Egg Noodles with Spinach

I have been actively searching for easy, YUMMY, easy, YUMMY, easy recipes for dinner. I have found that if it takes longer than 30 minutes to make (and that is for ME to make it, not for a TV chef who cooks all day and can do stuff super fast) then it is NOT going to work for me.

One of my favorite TV shows is America’s Test Kitchen.  They take a recipe and re-work it until it has the maximum YUM factor.  Usually this means that the recipe is long with many ingredients, but I purchased their Cook’s County Best Lost Suppers recently and have found some simpler recipes to try.

The most recent triumph from that cookbook was this:

Screaming Noodles

1 lb. wide egg noodles

2 TB olive oil

2 garlic cloves

1/2 ts dried basil

1/4 ts red pepper flakes

1 cup cottage cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth

2 (5-oz) bags baby spinach

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

Cook the egg noodles with 1 ts salt until al dente.  Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta cooking water.  Drain noodles.

Meanwhile, heat oil, garlic, basil, pepper flakes and 1/2 tx salt in saucepan over medium heat – about a minute.  Add cottage cheese, Parmesan and broth – cook until thickened 2 to 4 minutes.

Stir the sauce into noodles adjusting liquid level with reserved pasta cooking water.

Stir in the spinach one handful at a time and cook until wilted – about 30 seconds.

Add parsley and season with salt and pepper.

DONE!

AND….

*drumroll*

ALL THREE OF MY BOYS ATE IT.

And I ate it.

And I ate the left-overs because it was YUMMY.

More recipes from Cook’s County can be found here.

Spaghetti and Eyeballs…Oops, I Mean Meatballs

I made spaghetti and eyeballs for dinner. Take your basic meatball recipe and add pimento-stuffed olives for eyeballs before baking.

Arrange on a plate and add a sliver of carrot for a tongue. Shriek!!

Spaghetti and meatballs has always been one of Nicholas’ most favorite foods so he had lots of fun eating this

Cheeseburger Runzas with BONUS cinnamon rolls

I don’t cook.  Really, I don’t.

So when I DO cook it has to be EASY and taste GOOD or else it isn’t worth the PAIN.

This is one of my favorite recipes to eat.  It is something I have modified over time from the original Runza recipe I used to make as a child that was beef (in my case, veggie-beef) and cabbage.  Over time it became more beef, then real beef and less cabbage, then no cabbage, and then…why not add cheese!

Wah-la! The Cheeseburger Runza. I have also seen these named cheeseburger bierocks or cheeseburger buns, but I grew up in Nebraska where these type of things are called Runzas.  So that is what they are.

This recipe calls for bread dough so you can pick up some frozen/refrigerated at the grocery store OR pull out your 1991 Bread Machine that you got as a wedding present and resembles R2D2:

Here is the dough recipe – it can be thrown into the bread machine all at once without any prep:

1 1/4 cup of milk

2 tablespoons of butter

2 tablespoons of sugar

1 teaspoon of salt

3 cups of bread flour

2 1/2 teaspoons yeast
I set my bread machine on a non-baking cycle.  I start this in the morning and haven’t had trouble with it even if I don’t get to it by mid-afternoon.

The filling is simply ground beef, onions, tomato sauce and some cheese.

If you want to use all the dough then make this full recipe.*

If you want to save a portion of the dough for cinnamon rolls, then just cut this recipe in half:

2 pounds of beef

1-2 onions chopped

1 can (15 oz.) of tomato sauce

Brown the beef and add the onions.  Let the onions get a bit tender and add the tomato sauce.

You are ready to fill your dough!

Out of a full recipe I usually get around 24+ runzas of various sizes.  I like to make really small ones for the kids and larger ones for the adults.
Roll the dough out very thin, add the filling and then sprinkle on the cheese – my favorite is sharp cheddar.

Fold the sides in and make a little package.

Flip them over and put on greased baking sheet.  If you pause for a little while and let them rise the final product will look a little better.  Often I just pop them straight into the oven at this point because I am trying to get dinner on the table ASAP.

Bake them at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Now, if you only did a 1/2 recipe then it is time for cinnamon rolls.  You will need lots of help.

First spread the left over dough with melted butter.
Then sprinkle sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon on top and spread it around.

Send all your helpers to the sink to clean up, roll up the dough, cut and bake at 400 for 10-18 minutes depending on your cinnamon roll size and pan density.

Alrighty people, time to eat.

Behold the Runza.

Behold the rolls of cinnamon.

*One argument against the cinnamon roll is that the left over runzas are yummy.  You can heat them up in the toaster oven at 400 for about 6 minutes or eat them cold.  Either way, I like mine dipped in ketchup.

Dots & Dogs

Reese & I were looking for some fun recipes to cook in the next few weeks, and we came across a version of this recipe in a Southern Living Kids’ Cookbook I have.

Reese helped me write our shopping list of ingredients, & when we came home, we cooked it for lunch. This was a GREAT recipe for Reese to make. Lots of soft-cutting, pouring, & mixing with not-very-messy ingredients! We changed up the original recipe (I couldn’t find the box pasta the recipe called for), so below you’ll see our version of the recipe, which Reese calls “Dots & Dogs”!

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Here is Reese’s version of instructions to make Dots & Dogs. I was pleasantly surprised at how much of the process he remembered!

“We got the recipe. First go to Sam’s & get groceries. Um, we made it on the stove. I cooked them–the hot dogs–and I cut them with knives. The macaroni cooked and then we put in cheese, milk, and butter. We mix it up and put milk. And then poured it. I put the hot dogs in the swimming bowl! No, I put it in the pot. I shaked it. I mixed it up. And now I’m eating it. I think it’s good and not bad. I love you!”

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And here’s Mommy’s version of Dots & Dogs:

DOTS & DOGS:

1 box SuperMac Macaroni & Cheese
3 turkey hotdogs, sliced
1 cup frozen peas
1 1/2 tsp mustard
butter
milk

DIRECTIONS:
*Boil a pot of water, then add macaroni & frozen peas. Boil until macaroni is cooked. Drain.
*In pot, mix cooked macaroni & peas, cheese powder, mustard, 2 Tbsp butter, & 1/3 cup milk. Stir until cheese & butter are mixed in.
*Add hot dog slices, mix, & serve.

Some perfect jobs for the kiddos: slice the hot dogs with a plastic knife, measure the frozen peas, milk, and butter, pour the cheese powder into the pot, dump the hot dogs into the pot, help mix the dish.

Come see what else is cooking up over at Reese’s View of the World.

Chicken Express Opens in Highland Village

Shauna and I were so excited that the new Chicken Express in Highland Village opened that we loaded up our collective 6 children under the age of 9 and invaded the new restaurant.

The meal was so good and the kids ate so well that we didn’t even think to take a picture before our table looked like this:

Oh my!

(And yes, I think that Macy is sucking honey out of a honey packet in the picture above.)

I promise that we didn’t leave it like that.

I promise that the Chicken Express biscuits will MELT IN YOUR MOUTH.

I cannot promise that if you go you won’t be seated next to a table of two moms and 6 kids under the age of 9…

because we will return.