Simple Spaghetti

I have to be honest.  I have never liked spaghetti, ever.  This recipe changed my mind though.  The original recipe can be found here .  Naturally, I had to add my twist to this one, even though it was already ridiculously simple.

Simple Spaghetti

8 oz. ground italian sausage
8 oz.  uncooked spaghetti
1-28 oz no salt added whole tomatoes, undrained (I used the garden tomatoes I froze)
2 T. olive oil
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 t. sugar
1/2 t. crushed red pepper
1/2 t. kosher salt
1/4 cup torn fresh basil
1/2 c. shaved parm. cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Cook sausage in a pan until done.  Remove from pan.  Meanwhile, place tomatoes in a food processor; process until almost smooth. Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add crushed red pepper and minced garlic; sauté 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes, sugar, and salt; cook 4 minutes or until slightly thick. Add sausage and stir to coat.  Use sauce to top pasta and garnish with fresh basil and parm. 

Pecan Pie

My husband requested Pecan Pie this Thanksgiving, and let me confess, I've never made one.  So I went to the trusted allrecipes.com and found some instructions.  The pie met my husband's approval, so I thought I would share.  I used my sister's fabulous pie crust recipe found here and reposted for your convenience.  I did make a few changes to the recipe.  I reduced the pecans, combined the dry ingredients, and covered the pie to bake.

Pecan Pie

1 c. light brown sugar
1/4 c. white sugar
1/2 c. butter, melted
2 eggs
1 T flour
1 T milk
1 t. vanilla
1/2 c. chopped pecans, plus whole pecans to top pie

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a large bowl, beat eggs until foamy, and stir in melted butter.  In a separate bowl, combine sugars and flour.  Mix well. Add gradually to egg mixture, then add milk, vanilla and nuts.  Stir until combined.  Pour into an unbaked 9 inch pie shell. Top with whole pecans.  Cover entire pie loosely in aluminum foil.  Bake for 10 min at 400, then reduce temperature to 350 and bake for 30-40 min, uncovering the last 10 min.

Pie Crust

1 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

½ cup butter flavored crisco (make sure it is cold)

1/4 cup COLD water

Mix flour and salt. Cut in crisco with a rubber spatula (make sure all the flour is mixed in, should be in small clumps). Stir in water with a fork all at once. Shape into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for an hour, then remove and roll out. Makes 1 pie crust, double if top needed. Bake according to pie directions or if it is a cold pie prick bottom with fork and bake at 425 degrees for 6-7 minutes.

Tacos al Carbon

I have found that the quality of steak really makes a difference in dishes like this.  I went ahead and bit the bullet, buying the pricier flank steak.  Boy, was it worth it.  Yum!  These were tasty!  I did make some changes, but you can find the original recipe here at cooking light.

Tacos al Carbon

1 med red bell pepper, sliced in strips
1 med onion, thinly sliced
1 lb flank steak, sliced thin
1 t. chili powder
4 oz diced canned tomatoes (I used frozen fresh tomatoes from my garden)
2-1/2 t. olive oil
3/4 t. salt
juice of 1 lime
8 garlic cloves, minced
8 (6 inch) corn tortillas

For garnish
Avocado slices
cilantro
fat free sour cream

Heat a pan to medium high.  Coat with 1 t. olive oil.  Add bell pepper and cook about 4 min.  Add onion and 1 clove garlic, saute until vegetables reach desired tenderness (I like mine a little crunchy).  Remove from pan and place in a large bowl.

Add steak to pan with remaining olive oil and cook until almost done.  Add tomatoes, lime, salt, remaining garlic, and chili powder.  Stir to coat.  Add pepper mixture until mixed.  Serve on warmed tortillas with garnishes
of your choice.

"healthy" pumpkin chocolate chip cookies (or muffins)

Two quick notes. These make cookies or muffins. These are very dense cookies and are not real sweet. If your whole wheat flour isn't very finely ground you may want to consider doing half whole wheat and half white flour for a finer texture.

1.5 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 tbsp oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 cup chocolate chips

Combine pumpkin, applesauce, oil, vanilla, eggs and sugar. Next, combine the dry ingredients and sift them into the wet ingredients. Add chocolate chips. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. If baking muffins bake 18-20 minutes.

Delicious dinner rolls

I have never successfully made tasty rolls…until I tried this recipe. These are fabulous. I froze the cooked rolls and they are still very good when thawed.
Original recipe can be found on How Does She.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups of milk
• 3/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon Sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 Tablespoon salt
• 2 Tablespoons yeast
• 2 cups of warm water
• about 9-10 cups of all purpose flour
• at least 1 cup of butter

Instructions

*Please note I did NOT hand mix these rolls. I'm way too lazy. I used my Bosch and just barely mixed it. 

1. Scald 1 1/2 cups of milk, 3/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup of butter, in a microwave safe bowl, for about 2 minutes. Cutting the butter into pieces helps it melt faster. There will probably be some little cubes of butter still floating in the hot mixture, they will melt.
2. add yeast to this hot mixture, but it will be too hot to just dump the yeast straight in (it would kill it!). To cool it down stir in 1-2 cups of flour, then add 1 egg and 1 Tablespoon of salt, and leave it to cool for a couple of minutes. Meanwhile, in a measuring cup dissolve 2 Tablespoons of yeast in 2 cups of warm water and 1 Tablespoon of sugar. Let it sit for a couple of minutes until it is bubbly.
3. Make sure your milk mixture is just warm, not boiling and add the yeast mixture!
4. Using a fork or wooden spoon, gradually stir in 9-10 cups of flour (counting the flour you have already added to cool it earlier). I would recommend only adding 2 cups at time and stirring in between. These rolls turn out so much better when they are mixed by hand.
5. At the end the dough will be dense and sticky, and may be hard to stir, you can use your hands to incorporate the rest of the flour if needed. Be sure not to add too much flour. Then smooth the dough out and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Leave it in a warm place and let it rise.
6. When your dough is close to raising completely, butter 2 cookie sheets and set them aside.
7. Let the dough raise until it has doubled in size.
8. Cover your working space with flour to prevent the dough from sticking. Dump your dough out and divide it into 4 balls. Eyeball the sizes, then lift them up and feel the weight of each ball. Try to make them even, but they don’t have to be perfect.
9. Using one ball of dough at a time: roll the dough into a circle on a floured counter. Once it is rolled out spread the top with butter from edge to edge. You will use about 2 Tablespoons per circle of dough.
10. Cut the dough into quarters using a pizza cutter.
11. Then cut each quarter into 3 pieces. You should end up with 12 triangles from each circle of dough.
12. Roll the dough starting with the wide end of the triangle
13. Tuck the tail of the triangle under the roll and place it on the buttered cookie sheet. You will make 3 rows, with 8 rolls per row. This will give you 24 rolls per pan. Two balls of dough will fill 1 pan. You will get a total of 48 rolls!
14. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Place the pans of rolls in a warm place (on top of the oven if possible) to let them rise. Once they are touching and full in size, cook (one pan at a time) in the oven ’till they are golden brown. About 10 – 15 minutes, It may take longer depending on how hot your oven cooks. Keep a close eye on your first pan to get the right time for the second.
15. While they are still hot and fresh out of the oven run a stick of butter over the tops of the rolls for a delicious buttery glaze.

Minestrone Soup

I got this recipe from my coworker, Suzanne Clissold. She's a fabulous cook.

1.5 lb ground sausage (I used chicken sausage--Lees makes it)
2 quarts water
4 beef boullion cubes
3 stalks celery with leaves, diced (I left this out, I am not a big fan of cooked celery)
2 small onions, diced
4 large carrots, diced or sliced
2- 8 oz cans tomato sauce
15 oz canned stewed tomatoes
1 clove garlic minced
1/2 tsp sweet basil
1 tsp oregano
1 tbsp parsley

1. Saute sausage and onions in a pot, then add the rest of the ingredients. Simmer for 2-4 hours.
2. Half and hour prior to serving add the following ingredients:

1 can french cut green beans, drained
1 can garbonzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup uncooked noodles