Sausage Pasta Bake

Ingredients

1/2lb. rigatoni

1 lb. pork sausage

1 tbsp.olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 tsp. chili powder

1 can (14oz) chopped tomatoes

1/2 C. chicken broth

1/2 tsp. sugar

1 tbsp. chopped fresh basil

1/8 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. black pepper

5 1/2 oz. mozzarella cheese, cubed

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bring a saucepan of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the package directions. Drain & set aside. Spray a large oven proof dish with nonstick cooking spray. Cut the sausage into slices.

2) Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan & saute the onion and garlic until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the sausage slices to the pot. Cook until browned, about 10 minutes. Stir in the chili powder. Cook for 1 minute longer. Stir in the tomatoes, broth & sugar. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the pasta, basil, salt & pepper & stir to combine.

3) Transfer the pasta mixture to the prepared dish. Sprinkle the mozzarella on top. Bake pasta until golden and bubbly, 20-25 minutes. Serve immediately.

Prep: 30 minutes

Bake: 20-25 minutes

Serves: 4

A great idea would be to replace the sausage with 1 lb. meatballs. Fry until cooked through and add into step 2.

Easy Asian Glazed Meatballs

Ingredients

1/2 C. hoisin sauce

2 tbsp. rice vinegar

4 tsp. brown sugar

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. Sriracha Asian hot chili sauce

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1 pkg. (12oz) frozen fully cooked homestyle or Italian meatballs

thinly sliced green onions & toasted sesame seeds, optional

Hot cooked rice

Directions

1) In a saucepan, mix the first six ingredients. Add meatballs, stirring to coat; cook, covered, over medium-low heat 12-15 minutes or until heated through, stirring occasionally. If desired, sprinkle with green onions  & sesame seeds. Serve with rice.

Start to finish: 20 minutes

Makes: 4 servings

With this recipe you actually can use it as an appetizer as well. But you definitely will want to either double or triple the recipe because these are really good.

Crock-Pot Ham

Ingredients

1 ham, pre-cooked, bone-in, spiral cut

3 C. brown sugar

1 can pineapple tidbits, undrained

Directions

1) Cover the bottom of the crockpot with brown sugar.

2) Place ham on top of the brown sugar and add the pineapple tidbits with the juice. Sprinkle ham with more brown sugar.

3) Cover & cook on low for 7-8 hours.

For this recipe a 6 qt slow cooker was used.

Cowboy Burger

Ingredients

8 ground beef patties (2lbs)

2 tbsp. olive oil

3 sweet onions (2lb) thinly sliced, separated into rings

3 tbsp. A.1. Steak sauce

8 hamburger buns

2 tomatoes, sliced

8 kraft singles

Directions

1) Heat grill to medium heat.

2) Grill patties 5 minutes on each side. or until done (160 degrees)

3) Meanwhile, heat oil in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add onions, cook & stir 10 minutes or until golden brown, stirring frequently. Stir in steak sauce.

4) Fill buns with tomatoes, burgers, cheese and onion mixture.

Prep: 10 minutes

Total: 20 minutes

Makes: 8 servings

Not everyone is a fan of onions so you can omit them if you like and just add the steak sauce directly to the hamburger (in place of the ketchup).