Shish-Kabob Pasta

Nothing screams summer like shish kabobs on the grill. The other night we had them and made sure to cook up enough for leftovers the next day. This tasted really good and was easy, so I had to share. Please toss this together next time you're-a-grillin' up some 'bobs". I don't have an exact recipe, so be creative.

4-5 6 inch skewers grilled veggies (grape tomato, purple onion, potato, green peppers, summer squash)
2-3 skewers marinated chicken and steak
1 lb. Penne pasta
1/4 cup olive oil
1 small tomato, diced
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta, reserving a half cup of starchy water. Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil and cook the diced tomato and minced garlic in there with red pepper flakes, about 3 minutes over medium heat. Add all the grilled leftover veggies and cut the chicken and steak into bite size pieces. Add pasta, reserved water, fresh parmesean and toss reserving some olive oil and parmesean for topping in each bowl.

chicken veggie pasta

{these are the veggies we used and the red onions were our fav!}

i'm linking this from my friend kami's blog. we tried this a few weeks ago and it was SO yummy. fresh and full of yummy veggies!

she explains it much better than i could...

click HERE

Pizza Crust

This is the recipe I used for Girls Night at Jamie's a few months ago. We're eating it tonight so I thought I'd share!

Combine: 1 Tbs yeast

1 C. warm water

1 tsp sugar

Add: 1 tsp salt

2 Tbs vegetable oil

2 1/2 C flour

Mix together, knead with hand and let rise 10 minutes. Roll out onto pizza pan, poke holes with fork. Pre-cook five minutes, add sauce and toppings and cook for remaining 20-25 minutes.

Sauce:

My favorite sauce is Hannaford brand roasted garlic but this is a good homemade recipe:

14.5 oz diced tomatoes

14.5 oz tomato sauce

1 C. chopped onion

2 Tbs dried basil

2 tsp dried oregano

2 Tbs sugar

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp pepper

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, or until onion is tender. This makes enough sauce for 2-4 pizzas, depending on how much sauce you like. You can freeze the remaining sauce in zip-lock bags, each bag containing enough sauce for one pizza.

mom's lasagna

(disclaimer: i've never actually made it look as good as this lovely internet picture!)

Sauce:
1 lb. hamburger
1 16 oz. can tomato sauce
1 12 oz. can tomato paste
1 can tomato soup
1/2 - 1 c. water
2 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. garlic powder
garlic salt to taste
pepper to taste

Brown hamburger with sprinkle of garlic salt. Drain and add remaining ingredients. Simmer 20 minutes covered.
Boil 6 lasagna noodles and drain. Set aside.

Layers:
1/3 sauce
3 noodles
1/3 sauce
1 pint large curd cottage cheese
1 c. parmesan "shaker" cheese
1 lb. mozerella cheese (leave about 1 cup for topping)
3 noodles
1/3 sauce

Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 45 min. Sprinkle on remaining mozerella cheese! YUM!

Sloppy Joe Casserole

We are not having this for dinner tonight but is a favorite in my house.

Ingredients
1 Pkg shell macaroni (8oz)
1 can of sloppy Joe mix ( you can use the packaged kind and follow the directions on that)
1/2 pound hamburger ( I use turkey burger to be healthier and know one even knows)
1 16oz carton low fat cottage cheese
1-2 cups Cheddar cheese

preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook macaroni and drain. Meanwhile prepare meat and add the sloppy Joe mix. Add cottage cheese to the meat and sloppy Joe mix. In a casserole pan add half macaroni then half the meat mix on top. repeat. top with the cheese. bake uncovered for about 30-40 minutes or until bubbling and cheese is melted.

- this is usually a lot of food so i cut it in half or just eyeball it so i only have about 3-4 servings. It makes great leftovers.

dinner tonight

first of all, thanks to kristen for finally starting this! who knows, maybe we'll be the only ones who use it kri, but i'm ok with that!

i am posting this recipe and think we should start posting a "what we're having for dinner tonight" so that if any of us need a good idea one day we can look on here and find it easily! what do you think?

so, here's what we're having for dinner tonight. one of our new favorites:

Baked Cavatelli

7 ounces dried cavatelli or wagon wheel macaroni

12 ounces uncooked Italian sausage links, sliced 1/2 inch thick

3/4 cup chopped onion

2 cloved garlic, minced

1 26 0z jar pasta sauce

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1/4 tsp black pepper

1. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain, set aside. 2. In large skillet cook the sausage, onion, and garlic until sausage is brown; remove from skillet. Drain. 3. In a large bowl stir together pasta sauce, 3/4 cup cheese, and the pepper. Add the pasta and sausage mixture. Spoon mixture into 2-quart casserole dish. 4. Bake, uncovered in a 375 degree oven for 25-30 mins. Uncover, sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake for another 5 mins. 5. eat and enjoy!