Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce

This recipe was inspired by one I found on Pinch of Yum.  I love Alfredo Sauce, but it is so rich that I am never able to eat very much of it.  This recipe has all the flavor but feels a lot lighter, so it's easier to eat and enjoy.  My kids say it smells funny (probably the cauliflower), but they all agree that it tastes great!

1/2 head cauliflower
1/2 to 1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
1/4 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoons butter
3 cloves minced garlic
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Steam cauliflower until completely tender.  Place in blender with milk and 1/2 cup broth.  Blend until smooth, adding more broth as needed.  Add salt, butter, Parmesan and garlic and blend to mix well.  (You can also add a couple of handfuls of spinach at this point to make a green alfredo sauce!)  Toss with pasta, veggies, or rice and sprinkle with mozzarella or parmesan to taste.

Spaghetti w/ Smoked Sausage and Carrots

I know this sounds like a weird combination, but it really is super yummy. My kids always think it looks weird, but once they get the first taste, they pretty much inhale everything on their plates... that makes it a winner in my book!

olive oil
1/4 onion, finely diced
2-3 carrots, peeled and shredded
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
8 inch piece of smoked sausage, cut into strips
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 lb spaghetti, cooked as directed

Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the onion and cook until softened and slightly translucent. Add the red pepper flakes and cook for about 1 minute, just until fragrant, then add the carrots and sausage. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring often, until the sausage is slightly browned and the carrots are softening. Add pepper to taste and toss with the cooked spaghetti. Serve at once.

This recipe makes enough for 4 adult servings or 2 adult and 4 child sized servings.

Velveeta Shells & Cheese Cups

Let me start by saying that I love Velveeta Shells & Cheese - it's just so much creamier than regular mac & cheese and feels more like a comfort food - especially when I don't feel up to making the real deal. In fact, I usually won't eat the regular stuff when I make if for my kids. I recently had a chance to try both Easy Mac and the Velveeta Shells & Cheese Cups and while I can tolerate the Easy Mac because it really doesn't taste that different from the regular stuff, I really think Kraft needs to discontinue the Shells & Cheese Cups.

For starters, the shells don't cook evenly in the microwave so you end up with noodles that are part gooey and part crunchy. Then, the extra water that is left in the noodles dilutes the cheese sauce so you don't get that Velveeta taste. In the end, you are left with a gummy, gluey, yellow mess that hardly even tastes like macaroni & cheese. The convenience really isn't worth it since regular Velveeta Shells only take about 7 minutes to make and only cost about 50 cents more.

Thanksgiving Dinner - Texas style

*Fully Cooked Mesquite smoked Brisket from HEB (just has to be heated)
*Cajun Roast Rabbit
*Sweet Potato Biscuits
*Macaroni and Cheese
*Herbed Broccoli & Tomatoes
*Smashed Potatoes (requested by Leah)
*Green Salad (spinach and arugula w/ persimmons, maple pecans, and manchego - simple balsalmic vinegar and olive oil dressing)
*Orange Ginger Pecan Cranberry Sauce
*Orange Fluff Salad
*Maple Pumpkin Pie
*Pecan Pie

Spinach Lasagna

Another of my mom's great recipes - with an added twist. This is the lasagna I grew up eating and loved... after making a batch of stuffed shells one day I decided it would be much easier to adapt this recipe by adding the spinach and fennel seeds. The fennel is what puts this recipe over the top - it adds a wonderful fresh flavor to the dish. You could easily make this vegetarian by leaving the ground beef out of the sauce or replacing it with mushrooms. This recipe makes two lasagnas, so plan accordingly!

Sauté together:

1 lb. ground beef

½ cup chopped onion

Drain fat and add:

2 – 8 oz. cans tomato sauce

2 – 6 oz. cans tomato paste

2 tomato paste cans of water

1 Tbsp. oregano

1 ½ tsp. garlic powder

1 ½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

2 Tbsp. dried parsley

In separate bowl, combine:

2 eggs

24 oz. Cottage cheese

1 Tbsp fennel seeds

2 packed cups fresh spinach, chopped in food processor

In another bowl, combine:

1 lb. Shredded mozzarella cheese

½ c. grated Parmesan cheese

Cook 1 lb. Lasagna noodles according to directions on package.

In each of two 9x13 casserole dishes, layer the following:

1 ½ cups meat sauce

Noodles to cover meat sauce (usually four or five)

½ cottage cheese mixture

¼ mozzarella mixture

Noodles to cover cheese layer

1 ½ cups meat sauce

¼ mozzarella mixture

Lasagnas can be frozen until needed. Defrost in refrigerator before cooking.

Bake at 400° for 30 minutes.

Baked Pasta

I needed something to throw together at the last minute, so I made the following sauce and tossed it with cooked rotini noodles, then covered it with mozzarella and baked until melted.

1 can crushed tomatoes

1 Tbsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp sugar

1 Tbsp Parmesan cheese

1/4 lb ground sausage, browned and crumbled

Mix together over medium heat until flavors are combined - about 10 minutes.

Spinach and Orzo Salad

This yummy salad was another big hit. It has a very mediterranean taste which I love! Next time I'll use half as many onions and add a can of garbanzo beans to make it more kid friendly.