Baked Penne

Another one found on pinterest....and this was pretty good too!
1/2 lb. extra-lean ground beef or Italian Sausage
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup green peppers (I left this out b/c I don't like green peppers)
1 jar(24 oz.) spaghetti sauce
1 tub(10 oz.) Philadelphia Italian Cheese and Herb Cooking Creme, divided (I used reduced fat)
1 cup Kraft Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided
3 cups cooked penne pasta

Heat oven to 350°F. Brown meat with vegetables in large nonstick skillet. Stir in spaghetti sauce, 3/4 cup cooking creme and 1/2 cup mozzarella; cook and stir 2 to 3 min. or until mozzarella is melted. Add pasta; mix lightly. Spoon into 2-qt. casserole; top with remaining cooking creme and mozzarella. Cover. Bake 20 min. or until heated through, uncovering after 15 min.

Sweet and Spicy Chicken

Found this on pinterest, and we thought it was really good...not spicy at all 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1 teaspoon paprika 1 tablespoon white sugar 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon onion powder 1 teaspoon dried parsley 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 2 tablespoons butter 1 tablespoon olive oil juice of 1/2 lemon In a small bowl, combine all the spices. Flatten your chicken breasts with a meat mallet to allow for even cooking. Coat both sides of flattened chicken breasts with the spice mixture generously. In a pan, heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat. Saute chicken until golden brown, about 6 minutes on each side. While chicken is cooking, squeeze the lemon juice over the chicken. Continue cooking stirring frequently to coat evenly with sauce.

Cheesy Enchilada Casserole

Ingredients
1 pound lean ground beef (90% lean)
1 large onion, chopped or season with Onion powder or minced onion
2 1/2 cups salsa
1 can (15 ounces) black beans or red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup reduced-fat Italian salad dressing
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium taco seasoning
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
6 flour tortillas (8 inches)
1 small can of drained corn, or about 1 1/4 cups of frozen corn (optional)
3/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream *Note: I used 1/2 cup
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded reduced-fat Mexican cheese blend
1 cup shredded lettuce
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

Directions
In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.
Stir in the salsa, beans, dressing, sour cream, corn (optional), taco seasoning and cumin.
Spoon a generous layer of meat mixture on bottom of 2 quart baking dish. Sprinkle with grated cheese.
Place a flour or corn tortilla on top of meat mixture. Layer with half of the meat mixture, and cheese. Repeat as many layers as you like.
The last & final layer should be a healthy dose of grated cheese.
Cover with foil that has been sprayed with pam or other and bake at 400° for 25 minutes, or until hot & bubbly.
Let stand for 5 minutes before topping with lettuce, tomato and cilantro. Yield: 8 servings.

Cheese Danish

2 cans ready to use refrigerated crescent rolls
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg white
Glaze: 1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method: Preheat oven to 350* degrees and grease a 13X9-inch baking pan. Lay a pack of crescent rolls in the pan and pinch the openings together. Beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and egg together until smooth. Spread the mixture over the crescent rolls evenly and then lay the second pack of crescent rolls on top of the cheese mixture and brush with egg white. Bake for 35-45 minutes until the top is golden brown. Top with glaze after cooling for 20 minutes.

Taco Cupcakes

1/2t chili oil (found near the Asian ingredients)
*I could not find this... it probably was right in front of my face but seriously, never found it. So I just used some Olive Oil... and I don't think I really even needed that!
1/2 lb 95% lean ground beef
1 T taco seasoning
3/4 c canned black beans, drained and rinsed
16 wonton wrappers (found in the produce section)
5 T + 1t of queso dip or salsa con queso
1 c chunky salsa
1 c reduced fat shredded Mexican cheese
Guacamole for serving


First, pre-heat the oven to 375. Lightly mist 8 cups in a muffin tin with cooking spray and set aside.
Heat chili oil (or Olive oil) in a saute pan or large skillet over medium-high heat, add the ground beef and taco seasoning and brown beef, breaking it with a spoon. Add black beans and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for a few minutes until warm.

Push a wonton wrapper into the bottom of each of the eight sprayed cups in the muffin tin. Spoon a teaspoon of queso dip into each wonton wrapper and spread across the bottom.

Follow by spooning some of the meat/beans mixture into each cup (I would say about two teaspoons) and then spooning a teaspoon or so of salsa on top of that. Sprinkle a pinch of the cheese evenly over the top of each cup.

Now do it all again, one more time!
Press another wonton wrapper on top and repeat the layering steps with the remaining ingredients.

Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes before removing from muffin tin

Taco Seasoning

I made this one night when I needed taco seasoning but didn't have any....I won't buy taco seasoning again

1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
In a small bowl, mix together chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Store in an airtight container. Season to taste.
Notes
I like to make 3 or 4 times what the recipe calls for so I can season to taste and save some in a jar for next time.

For 1lb of ground beef, I added 2 TBSP of the taco seasoning mix and it was just the right amount of flavor and kick.

Oven Tacos

Not sure why I never thought about this....they were good! I halved the recipe

2 lbs ground beef
1 can refried beans
8 ounce tomato sauce
1 pkg taco seasoning or homemade taco seasoning
1 ½ cups shredded cheese
18-20 hard taco shells

lettuce, salsa, sour cream, etc for serving.
Brown ground beef. Drain off any fat and add refried beans, tomato sauce, and seasoning.
Spoon mixture into taco shells.
Place filled shells into a 9×13 pan, standing up. Sprinkle with cheese.
Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes or until heated through.
Enjoy!
Note: For those of you with a smaller family you may want to half this recipe. You could also easily stretch this for a larger group and get a few more tacos out of it by adding extra beans.


Add this recipe to ZipList