Italian Crescent Casserole...

Another Pillsbury  special!  I swapped beef for pork sausage when I made it, because I already had two beef dishes for the month.  It was easy and I'm just hoping it tastes as good as it looks!  Here we go:

Italian Crescent Casserole
6 servings - 390 calories each

Ingredients
1 lb. pork sausage (I used hot and zesty), cooked and drained
1 c. pasta sauce
1 can crescent rolls
1 1/2 c. Italian cheese blend, shredded
1/4 tsp. Italian seasoning

Directions
In a skillet, cook sausage and pasta sauce to boiling over med-high heat, stirring occasionally.  While that's cooking, arrange crescent rolls in an ungreased pie plate in a "spoke" pattern, with about 3 inches overhanging the edges of the plate.  Press crescents into bottom/sides of pie plate.  Top with 1 c. of cheese.  Pour in meat mixture, and spread evenly over cheese.  Fold in ends of crescents.  Top with remaining 1/2 c. of cheese and Italian seasoning.  Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

It looks good and was easy and quick, so it's already practically a winner in my book.  We'll see how the reheat goes, and I'll let you know when I do the recipe recap!

Spicy Tuscan Soup...

Okay, I love Olive Garden.  Reasonably priced Italian with portions big enough to save for another meal when you get home and breadsticks to die for.  (If you can do bread right, you pretty much have my vote anyway...lol).  Anyway, when I was scrolling through Pinterest, I saw this soup that looks suspiciously like Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana, that I adore (unlimited soup, salad & breadsticks anyone??).  So, I decided I must make it.  The original recipe can be found at Tasty Kitchen if you wanted to check it out.  It was pretty easy to make, and should reheat pretty well, since there wasn't much cream in it.  The recipe is as follows:

Spicy Tuscan Soup
6 servings - 522 calories each

Ingredients
1 lb. breakfast sausage
1 med. red onion, chopped
2 slices bacon, diced (I just used bacon bits...yep...lazy)
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 russett potatoes, cut in half lenghwise and then in 1/4" slices
4 c. water
3 cubes chicken bouillon
1/4 bunch kale, roughly chopped (I wound up getting a box of baby kale, because I couldn't find the regular anywhere)
1/2 c. heavy cream
Seasonings, to taste

Directions
Brown sausage in pot over medium high until done.  Drain and set aside.  Add onion, bacon, and garlic to pot and cook until onions are tender.  Add water, potatoes and bouillon cubes.  Simmer 15-20 minutes, until potatoes are nearly done.  Add kale, cream, and the sausage you set aside earlier.  Simmer another 5-10 minutes until potatoes are done and everything is heated through.  And that's it...easy peasy, right?  Looks like Olive Garden!  I'll let you know the final result with the recipe update in a week or two :)

Spicy Sausage Pasta...

Well, I found this recipe on one of my recent (and incredibly brief) visits to Pinterest.  The picture looked beautiful, and I gotta say, I'm a sucker for beautiful food.  I can't help but think my blog would probably be more popular if I bothered to learn anything about food photography, but hey...I'm busy...maybe someday when I retire...when I'm 105 or so.  So yeah, don't hold your breath for that :)  Anyway, the original recipe can be found at kevin {&} amanda.  I adjusted to get a little more out of it, because as a general rule, I like to get 6-8 servings out of a meal for the month, and the original only made 4.  Plus the original called for a pound of sausage in 4 servings...I like smoked sausage, but yeow...that's a lot.  So, there were a few adjustments.  The recipe as I made it is as follows:

Spicy Sausage Pasta
8 servings - 412 calories

Ingredients
1 T. olive oil
1 package smoked sausage
1 med. onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 c. chicken broth
1- 10oz. can Rotel (Tomatoes and Green Chiles - Mild)
1/2 c. heavy cream
1 lb. pasta (I used Penne)
1 c. shredded Colby Jack cheese
1/3 c. diced green onions

Directions
Saute sausage and onions on medium high for 4-6 minutes until onions begin to soften.  Add garlic and saute an additional 30 seconds or so till it gets fragrant.  Add broth, tomatoes, cream, and pasta and bring to a boil.  Turn down to low/med. low and simmer for an additional 15 minutes until pasta is cooked through.  Add cheese and green onions and stir as cheese melts.  And that's it...voila!

I'm serving mine with a crescent roll for a total of 512 calories.  Also, I forgot to take a picture of the portioned out servings before I ate one for lunch (whoops!), so no pic for that...sorry!  You get the idea :)

Asparagus and Ham Casserole....

You can find the original for this recipe at myrecipe.  The picture looked super, and the ingredients list sounded promising, so I decided to give it a go.  Here's the recipe:

Asparagus and Ham Casserole
6 servings - 250 calories each

Ingredients
1/4 c. panko bread crumbs
3 3/4 c. extra broad, uncooked, egg noodles
2 1/2 c. sliced asparagus
1/4 c. flour
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 c. milk
1 c. chicken broth
1 T. butter
3/4 c. diced onion
1 T. lemon juice
1 1/2 c. diced ham
1/4 c. chopped parsley
2 T. grated parmesan
Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions
Cook pasta 7 minutes in boiling water, add asparagus for 1 minutes, then drain.  Place flour and seasonings in a bowl, and slowly add milk and broth, whisking until combined.  Saute onion in butter until tender, then add milk/flour mixture and cook until thick, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.  Combine sauce, pasta, and ham in a large casserole dish, top with bread crumbs and parmesan, and bake in 450 degree oven for 10-12 minutes.

Recipe Recap
This was alright.  It tasted fine, but I think egg noodles were the wrong choice for the pasta...it's not dense enough and doesn't hold up very well.  Also, I think it wound up being way too much asparagus.  I like asparagus, but dang...it was a lot of asparagus for being part of a pasta dish.  It just wasn't particularly well balanced.  It tasted good, but not great, and I don't think I'd bother making it again without some serious tweaking.

Polenta Lasagna...

Okay, so the last month has been insane...as is probably evident by the fact that I'm finally posting recipes the week before I'm cooking again.  Vacation was awesome, I was back for a week and a half and then I went to Michigan for a few days, and then back for two weeks before the gathering I've been organizing for work.  Aside from that, work's been a whole other level of insanity all on its own.  Plus, I'm ATTEMPTING to have a life, so that has pretty much left me with no time ever.  Soooo yeah...in regards to the recipes this month, I forgot to take a bunch of pictures while I was running around like a lunatic, so I apologize for missing photos in advance.  Also, I'm just including the recipe recap with the actual recipe, since it's so heinously late anyway...seems silly to make an extra post about it.  And now, on with the recipes...first up, polenta lasagna.  I've never cooked with polenta before, but the idea sounded solid.  The original can be found at myrecipes.  My slightly tweaked version can be found below:

Polenta Lasagna
6 servings - 335 calories each

Ingredients
1 - 26 oz. jar pasta sauce
1 tsp. olive oil
1 c. diced onion
1/2 c. diced red pepper
1 c. hot sausage, cooked and crumbled
1 c. chopped mushrooms
1/2 c. diced zucchini
1 minced garlic cloves
1 - 16 oz. tube polenta, cut into 18 slices
1/2 c. shredded mozzarella

Directions
Saute onion and bell pepper until tender.  Add mushrooms, zucchini, garlic, and sausage until mushrooms are tender.  Spread a 1/2 c. pasta sauce in the bottom of a 9x9 pan.  Top with 9 slices of polenta.  Top with half of the sauteed vegetables/sausage mixture and 1/4 c. cheese.  Repeat layers.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes...uncover and bake an additional 15-20 minutes until cheese is bubbly.  Let stand for at least 5 minutes before serving. 

Recipe Recap
In a month that was somewhat lacking in success rates for new recipes, this one was actually really good.  The polenta was a really nice touch...I really didn't miss the pasta/lasagna noodles at all.  The original recipe called for turkey sausage or some such nonsense...I'm glad I went with the hot sausage though....I think it might've been a little bland without it.  All\in all, it's a keeper, and I'll make it again at some point :)

Pork Sausage Apple Loaf...

Yep, still feeling the fall thing.  I'm sort of obsessed with putting apples in savory dishes...I don't know why, but every time I see a recipe with that combo, I want to make it immediately.  I must've had some amazing dish like that at some point in my life that made a subconscious impression, but I don't remember it.  Anyway, I'm not a huge fan of rolling out dough (it doesn't fit with the "I'm lazy" image that I'm working on this month at all), but it looked so yummy, I decided it would be worth it.  I have to warn you, when you're putting the filling on the dough, it looks like WAY more than can possibly roll up in there...don't worry though, it all fits :)  And, one more time for the month, you can find the original recipe at Betty Crocker!  Thanks again, Betty, for all the help this month! 
Here we go:

Pork Sausage Apple Loaf
8 servings - 390 calories each

Ingredients
2/3 c. water
3 c. Bisquick
20 oz. pork sausage (I used spicy breakfast pork sausage)
1 c. diced apple
1/4 c. chopped onion
1 c. dried cranberries
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 c. shredded mozzarella
(The original also said, maple syrup, if desired...I'm not sure why exactly you'd desire it, but by all means, if you do, go right ahead!)

Directions
In a large bowl, mix bisquick and water...knead until smooth, cover, and set aside.  In a skillet, cook sausage over medium high until browned (4-5 minutes).  Add apple and onion, cook an additional 1-2 minutes, then drain.  Return mixture to skillet, then stir in cranberries, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.  Place dough on a flat surface and roll out to 10x14 rectangle.  Spoon sausage mixture onto center of dough and sprinkle with cheese.  Pat mixture out to about an inch away from the edges.  Brush edges with water.  Starting with the long side, roll dough over sausage mixture into a loaf.  Pinch edges to seal.  Put the loaf on a cookie sheet and cut 4 small slits in the top.  Bake 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees until golden brown.  Let cool at least 5 minutes before serving.

I'm serving mine with Cream Cheese Corn for a total of 510 calories per serving.  I'll keep you updated on how it turns out later this month with the recap post!

Lazy Sunday Casserole...

So this one wasn't quite as lazy as I was hoping, based on the title.  It wasn't particularly labor-intensive or anything, but having an important step in the middle of baking instead of throwing it in and forgetting about it till it's done sort of de-lazy's it for me.  lol :)  I'm crazy, I know.  Anyway, the original for this one is found on Kayotic Kitchen.  I know, I'm racking up the recipes from that site, it seems, but I can't help it...they're all over Pinterest, and they all look delicious!  My only real concern about this is that reheating it might end up with way too much liquid from all the veggies.  I'm sure it'll taste fine either way, but I'm not a fan of it getting all soup-y on me.  We'll see...and I'll let ya know when I do the update later this month.  P.S.  I know I've heard before that fennel smells like licorice when you cut into it, but holy cow...the smell just smacks you in the face!  Don't worry though...it doesn't smells nearly so licorice-like once it starts cooking.  That said, let's get going:

Lazy Sunday Casserole
6 servings - 195 calories

Ingredients
4 sausages (I used Hot Italian Sausages)
1 lb. small red potatoes (quartered)
1/2 lb. carrots (I cheated and used the baby carrots so I didn't have to chop them)
1 bell pepper, chopped (the original called for 1/2, but hey...I didn't have anything to use the rest for)
1 lg. onion, cut into wedges
1 lg. fennel bulb, cut into wedges
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 T. oil
1 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 c. chicken broth
Pepper, to taste
4 T. balsamic vinegar

Directions
Put potatoes, carrots, pepper, onion, and fennel bulb into large casserole dish.  In a separate dish, mix together garlic, oil, Italian seasoning, and chicken broth.  Pour mixture over vegetables.  Cover with tin foil and bake at 450 degrees for 45 minutes.  In the meantime, brown the sausages (no need to cook completely...we're just trying to get a nice color on them).  Cut browned sausages into thirds.  After the first 45 minutes in the oven, add sausages and pour balsamic over top of everything.  Put back into the oven for 15 minutes, uncovered.  Remove and toss everything to coat with the liquid at the bottom of the dish, and return to oven for another 15 minutes. 

I'm serving mine with a biscuit (although given the final portion size, you probably wouldn't have to) for a total of 365 calories per serving. 

Ham, Sauerkraut, and Apple Rolls...

And last but not least, the last recipe from Kayotic Kitchen for this month.  These rolls are served on cheesy potatoes...how could you go wrong, right?  Honestly, I've never had sauerkraut before (yeah, I know...sheltered, right?).  I felt like the concept of the sweet of the apples vs. the sour of the sauerkraut vs. the saltiness of the ham was a good one though, so off we go on a new food adventure for me.  lol :)  Obviosly with the hope that it works out, or I'm going to have a lot of this to power through before the end of the month.  Such is life, eh?  You never know till you try!  Here we go:

Ham, Sauerkraut, and Apple Rolls (on cheesy potatoes)
8 servings, 501 calories each

Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lb. potatoes, quartered
- 1 lb. sauerkraut
- 2 sweet apples, finely chopped
- 8 ham slices (again, I used the thin sliced Budding meat, so I actually used 4 slices for each roll instead of one of the thicker cut slices, for a total of 32 slices)
- 2 c. grated cheese (I used Boar's Head Chipotle Gouda...yum!)
- 1 1/2 c. milk
- 4 T. flour
- 2 oz. butter
- Nutmeg
- Seasonings, to taste

Directions

Pre-boil the potatoes (I did this in a casserole dish in the microwave...filled dish with water and microwaved 15 minutes on high).  Drain and place in the bottom of a baking dish.  In a skillet, heat apples on medium high until they start getting tender, then add sauerkraut and seasonings.  Turn heat down to low and simmer for about five minutes.  Assemble rolls by putting a generous amount of sauerkraut mixture into the center of the ham and rolling it up.  Repeat for all 8 rolls (I actually had enough saukerkraut mixture left over for a  ninth roll, so I made an extra), and set aside  Clean out your skillet (or grab a new one if you're feeling like doing extra dishes).  Heat butter over low heat. Sprinkle in flour, and stir constantly over low heat for about 2 minutes.  Slowly add milk, continuing to stir constantly.  Turn up heat and bring to a boil (still...keeping an eye on it and stirring frequently) till sauce thickens.  Turn down heat, stir in cheese, and continue to stir until melted.  Spoon half of the sauce over potatoes.  Place rolls on top of the potatoes in the baking dish.  Spoon the other half of the sauce over rolls.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. 

So, as I mentioned earlier, I got an extra roll out of this recipe, and it was, afterall, dinnertime when I finished making this dish, so I had the extra and a few potatoes, and it was quite tasty.  I officially like sauerkraut...at least when it's with apples and potatoes chipotle gouda bechamel sauce.  lol :)  How could you not, really?  Anyway, that concludes cooking for this month (unless my Pain au Chocolat actually turns out properly tomorrow, in which case I'll post pictures and a link for the recipe for that.  I was going to type it all up, but holy cow baking has a lot of directions, eh?).

Don't be afraid to leave a question or comment!  :)  I'd love to hear if anyone else tries any of these and how they turn out for you!  Enjoy!  Oh, and I have to give a shout-out to my biggest fans...this is a pic of my puppies, Lucy and Millie, who sit right in the doorway to the kitchen all day when I'm cooking...they're little goofballs :)  Night!

Creamy Chicken Casserole...

This is another recipe from Kayotic Kitchen that looked delicious.  I could've picked all recipes from her website this month, but I thought that would be a little narrow of me, plus all the ones I liked had potatoes...and as much as I like potatoes, having them for every meal for an entire month is still not the best idea in the world.  Anyway, I like how she talks about swapping things in and out to make the same dish with a bunch of different variations so it can more easily transition for seasons, who's coming to dinner, what your kids are willing to eat (if you have kids, which I don't), etc.  I used the recipe as it was, but I'll be keeping in mind alternatives for future use.  Also, I didn't realize she was using a large can of cream of mushroom soup instead of a small one, so I had to recalculate calories with the addition of another small can, so it's now 362 calories per serving (as opposed to the 330 in the menu plan).  That said here's the recipe as I made it today!

Creamy Chicken Casserole
8 Servings, 362 calories each

Ingredients
- 2 oz. bacon
- 1 lb. potatoes, sliced
- 1 lb. chicken breast tenderloins (usually 8-10 strips)
- 8 slices ham (I bought the thin cut Budding ham, so I wound up using 4 slices for each roll instead of 1 of the regular thicker cut ham, for a total of 32 thin slices)
- 8 slices cheese (I used colby jack, but you can use whatever you want)
- 2 cans cream of mushroom soup
- 4 T. sour cream
- 1/2 c. shredded cheese (I used sharp cheddar, but use what you like!)
- Seasonings, to taste

*Note:  I used microwave bacon because I didn't read the directions thoroughly before I made my grocery list...and yes, I'm aware that's one of those lessons you're supposed to learn in grade school, but sometimes I forget...either way, it worked out fine, so use whatever you want :)  Also, there's only one can of soup in the picture, but I DID use two. 

Directions
Pre-boil the potatoes (I went ahead and did that in the microwave in a casserole dish...12 minutes on high).  Lay the bacon out on the bottom of a baking pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.  Assemble the rolls:  Lay out your piece(s) of ham, top with a slice of cheese and a chicken strip, then roll up and put on top of the bacon in the pan.  Repeat for the other 7 strips.  In a separate bowl, mix together cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, and seasonings.  Spoon 2/3 of mixture over rolls.  Top with pre-boiled potatoes.  Top potatoes with remaining soup mixture.  Top the whole thing off with the shredded cheese.  Bake at 400 degrees (uncovered) for approximately 45 minutes.

I've gotta say, I hate handling raw chicken.  Normally I just dump it directly from the package into the hot pan without ever touching it, so actually touching it kinda bothered me.  I don't anticipate this to be an issue for most people...I'm just a little cuckoo, I guess.  Other than that hurdle to overcome, this recipe was totally easy to make.  Plus it looks/smells super tasty.  I'm adding a crescent roll to each serving for a total of 462 calories per serving.  I'll let you know how it goes!

Sausage Rolls...

I stumbled across this recipe on FoodGawker.com, another one of my favorite idea sites.  The original recipe is at Serious Eats.  It's really easy and only has four ingredients (what?!?  I know!).  Oh, and I forgot to take an ingredient picture...it was the end of the day, afterall.  lol :)  I really wanted to try one, but maintained a bit of willpower and waited.  They sure smelled delicious though!

Sausage Rolls
6 servings (2 rolls per serving), 334 calories per serving

Ingredients

1 lb. puff pastry, thawed
1 lb. pork sausage (casings removed, if necessary)
1/4 c. dijon mustard
1 egg, beaten

Directions

Divide sausage into 12 equal balls, and shape into 4" links.  Set aside.  Cut puff pastry into 12 equal pieces, approx. 4"x5".  Spread each piece of puff pastry with mustard.  Roll a piece of sausage into each piece of puff pastry, sealing with a line of egg wash.  Brush each roll with egg wash.  Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes until pastry puffs and browns nicely. 

I'm serving mine with cheesy cauliflower pancakes (recipe to follow) for a total of 457 calories each serving :)

Ham and Potatoes...

Ah yes...another recipe that's not really a recipe.  We used to have this all the time when I was growing up.  One time, many years ago, I made it for a roommate of mine.  When I told her what I was making, she said, "ham and potatoes isn't a recipe...it's just two ingredients???"  To which I say...there's more than two ingredients...and even if there wasn't, what's your point?  A few things to note:  1)  I normally buy the frozen potatoes o'brien from Ore-Ida because it already has peppers and onions in it (and yes, I'm that lazy sometimes), but I just got a bag of hashbrowns this time instead.  2)  It didn't occur to me that swapping to a whole bag of potatoes and adding the onion and pepper to that would impact the number of portions (I was placing my grocery order at 2am...I may not have been quite all there), so it's actually 6 servings instead of the 4 called out in the menu plan.  3) I have some spatial planning issues, so I ALSO didn't realize when I dumped it in the hot frying pan that the pan wasn't nearly large enough for all that, so I then had to pull half out and do it in batches because I don't have a big enough frying pan...my advice: make certain you have a big enough pan to begin with, because it's a major pain in the butt to be pulling half-cooked food out and moving it from place to place to get it finished.  And without further ado:

Ham and Potatoes
6 servings, 356 calories each

Ingredients

- 1 bag hashbrowns
- 1 pkg. ham steak
- 1 onion
- 1 green pepper
- 1/2 c. shredded cheddar
- Olive oil
- Seasonings, to taste

Directions

Dice onion and pepper and add to potatoes.  Coat bottom of pan with olive oil, and put potato mixture into pan over med/med-high heat until tender.  Stir in seasonings.  Cube ham and add to potato mixture.  Continue to heat until desired level of browning is reached (mine steamed a little bit thanks to my spatial meltdown, so it didn't turn out quite as brown as I'd like, but it still tastes delicious, and I got some good color on the ham).  Sprinkle with shredded cheddar and enjoy :)

Originally I was going to add a crescent roll, but the portion was pretty good already, so I decided against it.  So each serving will be approximately 356 calories.