Sausage & Bowtie Alfredo

Last night I threw together a recipe that actually turned out pretty yummy.  I'll call it Sausage & Bowtie Alredo.   This is super easy and quick.

Sausage & Bowtie Alfredo

Ingredients
1/4 cup butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
16 oz cream cheese
1/2 package ranch dressing mix (the dry stuff)
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups milk
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 cups bowtie pasta
1 lb sausage links (I recommend these ones)
parsley

Directions

Cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain and set aside.

On a grill or in a frying pan, cook sausage also according to package directions.  When done, cut links into bite-size chunks.

Meanwhile, in a large sauce pan, melt butter and add garlic.  Cook until garlic turns golden.  Add cream cheese, sour cream, milk and ranch dressing mix.  Heat over medium-high heat until smooth.  If the sauce is too think, you can thicken it up with a little cornstarch.

Finally, combine your sauce, pasta and sausage all in the sauce pan.  Stir to combine, sprinkle with parsley for garnish and serve immediately.

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The reason I used such random ingredients in this recipe is because this is what I had on hand.  I only had a 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese or I would probably have added a little more.

It didn't matter that this recipe was thrown together.  It was delicious and I'm glad I kept track of what I was putting in there as I will be making it again.

Serve with a salad or sliced grape tomatoes and cottage cheese.

Potato and Bratwurst Skillet Dinner

A few weeks ago I tried a new recipe, Potato and Bratwurst Skillet Dinner.

Ingredients

• 4 (tablespoon) vegetable oil
• 4 (whole) red potatoes, sliced 1/4-inch thick
• 2 (bratwurst) bratwurst, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 (small) onion, chopped
• 1/2 (cup) chopped green bell pepper
• 4 (tablespoon) soy sauce
• 2 (tablespoon) orange juice
• 1/4 (teaspoon) salt
• (to taste) Pepper

Directions

1. In a heavy skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add the potatoes; cover and cook for 6 minutes or until browned and crisp-tender, stirring occasionally.
2. Add bratwurst, onion and green pepper. Cook and stir for 5 minutes or until meat is heated through and vegetables are crisp-tender.
3. Combine the soy sauce, orange juice, salt and pepper; add to the skillet. Cook and stir 1-2 minutes longer or until meat and vegetables are evenly coated.

My review:

It was good but too salty.  Next time I will not add any additional salt and I will cut back on the soy sauce.  I used Red Wine sausage that I purchased at Costco that I have been loving.  I also used russet potatoes because that is what I had on hand.  The recipe was good, but again way too salty. I will likely make it again and try to cut back on the salt.

Pasta Stuffing Sausage Casserole

This was one of those meals that you just kind of throw a bunch of stuff together and hope for the best.  It was awesome, the kids loved it and I will definitely be making it again!

Ingredients:

• 1 box Chicken flavor Stove Top, prepared according to package directions
• 2 cups penne pasta (cooked al dente) 
• 1 bag frozen mixed vegetables, heated
• 3 sausage links, I used these, yummy!
• 2 cans cream of chicken soup
• 1 cup sour cream 
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup Swiss cheese, grated
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Cook Stove Top, pasta an frozen vegetables according to package directions.  Grill sausage and cut into slices.  Lightly spray a casserole dish and preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spread Stove Top on bottom of casserole dish.  Next add pasta to create a layer, then vegetables and finally the sausage.  In a separate bowl, mix soup, sour cream, milk, and salt and pepper.  Pour over the other ingredients.  Top with Swiss cheese.  Put in oven until heated through about 20-30 minutes.

Sausage and Rice Skillet w/a recipe

So a while back I posted about my friend, Jess' Sausage and Rice Skillet, but apparently I never posted the recipe for it.  Thanks for pointing that out Malia.

So here is the recipe straight from Jess - well,  I corrected her spelling... love you girl!

s & r skillet‏

one package sausage
rice to your serving size (now that wyatt [her son]eats more i make two cups of rice)
water to your rice serving
one can cream of chicken (i have started using cream of chicken with herbs much better)
one TBSP butter
one pinch of salt
cheese to your preference

cut up sausage
mix rice, water, butter, salt, cream of chicken in skillet, add in sausage- bring to a boil then simmer for 20 minutes, add cheese on top and simmer for 5 more minutes and then serve.

easiest dinner ever

peace out

february 16, 2011 - biscuits and gravy with easy-bake cheddar biscuits

nathan helped out with dinner tonight by making sausage gravy to go on the new kind of biscuits i made.  they are called easy-bake cheddar biscuits.  they were super easy and turned out very yummy!  i got the recipe here.

the final product with the gravy.

january 25, 2011 - cajun dirty rice

used the extra portion i made a while back for dinner tonight.  this one was more spicy for some reason so we all added a little sour cream to calm it down.

january 11, 2011 - sausage n rice skillet

tonight i made a modified sausage n rice skillet. i got this recipe from my good friend jess. she used to bring it as leftovers to work for lunch and i think i ate more of it than she did. it is a simple and quick dinner. it normally does not have green beans in it. i added them so my children would get more veggies.

i opened a bag of green salad and added some chopped up orange bell pepper for some taste. then i quickly threw some rhodes warm and serve rolls into the oven. i really like these rolls. they are so fast (15-17 minutes from frozen) and they taste great.

january 4, 2011 - cajun dirty rice

tonight i made a modified cajun dirty rice. i got the recipe shell from the dream dinners cookbook. i made a double batch and froze one for another night. this dish can be spicy depending on the amount of cayenne you add. for my family, the 1/2 teaspoon gives it just a little spice, nothing too crazy. we had green salad as a side.


1 1/2 cups uncooked long grain rice (i use instant most of the time)
4 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled
1/2 pound sausage, cooked
1/2 cup yellow onions, diced
1/2 cup green bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup olive oil

cook rice according to package directions. place rice and the remaining ingredients in a large skillet and simmer until the liquid is fully absorbed and the rice is hot and fluffy.

*note - if you make this and it is a little too spicy, we have added sour cream to settle it down. it actually tastes really good with sour cream on it as well.