COLORFUL SPIRAL PASTA SALAD

 

Can you already believe it is April? I can't. And Easter, 2024 has come and gone.

Our Easter Sunday started early as we planned to go to our 8:00 A.M. service. We chose that service because we planned to go to church with our younger son Patrick and his family at their church at 10. Then we were going to go to our gkids' godparents for a family lunch.

As it turned out we missed going to church with Patrick and fam because they decided to go to the Sunrise service at 7 at their church but I didn't get his text because my phone had updated a few days ago and I didn't go in to exclude family members from the Do Not Disturb setting after bedtime. So we didn't know they had changed their minds in time to go. 

We enjoyed out service and then came back home until time to go meet them for lunch. I had asked Jamie what I could bring and she told me a pasta salad. That was something I haven't made too often so I had to go hunting for a recipe.

I found this recipe in a new cookbook for me called Taste of Home Half Homemade. I thought it looked so attractive in the picture and seemed to be really easy to make. It actually took me longer to cut up the fresh broccoli than it was to mix the ingredients. I have decided it won't be the last time I make it when we are going to a potluck.

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COLORFUL SPIRAL PASTA  SALAD

1        pkg. (12 oz) tricolor spiral pasta

4        cups fresh broccoli florets

1        dry pint grape tomatoes 

1        can ( 6 oz) pitted ripe olives, drained

1/8     teaspoon salt

1/8     teaspoon pepper

1-1/2  cups Zesty Italian salad dressing  

In a Dutch oven or big soup pot, cook pasta according to package directions,

adding the broccoli during the last 2 minutes of cooking.

Drain and rinse with cold water. 

Transfer to a large bowl.

Add the tomatoes and olives.

Measure the salad dressing and add the salt and pepper to it, stirring with a whisk.

Pour the salad dressing mix over the pasta mixture in the bowl.

Toss to coat. 

Cover and chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Store leftovers in a closed storage container in the refrigerator.

If you keep it a day or two, the flavors will be even better.

HAPPY EASTER

EASY PASTA/BEEF CASSEROLE

 It all started one day when I thought I would make us spaghetti. I had gotten a package of ground beef out of the freezer not sure what I would make but knowing I would come up with something by the time I would be ready to cook it. I thought I would come up with something fabulous but I didn't. 

I came up with something fantastic. And with normal ingredients that I had in the pantry. In fact if you don't count the two extra seasonings I added, I only used three ingredients. I'm almost embarrassed to write it up. BUT it's just a good example of throwing a few ingredients together and coming up with a delicious meal. A meal that lasted us probably 3 or 4 meals.

EASY PASTA/BEEF CASSEROLE

1               lb. ground beef

1-1/2 to 2  cups uncooked pasta (I used a chickpea rotini)

1                24 - ounce bottle of pasta sauce (I used a fresh tomato & basil & onion no-sugar-added pasta sauce)

1                teaspoon basil

1/2             teaspoon minced garlic        

2                cups your favorite shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a casserole dish with a non-sticking cooking spray. (I used a 9-1/2 - inch square casserole dish.)

Cook pasta according to package direction.

Cook ground beef until done. Drain if necessary. Add the pasta sauce to the cooked ground beef.

(I added about a teaspoon basil and some minced garlic.)

I added the pasta to the skillet but

my skillet wasn't really big enough so

I transferred the ingredients to the casserole dish. If you can combine the three ingredients in your skillet, do and then till the casserole dish with about half of the mixture and then add 1 cup of the cheese and stir to combine. Then add the rest of the pasta mixture to the casserole and top with the rest of the cheese. 

Since I couldn't do this I poured everything into the casserole dish and

then added half of the cheese and stirred it well.

Then I sprinkled the rest of the cheese on top.

I heated the casserole in the oven for 15 to 30 minutes.

Serve warm

For leftovers...

Spoon serving into microwavable dish, sprinkle with a little water, and cover. Heat on pasta setting for about 1-1/2 minutes. Then uncover and sprinkle some more shredded cheese on top, cover and return to microwave for about 30 more seconds or until cheese is melted. Taste just like it just came fresh out of the oven.

SIMPLE CHICKEN/TURKEY SOUP

 Friday morning we attended the dedication ceremony of our newly opened library about a mile from us. We are really fortunate in Kansas City and the surrounding area to have a library system called the Mid-Continent Public Library that covers three counties - Platte, Clay, and Jackson counties. The city limits of Kansas City is in all three counties but the library system covers many more cities in these three counties. 

The library near us was thirty years old and needed updating and enlarged so after voters approved tax money to build a newer, considerably larger state-of-the-arts library a mile or two away and right down the road from us. Green Hills Library Center is the result. The Culinary Center is the only one in the region and will open next year. It is going to be really spectacular. I am so looking forward to it. At the bottom of this post I will share some pictures of my first visit with grandkids Madison and Tyler. They were so excited about going as they watched it being built every time we drove past it this year.

We ran an errand to Menards afterwards and then went home to make some turkey soup with the leftover turkey from our belated Thanksgiving. Wayne immediately started looking for a recipe but I stopped him with, "Wait! I have a recipe I recently found that I wanted to try."

Finding the recipe our turkey noodle soup became a chicken soup using turkey instead of chicken. I had started cooking some rotini to use in place of the noodles but then changed my mind when I read the recipe and saw the ingredients especially the mixed vegetables. (I told Wayne he could just eat them with some butter.) 

Jump to the end by the time the soup was finished I had dished out some for him and added the cooked pasta. So the simple chicken soup turned into still a simple recipe but not exactly what the recipe intended. BUT it is very delicious. AND the little bit of turkey we had leftover after a couple of cold turkey sandwiches made us meals for several days.

PRINT RECIPE.

SIMPLE CHICKEN/TURKEY SOUP

2     cans (14.5 ounces each) chicken broth. (I made my own broth using chicken bouillon cubes and hot water) 

1     tablespoon dried minced onion

1     package frozen mixed vegetables

2     cups cubed cooked chicken breast or turkey

2     cans (10 ounces each) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted (low sodium)

1     teaspoon Nature Seasons

In a large saucepan, bring the broth and onion to a boil. Reduce heat.

Add the vegetables; cover and cook for 6 to 8 minutes or until crisp-tender.

Stir in the chicken or turkey and soup;

add seasoning

heat through.

I cooked 1 cup of chickpea rotini and

added it to some of the soup and then

added the rest of the soup to it. The turkey I used was smoked turkey our son Patrick made for our Thanksgiving so it gave the soup an extra yummy taste to it. 

At the dedication we learned that the fork outside the front of the library is the fifth largest fork on display in the nation.

Cups hanging over the "cafe" which is opening in January. 

The kids found books and they wanted to read them to me. I'M MY OWN DOG by David Ezra Stein was the cutest book and I would highly recommend it. It is told from the dog's point of view.

TACO BURGER ROTINI BAKE

 Whenever I find us eating out more often than I'm cooking us something to eat, I make myself do a search for some delicious looking main dishes that wouldn't be too hard but would be tasty and last us several meals.  As it turned out I found two but chose this one first.

I had to make it my own recipe though by changing the ingredients up some - maybe a little bit more than I usually do. I changed it so much that I had to rename the recipe. You see the title was Sausage Macaroni Bake and I didn't have any sausage and I didn't have any macaroni that I wanted to use. The only name I could keep would be "bake". I thought about Burger Pasta Bake or Taco Rotini Bake and finally decided to join them together together and call it Taco Burger Rotini Bake. Too much? Maybe so.

It was definitely quick and easy and  Wayne really liked it. It also lasted for two and a half meals which kept us out of restaurants and fast food places for a few days. Another fabulous thing was I tried some "pasta" I bought that was made with chick pea. I couldn't taste any difference in the rotini at all.

PRINT RECIPE HERE.

TACO BURGER ROTINI BAKE

3/4     cup uncooked pasta (rotini)

1/2     lb ground beef

1        teaspoon Nature Seasoning

2        teaspoons taco seasoning

1        can (8 ounces) tomato sauce

1/2     cup water

1        teaspoon pepper

4        tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese divided

Cook the rotini according to package directions; drain and set aside.

Cook the ground beef in a skillet over medium heat until no longer pink; drain if necessary.

Sprinkle the Nature Seasoning and taco seasoning over the cooked meat.

Stir in the tomato sauce and water.

Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Sprinkle the pepper on top and stir in.

While the meat is simmering, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Stir in the rotini and

Parmesan cheese.

Transfer to an ungreased 1-quart baking dish.

Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese.

Bake, uncovered, for 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbly.

Can sprinkle more Parmesan Cheese on top of individual servings.