Ground Beef Sandwich Casserole

Oh my WORD!!!! This was a little bit of heaven in ALL of our opinions.  It is one of those meals that is totally calorie loaded and completely unhealthy, but it is SOOO good.  We use alot of ground meat in our house-pork, beef, deer, moose, etc, so I am always trying to find new recipes to utilize these.  I would never have thought of doing this with any of the ground meet.  Now, it is for sure a keeper and a one we will repeat.  This recipe was originally from Grandma Loy's Kitchen but has been re-adapted several times.

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef (or whatever your ground meat preference is)
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp oregano
• 10 slices of bread cut in half (I had to use 12 to cover my pan)
• 1 carton Philadelphia Cream Cheese Cooking Creme, Herb and Garlic (I couldn't find this particular flavor but I used the Herb and Cheese or something like that...it was great!)
• 3 cups shredded cheese, mozzarella or whatever is on hand
• 1 jar spaghetti sauce
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions
1) Preheat oven to 350. Line a 9 X 13 pan with parchment paper (I just sprayed my pan). Set aside.
2) In a sauce pan, cook and stir the ground beef, onion & garlic powder, and oregano until beef is cooked. Remove from heat and set aside.
3) Toast all of the bread in a 350 oven till dry but not burnt - a cookie sheet works well for this (I did this while the meat was cooking).
4) Place 5 of the halved bread slices (10 halves total) on the bottom of the prepared 9 X 13 pan and cover with all of the cooking creme.
5) Then top as follows: cooked ground beef, 1/3 of the cheese, all the spaghetti sauce a 1/3 more cheese then top with remaining 5 of the halved bread slices (10 halves total).
6) Bake uncovered at 350 for 15 minutes....then sprinkle with the rest of the mozzarella and the Parmesan.
7) Bake again for 15 to 20 minutes or till nice and brown.
8) Let sit for 5 minutes before cutting.

Enjoy!

Zuppa Toscana Soup

I found this recipe at the SteakNPotatoesKindaGurl blog.  It is supposedly an Olive Garden copycat recipe.  However, I have not eaten this soup at Olive Garden in forever, so I can not verify or deny that.  Now, that being said, I LOVE it!!!!  This was SOOO delicious and it can be made in the crockpot (which is what I did) so even better!!

Here is what you need.

• 4 slices bacon, diced
• 1 lb ground hot Italian sausage
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 cups (32 oz) chicken stock
• 3 cups russet potatoes, cubed
• 3/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups kale, in bite size pieces
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• parmesan cheese, grated

Directions for stove top cooking:

1) In a large pot, cook the bacon until crispy. Drain the grease. Add the sausage, breaking it apart as it cooks. Once sausage is browned and crumbled, drain off grease leaving a tbsp to saute the onion.

2) Push the sausage and bacon to the edge of the pot and add the onion to the center; saute until translucent; add garlic; saute until fragrant.
3) Stir in the stock and potatoes, season with salt and pepper, and simmer for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
4) Add kale and heavy whipping cream. Bring to a simmer. Top with parmesan cheese, when serving. 

Directions for crockpot cooking:
1) Cook the bacon until crispy.  Drain the grease.  Add the sausage, breaking it apart as it cooks.  Once sausage is browned and crumbled, drain off almost all the grease.  Push the sausage and crumbled bacon to the side and add the onion and saute until translucent.  Add the garlic.
2) Transfer contents of skillet to crockpot.  Add in the chicken stock and potatoes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cook for 4-8 hours on low.
3) About 30 min-1 hour before serving, turn heat to high.  Add in the kale and whipping cream.  Stir and let cook.
4) Serve with grated parmesan.

Zuppa Toscana Soup

This was a super yummy soup. It is supposed to be a copycat to Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana. I have not had that at the Olive Garden for a long time so I can not say if it was a "true" copycat. I do know that this was super yummy and we LOVED it. And the best part is...I made it in the crockpot!!!

Here is what you need:
4 slices bacon, diced
1 lb ground hot Italian sausage
1 large yellow onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups (32 oz) chicken stock
3 cups russet potatoes, cubed
3/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 cups kale, in bite size pieces
1 cup heavy whipping cream
parmesan cheese, grated

1) brown sausage in a skillet. Add the onion and sauté. Drain.
2) combine all ingredients except kale, parmesan and whipping cream into the crockpot.
3) cook on low 6-8 hours.
4) during the last 30 minutes to hour of cooking add the kale and whipping cream.
5) serve topped with Parmesan if desired.

Enjoy!!

Chicken & Cheese Lasagna Roll-ups

I found this recipe tonight on Pinterest. The only change I made was to the sauce. I used a jar of Alfredo sauce instead of the spaghetti sauce. It was SO good!!! RJ ate the entire thing without bribes and complaining!!!

Here is what you need:
3 cups chopped cooked chicken 1/4 cup milk
1 cup Ricotta cheese
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
8 lasagna noodles, cooked and drained
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups Prego Spaghetti Sauce

1) In medium bowl, combine chicken, cheeses, milk, and pepper
2) Spread 1/2 cup mixture on each lasagna noodle; roll jelly-roll fashion
3) In a 13 by 9-inch baking dish, spread 1 cup spaghetti sauce
4) Arrange lasagna rolls, seam-side down in sauce in baking dish
5) Top with remaining spaghetti sauce
6) Cover and Bake at 375 degrees F for 30 minutes or until hot
7) Serve, if desired, with additional Parmesan cheese.

Ranch/Italian Pot Roast

Another "recipe" to be chalked up as a keeper, and it is the MOST simple and amazing recipe ever! I have no idea how come I have never thought of cooking a roast with this seasoning combination before.  So simple, so delicious, and it's in the crock pot!!!!!

It is very basic.

1-roast (I am not sure on poundage.  I just unwrapped a roast and put it in)
1 packet dry Ranch dressing mix
1 packet dry Italian dressing mix
1 packet dry Brown gravy mix
1/2 Cup water (I used 1 cup...1/2 just didn't seem enough)

1) Place roast in the crock pot.  Combine the 3 mixes with the water.  Pour over the roast.
2) Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours.

I served ours with mashed potatoes, but I think it would be delicious with noodles or rice too.

Sorry, no pics again.  When something is delicious, it disappears before I have a chance to take pictures.

Pizza Casserole

This casserole was quite a yummy twist on pizza.  I like the fact that it had all the pizza flavor with without the usual "pizza."  It is hard to describe, but the important thing is that we all LOVED it.

Here is what you need:
1 Bag Egg Noodles, cooked
1 large can/bottle Spaghetti Sauce (maybe slightly more
3 Cups Mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 lb sausage or hamburger
1 package pepperoni

1) Preheat oven to 350 and grease/spray 2 qt casserole or 9x13 pan.
2) Layer 1: Just enough sauce to cover the bottom.  Layer 2: 1/2 of cooked noodles.  Layer 3: 1/2 of ground meat.  Layer 4: 1/2 of remaining sauce.  Layer 5: 1/2 of cheese.  Layer 6: Rest of ground meat. Layer 7: Rest of sauce.  Layer 8: Rest of cheese.  Layer 9: Top with pepperoni.
3) Cover and bake for 30.  Remove the cover and back for 15 additional minutes.
4) Let sit for 10 minutes and serve and enjoy!

Johnny Carino's Bow Tie Festival

I have decided that this is probably my most recent FAVORITE recipe. Not only is it yummy, but it is another crock pot recipe :) It is pretty similar to the Italian Chicken one that I posted already, but I like this one A LOT better.

I got this recipe from a friend when a group of us was putting together a birthday dinner last week for our Church's Relief Society (ladies). She shared it on her blog so I decided to share it on my blog too :) I also stole the picture from her blog since I didn't have one.

Here is what you need:

• 4 chicken breasts (For my family, I would use 1 large or 2 or 3 small ones)
• 1 Jar 4 cheese Alfredo Sauce
• 1 Can cream of chicken
• 1 Can chicken broth
• 1 package Real bacon pieces (a small package)
• 1 package fresh mushrooms, sliced (optional)
• 1/2 package dry Italian Dressing Mix (we used a whole one)
• 1 Cup Swiss cheese, cubed (I think shredded would work too)
• 2 Tbs butter, melted
• Salt and pepper to taste

Combine everything in the slow cooker. Cook on low for 6-7 hours. Shred chicken an hour before finished. Serve over cooked bow tie pasta.

We served ours with salads and french bread. It was DELICIOUS!

Crockpot Italian Chicken

Another YUMMY crockpot meal. It is SO easy to make too :-)

Here is all you need:

Chicken (I use 2 large breasts or 3 small and then break them up once cooked-use more or less depending on your family)

1 Can Cream of Chicken

1 Can Cream of Celery

1 Cup Water

1 zesty Italian packet (the dry salad dressing ones)

4 oz. Cream Cheese

-Place everything in the crockpot except for the cream cheese. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. An hour before serving, add cream cheese. Before serving, stir everything and break up the chicken.

-Cook pasta. I use bow-tie, but any kind will work. Drain the pasta and add to the crockpot. Mix and Serve!

I also serve mine topped with Parmesan and garlic with bread sticks and salad as a side.

--Sorry, the photo is so crappy.