Over Thanksgiving I had several parties and had to come up with several appetizers for each. Time is tight with two toddlers running around so I tried to be efficient. This Cranberry Crostini used the same cranberry sauce- but in a very different way. I'm always a fan of crostini recipes. Actually as a general rule, I eat any appetizer with bread on the ingredient list. :)
After tasting the cranberry sauce I thought that it would make a great topping for either a cheese ball or crostini. This recipe found a way to mix both. Its another super-simple recipe and perfect for a pre-dinner snack on Christmas to keep hungry tummies (temporarily) satisfied.
~Wendy
Cranberry Crositini
Recipe Type: Appetizer
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Ingredients
Cranberry Dipping Sauce-
12 oz bag fresh cranberries
3/4 c. brown sugar
6 oz frozen orange juice concentrate (about 1/2 of normal size can)
1 tsp cornstarch
Chopped Nuts-
2 c. chopped pecans or walnuts
2 Tbsp butter
1/2 c. brown sugar
Assembly-
1 loaf of italian or french bread (narrow is better)
4-6oz cream cheese (low fat can be used)
Instructions
Cranberry Sauce- In a medium sized saucepan combine the cranberries, orange juice concentrate and brown sugar. Warm over medium heat stirring frequently until the cranberries pop open. Add in the cornstarch and stir sauce until thickened, usually 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool before serving.
Chopped Walnuts/Pecans- In a separate skillet add chopped walnuts or pecans. Heat over medium heat for 2-3 minutes or until nuts are lightly browned. Turn the heat down to low and add butter and brown sugar. Continuously stir until butter is melted and brown sugar is fully mixed in. Remove from heat.
Crostini- Cut the loaf of bread into 1/4 inch slices. Lay out onto a cookie sheet. Broil in the oven for 2-4 minutes watching closely until bread is browned and crispy. Remove from the oven and let cool for 2-3 minutes.
Assembly- Once bread is cooled, spread 1 tsp of cream cheese on each slice. Top cream cheese with 1 tsp of cranberry sauce and sprinkle each with chopped nuts. Best served immediately.
Oh, I just can't help myself. You knew it was going here right?
I recently whipped up a batch of these gooey butter cookies, planning to blog about them during the month of December. They just so happen to be THE cookie I brought to Wendy's cookie exchange last year. As you recall, I also brought my brand new baby boy with me. And let me tell you, it was going to take one seriously good cookie to compete with those cheeks.
These cookies are so easy and come together very fast, though you do need to plan for some time to chill in the fridge. They are adapted from Paula Deen's recipe, which is inspired by her TO DIE FOR gooey butter cake...run out and make one now if you have not had the pleasure. As far as flavors go, a Google search reveals that people use all types of cake mixes for this cookie. I am definitely a fan of using vanilla cake mix as opposed to chocolate, as I just don't feel like the chocolate has enough ooomph. That being said, I recently made a batch using Ghiradelli brownie mix for the sweets table at our elementary school's holiday shop. I'm pleased to inform you that I think we are getting somewhere. Enjoy!
Gooey Butter Cookies
Author: Erin
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1 box cake mix
1 t. vanilla
powdered sugar
Instructions
Cream together butter and cream cheese.
Beat in egg and vanilla.
Add cake mix and mix well.
Chill dough in refrigerator for 2 hours.
Roll tablespoons of dough into balls, toss in powdered sugar, and place 2" apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 10-12 minutes at 350, until bottoms are browning very slightly. Centers should still be soft. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.
So as I was trying to formulate in my head what I would write about these, I was thinking of saying something along the lines of, "even if you don't like asparagus, you'll like these" and I realized I have a theme going. Of the four recipes I am posting this month, three of them qualify under this "even if you don't like it, try it" mantra. (See Pumpkin Squares and the as yet to come Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta.)
I don't know why this is. It isn't like I planned to post things that people may not like. It's actually a horrible idea the more I think about it. "Let's start a food blog! OK! I'm gonna pick recipes that a lot of people will take one look at and say, 'Ew. No thank you!'" Genius.
I guess when I was weeding through my ridiculous amount of recipe options trying to pick which ones I wanted to start with, I was (subconsciously or consciously) choosing ones that are so fabulously delicious despite what they may be made out of. They have that little bit of a surprise factor that takes something you've probably had before and may not have liked (asparagus {canned no less}, pumpkin, or brussels sprouts) and turns it into this great recipe that you will make over and over again. In fact, this and the pumpkin squares are recipes my mom got from friends of hers when I was little (which was a LOOOONG time ago) and we still make them.
Now, don't balk at the high-class, fancy ingredients here... I'm totally joking...these are about as WT as you can get – white bread, canned asparagus... But they are SOOOO good and can be made ahead of time (always a plus in my book). I swear this is another one of those recipes that I take somewhere and people say, "Oh, no thanks...I don't like asparagus" and then someone will encourage them to try it (usually a spouse since we're the only ones who will HOUND the other enough to get them to try something – and then they only really eat it to get us to shut up with plans to spit it into their cocktail napkin) and they ALWAYS like it. I've never had anyone spit them out into their cocktail napkin (that I know of).
And there's bacon in them – that's really probably all I needed to write. Bacon. ~Leah
Asparagus Roll-Ups with Bacon
Recipe Type: Appetizer
Author: Leah
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 8-12
Ingredients
12 slices white bread
8 oz. cream cheese, softened to room temp
8 slices bacon
1 can of asparagus spears, drained
1/2 stick of butter, melted
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350.
Cook, drain, and crumble the bacon.
Stir the bacon into the softened cream cheese until well distributed. Set aside.
Trim the crusts from the bread and flatten each slice with a rolling pin (they will get pretty thin and flat).
Spread the cream cheese and bacon mixture evenly onto each of the 12 slices of bread.
Lay one asparagus spear in the center of each slice of bread, trimming the ends if necessary so that they are even with the top and bottom of the bread.
Roll the bread lengthwise so that the asparagus spear runs through the center of the entire roll from end to end.
Cut each of the 12 rolls of bread into thirds.
Place seam side down on a foil-lined cookie sheet and brush with the melted butter.
Bake 12-14 minutes until warmed through then Broil for 2-4 minutes to toast/brown the bread...keep a close watch so you don't burn your bread!
Serve warm.
Notes
I like to prepare bacon 1 of 2 ways for crumbling. Either put it in a cold oven on a rack over a foil-lined cookie sheet and bake at 400 for about 20 minutes or I like to stack the raw slices and cut them up as small as I can and then cook/brown them in a pan and scoop out with a slotted spoon to drain.
If you're having a hard time mixing the bacon in with the cream cheese, you can try using a hand mixer or microwaving the cream cheese for just a few seconds at a time until you can work with it...you don't want to completely melt it though!
These are great to prepare the day before or to bring to a party and then bake. If you do prepare them beforehand, don't brush them with the melted butter and you will need to store them in the fridge. Take them out for at least a half hour before baking and then brush with the melted butter. Also be aware that your baking time will probably be longer if you're using them from the fridge.
