Shrimp and Spinach Alfredo with Angelhair Pasta ***

I don't know how, but I had completely forgotten about this recipe.  I love, love, love it.  Two of my favorite things are spinach and shrimp, so this is a pretty easy win for me.  The kids actually request leftovers when I make this one, which is really, really rare around our house, lol. 

SHRIMP AND SPINACH ALFREDO WITH ANGELHAIR PASTA
(luckymommyto2boys ~ Amy)

2 lbs extra large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
26 oz jarred alfredo sauce
12 oz whole-grain angelhair pasta
1 tbsp olive oil
12 oz frozen cut leaf spinach
6 oz sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup diced onions
Garlic powder, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Parmesan cheese, if desired

Cook noodles in soup pot as directed on package.  Drain.
While noodles are cooking, remove tails from shrimp if necessary and chop into 2-4 pieces per shrimp.  Heat oil in saucepan on medium heat.  Add shrimp to pan.  Season with pepper and garlic powder to taste.  Saute 4-5 minutes, until all shrimp are pink.  Remove from heat.
While noodles are draining in colander, heat spinach with water in soup pot.  Add mushrooms and onions.  Saute until all spinach is thawed and most water has cooked out, about 5 minutes.  Add shrimp and alfredo sauce and heat through.  Mix in the noodles, and serve immediately.  Sprinkle servings with grated Parmesan if desired.
Yield: 8 servings

Previous reviews:
5/29/12 ~ I had lots of thawed raw shrimp to use up, and since I got off work so late, I didn't have time to do anything fancy like I had planned.  I came up with this based on what I had in the pantry, and we loved it.  Such a shocker for me.  Well, not so much on my end, since anything with shrimp, alfredo sauce, and spinach is bound to be divine, but I was shocked that the kids loved it as much as I did.  My 8-year-old has already requested that we have it again tomorrow.  For kids who never want the same meal (or leftovers) two nights in a row, this is a huge deal.  As written, the recipe makes about 8-10 servings.  That gives us enough for two nights.  You could easily half it, though.  I'm actually looking forward to seeing how it is after sitting in the fridge and soaking up the flavors overnight.  I do want to make a homemade alfredo sauce next time, but this worked for now.  :)

Crockpot Cheese Tortellini with Sausage **

This was pretty good.  The original poster mentioned that she had used a chicken sausage, so I tried it with Emeril's chicken apple sausages.  The boys and hubby loved it.  It was a bit too salty for me.  I didn't brown the sausages first, so maybe that would have helped.  It was really soupy, but that wasn't much of a problem.  The recipe itself kind of reminded me of Tomato Alfredo Tortellini (which I adore).  It just wasn't as good, though.  Like I said, everyone else raved about it, so maybe it's just me.  Makes me want to try the Tomato Alfredo Tortellini in the crockpot, though.  ;-)

CROCKPOT CHEESE TORTELLINI WITH SAUSAGE
(luckymommyto2boys ~ Amy ~ Little Fellows via Pinterest)

1 (19oz) bag of frozen cheese tortellini
1 small bag of fresh spinach (I used about half of a 5 oz package, but more is better!)
2 (14.5 oz) cans of Italian style diced tomatoes, drained
1 block (8 oz) of cream cheese or neufchatel (less fat)
1 lb. of ground sausage or chicken/turkey sausage
4 cups of chicken broth

Brown the sausage and put all ingredients in crockpot, chunking up the cream cheese.
Cook on low for 4-6 hrs.
Serves 4-6
*Keep an eye on your tortellini, it may be done sooner.
*If still soupy, leave lid off for the last half hour or so of cooking.
*For a vegetarian version, omit sausage and use vegetable broth instead.

Taco Tater Tot Bake ****

I. am. in. love.  Deeply.  This recipe went way beyond what I expected.  My kids had THIRDS.  That's right, even the scrawny one who rarely even finishes one helping.  Granted, they were small helpings, since I assumed they wouldn't eat much, and they had just finished swimming and were famished...  But still, they raved about this.  They've already requested that I make it again next week.  The only change I made was to use ground turkey, as usual.  I'm a tater-tot-aholic, so I was fairly certain I'd like this one from the get-go.  I just had no idea how much.  It has a longer cook time than I like on a weeknight, but you could cook the ground beef and mix up everything but the tots the night before.  That would save a lot of time.  All I'd have to do when I got home from work was throw in the tots and toss that bad boy in the oven.  I absolutely this recipe!

TACO TATER TOT BAKE

(luckymommyto2boys ~ Amy ~ BlogChef)

1 lb ground beef

1 small onion (diced)

1 garlic clove (minced)

1 small can black olives (sliced)

1 (1 ounce) package taco seasoning mix

1 (16 ounce) bag frozen corn

1 (4 ounce) can green chilies (diced and drained)

1 (12 ounce) can black beans (drained and rinsed)

1 (16 ounce) bag shredded Mexican cheese blend

1 (16 ounce) package frozen tater tots

1 (10.5 ounce fluid ounce) can enchilada sauce

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9×13 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Heat a skillet to medium high heat. Add ground beef, garlic, and onion and cook while breaking the meat apart with a spoon or spatula until the ground beef is completely browned. Drain off any excess fat. Add taco seasoning mix, green chilies, frozen corn, and black beans to the ground beef. Cook until heated through.

In a large bowl combine ground beef mixture, 3/4 of the Mexican cheese blend, and all of the tater tots. Stir well to combine.

Pour about 1/3 of the enchilada sauce into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Add the tater tot mixture to the baking dish and lightly pat the mixture down into a solid, even layer. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the tater tots.

Place into the oven and bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes. During the last few minutes of baking, top the casserole with the remaining Mexican cheese blend and the sliced black olives. Return to the oven and bake until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

(Makes 6 Servings)

Cheesy Broccoli Chicken Foil Packs ***

This was much better than I thought it would be.  The chicken was absolutely wonderful.  The kids actually said their favorite part was the broccoli!  That's not as huge as it might be in other families, since my kids do like broccoli anyway, but the veggie isn't normally the highlight of the meal in their eyes.  Needless to say, I was pretty excited at their response.  I didn't measure anything, other than the water that went into the Stovetop (I always use the cornbread dressing instead of the stuffing), but I was able to stretch it into five packs, so that hubby would have one for lunch tomorrow too.  There was plenty to go around, and we were all stuffed when we finished.  I really think that shoving it all into four packs would have been a bit much.  Mine cooked exactly 40 minutes and were perfect.  I also used the pre-cooked bacon pieces, since that's all I had.  Over all, it was a yummy meal that was fairly easy to throw together.  Definitely a winner for us!

CHEESY BROCCOLI CHICKEN FOIL PACKS

(luckymommyto2boys ~ Amy ~ Best Life for Moms)

1 package Stuffing mix; chicken flavor

1 1/4 cups Water

4 Boneless skinless chicken breast halves

4 cups Broccoli Florets

1 cups Shredded cheddar cheese

4 slices cooked bacon; crumbled

4 tbsp Ranch dressing divided

Preheat oven to 400*.

Spray 4 large sheets of heavy-duty foil with oil.

Combine stuffing mix and water.

Spoon 1/4 of the stuffing mixture onto the center of each foil sheet.

Top stuffing with a 6oz. chicken breast half.

Top chicken with 1 c. broccoli.

Sprinkle with 1/4 of the cheese and 1 slice of bacon, crumbled.

Drizzle with 1 T. ranch dressing

Bring up foil sides and fold to seal, leaving room for heat circulation inside

Place packets on a cookie sheet and bake 35-40 minutes (depends on the size of your chicken breasts).

Remove packets and let stand 5 minutes.

Cut slits in foil for steam before opening.

*Amy's notes: I split mine up into 5 packets, which was perfect.

Crockpot Country Ham ***

This was some good stuff.  I used the pickle juice, but I honestly think it would have been just as good without.  I threw it in the crockpot this morning (Saturday), and we got to run around and do all of our fun stuff during the day, while still coming home to a hot meal tonight.  Perfect!  The best part is, now we have stuff for sandwiches this week, and I have some ham to use in my Crockpot Ham and Lentil Soup later this week.  Woo hoo!

CROCKPOT COUNTRY HAM
(Amy - amylz)
 
1 fully cooked ham that can fit in your crockpot
1 liter Dr. Pepper
1 cup sweet pickle juice, optional

Put ham in crockpot.  Pour Dr. Pepper over top and the pickle juice.  Cook on low about 8 hours.

2-Step Italian Burger Melt ***

For as simple as this is, it's actually really good.  Dh made it for us, since I was late leaving work, and he said it came together in no time.  I subbed 2 lbs of ground turkey.  I'd like them a little flatter than we had them, but other than that, the flavor is pretty good.  I served them on crustini hamburger buns with a little of the sauce on top.  I put dill pickle relish on mine and the oldest kiddo's.  Youngest had his plain.  Hubby had his as an open-faced sandwich with jalapenos.  They're really pretty versatile!  Definitely adding to the rotation.

2-STEP ITALIAN BURGER MELT
(Dottie ~ hokiesmom ~ via Campbell's Kitchen)
 
1-1/2 lb. ground beef
1 (10-3/4 oz) can Campbell's Tomato Soup
1/3 cup water
1 tsp. dried oregano leaves, crushed
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
 
Shape ground beef into 6 patties, 1/2" thick each. Place in 2-qt. shallow baking dish. MIX soup, water and oregano. Pour over patties. Top with cheese. BAKE at 400F. for 20 min. or until done. Serve on rolls or over pasta. Serves 6. ***For a change of pace, substitute fontina or provolone cheese for mozzarella.****
luckymom's notes: I used 2 lbs of ground turkey.

Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta ****

This recipe was actually inspired by the Crack Chicken recipe that is circulating Pinterest.  Once I started making it, though, I realized that one wouldn't really work for us, so I kind of redid it and changed some stuff around.  The original recipe can be found here.

This is the second time I made it, and I accidentally doubled the sauce without thinking.  I had it in my head that it was 4 cups of milk instead of 2, so then I had to double all of it.  Anyway, I just used the full 16 oz package of noodles.  It was SO GOOD.  I am seriously going to do that from now on.  Every single person cleaned their plates, and they all told me over and over how much they loved it.  Cha-ching!

CHICKEN BACON RANCH PASTA
(luckymommyto2boys ~ Amy)

12 oz dried medium egg noodles
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
Small bag real bacon pieces
1-1/2 packages dry Ranch salad dressing mix
4 Tbsp Flour
2 cups milk
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions and return to pan.
Place chicken in saucepan with bacon bits, flour and ranch dressing. Stir well to coat chicken. Stir in milk, cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook for another minute.
Add in Parmesan cheese and add to noodles.  Stir well to combine.  Serve hot.
Yield: 6-8 servings
*Amy's notes: I like to double the sauce and use 16 oz of noodles.