Italian Sausage Bake

This recipe is an adaptation from one found on the Velveeta box; it turned out great and the kids loved it … well except for one who doesn’t really care for spicy Italian sausage.  We made a deal and he ate half the meat on his plate – made sure his water glass was handy to tame the fiery tongue!

Italian Sausage Bake
Yield: 12 servings

Ingredients:
16oz. Rigattoni (or other tube shaped) pasta
1 lb. Italian sausage, casings removed
16 oz. tomato sauce
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 lb (8 oz.) Velveeta, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Cook pasta as directed.
2. Brown the sausage in a deep skillet over medium heat.  Add tomato sauce and oregano.  Add the Velveeta and stir until thoroughly mixed.
3. In a 13x9 inch pan, mix the pasta and meat mixture together.  Top with parmesan cheese.
4. Bake 20-25 min. or until heated through.

** Serve with a side salad and garlic toast.

--UPDATE--
While the kids and I really liked the spicy flavor (except for the one child, anyway!) we ALL agreed that it was too much Velveeta, especially noticeable on leftovers.  I would cut the amount back to 3/4 cup or even 1/2 cup.

New Cooking Resource … coming soon!

30 Day Gourmet, my source and inspiration for Once a Month Cooking (OAMC) is publishing a new book called 30 Day Gourmet’s BIG Book of Freezer Cooking.  If this is a topic you are at all interested in, check out the link for a 15 page preview of the book.  The preview includes four sample recipes … I’m especially interested in trying the Fried Rice.

Buckwheat Pancake Mix #2

Buckwheat Pancake Mix #2
Yield: 7.5 cups

Ingredients:
4 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup buckwheat flour
7/8 cups powdered eggs*
3/4 cup dry buttermilk powder
1 1/2 Tbls. baking powder
1/2 cup sugar

Directions:
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl with a whisk.  Store in an airtight container.  Can be kept in the pantry for about a month or in the refrigerator/freezer for 6 months. 

To Prepare:
1 cup buckwheat pancake mix #2
1/2 cup water
2 Tbls. melted butter

Stir the water and pancake mix together in a small bowl.  If batter is too thick, add a bit more water and stir again.  Drop approximately 1/4 cup onto hot skillet.  Makes 4 pancakes.  Double or triple as necessary.

*Can substitute 1/3 cup soy flour for the powdered eggs. 

Shrove Tuesday – King Cake

I found the recipe for King Cake at the King Arthur Flour Company website.  I haven’t ever made a special cake for Shrove Tuesday, not for lack of wishing and wanting!  This is the year my wish was made reality.  Food coloring are generally avoided in our household, mostly due to my sensitivity, but I just couldn’t resist making the cake ‘as it should be’ … colorful and completely festive.

 

Mixing the dough ingredients…

 

While the dough rises, I mixed up the cream cheese filling:

 

Preparing the dough … I formed the rectangle by hand:

 

I was distracted, so there is no picture of the filling being placed on the dough.  Fold the dough over the filling and transfer to a baking sheet:

 

While the dough rests and rises (about 1 hour), I colored the sugar.  The green and yellow turned out nice … can you tell the other is purple??

 

After baking, let the cake cool for about 10 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack:

 

After completely cool, frost the cake and decorate with colored sugar:

The purple looks better on the cake than on the blue plate.

 

 

Cake was enjoyed by all!

Buckwheat Pancake Mix

As a child, I can remember enjoying a little pancake variety.  Sometimes, fruit such as banana slices or blueberries (my personal favorite) would be added.  Occasionally, my mom would purchase buckwheat pancake mix created by an in-state company.

For Lent, we are not going to buy any additional cold cereal  We’ll finish up what’s in the pantry and then necessarily be more creative.  Yes, it will take more time in the morning, but we always have breads (bagels, english muffins, homemade bread), fruit, oatmeal and eggs on hand.  Another goal is to teach the older kids how to make some easy breakfast dishes, including pancakes.

To cut down on pancake preparation time, I made up a double batch of buckwheat pancake mix.  There are many variations, but this is the recipe I created after examining the ingredients I had on hand.

Buckwheat Pancake Mix #1
Yield: Approximately 7.5  cups mix

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 cups buckwheat flour
1 1/2 Tbls. baking powder
1 Tbls. salt
1/2 cup sugar

Storage:
In a large bowl, mix all ingredients with a whisk.  Transfer the mixture to a resealable container.  Store in pantry for about 1 month, or in the refrigerator/freezer for 6 months.


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Buckwheat Pancakes

Ingredients:
1 cup Buckwheat Pancake Mix
1 cup milk
1 egg
2 Tbls. melted butter

Directions:
Stir the ingredients together in a small bowl.  If batter seems to thick, add more milk and stir again.  Drop by 1/4 cup-fuls onto a hot skillet.  Makes approximately 4 pancakes.  Double or triple the recipe as necessary.