Spaghetti bake

This was a tasty dish and a fun twist on the traditional spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.

*1 lb of ground beef

*1 jar of spaghetti sauce

*8 oz of cream cheese

*1/4 cup sour cream

*1/2 lb cottage cheese

*1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

*1 pkg spaghetti 16 oz

*Grated cheddar cheese

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 350°. Boil your spaghetti noodles until al dente (firm).  Drain and set aside until ready to assemble.

Combine the cream cheese, sour cream and cottage cheese until well blended.

Brown  your hamburger and when done, drain well.  Combine the hamburger with your spaghetti sauce.

Ready for assembly?

1.  Put a few slices of butter into a 9×13 pan then pour half of your spaghetti noodles on top.

2.  Take your cream cheese mixture and pour on top of the noodles. Spread well over noodles.

3. Pour the rest of the noodles on top of the cream cheese mixture.  Put a few more slices of butter on top of the noodles.  And no, this is not a Paula Deen recipe!

4. Pour your spaghetti and meat sauce on top of your noodles:

 Now it is ready to put into the oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, pour the desired amount of grated cheese on top and return to the oven for 15 minutes to allow cheese to melt.

Banana Carmel roll

I have a major obsession with Banana bread, so when I saw this recipe, I knew I had to try it! It didn't disappoint and even better, I could freeze it and eat it whenever! We ended up eating it as dessert one night. 


 Banana Caramel Roll

For the Cake:

1 cup cake flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
3 egg whites
3/4 cup sugar (divided)
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 tbsp vanilla paste
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tbsp confectioners sugar
Non-stick cooking spray


For the Filling:
4 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tbsp vanilla paste
1 cup Cool Whip
1 tbsp confectioners sugar
3 tbsp caramel sauce



Preheat oven to 375-deg.  Coat a 15” x 10” x 1” baking pan with the nonstick spray, then line with parchment paper and coat the paper with nonstick spray; set aside.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder.

In a large bowl, beat the whole eggs for 5 minutes with a hand mixer, then add 1/2 cup sugar, mashed banana, vanilla, and lemon zest.   Beat until fully combined.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on medium speed until soft peaks begin to form.  Gradually beat in the remaining sugar, one tbsp at a time, on high speed until stiff peaks form.

Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture, mixing gently until combined. Then hand-fold in the egg whites, being careful not to break them.

Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cake is firm but still soft.  Cool 5 minutes, then turn cake onto a flat surface dusted with the confectioners sugar.

Gently peel off the parchment paper, then roll up the cake in towel jelly-roll style, starting with the short side  (Note: you can use toothpicks to help the cake keep its shape if necessary.)  Move to a wire rack, then cool completely.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a flat paddle, beat the cream cheese and brown sugar until smooth, then add the vanilla paste.  Hand-fold in the Cool Whip.

Once the roll is completely cooled, unroll it and spread on the filling in an even layer.

Roll the cake back up, sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar, and drizzle with the caramel sauce before serving.

Approximate Nutritional Values: http://www.food.com/recipe/banana-cake-with-caramel-frosting-94128

Sloppy Joe Calzones

We love Sloppy Joe in a Biscuit at our house, but always hate how you don't get much sloppy joe mix on each biscuit, so I decided to try something different. I took the biscuits and flattened them out, put some mix in the middle, and pitched the edges closed to make a calzone! It was delicious! We got way more mixture in each bite and you could eat it as finger food! Best yet, it is easy! You can use your favorite sloppy joe recipe and grab a tube of biscuits and you have  got any easy meal!

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef

1 onion

1/2 cup celer

2 Tbls. brown sugar

1 Tbl. mustard

1/2 Tbls. Worchestershire Sauce

1/2 can tomato soup

1/2 cup ketchup

Refrigerated rolls (Pillsbury Grands Biscuits)

1. Brown ground beef and drain. Combine all ingredients together and simmer for an hour.

2. Flatten each biscuit as much as you can, put a tablespoon or more of sloppy joe mix in the middle, pitch it closed an cook at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

 

Mini Caprese Salad Skewers

I was looking for an easy, yet delicious appetizer to bring to a dinner and this was a winner! It is cute and pretty easy too. I will be making these again, a tasty appetizer that is easy to eat.

Ingredients:

Mozzarella mini balls (or larger mozzarella cut into smaller pieces)

Basil

Cherry tomatoes

Toothpicks

Balsamic glaze

Assembly one cherry tomatoes, a piece or ball or mozzarella cheese, and a basil leaf on a toothpick. Drizzle balsamic glaze over the too, chill, serve, and enjoy!

Egg, cheese, and bacon crescent rolls

I found this recipe on pinterest, but it came from All Recipes. It was pretty good. I am not a fan of scrambled eggs, so I thought this would be a good way to trick myself into eating eggs and getting some protein. The only bummer is you can't fit much inside the crescent rolls, but they were still tasty. Pat suggested using a sausage link instead of bacon and rolling that inside with the eggs, it might be worth a try. Overall, it was an easy meal and for the most part, tasty.

 

Ingredients:

1 (8 ounce) can Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls 8 slices bacon, crisply cooked, crumbled 4 egg, scrambled

1/2 cup finely shredded Cheddar cheese 1 egg, beaten (optional) 1 tablespoon cracked black pepper (optional)

Directions:

1.	Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Unroll dough on work surface; separate into triangles.
2.	Top each triangle with bacon, scrambled egg and cheese. Roll up loosely as directed on can. Place on ungreased cookie sheet; curve into crescent shape. Brush with beaten egg; sprinkle with pepper.
3.	Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Avocado Egg Rolls

Pat and I have always loved the Cheesecake Factory's Avocado egg rolls. I have been meaning to try to make them myself for quite sometime, but haven't gotten around to it. Cooking club came around and I knew I just had to make them. These were delicious! The dipping sauce was amazing! We will definitely be making these again.

 

Dipping Sauce
3 -4 teaspoons white vinegar
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon tamarind pulp ( I just skipped this!)
1/2 cup honey
1 pinch powdered saffron (I didn't have any, so I left it out)
1/2 cup chopped cashews
2/3 cup fresh cilantro
2 garlic cloves
2 green onions
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup olive oil

Egg Rolls
1 large avocado, peeled, pitted, & diced
2 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, chopped
1 tablespoon minced red onion
1/2 teaspoon fresh cilantro, chopped
1 pinch salt
3 egg roll wraps
1 egg, beaten

Directions:
1.Stir together vinegars, tamarind, honey, and saffron in a microwave safe bowl, and microwave for 1 minute.
2. Stir until tamarind is dissolved.
3. In a blender, Puree tamarind mixture, cashews, 2/3 cup cilantro, garlic, onions, sugar, pepper, and cumin.
4. Pour mixture into a bowl and stir in oil.
5. Refrigerate until ready to use.
6. Gently stir together avocado, tomatoes, onion, 1/2 teaspoon cilantro, and salt.
7. Distribute filling evenly onto center of each egg roll wrapper.
8. Position a wrapper so that a corner is pointing toward you; fold the bottom corner up, 1/4 of the way over the filling.
9.Brush remaining corners and edges of the wrapper with egg, roll up from side to side, fold top corner over all and press to seal.
10. Repeat with remaining wrappers.
11. Continue by deep-frying the egg rolls in 375 degree oil for 3-4 minutes, until golden brown.
Read more at: http://deep-fried.food.com/recipe/copycat-cheesecake-factorys-avocado-egg-rolls-60891?oc=linkback

Sour Cream Noodle Bake

I have been a terrible blogger lately, but have been cooking a bunch. I have been trying to make at least one new recipe a week, but often forget to take a picture and/or blog about it. This was the Pioneer Woman's Sour Cream noodle bake, it was pretty tasty. It was very easy to make too.

Ingredients

From the Pioneer Woman

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/03/sour-cream-noodle-bake/

• 1-1/4 pound Ground Chuck
• 1 can 15-ounces Tomato Sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• 8 ounces, weight Egg Noodles
• 1/2 cup Sour Cream
• 1-1/4 cup Small Curd Cottage Cheese
• 1/2 cup Sliced Green Onions (less To Taste)
• 1 cup Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Brown ground chuck in a large skillet. Drain fat, then add tomato sauce. 1/2 teaspoon salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Stir, then simmer while you prepare the other ingredients.
Cook egg noodles until al dente. Drain and set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine sour cream and cottage cheese. Add plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Add to noodles and stir. Add green onions and stir.
To assemble, add half of the noodles to a baking dish. Top with half the meat mixture, then sprinkle on half the grated cheddar. Repeat with noodles, meat, then a final layer of cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, or until all cheese is melted.