Italian Sausage Pasta

This is such as simple and easy recipe but it tastes so good people will think it took way more effort than it really does! This whole meal takes less then 30 minutes to make.

Ingredients

1 lb lb Rotini Pasta (You can even buy the multi colored kind to sneak in extra veggies or grains)

1.5 lbs Italian Sausage (I use mild so the kids don't freak out), sliced to bite size pieces

2 14.5oz Cans of Hunts Diced Tomatoes (I like the Garlic, Basil, Oregano flavored)

12oz of Baby Spinach leaves (you can find them in the bagged salad section)

2 cups Mozzarella

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

1 tbsp Olive Oil

Instructions

1. Heat a large pan with olive oil. Cook sausage on med high heat until browned.

2. Meanwhile bring water for pasta to boil. Cook pasta as directed on package (usually at a rapid boil for 8 minutes.)

3. Add spinach and tomatoes to sausage pan and cook tossing until spinach is wilted then remove from heat.

4. Drain pasta and add to sausage pan mixing it all up with the Parmesan.

5. I learned through trial and error that if you add the mozzarella before you serve the cheese gets very clumpy and strings so I like to wait until it's served up to add it but my dad likes it all gooey so when he is over I throw it in the pot just for him. Do whatever tickles your fancy.

6. Serve it up and enjoy.

For some variations you can also add onion, garlic or pancetta. I like to serve this with french bread or rolls and use olive oil and Italian seasonings on the bread. My kids think this makes the meal fancier. Sometimes they are so easy to please! LOL.

Pizza is great comfort food.

I love pizza and so does my friend Robin. It's one of those foods that you just crave sometimes. But if you are in the mood for a homemade pie here is a great recipe: Danielsen Family Pizza


Danielsen Family Pizza

The Danielsens Are A Pizza Lovin' Family !!!!!

Many a pizza has been made in their house. Fresh dough, frozen dough, English muffins...we have tried them all! That goes for the sauces too. The following recipe if you can call it that, is how they do pizza around. Not your food network variety, just fun and full of yum. So if you want an easy, full of flavor, fun pizza night, give this a try!!!

**Warning**
The sauce used is "from scratch" and is not for the taste bud sensitive.

Sauce Ingredients for "P.J.'s Homemade Pizza Sauce" makes enough for 2 large pies (1.5 cups approx):
1 clove garlic, minced or mashed. You can use jarred.

1 tsp salt
1 can (6 oz) can tomato paste
1 can (8oz) tomato sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1/8 pepper
1/2 tsp oregano or Italian herbs
1 tbsp olive or canola oil
A dash of red pepper (optional)

1. Combine all ingredients (That's it. Your sauce is ready!)

Ingredients for Pizzas:

Pizza crust (we love boboli, it holds sauce well)
Mozzarella Cheese
Meats, Veggies you name it.

Directions:
1. Lay out crust
2. Add Sauce
3. Add cheese.
4. Then the toppings of your choice.
5. Cook at 350 till crust is golden and cheese is melted (about 10-15 minutes depending on how much you put on the pizza)
6. Sit down with a good movie and the family and... Enjoy!!

2 Awesome Recipes with BACON!!!

Yes, I love bacon. It's no secret and I don't try to hide it. I am not ashamed of my love affair with bacon. So if you are a bacon lover like me check out these two awesome recipes from my food blog:

BCT Pie (Bacon, Cheese, Tomato)

Spaghetti Carbonara Recipe

Who needs friends when you have food?

Ok, I don't mean what I wrote in the title. I'm just being a smart-ass. I know I had my little tantrum yesterday over my friends sucking but I am better now. I do still love them all. I really do and I would still do anything for anyone of them. It was just a bad day and I was up late stressing about what was going on and thus my hissy-fit blog post at midnight.

My problem is that one of my friends has created a huge problem for a lot of people. Due to the nature of this problem I can't really discuss it... yet. I owe her that much. I don't want to complicate anything for this "friend" right now since she and several others have enough to deal with.

In addition to that problem I don't have anyone I can really talk to about the problem and since it is really affecting me all I can do is make cryptic blog posts. All I want is someone I can talk to who can listen (hell, I am not opposed to having them give advice, comment, criticism, whatever) and will not tell anyone else about this.

I don't have anyone who can just be there for me or that I feel like I can go to and trust 100% with this. It's not a good situation. For me to vent I have to reveal things about another friend and I can't risk it getting out as gossip. Last time I tried to talk to someone about something similar the person told another person. You know how that goes so I have learned my lesson. It's just a shitty lesson to learn.

So I have let this bug me all day. I had planned a day at the spa (first time in years I have done something like this but thanks to a gift card and a hubby who knows I am about to burst from stress I figured what the hell) and all I could think about during my facial was this drama.  

So since I needed comforted and had no one I could turn to (and hubby was too wrapped up in a WOW raid with his guild) I got creative in the kitchen.

Well maybe not creative but I did try out some new recipes. I got them out of my months installment of magazine (probably Good Housekeeping or Ladies Home Journal, I can't really remember). So on the comfort food menu for today we had:

Fresh Tomato Soup & Ciabatta Prosciutto Sandwiches. I tweaked the recipes a tiny bit from what was listed but here is what I did:

For the Soup:
1. Dice 3lbs of vine ripe tomatoes
2. Dice 1/2 white onion
3. 2tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4. 2tbsp balsamic vinegar
5. 1 1/2 tsp kosher sale
6. Combine in a bowl and let sit for 30 minutes.
7. Puree until very smooth (the original recipe said strain but I liked it with chunks in it.)
I then added a pinch of garlic salt and refrigerated while I made the Sandwiches.

For the Sandwiches:
1. Dice a can of artichoke hearts (recipe said 6oz but we used almost all of 14oz)
2. Mix 2tbsp extra virgin olive oil and 2tbsp balsamic vinegar
3. Toast required amount of bread ciabatta bread slices
4. Brush bread with the oil and vinegar mixture
5. Layer desired amount of artichoke hearts
6. Add a slice of mozzarella
7. Add 2 slices of prosciutto
But because I am a pig and love food I added basically another layer starting with 2 more slices of prosciutto, a slice of mozzarella, artichokes and another slice of bread so my sandwich wasn't an open faced sandwich.

After stuffing my face I felt less depressed... until I saw the mess I made in the kitchen. But even though I am a horribly sloppy cook with a kitchen to clean and I have some other issues at this time... I have a satisfied tummy and right now that counts for a lot.