Stuffed Pasta Shells

recipe from The Maroon Spoon, Lisa

12 oz Jumbo shells

1 1/2 pounds hamburg

1 pound Italian sausage

1 16 oz jar picante sauce

3/4 lb Monterey Jack cheese

3/4 lb Colby jack cheese

Boil shells

Brown meat in skillet, drain. Add picante sauce to meat. 

Spoon into shells 

Top with cheese

Cover and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, or until cheese is melted
recipe is for a 9x13 pan

*I like sausage, but I am not a huge fan of the fat chunks in it. Next time I might use all hamburg, or cut the recipe in half and only use the hamburg. I ended up with 2, 8x8 pans, and put one of them in the freezer. I used about 12 shells in each pan. I boiled all the shells in the box and had a lot left over.

Macaroni & Cheese, slow cooked

found recipe on Moms with crock pots

8 oz medium shell macaroni
2 tsp olive oil
1 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cups (8 oz) shredded sharp cheddar cheese or a Cheddar blend
4 Tbsp butter, melted

Cook macaroni following package directions.
drain and rinse with hot water, drain well

Generously butter the sides and bottom of a 3 1/2 to 4 quart slow cooker
( I used about 2 Tbsp of butter)

Combine macaroni with remaining ingredients in the slow cooker and blend well.
Cover and cook on low for 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally

If desired, when macaroni and cheese is done, spoon mixture into baking dish, sprinkle with a little more cheese or bread crumbs, and put under the broiler for a 1-2 minutes, getting the "fresh from the oven" look


Side note: When we made it, it looked great after 2 hours, but at 3 hours it was starting to get a little lumpy. It still tasted great, and we plan on making it again, but will plan on only 2 to 2 1/2 hours in the crock pot.

Pepperoni Rolls

recipe from What about pie?
that site has much better pictures and her finished product looks better than mine :)

pre packaged frozen white bread dough (wheat does not work well)
olive oil
pepperoni
mozzarella cheese
parmesan cheese (grated or shredded)
Italian seasoning ( or oregano, parsley, and basil )
garlic powder
butter

let bread rise for a few hours
roll it out and brush with olive oil
layer with pepperoni ( the larger deli slices of pepperoni would work great for this)
spinkle with mozzarella cheese
sprinkle with parmesan cheese
sprinkle with seasoning
roll up the dough into a log shape
brush top with melted butter
bake at 375 for 15-25 minutes, or until golden brown and you can make a tapping sound on the crust

recipe states that you should let it cool before cutting....but we prefer hot pizza, so we didn't wait too long!

Mine did not turn out like I thought it was going to. It was still good, but it kind of deflated. So click on the link above to see what it should look like. Im not sure if I let it rise too long, or when I rolled it out, I used a little wheat flour so it wouldn't stick to the counter, maybe that did it. Who knows!

check out the pictures from the link above. She has her loaf of bread in a perfect square.....me, not so much! So I decided to divide it into 2, then I had nice squares :)

French Dip Sandwich

packet of dry Au Jus Gravy
roast beef sliced thin
sandwich buns
provolone or Swiss cheese


follow directions for gravy mix (heat on stove top)
put together your sandwich and use gravy for dipping
easy as that!

Baked Spaghetti

recipe from Lindsay

8 oz spaghetti noodles, cooked

2 eggs, beaten

2 Tbsp parsley

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

8 oz mozzarella cheese

Toss cooked noodle with egg, Parmesan cheese, and parsley
(let noodles cool for just a minute, or the eggs will "cook" when they mix with the really hot noodles)

In a greased 8x8 pan, put in half the noodle mixture

layer with 4 oz mozzarella cheese

then layer with remaining noodles

and top with remaining mozzarella cheese

Cover, bake at 350 for 20 minutes

Heat favorite spaghetti sauce and serve it over individual pieces

this is a great recipe to double and make into a 9x13 OR 2, 8x8 pans and freeze one

Italian Chicken Casserole

original idea from Boss Sanders, but I changed it up a bit

4 cups shredded cooked chicken
2 cans cream of chicken soup
8 oz cream cheese, softened
Dry Italian dressing packet
1/2 cup milk
16 oz noodles, cooked
bacon ( optional )

mix everything together and put in casserole dish.
Bake covered at 350, 30-40 minutes ( just need to heat through)

I split this recipe, and it was the perfect amount for our family

Beef Enchiladas

recipe from Chris

makes 2, 9x13 pans

2 1/2 pounds ground beef
2 cans (15 oz each ) of enchilada sauce
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can tomato soup
flour tortillas (10)
2 1/2 cups cheddar cheese

Cook beef and drain
combine enchilada sauce and soups, pour 1 cup into bottom of each 9x13 pan
stir 1 1/2 cups sauce into beef mixture, set remaining sauce aside.
Spoon mixture into each tortilla, sprinkle with some cheese, roll up and place seam side down into pans.
Top with reserved sauce.
Cover with foil
Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes
Uncover, sprinkle with cheese and bake 5-10 minutes more

can top with lettuce, green peppers, sour cream, etc.

Hodge Podge Soup

recipe from my mom

1 pound hamburg

1 chopped onion ( or minced onion )

salt and pepper to taste

1 can tomato soup

1 can mixed vegetables with liquid

1 can spaghetti o's

brown hamburger with onion and salt and pepper, pour off grease

mix all ingredients together
warm in crock pot for 2 hours OR on the stove top until heated through