Cowboy Lasagna

 Once again, another twist on a classic. I love this recipe because it's chock full of meat, just the way my hubby likes it. And the variety of meats give it a great flavor. I also love recipes in a casserole dish because I can make it early in the day, put it in the fridge, then just pop it in the oven. Perfect!!

 

Ingredients:

2T olive oil

1 pound ground beef

1 pound ground sausage (I use Jimmy Dean Regular sausage)

1/2 pound pepperoni, cut into quarters

16oz can diced fire-roasted tomatoes (regular can be substituted if you don't like fire roasted)

12oz can tomato paste

1T dried oregano

salt and pepper to taste

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 small onion, finely chopped

16oz lasagna noodles

16oz ricotta cheese

16oz mozzerella cheese (or any other grated cheese you like. I like to use a medley of mozzerella and cheddar)

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

In a large, heavy skillet over medium heat, add the oil and lightly brown the ground beef and sausage with the onion and garlic. Be sure to keep the meat chunky, not finely separated, while cooking. Add the pepperoni, tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, salt, pepper and 2 cups water. Bring to a simmer and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. (You can always use your own tomato or marinara sauce here, or use a canned sauce to save time. We all know we need a time saving option every once in a while.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Cook the lasagna noodles according to the package directions, drain and then lay out flat on parchment paper or foil so they don't stick.

In the bottom of a 9-by-13-by-2-inch baking pan, spread a layer of the prepared sauce. Top with a layer of the lasagna noodles and the ricotta, mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Repeat, ending with the sauce, noodles and cheeses.

Bake until lightly browned and bubbling, about 40 minutes. Allow the dish to stand for 15 minutes before serving. Cut and serve. Enjoy the rustic goodness!!

*From Recipe Diaries

Sausage Pie

OK, so the title doesn’t sound THAT appealing, right? There’s just no good name for this dish! It is beyond delicious though. And you can make it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. The original recipe calls for ground beef, kind of making it a play on a cheeseburger, but sausage sounded SO much better. It’s sure to please adults and kids. Give it a try!

1 lb Jimmy Dean sausage

1 small onion, chopped

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup milk

1/2 cup Bisquick mix

2 eggs

Seasoned salt to taste

 

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 9 inch pie plate with non-stick cooking spray. Cook sausage and chopped onion in a skillet until sausage is no longer pink. Drain excess fat. Add seasoned salt if you want, but I find that there's enough salt in the sausage and cheese to suffice. Spread into pie plate. Sprinkle cheese over top of sausage.

In a small bowl, whisk together milk, eggs and Bisquick. Batter with be thin. Make sure to get out as many clumps as you can. Pour over meat mixture.

Bake for 25 minutes or until knife comes out clean. This make just enough for our family of 5. Enjoy!

Biscuits and Gravy

My husband requested this when I was figuring out our weekly meal plan. I went on the hunt for the perfect recipe and then there it was…The Pioneer Worman strikes again. I always know that if she’s made it and posted it, then it has to be good. We have this for breakfast, dinner and even have the leftovers for lunch! It’s so yummy and sure to please. 

The best part of the whole thing are the homemade biscuits. I could literally eat the entire pan because they’re so flaky, buttery and delicious. I sometimes just make the biscuits to accompany other dinners I’m making.

BISCUITS
3 cups flour
2 T baking powder
1/2 t salt
1-1/2 sticks (3/4 Cup) cold butter, cut into pieces
1-1/4 cup buttermilk (regular milk can be substituted)


SAUSAGE GRAVY
1 lb Jimmy Dean sausage
1/3 cup flour
4 cups milk
1/2 t seasoned salt
2 t black pepper


BISCUITS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Add flour, baking powder, and salt to the bowl of a food processor (or a large bowl.) Add butter pieces and pulse until butter is completely cut into the flour mixture (or use a pastry cutter if using a bowl.) While pulsing (or stirring) drizzle in the buttermilk until dough just comes together and is no longer crumbly.
Drop in clumps on two baking sheets, then bake for 15-17 minutes, or until golden brown.


SAUSAGE GRAVY
With your finger, tear small pieces of sausage and add them in a single layer to a large heavy skillet. Brown the sausage over medium-high heat until no longer pink. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Sprinkle on half the flour and stir so that the sausage soaks it all up, then add a little more until just before the sausage looks too dry. Stir it around and cook it for another minute or so, then pour in the milk, stirring constantly.
Cook the gravy, stirring frequently, until it thickens. (This may take a good 10-12 minutes.) Sprinkle in the seasoned salt and pepper and continue cooking until very thick and luscious. If it gets too thick too soon, just splash in 1/2 cup of milk or more if needed. Taste and adjust seasonings.
Spoon sausage gravy over warm biscuits and serve immediately!


*From The Pioneer Woman

Italian Sausage Pasta

I saw a form of this on Pinterest, and knew I needed to make it. The original was kind of a spicy Mexican dish, but I thought it would be better Italian style. Our family LOVED this dish!! The best part to me was that it took about 25 minutes to make and it’s ALL IN ONE PAN! I needed a dinner like this to put in my rotation because I’m so burnt out on dinner. There’s basically no prep and you put everything in one pan, put the lid on, set the timer and dinner’s done in about 15 minutes. Life saver. An I can’t believe how delicious it is! LOVE, love love it.

1 lb smoked sausage (beef or turkey), cut into bite sized pieces

8 ounces penne pasta

1 small onion, diced small

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups chicken broth

1 can Italian diced tomatoes

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

In a large skillet, add about 1T olive oil and heat on medium high. Add sausage, onions and garlic and cook until lightly browned. Add chicken broth, tomatoes, milk and pasta with a little salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce to medium low. Simmer until pasta is tender, about 15 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in cheese. Then enjoy this one-pot wonder! This fed my family of 2 adults and 3 small children perfectly with no leftovers. Enjoy!

*Adapted from kevinandamanda.com

French Spaghetti

Oh gosh…please forgive this picture! It has to be one of the worst I’ve taken. I’m a little embarrassed to put it on here. But listen…don’t judge this recipe by the picture! YOU WILL LOVE THIS DISH!! It’s so delicious. A combo of red sauce and white sauce – don’t pass this one up. I’ve actually made this a lot lately. It’s the perfect dish to have when you are expecting a large group cause it goes a long way. And the leftovers are to die for! Every time I make it for a bunch of people I get requests for the recipe. It even freezes very well. We made it one year for our family reunion – made it several days before and froze them and reheated them in the oven. I also have made it early in the day, put it in the fridge and then baked it later that night. Now of course it’s going to be the best using my homemade spaghetti sauce and guiltless alfredo, but if you’re in a bind, you can sub whatever you need. So we agree…you’re not going to judge the recipe on the picture and you WILL make it!

1 lb spaghetti

1 recipe Aunties Spaghetti Sauce found here (Or your favorite jar of spaghetti sauce) – which I definitely recommend because it has ground beef in it and the combo of beef and sausage is a awesome.

1 lb Jimmy Dean ground sausage

1 recipe Guiless Alfredo Sauce found here (or your favorite recipe)

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Cook the pasta and place in a 9x13 pan. Pour Guiltless Alfredo Sauce over pasta. Sprinkle sausage on top. Spread spaghetti sauce on top and garnish with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes. If you’re on the ball, you’ll already have some of Aunties Spaghetti sauce in the freezer, ready to go. Then it’s just as easy as whipping up the Alfredo sauce, layering up the casserole and baking it. ALWAYS a family favorite.

*Adapted from the Highland 23rd Ward Cookbook

Sausage Balls

I had these for the first time at Christmas. My brother-in-laws mom makes them every year as a tradition. They are SO GOOD!!! They're incredibly addicting also. If you don't plan on eating the whole pan, just don't even make them. They're the perfect appetizer (or meal at our house:)) They also freeze really well. I made a huge batch and then froze the leftovers for a later treat.

3 cups Bisquick
1 lb Jimmy Dean Regular Sausage (you can use hot if you like)
8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Combine Bisquick and sausage until well incorporated. Add cheese. Roll into 1 inch balls. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. ENJOY!!

Ultimate Breakfast Burritos

I guess this is going to be a product endorsement post! These three products are key to the perfect breakfast burritos. If you think you have a better combo...you are mistaken. Abby let me in on these little secrets and the end result is just too good. These are perfect for a quick breakfast, lunch, brunch or dinner...and for 2 year olds. I would have taken a picture, but I forgot...so there.

1 package Ore-Ida Potatoes O'Brien
1 lb Jimmy Dean Sausage Regular
1 dozen eggs
milk
3 T butter
salt and pepper
garlic salt
Shredded cheese
salsa
sour cream
tortillas

In a large skillet, melt butter. Add potatoes and cook until tender and golden. In another skillet, brown sausage. Add sausage to potatoes. In a large bowl add eggs, milk, salt, pepper and garlic salt. In the same skillet as the sausage was cooked in, add eggs and scramble. Add eggs with potatoes and sausage. Spoon into tortillas and top with cheese, salsa and sour cream.

*PS: Since I'm endorsing products, I should tell you about the greatest salsa there is. It's the Western Famiy White Corn and Black Bean Salsa that you can only get from Walmart. It is TO DIE FOR!!! Now it's not like your typical salsa...it's not too spicy, but that's just the way I like it. Jami introduced it to me years ago and it is THE BEST!! So in my opinion, these are the best topped with that salsa.

Italian Sausage Rigatoni with a Creamy White Sauce

While I was watching the Rachel Ray show the other day she made this little gem. I changed a few things, but all in all it's an AWESOME pasta dish! I love the combination of red sauce with white sauce. If you don't like white cheddar, you can substitute with any white cheese you like...actually she used sharp provolone. So be creative to your own taste. This one is definitely a hit!

1/3 pound bacon
1 pound Italian Style sausage
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 t crushed red pepper
1/2 t paprika
1/2 t seasoned salt
1 bell pepper, diced
1/2-1 onion (depending on how much you like)
1 (6oz) small can tomato paste
1/4 cup tomato sauce
2 cups chicken broth
1 (28oz) can Italian Style diced tomatoes

White Sauce:
4 T butter
3 T flour
3 cups milk
2 cups white cheddar cheese (I used Tillamok Vintage White cheddar cheese)
Salt and Pepper to taste
dash of nutmeg

Cut bacon into little bites and brown in pan. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.

To the same skillet, add 1 T olive oil and heat until oil smokes. Add pork and brown a couple of minutes over high heat. Reduce heat a bit and add in red pepper, paprika and seasoned salt. Cook 3-4 minutes more then remove and add to the plate with reserved bacon.

Add another T olive oil to the same skillet and heat. Add in peppers, onions and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and cook 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until tender. Stir in tomato paste, cook 1 minute then stir in chicken broth. Add tomatoes and then stir all the reserved meat back into sauce. Simmer to thicken over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.

While the sauce simmers, bring a large pot of water to a rapid boil for the pasta and make white sauce: In a sauce pot over medium heat, melt butter. Whisk in flour, cook a minute or 2 then add milk and cook until it's thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.Stir in shredded cheese.

Place rack in center of oven and preheat broiler.

Cook rigatoni to al dente in salted water. Drain and toss with thickened ragu and place in a casserole dish.

Pour white sauce over top of casserole in an even layer. Place casserole in oven on center rack and brown. DELICIOUS!

*Adapted from Rachel Ray

Sausage Penne

5 links Mild Italian Sausage (about 20 oz)
1 26-28oz jar spaghetti sauce of choice
1 can Italian diced tomatoes, undrained
1 bell pepper, julienne
1/2 onion, julienne
1 lb whole grain penne pasta

Heat 1T olive oil and 1/2 c water in large skillet. Add sausage links, cover and let simmer for about 5 minutes on each side. Remove from skillet and let rest. In the meantime, boil a pot of water for the pasta and cook till al dente. Deglaze the skillet used to cook sausage with a little water, scraping the bottom of the pan to remove all delicious bits. Add 1T olive oil to pan and add bell pepper and onion and saute about 5 minutes. Add spaghetti sauce and diced tomatoes. Cut sausages 1/2 inch to 1 inch thick and add to sauce. Simmer another 10 or more minutes. Serve on top of penne pasta.

Italian Sausage Melt

1 ¼ c Bisquick
¼ c butter, softened
2 T very hot water
1 lb Italian pork sausage
½ bell pepper, diced
1 c elbow pasta
2 c Alfredo sauce
1 c mozzarella cheese
¼ c grated parmesan cheese
1/2 can Italian style diced tomatoes, drained
Italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray bottom of 8 inch square pan. In bowl, stir Bisquick, butter and water until dough forms. Press dough in bottom of pan. Brown sausage in skillet, drain and add bell pepper and cook another 5 minutes. Spread sausage mixture over crust. Spread alfredo over sausage. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Top with tomatoes and then mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle a few pinches of Italian seasonings over top. Bake 25-30 minutes or until bubbly and slightly brown.