RC: Penne Pasta with Spinach and Bacon

We substituted rigatoni for penne pasta and served it with jalapeno/cheese bread and kiwis.

Ratings:

Sabrina 7

Hunter 5

Corrine 10

Penne Pasta with Spinach and Bacon
INGREDIENTS
1 (12 ounce) package penne pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
6 slices bacon, chopped
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 bunch fresh spinach, rinsed and torn into bite-size pieces
DIRECTIONS
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the penne pasta, and cook until tender, 8 to 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place bacon in the skillet, and cook until browned and crisp. Add garlic, and cook for about 1 minute. Stir in the tomatoes, and cook until heated through.
Place the spinach into a colander, and drain the hot pasta over it so it is wilted. Transfer to a large serving bowl, and toss with the remaining olive oil, and the bacon and tomato mixture.

My favorite banana bread

I love banana bread but even buying 6 pounds a week there are never any left for banana bread! I grabbed the last two this time when noone was looking=)

Best Banana Bread

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 cup mashed bananas(2 medium)
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour bottom of a loaf pan. In a large bowl beat together sugar and oil. Add eggs, bananas, sour cream and vanilla. Blend well. Add flour, baking soda and salt. Stir just until the ingredients are moistened. Pour into pan. Bake 50-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes.

Maria's green chicken RC

I don't remember what we rated it. It wasn't bad but it wasn't anything great either. We used a red bell pepper instead of green...so there's really nothing green about this "green chicken" LOL That's pumpernickel rye and it was so good!

Maria's green chicken
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons ground turmeric
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).Place chicken breasts in a single layer in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle the chopped onion and green pepper over the breasts. Place small pieces of butter around on the vegetables. Sprinkle turmeric powder evenly over the entire dish, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover the dish with a lid or aluminum foil.Bake for 45 to 60 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the chicken is no longer pink, and the juices run clear.

Tex Mex Shells n Cheese

The Tex Mex Shells n Cheese is a recipe from Marey's week. I also made rice pudding. (edited 1/2009 I made rice pudding again with 1/2 cup more sugar and quite like it that way)

Tex mex shells n cheese ratings

Sabrina: 8
Hunter: 8
Corrine: 10

Rice pudding ratings


Sabrina: 9
Hunter: 4
Corrine: 1 (after making sure it wouldn't hurt my feelings lol)

Tex Mex Shells and Cheese

1 lb. Ground beef
1 pkg. (12 oz) Velveeta shells and cheese dinner

1 can (14 1/2 oz.) Mexican style diced tomatoes, undrained

1 1/4 cups water
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Brown meat on medium heat.Stir in shells, tomatoes with their liquid and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer 15 minutes.Add cheese sauce and stir until blended. Sprinkle with shredded cheese.

Rice Pudding

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups cooked white rice
3 eggs, beaten
2 cups milk
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pinch ground nutmeg

Directions:
1.Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

2.In a large bowl, combine beaten eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla extract, and salt. Mix well. Stir in rice. Pour into a 10x6x2 inch baking dish.

3.Bake uncovered for 30 minutes; stir pudding and sprinkle with nutmeg. Bake additional 30 minutes or until a knife inserted halfway between the edge and the center comes out clean.

Peanut Butter Brownies

I've never found a recipe that uses a whole jar of peanut butter before! Have the milk ready because they are riiiiiiich but so good!

Ratings:

Sabrina 9

Hunter 100

Corrine 99,000

Peanut Butter Brownies
1 16-ounce jar Smucker's Natural Creamy Peanut Butter, divided
1-1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter or margarine, melted, divided
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Dash of salt
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3-5 tablespoons milk

Heat oven to 350° F. Combine brown sugar, 1-1/4 cups peanut butter and 1/2 cup butter in medium bowl; mix until smooth. Add eggs; beat until well mixed. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; stir into peanut butter mixture. Stir until well mixed. Pour into greased 13 x 9-inch baking pan.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides. Cool on wire rack.
Combine remaining peanut butter, remaining butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and three tablespoons milk. Beat until smooth. Stir in milk until frosting is spreading consistency. Spread over brownies.
Tip: Stir in one cup peanut butter morsels or semi-sweet chocolate morsels if desired.
Makes two dozen.

RC: Corn and Salsa Meatloaf

We made this tonight...last week was Teresa's week and she picked meatloaf. It doesn't look all that appetizing and it didn't hold together great but we all loved it! We served it with homemade mashed potatoes and fried green tomatoes.

Ratings:

Sabrina: 9.5

Hunter: 10

Corrine: 10

Justin: mmmmm

CORN AND SALSA MEATLOAF

1 16oz jar salsa--mild
2 large eggs. beaten
1 cup crushed tortilla chips
2 pounds ground beef
1 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 4oz can diced green chiles

Preheat oven to 375 and grease a loaf pan. Combine salsa, eggs, chips in large bowl. Let stand for 5min. Add beef, corn, and chiles. Mix gently until combined. Transfer to loaf pan. Bake for 60min. or until cooked through

Red Enchilada Sauce

I wanted to make burrito casserole but didn't feel like buying enchilada sauce so I tried to make my own with a recipe from Marey. We all really liked this. Instead of tomato sauce and salsa I used a can of organic diced tomatoes.

Burrito casserole is simply frozen burritos, enchilada sauce then cheese baked at 350 for 20 minutes.

Red Enchilada Sauce
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon minced onion
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1/4 cup salsa
1 6-oz. can tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups water
Directions:Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and sauté for 1-2 minutes. Add the onion, oregano, chili powder, basil, pepper, salt, cumin, parsley, salsa and tomato sauce.Mix together and then stir in the water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Chicken Asparagus Casserole

Lissa sent this recipe. I love asparagus so I was glad for a reason to buy it. Justin quite enjoyed his asparagus too!

Ratings:

Sabrina 10

Hunter 8

Corrine 10

Chicken Asparagus Casserole
2 cans asparagus, about 15 ounces each, drained
4 chicken breast halves, cooked and chopped
2 cans (10 3/4 ounces each) cream of chicken soup
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup bread crumbs, or cracker crumbs
PREPARATION:
Layer asparagus in greased 9 x 13 baking pan; top with chicken. Mix soup, mayonnaise, and lemon juice; pour over chicken and asparagus. Top with cheese and bread crumbs. Bake at 350° for 30 to 40 minutes. Serves 6.

Stromboli

We have pizza night once a week. Last week we had calzones instead of regular pizza. This week was stromboli and we all agreed this is our fave for family night!

Beefy Potato Cheese Pie

Ratings:

Sabrina 8 1/2

Hunter 10

Corrine 8 1/2

We're putting it in the family book=)

Beefy Potato Cheese Pie

Ingredients

1 pound extra lean ground beef

2 cups Italian-style bread crumbs(pre-made or homemade)

3 large onions, chopped

1 egg, lightly beaten

salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 cups russet potatoes, shredded

1/4 pound shredded cheddar

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Thoroughly combine ground beef, breadcrumbs, 1 cup of the chopped onions, egg, salt and pepper; press into the bottom and up the sides of a 10 inch pie pan. Bake for 10-15 minutes. While the beef is baking, in a skillet heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the remaining 2 cups onion and the potatoes and saute for 10 minutes, turning to prevent sticking. Remove beef mixture from oven adn fill with the onion-potato mixture. Cover with cheese and bake for 20-25 minutes, until lightly browned.

Skillet Sausage Pasta

I have made this before and we really like it. I used link sausage since that's what we had on hand and it works great.

Ratings:

Sabrina-10

Hunter-6

Corrine-8

Skillet Sausage Pasta

2 cups uncooked pasta
4 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 pounds fresh white mushrooms, sliced
1 medium chopped onion
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
12 ounces pork or turkey Italian sausage
Salt and pepper to taste
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes(un-drained)
1 1/2 cups tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

Cook elbow macaroni according to package; drain and set aside. In a large skillet heat oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add mushrooms, onion and green bell pepper. Cook and stir until onions and mushrooms are nicely browned, about 10 minutes. Remove from skillet. Crumble sausage and add to the pan. Cook, stirring until sausage is browned, about 5 minutes. Drain fat. Return mushroom mixture to skillet. Stir in tomatoes and their juice, tomato sauce and cooked macaroni. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium low. Simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with Cheddar cheese. Cover and simmer until cheese melts, about 5 minutes.

Scalloped Potatoes n Franks

This was terrific! Corrine gave it a 1000, Hunter gave it a 10 and I agree with Hunter. Justin also quite liked it(without any sausage). I used sausage instead of hot dogs and baked it in a 9X12 glass casserole dish.
This is another recipe from Shar=)

Scalloped Potatoes n Franks

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons chopped onion

3 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup flour

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

2 cups milk

1 cup shredded cheese

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

5 medium potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

8 hot dogs, halved lengthwise and sliced

Directions

In a saucepan, saute onion in butter until tender. Stir in flour, salt and pepper until blended. Gradually add milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in cheese until melted. Add parsley. Place half of the potatoes in a greased baking dish; top with half of the sauce. Arrange hot dogs over the sauce. Top with remaining potatoes and sauce. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours or until bubbly. Uncover and bake 10 minutes longer or until lightly browned.