Zucchini Casserole

A year ago I could barely get my family to eat zucchini. They all turned their noses up at it, even my husband. Now we eat zucchini at least once a week, especially when it's in season. My mom sent me this yummy recipe and we love it!

This casserole takes zucchini to a new, tasty level. Combined with ground beef or sausage (or a mixture of both) and potatoes, it's hearty and satisfying. The ground beef version seems to be more filling, while the sausage version is a bit more flavorful. Using a little of both is definitely a winning combination!

 And we never have leftovers. It gets gobbled up in the blink of an eye.

Here's what you need:

1 lb ground beef or sausage, cooked and drained (or 1/2 lb of each)
1 large zucchini, shredded ( I use my cheese grater)
3 potatoes, scrubbed, peeled and grated
1 small onion, diced
2 teas seasoned salt
1/2 teas garlic powder
1/4 teas black pepper
1 cup shredded cheese (I use white or yellow cheddar)
1-2 tomatoes, sliced

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients except the tomatoes. Spread into a lightly greased 9x13 baking pan. Top with the tomato slices. You can see I only used one tomato and only covered half the casserole. My kids don't care for the tomatoes. I think the tomatoes give the casserole a great flavor.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes, until slightly crisp around the edges. Allow to stand for 15 minutes before serving.

One Pot Sausage and Tortellini

Recently I've been experimenting with one pot meals. Usually they consist of a meat/protein along with a starch like pasta, rice or potatoes. Only one pan is used in cooking the dish, hence the one pot name.

I have to say, I resisted this idea for awhile. I've always cooked pasta separately, then added it to the dish I'm making. It's just the way it was done. At least, in my house. But I decided to give this new method a try. I'm glad I did. Clean up is a breeze, and the pasta had a very rich flavor from simmering in the sauce.

Here's what you need:

1 lb Italian sausage links, casings removed
2 teas minced garlic
1 cup chicken broth
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 (19 oz) pkg frozen tortellini

In a large saucepan, heat a little olive oil. Cook the sausages, breaking them up into smaller chunks. Add the minced garlic and cook for another minute. Drain any excess grease from the pan.

Stir in the broth, tomato sauce and heavy cream. Bring to a low boil, stirring often. Add the frozen tortellini and stir to make sure all of it is coated with the liquid. Cover and simmer for 12 minutes, or until the tortellini is tender.

Oven Roasted Sausage and Potatoes

I adore simple meals like this one. No fuss. Just stick-to-your-ribs goodness. And so easy to prepare!

The most difficult thing is dicing the potatoes. I don't peel mine, just scrub them really well to remove any dirt. But leaving the skins on adds to the yumminess of the dish, I think.

Here's what you need:

1 lb smoked sausage, sliced into 1/4 inch pieces
3 lbs small potatoes, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1/2 onion, diced
2-3 TBSP olive oil
2 teas Creole seasoning
salt, to taste

Brush 1 TBSP olive oil onto a rimmed baking sheet. Place the sausage, potatoes, pepper, and onion on the baking sheet. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil and sprinkle with the Creole seasoning and salt. Stir to coat. I just dig my hands in and combine it all.

Bake at 400 degrees for 40-45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.

Italian Sausage Sandwiches

As I was growing up, this is one quick and easy meal my mom served often. And we kids loved it! It's now one of my favorite sandwiches to prepare for my own family. And it's so simple to throw together, its makes the perfect busy weeknight dinner.

My mom always used spicy Italian sausage. But my kids aren't really big fans of spicy stuff, so I just use the mild or sweet sausage. And because the meat is already well seasoned, you don't have to add anything but sauce. How much easier can that be?

Here's what you need:

5 Italian sausage links (usually sold in a 16-19 oz package)
1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce - this is the smallest can of tomato sauce
shredded mozzarella cheese, if desired
4-6 sandwich rolls

Remove the sausages from their casings. In a skillet, brown the sausage until no longer pink, breaking it up into small chunks as you cook it. Drain any excess grease from the skillet. I do this by removing the sausage with a slotted spoon onto a paper towel-covered plate. Then I pour the grease into a small bowl and dispose of it when it cools and hardens. I put the meat back into the pan and proceed.

Stir in the tomato sauce and heat through. Serve on crusty sandwich rolls and top with shredded cheese if desired. I usually pop the sandwiches into the oven at 375 degrees for a few minutes until the cheese is melted.

Make Ahead Swedish Meatballs

I love having meals that I can make ahead and freeze for my family. This meal is actually only partially made ahead - the meatball part. The yummy spiced gravy is made at serving time, but it's really easy and only takes a few minutes.

The allspice and nutmeg are absolutely necessary for this recipe to be successful. There's just enough to give the meatballs and gravy a lovely zip. My family loves this comfort food, and I love how easy it is!

Here's what you need:

For the meatballs
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup cream (you can sub milk)
1/4 cup minced onion (dry minced onion works fine here)
1 teas garlic powder
1 teas sea salt
1 teas dried parsley
1/2 teas black pepper
1/2 teas allspice
1/4 teas nutmeg

In a mixing bowl, combine the bread crumbs, cream, minced onion, seasonings and spices. Crumble the ground beef and ground pork over the top, then use your hands to mix well.

Pinch off a golf-ball sized portion and shape it into a ball. This will make about 16 large meatballs. If you want to serve these as appetizers, make them into ping-pong ball sized balls. You would get about 24 that way.

Place in a lightly greased baking dish and cover with foil. Bake at 350 degrees for forty minutes, or until meatballs are no longer pink inside. If you make smaller meatballs, it might not take as long.

Allow to cool completely, then freeze in a gallon size Ziploc bag. If you want to serve these immediately, go ahead and prepare the gravy. Otherwise, prepare the gravy on the day you want to serve your meatballs.

For the gravy
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
3 cups beef broth
1 teas dried parsley
1/2 teas allspice
1/2 teas sea salt
1/4 teas black pepper
1/2 cup sour cream

In a saucepan, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and make sure there are no lumps. Cook until bubbly. Slowly whisk in the broth and stir until there are no lumps. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil and allow to thicken. Stir in the seasonings. Remove from heat and stir in the sour cream until completely incorporated.

If you're serving your meatballs the same day you make them, place them in a serving dish. Pour the gravy over the meatballs, making sure they're all coated. Serve warm.

If your meatballs have been made ahead, thaw them completely in the fridge. Place in a crockpot and pour the gravy over them. Heat on low for 2 hours, or until heated through. Alternately, you can place them in a saucepan, pour the gravy over them and heat on low until warmed through.

Serve over mashed potatoes, cooked noodles or rice.

Italian Sausage Rigatoni

Pasta is one of the easiest dishes to fix. I make a lot of it around here. But I do like to venture away from preparing it the same way every time.

This recipe uses Italian sausage for the meaty sauce and hearty rigatoni as the noodle. But any kind of pasta would do. I prefer bigger noddles for the chunky meat, that's all.

Here's the recipe:

1 lb ground Italian sausage - you could also use links, just break them up as they cook
1 can (29 oz) tomato puree
1 small green pepper, diced
1/2 small onion, diced
1 TBSP Italian seasoning
1/2 TBSP dried basil
1/2 TBSP dried oregano
2 teas garlic powder
1 teas sea salt
1/2 teas black pepper
1 box (16 oz) rigatoni, cooked according to package directions

In a large skillet, brown the Italian sausage with the green pepper and onion. Drain any excess grease.

Add the tomato puree and seasonings. Simmer for 20 minutes to allow the flavors to blend.

Serve the sauce over the rigatoni.

Sausage, Red Beans & Rice in the Crockpot!

I love crockpot meals. It's so convenient to toss a few ingredients together and let the appliance do the cooking. This is one of those meals that is so simple, you can hardly consider it cooking! When I found the recipe at Freezing Your Way Fit, I knew I had to try it. Of course, I tweaked it a bit. But it's a very hearty, satisfying dish that even my kids loved.

Here's what you need:

1 1/2 cups uncooked brown rice
3 cups chicken broth (I use low sodium)
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 lb smoked sausage or kielbasa
1 small onion, diced
1 small green pepper, diced
1 teas Creole seasoning
1 teas dried oregano
1 teas garlic powder
1 teas sea salt
1/4 teas black pepper
1/4 teas dried thyme
a pinch of cayenne pepper (or more if you like it spicy)

Stir all the ingredients together in a lightly greased crockpot. Avoid stirring during the cooking process to avoid excess gumminess. A little sticky is okay and perfectly normal. But you don't want mush.

Cover and cook on low for 6 hours. All of the liquid should be absorbed.

I'm sharing this recipe at Blessed with Grace's Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.

Smoked Sausage and Pepper Skillet

With the heat of summer upon us, I dread turning the oven on in the afternoon to prepare something for dinner. My kitchen is extremely warm, since we have a skylight right in the middle of it. We get direct sunlight for several hours in the afternoon during the summer. So I'm always looking for stove-top meals that don't heat up the kitchen as much as baked meals do.

This quick and easy skillet dish fits the bill. I like to chop up the meat and veggies in the morning before things get hectic. Then all I have to do is heat the skillet and we're on our way to a simple, yummy meal. Alternately, you can grill this as kebabs or in a grill basket. It's delicious either way.

Here's what you need:

1 lb, smoked sausage or kielbasa, cut into 1-inch slices (I usually halve the slices since I have kids who need to take smaller bites)
2 bell peppers, any color, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 onion, chopped
2 TBSP balsamic vinegar
1 TBSP olive oil
1 teas Italian seasoning
salt and pepper to taste

Place the cut-up meat and veggies into a Ziploc bag. Combine the remaining ingredients in a small bowl and pour over the bag contents. Refrigerate for up to 8 hours. You can skip the refrigeration step if you're in a hurry. Just add the vinegar, oil and seasonings to the pan when you cook the rest of it.

Heat a little olive oil in a pan over medium heat. When the pan is hot, dump in the meat, veggies and seasonings.

Cook until the peppers and onions are tender, stirring once in a while. You want a nice brown color to the meat and veggies so don't stir too often. It will take about 10 minutes.

 The balsamic vinegar gives this dish a nice tang without overpowering it. I usually serve it with potatoes or over rice.

Leftover Ham Recipe #4 Ham Broccoli Quiche

This is the last of my leftover ham recipes. I hope you've found some inspiration for using up the remains of your yummy Christmas ham.

I acquired this recipe shortly after I was married and have just recently dug it back out. It's a basic quiche recipe, not too eggy which I really like. Even my kids gobble it up, so it's a great way to use up ham leftovers. But deli ham works perfectly fine, too.

Here's what you need:

1 9-inch pastry shell
1 cup diced ham (smoked ham is great in this)
1/2 cup chopped broccoli
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 eggs
1 cup half and half or milk
1/2 teas garlic powder
1/2 teas onion powder
1/2 teas seasoned salt
dash of black pepper

Layer the ham, broccoli and cheese in the pastry shell.


In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, cream or milk and spices together.


Pour over the entire pie shell. Cover the edges of the crust with foil or a pie shield. Bake at 400 degrees for 35-45 minutes or until the filling is set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.


Let the quiche set for 10 minutes before cutting.


*Note - to avoid the possibility of a soggy crust, prebake your pie shell for 10 minutes, making sure to cover the edges with foil or a pie shield. I generally don't do this because we have a convection oven and it cooks pretty evenly. But you might try it if you have trouble with uneven baking in your oven.


You can customize the savory ingredients to your family's preferences. Swap out the ham for sausage or bacon. Try Swiss cheese instead of cheddar. Forego the broccoli for spinach or mushrooms. Use your imagination....and use up those leftovers!

Leftover Ham Recipe #3 Ham and White Bean Soup

One of the best parts about having ham for dinner is having a leftover bone or two with which to make soup. It imparts such wonderful flavor to soup and reduces the amount of seasonings you need to use.

I make this soup in the crockpot. And you'll need a big crockpot.

Here's the ingredient list:

1 ham bone
1 cup diced ham
4 cups chicken broth
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1/2 onion, chopped
2 teas minced garlic
2 large potatoes, peeled and diced
1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes, drained
2 cans (15 oz each) white beans, drained and rinsed well
2 teas cumin
1/4 teas black pepper
Water, optional

Put all the ingredients into a large crockpot. If there's any room left after the bone, veggies, beans and spices, add a little water. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Remove the ham bone from the pot. Scrape off any meat still clinging to the bone and return the meat to the crockpot.

This soup is delicious! The cumin adds a smokiness to the broth and the veggies soak up all the wonderful ham flavor. It's even better the next day, if you can prevent your family from sopping it all up right away.

Leftover Ham Recipe #2 - Cheesy Ham and Veggie Shells

This is the second recipe in the Leftover Ham series. Since Christmas dinner is coming and many people will have ham, I thought it would be a great idea to share some ways to use up leftovers.

I found this recipe over at Finding Joy in My Kitchen. SnoWhite is an excellent cook, and I always enjoy her recipes. I tweaked this one a bit using the veggies I had on hand. But broccoli is an excellent choice, as is zucchini. The beauty of this recipe is you can clean out the ham leftovers as well as your veggies!

Here's what you need:

1 lb shell pasta, cooked according to package directions
2 cups chopped veggies (I used red pepper, mushrooms and onions)
2 teas minced garlic
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cups milk
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup chopped ham
salt and pepper, to taste

In a large saucepan, heat some olive oil. Add the chopped veggies and garlic and cook until soft.


Sprinkle the flour over the veggies and stir to coat well.


Slowly add the milk, stirring constantly. The mixture should start to thicken. If it gets too thick, add some more milk until the reaches the consistency you want.



Now stir in the cheese until is completely melted. Add the ham.


Finally, stir in the cooked pasta shells and make sure everything is covered with the cheesy sauce.


The sauce will thicken upon standing, so if you need to reheat this, add a bit more milk.

Leftover Ham - Simple Yeast Roll Sandwiches

Ham is a popular main dish to serve for Christmas dinner around these parts. We all love it. But inevitably, we have leftovers. And then I'm trying to find ways to use the ham without wasting any. So this week before Christmas, I'll feature some ham recipes using leftovers so hopefully you can use up all your leftover Christmas ham.

One of the easiest way to use up leftovers is to make sandwiches. You can use regular bread if you want, but my family loves these little bite-sized sandwiches made from yeast rolls.


Here's what you need:

1 pkg frozen yeast rolls, baked according to the package directions
Leftover sliced or chopped ham
Cheddar or Swiss cheese slices (You can use shredded, too, if you don't have slices)
Mustard, if desired
1 TBSP butter, melted
1/4 teas garlic powder
1/4 teas onion powder

When the yeast rolls are cool enough to handle, split each one. Spread mustard inside if desired. Layer with ham and cheese. Place on a baking sheet. Combine the butter, garlic powder, and onion powder. Brush over the little sandwiches. Stick in the oven at 350 degrees until the cheese is melted.

Then stand back and see how quickly these yummy bites are gobbled up. Super easy and super delicious!