Baked Sausage Ziti

So as I continue to learn to buy things on sale with coupons and stock up on sales, I’ve had to reinvent my way of cooking. Usually I’d choose 5-6 meals I’d like  to make that week and then shop according to the ingredients. Now, however, I have to figure out what I can make with whatever I have on hand, which is a bigger challenge.

I usually start with the meat and go from there. Today I had sausage thawed, so after looking through some recipes, I decided to try my own, which turned out amazingly yummy! Especially since I’m a slave to the recipe!

Ingredients:

1 lb sausage

12 oz Ziti

1 can of Hunt’s traditional spaghetti sause

4 oz cream cheese

Basil

Parsley

Minced garlic

Mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Cook pasta so that it’s still a little hard. Meanwhile brown sausage and drain fat. Heat the spaghetti sauce and add basil, parsley, and garlic to taste. Once it’s heated add cream cheese and allow to heat and mix thoroughly. Add all three together and mix well and place in a baking dish. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Sprinkle cheese on top and bake, uncovered, for an additional 5 minutes.

Cheesy Sausage Pie

Tonight I wasn’t eating dinner with the family. So, while searching recipes for pie crusts (since I had bought some on sale and needed to use them) I ran across Cheesy Sausage Pie. Since, I also had sausage I needed to use and I don’t like sausage, I decided to try it. Well, it ended up becoming a family favorite. The kids gobbled it up and my husband went back for thirds! I had a bite, so I could see if I could eat it, and I ended up thinking it was REALLY good. It immediately became a family favorite.

I made some changes to my recipe compared to the Pillsbury site, just due to family preferences and what I had on hand. But here’s the recipe.

Ingredients

1 lb ground sausage

dried minced onion

1 Tbsp minced garlic

1/2 (15 oz) can tomato sauce (traditional spaghetti sauce)

1 can of diced Italian tomatoes, drained

1 cup corn

1 refrigerated pie crust

shredded cheese

Directions

Brown sausage with minced onion and minced garlic and drain off fat.

On stove, in the skillet add to the meat the tomato sauce, tomatoes, and corn.

Let it boil some “water” out.

Place prepared pie crust in 9in pie plate and then put the meat mixture in pie plate.

Bake at 350 for 35 minutes

Sprinkle cheese on top and bake for another 12 minutes.

Let stand before serving.

For someone who doesn’t like sausage… It was surprisingly yummy!

Three Envelope Chicken

Ingredients:

4-6 small chicken breasts

1 packet of chicken gravy

1 packet alfredo sauce mix

1 packet of McCormick tomato, garlic and basil grill marinade

1 cup water

egg noodles

 

Directions:

1. Mix water and three packets in small bowl.

2. Place chicken in crockpot.

3. Pour over sauce.

4. Cook on low for 4 hours.

5.  Serve over cooked egg noodles. (About 8 oz does the trick.)

 

I really love this recipe. Its so simple and yummy. You can try it with different “envelopes” too. The original called for the chicken gravy, ranch, and italian dressing, but I thought that a little spicy for my taste. I hope you enjoy!

Broccoli Cheese Soup Recipe

I love sharing recipes. I will never hold back if asked for one, and this one is good enough to share. I found it on allrecipes.com, my favorite place to get recipes. Anyhow, I will no longer miss Panera’s Broccoli Cheese soup, nor will I miss Silver Spoon’s (American Cafe) Potato Cheese Soup. This one will cover it for me. So here it is. 

Ingredients:

½ cup plus 2 Tablespoon butter
½ cup plus 2 Tablespoon flour
4 cups chicken broth
4 ½ cups milk (use partial heavy cream if possible) 
½ teaspoon garlic salt
1 bunch broccoli florets, chopped small
¾ lb Velveeta cheese
2 cups Cheddar Jack shredded cheese 

Directions:

1. Melt butter over medium heat.
2. Add flour, stir constently for about 2 minutes
3. Slowly pour in chicken broth then milk, & garlic salt
4. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 10 min
5. Meanwhile steam broccoli.
6. Gradually add cheeses until all is melted. 
7. Add broccoli
8. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes. 

Try it with potatoes instead of broccoli… yum. Or cut up some extra hot dog or hamburger buns. Melt some butter in a skillet and fry them up. (Home made croutons) If you just make it cheese soup, add some croutons to the top it will taste like Grilled Cheese Soup. This is an excellent base for anything cheese soup. I hope you enjoy it!