Meatball Sub Bubble Up Bake

Super easy, fulfilling Italian dinner.  

Serve a Caesar Salad as a side and you've got a great meal!

recipe courtesy of Life With The Crust Cut Off

 

Ingredients
1 can Pillsbury Grands Biscuits
1 bag frozen meatballs
1½ cup to 2 cups spaghetti sauce
1½ cups shredded mozzarella

Instructions
Cut the uncooked biscuits into 8ths.
Place into greased 9x13 dish.
Cover with sauce, start with 1½ cups, add more if you think it needs a little extra.
Place the meatballs on top of the biscuits.
Sprinkle with the cheese.
Bake at 375 for about 30-40 minutes.
Serve to your hungry family!

Lasagna Soup

Due to the fact that we skipped Fall and went straight into Winter, I've been cooking up a whole bunch of soup recipes lately.  Nothing helps me survive this cold weather like hearty meals and warm, delicious soups!  That being said, I made the BEST soup last night.  

It took no time to make and came out delicious!  Every person in our family (a party of 4) had seconds, so I had no leftovers to store.

Lasagna Soup

recipe compliments of Cooking Classy

Ingredients

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 lb lean ground beef (I used turkey)
1 large yellow onion, diced (2 cups)
3 - 5 garlic cloves, to taste, minced
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 (14.5 oz) can petite diced tomatoes
1 (14.5 oz) can crushed tomatoes
2 1/2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 3/4 tsp dried basil
3/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
1/2 tsp fennel seeds, crushed ( I omitted)
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley, plus more for garnish
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
8 lasagna noodles, broken into bite size pieces (6.5 oz)
1 1/4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (5 oz)
1/2 cup finely shredded parmesan cheese (2 oz)
8 oz ricotta cheese

Directions

Heat one tablespoon olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Once hot, crumble beef into pot, season with salt and pepper to taste and cook, stirring occasionally until browned. Drain majority of fat from beef and set aside (you can drain it all if you want it to be healthier I just like the little bit of flavor a small amount of the fat gives). Heat remaining 1 Tbsp olive oil in pot, add chopped yellow onion and saute until it begins to soften, about 3 minutes. Add in garlic and saute 30 seconds longer. Add in chicken broth, diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, oregano, rosemary, fennel seeds, thyme, sugar, parsley, the cooked ground beef and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring just to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare lasagna noodles according to directions listed on package, reserving 1 cup pasta water before draining pasta.
Add cooked pasta to soup along with 1/2 cup - 1 cup pasta water as desired. In a mixing bowl, using a fork, stir together mozzarella, parmesan and ricotta.
Ladle soup into bowls, dollop with a large scoop of the cheese mixture and sprinkle with chopped parsley (you can help the cheese melt better by cooking in the microwave after dolloping over soup for a bit or you could put the soup in oven safe bowl, top with cheese mixture and set under broiler to melt well. Or just stir into very hot soup and it should melt well).

I served our soup with some garlic bread sticks.

Delicious!

 

White Chicken Chili

I've tried lots of different Chicken Chili recipes.

This was would be in my top 3 for sure.

recipe compliments of DesignWineDine

Chili:
1 1/2  lbs uncooked chicken breast (can be frozen) cut into 1-2″ chunks
2 – 15 oz cans of white beans (drained)
1 – 15 oz can of white corn (drained)
1 onion chopped (sweet/Vidalia)
1 clove garlic finely chopped (I love garlic so I used 2)
1 package taco seasoning
1 – 7 oz can of chopped green chilies
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 – 14 oz can of chicken broth

Toppings:
1/2 cup sour cream (I used low fat)
2 tbls lime juice
Finely chopped cilantro
Fresh shredded cheese (I used Colby-Jack)
Corn tortilla chips (the authentic yellow kind)

Place cut up chicken in the bottom of the Crock Pot.  Add beans, corn and onion.  Mix the next five ingredients and pour over the top.  Cover and cook on low in the Crock Pot for 8-10 hours.  (I was running low on time so I cooked mine on low for about 4 1/2 hours and then raised it to high for the last two hours).

Before serving use a potato masher to break up the chicken.  (Make sure you do this very quickly with pressure and alternating directions… the consistency should change from brothy with chunks of meat and beans to a very thick and even consistency.  If it is still brothy, keep mashing).

Add shredded cheese, a dollop of sour cream, a splash of lime juice, cilantro and chips before serving.  YUM!

 

Chocolate Peppermint Whoopie Pies

On my way to drop Ashlan off at school yesterday, she asked me if I would bake something 'peppermint' for her to enjoy for an after school snack.

I can't say I have a history of baking with peppermint.  It's not usually an ingredient I use a lot.  So I had to get online and find something fun and easy to prepare for her that she would enjoy after school.   

And I came across this - a whoopie pie

Shopping List
1 box chocolate cake mix
1/2 cup veggie oil
2 eggs
1/4 cup water
store bought peppermint frosting (don't panic if you can't find any...read below!)
1/2 cup peppermint crunch candy (or crushed up candy canes)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine cake mix, oil, eggs, and water in bowl.
Drop by 2 tablespoons onto lined cookie sheet (leave about an inch between each cookie)

Bake 8-9 minutes

Cool on pan 5 minutes, move to wire rack and cool 15 more minutes.

Meanwhile, put your canned peppermint frosting in a bowl and stir in crunch.

Take one cookie and place a tablespoon or so of frosting in the center.  Press another cookie on top (this will spread the icing out to the edge).

** Usually the peppermint frosting is in the Christmas baking section of Walmart and Target.  But I ended up at Kroger and they didn't have any.  So I bought a tub of vanilla frosting and a bag of Peppermint Crunch (which I crushed up into little pieces)  If you can't find the Peppermint Crunch candies, then candy canes work just as well.

Here's my final product.  I've never made whoopie pies before.  Kinda fun, I'll admit!

Ashlan gave these two thumbs up!

Brent also admitted to how delicious these were!