Spaghetti Pie

Spaghetti Pie, have you ever even heard of it before? I hadn’t until a blogger I follow recently made it. The idea peaked my interest only I wanted to make it a touch more adult, although I won’t lie, if I had leftover spaghetti and sauce I would making her version but seeing how I am making all the components just for this recipe I am stepping it up a few notches.

My Mother in Law makes really good lasagna; I had it for the first time a few months ago and really enjoyed it, so much so that I plan on making it and sharing it here sometime in the future but for the time being I am using her idea of using cream cheese in the place of ricotta and making my own version of spaghetti pie.


This “pie” has 4 delicious layers, the noodle crust, a cream cheese and spinach cheese layer, the meat sauce layer and then the bubbling gooey cheese topping. It is phenomenal, a truly delicious play on spaghetti and lasagna mixed together.


Spaghetti Pie

Crust:
8 ounces spaghetti, cooked and drained
2 tablespoons butter
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup parmesan cheese

Meat Sauce:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pound hamburger meat, thawed
13 ounce can spaghetti sauce

Filling:
10 ounce package frozen spinach, thawed and drained
8 ounce cream cheese, room temp.
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
black pepper

Topping:
½ cup shredded mozzarella

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 10 inch pie plate with butter, set aside.

Toss hot cooked noodles in leftover butter. Mix the eggs and 1/3 cup shredded parmesan together in a small bowl. Toss with spaghetti. Add the spaghetti to prepared pie plate and shape into a crust shape gong up the sides of the plate.

Cook the onions and garlic in the olive oil until the onions are just translucent. Add the hamburger meat to the skillet and cook until the meat is cooked through. Stir in the pasta sauce and heat through. You’re looking for a thick meat sauce, remember this is being used as a filling so it needs to be a firm layer when cut into.

Place the cream cheese in a bowl and combine with spinach by removing small amounts of spinach from the colander, squeezing vigorously to remove remaining moisture, and then adding to the cream cheese. Add the black pepper and the rest of the parmesan cheese and stir to combine.

To assemble you put the cheese mixture into the middle of the “crust” and smooth out. Top with the meat sauce and bake, uncovered, 25 minutes.

Top with the mozzarella and bake an additional 5 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Remove from oven, let cool about 10 minutes, then slice and serve, like a pie.


The end result was an incredibly tasty “pie” that was about the same amount of work as making homemade lasagna.

Would I make this again? Absolutely, we loved it, I am already thinking of ways to adapt it in the future. I also see this as a perfect halloween recipe with a clever name. It will be showing up on our table again in the near future.

Baked Dilled Eggs with Cheddar and Bacon

Friday morning on my way out of the door to go to work I noticed water pooling on the floor in front of our refrigerator. We knew there were things starting to go bad with it, we had even already gone and looked at refrigerators to be ready for when it does bite the dust, but I just wasn’t expecting it so quickly. It was older; it came with the house when we bought it, the instillation man told us it was an early 90’s model, what a trooper right? About 20 years old. I was sad to see it go but at the same time glad to see it go because now we have a new refrigerator!

I shared this because staying home and cooking out of ice chests for a day, not to mention having a reason to keep Baby Cakes at home on a weekend morning, I finally got to make a breakfast recipe I’ve wanted to make.

This was so simple to pull together and uses things you have in the pantry and fridge anyway. We have a new quick egg recipe.


Baked Dilled Eggs with Cheddar and Bacon
recipe adapted from Taste of Home Comfort Food Diet cookbook, pg. 34

4 eggs
4 tablespoons fat-free milk, divided
2 tablespoons shredded cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons shredded mozzarella cheese
2 teaspoons dill fronds
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 bacon strips, cooked

Coat four 4-oz. ramekins with cooking spray; break an egg into each dish. Spoon 1 tablespoon milk, half a tablespoon cheese(s), half teaspoon dill and a sprinkle of salt and pepper over each egg and whisk to combine all ingredients. Sprinkle bacon crumbles over egg mixture.

Bake, uncovered, at 325° for 12-15 minutes or until whites are completely set and yolks begin to thicken but are not firm; let cool for a few minutes before serving.


The next time I make this I’ll only make 2 of them, just divide all the ingredients between 2 ramekins to make it a bit heartier. As it was Baby Cakes ate three alone. Goodness are they yummy. I can already think of adaptations.

Made the way the recipe calls for each dish is 107 calories. Woot woot.

Creamy Chicken Casserole Bake

It’s no secret that I like casseroles. I do. I love casseroles. They are just so simple to make and normally they are gooey and cheesy, that alone stops me in my tracks. I also love Google. If it hadn’t have been for Google I wouldn’t be sharing this delicious recipe with y’all today. I needed delicious and I needed to use leftover chicken from a Crock Pot Chicken I made once again the other night. I did say in the original post that I would sharing ways to use the leftover chicken so in keeping my word here is another leftover chicken recipe.

You can use leftover chicken of any kind; rotisserie’d, grilled, or fried. Heck, it so good I would intentionally cook some chicken just to make this casserole again.

I also want to point out before you begin making this dish that you can make one large pan or two smaller separate pans, one for freezing. If you make two, as I did, just make everything as it says in the recipe only when layering divide between two pans. When it comes time to bake just pop one in the oven and the other in the freezer, covered of course.

To bake the frozen one: The day before you want to bake just put it in the refrigerator to thaw overnight and then bake according to the recipe below. Forget to take it out of the freezer? Not a problem, bake covered at 350 degrees for one hour, then uncover and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.


A note on the above photo: this is borrowed from the original website as I accidently deleted my photo of the top of the casserole.


Creamy Chicken Casserole Bake
recipe lightly adapted from Examiner.com

2 cups dry stuffing mix
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup butter, melted
3 cups chicken, cooked and diced into 1 inch cubes
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
2 1/4 cups chicken broth
1 cup evaporated milk
salt and pepper to taste
seasoning blend to taste

In a bowl toss the stuffing mix, onion and celery together. Pour the 1/4 cup melted butter over the top and stir to combine. Pour into a 9x13" casserole dish or two smaller dishes.

Top with a layer of chicken and then a layer of mushrooms. Set aside.

In a large saucepan melt the 1/2 cup butter. Once melted add the flour, whisking out any lumps; cook for a few minutes until golden. Slowly whisk in the milk and chicken broth. Bring to a boil and let cook for about three minutes. Turn off heat and stir in seasonings, salt and pepper to taste.

Pour the sauce over the chicken and mushrooms in the casserole dish or dishes.

Bake at 350 degrees for one hour or until bubbly.


Like I told you above this is the yummiest casserole I have had is so long. I love it. Baby Cakes loved it. And now I am just waiting to try it with leftover turkey. Come on Thanksgiving.

Wink,

Onion Soup Shrimp Casserole

This recipe is a creation of incredible hunger. I originally took the shrimp out of the freezer to make something else, something I’ve made before and often Ceasar Shrimp Pasta, but somehow the recipe below is what ended up being made. I can’t explain it. It just is.

I originally bought the havarti cheese for another recipe but while searching through the crisper this evening saw that it needed to be used post haste. I had never tried it before but I am a self-proclaimed cheese lover so I cut a sliver and low and behold it is really good, as far as cheeses go. It’s very mild and the consistency is soft and creamy. It slightly resembles the look of swiss but the flavor is a mozzarella. I dig it. I think I might even try it as a replacement in some other recipes.


Onion Soup Shrimp Casserole

4 cups farfalle pasta
1 lb. frozen shrimp, thawed and drained
1 cup frozen peas
1 can cream of celery soup
1 packet dry onion soup mix
1 cup milk
½ lb. havarti cheese
1 tablespoon salt
½ tablespoon black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a casserole dish with nonstick spray. Set aside.

In a large saucepan cook the pasta according to package directions adding the shrimp and peas during the last 5 minutes of cooking. Drain. Set aside.

In the same saucepan combine the soup mix, celery soup and milk. Cook over low heat stirring regularly until steaming. Turn off heat and stir in all but 1 cup of the cheese.

Stir together the pasta mix and soup cheese mixture until well combined. Pour into baking dish and top with leftover, 1 cup, of cheese.

Bake uncovered for 35-45 minutes, until cheese is golden bubbly.


It really is very good. I can’t see it making its way to a gourmet restaurant or even a cooking show but I can see it making its way to a family dinner table.

XOXO,

Chop, Pineapple and Bean Bake

Oh my goodness this is good. I didn’t expect it to be so yummy, I just thought it might be good and since I have some pork chops I need to use up it might be worth it. It surpassed my expectations.

Like always I did make a few tiny changes but for the most part I left this one alone. I can’t think of a single thing that I would change after tasting it.

Baby Cakes at first rated this dish a 5.5, then after taking a few bites of it sat back and rescored it an 8. By the end of the meal it was a solid 10. I think it’s a 10 (a 10, a freakin’ 10)!


Chop, Pineapple and Bean Bake
recipe from Food For A Hungry Soul

1/2 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
22 ounce can baked beans
4 to 6 pork chops
1 tablespoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper, to taste
¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
8 oz. can crushed pineapple, drained
1/4 cup barbecue sauce

Preheat oven to 375.

In a frying pan add the oil and sauté the onions until they are a nice golden brown.

Remove from pan and mix into the beans. Also stir in the brown sugar. Spread the beans in the bottom of a 9x12 inch baking dish.

Rub the pork chops with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Brown the seasoned chops over medium heat until both sides are browned but do not cook through. Layer the chops in single layer on top of the beans.

In a small bowl combine the drained, crushed pineapple and the barbecue sauce. Pour mixture over the pork chop and bean layers.

Bake for 45 minutes or until bubbly and brown.


Like I said above, this is delicious.

XOXO,

Baked French Toast Casserole

You’ve all heard about my Grandma Lolly before, if you’ve followed this blog. I feature recipes I've been passed down from her often.


She is my Daddy’s Mom. She has Cajun roots and can cook me under the table God love her! I would go as far to say that she is the reason I love to cook. If she hadn’t have loved it my Daddy wouldn’t have and then neither would I. It all starts somewhere. Well, yesterday was my Grandma Lolly’s 73rd Birthday Party. It was a bingo potluck and it was a blast, as always. Every year all her bingo friends, most of her children and grandchildren get together to celebrate another glorious year owned and operated by Laura Lillian Jones a.k.a. Lolly Pop a.k.a. my Grandma. (And the picture below because Baby Cakes is a ham and can't let a camera flash go off without him being in it.)


(Speaking of hams I thought I would share a photo of my Daddy being a ham as well, that's why Baby Cakes fits right in, we're a family of hams.)


Well because of the above said party I was sent home with a bag full of leftover King’s Hawaiian rolls, now I could make breadcrumbs out of them, or croutons or french toast. Oh or bread pudding. That is exactly where my mind went but because I am reluctantly counting calories I couldn’t deem their fate to croutons or bread pudding for that matter (although I wish!). Nope, but I can be kind of naughty. Hello Baked French Toast Casserole.


If you haven’t had it before, and I suggest everyone try it at least once, then you are missing out. Now this is a Paula Deen recipe slightly adapted only I left off the praline topping because as I said above I am counting calories, and because I feel like it is a slight overkill, but whether you make it with or without the topping it still worth devouring.


Baked French Toast Casserole
adapted from Paula Deen

20-25 King Hawaiian rolls, torn into pieces
9 eggs
1 ½ cups heavy cream
1 ½ cups milk
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Dash salt
½ stick butter, sliced

Place the torn pieces of rolls into a 9x12 baking dish and let sit on the counter for an afternoon to dry out the bread a bit.

In the evening, in a large bowl, combine the eggs, heavy cream, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and beat with a whisk until blended but not too bubbly. Pour mixture over the rolls, making sure all are covered evenly with the milk-egg mixture. Press the rolls down to soak up the egg mixture. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Top with butter pats evenly over the bread and bake for 40 minutes, until puffed and lightly golden.

Serve with maple syrup.


This is wonderful, better than wonderful and I loved that all the prep was last night and that I could bake it off this morning. Not to mention that it was a hit. I will be making this again and again and again.

XOXO,

Comfort Casserole

I’m back! I took a bit longer than I anticipated but I have good reasons. It seems like life has been throwing me curveballs, not in Baby Cakes and my personal life mind you, but some of my dear friends life’s have been taking turns and I have been immersed in trying to support them during their trials. I recently read somewhere that when you are overloaded with things on your to do list simply start cutting things from that list so I chose to cut the blog until things calmed down (honestly I chose to cut cooking in general, bad move, my waistline is paying for it). However, because my daily to do list hasn't seemed to lessen any I have chosen to cut some other things and get back to our regularly scheduled programming, basically forcing my own hand to calm my life down. I’m ready for boring again, I’m begging for boring again. That being said I can’t promise to do multiple posts a week, as is my norm, but I will be blogging at least once or twice a week. It’s my therapy. Seriously.

To get back in the scheme of things I decided to cook a scrumptious supper. I didn’t plan on cooking so I searched through my recipe box and found this recipe and oh.my.goodness it was good. I could and would eat this every day. Baby Cakes gave this one all 10 digits and I am inclined to agree.


Comfort Casserole
recipe from Hun… What’s for Dinner

1 lb. cooked ground beef
medium onion, chopped
6 oz. package noodles, cooked according to directions and drained
16 oz. can cream of mushroom soup
16 oz. can cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 package frozen mixed vegetables, cooked and drained
2 cups pepper jack cheese, shredded
2 teaspoons parsley
1 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Brown the beef with the chopped onion until cooked through and drain. Mix the soups with the sour cream then stir in the beef. Set aside.

Boil the pasta according to package directions tossing in the frozen vegetables for the last 5 minutes of boiling. Drain the pasta and vegetables and mix into the soup and meat mixture along with the cheese. Stir in the parsley, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Pour into a 9 X 13 casserole dish, top with a bit more cheese and cover with foil.

Bake 350 degrees for 25 minutes, remove foil from dish and bake 5-10 minutes more or until cheese is melted.


I think the best past about this recipe that it is so versatile, any ground meat, pasta or vegetable combination would work for this dish. I’ll admit that the boiling, cooking and chopping all before ever baking is a bit time consuming but I promise it is so worth it. I know I say this all the time but this one really is going into regular rotation.



(I actually typed this post up last week but when I went to attach the photos I couldn't find my camera! Then last night when searching for my keys in the bottom of my purse I found it, thing is I actually took everything out of my purse twice when looking for it last week. Perhaps divine intervention? God knew I needed one more week to recharge and I have to say it was wonderful. Baby Cakes and I had a peaceful week of early dinners and plenty of couch time. Finally, back to normal. The only negative is that I actually cooked 3 new recipe during the week of lost camera but hey it gives me a reason to cook them again.)

Home again, home again, jiggidy, jigg,

Chicken and Gravy Pasta

This ones a little different.

Sometimes an uh-oh moment in the kitchen can result in something wonderful, albeit different yet still wonderful. Somehow in my mad rush the other night to pull out some chicken to thaw for yesterdays use, needing boneless skinless breasts, I managed to unbeknownst to me pull bone in, skin on chicken thighs. Hmm. I don’t know (shrugs). So at the last moment last night I was thumbing, quickly, I have the paper cuts to prove it, through my cookbooks trying to find something, anything to make; nothing. So I decide to just wing it (or thigh it as the case may be) and let whatever happens happen. This is what happened…



Chicken and Gravy Pasta

6 chicken thighs, with skin and bone
1 box pasta, your choice
1/3 cup flour
½ cup chicken stock
1 cup milk, plus a bit more if needed
salt and pepper, to taste
2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
1 cup frozen corn
2 tablespoon butter, melted
¾ cup panko bread crumbs

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Put a large pot of water on to boil, the amount of water is according to the type of pasta you use; see the package directions.

Put the chicken in a skillet along with a tablespoon of olive oil, skin down, and cook over medium heat, flipping once or twice until cooked through. The end result will end up with golden brown chicken. Once done pull the chicken from the pan and set aside on a plate to cool.

Turn the heat down to low, stir in the flour to the chicken drippings (you’re essentially making a roux) and cooking for a few moments until lightly golden; whisk in the chicken broth and milk, continually whisking until thickened, if the gravy it too thick continuing adding milk in ¼ cup increments until desired thickness; season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook according to package directions. Drain and pour back into the pot.

Shred and de-bone the chicken.

In the pasta pot add the chicken, corn and gravy, stirring to combine and spread into a prepared 9x13 baking dish.

Melt the butter and toss the bread crumbs in it; evenly spread over the pasta and bake for 20-30 minutes until golden brown.


Baby Cakes was very content with this one, he gave it an 8 out of 10 rating. I liked it, in fact I am looking forward to eating it again tonight for leftovers (mainly because I don’t have to cook again) but I will admit that it needs something. I don’t know what just yet but something. I’ll have to get back to you on that.

Peace, Love and Spinach Dip,

Scalloped Cabbage

We have leftover cabbage, not to mention the left over ham; I’m sorry, leftover hams, HAMS! So in honor of these leftovers I am running searches for recipes featuring them. I easily located tomorrow night’s recipe, coming ahem tomorrow, using up a majority of the ham, but I couldn’t as easily locate a new and improved cabbage recipe until…

Say hello to Newlyweds, an adorable blog featuring recipes, gardening and personal bites about her family especially her twin boys. Who, by the way, are adorable. Also, she’s a Texas girl! (grin). I must have bookmarked all of her recipes and I can’t wait to make some of them starting tonight. Oh and another thing, she is a heck of a blogger. She photographs the entire cooking process she is a better women than me!

Baked Cabbage was a wonderful way to use up the leftover head of cabbage; I cannot get over how amazing this dish is/was. The smell of it while cooking, the crispy bits of bacon, the creamy dreamy goodness of the sauce, I’ll call it a sauce. We ate the entire baking dish full. Not to worry it was only a small version of the recipe. Baby Cakes loved it (he gives it a bada** rating), I loved it. What’s not to love?


Scalloped Cabbage
recipe from Newlyweds

1 small head of cabbage, sliced
1/2 onion sliced
3 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon seasoning blend, your choice
2 cups heavy cream
4 dashes of hot pepper sauce
6-8 slices raw bacon, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Layer the cabbage into a buttered baking dish and top with onion slices.

Put the 3 tablespoons of cornstarch into a mixing bowl and measure in 4 tablespoons of heavy cream, using your finger or a spoon stir the mixture until the cornstarch is dissolved completely. Add the remaining cream slowly while whisking the cornstarch mixture. Whisk in the salt, pepper, hot sauce and seasoning blend. Pour over the cabbage and onions.

Top evenly with the raw chopped bacon.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 90 minutes. Uncovering the baking dish with 10 minutes left.

Stir before serving.



Simply a.maze.ing,

Polish Potato and Sausage Bake

I don’t think I have ever had this happen before- I held on to a recipe before making it for so long that the blog that I got it from is no longer an active blog. This morning I tried going to it and low and behold it’s gone so I can’t really link to it. However, I can share what is what called and pay her homage in that way, napoleonicecreamcomplex.blogspot.com. I don’t know where she went or why because apparently I have been a bad blog follower but she had some good recipe while she was around and this is one of them.

I actually made this last night, prepared it and then stuck it in the fridge so that tonight’s supper would be a breeze. If I had known how amazing it is it wouldn’t have lasted through the night. The vinegar adds something, a certain bite, to the potatoes and the sausage it perfect for this dish, it gives it a warmth that you wouldn’t get from ground hamburger (but if that’s all you have on hand certainly be my guest). There is not one thing I would change about it. I plan on making it again and again and always following the recipe exactly how it is now.

The Cakes give this one a 8.7, what his scale is based on I don’t know but I disagree with him and say that it is a 10 without question. This is very, very good and I hope that you’ll try it.


Polish Potato and Sausage Bake
adapted from the extinct Napoleon Ice Cream Complex

4 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 tsp. olive oil
8 oz. fresh spinach
1 log breakfast sausage, broken into small pieces
1 onion, medium, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
3 large russet potatoes, washed, 1 unpeeled, and cut into 1-inch cubes
1/3 cup half and half
2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
dash of nutmeg and paprika
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided into 1 cup each

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Butter an 8 x 8 inch or round baking dish.

Heat one tsp. olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the spinach and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. Transfer it to strainer and drain. When cool, squeeze out liquid and roughly chop the spinach. Set aside.

Add the sausage and onion as well as the last tsp. olive oil to the skillet and cook over medium-high heat until browned.

Meanwhile, place the potatoes into a large pot and add enough water to cover by 1 inch. Bring them to a boil, lower heat, and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain the potatoes and put them back into the pot, and mash with butter, cream, garlic, vinegar, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Stir in spinach and 1 cup of the cheese.

Transfer the potato-spinach mixture to a prepared baking dish and top with sausage-onion mixture. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 cup of cheese and top with paprika for color. Bake until potatoes are very hot and cheese gets golden and bubbly, 20 to 25 minutes.


3 more days until Christmas,

Corn Bread Topped Spicy Sausage Pie

I am sick and therefore should be exempt from cooking dinner today but we are all out of leftovers and BCakes has worked in the cold and rain all day and deserves a hot meal. To the recipe files I go and find this, I know that it can easily be adapted with venison sausage and he will be thrilled, he loves it when I cook with venison. (He is man, he provide for family.) So he's happy, wonderful and I am happy because it seems fairly simple and foolproof (or sick proof as were the case). It’s a win-win.

This recipe comes from a blog that I frequent named Jenn Cooks, she has been blogging for 3 years and has yet to disappoint. I thought I might note that she takes step by step photos while she is making the recipes that she features, what an overachiever she is. Lol. Honestly, I am jealous, I am lucky if I remember to take one picture of my dishes. Get familiar with her because I will be making more of her yummy recipes in the future and you will too if you go check her out.

Baby Cakes is in love with this one and I must admit I am too. It is very hearty and flavorful. The perfect weeknight meal for a cold and wintery evening spent inside snuggled on the couch. The best part about it is after he ate he started wrapping all the Christmas presents, he knows I despise that one things about Christmas, I know I know just call me Scrooge.

I have a habit of adding things to make a meal stretch, blame it on my watching my parents cook while growing up. Once upon a time my parents were on a tight budget and had 6 little mouths and 2 adult mouths to feed, adding a can of corn here or some beans there often did the trick and even though in my household it's only the BCake man and myself I still find myself adding extra cans of this or that to almost every meal. So the point I am making is that I added a few extra things and made one small little change other than the venison/hog sausage.


Corn Bread Topped Spicy Sausage Pie
recipe adapted from Jenn Cooks

1 lb. spicy sausage
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
1 can (15 oz.) sliced stewed tomatoes
1 cup frozen whole kernel corn, thawed
1 jar (4.5 oz) sliced mushrooms, drained
1 can (15 oz.) dark red kidney beans
1 tbs. garlic powder
1 tbs. salt
1/2 tbs. pepper
1 1/2 cup shredded cheese
corn bread mix, prepared per package directions
1/4 cup shredded cheese

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

In 10-inch skillet, cook sausage, onion, bell pepper and garlic over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until sausage is no longer pink. Drain. Stir in tomato sauce, corn and mushrooms. Heat to boiling; remove from heat.

In medium bowl, stir cheese into prepared cornbread batter.

Spoon the sausage mixture into an ungreased 2 qt. casserole dish and sprinkle with the 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese.

Pour and spread the cornbread mixture over the top and spread evenly.

Bake uncovered 20 to 25 minutes or until topping is golden brown.


Like I said above delish. The cornbread works as a buffer to the spice in the sausage and the corn adds a touch of sweetness. I love it and absolutely will be making it again soon.

XOXO,

Twice Baked Sweet Potato Casserole

For the last couple of years I have been the bringer of the sweet potatoes during any family get together and this is not something that I take lightly. Anyone who loves to cook knows the satisfied feeling one gets from making a dish that everyone loves. There is something about bringing a dish over full and then seeing that it is the one dish empty by meals end that makes slaving in the kitchen worthwhile. This year after making the same recipe time and time again I thought I would make a tiny adjustment. I had no idea what a difference that tiny adjustment would make.

The above said adjustment are fresh sweet potatoes. I never gave them much thought in the past for many reasons; the number one reason is that I was raised on canned and the second reason was I was under the impression that it would be too much hassle. Now that I have had it this way I will never go back to the canned version again.

I would also like to note that in the past I have always just added a bit of this and a bit of that, I honestly had no idea of even the slightest measurements so making it yesterday took a bit longer but alas it is done and I now have a recipe to share.


Twice Baked Sweet Potato Casserole

8-10 lbs. sweet potatoes
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/3 block of cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. nutmeg
½ tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. salt
¾-1 cup light brown sugar
1 bag mini marshmallows

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the sweet potatoes directly on the wire rack and bake for 60 minutes or until done. Think baked potato but a bit softer. After they are done set them on a heat proof surface and cool until comfortable to touch. I find that it is easier to melt the butter and cream cheese into the mix if it is still slightly warm.

Scoop the sweet potato flesh into a large bowl and add the cream cheese and butter, stirring until completely melted.

Stir in the cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, ¾ cups brown sugar and vanilla extract. Taste and add the last ¼ cup of brown sugar as needed.

Put into a 9x13 dish and bake for 15-20 minutes. Top with mini marshmallows and bake for 15 minutes longer or until the marshmallows are browned.

Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the casserole, during all the hoopla and lending a hand it just slipped my mind, so that post will just have to borrow a picture until a little later. The picture I borrowed looked exactly like mine except I use more marshmallows and baked it in a rectangle dish. I found the picture here. Not to worry I will be making this again, soon and posting the picture, my picture.

XOXO.

Summer Squash Casserole

One of my very best girlfriends is gardening this year. She seems to be pretty good at it as well. (Side Note: Why is it that some people have green thumbs and some people do not? My husband can grow anything. No grass in the front yard when we bought the house? Yeah there's grass now. My hydrangea dies, he brings it back to life. He has planted blackberries bushes along the fence, a peach, orange and lemon tree in the backyard and transplanted bushes from the front yard to the back. It's amazing and I love him for it but I am soooo jealous.)

At the poker party this weekend she gave us a giant bag of yellow squash that has, since being placed on my kitchen counter that night, been calling my name to cook it. Th only problem? I don't know how to cook squash. It's not something I grew up eating. Oh sure, I remember going to my Grandmas as a little girl and she would have cooked fried squash for my Grandpa for supper, but it's not anything my parents ever, EVER cooked. Luckily for me I do not have my parents taste in all things veggie so I happen to love well, really any and all veggies including but not limited to squash. I knew I had to find a recipe, other than fried, to use up and consume this bright happy vegetable. Enter Vintage Victuals or more aptly enter Yellow Summer Squash Casserole from Vintage Victuals.

If you haven't been to Ellie's website you should just stop what your doing and go check her out, finish looking through my blog first of course. She makes a ton of classic southern recipes, very well I might add, but she also makes some recipes that I have never had before. I wish that I lived closer to her, boy do I ever.

This casserole has a hint of sweetness and is acutally quite good. It would be perfect for a potluck or picnic and would go so well with ham. I will be making this again only instead of breadcrumbs for the topping I will be using crackers.



Yellow Summer Squash Casserole
from Vintage Victuals (link above)

3 pounds yellow summer squash
1/2 cup chopped onions
2 eggs
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 more tablespoons butter
about 1/2 cup crushed crackers or bread crumbs

Wash and slice up the squash. Boil or steam until tender, drain thoroughly, then mash.

Add the onion, eggs, butter, sugar, salt, and pepper to the squash. Pour mixture into a greased 9×13-inch baking dish. Melt the remaining two tablespoons of butter, and then spread it over the top of the squash. Sprinkle with crackers or bread crumbs.

Bake in 375 degree oven for approximately 1 hour, or until brown on top. Let the casserole cool for about 10 minutes before serving.



Thank you Nessa for the squash it was delish and next time I'll share, XOXO,

Cheesy Sausage and Potato Casserole‏

Saturday night was a blast! It was my girlfriends annual joint birthday party, Maggie and Nessa, and it was so much fun. I did not take pictures (duh!) and even if I had I wouln't be posting them on this post. What happens at the birthday party stays at the birthday party, lol. Anyhow, the point I am getting to is that I am a firm believer in eating before you go drinking. Some people are and some people aren't, I find that it saves me from a Jack-in-Box drive through mishap at 1 or 2 a.m. in the morning. (Now to anyone who is thinking that I drive while intoxicated you are wrong, my husband does not drink, not a sip, ever!, so he would have been the above said driver in the above said scenerio. Just saying.)

I knew I wanted and truly needed something simple and quick to make for supper. My older brother was over because he was taking advantage of the designated driver and my couch that night. So I also knew that I had two men to feed. Enter Cheesy Sausage and Potato Casserole. (Of course we used venison pan sausage as we have just picked up this years batch from the processors.) This recipe was found over at Lisa's blog The Cutting Edge of Ordinary on yet another amazing culinary blog adventure.


Cheesy Sausage and Potato Casserole‏
adapted from Cheesy Kielbasa and Potato Casserole‏

‏1 pound of breakfast sausage
1 bag (20 ounces) frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, plus extra for the top
1 cup sour cream
1 medium onion, chopped
2 small cans mushrooms, roughly chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 and lightly spray a 9x13 inch baking pan with cooking spray.

In a skillet brown the sausage. Add the chopped onions and cook with sausage until the onions cook clear. Add the mushrooms and cook until warmed. Transfer to a large bowl.

To the bowl add in the cheese, sour cream, hashbrowns and salt and pepper and stir gently to combine. Spread into the greased pan.

Bake about 25 minutes, then top with some cheese and cook for another 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.



You can tell from the pictures that the cheese on top looked a bit crisp and it was hence the fact that I put on the recipe to put the cheese on top for the last 15 minutes. This is one that I am going to keep playing with perhaps add a can of cream of something next time. Despite my want to play around with it the recipe itself was very good and I would gladly eat it if it were served the exact same way.

Yummy once more,