Kitchen Delicious

Simple Spaghetti made Special

16 oz spaghetti

26.5 oz can spaghetti sauce

15 oz can tomato sauce

6 oz can tomato paste

2-3 C sliced vegetables, onion, mushroom, peppers, zucchini

1 lb ground Italian sausage or ground beef

Cook spaghetti according to package.  Overcooking is the easiest mistake with any pasta.  Brown meat with 1/2 C diced onion.  Drain grease and remove meat from pan.  Add olive oil and warm sliced vegetables until crisp.  Do not overcook vegetables.  Add meat and sauce into pan and heat through.  I usually add 1/2 can or more of water to thin the sauce.  If spices scare you I suggest a mixed Italian Seasoning.  It is a good combination of basil and oregano, marjoram and thyme. 

Serve vegetables and sauce over noodles, top with shredded mozzarella or Parmesan cheese. 

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Homemade Pizza 

Tomato Sauce

Seasonings - Garlic powder, basil, oregano

Cheese

Veggies - diced

Meats - diced or crumbled

Pizza dough - I use a dry mix that only needs water. Pre-made crusts would be nice to use too

Prepare dough according to package.  Mine requires heating just the crust for 5 minutes before topping.  Prick dough with fork to prevent bubbling.  Top with sauce, seasoning, partial cheese, vegetables & meat, remaining cheese.  Cook for 9-11 minutes if made with dry crust mix.  We always have a few pieces leftover for lunch Saturday.

Low-Fat Buffalo Chicken Dip

12 oz Canned Chicken                         

8 oz fat-free cream cheese

1 C 2% or fat free shredded cheddar cheese

1 ½ C Low-fat Ranch Dressing & Blue Cheese Dressing

1/3 C Hot Sauce

Diced onion - to taste

Saute onion in oil. Add ranch and cubed cream cheese. Warm over medium until cheese is melted. Add chicken, hot sauce and 1/2 C shredded cheese and mix well. Pour mixture into 8x8 pan. Top with other 1/2 C cheese for 30 min @ 350*. Great with veggies as dippers or tortilla chips.

Nutritional Info

Calories             163

Total Fat            10.2 g

Total Carbs        5.9 g

Dietary Fiber       0 g

Protein               11.6 g

Chicken Pie Cups

1 Frozen pie crust

1 C  diced chicken breast

10.5 oz cream of chicken soup

½ C diced onions

1 C diced carrot

¼ C diced green pepper

Makes 8 chicken cups

Roll pie crust to 1/8 inch and cut 3 inch circles out.  I always use a glass to cut my biscuits.  To fill the muffin tin with crust I needed a bigger circle.  I used a small round Tupperware bowl.  Form circle as a crust in the muffin tins. 

Saute vegetables in oil until just heated through.  Add chicken soup and heat through.  I simmered the salt/pepper seasoned chicken in a little water.  I added a vegetable bouillon cube as well.  I ended up with chicken that tastes like it was roasted all day and 2 cups of liquid gold…or chicken stock.  I added 2 TBL stock to my vegetable and soup mixture.

Using a teaspoon, fill individual cups in muffin tin.  Bake @ 350* for about 30 minutes.  Pie crust should be golden brown and flaky, not crunchy. 

 

Egg Pizza

1 to 2 C diced veggies, meat cheese of your choice. 

6 to 9 eggs

In butter or olive oil over medium heat your veggie/meat mixture in large skillet and season according to taste. Be creative. Just pick one or two herbs. Parsley, oregano or basil.

Whisk eggs and add to pan. Make sure eggs cover the entire bottom of the pan. I started with 6 eggs and then added another 3 to fill the bottom of my pan. You can’t expect to make decent egg pizza without enough crust.

Turn down to low and allow eggs to cook slowly from the bottom up. Eggs are ready for the broiler when the bottom half of the pan is cooked. Just the top portion of your pizza is left to cook. Place pan in broiler for 7-10 minutes until light golden brown.

Slice into 4 to 6 pieces depending on pan size.  Makes a great dinner. 

Serve with sweet rolls or mini pancakes.   



Project Pierogi 

Pork chops and sauerkraut in the crock pot with apples and homemade pierogi. The dough for pierogi was very basic and I stuffed them with sauerkraut from the crock pot. Next time I will make a potato and cheese mixture for the pierogi. Not as flavorful as I would have hoped, but I will keep trying. I will post a new pierogi recipe soon.  

Coconut Angel Food Cake - Something easy and different. Only downside is the amount of egg whites this cake needs. Other than that, it's mostly basics. I try to keep coconut in the pantry. I had just gotten almond extract at a dollar store before the holidays. Love great finds like that!

**Update - Creme Brulee is my yin to the Angel Food Cake because it used the yolks I had leftover.**