Gnocchi/Kale/Sausage Soup

Found online, forgot where… My whole family loved this. It is super spicy with the spicy sausage, but no complaints here.

1 pound hot Italian sausage
1 small white onion (I always just do onion powder for little Juddy)
4 cups chicken broth
1 jar roasted red peppers, drained and diced
1 pound gnocchi
1/2 cup heavy cream (or evaporated milk)
top with parmesan cheese

Brown sausage and onion in pot.
Drain excess grease.
Add broth, red peppers, bring to simmer over medium heat, the reduce to medium-low heat. Add kale and gnocchi. Stir to combine. Stir in cream. Add pinch of salt and pepper.

Top with fresh/grated Parmesan cheese if desired.

Chicken Pitas

Slice of pita bread (Costco)
smear it with spicy avocado hummus (Costco)
fill with sliced rotisserie chicken (Costco)
then stuff it with fresh garden veggies.
My favorites: cucumber, raw zucchini, bell peppers, tomatoes

Grilled Chicken Alfredo Pizza with Zucchini

I grilled a pizza tonight on our Traeger. It was amazingly delicious.

I used this homemade whole wheat pizza crust. (I know I got the crust recipe online, but I can't remember where.)

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust:

1 t. white sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 Tbs active dry yeast
1 Tbs olive oil
1 t. salt
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups white flour

Dissolve sugar in warm water, sprinkle yeast on top and let stand 10 minutes.
Stir olive oil and salt into yeast mixture. Mix in wheat flour and 1 cup white flour. Knead rest of flour in on counter for about 10 minutes. Coat dough in oil, cover with towel and let rise 1 hour. Form into ball and let rise for another 45 minutes.
You can break it into two pieces and make two pizzas with thinner crust or one pizza with thick crust.

As for my pizza, I just dumped 1/3 a bottle of Alfredo sauce on it, added shredded rotisserie chicken from Costco, sliced zucchini and shredded mozzarella cheese.

Bake (or grill) at 425 for 16-20 minutes.

Make it. Eat it. Love it.

Taco Salad

I made taco salad for dinner last night. It is one of those meals I forget about for a while, and when I make it again I wonder why I don't make it more often.
Taco salad doesn't really need a recipe, but here is what I put in mine…

1 lb ground beef (I buy the family packs, cook it all up at once, and then freeze it in 1 lb increments.)
taco seasoning (mom- kroger brand has no MSG)
lettuce
cheese
olives
peppers
tomatoes
kidney and/or black beans
corn
cheese
crushed Doritos
sour cream
avacado
topped with Ranch dressing

Baked Ziti with Turkey Sausage

This is my own variation of a Weight Watchers recipe. (Each serving is 8 points for anyone who cares.) It makes 8 servings.

3/4 lb Sweet Italian Turkey Sausages, casings removed

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium green pepper, chopped

28 oz canned diced tomatoes

10 oz frozen green peas, thawed

2 T canned tomato paste

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried basil 

1/2 tsp dried thyme

salt to taste

fresh-ground pepper to taste

12 oz uncooked whole wheat ziti pasta, cooked according to package (or regular ziti if that's how you roll. I'm sure it tastes better that way.)

6 oz shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown sausage over medium heat. Drain off fat. Add onion and bell pepper and cook until softened. Stir in tomatoes, peas, tomato paste and spices. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat and cook uncovered for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in pasta and half the cheese. Spread into 9x13 in baking dish. Top with remainder of cheese. Bake until cheese has melted, about 20 min, then turn oven to broil until cheese becomes brown and bubbly.

Sorry, no picture. Already put the leftovers in the fridge and don't feel like getting it out. Jared and I liked this a lot, enjoy!

Stroganoff Meatballs

This is one of the easiest and yummiest stroganoffs I have made. Roo, Jud and Logan inhaled it.

1 1/4 cups beef broth (I just did a whole can)
2 Tbs flour (I did heaping Tbs to make up for my extra broth)
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
16 frozen meatballs
1 jar sliced mushrooms, drained
1/2 cup sour cream
1 Tbs parsley

Beat broth, flour and Worcestershire with a wisk. Add meatballs and mushrooms. Heat to a boil, reduce heat to simmer for 6 minutes. Cover while simmering. Remove from heat, stir in sour cream and parsley. Serve over wide egg noodles.

This serves 3-4 people. Mom, if you are making it for the boys, I would suggest doubling it. :)

Easy Tomato Basil Soup

From the blog Picky Palate:

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 lb Italian Sausage
10 fresh basil leaves, chiffonade (stacked, rolled and thinly sliced)
1 26 oz jar of your favorite pasta sauce or homemade sauce 

1 Cup water

1 1/2 Cups half and half
Pinch of salt and pepper

Place olive oil into a medium sized dutch oven over medium heat. Cook sausage until browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in basil leaves, pasta sauce, water, half and half, salt and pepper. Cook until warm then reduce heat to low. Simmer until ready to serve. It’s that easy!

4 servings