Green Spaghetti

We all LOVE this pasta around here. I probably make it once a week or so. Sawyer, who won't touch any vegetables if he can help it, devours this in no time. The kids honestly cheer when they see me making it for dinner. It's that good.
It's a great, good for you side dish that adds a little more color to your plate as well!

Green Spaghetti:

about 12 oz. fresh or frozen spinach
1/4 c. broth

(I really like to use vegetable broth, but chicken works just fine too)

1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 c. milk or plain yogurt
1 lb. spaghetti, cooked and drained
(I use thin spaghetti or angel hair; 1/2 regular, 1/2 whole grain)
4 tbsp. butter

Steam the fresh spinach until just wilted, or the frozen until warm. Put spinach and its liquid into blender. Add warm broth and liquefy. Stir cheese and milk into the puree. Toss cooked spaghetti with butter, then with green sauce.

This is a totally painless way to eat spinach, and if you cook the spaghetti while the spinach is steaming, this is about as fast as making up a box of macaroni and cheese--and far better!

French Onion Pasta

We had this French Onion Pasta last night with steamed broccoli, applesauce and warm french bread. I'm going to just stick with a link here as I won't be heartbroken if I can't find the recipe someday... I actually really liked this pasta, but it was gonged big time at dinner last night.

Sawyer: barely gagged down one noodle.
Savannah: actually liked it okay... if she could manage to get a piece of pasta on her fork that didn't have "sauce or onions or frenchies on it". She surprisingly ate almost all of what was on her plate though.
Ryan: "I wouldn't order this again...."

I liked it.
But I like all things french onion. It was nice and easy to make and a warm savory dish that would work great as a main or a side. I think it'd be a really good dish with some chicken or beef or even broccoli diced up in there too.
Not sure if my family is game for another try though...

Pepperoni Pasta Salad

I'm not a fan of pasta salads. I love me some pasta, but I like it warm and usually creamy or cheesy or something of that sort. :)
But I tried a recipe I'd been eying on the back of our mini pepperoni* bag and I have to admit I'm a fan. This would be a perfect idea for pasta salad for a potluck or barbeque, as there is no mayo or anything that you have to worry about sitting out.

*we got this huge bag of the cutest tiny bitesized pepperoni at Costco... it's Hormel and they are so yummy -do you think the size makes them more appealing??- and we were all in love with them. They're perfect for making your own mini-pizzas, or for salads, or like here- for pasta salads. Sadly, Costco isn't currently carrying them and I can't find them anywhere in stores or online.

This exact recipe isn't on the Hormel website either, so I thought I'd jot it down in case I ever come across these precious mini's again. Obviously, it would work just as well with regular pepperoni cut into quarters or snipped into smalled bites...

8 ounces rotini (spiral-shaped) pasta (I used half regular and half whole wheat), cooked and drained
1 cup Pepperoni Mini's
4 ounces provolone cheese, cut into 1/4 inch cubes (I just used the shredded mozerella I had in the fridge... about a cup)
1 medium tomato, diced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 small can sliced ripe olives, drained
3/4 cup prepared Italian salad dressing
1 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Combine all ingredients except for the dressing and Parmesan cheese in a large bowl. Add Italian dressing and toss to coat. Refrigerate salad for 1-2 hours before serving. Stir well before serving and toss with Parmesan cheese.

I mostly made this to use up the last of our pepperoni, and I thought the kids would like it. They like pasta, cheese, olives, they love those little pepperonis, and (Savannah at least) like tomatoes and peppers. Turns out, I loved it as well! I picked around the bell peppers and olives, Sawyer picked around everything, but it was a hit with Ryan and Savannah. We steamed some brocolli to go with it, as well as some slices of french bread. What a great summer meal to keep in mind!!

mac and cheese

Here's my Macaroni and Cheese recipe. I always get good reviews on it.
Except from my kids. Cuz of course they only eat mac and cheese made from a certain blue box...

Well, this one's better:

Baked Macaroni and Cheese
-cook and drain 7 ounces (2 cups) of dry macaroni
-melt 1/4 cup butter in large saucepan
-stir in 2 tbsp of flour and cook 1 minute
-add
--2 cups milk
--8 oz softened cream cheese
--2 tsp dijon mustard
--1/2 tsp salt
--1/2 tsp pepper

-cook 3-4 minutes until thickened
-stir in cooked macaroni and 8 oz shredded cheddar cheese (or cheese of your liking)
-spoon macaroni into 2 quart ungreased bakind dish
-stir together 3/4 cup bread crumbs, 2 tbsp melted butter, 2 tbs parsley
-sprinkle breadcrumbs over the top and bake at 400* for 15-20 minutes

Meatballs

I decided to try something different today with the meatballs than I normally do. I usually just make a quick brown gravy and we eat the meatballs with mashed potatoes.
Last minute-try something new kind of recipe. Simple:

30 frozen meatballs
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp onion powder

I simmered it all together in a pan over med heat for about 20 minutes. Then served over egg noodles.
We also had some honey sweet peas and crescent rolls.
Sawyer: ate only a roll
Savannah: ate everything but the noodles (she's not a pasta fan)... and had seconds on the meatballs!
Ryan: didn't really say one way or the other, but ate lots.
Heather: meh. I really liked the flavor on the meatballs, but the sauce by itself on the noodles I thought was kind of bland.

Chicken Parmesan Risotto

We really like this dish, and I don't know why it's probably been years since I've made it. It's quick, it's easy and it's yummy. I'm putting it back on my regulars list.

The kids however... meh.
I planned ahead and set aside some of the chicken before I added the soup/spices/tomatoes and rice so I could offer them both the rice dish and plain bites of chicken. Savannah hates rice. But the kids both ate well... Sawyer did have a few bites of the rice, but other than that they at least both gobbled up the chicken (which is rare for Sawyer), ate some green beans and grapes and Savannah even had two helpings of asparagus.

Definite thumbs up from us and I'm counting it as a someday 'go' for Sawyer, just not for Savannah since she's anti-rice always.

Spaghetti

We make a simple spaghetti around here.
Brown some ground beef, add some chopped tomatoes, some jarred spaghetti sauce and whatever seasonings I feel like.
Serve over whole wheat thin spaghetti or angel hair pasta.
Top with parmesan.

We cooked up some quick garlic breadsticks with our meal or spaghetti and salad tonight too.
Kids would have none of it.

*But they both ate a big bowl of leftover spaghetti for lunch three days later!!! Go figure. AARGH!!!*

catch up

or ketchup... which happens to be Sawyer's favorite food right now. Today he dipped not only his fishsticks, but his mixed vegetables (the peas carrots and corn) and his apples as well.

Okay, first here are a few meals we've had in the past week or two... and surprisingly my kids are actually eating!!

Tonight we had Creamy Cheesy Chicken Alfredo with honey butter peas and bread and butter.

Savannah loved it, can you tell? (note that is a cheese mustache, not a milk mustache!)
I loved it because it was THE simplest and best meal I've made in awhile.


Last week another successful dinner was a Garlic and Herb pork loin with asparagus and mandarin oranges. Once again, the kids both actually ate it!

And this past weekend we had the best meal the kids have eaten in I can't remember how long... Toasted Ravioli (I think that's a St. Louis thing, as I've never seen them outside of STL and Ryan was sooo excited to be back here and able to buy it!). The kids each had four or five raviolis on their plates and a dish of marinara sauce and they went to town! We had salad along with it and Sawyer actually at that for the first time!

Apparently my kids like food better in Missouri!

Lasagna Rolls

Waaay off track on the menus around here.
I'm discovering it's hard for me to stick to a menu with Michigan weather as schizophrenic as it is. I'm one who very much likes warm, traditional, home style meals on cool cozy days like Chicken Pot Pie or Lasagna or Meatloaf and potatoes. On hot days I hate to cook and I try to think of the easiest and least heat-involved-preparation meals possible, like grilled chicken salad, or salad, or grilled steak and salad, or salad, or hamburgers, or salad. Like I said, cool and easy.
The weather here is so unpredictable that I'll have one thing written down, but when it actually gets to that day of the week, it's like 95 degrees and the last thing I want to make is a casserole or fajitas or anything involving the stove or oven.

Anyway, we finally just made our Lasagna Rolls today. I have been craving them for weeks (and had them on the menu but between the weather and actually taking the time to make them it just hasn't happened). We love this way of making lasagna. It seems easier than making the normal layered lasagna and it is sooo much easier to serve. This is an excellent recipe for singles, couples, or small families too, because it's easy to split them up and put them in smaller disposable aluminum pans to freeze for single servings later on.
We usually make these ahead of time since it is a bit of a process, like the night before, and then just refrigerate and pop them in the oven for dinner.
We kind of made up our own recipe that's actually a combination of these two recipes here and here.

Lasagna Roll-Ups
makes 16 rolls
1/2 lb ground beef
1 cup chopped fresh mushrooms
1 onion finely chopped
1 clove garlic chopped
1 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 egg slightly beaten
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 jars pasta sauce
Lasagna Noodles

Boil water for noodles.
Brown ground beef, drain, and then mix in chopped mushrooms, onion and garlic, cooking over medium heat until onions are tender.
Add noodles to the boiling water, and cook to al dente. DO NOT OVERCOOK!
While noodles are boiling, in a bowl thoroughly combine beef mixture with the ricotta and mozzarella cheeses and add egg.
Pour about 3/4 of a jar of pasta sauce into 13x9 baking dish.
When the noodles are done, lay them out flat, spread thinly with a spoonful of pasta sauce and then some of the meat/cheese mixture over the length of it. Spread it evenly, being generous, but not so thick that you have trouble rolling up the noodle. Carefully roll up noodles and place seam side down in baking dish.

Spread remaining sauce over pan full of roll-ups, sprinkle with parmesan and bake, covered in foil for about 30 min at 350*. Remove foil and bake for another 5-10 min.



**Hint's for the noodles... keep the water boiling gently while they're cooking so that they don't stick together. Use tongs or two wooden spoons to gently fish the noodles out individually without breaking them. I usually cook about 15+ noodles if I want a pan-full of 12 roll-ups, due to some not making it through the process whole!
As you remove them from the water, place a layer of saran wrap on the counter and lay out three noodles on the wrap. Cover those three with another layer of saran wrap, three more noodles, and just pile them up that way. This prevents the noodles from sticking to each other and they are all ready for assembly three at a time!