Zesty Italian Crescent Casserole

HOLD THE PHONE!  SARAH COOKED SOMETHING NEW!!!!  It’s been a LONG time since I’ve really cooked anything and longer since I’ve tried a new recipe.  I guess that’s what having a baby does.  Really, we have just been blessed to have wonderful friends and family bring us food in the first weeks after Cason arrived so I haven’t HAD to cook much.

Ryan’s Mom brought it to us right after Cason was born and we both really liked it.  I was in the mood to try it again so I did a quick search on Pillsbury.com since I knew it had Pillsbury Crescent rolls on it and found the recipe.  This recipe is the epitome of “easy” which is all I can handle these days.  I didn’t get very good pictures (the one on Pillsbury’s site is WAY better) but I don’t like to post without a picture.

Zesty Italian Crescent Casserole
by Pillsbury

1 lb. lean ground beef
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 cup tomato pasta sauce
6 oz. (1 1/2 cups) shredded mozzarella or Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1 (8-oz.) can Pillsbury® Refrigerated Crescent Dinner Rolls
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

Heat oven to 375°F. In large skillet, cook ground beef and onion over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until beef is thoroughly cooked, stirring frequently. Drain. Stir in pasta sauce; cook until thoroughly heated.

Meanwhile, in medium bowl, combine mozzarella cheese and sour cream; mix well.

Pour hot beef mixture into ungreased 9 1/2 or 10-inch glass deep-dish pie pan or 11x7-inch (2-quart) glass baking dish. Spoon cheese mixture over beef mixture.

Unroll dough over cheese mixture. (If using pie pan, separate dough into 8 triangles; arrange points toward center over cheese mixture, crimping outside edges if necessary.) In small bowl, mix Parmesan cheese and butter. Spread evenly over dough.

Bake at 375°F. for 18 to 25 minutes or until deep golden brown.

Camera phone picture = horrible quality. But I wanted to get a shot of the pretty, rounded top before it fell when I took it out of the oven!

To prepare ahead, go through the steps up to adding the crescent rolls on top.  Add the crescent rolls, butter and parmesan cheese right before baking to ensure that the crescent roll top “puffs” appropriately! 

Meat Roll Ups

Another recipe from the recipe group. This one is from our friend Tiffany. Ryan and her husband Brandon have been friends since elementary school. We have pictures of one of Ryan's first birthday's after moving to The Woodlands... and there is Brandon celebrating with him.

Tiffany is very good about sending out EASY recipes, which I love. This one was very easy and I thought it tasted really good. If I were to rate on 5 star system, I would give this a solid 4. It's nothing fancy but is a yummy, easy meal.

Meat Roll Ups
1 lb. of ground beef
1 pkg. of onion soup mix (I used Lipton)
1 cup shredded cheese (I used Colby)
1 can of croissants (6 is better, they are larger roll ups)

Preheat oven to 375.
Brown ground beef.
Mix in onion soup mix.
Add cheese.

Flatten out dough.
Put meat in the middle and top with cheese. Use more than shown in this picture, it wasn't enough. (I didn't measure)


Fold all together.


Bake for 13 minutes.


I topped with a little extra cheese and let cook an extra minute or two until the cheese melted and the crescent rolls were a little brown.

Grilling!!!

One night last weekend, Ryan and I decided to grill out. We stopped at Kroger on our way home from a day at the lake with his extended family. When we walked in we saw some pre-made kabobs so that gave us the idea... we decided to make our own. Nothing to fancy, just meat, peppers, onions, zucchini and squash. As we walked through the produce section, I couldn't resist a tub of fresh pineapple chunks. Grilled pineapple sounded heavenly, and it was.

Here is our basic recipe.

Beef and Veggie Kabobs

1 - 1.5 lb beef (we got the pre-cut kind)

1 zucchini

1 squash

1 green bell pepper

1 sweet onion

2 cups fresh pineapple chunks

Tony's Cajun Seasoning

Garlic Pepper

Worcestershire Sauce

Tabasco Sauce - Smokey flavor

Slice vegetables in bite sized pieces

Season the meat with Tony's, Garlic Pepper, a few shakes of the Worcestershire and Tabasco.

Sprinkle zucchini and squash with Tony's and Garlic Pepper

Skewer all meat and veggies. We have found that skewering with one item per skewer works best since some things take longer to cook. We also have this nifty skewer set with a stand that allows for the food to not sit directly on the grill.

Place food on hot grill and cook until done. I don't know how long, we just watch it and hope it doesn't burn.

This latest "kabobbing" attempt turned out fantastic. Our grill wasn't big enough for both trays of skewers so the pineapple was dessert. Mmmmm, I could eat grilled pineapple several times a week!

When we grill, Ryan likes to make stuffed jalapenos or stuffed mushrooms. He was in the mood for mushrooms so that's what he made. This is one of those recipes that isn't really a recipe. We just make the cheese stuffing up as we go...

Stuffed Mushrooms

Whole mushrooms, stems removed

1 block cream cheese

grated cheese (Mexican blend, cheddar, Parmesan, mozzarella, whatever you like)

garlic pepper

Tony's Cajun Seasoning

Mix the cheeses and seasonings. Our only advice is to start small and add more of each ingredient as you taste test. Don't go overboard on the Tony's because it makes it really salty.

Fill mushrooms with cheese mixture. Leftover cheese mixture makes a great dip with Wheat Thins.

Place on grill, on indirect heat, until cheese is melted and mushrooms are soft.

We are looking forward to our new house, with a nice, new, bigger grill! Too bad that's over a year away!

Not-Sagna Pasta Toss

I really like pasta. I mean REALLY. I could eat pasta every day. If I had to pick four foods that I could not live without, they would be cheese, pasta, bread and potatoes. Healthy huh? Ryan loves red meat sauce, and that pretty much only goes with pasta so it works well in this household.

Rachel Ray came through for me once again. Her Not-Sagna Pasta Toss from the Express Lane Meals book is fantastic. As with many of her recipes, there are lots of ingredients and doing the prep work first is the key to making it all work right and actually be a 30 minute meal. This is one thing I have learned about RR recipes. You must chop/prepare all the ingredients before you start to cook. It's also a really good idea to read through the whole recipe at least once. There are always a couple of twists and turns that you might miss if you aren't ready for them.

I like this one because it fixes up easy like spaghetti but it has a different flavor, a different twist, so I feel like I am cooking something different. Not that there is anything wrong with spaghetti, its still the household favorite. And it has all the ingredients of Lasagna but its not, so I can say that I cook Spaghetti, Lasagna (by Stouffer's of course) and Not-Sagna Pasta Toss!

I am just copying the recipe from the Food Network as I don't really change anything on this recipe. It's "yumm-o" (in the words of RR herself) just like it is.

Not-sagna Pasta Toss
Easier than lasagna, because it's not, this pasta, meat sauce and ricotta toss-up is just as hearty and comforting as the layered Italian fave, but it's ready in a fraction of the time and with much less effort.

1 pound curly short cut pasta (recommended: campanelle by Barilla, fusilli or cavatappi Coarse salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
1 pound ground sirloin (I use Ground Turkey)
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, eyeball it in your palm
Black pepper
1/2 teaspoon allspice, eyeball it in your palm
1 teaspoon, several drops, Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup dry red wine, a couple of glugs
1/2 cup beef stock
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 cups part-skim ricotta cheese
1 cup fresh basil, about 20 leaves (i use a couple of shakes of dried basil)
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, a couple of handfuls, plus some to pass at table

Heat a large pot of water to boil for pasta. Salt water and cook pasta to al dente. Heads up: you will need a ladle of the starchy cooking water to help form sauce before draining.

Heat a deep nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan. Add the meat and break it up into small bits as it caramelizes. Once meat has good color to it, 4 to 5 minutes, add garlic, onions and red pepper flakes and season with salt, pepper, allspice and Worcestershire sauce. Cook another 5 minutes, deglaze the meat and onions with red wine, cook off a minute, then combine about 1/2 cup of stock into the meat. Stir in the tomatoes and bring to a bubble. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer 5 minutes.

Place ricotta cheese in the bottom of a shallow bowl. Add a ladleful of boiling, starchy pasta water to the ricotta and stir to combine. Add a couple of handfuls of grated Parmesan to the ricotta and mix it in.

Drain pasta. Toss hot pasta with cheeses. Add half the thick meat sauce to the pasta bowl and combine. Tear or shred the basil and add to the meat and pasta, toss again. Taste to adjust salt and pepper.

Serve bowlfuls of Not-sagna with extra sauce on top and more grated Parmesan to pass at the table.

"Mega Meat-Stuffed Shells"

I moved in to Ryan's house a couple of months before the wedding. Within weeks, I was in desperate need of new, easy and quick recipes. Ryan and I were both getting tired of Spaghetti, Poppyseed Chicken, Stouffers Lasagna, Pot Roast and Chicken Spaghetti. I think that is all I cooked the first few weeks of living together.

I had heard many raves about Rachel Ray's 30 minute meals (and I think my Dad had a little Food Network crush on her) so I bought her Express Lane Meals cookbook. This is a good cookbook that teaches you how to grocery shop. The premise is that you stock your pantry every couple of weeks then hit the grocery each night to pick up the perishables (meat, veggies, etc). I put my own twist on this, hitting the grocery once per week to get the meats, veggies, fruits for the week and trying to keep my pantry stocked with necessities as I run out -- like Cream of [fill in the blank] Soup, Tomato Sauce/Paste, Canned Veggies, Olive Oil, Vegetable Oil, Spices, etc. I got one of my favorite meals from this cookbook, one I will blog about one day.

Ryan bought me another RR cookbook, 2, 4, 6, 8: Great Meals for Couples or Crowds that has recipes written for 2, 4, 6, and 8 people (haha, bet you couldn't figure that out.) I found several great recipes in this cookbook, but our favorite has been the Mega Meat-Stuffed Shells.

Mega Meat-Stuffed Shells
Adapted from Rachel Ray

1/2 box frozen chopped spinach
8 jumbo pasta shells
3/4 lb lean ground beef (RR calls for meatloaf mix)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed and halved
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup Italian style bread crumbs
olive oil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 15oz can tomato sauce
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425.

Defrost Frozen spinach in microwave or in colander with hot running water. Wring dry in paper towel. Set aside.

Boil water for shells and cook according to package directions (6-7 minutes). Drizzle with olive oil. Set aside.

Brown meat with chopped garlic and onions. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and cook 5 minutes more.

Mix meat and spinach in a bowl. Add bread crumbs, egg and half the cheese (sometimes I add a handful of grated mozzarella too).

Fill the shells with the meat mixture and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 11-12 minutes.

While the shells bake, heat halved garlic in one tbsp olive oil in small pot over low heat. Cook for 3-4 minutes, then remove garlic. Add red pepper flakes and cook one minute more. Stir in tomato sauce and let simmer until shells are done. (I typically add another dash of garlic powder, and normally some extra red pepper since Ryan really likes it.)

Place shells on plate and pour desired amount of sauce on top. Sprinkle with a little more cheese if you like.

I have adapted this recipe a little to our liking. I cut back the spinach (RR called for a whole box) because there was just more spinach than meat and we can't have that! I have found that this proportion of meat and spinach is enough to perfectly fill 8-10 shells. I also double the sauce (RR only used 8oz tomato sauce). Ryan really likes this simple sauce and covers his shells with it so the original recipe just didn't cut it.

This is now one of our favorites, and it looks pretty too! :)



Enjoy!

Mom's "Easy Spaghetti"

I love my Mom and Dad. They are the best parents James and I could have ever asked for.

Growing up, mom didn't cook too many new or different things (probably because Dad, James and I were pretty picky). Dad did most of the grilling. We ate dinner together almost every night but neither of my parents were what you would call gourmet chefs! We had a our favorite meals and we ate them often. They were pretty much the basics -- Crock Pot Roast (typically served on Sunday afternoon), Chicken Pie (this was not my fav, but James LOVES it), Spaghetti, Poppy Seed Chicken, Salmon Croquets (gross, again, James liked these, not me), Burgers, Pork Chops and Steaks. Pizza Hut and KFC were pretty regular parts of the "rotation"!

I think that--hands-down--Mom's Spaghetti was everyone's favorite. And by everyone, I am referring to Mom and Dad, James and Me, every youth group to come through Briarwood Presbyterian Church since 1980-something, every one of James and my friends (including my friends from Millsaps)... really, I mean everyone that ever tasted it. It was a favorite at Wednesday Night Pot Luck suppers and was made at almost every family get together on both the Davis and Johnson sides.

When it was the Davis's turn to bring dinner for Sunday night youth group, she really didn't have to think about what to bring. I remember a specific Sunday when Mom and Dad prepared the spaghetti for the youth group. One of the girls came through the line and only asked for the noodles... she "didn't like spaghetti sauce". Mom gave her a little grief -- "Are you sure?? This is really good sauce?" The other youth gave her the same riot act. She refused and sat down to eat her noodles. Several minutes later, she returned to the counter and asked for some sauce. She had tasted one of her friends and was convinced. It really is the best spaghetti sauce!

The reason this recipe is so popular with so many is that it doesn't have "chunks" of vegetables in it. For picky kids and teens, seeing "chunks" of things in their food is sometimes a turn off. Mom uses all dried spices for flavor making the recipe really easy to prepare and also very easy to double, triple (or cut in half for the newlyweds and empty nesters).

Mom's Easy Spaghetti was probably the first thing I learned to cook and was probably the first thing I ever cooked for Ryan. I am pretty sure it was this meal that made him ask me to marry him... okay, maybe not, but I like to think it played a big part!

Mom's Easy Spaghetti

2-3lbs ground beef or turkey
4 8oz cans Hunt's Tomato Sauce
2 6oz cans Hunt's Tomato Paste
1 tsp Garlic Salt
1 tsp Onion Salt
1/2 tsp crushed Oregano
4 whole Bay Leaves (She used to be able to find crushed bay leaves. If you can, use 1/2 tsp)

Angel hair pasta (we think this is one of the keys... using Angel Hair and not spaghetti or other thinker pasta)

Brown the meat and drain grease. In large pot (or crock pot), mix all ingredients and warm over medium heat. When it starts to bubble, cover and reduce heat. Let simmer at least 15 minutes. The longer it simmers the better. When using a crock pot, don't let it cook all day. I have found its better letting it simmer max 4 hours.

Prepare Angel Hair using package directions.

Remove Bay Leaves from sauce (especially if you are serving kids that will wonder why a leaf is in their food...)

Serve with your favorite garlic bread and top with your favorite cheese (we prefer grated cheddar or parmesan).

As previously said, this recipe divides and multiplies easily. It also warms up wonderfully as let overs. This spaghetti sauce also freezes well. It is a great meal to take to a family after a birth, surgery, illness, etc because it can go in the freezer and be brought out at any time.

I had a long, hard couple of weeks at work and Friday, I needed some "comfort food". Since getting a Pita Mozz with Feta Dressing from Keifers wasn't really an option, I whipped up some spaghetti. It definitely made me feel better!

Ryan's Plate (it probably weighs 5lbs)

My Plate