Tuscan Macaroni and Cheese Bake

Happy New Year, everyone! I was so excited to see some new recipes pop up here this week! Fun stuff. I can't wait to try them out.

Since coming home from our vacation to Colorado, Paul and I haven't been very good about eating dinner at home. Finally, yesterday, Paul said, "Would it be ok if we have a home cooked meal tonight?" Oops. My bad! ;) He was right. We definitely needed to break our current trend of picking up something somewhere each night.

I was in the mood to try something new, so I headed over to My Kitchen Cafe and browsed the recipes for a while.

This is the recipe I ended up choosing. It was delicious (despite some mistakes on my part)! I'm going to try it again for sure because I was missing one of the main spices.

You should try it, too!

Tuscan Macaroni and Cheese Bake

Ingredients:

12 oz. Italian sausage*

2 c. uncooked elbow macaroni

8 oz. cream cheese, cubed and softened

1 c. sliced olives (I just used a small can even though it was less than a cup because Paul's not a huge fan of olives)

1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

1 1/2 T. butter

1 1/2 T. flour

1 t. dried sage**

1/4 t. dried thyme

1/2 t. salt

1/8 t. cayenne pepper

1 1/2 c. milk (I used James' whole milk so it would be creamier)

1 large tomato, thinly sliced

1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese

*The recipe actually says to use pre-cooked chicken or turkey sausage, but Paul was picking up the ingredients for me on his way home, and it was much easier for him to find Italian sausage. Plus, I thought Paul might enjoy Italian sausage more. She did mention in her original recipe that Italian sausage could be substituted.

**Yep, I thought I had sage, but I didn't. I was worried the dish would be too bland without it, so I increased the amount of thyme. I probably shouldn't have done that because the thyme flavor was a bit overwhelming in the end.

Directions:

Cook macaroni noodles according to directions on package, except reduce cooking time by 1-2 minutes because the pasta bakes in the oven later. Brown sausage and drain grease. Combine pasta, sausage, olives, cream cheese, and mozzarella cheese in a large bowl (or, if you are me and want to limit the number of dishes, just use the big pot you cooked the pasta in).

Combine flour and spices in a small bowl. In a medium saucepan, melt butter. Add the flour/spice mixture and stir with a wire whisk constantly for about 30 seconds. Gradually add the milk, stirring continuously. Cook and stir for 5-6 minutes, or until sauce thickens. Pour over pasta mixture.

Spoon pasta mixture into a lightly greased 11x7 baking dish. Bake, covered, at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Then, top the pasta with sliced tomatoes and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake for 10 more minutes, uncovered. Let sit about 5 minutes before serving.

It was a really flavorful dish! James even loved it! I especially loved the tomatoes on top, and I'll probably add even more tomatoes next time. The olives also added a great flavor, though I probably won't get away with adding more of those since Paul doesn't really like them.

Here's a link to the original recipe: Tuscan Macaroni and Cheese Bake.

Chicken Tikka Masala

Wow, it has been way too long since I posted a recipe! I'm going to try and do a bit of catch-up over the next week. Maybe we can revive this blog!

A couple months ago I decided to be brave and try making something I've never made before: Chicken Tikka Masala. I had eaten it at an Indian restaurant once before, and I knew I liked it, but I never would have thought to make it myself until I read Pastor Ryan's recipe for it over at The Pioneer Woman. It didn't seem too hard! So I went out and got the ingredients and gave it a try.

Despite the bad lighting in my picture, it turned out a lot like it looked in the pictures on PW. I was secretly very impressed with myself. ;) A couple words of warning, though:

First, this is a PUNGEANT dish. It smelled up our little apartment and sort of leaked out all over the place. You could smell it walking up to our front door. And the smell lingered. And lingered. I did all the dishes, sent the leftovers with Paul to work, lit candles, and sprayed Febreze. And I could STILL smell it! It took about two days for the smell to be completely gone.

Second, turmeric is the spice that makes the rice turn bright yellow. It is strong stuff! If you use it in a rice cooker, be sure to wash it immediately afterwards to keep it from staining. Also, you shouldn't use your cute little white rice scooper to serve it up. Ours is still slightly yellow. Stick with something that won't stain quite so easily.

Third, it is a spicy dish. I think I must be a bit of a wimp when it comes to spicy foods, but I didn't even add in the optional chili peppers and it was almost too spicy for me!

Overall though, it had a great flavor, and I was glad I tried it. I'll probably even make it again sometime as long as no one is coming over for a little while afterwards. ;)

It's a long recipe, so I'm not going to type it all out this time. Here's the link again, though: Pastor Ryan's Chicken Tikka Masala.

Oh, and incidentally, I use this blog basically every week when I plan my menus. I really do! It sure is handy! I don't want it to fall into inactivity. :)

Hungarian Goulash

This is a dish that my Mom makes for my Dad on his birthday every year. I was always excited for his birthday dinner because that seemed like the only time we would have this. It's a very flavorful dish, and though it may take a little time to prepare, it's easy!

Ingredients:
2 and 1/2 lbs. Round Steak, cubed
1 c. chopped onion
garlic
1/4 c. flour
1 and 1/2 Tbs. paprika
1 and 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. thyme
2 bay leaves
2 8oz. cans tomato sauce
1 c. sour cream

Directions:
Brown meat in 1/4 cup oil. Reduce heat, add onion and garlic. Cook onions until tender, not brown. Stir in flour and seasonings. Add tomato sauce, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally until meat is tender (1 hr.). Stir often towards end. Remove bay leaves, stir in sour cream and heat (but don't boil). Serve over hot noodles.

*The recipe didn't say how much garlic to put in, so I just put in a few minced garlic cloves.
*It will be really thick before adding the sour cream. I thought I might have done something wrong, but nope!
*My Dad says it's important that you let it simmer for at least an hour so that the flavors can come out and so the meat can tenderize.

Golden Pork Chops

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and adapted it according to a couple of the comments that people had posted about it. Here's the recipe I made (I'll link to the original recipe at the end):

Golden Pork Chops:
Ingredients:
6 thinly sliced boneless pork chops
olive oil
Lawry's or other seasoned salt
salt
pepper
1 onion, chopped
1/2 c. fresh mushrooms, sliced (I don't like big pieces of mushrooms, so I chopped mine up pretty small)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans condensed golden mushroom soup (Campbell's)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat about a tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle pork chops on both sides with Lawry's, salt, and pepper. Brown pork chops in the skillet for 1-2 minutes per side. Place pork chops in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. In same skillet, sautee onions and garlic for a few minutes. Add mushrooms and golden mushroom soup. Stir. Pour mixture over pork chops. Bake, covered, for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15 more minutes. Serve over rice.


These pork chops were surprisingly yummy. Paul liked them a lot and said he would like this to be one of our regular recipes.

Here's the recipe on allrecipes.com: Golden Pork Chops

Vegetable Quiche

Yes, I finally made my quiche! It's about time, right? Anyway, it turned out well. It was FULL of vegetables, which was surprising. The vegetables nearly filled up the crust! There was barely enough room for the eggs on top. Paul especially liked the fact that it had so many vegetables in it (he doesn't like eggs all by themselves).


Vegetable Quiche
Ingredients:
1 (9 inch) unbaked pastry shell*
1 1/2 c. chopped onion (I just used one medium onion)
1 medium green pepper, chopped (I used half of a really big one)
1 c. chopped tomatoes (I didn't measure, I just chopped up three relatively small roma tomatoes)
1/2 c. chopped zucchini (again, I didn't measure, I just used one small-ish zucchini)
1/2 c. sliced fresh mushrooms (same as above, I used half a package)
2 T butter or margarine (I just used olive oil)
1/4 t. curry powder (Funny story, I was just going to leave this out when I originally planned to make this recipe because I didn't have any...but since it took me so long to make it, I actually bought some to use in a completely different recipe. I figured I'd use it! According to reviews on allrecipes.com, you can leave it out if you want to, but it tastes good!)
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
pinch ground cinnamon
5 eggs
1/4 c. milk
1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese

*I highly recommend buying a pre-made pie shell. I think that the fact that I had to make a crust was one of my main hang-ups with making this. However, if you want to make your own crust, I very much recommend Paul's mom's recipe. It's the easiest crust recipe I have come across. I'll write up that recipe at the end of this post.

Directions:
Line unpricked and unbaked shell with foil and bake at 450 degrees for five minutes. Remove foil and bake for five more minutes. (I have no idea why the crust didn't bubble because it wasn't pricked, but it didn't!) Reduce heat to 350 degrees.

In a large skillet, sautee onions and bell pepper in butter (or, in my case, olive oil). Once they begin to soften, add mushrooms and zucchini. Finally, add tomatoes. (Okay, let's be honest, I just added the vegetables as I chopped them up. I just started with the ones I thought would need the most time to cook. I knew tomatoes break down quickly, so I did them last. It worked well, so there you go. The original recipe doesn't give an order (it just says sautee the vegetables), so I figure this is an improvement.) Stir and cook until zucchini is starting to get soft (with the order I added my vegetables, the zucchini was the last to finish cooking). Add curry powder, salt, pepper, and cinnamon. Mix well. Spoon into crust.


In a separate bowl, beat eggs. Add milk and cheese, mix well. Pour egg mixture over the vegetables in the shell. This completely filled up my quiche pan. If you don't have a quiche pan, you can use a pie pan, but be careful you don't overflow the pan. Bake 40-45 minutes, or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Mine was done right at 40 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting.


Here's a link to the recipe on allrecipes.com: Vegetarian Quiche.

And for the encore! Here's the easiest crust recipe you'll ever find!

Grace's Pie Crust
Ingredients:
3/4 c. butter flavored Crisco
1/4 c. water
1/4 t. salt (Grace's recipe calls for two generous dashes, so this is an estimate)
2 T. milk
2 c. flour

Directions:
Put Crisco and water in a bowl. Melt in the microwave (it takes about 90 seconds). In a bowl, mix together melted Crisco/water, salt, milk, and flour. It's easiest to mix with your hands. Add a little extra flour if the dough is too wet to handle. Divide into two even balls (the recipe makes enough for a top and bottom crust, or two shells). Roll out one ball for one crust.

Helpful hint from my mom: When rolling out a pie crust place a piece of wax paper underneath the dough and another piece of wax paper on top. This makes it much easier to transport the crust once you've finished rolling it out, and you can make a much thinner crust successfully. When you finish rolling out the crust, peel off the top layer of wax paper and flip crust over on top of your pie pan (or quiche pan! :) ). Peel of the other layer of wax paper and press crust into pan.

Like I said, this is the easiest crust recipe I've come across. It's on the greasy side, but it turns out nice and flaky!

Oh, and by the way, I'm putting a dessert label on this post just so that the crust recipe will show up under that label as well. If I ever post the recipe for Paul's mom's Apple Pie, then I'll post the crust recipe there again and remove the dessert label from this one.

Banana Bread

Ok so, I didn't know if I should post this recipe or not, either. It's a very straight forward recipe taken straight from the checkerboard cookbook (Better Homes and Gardens), and I assume you all already have perfectly wonderful recipes of your own for banana bread just how you like it. Well, if you do, just keep using your recipe (or, post yours here, too! :) ), but just in case you don't, here's a tried and true recipe (both Paula and I use it) for basic banana bread.


Banana Bread
Ingredients:
2 c. flour
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. cinnamon
1/8 t. nutmeg
1/4 t. salt
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 c. mashed bananas (I never measure, I usually just wait until I have 4 or 5 over-ripe bananas in the freezer. ;) )
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. oil, or melted butter (I use oil)

Streusel topping:
1/4 c. brown sugar
3 T. flour
2 T. butter, cold

Directions:
Grease sides and bottom of loaf pan (one of the bigger ones, 9x5x3). Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt (Yes, this is one time I actually do mix the dry ingredients separately! Shocking!), set aside. In a medium bowl, mash your bananas. Then add sugar, oil, and beaten eggs. Mix well. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the banana mixture all at once. Stir until just moistened (it will still be lumpy). Pour batter into loaf pan.

Prepare streusel topping by mixing the flour, brown sugar, and butter together with a pastry blender until it resembles coarse crumbs. I don't have a pastry blender, so I just use a fork and knife. Sprinkle topping evenly over the batter in your loaf pan.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, until a knife inserted near the center comes out nearly clean. If needed, cover with foil for the last 15 minutes of baking to prevent over-browning. I didn't need to cover mine this time because my rack was set right in the middle of the oven. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, and then remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.

*Note: As you can see, there are no nuts in my banana bread. I'm not a fan. If you are a fan, however, you can add 1/4 c. chopped nuts to the batter and 1/3 c. chopped nuts to the topping.

Hamburger Rolls

Sorry this picture isn't the best, but we definitely had another winner tonight. This one is also from the Budge Family Recipe Book. I think that next time I make this I might make the balls bigger. Eli enjoyed them, but said they weren't too filling. That could be because he only got two. We had company. I'm pretty sure this would've been enough for just the two of us though. Good Stuff! Thank you Barbara!

Hamburger Rolls

Ingredients:

1 lb lean ground beef (I used turkey)

1/2 c canned milk (low fat)

1 TBSP catsup

1 TBSP mustard

1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce

onion salt (I was out and used garlic salt)

Schilling hamburger seasoning (I couldn't find, so I used Lawry's season salt)

Salt & pepper

1 package Stove Top Stuffing

1 can Golden Mushroom Soup (undiluted)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Mix first 8 items. Divide into 6 portions. Shape each portion into a circle about the size of your hand. Prepare stuffing mix according to the package directions. Place a large spoonful of stuffing in each patty and roll up and seal. Cover each roll with the Golden Mushroom Soup. Add grated cheese if desired. Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes.

*This stuff is really gross looking when you first mix the ingredients. Eli tells me it looks like meatloaf. That made me feel a little better. Either way, be ye warned!

Wild Rice Casserole

I got this recipe from my mom back in April when Lisa (remember my vegetarian friend? ;) ) came to visit. It's delicious and quite hearty. It's one of those things I would never have liked when I was younger (mostly because of the mushrooms), but I find that I'm not as picky as I used to be, and I even like the mushrooms in this recipe.

Also, the recipe my mom gave me has no directions other than length of time cooking (covered and uncovered) and temperature of the oven. So, these directions are how I chose to put it together. I'm sure you can do it however you prefer.

Wild Rice Casserole
Ingredients:
1 c. wild rice (Note: Wild Rice seems to come in 4 oz. boxes, so you need two. Also, the boxes have a spice packet inside which I just discarded.)
1 can (14.5 oz) petite diced tomatoes, juice included
1 bell pepper, diced (any color works, we used green this time)
1 package mushrooms, sliced
1 small can (2.25 oz) sliced black olives
1/2 onion, diced
1/4 c. olive oil (this seemed a bit much, so I put a little bit less)
1 c. boiling water
1 t. salt
pepper to taste
1 c. sharp cheddar cheese (we only had medium cheddar, and it tasted good, too)


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Start boiling some water on the stove. Cut up your bell pepper and onion. Pour rice into a 9x13 pan in an even layer. Sprinkle onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, and olives on top. Next, pour on tomatoes. Add the olive oil and boiling water, making sure all the rice is moistened. Sprinkle salt, pepper, and cheese on top. Cook, covered, for about 1 hour. Uncover and cook for 20-30 more minutes. Rice should be tender.

Eggplant Parmesano

This ended up being SO delicious! It's my favorite of all the new recipes I've tried lately. :) Paul was also a big fan. I got the recipe from a friend's blog (it can be found here); it's a family recipe of hers.

Eggplant Parmesano
Ingredients:
2 medium eggplants, sliced (about ½ inch thick)
2 beaten eggs w/milk (I just prepared these as if I was making scrambled eggs)
1 cup Italian bread crumbs
olive oil (a few tablespoons)
1 jar spaghetti sauce (I picked a tomato and basil one, but any kind will work)
1 pound Italian sausage
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 bunch Italian parsley, chopped (Ok, I don't know anything about using fresh parsley, so I just chopped up the leaves and threw away the stems of half a bunch of parsley)
1/2 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced (This is funny--I could have sworn it said 1 lb., so I accidentally used a whole pound. It was very cheesy, but it was delicious. Then again, I love cheese! If you ask me, 1/2 lb wouldn't be quite enough. ;) Grated mozzarella would probably work just fine, too.)
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese (Yeah so, I didn't buy fresh parmesan cheese. I just sprinkled the powder stuff on top because that's what I had. Works for me!)

Directions: (I'm writing the directions in my own words. I changed the order that she did things to try and save time and failed miserably. However, I still think some things should be switched around to make the best use of your time, so this is how I would do it in the future.)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice the eggplant and place in a large bowl of salt water. (I didn't really know how much salt to put, but the four teaspoons I used was definitely not too much. Then again, I used a LOT of water.) Soak for about 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, sautee the onions in a little bit of olive oil until they start to get tender. Add the garlic and sautee for a minute or two more. Add the sausage and cook and stir until the sausage is done. Drain the grease. Add the spaghetti sauce and parsley. Reduce heat to medium low and let simmer, stirring occasionally.


3. Drain and rinse the eggplant slices. Dip each slice in the egg mixture and then the bread crumbs, making sure the whole piece is coated evenly. Place the eggplant slices on a cookie sheet greased with olive oil. Sprinkle olive oil on top of each slice. Bake (at 400 degrees) for 15 minutes, turn them over, and then bake for 15 more minutes. They should be lightly browned on both sides. Once you remove the eggplant slices from the oven, reduce the temperature to 350 degrees. (While the eggplant slices are baking, slice your cheese and keep watch on the marinara sauce. Lower the heat or turn it off completely at your own discretion. I would let it simmer for at least 15 minutes, if not the whole time.)


4. Arrange half of the eggplant slices in one layer on the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Add one layer of mozzarella slices (1/2 of what you are using). Top with half of the marinara sauce. Repeat this process with the other half of the ingredients: first eggplant, then cheese, then marinara. Top with parmesan cheese. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.


(I took this picture before I baked it. I forgot to take a picture when it came out.)

I'm giving this recipe a medium difficulty level just because it's more involved than our easy ones. It's still straightforward and easy to make. I highly recommend it!

Also, the sausage adds a really nice flavor, but you can leave it out for a nice vegetarian meal or substitute hamburger if you want. I recommend the sausage, though.

As far as the length of time needed, I'm going to say 90 minutes. It took me longer, but that's because I sat and did nothing for 30 minutes while the eggplant was soaking.

Pa-Pa's Meatloaf

This is a Hansen family recipe that's been passed down through the generations! We also use this recipe for meatballs (Paul and Brian call them "Meatloaf Balls").


Pa-Pa's Meatloaf
Ingredients:
1 lb. hamburger
1/4 c. butter or margarine**, melted
1 can Chicken with Rice soup
1 egg
1/2 medium onion, diced
2 c. Wheaties
ketchup

**My meatloaf came out too greasy this time, so I called my dad and asked if he uses extra lean meat. He said no (he gets 85% lean), but that he doesn't usually add butter. So, we decided either you should not add butter or you should buy extra lean meat.

Directions:
Break up hamburger in a bowl. Pour on melted butter and onion. Add egg, soup, and Wheaties. Mix with hands (get messy! squeeze it through your fingers! gross!). Shape into a loaf pan. Spread ketchup on top. Cook at 350 degrees for about an hour to an hour and a half (it will be pulling away from the edges of the pan and the meat will not be pink when it's done).

Edit: Meatball Directions
If you want to make meatballs, just mix all the ingredients together and form 1 1/2 in. balls. Place them on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. They will turn brown and you can cut into one to check and make sure it's cooked all the way through. One recipe makes quite a lot of meatballs. :)

Vegetable Lasagna

Last night I attempted to make my dad's vegetable lasagna. Unfortunately, my dad doesn't really have a recipe written down for it, so once again I will attempt to create one based on what he told me and what I did last night.

Vegetable Lasagna
Ingredients:
Lasagna Noodles (I used the no-boil kind, and it was SO easy!)
2 jars Alfredo sauce (whatever variety you prefer)
2 zucchinis, diced
1 c. (approximately) carrots, diced
fresh spinach
2 large tomatoes, sliced
dash of olive oil
1/2 large white onion (or 1 small one), diced
1 c. (approximately) sliced mushrooms (fresh)
1 container of ricotta cheese (the small one, I think it's 8 oz)
1 lb grated mozzarella cheese

Directions:
Steam the zucchini and carrots. I steamed them together, but then my carrots weren't all completely done. You may want to steam them separately or else chop the carrots smaller than I did (I just chopped baby carrots in half). Meanwhile, sautee the mushrooms and onions with a dash of olive oil. Set aside. Once carrots and zucchini are done, spread them out on a layer of paper towels and pat them dry. You want to dry off the vegetables so that they don't make your lasagna runny. Move them to a medium size bowl. Steam the spinach. This goes very quickly, and you need way more than you think because it shrinks down a ton. Remove spinach to a layer of paper towels and pat dry. Set aside. Add mushrooms and onions to the bowl with the carrots and zucchini. Mix in the alfredo sauce, reserving 2 cups of the sauce for the top and bottom of the lasagna.

Assembly:
Spread half of the reserved alfredo sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Place a layer of noodles over that. Then, spread half the vegetable mix over the noodles. On top of that, layer with tomatoes, spinach, ricotta cheese (by the spoonfuls, dotted over the top), and half of the mozzarella cheese. Add another layer of noodles, and then add the other half of the vegetable mixture followed by the rest of the tomatoes, spinach, ricotta cheese, and mozzarella cheese. Top with one more layer of noodles and the other half of the reserved alfredo sauce. Cook at 375 degrees for 45-60 minutes. Cooking time and temperature may vary according to the lasagna noodles you use. I just followed the directions on the box of lasagna.


I probably could have taken mine out sooner. The top layer of noodles was a bit crunchy, but it still tasted good!

The thing about this recipe is that you can pretty much use whatever vegetables you choose. The onions and mushrooms provide a lot of the flavor, so you should keep those. Also, in my opinion, the tomatoes are pretty crucial (they were my favorite part as I was eating). Other than that you can do whatever. You can use squash, broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant, or anything you can think of. You can even make your own white sauce if you don't want to use the store bought variety, but if you ask me (and my dad) this makes it unnecessarily difficult.

General Tips: Slice the tomatoes as thinly as you can and layer them so that they almost cover the whole lasagna. Also, I plan on using a whole lot more spinach next time. Since it was my first time steaming spinach, I didn't know how much it would shrink. Be generous with the cheese. :) Another thing I plan on doing next time is chopping my vegetables just a little bit smaller. But you should do whatever you prefer! Don't be scared by how long this takes. Most of the time is just cooking time.