I love cookbooks. I have a ridiculous amount of cookbooks. I almost never follow a recipe fully and I’m always substituting or adding my own twist to every meal we make from a recipe. However, my over flowing bookshelf of cookbooks needed a little dusting off and when Tina made This Week’s Cravings a recipe from our favorite cookbook, I knew it was time. The problem is, which cookbook. It took me days to decide which cookbook I wanted to use, and then another week to decide which recipe.

I finally settled on this awesome Cheese and Pesto Italian Baked Spaghetti from Paula Deen’s The Deen Family Cookbook. We had never made it before and it really turned out good. I think that next time I will probably nix the goat cheese (only because it was expensive) and add some low fat cottage cheese, simply to add a little more moisture to the recipe. But honestly the flavor was amazing and it is definitely hearty and rich.

Four Cheese and Pesto Italian Baked Spaghetti

1 lb. uncooked spaghetti noodles
1 lb. ricotta cheese
2 (6-7oz) jars of prepared pesto
2 1/2 c. shredded mozzarella
1 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1 c. crumbled goat cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 13×9 dish.

Cook the spaghetti for 2 minutes less than the pkg directions say to cook it. Drain the spaghetti well and transfer it to a bowl. Stir in the ricotta, pesto, 1 cup of the mozzarella, 1/2 cu. of the Parmesan and the goat cheese.

Toss the mixture well and transfer it to the baking dish.

Sprinkle it with the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan.

Bake until the cheese is melted, about 15-20 minutes. Turn the oven to broil and broil for 1 minute or until golden (we skipped the broil setting.)
Serve hot!

I am proud to be co-hosting This Week’s Cravings along with Tina over at MOMS CRAZY COOKING, Angie from Big Bear’s Wife  & Kristi from Veggie Converter. Go visit them and tell them I said hi!

<a href="http://dailydishrecipes.com/" target="_blank "><img src="http://i1112.photobucket.com/albums/k498/Hudgens6/Buttons/ThisWeeksCravingsButton.jpg" /></a>

Participate in upcoming linky parties:

• 2/13/2012 Week # 68 Valentine’s Day Treats or Romantic Dinners
• 2/20/2012 Week # 69 Avocado Recipes & Homemade Salsa
• 2/27/2012 Week # 70 Smoothies & Shakes
• 3/5/2012 Week # 71 5-Ingredient Meal

Would you like to link up a Nutella recipe? Go ahead!

If you are a regular link-up we’re excited to see what you made this week. If you are new please read and follow the simple rules, so that everyone can enjoy the linky party and your recipe doesn’t get deleted!

If you forget to follow the theme, your post will be deleted. Please don’t feel hurt, just come back and link up a recipe that follows the theme. Thanks a million, we look forward to blogging with you!

The LINKY PARTY is opened ALL Week!

PLEASE do not link more then 3 recipes per week.

This week’s theme is: Nutella Recipes

Please only link recipes with our theme!

Cheese and Pesto Italian Baked Spaghetti Recipe originally appeared on The Daily Dish Recipes on January 30, 2012.

We love Tuna Casserole – it’s one of those delicious, hearty casseroles that makes a cold winter night, cozy and warm.

This is a pretty simple recipe for a Tuna Casserole and it can be frozen as well.

Tuna Casserole Recipe

• 2 (6oz.) cans of Tuna in water
• 1 box (16 oz. ) seashell pasta, cooked and drained
• 2 (10.75 oz) cans of cream of mushroom soup
• 2 c. skim milk
• 1.5 c. grated cheddar cheese, divided
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 sleeve crushed Ritz crackers

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, mix the tuna, soup, salt and milk together.

Add the pasta and 3/4 c. of cheese.

Pour all of these ingredients into a 9×13 casserole dish.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and top with cracker crumbs and remaining 3/4 c. cheese.

Return the casserole to the oven for about 5 minutes or until the cheese has completely melted.

Enjoy!

Creamy Tuna Casserole Recipe originally appeared on The Daily Dish Recipes on January 11, 2012.

It’s Monday morning and it’s time again for This Week’s Cravings.

Our theme this week is Comfort Foods: Soups & Casseroles. I love casseroles, so this was an extremely easy week for me. More on that in a minute.

I’m proud to be co-hosting This Week’s Cravings along with Tina over at MOMS CRAZY COOKING, Kristen from From My Tiny Kitchen, Angie from Big Bear’s Wife  & Kristi from Veggie Converter.

Have you made any Soups or Casseroles and want to link up with us? Go ahead and link it up down below in the linky, just please make sure it’s a soup or casserole and not something else. Also, please make sure you read the simple rules first so your post isn’t removed.

Now, onto my yummy recipe and the story behind it.

Some of you may know about my accident about a month ago – I severed my Achilles Tendon, had to have surgery a couple of weeks ago and am now hopefully on the road to recovery. To read the whole terrible story, you can read all about how I severed my Achilles Tendon here.

Well, this is when mini-chef comes in super handy – she’s an amazing little chef when she has a recipe and a couple of extra hands. She enlisted the help of her sisters and they made a very elaborate meal using a couple of recipe cards and their own brilliance and this is the amazing casserole that was part of the amazing meal they put together for me the first night after my surgery.

Easy, Cheesy, Beef & Noodle Casserole
This yields 2 casseroles, so save one for freezing. (It was a godsend for me).

• 2 lbs. lean ground beef
• 1 med. onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clover, minced
• 2 (14 oz.) jars of spaghetti sauce
• 2 cans (14.4 oz.) stewed tomatoes
• 16 oz. uncooked medium pasta shells
• 3 c. light sour cream, divided – room temp (leave on the counter about 30-45 minutes)
• 8 slices of provolone cheese
• 8 slices part skim Mozzarella cheese

In a large skillet, cook the beef, onion and garlic over medium heat until it isn’t pink anymore; drain. Stir in the spaghetti sauce and stewed tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.

In a large pot, cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and then rinse them with cold water. Grab two 9″x13″ casserole dishes and set them side by side. I do both casseroles at the same time, but it’s up to you if you want to fill one, and then fill the other.

This is for 1 casserole: Spoon 1/4 of the shells into your casserole dish, spread them out. Next, top the shells with 1/4 of the meat sauce. Next spread a layer of the sour cream over the meat sauce. Don’t use too much because there is not only another layer, there is another casserole (it will also do some melting and blending on it’s own as it cooks). On top of the sour cream, place 4 slices of provolone cheese spread out. Now layer another 1/4 of the pasta, another 1/4 of the meat mixture, another layer of sour cream and top with 4 slices of Mozzarella cheese.

Cover the dish with a piece of tin foil and bake at 350 degrees for about 30-40 minutes.

While that’s cooking, finish preparing the 2nd casserole, cover and pop in the freezer for a later meal. To serve the 2nd casserole, thaw the dish in the refrigerator overnight, remove from fridge and uncover about 45 minutes before cooking. Cook at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

We paired this with a fresh salad, roasted asparagus and garlic bread. It was SO good – thanks Brie! You’re an awesome mini-chef.

More pictures:

<a href="http://dailydishrecipes.com/" target="_blank "><img src="http://i1112.photobucket.com/albums/k498/Hudgens6/Buttons/ThisWeeksCravingsButton.jpg" /></a>

Participate in upcoming linky parties:

• 1/16/2012 Week # 64 CHEESE LOVER DAY… YUMMY Cheese recipes
• 1/23/2012 Week # 65 Homemade Pies
• 1/30/2012 Week # 66 Recipe from Your Favorite COOKBOOK
• 2/6/2012 Week # 67 Nutella DAY (Peanut Butter, Almond Butter & More)
• 2/13/2012 Week # 68 Valentine’s Day Treats or Romantic Dinners
• 2/20/2012 Week # 69 Avocado Recipes & Homemade Salsa
• 2/27/2012 Week # 70 Smoothies & Shakes
• 3/5/2012 Week # 71 5-Ingredient Meal

This is a BLOG Party hosted by MOMS CRAZY COOKING and co-hosted by the blogs listed in the top paragraph.

If you are a regular link-up we’re excited to see what you made this week. If you are new please read and follow the simple rules, so that everyone can enjoy the linky party!

If you forget to follow the theme, your post will be deleted. Please don’t feel hurt, just come back and link up a recipe that follows the theme. Thanks a million, we look forward to blogging with you!

The LINKY PARTY is opened ALL Week!

PLEASE do not link more then 3 recipes per week.

This week’s theme is: Comfort Food: Casseroles & Soups.

Please only link recipes with our theme!

Easy, Cheesy, Beef and Noodle Casserole originally appeared on The Daily Dish Recipes on January 9, 2012.

We made this recipe up ourselves one evening in the kitchen when we had a can of pumpkin and we were making our french toast casserole recipe. We decided that for a Fall treat, it would be nice to make it pumpkin pie french toast and so this recipe was born. I’ve tried it a couple of different ways since we first made it, but this is the easiest and tastiest way to make it. This makes one casserole, but we double it to make two. (remember I’m feeding five hungry teenagers here.)

Overnight Pumpkin French Toast Casserole

• 1/2 C Butter
• 12  slices White Bread
• 1/2 C Brown Sugar
• 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 – 1/2 c.  pumpkin
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 5 eggs
• 1 1/2 c Milk

Melt the margarine and pour into a 9×13 pan.

Mix the brown sugar and the pumpkin spice seasoning.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, milk and vanilla together.

Layer 6 pieces of bread into the casserole dish.  Spread a thin layer of pumpkin (as if you were buttering a piece of bread) on each of the six slices of bread.

Next, sprinkle half of the brown sugar and pumpkin spice mixture over the top of the pumpkin that is spread on the bread.

Now repeat all steps again – layer the rest of the bread on top, then the pumpkin, the rest of the topping.

Pour the egg mixture over the top of all of it and then sprinkle the remaining brown sugar/pumpkin spice mixture over the top.

Cover and refrigerate overnight or at least 4-8 hours. Honestly, the longer the better. In the morning, cover the dish with tinfoil and bake in a 350 degree over for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, uncover the dish and bake an additional 15 more minutes. It should be golden and set.

Remove from oven and serve hot. Sprinkle with some powdered sugar if you want. This can also be served with syrup, butter, whipped cream or just eaten plain. It is delicious!

P.S. We are going to try it with some other “flavors” and I will let you know what we come up with, that actually works and tastes good.

Pumpkin French Toast Casserole Recipe originally appeared on The Daily Dish Recipes on November 18, 2011.

I am so excited to have Jamie Rippy of  Mama, Mommy, Mom guest blogging on my blog today. Jamie is super awesome, so if you have not checked  her out, I am telling you. Go. Please? And tell her I sent you. She’s sweet, hilarious, the mom of two BEAUTIFUL children and a foodie after my own heart. Her post about S’mores Cookies made my mouth water and now they are on my to-make list. Now go, check her out.

See? I told you! Wasn’t that worth it? I hope you subscribed or bookmarked it or something along those lines, because you don’t want to miss any of her delicious food and/or recipes. Now, I’m going to let Jamie have the floor so she can tell you about this awesome Three Cheese Quinoa and Broccoli Casserole – Yum!

I have long professed my love for Quinoa.  I’ve written about it several times now.  If you’re not familiar with Quinoa, it’s a pseudo-grain.  That means it looks like a grain, acts like a grain, but it’s not a grain.  It reality, it’s a seed.  I’ve found Quinoa to be versatile, flavorful and something that even my kids love!

Another thing we love around here is casseroles.  I love that I can put them together ahead of time, then just pop them in the oven when I get home from work, giving us a nice hot meal without standing in the kitchen while I cook dinner.Pairing the two seemed fate.

I picked up some beautiful broccoli crowns at the market.  A quick chop and these were ready to take a dip in a little boiling water.  I didn’t cook them long…just enough to soften them a bit.  The Quinoa needs to be pre-cooked as well (according to package directions) and both can be going on the stove while you get the rest of your ingredients together.

All good casseroles have onions in them.  At least mine do.  I love onions, while the rest of my family… well, it’s not their favorite.  Casseroles are great for hiding things, onions included.

Why would you only use one cheese when you could use three?  Sharp Cheddar, Parmesan and Asiago cheeses add tons of flavor.

For moisture, a little low-fat mayo and some sour cream go a long way.  They also work great to help bind everything together.

Today’s post was brought to you by Jamie Rippy who blogs over at Mama, Mommy, Mom. She’s been a wife for 12 years and mom for 4.  She has two adorable kids & two toy poodles.  She fills her free time up with food, projects and her wonderful friends. Please tell her I sent you when you stop by! Also check her out on twitter at @MamaMommyMom

Guest Post: Three Cheese Quinoa and Broccoli Casserole originally appeared on The Daily Dish Recipes on November 11, 2011.

It’s Secret Recipe Club reveal day, and this month I feel honored to have been given one of the co-hosts blogs. Exciting!

My blog assignment this month was Tina’s from Mom’s Crazy Cooking

And let me just tell you, she did not disappoint! Mom’s Crazy Cooking is full of fantastic recipes, beautiful photography and sweet stories, many that accompany the food and recipes.

I had the hardest time picking just one thing to make. There were so many delicious, mouth watering recipes and so mini chef and & sat down and browsed the blog. It took us over two hours to decide. But when we were done, we had a whole meal!
Yep, that’s right – I made a WHOLE meal off Tina’s blog. All recipes and photos below:

Let’s get started with the delicious main course: Homemade Lasagna. We chose this for several reasons. One, her recipe called for lots of cheese, and well – we looooove cheese. And we had spinach that we wanted to use up. We aren’t huge fans of meat in our lasagna so we substituted with the spinach instead and we also added cottage cheese. Other than that, the recipe is pretty much the same.

Homemade Lasagna

2 Boxes of Lasagna Noodles
Homemade Spaghetti Sauce (but a jar would work just fine!)
Lots & Lots of Cheese (yellow & white)
1 small pkg. frozen spinach
2 cups cottage cheese
Parmesan Cheese

The noodles need to be boiled first. I agree with Tina, putting them in the casserole without cooking them, simply doesn’t work out that well.
Boil them.

Then just begin to layer them.

Next, in a bowl, mix together the spinach, trying to remove as much moisture as possible, mix in the cottage cheese and sprinkle some Italian seasonings in. Mix this whole thing together and put it on top of the noodles.

Next top with a layer of sauce. Sprinkle the shredded cheese on top of that.

Do all four things again – Noodles, Cottage Cheese Mix,  Sauce, and Cheese.

Continue this over and over until you have it as big as you want it. I didn’t use a super thick casserole pan, so I had enough ingredients to make two casseroles and I threw one in the freezer for later.

Preheat oven to 350 and cover with foil. Cook at 350 for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on oven. (Last 15 minutes take the foil off)

Tina, this was honestly the BEST Lasagna I have ever eaten. My kids all raved, my husband raved – I don’t know what made it so different, but it was SO good. I am looking forward to thawing the other Lasagna next week on a school night for dinner.

But wait – there’s more.

While the Lasagna was cooking, two children made these:

Poor Man’s Garlic Bread - Any leftover bread you have (we used hamburger buns for this one, but we also use hot dogs and whatever we have. You spread with butter, sprinkle some garlic salt or garlic powder on each one, add some Italian seasoning. We topped with mozzarella cheese to make it cheesier. Broil for 2-3 minutes. So good!

And we ended the evening with Chocolate Camping Cake, which Tina said her hubby loves for his birthday and we can see why! Very delicious. I normally make all my cakes from scratch, but this one was super quick with the boxed mix, and I had some so I used it.

Chocolate Camping Cake

1 box Deviled Food Chocolate Cake Mix
1 box of Jello COOK & SERVE Pudding (can NOT be instant; either size box is fine, I use big box)
Chocolate Chips
Walnuts (or favorite nuts)

Make the pudding according to the directions on the box.

Then add the dry cake mix to the cooked pudding and mix well. Don’t add anything else. Nope not another thing. Nothing else.

Pour it into a greased 9×13 pan, sprinkle with chocolate chips and nuts (about 1/2 a bag, more if you’d like).

Bake. (approx. 30-35 minutes; I usually follow the cooking directions on the back of the cake box) 

Cut & Serve! The cake was delicious and they ate the whole thing in one night! Thank you so much Tina, for so many great new recipes!!

Homemade Lasagna + More! originally appeared on The Daily Dish Recipes on August 22, 2011.

I told you yesterday about my Ham Freezer Cooking Session, and I want to share the recipes I used to make these awesome casseroles with all the ham I got. This particular recipe is for a Creamy Ham Noodle Casserole. I make this several ways when I am preparing it. I will give you the full recipe and then show you the modifications I make to it so that they don’t all taste the same. Also, this recipe is for 2-3 casseroles. I say 2-3 because I found that my glass casserole dishes seems to hold more than my stainless steel pans I bought with lids for freezing.

Creamy Ham Noodle Casserole

• 10 c. uncooked tri color spiral pasta
• 4 celery ribs, chopped
• 1 med. green pepper, chopped
• 1/2 c. chopped onion
• 1/4 c. butter, cubed
• 3 cans of cream of cheddar cheese soup, undiluted
• 3 cups milk
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 4 c. cooked ham, cubed
• 2 cans mushroom stems and pieces, drained
• 1 c. crushed butter-flavored crackers

Creamy Ham Noodle Casserole originally appeared on The Daily Dish Recipes on August 21, 2011.

Hungry? So were we last night when we made this delicious casserole. I have been wanting to post this for awhile, but I make it from scratch with no measuring, so tonight I took the time to measure it out for you, so you could enjoy the recipe too. Also, this makes THREE casseroles. I love that because I can freeze two of them right away and bake the other one. If you’re looking for a good freezer cooking recipe, this one is awesome. If you only want to make one, you will probably need to adjust the recipe, but I highly recommend making all three, even if you’re not a freezer cooker, because in a week or two when you’re stressing about dinner and you can pull one out of the freezer

Easy Lasagna Penne Pasta Casserole Recipe

What you need:

3 boxes of penne style pasta
1.5 lbs. ground beef
1/4 c. – 1/2 c. chopped onion (to your taste)
3 c. cottage cheese
3 jars (15 1/2 oz.) spaghetti sauce (honestly, we use tomato sauce, it’s cheaper & I season it with my own herbs & spices)
3 c. shredded Mozzarella cheese
1 c. water
1 c. Parmesan cheese
seasonings, to taste (see recipe)

Cook pasta al dente (almost done but not super soft); drain. Using a large skillet, brown the ground beef and the onion. Season with garlic powder, Italian seasonings, salt & pepper to taste.

Either in a separate pot, or if your skillet is big/deep enough, stir the spaghetti sauce in with the ground beef. Add the  cottage cheese and the the almost cooked pasta.

Using three 9×13 baking dishes, divide the mixture into the three dishes.  Add 1/3 c. water to each casserole. Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over each casserole.  Top two of the casseroles with 1 cup of Mozzarella cheese each. Cover these two casseroles with a freezer proof lid (they make baking dishes for this). Pop into the freezer.

Take your last casserole with no cheese on top and bake at 350 degrees for 1/2 hour. Remove from the oven, top with the Mozzarella cheese and return it to the oven for 10-15 minutes to melt and brown the cheese. Yum!

Freezer Cooked Casserole: Remove from the freezer and remove the lid while you wait for the oven to preheat.  When you’re ready to cook it, cover the dish with tin foil, and place the casserole in your preheated 375 degree oven for about 45-55 minutes. Pull it out and check it. Remove tinfoil and continue cooking about 10-15 minutes or until cooked through. Enjoy!

Serve with a salad, garlic bread, Italian style veggies, etc.

Freezer Cooking – Lasagna Penne Pasta Casserole Recipe originally appeared on The Daily Dish Recipes on July 14, 2011.

This delicious spinach breakfast recipe was passed along to me by a friend recently. It will totally get people eating their spinach and it tastes great. Plus, if you make this recipe you will have enough for each morning. That’s awesome. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Once cooked it can be frozen, but I recommend cutting it into squares first and storing them not touching in an airtight container lined with waxed paper. When ready to eat, remove a piece from the freezer, wrap loosely in a paper towel, and heat in the microwave for 1 minute, turn or flip, then add 30 -45 seconds or until hot. Enjoy!!

Delicious Spinach Breakfast Recipe

First Ingredients
1 c. reduced-fat baking mix (I usually use Bisquick)
2 egg whites
1 egg
1/4 c. fat-free or low fat milk
1/4 c. finely chopped onion

Second Ingredients
1 10oz. pkg. of frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 1/2 c. fat-free cottage cheese
3/4 c. low-fat or fat-free Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese. grated
2 egg whites
1 egg
1 tsp. dried minced onion

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove the thawed spinach from package, and press dry with a towel, removing as much moisture as possible.
In one bowl, combine the first five ingredients. Spread the batter into a greased 11″X7″ baking pan. In another bowl, combine the second set of ingredients. Gently spoon the mixture over the batter already in the pan.
Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 28-30 minutes or until cooked through and golden brown. Check to be sure it is cooked all the way through, by inserting a into the center. It should come out clean. This makes 6 servings, and thanks to my friend who gave me the recipe, it also has nutrition information provided. YES!

Nutrition Information: 1 piece equals 251 calories, 9 grams of fat (5 grams of saturated fat), 92 mg cholesterol, 725 mg sodium (this can be cut down by watching the type of baking mix you use), 21 grams carbohydrate, 2 grams fiber, 20 grams protein.

Photo Credit: Craig Bennett

Delicious Spinach Breakfast Recipe originally appeared on The Daily Dish Recipes on January 5, 2011.

My daughter took a family and consumer science class and received a recipe book at the end of the year. This recipe sounded good, and she was dying to try her hand at something other than mac and cheese (and quite frankly if a kid wants to cook and I can skip one meal, I’m okay with that!). This turned out SO good and it was so super easy to make with a little parental help. (oh and FYI she involved ALL of the other four kids and gave them each a task – it was cool to have the whole family prepare a meal together and everyone loved it!) (Oh and I prepared the whole chicken a day in advance and removed the chicken from the bone for her so she was ready to go but you could do it just before)

Cheesy Cheese Chicken Casserole

1 large whole chicken, boiled or baked
3 c. chicken broth
1 pkg. egg noodles
1 large block Velveeta cheese, cut into small pieces
2 cans cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup
1 c. bread crumbs (we wound up using home-made seasoned croutons instead and it turned out AWESOME!)

In a large pot, put the chicken broth. Place the egg noodles into the broth and boil as directed on package. If you didn’t do it before, remove the chicken from the bone and chop. DO NOT DRAIN the noodles. Add the chicken, small pieces of cheese and cream of mushroom or chicken soup to the noodles and broth and stir. Pour all of it carefully into a 9X13 inch casserole dish. Top with bread crumbs (or croutons) and cover the top with aluminum foil. (might need some parental help because the dish is hot from the ingredients at this point). Place the entire dish into the oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes at 350 degrees. While her casserole was cooking, she prepared a salad and buttered some bread that we popped into the oven after we finished cooking the casserole. The whole meal was so good and I’m always okay with those kid-friendly recipes!

Cheesy Cheese Chicken Casserole Recipe originally appeared on The Daily Dish Recipes on September 19, 2010.