Baked Ziti with Broccoli and Sausage

Pasta is one dish my kids will all eat however, I get tired of plain old pasta and marinara sauce. I found a great recipe in my Eat WEll, Save Big Cookbook that I was pretty sure would be a crowd pleaser.  I figured, at worst, the 2 that don't like broccoli could pick it out.  It came out better than I expected it to and it will be something that makes a return to our dinner table. 

Enjoy!



Ingredients:
Salt and pepper
8 oz. hot Italian sausage, casings removed (I used sweet sausage because that is what my family likes)
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 Tbsp. all purpose flour
2 cups milk
8 oz ziti
1 1/2 lb. broccoli, stems removed, florets cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Directions:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.   Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease an 11x7 baking dish.

In a large skillet, over medium-high heat, cook sausage stirring to break up meat, about 3 minutes or until no longer pink.  Add butter and stir well.

Sprinkle flour on top and sitr for 1 to 2 minutes.  Slowly pour in milk and cook, stirring constantly, until smooth and thickened, approx. 3-4 minutes.  Season sauce with salt and pepper.

Add ziti to boiling water and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.  Then add broccoli and cook for 3 minutes.  Drain ziti and broccoli in a colander and transfer to baking dish.  Stir in sausage mixture. 

Sprinkle Parmesan on top.  Bake 25 minutes until golden and bubbling.

Sausage with Spinach

Ready for a great meal good for any night of the week?  Or maybe you are looking for a super bowl for Super Bowl?  Throw this in the crock and it will be done just in time for dinner time or half time.  Yumm.



Ingredients:
6 sweet Italian turkey sausages (I used regular sausage)
1 1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
1 (1 pound) bag frozen pearl onions, thawed
1/2 cup golden raisins
large pinch kosher salt
large pinch black pepper
11oz package of baby spinach
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
3 cups cooked rice

Directions:
1.  Spray large heavy skillet with nonstick spray and heat over medium-high.  Add sausages and brown.  Set aside.
2.  Add broth to skillet and cook, scraping browned bits from bottom.
3.  Transfer to 5 or 6 quart slow cooker.  Stir in onions, raisins, salt and pepper.  Top with sausages.  Cover and cook until until fork tender, 4-6 hours on high or 8-10 hours on low.
3.  Transfer sausages to cutting board and slice. 
4.  Stir spinach into slow cooker, cooking just until wilted.
5.  Stir in sliced sausages and vinegar.
6.  Serve with rice.

I'm unsure where I got original recipe but think it is from the Weight Watchers magazine.

Hot Sausage Bread

Note from Sara: This week our awesome substitute recipe comes from Mandy. We also went to high school together, and I honestly can't think of her without thinking "Mindy and Mandy" because she's 1/2 of a twin duo :)  But what else is interesting is that she's an author!  As in, has books (plural!) you can actually buy on Amazon (go here)! This recipe from her makes me wish I ate cheese (without guilt).  I'm dreaming of thick-sliced Tillamook cheese for this recipe...freaking yum!



Hot Sausage Bread

There’s only one reason why I wanted to make Hot Sausage Bread for Sara’s food blog: Who doesn’t love to give and receive baked goods this time of year? I do, I do, I do.

Hot Sausage Bread is pretty simple to bake and doesn’t require a lot of ingredients. I was afraid I would run out of time to prepare this recipe this week since it’s Thanksgiving. So, with the busy holiday week, I decided to pack my ingredients and bake three loaves at work last night. The first thing I did when I got home was enjoy a slice for breakfast. Yum. Enjoy.   -- Mandy

Ingredients:
3 Loaves White Bread (sold in the frozen bread section, Rhodes brand contains 3 loaves)
2 lbs Ground HOT Sausage
2 Packages of Sliced Pepper Jack Cheese
1 Egg

This recipe yields three loaves of Hot Sausage Bread.

Preheat the over to 350 degrees.

Follow the directions on the back of the package, for thawing and allowing your bread to rise. I have never been good at following directions... so, this is what makes life easier for me: I allow the bread to thaw in the refrigerator - usually two days - and I allow it to rise in the bag (I know, I know, look how lazy she is) When the bag looks like it is about ready to burst.. it's go time.

Because the now ready bread has almost evolved into one massive loaf, I cut it into three equal parts. You will be able to see the lines where the old bread loaves used to exist.

Cook the ground, hot flavored sausage, until it is completely browned. Drain off excess grease. (I try not to be partial, but Jimmy Dean has great hot sausage.)

Cover a large surface with flour. Using a rolling pen, roll out one loaf until it makes a large rectangular shape. If you allow the bread to sit on the floured surface until it becomes room temperature, it will be easier to roll out and won’t require a lot of upper body strength. (I know, I know, look how lazy she is)

Scoop 1/3 of the browned sausage into the center of the rolled out dough. Spread it down the middle of the loaf, horizontally. Leave about an inch of spare dough at each end. You should have a spare 2-3 inches at the top and bottom.

Place 8-10 slices of pepper jack cheese over the top of the ground hot sausage.

Fold the spare 1 inch dough, at each end, over top of the meat and cheese. Press it tightly into the dough it has overlapped, creating a tight bond so the cheese won’t melt out.

Your final step in preparing your loaf of bread is to pull the top and bottom ends of the dough, together. At the top of the loaf you will pinch the top and bottom flap of dough, creating a bond. It should look like a rope running across the top of the bread once you are finished.

Whip one egg in a bowl. Using a brush, paint the top of the loaf of bread with the whipped egg. This will give your loaf of bread its golden brown finish. (One egg will cover three loaves of bread.)

Spray baking sheet and bake in oven until the loaf is golden brown. This usually takes approximately 20 minutes. You can follow the baking directions on the back of your frozen bread package.

Wait for bread to cool, slice and enjoy with a cold glass of milk to put out the fire. Honestly… It's not that hot, all five of my kids devour this recipe.

And since it now appears that you have labored over making this simple recipe, leave the mess for your partner to clean up. (I know, I know, look how lazy she is)

For those of you who are characters of visual nature, I am including each stage of the process to help guide you. If you are like me, you skipped all the directions and went straight to the visual guide. (I know, I know, look how lazy she is)

Bayou Chicken & Sausage Jambalaya

While shopping for rice - I spotted this recipe on the back of a Success Rice box. I usually choose brown rice - this recipe/a free product coupon/and the fact that there was no Success brown rice on the shelf - were enough for me to make the purchase.

This was also my first time trying turkey smoked sausage - I couldn't tell the difference.





Ingredients:

1 bag Success White Rice
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 small onion chopped
1 green bell pepper diced
1 stalk celery chopped
1 package 6 oz grilled chicken breast strips, cubed
1/2 smoked turkey sausage sliced
1 can 8 oz tomato sauce
1 can 14 1/2 oz diced tomatoes
1 tbsp. Creole Seasoning
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce





Saute onion, bell pepper and celery for about 5 minutes.

Stir in smoked sausage and chicken - cook for another 3 minutes.

(I used uncooked chicken breast strips so I cooked mine until cooked through.)

Stir in Creole seasoning,
Worcestershire sauce,
diced tomatoes
and
tomato sauce


Be Prepared Here: Throw on an apron and wield your glass lid shield - those tomatoes mean business! They are out to get on your counter-top, clothes and floor if you let them!

Everything from the can that wouldn't open and then went flying all over my face and glasses - to the sauce that just jumped right out of the pan and onto my floor - it was enough to having me running for an apron.

VERY CAREFULLY - I used tongs - pour rice out of boil in bags and into skillet.

This recipe was supposed to feed 4 - and since I have 6 in my family - I through in an extra bag of rice, stalk of celery and another 1/2 of smoked sausage.

This was a pretty spicy dish - Glad that I resisted the temptation to add more creole seasoning since I was adding more rice and sausage.

Over all I give this dish 4 spoons - it was yummy and useful!
It was pretty awesome that while the rice was boiling away - I was able to get everything ready in the skillet - when I was done - so was the rice!


Want to try Success Rice for free too?

I am giving away 5 free product coupons HERE!



I was sent a free product coupon for the purpose of review. I did not receive any other compensation and all opinion expressed is mine and mine alone. :)

Camp Fire Bundles Saved My Sanity!

Just between you and me...

While I love to cook and love even more to eat....I sometimes don't have the energy to cook. Last night was a prime example of this...I had spent a tough day at work (you know the kind where every rude person in your town sits in your section (I'm a waitress) and you have to bring them their diet cokes when what you really want to do is pour it on their heads?)

Then I came home to 4 unruly kids (they have discovered the hose outside and are trying to make it a daily habit to take mud baths outside before I figure out what they are doing.)

So sometimes - I just want to sit and read...let Hubby watch the kids while supper takes care of its self and takes enough time to cook - that I can relax.

That's just what I did! Love this recipe - and love that I was able to finish about 1/3 of this book while sitting outside and letting my oven do all the work! :) It was fabulous!

I found this recipe in the Taste of Home Best Barbecues Holiday issue - the little cookbooks that you can usually find while standing in line at checkout of most super markets.

It was originally meant for grilling - but since that required more energy than I was willing to put in...I cranked up the oven to 350 and it worked out GREAT!

Campfire Bundles
Taste of Home Best Barbecues
Recipe By: Lauri Krause Jackson, Nebraska

Ingredients

• 1 large sweet onion, sliced
• 1 each large green, sweet red and yellow pepper
• 4 medium potatoes, cut into 1/4-inch slices
• 6 medium carrots, cut into 1/4-inch slices
• 1 small head cabbage, sliced
• 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 1 to 1-1/2 pounds smoked Polish sausage, cut into 1/2-inch slices
• 1/2 cup butter, cubed
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions

• Place the first eight ingredients on three pieces of double-layered heavy-duty foil (about 18 in. square). Top with sausage; dot with butter. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Fold foil around mixture and seal tightly.
• Grill, covered, over medium heat for 30 minutes. Turn and grill 30 minutes longer or until vegetables are tender. Open foil carefully to allow steam to escape. Yield: 6 servings.

I used vegetables that I had on hand: Cauliflower, broccoli, tomatoes, yellow squash, zucchini, carrots, red and green bell pepper and sweet onions.

I put a little of everything on the foil and sprinkled salt and pepper on it...

Added a little bit of Smart Balance, folded it up and then wrapped it in another sheet just to make sure that it was spill proof.
(You might need to follow the directions and use 3 sheets as a few of my packets spilled out juice and got stuck to the cookie sheet)

Then I slapped them on a cookie sheet in the over for 30 minutes at 350. I grabbed my book and coffee and sat and read.

It was glorious!

After 30 minutes...I flipped them over and ran back outside to my book.

It was also glorious!



The kids probably give this 4 spoons...2 of them ate everything - 1 wouldn't touch it (Miss Maddy) and the other powered through it like a champ.

I give this the biggest 5 spoons that I can.

It was fantastic....I think the next time that I make it - I try it with Italian sausage...I wonder if it would be done in an hour in the oven.

My favorite part besides the time that it allowed me to refresh myself:

another great use for cauliflower!

also blog's at

Corn Chowder with Smoked Sausage: Crockpot Meal

Corn Chowder:



Ingredients:
1 pkg. Smoked Sausage
1/4 Cup Butter or Margarine
1 Med. Onion, Chopped
1/4 Cup all-purpose Flour
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/8 tsp. Ground Black Pepper
4 Cups of Milk
1 Can (15.25oz.) Whole Kernel Corn, Drained
2 Cups Cubed Potatoes (I learned this is about 3 medium potatoes)

Chopped Parsley and shredded Cheddar Cheese (optional)



Directions:
Put Onions and Butter in the crock pot, turn on low and melt.



Once melted throw in the rest of the ingredients and Cook until Potatoes are tender.



I rated this a 5 spoon. Hubs said 4 because he isn't a Sausage lover... LOL We also concluded that Bacon would be really good in it to replace the Sausage.

Another GREAT thing about this meal is you can make it for less than $10.00