Cowboy Spaghetti

I have actually made this a lot in the last year, but for some reason I have never added it to my blog. So strange!! This is a fun twist to regular spaghetti and has a little bit of a kick to it. My kids actually eat this because they really like pasta! Yeah!!

Ingredients:

1 lb. spaghetti

3 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped

1 lb. ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

2 tsp. hot sauce (I use the green flavor for a little less spice.)

1 Tbs. worcestershire sauce

¾ cup beef broth

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can tomato sauce

8 oz. cheddar cheese

4 green onions, chopped

Cook spaghetti with salt to al dente. Brown ground beef. Add onion, garlic, salt, pepper, hot sauce, and worcestershire sauce. Add beef broth and deglaze the pan. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes and then stir in tomatoes and tomato sauce. Add hot spaghetti to meat and sauce and combine. Serve pasta with cheese, green onions, and bacon to garnish.

To freeze this recipe, make the sauce as directed and then pour into a freezer-proof container. When you are ready to use it, defrost the sauce, and then cook the spaghetti while the sauce heats up on the stove!! Mix sauce and pasta before serving!!

I doubled this recipe to make for my parents and my family. It lasted us two nights, then Josh taking a medium-size tupperware of it to work, and we still had leftovers for my single siblings to eat when they came over. Next time I will make sure I freeze it!! Enjoy!!

Homemade Biscuit Pizza

Talk about a great way to enjoy pizza and save some serious dough, as in money!! I have made these twice in the last couple of months, and they are a crowd favorite! I can't keep my family from eating them all gone, or maybe i am the one eating it all!!

Ingredients:
1 can of Refrigerated Biscuit Dough, like Pillsbury
Homemade Pizza Sauce (see below)
Grated Cheese, Cheddar or Mozarella
Favorite Pizza Toppings: Pepperoni, olives, sausage, green peppers, pineapple, ham, etc.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pop open the can of biscuits, and take each individually and flatten on a greased cookie sheet. Try to spread out about four to six inches wide. Then place in the oven for about six minutes!

Once that is complete, pull out of oven and spread about a tablespoon of pizza sauce on each mini pizza. Add cheese and then whatever toppings you like. This is where the best part comes....the kids can choose their own toppings and make their own little pizza with their choices. Cook for another 5-10 minutes until cheese is bubbly and crust is a golden brown!!


This is so yummy and I love that I can create my own masterpiece with all of my favorite toppings and my husband and kids get their plain cheese or pepperoni pizzas!! Plus, the dough has a little sweetness to it, which makes it super yummy!!

If you don't have the ingredients for pizza sauce, you can use spaghetti sauce as well!

Pizza Sauce

1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce

1 tsp. basil

1 ¼ tsp. oregano

1 ¼ tsp. garlic salt

1 tsp. onion powder

Mix together all ingredients and it's ready to go. If you don't like garlic as much, half the amount and then add more if you want!!

Crunchy Bread

This recipe is from my friend, Diana. She says "I read on a blog somewhere about French Bread. We all love it but it is hard to use because you have to basically buy the day you are using it." Her solution via. this blog, buy it when it's really cheap and freeze it! That's right, you heard me! I tried this out and I loved the results!

Ingredients:
loaf of french bread
butter or margarine
garlic salt

Cut the bread into slices (like a loaf of bread). Butter the bread on both sides, sprinkle with garlic salt if you want. Then put in on a cookie sheet in the freezer. Once it is frozen transfer to a ziploc bag. Then at dinner time anytime you want Bread with it, pull out number of slices you need and bake or broil until it is desired crunchy level. I did it at 350 for about ten minutes, turning over half way in between and then broiled it for a couple of minutes!


I was lazy and put the bread directly into ziploc bags and it worked fine. Also, I was a little light on the garlic salt, and it could have used more! I am sure you could add herbs of your choice as well.

This was a huge hit and super easy. Plus, if you want to go light on the butter or use something less fattening, you can fix it to your taste. No more wasted bread. Perfect!

Cheesy Baked Tortellini

2 cups marinara sauce

1/3 cup mascarpone cheese or whipped cream cheese

1½ tsp. parsley

1½ tsp. thyme

1 pound cheese tortellini

Shredded mozzarella cheese

¼ cup parmesan cheese

Grease an 8x8 inch baking dish. Whisk the sauce, mascarpone cheese, parsley, and thyme in a large bowl to blend. Cook the tortellini in a large pot of boiling salted water for 2 minutes. Add the tortellini to the sauce and toss to coat. Transfer the tortellini mixture to the baking dish. Top the mixture with mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Cover and bake until warm and the cheese is melted, about 20-30 minutes.

My husband loved this dish. Plus, my picky daughter ate a ton of it! It also tastes more cheesy than marinara sauce!

Thanks to Tiffany again for her recipe. I tend to use a lot of hers!