Cheesy Shell Bake

This is a recipe that was posted on the mama board I used to be a part of, so I've seen it for 4 years, and tonight was the first time I actually tried it. They all raved about it, but I thought it just sounded "eh." I was wrong! It's a fairly classic baked pasta dish, with a layer of sour cream (or yogurt), shredded cheddar, and parsley in the middle. Evan loved this, too. Yum!

Ingredients:

• 1 box of medium shells, cooked al dente - any pasta will work, we used mini penne
• 1lb of ground beef, could also use ground sausage or other meat
• 1 jar of pasta sauce
• 2-3Tbls of dried parsley
• 8oz sour cream or plain yogurt
• 8 oz shredded cheddar cheese
• salt and pepper
• garlic and onions for ground beef if desired
• Optional - veggies! Corn, carrots, tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, chiles, etc.*

Start the water for the noodles and while they are cooking, brown your beef. Add salt and pepper to taste and diced garlic and onions if you have them and like that. Once the beef is cooked, add the entire jar of tomato sauce. When the shells are ready, drain and add to the sauce beef mixture.

In a separate bowl, add the sour cream, parsley and about a third of the block of cheese. Mix all the ingredients.

Take half of the shell-beef-sauce mixture and put it into a 13x9 baking pan. Then take the sour cream mixture and layer it over the shells in the pan. If you find that you don't have enough sour cream mixture make a little bit more. Put the rest of the shell-sauce-beef on top and cover with the rest of the grated cheese. Cook at 350 for 25-30 minutes, until all the cheese is melted.

*We actually used leftover corn dip (made from sour cream, shredded cheese, corn, jalapeno, and green chiles) instead of the sour cream mixture, it was excellent! You might want to saute raw veggies a bit or cook with the ground beef to soften before adding.

Tortilla Pizza

• 10" flour tortilla
• spaghetti sauce
• mozzarella cheese
• italian herbs
• your favorite toppings

Place a 10" flour tortilla on a cookie sheet and spread a thin layer of spaghetti sauce on top. Sprinkle cheese over the sauce, then add your favorite toppings. Sprinkle some dried italian herbs over the toppings, cover with more cheese, and then bake in the oven at 450 for about 12-15 minutes.

We have used pepperoni, sliced red peppers and bacon, chicken and barbeque sauce, ham and feta cheese, pulled pork, and even the mixture we use for our Southwestern Salad. We used monterey jack cheese for that one. Basically, you just need a sauce, cheese, and some toppings and you're good to go! This can be a good "clean out the fridge" recipe.

Italian Meatloaf Muffins

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 red pepper, seeded and minced
• 1 small onion, minced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound ground beef
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 cup spaghetti sauce
• Cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 350. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and add the red pepper, onion and garlic. Saute until just softened, remove to a plate and cool. When the pepper-onion mixture is cool, combine all of the remaining ingredients together except for the spaghetti sauce.

Divide the meat mixture evenly among a 12-muffin tin that has been coated with cooking spray. Spread the marinara sauce evenly over each meatloaf muffin. Bake for 22 to 30 minutes, or until meat is no longer pink. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Santa Fe Soup

From the West End Community Church cookbook

• 1 pound ground beef
• 2 cans shoepeg corn
• 1 can kidney beans
• 1 can pinto beans
• 1 can black beans
• 1 can rotel (mild)
• 1 can tomato (diced)
• 2 packages dry ranch dressing (dry mix)
• 2 packages taco seasoning mix
• 2 cups water
• cheddar cheese (shredded)
• sour cream (low-fat)
• tortilla chips
  

Brown meat and drain fat. Put all ingredients in a large pot, bring to a boil, and then simmer on low for at least an hour and a half. You can also put in in the crockpot in the morning and simmer all day if you prefer. Serve with broken up tortilla chips, cheese, and sour cream. Absolutely delicious and it makes a lot!

Chili

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 small onion, diced
• to taste - salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder
• 1 can chili beans
• 1 can kidney beans
• 1 can tomato paste
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1 can rotel

Brown ground beef with onion and seasonings. Add to all other ingredients in a large pot on the stove, simmer at least 30 minutes.

American Tacos

• 2 lbs ground beef
• 1 large can tomato sauce
• 2 packets taco seasoning
• 2 cans chili beans
• fritos
• lettuce
• tomatoes
• sour cream
• shredded cheddar

Cook ground beef, combine with tomato sauce, taco seasoning and chili beans. Serve on top of fritos with lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, and cheese.