Baked Penne

From: Here

Ingredients:
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 cup each, chopped onions and green peppers
1 jar (24 oz) spaghetti sauce
1 tub Philadelpha cooking creme, Italian cheese and herb
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
3 cups cooked penne pasta

Heat oven to 350. Brown meat with vegetables in a large skillet. Stir in spaghetti sauce, 3/4 cup cooking creme and 1/2 cup mozzarella; cook and stir 2-3 minutes or until cheese is melted. Add pasta; mix lightly. Spoon into 2-qt casserole dish, top with remaining cooking creme and mozzarella. Cover. Bake 20 minutes or until heated through, uncovering after 15 minutes.



What I did differently from the recipe:
I honestly never read which cooking creme to used, and just realized it said to use Italian cheese and herb. I used Sante Fe because I thought I was supposed to. Alas!!

What I'll do differently next time:
Nothing.

Verdict:
Thumbs UP!!! This was incredible! I know I wasn't supposed to use the Santa Fe blend but it was such an awesome mixture of tastes! It was a little spicy, and the second plate I had, I ate all the pasta first, and then broke out the tortilla chips and used it as a dip! It was seriously so good. I will definitely be making this again!!

Quick Mushroom-Barley Soup

From: All You

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, sliced
10 oz white or cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 cup pearl barley
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
3 cups chicken broth
salt and pepper

Warm oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 8 minutes. Add mushrooms and saute until they release their liquid, about 5 minutes. Add barley, oregano and thyme and stir 1 minute. Add chicken broth and 3 cups of water and bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover and simmer until barley is tender, about 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

What I did differently from the recipe:
Nothing.

What I'll do differently next time:
Nothing.

Verdict:
Thumbs up! This was such a simple recipe, and the best kind - one I didn't have to buy anything for! It was great and we didn't even add salt or pepper to it. Definitely will make this again in the future.

Quick Mushroom-Barley Soup

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, sliced
10 oz white or cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 cup pearl barley
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
3 cups chicken broth
salt and pepper

Warm oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 8 minutes. Add mushrooms and saute until they release their liquid, about 5 minutes. Add barley, oregano and thyme and stir 1 minute. Add chicken broth and 3 cups of water and bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover and simmer until barley is tender, about 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Cherry-Fudge Cake

From: Southern Living

Ingredients:
1 package devil's food cake mix
1 (21 oz) can cherry pie filling
2 eggs
1 tsp almond extract
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup milk
5 Tbsp butter
1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels

Preheat oven to 350. Beat first 4 ingredients at low speed with mix 20 seconds; increase speed to medium, and beat 1 minute. Pour batter into a greased and floured 13x9 pan. Bake at 350 for 27-30 minutes or until done. Bring sugar, milk, and butter to a boil in a heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally; boil 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in chocolate morsels until melted and smooth. Quickly spread frosting over warm cake. Cool completely.

What I did differently from the recipe:
Nothing.

What I'll do differently next time:
Nothing.

Verdict:
Thumbs up! Very delicious, easy to make, and got better over the three days it took for us to eat it!

It's Back!

My blog formatting is back!! I was hating how it was laying out my recipes but I couldn't figure out why my blog started doing it suddenly when I didn't make any changes to it. I guess Blogger did some update and some of my settings changed. It is back to normal now and should be easier for you to read! Thank God, I was so tired of the way it was formatting!

Cinnamon Oatmeal Raisin Bread

From: Bread Maker's cookbook

Ingredients: (1 lb loaf)
7 1/2 ounces (7/8 cup + 1 Tbsp) milk
2 cups bread flour
1/2 cups oats, quick or old-fashioned
1 Tbsp brown sugar, packed
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp butter, cut into 4 pieces
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast or 1 tsp fast rise yeast
1/3 cup raisins



Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer (usually liquid first, then dry ingredients, then put the butter pats in the four corners, then put the yeast in a well in the middle. Raisins will be added after the first kneading cycle.) Cook according to your bread machine's manual, usually a "sweet bread" setting.

Ingredients: (1 1/2 lb loaf)
10 ounces (1 1/4) milk
3 cups bread flour
3/4 cups oats, quick or old-fashioned
2 Tbsp brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 Tbsp butter, cut into 4 pieces
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast or 1 1/2 tsp fast rise yeast
1/2 cup raisins



What I did differently from the recipe:
Nothing.

What I'll do differently next time:
Nothing.

Verdict:
Thumbs up! Once again, I wish you could take pictures of smells. This smelled heavenly!! It is so delicious and again I say, I hope to never buy bread like this again! This is a definite yes for dessert options and breakfast options! YUM!

Old-Fashioned White Bread

From: My bread maker's cookbook

Ingredients: (1 lb loaf)
6 oz (3/4 cup) milk
2 cups bread flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp butter, cut into 4 pieces
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast or 1 tsp fast rise yeast

Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Cook according to your bread machine's manual.

Ingredients (1 1/2 lb loaf)
9 oz (1 cup + 2 Tbsp) milk
3 cups bread flour
1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp butter, cut into 4 pieces
2 tsp active dry yeast or 1 1/2 tsp fast rise yeast

What I did differently from the recipe:
Nothing.

What I'll do differently next time:
Make the larger loaf so I don't run out of bread so quickly!!

Verdict:
Thumbs UP! So easy and so scrumptious! I will definitely be making this again! I don't even want to make bread by hand again or even buy it from the store again...

Ravioli and Cheese Bake

From: Kraft website

Ingredients:
16 oz spaghetti sauce
14 1/2 oz can of diced tomatoes, undrained
10 oz can beef broth
1/4 cup Italian dressing
2 9-oz packages refrigerated cheese-filled ravioli
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil

Heat oven to 375. Combine first 4 ingredients in a 13x9 baking dish. Add ravioli, toss to coat. Cover. Bake 50 minutes or until ravioli is tender. Top with cheese; let stand 5 minutes or until melted. Sprinkle with basil.

What I did differently from the recipe:
I used 1 package of 13-ounce frozen ravioli instead of the refrigerated ravioli. Much cheaper.

What I'll do differently next time:
I'd like to try it with small ravioli (I used really large ravioli) or tortellini, just because I like the really small pasta like that but not to change the taste.

Verdict:
Thumbs up! What an easy recipe to throw together! It was really delicious and my house smelled incredible while it was cooking too. Not many leftovers for this recipe!

Pizza Dip

From: Here

Ingredients:
8 oz softened cream cheese
pizza sauce
mozzarella cheese
chopped up pepperoni
any other pizza toppings you want

In an 8x11 casserole dish, spread 8 ounces of softened cream cheese over the bottom of the dish. Spread a layer of pizza sauce over the cream cheese. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese to cover the sauce. Top with chopped up pepperoni and any other toppings you want. Bake at 350 until cheese is bubbly.

What I did differently from the recipe:
I used an 8x8 dish because I didn't need a lot of this. I used Philadelphia Cooking Creme (original) instead of cream cheese. I used turkey pepperoni but it didn't matter.

What I'll do differently next time:
Cook at a higher temperature. It took 20-25 minutes for this to cook through. Brooke was with me and had cooked this before and said she always cooks hers at 425 degrees which would make it finish much faster. It was still delicious even though it was slow cooking. :)

Crispy Pasta For Two

From: Ronzoni website

Ingredients:
8 oz Ronzoni Garden Delight angel hair pasta, uncooked
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 cloves finely chopped garlic
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves
2 oz each crumbled feta cheese, shredded Cheddar and grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp salt

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. In large skillet over medium heat, heat oil; add garlic. Cook 1 minute. Add pasta, tossing to coat with oil and garlic. Cook at high heat for 2 minutes. Add remaining ingredients; mix well in skillet. Cook 2 minutes; reduce heat to medium-high. Cover; cook 5 minutes or until golden brown. Flip and cover; cook 5 minutes or until golden brown.

What I did differently from the recipe:
I left out the feta cheese because I didn't have any in the house.

What I'll do differently next time:
Nothing.

Verdict:
Thumbs up! This was perfect for me and Bri to eat on for lunch. I love crispy pasta so to me this was very tasty! The best thing was that I have all these ingredients all the time so I can easily throw this recipe together anytime. Definitely recommend!

Waffles

Check out my post here about making and freezing waffles!