Baked Ziti

Ingredients

• 1 pound dry ziti pasta (or really any kind of pasta would work- I actually used Penne pasta)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 pound lean ground beef (season with pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and minced garlic)
• 2 (26 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce (I added a zucchini to my sauce just for more veggies!)
• 8 slices provolone cheese
• 1 1/2 cups sour cream
• 6 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti pasta, and cook until al dente, about 7-8 minutes; drain.
2. In a large skillet, brown onion and ground beef over medium heat. Add spaghetti sauce, and simmer 15 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray 2 8×8 inch pans with non-stick cooking spray. Layer as follows in each pan: 1/4 of the ziti, 1/4 of the sauce, 4 slices of Provolone cheese, 1/2 of sour cream,  1/4 of ziti, 1/4 mozzarella cheese and 1/4 of sauce mixture. Top with grated Parmesan cheese and remaining mozzarella cheese.
4. Bake covered for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheeses are melted.

You can eat one for dinner now and freeze the other for dinner another day!

To freeze this meal: Follow the instructions above, except for the last step of cooking it. Cover the assembled ziti with foil and stick in the freezer (I usually use 2-3 layers of foil just to keep out the freezer burn). It will last in the freezer for about 30 days. When you are ready to eat it, remove from the freezer and place in the fridge to thaw 24 hours in advance. By allowing it to thaw in the fridge, you can cook it at the regular time and temperature (350 degrees for about 30 minutes). If you do not thaw it in advance, it will take much longer to cook. If you cook it completely frozen, it will take anywhere from 90 minutes – 2 hours to cook all the way through.

These fill the 8×8″ pans to the top, so I cooked mine on a large cookie sheet just in case they bubbled over (which they did!).

Pacific Rim Stir Fry

Ingredients:

1. 12 oz skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 2 breasts)
2. ½ C chicken broth
3. 2 tbsp soy sauce
4. 2 tbsp fresh basil or 2 tsp dried basil, crushed
5. 2 tsp corn starch
6. ½ tsp crushed red pepper (I use ¼ tsp)
7. ½ tsp turmeric (optional)
8. 1 tbsp oil
9. 1 C sliced carrots (about 2 medium carrots)
10. 2 C broccoli florets
11. 1 red or green pepper, diced
12. ¼ C cashews or peanuts (optional)

Cooking Directions:

Cut chicken into bite-size strips and set aside.  Combine broth, soy sauce, basil (if using dried), corn starch, red pepper, and turmeric in a small bowl; set aside.  Pour oil into a large wok and heat over medium-high heat.  Add vegetables to the wok; cook and stir for 3-4 minutes or until veggies are crisp-tender.  Remove vegetables from the wok.  Add chicken and cook for 3-4 minutes while stirring, or until chicken is no longer pink.  Push chicken from the center of the wok.  Stir the sauce, add to the wok’s center, and cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.  Return cooked veggies to the wok; combine veggies and chicken with the sauce, add fresh basil (if using), and stir until heated through.  Serve over white rice or Asian noodles.

Copy-Cat Panera Cream of Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Another wild rice soup! Our other one has curry and this is just creamy goodness!

INGREDIENTS

·    6cups chicken broth

·    2chicken breast halves(cooked, boneless and cubed)

·    1(6 ounce) package long grain and wild rice blend, quick cooking version (You will use the seasoning packet. I used Uncle Bens roasted chicken flavor) (best with alternative option)

·    1⁄2teaspoon ground black pepper

·    1⁄2cup all-purpose flour

·    3⁄4cup butter (12 tbsp. or a stick and a half)

·    1cup carrot, diced (double for us)

·    1cup celery, diced (double for us)

·    1cup onion, diced

·    3cups light cream (can lighten by substituting part or all of the cream with fat-free evaporated milk, or half-and-half, or 2%)

DIRECTIONS

1.      Open rice, pull out seasoning packet and set aside.

2.      In a small bowl, combine pepper and flour. Set aside.

3.      In a large pot over medium heat, combine broth and chicken. Bring to a boil, then stir in rice. Cover and remove from heat.

4.      In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add carrots, celery and onion and saute for 5 minutes. Stir in contents of seasoning packet, and continue cooking vegetables until softened, about 5 minutes more. Add seasoned flour gradually while constantly stirring, to form a roux. Saute roux for 3-4 minutes to cook out raw flour taste.

5.      Whisk in cream, a little at a time, until fully incorporated and smooth. Cook until thickened, 5 minutes.

6.      Stir cream mixture into broth and rice. Cook over medium heat until heated through and rice is done,15-20 minutes.

7.      Alternatively, for those who cannot get the quick-cooking version of the rice, I have put the broth on to boil and cooked the 25-minute version of long grain and wild rice blend according to the directions, while sauteeing the veggies in the butter. I tend to cook the veggies longer this way, and I like them quite soft. I then follow the rest of the directions above, adding the rice/broth to the cream mixture. I've also used fat-free half and half with no appreciable difference in flavor. Enjoy

Energy bites

Everybody Loves theses!


2 C Oats
1C unsweetened shredded cocobut
1C Chocolate chips
1/2 C Flax seed
1/2 C Chia Seed
1 C Peanut butter (Adams Natural is my fav)
1 C Rice crispies
2/3 C Honey
2t vanilla

Mix all ingredients together, then refrigerate for 30mins. for imto balls (or half balls with tablespoon) Store in fridge or freezer.

Creamy Chicken (over RIce or Hawaiian haystack sauce)_

Eat over rice or for Hawaiian haystack sauce. DELISH!

5 chicken Breasts
8oz low fat cream cheese
1 can fat free cream of chicken soup
1 pkg low sodium Italian seasoning

Throw in crockpot  on high for 5 hours

Lasagna Soup

LASAGNA SOUP

yield: 8 SERVINGS

INGREDIENTS:

FOR THE SOUP:

• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 1-1/2 lbs. Italian sausage
• 3 c. chopped onions
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 T. tomato paste
• 29 oz. (two 14.5-ounce cans) fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 c. chicken stock
• 8 oz. mafalda or fusilli pasta
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1/2 c. fresh basil leaves, sliced thinly

FOR THE CHEESY YUM:

• 8 oz. ricotta
• 1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste

ADDITIONAL CHEESY YUM:

• 2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add sausage, breaking up into bite sized pieces, and brown for about 5 minutes. Add onions and cook until softened, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Cook for 1 minute. Add tomato paste and stir well to incorporate. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the tomato paste turns a rusty brown color.

Add fire roasted diced tomatoes, bay leaves, and chicken stock. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add uncooked mafalda pasta and cook until al dente. Do not over cook or let soup simmer for a long period of time at this point, as the pasta will get mushy and absorb all the soup broth. You may even want to consider cooking the noodles separately, and then adding some to individual bowls before ladling the soup over them. This would be an especially smart move if you are anticipating any leftovers. Right before serving, stir in the basil and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

While the pasta is cooking, prepare the cheesy yum. In a small bowl, combine the ricotta, Parmesan, salt, and pepper.

To serve, ladle soup into bowls and top each bowl with a bit of shredded mozzarella and a good dollop of the cheesy yum. Finish with some freshly ground black pepper over the top and a small scattering of fresh basil.

5 ingredient Beef Stroganoff

Love this! Thanks Natalee

Cook Time: 3 hours

Total Time: 3 hours

Yield: 4 Servings

Ingredients

• 1 pound of stew meat
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can of cream of onion soup (if you can't find cream of onion soup, then use 1 packet of Lipton dry onion soup mix and an extra can of cream of mushroom soup)
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can of cream of mushroom soup (if you don't like cream of mushroom, cream of chicken works great too!)
• 8 ounces of egg noodles
• 1/2 cup of sour cream

Instructions

1. In a crock pot toss in stew meat, cream of onion soup and can of mushroom soup.
2. Place lid on crock pot and cook on low for 3- 4 hours, depending on your crock pot. (Mine cooks hot so 2 - 3 hours is plenty for me, however most readers tell me it needs 3 - 4 hours for their crock pots).
3. After 3 - 4 hours, when meat is cooked through, stir well and turn off crock pot.
4. Prepare egg noodles according to package directions.
5. Add sour cream to meat mixture just before serving.
6. Serve immediately.

Notes

If you are doing this as a freezer meal, place stew meat, cream of onions soup and cream of mushroom soup in a freezer bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to make, toss frozen ingredients into a crock pot and cook for 4 hours or until meat is cooked through. Follow normal cooking directions from here.

You can add extra sliced mushrooms if you wish.

Perfect Pulled Pork

A friend made these so of course I had to get the recipe!! SO DELISH with or without the BBQ sauce.

Ingredients:

·       1 (4-7 pound) whole Boston Butt or pork shoulder (bone-in with a layer of fat on the bottom)

DRY RUB

·       1 tablespoon ground cumin

·       1 tablespoon garlic powder

·       1 tablespoon onion powder

·       1 tablespoon chili powder (I use half that)

·       1 tablespoon cayenne pepper (I use half that)

·       1 tablespoon salt

·       1 tablespoon ground pepper

·       1 tablespoon paprika

·       1/2 cup brown sugar

BRINE SOLUTION

·       1/2 cup salt

·       1/2 cup brown sugar

·       2 quarts cold water

·       2 bay leaves

·       3 tablespoons dry rub mix

Directions:

FOR THE DRY RUB

1.    Mix well and store in an air tight container.

FOR THE BRINE SOLUTION

1.    Add salt to cold water and stir very well until all the salt is completely dissolved. Then add the brown sugar, dry rub, and bay leaves and stir well to combine.

PORK SHOULDER PREPARATION

1.    Rinse the pork shoulder and place in a large container, pour in the brine solution until the shoulder is completely covered. Cover the container and place in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours.

2.    Remove pork shoulder from brine solution, pat dry with paper towels, place in baking pan that is bigger than the shoulder by at least a inch in length and width and at least 3 inches deep. Sprinkle dry rub onto the surface of the shoulder and massage in such that it adheres to the surface. Coat all sides. Make sure the fat layer on the shoulder is facing up before cooking! Place baking pan uncovered in a 225 degree F oven on the middle rack. Insert a probe thermometer into the center or thickest part of the shoulder, but not touching the bone. Monitor the temperature throughout cooking (a digital thermometer with an alarm function is the easiest way to do this). Do not remove from the oven until the center of the shoulder reaches 200 degrees.

3.    When the shoulder has reached 200 degrees, shut off the oven and let the roast cool for a couple of hours before removing from the oven. If the bottom of the pan is dry (or crusted with dried spices) then cover the pan with foil to retain internal moisture of the meat during the cooling period. When the temperature drops to 170 degrees or slightly lower, remove from oven. Place on a large, clean work surface such as a cutting board, and remove the large sheet of crusted fat on the top. Pull apart with two forks, it will pull apart very easily. Serve for friends and family!

**TIP:  I use a crockpot instead of the oven.  I cook it on low for 6 hours (about a 4lb shoulder) (until it easily falls apart) or on low for 8hrs if the meat is frozen.  You can season the whole chunk of meat and put it right into the freezer or you can cook the meat, shred it, and then put the shredded meat in the freezer.