Better Than Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana

I am this close to a trifecta my friends!  I present to you "Better Than Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana".  The name pretty much says it all...it IS better than the Zuppa Toscana soup at Olive Garden.  I am working on finding a fabulous salad dressing for the "Better Than Olive Garden's Salad".  I already have the breadsticks that I think are way better than Olive Garden's, found HERE.  Don't wait to make this one, it is SCRUMPTIOUS!

Better Than Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana
Recipe Source:  Steak N Potatoes Kinda Gurl

• 4 slices bacon, diced
• 1 lb ground hot Italian sausage
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 cups (32 oz) chicken stock
• 3 cups russet potatoes, cubed
• 3/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups kale, washed and cut into bite size pieces
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• Parmesan cheese, grated, to taste

In a large pot, cook the bacon until crispy. Drain the grease. Add the sausage, breaking it apart as it cooks. Once sausage is browned and crumbled, remove sausage and drain off grease leaving a tbsp to saute the onion.
Add the onion to the pan; saute until translucent; add garlic; saute until fragrant.  Add the bacon and sausage back into the pot.
Stir in the stock and potatoes, season with salt and pepper, and simmer for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
Add kale and heavy whipping cream. Bring to a simmer. Top with Parmesan cheese, when serving.

This recipe has been linked up to:
This Chick Cooks
The Country Cook
Tidy Mom
SImply Sweet Home
Eat at Home

Bubble Puff Pizza

We were on a "make-your-own pizza" kick.  For some reason, I have yet to post any of them from that time....weird!  This is one of the recipes we tried.  Since it uses those "pop" biscuits which I hate opening, it was actually a total breeze to put together with no flour mess to clean up.  The kiddos loved it!  They were able to help with this one SO much.  In fact, aside from me putting it in and taking it out of the oven, they were able to do it from start to finish by themselves.  So, get your kiddos in the kitchen and let them have at this one, they will love it and so will you!

Bubble Puff Pizza
Recipe Source:  Sublime Hodgepodge

• 1 tube of those "pop", holding-them-away-from-you-trying-to-cover-your-ears-so-it-doesn't-scare-the-crap-out-of-you, biscuits.  I use the Pillsbury Simply Buttermilk Biscuits
• Pizza Sauce to taste, make as saucy as you like.  I of course like the Trader Joe's brand.  I know, wipe the look of shock off your face!
• 2 cups of Mozzarella Cheese (or blend)
• Assorted Toppings - Use what you like, we just used mini turkey pepperoni on ours

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Spray a 8x8 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Using scissors, quarter the biscuits. Place quarters POINT SIDE UP in the bottom of the baking dish, distributing them evenly over the bottom. Layer your sauce over top, then your chosen toppings followed by a layer of cheese(s).
Bake for 40 minutes but start checking it after 30 minutes. Using a fork, check middle biscuits to see if they're completely cooked. If not, cook an additional 5 minutes until middle is finished cooking. (Time will vary based on amount of toppings). Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.

This recipe has been linked at:
Tidy Mom
Simply Sweet Home
Mommy's Kitchen

Bow Tie Lasagna - 15 Minute Meal!

Yes, you saw that right...15 minutes!!!
My dear friend Jill from Sublime Hodgepodge posted this recipe with a RAVE review and I knew I had to try it!
Super simple, fast, and SCRUMPTIOUS!  It has a lasagna taste that would make Garfield proud, without using Ricotta or Cottage Cheese.  Make a salad and add a chunk of crusty bread and you have a fantastic dinner everyone will be sure to love.

Bow Tie Lasagna
slightly adapted from Sublime Hodgepodge, who got it from Tasty Kitchen member Rozanie

• 1 pound ground beef or Italian sausage...you could even use ground Turkey
• 5 cups uncooked bow tie pasta
• 1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce.  Make sure you use a good one since that is the taste that will be front and center.  
• 1 TBSP Olive Oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 clove of garlic, very finely minced
• 1 tsp Italian Seasoning
• 1/2 cup fresh grated Mozzarella cheese, you could use low fat
• 1/2 cup sour cream, you could use low fat
• 1/4 - 1/3 cup grated Parmesan, to taste

Fry meat in small pan. Meanwhile, cook noodles according to package directions.
After noodles are cooked, drain and drizzle with olive oil. Mix in your spaghetti sauce. Add your fried hamburger, seasonings, cheeses, and sour cream. Fold together and allow it all to combine and melt together, over low heat, for about 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

This recipe was linked to:
Mommy's Kitchen
Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms
Frou Frou Decor
Tidy Mom
Simply Sweet Home
Crazy Domestic

Roasted Veggies and Sausage - ONE POT LOVIN'

It is FREEZING here in ol' NC!  I mean, Denver is looking like a tropical getaway type of freezing!  Truth be told though, I am loving cooking and baking things in the oven without having to run the AC at the same time.  This dish is a definite winter staple and a favorite in our house.  Not only is it super simple to prepare, but it is completely versatile depending on tastes, mood, and/or what you have in your fridge.  So I am sharing it with you today as not a "follow-the-rules-or-else" recipe, but more of a guide that you can TWEEK as you like it. 
It is fabulous and kick yourself easy, so give it a whirl. 

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds red or gold potatoes, halved and sliced about 1/2" thick
• 2 packages whole mushrooms, 8-10 ounces each.  If they are large, go ahead and halve them.
• 2 red bell peppers, chunked up into large bite sized pieces.
• 1 large red onion, chunked up into large bite sized pieces.
• 1/3 - 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  Enough to coat all veggies thoroughly.
• 1 TBSP Montreal Steak Seasoning.  That stuff is magic in a jar I tell you.
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 4 TBSP butter (optional)
• 2 packages, 14 ounces each, Smoked and/or Kielbasa sausage.  Feel free to use Turkey Sausage, gobble, gobble.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
In a large roasting pan, combine all the veggies and toss with 1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil to ensure even coating.  If all the pieces aren't thoroughly coated, add a little more oil, up to 1/2 cup TOTAL.  Sprinkle Montreal Steak Seasoning and garlic salt.  Use your hands again to toss well to make sure all veggies have some seasoning on it.  If you are in the butter is NOT optional camp, dot the top of veggies with butter.


BEFORE -
Make sure all the veggies are somewhat the same size to ensure even cooking


Cover roasting pan with foil and place in oven for 30 minutes.
Cut up sausage into single serving pieces, not bite sized, and set aside.
Once the initial 30 minute cook time is completed, remove from oven and remove foil carefully so you don't get a steam burn.  Place sausage on top of veggies and return to the oven with no foil on top.  Cook an additional 20-30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and sausage is warmed thoroughly.
There you have it...easy peasy!
Once you pull it out of the oven, crack your oven door and use the heat you already paid for to help heat the house!
Stay warm my friends!

This recipe has been linked to:
Nikkis Nifty Knacks
Eat at Home Cooks

Everyday Jambalaya

Do you have one of those meals that you LOVED so much you made it every opportunity you possibly could, then for some unexplainable reason, you didn't make it for a while...then when you did make it again, you wonder why in the world you took such a long break from it?  Wow, how was the for a run-on sentence!  That is this Jambalaya.  When I took my first bite, it was like saying hello to an old friend...and what a mouth watering delicious friend it is!  I often put together the rice and spices to keep in a baggie in the pantry for a quick weeknight meal.  Make it....trust me.  Your whole family will thank you for it!

Ingredients:

• 1 medium Onion, diced
• 1 Green Bell Pepper, diced
• 2 ribs of Celery, diced
• 2 ½ cups water
• 1 (14.5 oz can) Diced Tomatoes, drained
• 1 (15 oz can) Tomato Sauce
• ½ lb Smoked Sausage (I use Turkey Kielbasa)
• ½ lb. Chicken (diced and cooked)
• ½ lb. Shrimp (peeled and deveined)  For the protein, you can adjust or omit any of the meat/shrimp combinations… so long as you end up with 1-2 lbs of protein.
• 1 cup Long Grain Rice
• 1 TBSP dried Parsley
• 1 TBSP Beef Bouillon Granules
• ½ tsp dried Thyme Leaves
• ½ tsp Garlic Powder
• ½ tsp ground Black Pepper
• ¼ tsp Cayenne Pepper (this makes it mild to medium, but still totally kiddo friendly…adjust to taste)
• ¼ tsp Salt
• 1 Bay Leaf

In a large pot, sauté onion, green pepper, and celery in some olive oil until tender. Add in rice, Parsley, Bouillon Granules, Thyme, Garlic Powder, Black Pepper, Cayenne Pepper, Salt, Bay Leaf, water, tomatoes, tomato sauce, smoked sausage, and cooked chicken. Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat and let simmer for 25 minutes. Add shrimp and cook an additional 5-7 minutes until shrimp is cooked through. Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes. ENJOY!

This recipe has been linked up at:
Mommy's Kitchen Sunday Potluck
Eat at Home Cooks
The Country Cook

Upside Down Supreme Pizza

Did you ever have one of those recipes that every time you made it, you made a mental note to try something different next time?  That quest for perfection was a longer than expected on this dish I am sharing today.  I first got a recipe for this from my friend Mel, then my hubby got it from an old high school friend.  So, after making it a couple times, and tweaking the cooking method and layering a couple more times, I have it!  I found that cooking the meat AND the veggies then adding the pizza sauce to the meat/veggie mixture was key...NO LAYERING, it didn't hold together right.  The other key has putting some of the cheese at the bottom, that was the final piece to this puzzle.  I now present to you....perfection!  Well, at least in my eyes, ha ha!  Even though my kiddos would not eat supreme pizza if their lives depended on it, they LOVE this and eat it, veggies and all!  So, here is the recipe along with all of my tweaks and reasoning for them,

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds of meat of your choice.  Hamburger is a good filler here.  I use 1 to 1 1/2 pounds of hamburger and then add 1/2 - 1 pound Italian sausage and a package of chopped pepperoni for the rest.  I find if you use too much of the pepperoni or Italian sausage, it gets too salty.
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 6 ounces mushrooms, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 jar pizza sauce, 16 oz.  I use the Trader Joe's kind...it is fabulous!
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vegetable or canola oil
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese
• 2 TBSP grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 TBSP Garlic Bread Sprinkle

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large skillet, brown your meat until cooked through.  Remove meat from skillet and drain excess fat.  Next, saute your veggies until desired consistency.  I found when I left them crunchy, they added too much moisture to the filling when cooking in the oven.  Add garlic and cook another minute.  Again, burnt garlic = BLECH!  If you need to, drain excess moisture or oil from vegetables.  Add meat back into skillet and add pizza sauce.  It will be thick, that is ok...we aren't going for a spaghetti sauce to serve over pasta, but if you need to add a TBSP of water to get your mixture completely coated, that is ok.  It will loosen up slightly when baking in the oven.
Spray a 9"x13" baking dish with non-stick spray.  Sprinkle 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese on bottom of dish.  Spread meat/veggie/pizza sauce mixture evenly over top to cheese.  Add remaining shredded cheese on top of meat/veggie/pizza sauce mixture.
In a medium bowl, quickly mix together flour, milk, eggs, oil, and salt until thoroughly combined.  Slowly pour over top of the cheese covering evenly.  This will bake up to be your crust.  Don't worry, it will work ;)  Sprinkle Parmesan cheese and garlic bread sprinkle on top of crust and bake for 30-45 minutes until crust is set. 
As a side note, this recipe is completely flexible...add whatever veggies and meat into it.  It is a great way to hide extra veggies!  Come up with your favorite and share it with us here!  Enjoy!

This recipe has been linked up at:
Mommy's Kitchen Sunday Potluck

Bangers and Mash - Siggy Spice Style

For the last several years, on St. Patrick's Day, we would have Corned Beef and Cabbage. Every evening as I would scrape all the uneaten food off of the kiddos plates, I wondered why I bothered....they didn't like corned beef and they certainly did not like cabbage. So this year, I thought I would try a different meal for the Irish celebration...enter Bangers and Mash. Bangers and Mash is a fun way to say sausage and mashed potatoes, both of which would be a hit with the kiddos. To take it up another notch, I made the Bangers in an Onion Guinness Sauce and added some Kale to the mashed potatoes to give it that festive flair. So, if you are looking for a tasty and quick meal for St. Patrick's Day, go get some Bangers and Mash away!

You know what would be a great dessert with this? Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes....drool...

Ingredients:

• 2 TBSP vegetable oil
• 2 TBSP butter
• 6 Irish Bangers. I found mine at Trader Joe's!
• 1 cup diced onion. About 1/2 large onion.
• 1/4 cup Guinness beer
• 1 TBSP flour
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1/2 TBSP Dijon Mustard
• salt and pepper to taste
• 5-6 servings of your favorite mashed potatoes. Your choice, make them from scratch or instant.
• 1/2 cup Kale, rinsed and chopped in manageable bites

In a skillet over medium-high heat, add oil and butter and heat until butter is melted. Brown your Irish Bangers until crispy on both sides. Add chopped onion and allow to cook with sausage until soft and slightly browned. Add Guinness beer to de-glaze pan, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom. Sprinkle flour over the onions in pan and stir to coat, cook just until lightly browned. Add beef broth, stir to combine. Add Dijon mustard, whisk to combine and lower heat to medium-low. Cover pan and allow to simmer for 15 minutes. If you need to thicken your sauce a little more, simply add a TBSP of cornstarch to 1/4 cup cold water and whisk into sauce. Salt and pepper to taste.

Please know that I am totally not going to tell you how to make your mashed potatoes, nor will I judge you either way. YOU know how you and your family likes them. If you are making from scratch, add the chopped Kale to the water the last 5 minutes you are boiling your potatoes, then continue making as your normally would. If you are making instant, simply add the Kale to the water as you are bringing it to boil.

ENJOY!