Italian Sausage with Tomatoes and Penne

Italian Sausage with Tomatoes and Penne
source:  unknown

3 C uncooked penne pasta (9oz)
1 lb. uncooked Italian sausage links, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch slices
1/2 cup broth
1 medium yellow summer squash, cut lengthwise in half, then cut crosswise in 1/4-inch slices
2 C grape tomatoes, cut lengthwise in half
1/4 C chopped fresh or 1 T dried basil leaves
6 green onions, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (1/2 cup)
2 TBS olive oil

Cook and drain pasta as directed on package.

While  pasta is cooking, spray 12-inch nonstick skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium-high heat.  Cook sausage in skillet 4 to 6 minutes, stirring frequently, until brown.  Stir in broth; reduce heat to medium.  Cover and cook 5 minutes.

Stir in squash, tomatoes and 2 T of the basil.  Heat to boiling; reduce heat to low.  Cover and simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Stir in onions.  Simmer uncovered 1 minute.

Toss pasta, oil and remaining 2 T basil.  Divide pasta among individual bowls.  Top with sausage mixture.

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Notes:  I used dried basil.  I did NOT double this recipe, and I should have at least doubled the pasta!  I read the recipe wrong the first time I read it and bought fully-cooked sausage.  So when I went back to buy uncooked sausage links, it was $5 a pound... YIKES!!!  I think it would have been fine to use the fully-cooked sausage... certainly different, but fine.

Verdict:  Phil, Keegan, Paige, Ashton and I LOVED this.  Kaleigh, Sydney and Kendall came close to crying.   I think the only reason that they ate ANY of it was because we had homemade chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

I served this with a foccacia bread that I bought from Costco.  The bread made for a perfect combination with the dinner.

I will make this again on a Thursday night... Sydney has choir rehearsal and Kaleigh has soccer practice on Thursdays.  I'll try to convince Kendall that she likes it.  Or we'll make cookies again for dessert.

German Pancakes

German Pancakes
source:  at the bottom of this printout it says "Clear Channel Communications"  ????

3 eggs
1/2 C sifted flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 C milk
3 T melted butter

Beat eggs well.  Sift flour, salt and baking powder together in separate bowl.  Add eggs to dry ingredients.  Stir in milk and butter.

Pour into a 11x7 greased pan so that the mixture is about 1/4 inch thick.

Bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

German pancakes will rise in the oven, but fall when removed.  Cut into squares and serve warm with butter and powdered sugar or syrup.

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Notes:  I doubled this.  I have a dish that is larger than a 9x13 pan... (not sure the dimensions, but I used that).  Next time I will make it in a jelly roll pan, I think? 

Verdict:  This was so yummy!  And so easy!  I made it after church while the kids were changing out of their Sunday clothes and cleaning up their before church mess.  I made some bacon to serve with it and cut up some fruit.  It was perfect!!  Everyone LOVED it!

Chicken-in-a-Skillet

Chicken-in-a-Skillet
a.k.a. - Never-judge-a-book-by-its'-cover-chicken
source:  some sort of Betty Crocker cookbook

1 - 2 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 T butter
1 T olive oil
1 tsp finely chopped garlic
1 bag (1 pound) frozen broccoli, carrots and cauliflower

Mix thyme, salt and pepper; sprinkle over chicken and set aside.

Heat butter and oil in 12-inch skillet over medium heat.  Cook garlic in butter mixture 1 to 2 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add chicken.  Cook uncovered 8 to 12 mintues, turning once, until light golden brown.

Stir in frozen vegetables.  Cover and cook 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are hot and crisp-tender and chicken is no longer pink.

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Notes:  We used 1/2 tsp. dried thyme.  And I probably used 2 or 3 tsp of garlic... opps... but that is a good opps!  And we used chicken tenders.

Verdict:  I didn't even get my camera out because this looked nasty!  I went and got my cell phone handy in case I needed to order some pizzas.  But... I nicknamed this dinner "never-judge-a-book-by-its'-cover-chicken... remember???  (See above!)  We sat down at the table, after having serving up plates for everyone and waited for the ball to drop!!  Imagine our surprise when EVERY ONE LOVED THIS!!!  Phil and I kept looking at each other wondering how something that looked so bland could taste so good!  (Maybe it was the extra garlic???)  Anyway... we will make this again.  And soon!

I served this with red potatoes.  Great dinner!!!

Beef Tortellini Soup - Crock Pot

From our untried recipe box comes this easy, easy soup.

Beef Tortillini Soup

from... I'm not 100% sure. But the copy looks like it might have come from one of those magazine style cookbooks found at the register at the grocery store.

1 pound beef stew meat

1 large onion, chopped (3/4 c )
1 large carrot, chopped (3/4 c)
1 medium stalk celery, chopped (1/2 c)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tsps sugar
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cans (10.4 oz each) condensed beef consomme
1 tsp dried basil leaves
2 c frozen cheese-filled tortellini
1 c frozen cut green beans

Add beef, onion, carrot, celery, garlic, sugar, tomatoes and beef consomme in order listed to a large slow-cooker.

Cover and cook on low heat setting 8 to 9 hours.

About 25 minutes before serving, stir in basil, frozen tortellini and green beans. Increase heat setting to high. Cover and cook about 25 minutes or until beans are tender.

Makes 6 servings.

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Notes: I doubled this. I used double the doubled amount of fresh garlic. I used beef broth because I had it. And I served this with garlic bread.

Verdict:  Yippeeee!!!  Another easy dinner that my family LOVED!!!

Scalloped Chicken and Potatoes

Scalloped Chicken and Potatoes

from: source unknown

1 package (4.8 oz) sour cream 'n chives scalloped potato mix
2 1/4 c boiling water
3/4 c half-and-half or whole milk
3 c cubed cooked chicken
1 c frozen sweet peas
1 can (8 oz) mushroom pieces and stem, drained
1/2 c plain bread crumbs
1/4 c butter or margarine, melted
1 T chopped fresh parsley

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Mix potatoes, sauce mix, water, half-and-half, chicken, peas and mushrooms in ungreased 2-qt casserole.

Bake uncovered 30 - 35 minutes, stirring once, until potatoes are tender.

Mix remaining ingredients in small bowl; sprinkle over potato mixture. Bake uncovered about 5 minutes or until light golden brown.

5 servings.

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Notes: No surprise here, but I doubled this. I omitted the mushrooms. I could blame the kids for leaving out the slimy fungi but truthfully I did it for me. Blech... my skin is crawling just thinking about this dinner with mushrooms. Also, we totally forgot to do the bread crumbs on the top for the last five minutes. My guess is that they would have been a yummy addition and we'll not forget this step next time.  I also used 1% milk.

Verdict: Heck ya!!! The kids devoured this!!!! We had it for dinner on a night that Phil subbed for an elementary school - in the PE department. His throat hurt from yelling (not in anger, but to keep the kids organized and playing all manners of games...) and he called this casserole "perfect comfort food." We served it with warm french bread!

Interesting note: after I noticed that everyone had eaten a good portion of their serving I went around the table and had everyone give it a thumbs up or a thumbs down. When everyone voted with an enthusiastic thumbs up, Kendall said... "you should send this recipe to Rachel Ray... she'd love you forever!!" Kendall's adoration of Rachel Ray lives on...