Chunky Spaghetti Sauce

Jamie brought some most delicious spaghetti sauce, spaghetti squash, and noodles to us after Luke was born.  It was so extremely delicious. I CRAZY loved this sauce. A couple reasons why it was successful: 1.  It was the first time I used sausage in spaghetti sauce and 2. the first time i roasted the tomatoes and onions. I think those things made it awesome!!!

1 lb Turkey or beef
1 lb of any type of sausage (no spicy, I took off the outter thin skin)
1 T basil, 1 T oregano, salt and pepper
garlic
2 sliced onions
chopped mushroooms (saute)
Zucchini
Butternut squash (peel and roast in oil, garlic, salt and pepper)
spaghetti squash for the noodles instead of pasta (cook whole squash, uncut at 400 degrees for one hour)
2 options for spaghetti sauce:
    1.  Sauce- garden combination Ragu or Prego
    2.  4 cans of diced tomatoes 
Pasta noodles


1. Cook ground turkey/beef and sausage with chopped mushrooms.  While I'm cooking the meat, In the past I have chopped it up so small b/c thats what my mom did growing up.  But this time I left the meat in bigger chunks and I really liked the texture in the final product. 
2. Roast onions and tomatoes  in oven at 400 for 45-60 min till browned. Then I pureed 2 cans of the tomatoes in the blender and left 2 cans in their diced chunks.  roasting is suppose to help give a more full flavor 
3. Peel and cube butternut squash, toss with oil, salt, and pepper 400 for 20-30 min. I put it in the sauce and i loved it but logan didn't love it.
4. cook whole spaghetti squash, uncut at 400 degrees for one hour. I liked this squash instead of pasta noodles but the rest of the family liked the pasta.


This fed 2 families of 10 people with still having leftovers. I thought it'd be good to freeze in smaller portions in sandwich ziplock bags for quick meals.

Josh Spaghetti Sauce

Ragu sauce
Grape tomatoes
Mushrooms
dried oregano
Season salt and pepper
Angel hair pasta
Sausage meatballs


Add Ragu Jar to saucepan
Add diced grape tomatoes and chopped fresh mushrooms
Added more oregano and seasoning salt and pepper
Simmer for 30  minutes or so on stove top
Cook angel hair pasta
Add Cooked sausage meatballs.

Calzones

Ideas from Food Network

A few varieties to make
1. ham and pinneapple
2. sausage and onion
3. pepperoni
4. spinach and cheese

The dough (either from scratch or frozen/defrosted rhodes rolls or dry pizza mix from store)

The Filling

• 15 ounces whole milk ricotta (cottage cheese)
• 1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Black pepper
• 2 whole eggs plus 1 whole egg, beaten

Mix the filling in a bowl and set aside.

I used a dry mix from the store to make the dough. Let sit 10 min. Then roll out circles of dough and plop 3-4 T of the filling on to the roll dough. Fold half of the dough over itself, and then press the edges to seal. Brush the surface of each calzone with the beaten egg, and then bake until nice and golden brown, 10 to 13 minutes. Serve with warm Marinara Sauce.

Manicotti

1 box (8oz) manicotti
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 chopped onion
1 garlic clove
12 oz mushrooms (I would've loved these but I knew my kids wouldn't, I left them out)
12oz cottage cheese or ricotta
salt and pepper
12 oz spinach
1 c parmesan

Preheat oven 400
Boil manicotti 7 min, when it is still a little firm
Saute onion in skillet, add garlic and mushrooms.  Chop spinach and add it to the skillet.
In a seperate bowl mix cottage cheese, salt and pepper, and 3/4c parmesan. Mix the onion & garlic mixture with the cottage cheese mixture.
In a 9x13 pan lay down foil and grease foil. Place half of spaghetti sauce on bottom of pan. In manicotti add the mixture and set in pan.  Spread the red of the sauce on top of the manicotti.
Cook 30 min

Next time we could add some ground beef or sausage to the cottage cheese mixture. Also shredded mozzarella cheese would be delicious.
Could double this next time and make two 9x13 dishes

Spaghetti sauce

Pioneer Woman

1 pound Ground Beef, optional can add 1lb of sausage
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 whole Large Yellow Onions, Diced
1 whole Green Bell Pepper, Seeded And Diced
6 cloves Garlic, Minced
1 cup White Wine (or Low Sodium Beef Broth If You Prefer)
2 cans 28 Ounce Crushed Tomatoes (or 12-20 chopped tomatoes)
1 can (small, 4-ounce) Tomato Paste
1 jar Good Storebought Marinara Sauce
1 teaspoon Ground Oregano
1 teaspoon Ground Thyme
4 whole Bay Leaves
2 Tablespoons Sugar
2 teaspoons Kosher Salt
1/2 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper (optional)
1/4 cup Finely Minced Fresh Parsley (or 3 Tablespoons Parsley Flakes), More To Taste
1 whole Rind From One Wedge Parmesan (optional)
1/2 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese (optional)
2 pounds Spaghetti, Cooked Al Dente And Tossed With Olive Oil
Extra Minced Parsley, For Serving
Extra Parmesan Cheese, For Serving

In a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, cook the sausage and beef. Put meat into a separate bowl on the side.  Then cook the onion till translucent, and garlic until well browned; drain fat, add the meat back in. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Mix in sugar and all the seasonings, salt, and pepper. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.

A I have roasted the chopped tomatoes,  zucchini and peppers on broil in oven for 20min with salt, pepper, oil, and garlic before I add to the sauce.  It gives a deeper intense flavor

Serve with Cheesy bake tortellini or Chicken Parmesan or Lasagna Rolls or Lasagna

Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed Shells

Forkknifeswoon

• 16 jumbo pasta shells (Cook a couple of extra shells to allow for a few breaking while the pasta cooks.)
• 1-1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp fresh garlic, minced
• 4 cups (packed) fresh spinach leaves, roughly-chopped
• 12 oz skim-milk ricotta cheese
• 1 cup shredded skim-milk mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
• 1 large egg
• 1 tbsp fresh basil, finely chopped
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
• 1-1/4 cups marinara sauce

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Cook the pasta al dente, according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil begins to shimmer, add the garlic and cook until it begins to brown, about a minute or two. Add the spinach and cook, stirring occasionally, until the leaves begin to wilt but are still bright green, about 3 to 4 minutes. The spinach should be reduced by half. Remove from the heat and let cool.
3. In a mixing bowl, stir together the spinach, ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, egg, basil and salt and pepper until thoroughly combined. Pour 1/2 cup of the marinara sauce into the bottom of a shallow 8-inch by 8-inch baking dish. Stuff each pasta shell with a generous amount of the spinach and ricotta mixture, and place in the baking dish.
4. Cover with the remaining sauce and bake covered with aluminum foil for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until the top begins to brown and the sauce begins the bubble, another 10-15 minutes. Serve warm with a dusting of Parmesan.

Cheesy Baked Tortellini

Food Network

Olive oil
2 cups marinara sauce
1 sauteed onion
1/2 lb beef cooked
I didn't have 1/3 cup mascarpone cheese (or cottage cheese)
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 pound purchased cheese tortellini
2 ounces mozzarella
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

I Doubled this and froze some for future dinner.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil an 8 by 8 by 2-inch baking dish.
Whisk the sauce, mascarpone cheese, parsley and thyme in a large bowl to blend. 
Cook the tortellini in a large pot of boiling salted water until just tender, about 2 minutes. Drain. Add the tortellini to the sauce and toss to coat. Transfer the tortellini mixture to the prepared baking dish. Top the mixture with the smoked mozzarella and Parmesan. Cover and bake until the sauce bubbles and the cheeses on top melt, about 30 minutes.

Surprisingly the kids loved this.

Beef Oven Roast

Food

in 9x13 foil lined pan combine:
3-5lb beef roast
1/2c italian dressing
2 c beef/chicken stock
one 4oz mushrooms
1 sliced onion
1 t garlic powder
1 oz of onion soup mix
Sliced potatoes and carrots

1.  I Mixed everything in a pan in the morning and let it sit in refrigerator for a few hours.
2. Bake, covered, for 1 hour 15 minutes per pound at 300°F.  Add carrots and/or potatoes during last hour, if desired.  Cooking time is approximate, depending upon how big your roast is.  Whisk cold water with flour to thicken the gravy.

Serve with salad and side of rice or quinoa.

Lasagna

Makes 2 (9x13) baking dishes of lasagna.  Bake one and freeze one
Recipe from Western Family brand Lasagna noodles package.

16 oz lasagna noodles

Red Sauce---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1 lb ground sausage
1 lb ground beef
2 chopped onions
2 T minced garlic
1 T dried basil
2 t dried oregano
3 Tablespoons Dried Parsley
3 jars of Hunts spaghetti sauce (24 oz each) (I did add some refried beans b/c I wanted some more fiber and 1 can of stewed tomatoes)

Ricotta/cottage cheese mixture-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4 eggs
1/2-1c parmesan
2- 24 oz cottage cheese (one time I used the 48oz cottage cheese, another time I used half cream cheese)

2 lbs shredded mozzarella cheese or just slice it (I used only one pound and I sliced it b/c it was previously frozen cheese (which falls apart) and cutting it is easier)


On stove top- Saute onions till brown, put in crockpot. On stove cook sausage and beef, put in crockpot.  Add to the crockpot: Spaghetti sauce, garlic, basil, and oregano. Put the crockpot on high for 4 hours, to let all the flavors combine.
On stove top boil noodles.
In a bowl- Mix eggs, parsley, parmesan, and cottage cheese.

Preheat oven at 375

Spray one 9x13 pan with oil, the other pan line with aluminum foil (to make the lasagna easier to pull out of the pan when frozen) and spray with oil too.  Layer the bottom of pans with sauce., layer 1/3 of the lasagna noodles, spread 1/3 of ricotta mixture, top with 1/3 of mozzarella.  Repeat two additional layers.  Bake with foil for 20 min, then remove foil for 20 min till cheese is melted.

Prepare this 2-3 days before you need it and let it sit in the fridge.

I made the SAUCE in the morning and put in the crockpot.  Then I mixed the cottage, eggs, parsley and parmesan in a bowl and set in the fridge. Shredded or slice the cheese.

The girls will assemble the ingredients in a 9x13pan.

4/9/19
 after putting 2 lasagna layers down I began to run out of the ricotta cheese mixture. So there was about 1/2-1 c left. I melted a block of cream cheese and added one more egg with salt and pepper, parsley and parmesan and finished one more layer of noodle, red sauce, ricotta/cream cheese, and topped with mozzarella. Turned out great.

9/22/23

Made this and it was so ridiculously yummy. I used one jar of hunts, one jar of canned whole tomatoes and lastly one jar of prego, let it book for 1-2 hours.

This time I didnt boil the noodles, it just put them in hard. I added 1/2c water toward the lasagna edges and bubbled up aluminum foil on top (so the cheese doesnt stick to the foil). I also put a good amount of aluminum foil under the pan b/c the liquid can boil out into the oven which can make more mess to clean up. I did cook for 1 and 1/2 hour. So delicious

Bulk chicken

Two ways to prepare bulk chicken-

1. From Marci Barker I cooked about 6 chicken breasts at the same time with 2 different types of store bought chicken seasonings, olive oil, and if desired lemon juice.  Heat oven 350.  Pour lemon juice and oil on breasts then add the seasonings to both sides.  Cook 20 min, check them and then flip, cook 5-10 more min.  Wait for chicken to cool down.  Cut the chicken in different ways- Cube one chicken breast, next one slice, and next one shred.  Put chicken in separate quart bags and each chicken can be  used in a different recipe depending on how it was cut and seasoned. Fajitas, soups, chilis, over pasta

2. I bought a few pounds of  boneless/skinless chicken (thighs, drumsticks, even a whole chicken could work too) and separated the chicken into 1 quart (could use gallon) baggies. In each bag I put a different sauce that was in my fridge (teriyaki, Caesar dressing, premade marinade, italian dressing).
Then label each bag. then freeze.

Defrost chicken, either roast for 20 minutes around 450 degrees or grill or cut up breasts and saute on stove top.

Then on my monthly dinner recipe calendar I write down each marinade baggy so I'll use each one in a timely manner.

Lasagna Rolls

Food Network

1 can of cream of mushroom
5 cooked lasagna noodles
1/2 (16oz) bag of chopped spinach
2 eggs
salt and pepper
1/2c Parmesan cheese
mozzarella cheese
2 cups marinara sauce

5 slices of cooked bacon (or ground beef or sausage)

 450 degrees F
Pour half of the cream of mushroom on to bottom of 9x13 pan and mix in 1c of marinara sauce.

In bowl mix the other half of cream of mushroom, spinach, eggs, salt and pepper, and Parmesan.

Pour 1/4c of soupy mixture onto the edge of lasagna roll. Put mozzarella on top of soupy mixture and a slice of bacon, then roll up.

Lay the lasagna rolls seam side down, without touching on to the 9x13 pan, Pour the rest of the marinara sauce over the top and sides of the rolls.  Put remaining cheese on top of rolls.

Bake until heated through and the sauce bubbles, about 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until the cheese on top becomes golden, about 15 minutes longer