Aunt Peg's Recipe Box: Casserole's

Showing posts with label Casserole's. Show all posts

April 9, 2015

Million $$$ Spaghetti Bake

I love spaghetti. I mean really really love it. I've seen this recipe on Pinterest dozens of times so I decided to give it a try.
I even have another spaghetti bake recipe posted here on the blog: Square Spaghetti.
Although slightly similar the 2 recipes each have different ingredients that make them unique.
Give this recipe a try!

MILLION $$$ SPAGHETTI BAKE

1 lb. ground beef

1 (24 oz.)jar of spaghetti sauce

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened

1/4 c. sour cream

1 c. cottage cheese

1/2 c. butter

1 (16 oz.) pkg. spaghetti

1 1/2-2 c. mozzarella cheese

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 350°. In a large stockpot cook the pasta according to package directions until al denti. Drain and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, sour cream and cottage cheese; cream together with an electric hand mixer.

Saute your ground beef until no longer pink; add the jar of spaghetti sauce and heat through.

Place a few pats of butter (about 1/2 of the stick) in the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish.

Pour 1/2 of the spaghetti into the bottom of the baking dish and spread the cream cheese mix over the top of the noodles.

Pour the remaining noodles over the cheese mix, add the remaining butter in small pat's (like you did in the beginning).

Pour the sauce over the entire top and spread evenly.

Place the baking dish in the preheated oven and bake for 30 min. Remove dish from oven, sprinkle the grated cheese over the top and return to the oven for 15 min.

Allow the dish to stand for 10 min. before serving. Sprinkle each serving with a little Parmesan cheese if desired.

Recipe Source: MadeFromPinterest.Net

July 22, 2014

Ranch Chicken and Bacon Casserole

I like this recipe because it's quick and simple to throw together. It's an easy dish to double or even triple for a get together. Add a green salad, some crusty rolls and you've got the perfect meal to take to someone in need.

RANCH CHICKEN & BACON CASSEROLE

2 c. chicken, cooked and chopped

1/2 c. bacon, cooked, crumbled

(you can use bacon bits)

1 c. cheddar cheese

1 (1 oz.) packet dry ranch dressing mix

1 (10.75 oz.) can cream of chicken soup

1 c. milk

3/4 c. uncooked long grain rice (not instant rice)
1/2 c. French's Dried Onion Rings

I hate it when I forget to put 1 ingredient in a photo!

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Lightly coat a 9x9 baking dish with non-stick spray. In a large bowl combine the chicken, bacon, cheddar cheese, ranch dressing mix, soup, milk and rice. Stir well to incorporate. Spread into the prepared baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for 35-40 minutes, stirring midway through the cooking time.

After stirring, sprinkle the dried onion rings over the top, re-cover and continue baking until edges are hot and bubbly. Serves 4-6.

Adapted Recipe Source: PlainChicken.com via Pinterest

January 1, 2014

Our 2013 Most Popular Recipes Review

Our 2013 Year In Review!

I thought it would be fun to create a post that reflects on our 10 most popular recipes in 2013... here's the count down, from our 10th most viewed recipe to the #1 winner of 2013!

#10

Pineapple Lemonade Punch

Asian Style Noodle Pancakes

(this recipe is a personal favorite)

Oreo Oatmeal No Bake Cookies

Indiana Easy No Bake Cookies

Pumpkin Spice Fudge

(I love everything pumpkin!)

Pumpkin Spiced No Bake Cookies

Sensational Taco Pie

(one of my family's favorite dinners)

Vanilla Oatmeal No Bake Cookies

Coconut Oatmeal No Bake Cookies

And the #1 most popular recipe, for a 3rd year in a row is (drum rolls please...) our

Diet Coke Brownie's

I also found a few interesting and fun facts about the people who visit us.
Microsoft Windows is the top operating system for browsers while the iPhone is the top mobile platform.

The biggest driving factor that bring visitors to our blog is Pinterest (no surprise here), while Facebook was only the 9th largest website to bring viewers to our blog ( I was surprised here).

Visitors from around the world are ranked by countries with the most visitors in the following order;

#1 United States
#2 Canada
#3 United Kingdom
#4 Australia
#5 Germany
#6 Russia
#7 France
#8 Mexico
#9 Philippines
#10 South Africa

And finally, as of December 31st 2013, Aunt Peg's Recipe Box has had 2,293,788 visitors (that's 2.2 MILLION!). Wow!

Thanks to each one of you for making this a fun year for me! It's amazing how we can be connected globally by simply sharing a recipe.

Wishing you all the best for a fun, peaceful, prosperous 2014!

August 20, 2013

5 Ingredient Ramen Noodle Bake

This was a recipe that caught my eye on Pinterest.
Finding 5 ingredient recipes makes me happy, and since the title suggested a simple pasta casserole, I knew I would give it a try.

Ramen Noodle Bake

4 pkg Beef flavor Ramen Noodles

1 (26 oz.) bottle spaghetti sauce

1 lb. cooked ground beef

2 c. mozzarella cheese, shredded, divided

3 1/2 c. water.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Lightly coat a 9 x 13 baking dish with non-stick spray.
Setting aside the seasoning packets, break up the 4 packages of ramen noodles and spread them over the bottom of the dish.

Sprinkle the cooked beef over the top of the noodles.
Pour the bottle of spaghetti sauce over the top, and then sprinkle 1 of the beef seasoning packets over the top of the sauce. Save the remaining packets for another use.

Next sprinkle 1 c. of cheese over the top, and then pour the water over everything.

Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake 40-50 min, until the water is absorbed.
Remove the foil, sprinkle with remaining 1 c. shredded mozzarella and return to the oven for 7-10 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

My family ended up giving this recipe a B+ grade. We all agreed it would be better with cooked sausage rather than the beef, and we thought it would be lovely with Parmesan cheese baked on top.
The noodles were very soft, and not as "dense" as I thought they would be, but I did like this dish.

1 tip: I found the dish to be a little salty for my taste because I used ground beef that I had cooked and pre-seasoned in a large batch earlier in the week.
I will not add salt to my ground beef while cooking it the next time I make this, and I will definitely add diced onions to the meat while frying it.

Recipe adapted from The Cutting Edge of Ordinary

March 22, 2013

Chicken and Artichoke Lasagna in Creamy White Sauce

I've always been a lover of pasta, artichokes, cream cheese and mozzarella cheese, so it's a perfect dish for me!
It also turned out to be a big hit with my family and a couple of dinner guests we had the first evening I tried this recipe. Well, we all decided that this dish is a keeper!

Chicken & Artichoke Lasagna in Creamy White Sauce

2 c. cooked chicken, shredded

1 (14 oz.) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

(I don't recommend using marinated hearts)

2 1/2 c. mozzarella cheese, shredded, divided

1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese

2 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened

1 c. milk

1 tsp. chopped garlic

(or 1/2 tsp. garlic powder)

1/4 c. tightly packed fresh basil, chopped, divided

8 oz. sliced mushrooms (optional)

12 lasagna noodles

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook the lasagna noodles according to package directions, just BARELY to al dente. Remember, the noodles will continue to cook in the oven.

In a large bowl combine the chicken, artichokes, 1 cup mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.

In a separate bowl beat the cream cheese, milk and garlic until well blended. Stir in 2 Tbsp. of the chopped fresh basil.
Mix 1/2 of the cream cheese sauce in with the chicken mix.

In a 9 x 13 baking dish that has been lightly coated with non-stick cooking spray, spread 1/2 of the remaining sauce onto the bottom. Cover with 3 noodles, then 1/3 of the chicken mixture and 1/3 c. mozzarella cheese. Layer on the mushrooms, for the first layer only.
Repeat with a 2nd layer, in the same order and again with a 3rd layer.
Top with remaining 3 noodles, cream cheese sauce, and the last 1/2 c. mozzarella cheese.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until it is heated through. Sprinkle with remaining basil then allow to stand for 5 minutes before cutting into squares.

I turned my broiler on for 5 additional minutes of baking time to get this lovely browned cheesy goodness.

Ya baby!

Next time, I'm adding spinach in a layer or 2 (instead of the mushrooms)...imagine the possibilities...
oh, and p.s. this is really good the next day too.

Recipe adapted from: Kraft Foods

January 7, 2013

January is Slow Cooker Month!

JANUARY IS FOR CELEBRATING CROCK-POT COOKING!

I love the idea of celebrating slow cooker's (I still call them crock-pot's, I'm from THAT generation) all month long.

So far I've used my crock-pot 3 times this month, and today is January 6th...
I've been wondering for quite a while what the correct spelling for the term crockpot, and it turns out I've been mis-spelling it forever according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the correct spelling is Crock-pot (with the hyphen). Sheeesh. Another new thing to remember...

With all of that rambling being said, I wanted to create a post linking back to some of my personal favorite crock-pot recipes, as well as other popular recipes found via my Crock-pot Crazy Pinterest Board.
You will definitely want to create a link to this post, you'll want to come back often!

Crock-pot Beef Stroganoff