Eggplant Sausage Casserole

As I quickly looked through one my new cookbooks this meal caught my eye because I'm a HUGE pasta fan, especially things like this. The name of the recipe threw me off a little though because I wasn't seeing any eggplant, plus I had never had any before but I thought it was worth a try because it looked so good. I thought it was ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS and so did most of my family. I could barely taste the eggplant, I couldn't really even tell you still what eggplant tastes like. My husband said he could taste it and my picky Maddie didn't really like the eggplant (I don't think she could even taste it, I think it was just her knowing it was something different) or the ricotta cheese. This will for sure be something that I make again though, I will probably not add the eggplant, only to please my crazy family because I thought it was YUMMY :) It did make quite a lot though so I think next time I may split it half and freeze one of them.
1 pkg. (16 0z.) penne pasta
2 lbs. Italian sausage
1 med. eggplant, peeled and cubed
1 lg. onion, chopped
2 T. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. paprika
1 carton (15 oz.) ricotta cheese
4 c. shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided

Cook pasta according to directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook sausage over med. heat until no longer pink; drain and set aside. In the same skillet, saute the eggplant and onion in olive oil. Add garlic, cook 1 minute longer. Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, basil and paprika; simmer partially covered for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and add strained pasta and sausage and mix well. Spread half pasta mixture into a 9x13 greased baking dish. Spread with ricotta cheese and then top with half of mozzarella cheese. Add remaining pasta mixture and cover. Bake at 350F for 40 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving and then ENJOY :)

Cheese Stuffed Meatballs

MI've always loved pasta, it's one of my favourite things to eat which is not very good when you're trying to lose weight but oh well, I would NEVER not eat it, I love it too much. Anyway as I was looking through one of my new cookbooks I found this yummy recipe and had to try it. This was a hit with everyone, my only problem was that I think I should have cooked the meatballs a little longer in the oven and in the pan afterwards but we were in a rush and the pasta was cooked. They were fully cooked but I think they could have been more firm, maybe adding more bread crumbs would have helped with that too, I'll try that next time.
4 sticks mozzarella string cheese, cut into 18 cubes
1/2 c. Italian style bread crumbs
1 jar (48 oz.) tomato pasta sauce
1 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef
2 T. finely chopped onion
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dried oregano leaves
1 egg
Pasta (how ever much feeds your family normally and whatever type you like)
2/3 shredded parmesan cheese (or whatever cheese you like)

***Place cheese cubes in a baggie and freeze for at least 1 hour before making this recipe***
Heat oven to 375F. Line a 10x15x1 baking dish with foil and spray with cooking spray. In a large bowl mix bread crumbs and 3 T. of the pasta sauce. Next stir in beef, onions, salt, oregano and egg. I used my hands for this, it just made it a lot easier. Shape mixture into 18 (2-inch) balls. Press 1 cheese cube into each ball, sealing it inside. Place each meatball into baking dish carefully. Bake for 10 minutes. Meanwhile pour remaining pasta sauce into a large pot (it said to use a dutch oven but I don't have one) and simmer over med-high heat, stirring frequently. Once meatballs are cooked, add them to the pasta sauce in the pot and reduce heat to med-low. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until meatballs are thoroughly cooked and no longer pink. Serve with any kind of pasta you like. Serve with cheese if you like and ENJOY :) Anything with cheese is great with me and my family, I think that's why I wanted to try this recipe.

Chicken/Pasta/Chicken Casserole

I have been so good at making new recipes lately but today I wasn't in the mood so I decided to make one of my old faithful recipes :) A few years back my mother in law put this recipe together and ever since then this has been one of our family favourites, it's SUPER YUMMY and very easy :)
3-4 cooked chicken breasts, cubed or shredded
1 (12 oz.) bag wide pasta ribbons (I used whole wheat pasta tonight)
1 (26 oz.) can cream of chicken soup
1 c. sour cream (I used fat free)
2 c. frozen mixed vegetables (you could use any or none at all)
1 c. grated cheese (as much as you like depending on how cheesy you want it. I didn't use any today)
1 box chicken stuffing, prepared

Preheat oven to 400F. Start cooking pasta (I usually have already cooked the chicken before or at the same time as cooking the pasta). Mix together soup, sour cream, vegetables and grated cheese. Once pasta is cooked add that and the chicken to the soup mixture. Place mixture into a 9x13 dish and cover with stuffing evenly (I used 2, 8x8 dishes tonight so I could freeze one for another day). Cover with foil and bake for around 40-45 minutes. Take foil off and cook for another 5-10 minutes, or until stuffing starts to brown.

For this whole recipe there was 3480 calories. That doesn't include cheese though, that would make it more. Also if you used regular pasta it would be more too but not by too much. I think this recipe makes about 12 servings or more depending on how much you eat.

Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo

I've been meaning to make this meal for the past couple of weeks and tonight I finally got round to it. It was super easy to make which is always good. I was just a little frazzled while making it because Steve wasn't home, Austin was awake and not too happy because he had missed a nap, my other kids were all over the place and Maddie was meant to be home so she could go to volleyball but she was off with her friend cleaning out window wells for money ;) Luckily I have a WONDERFUL neighbour who went to find Maddie for me, thanks :) Anyway this meal turned out good, I wish it had been a little more cheesier, our family LOVE cheese! The good thing about this though was that it wasn't as grainy as other alfredo sauces I've made in the past. I think the next time I try and make an alfredo sauce I will just try adding more cheese to this recipe. This recipe was from the school cookbook again, it was submitted by Judy Ritter.
3/4 lb. fettuccine noodles
1/4 c. butter
2/3 c. heavy cream
2/3 c. grated parmesan cheese
2 c. cooked chicken, cubed (I just grilled chicken breasts and sliced them)
salt and pepper to taste
ground nutmeg (I didn't use this)

When pasta is almost done cooking, melt butter in a saucepan. Add cream and 1/3 c. of the parmesan cheese. Simmer over very low heat for 4-5 minutes until sauce starts to thicken. The recipe said to put the pasta in a dish, place chicken and desired vegetables on top and then pour alfredo sauce over everything. Then it says to sprinkle with remaining cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Instead I just mixed the alfredo sauce with the pasta and served it that way. Then I put the chicken and vegetables on the side. We had broccoli and corn as our vegetables, I always have LOTS of veggies and not as much of the main dish. I figured out the calories for the noodles and sauce, for the whole dish it was 2200 (then divide it by however much you have).