Cheesy Baked Pasta with Semi-homemade Sauce

Beef, Pasta

Hey guys! Hope everyone is having a great start to the week. Not a lot of stuff going on here. The girls are going to art camp this week and having a blast! Yesterday I picked them up and we hung out at the pool for a while, not a surprise 😉 The next few days we will be doing pretty much the same thing with maybe a little fun outings mixed in depending on the weather.

I went to the store to pick up some things for dinner. I decided to make a baked pasta of some sort and garlic bread. On the blog I have made so many different baked pastas- some the easy way (jarred sauce) and some the from scratch way. This time I did a mix of both.

Cheesy Baked Pasta with Semi-homemade Sauce

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
1 box tube shaped pasta; I used Rigatoni, but Ziti or Penne would be fine.
1 jars of your favorite pasta sauce- I used Bertoli- Tomato Basil
1 large can of crushed tomatoes
2 med. bags or 1 large bag of mozzarella or Italian Cheese Blend
1 handful of fresh herbs (oregano, marjarum, thyme, rosmary and sage, finely chopped)- You can also use 1 tablespoon of Italian Seasoning if you don’t have fresh herbs.
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 container of mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 350.
In a large dutch oven or pan, brown your meat with your onions in a tablespoon of olive oil on high heat, about 5 minutes.
Add in your mushrooms and garlic. Cook down together, about 5 minutes.
Add in the tomato paste. Cook down for 3-4 minutes. It will turn a rust color and when you smell it it will have an intense tomato aroma. Add in your Worcestershire Sauce, can of tomato puree, and container of marinara. Stir well and add in your fresh herbs. Let it simmer together while you cook your pasta
Assemble in a large casserole pan layering sauce, pasta, meat, and cheese.
Cook for about 30-45 minutes or until cheese is melting and turning that yummy brown color.

Serve with some garlic bread and a side salad! 002

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Oven Baked Wings

Chicken

Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a great day! We slept in and spent a few hours at the pool. Then we came home and relaxed. Well, the girls read books and watched TV, and I binge watched more Entourage; almost done with season 4!

My family loves wings. So tonight I baked an entire package (flats and drumsticks separated by my hubby) with a little salt and pepper and coated in a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a 375 oven for almost an hour. Then I coated a little over half of them in a sweet chili sauce. The rest I left plain for the girls.

I also made some egg rolls and yellow rice. Perfect Friday night dinner! No wing was left uneaten. I consider that a success!

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Oven Roasted Pork Loin

Pork

Evening friends! Today was the last day of Lacrosse camp for the girls. They had a blast and love the sport! I guess it will be cheering for football in the fall and playing lacrosse in spring. Go Dawgs!

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While they went to Lacrosse camp, I took Barre. Just realized I have not changed out of my clothes from 8 hours ago. I love my leggings…so comfy! The girls were starving, so we ate some leftovers and then went to the public library. We came home and the girls played, read, and watched TV. I fell asleep on the couch and no one woke me up! It was GLORIOUS!!! Then I made this for dinner. =)

Oven Roasted Pork Loin

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
Rub your pork loin (mine was 2.5 pounds) with a couple tablespoons of olive oil, and a combo of salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder (next time I will add some fennel seeds) on all sides, about a tablespoon of each.
Put your pork in a shallow roasting dish or cast iron pan.
When the oven reaches 400 degrees, cook your pork fat side up for about 10 minutes.
Then lower your heat to 350 degrees and cook for about 40 more minutes (usually I do 20 minutes per pound) Use a thermometer. USDA says let it get to 160 and take it out, but I take mine out at 150 and let rest with aluminum foil for 10-15 minutes.

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Chicken and Veggie Stir Fry with Cantonese Noodles

Asian, Chicken, Pasta

First things first. Full Disclosure; Yesterday, the girls and I had this for dinner…

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After playing at the pool all afternoon eating these…

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No shame! Ever!

This week they are going to Lacrosse camp. They are seriously loving it. So looks like we are going to have a couple of cheerleading lacrosse players. Should be an exciting year! You just wait until you see K in her cheerleading uniform. Totes adorbs!

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So anyways, tonight I made a yummy stir fry for dinner. I have made a couple of different stir fry meals before here on the blog. Usually it involves a sauce, lots of veggies, a protein, and a carb. Tonight was no different. Next time, I am going to try to make beef and broccoli. Look for that soon!

Chicken and Veggie Stir Fry with Cantonese Noodles

Ingredients

Sauces: Stir Fry (1/2 bottle), Hoisin (2 tablespoons), Sesame Seed Oil (1 tablespoon)

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Veggies: Sweet Peppers (I used 3 different colors, all sliced equal to about 1 full pepper)
1 container of shiitake mushrooms, chopped
3 heads of Baby Bok Choy, chopped
1 handful of snow peas
1 small can each of baby corn, sliced water chestnuts, and sliced bamboo shoots

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Protein: Chicken Thighs, cut in bite sized pieces

Carb: Cantonese Noodles-use whatever noodles you can find…I also love those Ramen noodles, minus the weird “flavor” packet it comes with.

Directions- Marinate your chicken thighs in half of the stir fry sauce (1/4 bottle). Prep all your veggies. Start boiling your water for your pasta. Heat your wok (or large circular pan) with a few tablespoons of peanut or veggie oil. Begin to cook the chicken. Cook for about 5 minutes or so. Add in your mushrooms and peppers. Cook another 5 minutes. Add the rest of the veggies and start cooking your pasta. Add in the rest of your sauces. When the bok choy is cooked down, add in your pasta. Mix well and taste. Add more sauce if desired.

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Weekend Wrap-Up

Weekend Wrap-Up

Happy Monday everyone! Not a lot of new cooking going on here. My first week of summer has been pretty sweet. Lots of days hanging at the pool and being lazy. This weekend was pretty much more of the same. Saturday was a nice family day. We woke up early and went to the farmer’s market. The girls like to go with me because I always buy them a King of Pop Popsicle. Nothing like a yummy Popsicle for breakfast!

Later I went to a cool new exercise class at the Pilates place I go to. It is called Hubolates, which is a mix of hula-hooping, Pilates, and kickboxing. It was a great workout! Then we spent the afternoon at the pool. Love being lazy and relaxing in the sun! When the girls were begging for snacks, we came home and had leftover spaghetti and meatballs.

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While the hubby and a friend watched the Blackhawks move on to the Stanley Cup, I started binge watching Entourage. I watched the first season on Sat. and the second season yesterday. So funny! I have to watch them all so I can go to the movie that is coming out soon! Anyone else a fan?

Yesterday I started the day off right with a little Bodyflow (tai chi, yoga, and Pilates combo). I love the instructor who teaches this class. I think the teacher makes or breaks a class. I am so lucky that all the classes I take have great instructors!

After class, I came home and chilled for a bit with the family. Then we went to the grocery store; the clouds looked so ominious! I was worried that the rain would come while we were at the store. I was right! We could hear the rain pounding on the roof of the store. The ride home was crazy! We ended up sitting in the car listening to the hail. I haven’t seen it rain and storm like that in a long time!

After we dried off and put the groceries away, I made this family favorite.

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Well, I didn’t make the cornbread, but I did roast some green beans and squash in the oven at 350 for 45 minutes.

If the sun comes out, we will probably head to the pool later. Tonight I am making Gorditas and heading to another hula-hooping class. Hopefully I can watch another season of Entourage =) Have a marvelous day!