Baked Spaghetti and 1 Year of Blogging

This dish can be prepared ahead of time

(even frozen if necessary)

and then baked just in time for dinner!

Pretty exciting week around here...

Not only did I make an often-requested and 

mouth-watering (which should go without saying)

meal for dinner...

It has also been one year since my first blog entry was posted.

So, if you have been around the whole time,
 just stumbled upon this recently or
check in from time-to-time…

I'm so glad you are here!  

Trying to wrap my mind around how grateful I am for this past year of blogging
is leaving me at a loss for words.  

I am so thankful for all of you who have followed my blog,

tried my recipes and even
gave me some feedback as to
how the recipe turned out, what else you would like to see or even how to grow my blog,
I'm honored to be part of your cyber and/or food family. 

This opportunity has given me a chance to grow, learn and push myself into new territories,
which is both fun and scary at the same time!

Blah, blah, blah...

I know, same ol' mushy stuff,

Bottom line...

I'm so thankful for where I'm at and excited about where this will go from here!

Now, on to something way more exciting…
Baked Spaghetti. 

My kids, specifically Landon, probably requests pasta at least once a week.
Since Jerry and I are still mostly gluten-free,
pasta, as far as Landon is concerned,
doesn't really register on my radar.

My versions of pasta are usually spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles.

So, after repeat reviews of how fabulous Barilla's gluten free pasta is, 
I thought I'd indulge the family with this hearty and satisfying dish.

Nothing fancy here,
just boiling 1# of Gluten Free Spaghetti.

And, browning up 1# of Italian Sausage.

Next up, simply add 2 cans of diced tomatoes to the cooked sausage.

If you have pasta sauce that you prefer, go right ahead.
I've been rationing my cupboard staples a bit lately and was very happy how this 
makeshift sauce turned out.  

While the pasta was boiling,
whip up 2 eggs, 2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese and 1/2 stick of butter - softened.

Pour it upon the drained spaghetti noodles

And stir.

The noodles are layered into a 9x13 baking dish.

Covered with the sausage and tomatoes.

And sprinkled with a cup or two of shredded cheese.

Cover with foil and baked at 350 F for about 30 minutes

Sprinkle with some parsley and serve.

RECIPE:

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Bake Time: 30 minutes

Serves : 8

Ingredients:

1# of Gluten-free Spaghetti - Barilla

1# of Italian Sausage

2 cans of diced tomatoes

2 eggs

2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese 

1/2 stick of butter - softened

1-2 cups of shredded cheese

Parsley 

Directions:

• Boil pasta according to box. 
• Brown sausage until no pink is left. 
• Add diced tomatoes or pasta sauce
• Whip up eggs, parmesan cheese and butter. 
• Drain pasta and add egg/butter/cheese mixture. 
• Top with shredded cheese and cover with foil.
• Can now be frozen for another meal.
• Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes until warm all of the way through.

Clean-out-your-fridge Pasta sauce with Spaghetti

Not sure how meal planning goes in your house, oh, it doesn't...well, hopefully this give you some guidance.  

Usually on Sunday nights we go around the table and everyone gets a chance to throw out a meal suggestion or request for the following week, then I plan the meals according to what is going on each night (for example tonight is a Crock Pot Chicken and Barley Vegetable Stew from Iowa Girl Eats so there is something ready, warm and nutritious to devour between swim lessons and my early volleyball game). Tomorrow night is swim, 3 parent teacher conferences and piano...not sure I'm going to win the homemade healthy meal battle tomorrow night.  Sometimes you just have to willing to throw up the white flag in surrender. I digress. 

Landon, being the youngest and having the least complex taste buds, asked for spaghetti.  That is completely understandable for an 8 year old boy who would rather just eat hot dogs everyday, but It sure bursts my creative juices bubble...what am I supposed to do with that?!?!?

After mulling it over a bit, I decided it would be a great opportunity to use up some of the leftover ingredients in the fridge from the weekend...now we're talking, since I HATE throwing anything away.  

So, upon a quick glance through my fridge, I decide that the sauce will start with some red bell peppers, pizza sauce, marinara and sausage all left from the pizzas on Saturday night and then might as well throw in the shredded carrots for good measure.  

This just goes to show that you can put just about anything into certain dishes. In fact, Jerry asked me if I used up the open jar of salsa from the fridge, I hadn't, but he's catching on quickly! 

Round out the sauce with one fresh tomato, green peppers, zucchini, onion, garlic, let them cook down a bit before adding the first can of diced tomatoes as well as some Italian seasoning.  The sauce started with just one can of diced tomatoes but a second was added after the initial simmering had taken place and it just wasn't saucy enough.  

Now, I realize that is a lot of veggies but even if we let the kids pick out one that they don't like, they are still getting a decent serving of veggies in the meal.  I throw veggies into every dish I make and sometimes they don't even notice or maybe they have just resorted the fact that the veggies are going to be there and just stop fighting it.

That simmered away until the family was home and ready to partake.  

Now, onto the pasta...I'm not a huge pasta fan...there I said it!  I'd rather save my carbs to accompany cheese, hummus, guacamole or even ketchup, not as a main component of my meal.  But, I insist on the kids eating what I like most of the time, so I can suck it up on occasion and eat their meal of choice. 

Despite having a lifetime supply of pasta that I bought at a club store some time in the last decade, I decided I wanted to go with the healthier whole grain pasta for Jerry and I, at the very least; another attempt to bring some nutrition to the table.  (Now that I think about it, last time I made a similar meal, Jerry and I were served spaghetti squash...not sure he was too thrilled with that).

So, I got two large pots of salt water boiling to make the respective pastas.  (Because of the way the salt bonds to the water molecules, the water has to reach a higher temperature before boiling, helping the pasta to cook faster...in case anyone is interested in any of the scientific principles behind all of this good stuff.)

Before straining the noodles, I used a ladle to reserve about a cup of the pasta water to pour back into the noodles.  As the pasta cools, the starches continue to absorb water, so saving pasta water to add back helps to keep the spaghetti from sticking together too badly.  Once that was absorbed, I tossed with some olive oil before serving.  

As it turns out, the Clean-Out-Your-Fridge Pasta Sauce was a big hit with the family as was the whole grain pasta...I think that will be a new staple in our house as we move towards healthier grains and away from white bread and rice, now we can add pasta to the category as well.  

What are some ways you like to use up ingredients in your fridge?  How about sneak some extra vegetables into your kids meals?  I know there are some pretty clever people out there reading this and I'd love to hear what your thoughts.