Zuppa Toscana

 

Zuppa Toscana

It tastes better then it looks haha. So I made this because I thought my son and husband would love these flavors, but apparently they don't like it that much. They just said it's "okay" but they don't want it again lol. Weird actually. My husband said he doesn't like cream based soups.....but he loves clam chowder soooo? He didn't like the kale in it, but I told him he needs to eat greens sometimes.

Oh well. I think it's actually really good, even though Italian is not what I would normally choose. I guess this is technically a fail, but it does have a really good flavor. I love that this was also a lightened up version and it had some fiber and greens.

Zuppa Tuscana recipe link by BudgetBytes

Lazy Butternut Squash Chicken Lasagna

 

Lazy Butternut Squash Chicken Lasagna

This was another one of the "dumb dinners" from @itsmesaramartinez on TikTok. These are not flavors my husband would typically like, but it's been so cozy and "fall like" that I wanted a fall recipe. I really liked that it was a quick dump and go recipe!

 I tasted the sauce while I made it and it was good, so I can't wait to taste it fully! It's kinda late and I'm going to bed, so no one has actually tried it yet lol. I couldn't start cooking until a little later because of the baby, and it didn't even cross my mind that it would take like an hour to cook. So my husband just had some ramen, and my son fell asleep after school, but I'm sure he will be up in the middle of the night and will grab some. Teenagers. I will try it tomorrow. 

I did air fry the meatballs and tried one, they are so good. I will definitely try the other flavors too.

I made it almost exactly as written, but I added in some onion and thyme seasoning. Just because I was worried it could be bland, but it didn't seem to be.  Oh wait no I added canned parm to the sauce, and I added some shredded parm to the top with the mozzarella, just because I already had it. 

Ingredients:

- 9 oven ready lasagna noodles broken into big pieces

- 1 bag frozen already cooked chicken meatballs

- 3 cups butternut squash soup from a carton

- 1/2 cup heavy cream

- 1 tub 15oz ricotta

- 1/4 tsp dried sage

- 1 tsp garlic powder

- 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper

- 2 big handfuls spinach

- 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella

- 3/4 cup grated parmesan 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375

Dump the ricotta into a sprayed 9x13 pan.

Add the parm & spices

Pour in the soup and heavy cream, and stir until creamy

Break in he noodles, add the meatballs and spinach

Stir until noodles get coated, and press them as much as possible under the sauce

Cover tightly with foil, and bake for 45 minutes

Uncover, add the mozz and bake for 15 more minutes

Let sit for 10-15 minutes to solidify before cutting and serving

Beef Stroganoff

 

I've been making this beef stroganoff recipe from BudgetBytes for like a decade or something, it's always easy, filling and tasty. But the last several times I made it, it was not good for some reason. Turns out the recipe was changed! Luckily she posted the old recipe too, so I saved it. It's much better then the newer one. 

Here's the link to the new beef stroganoff recipe from BudgetBytes. It's okay, it's just way thinner and more bland.

I wasn't able to get a picture because my 13 month old was not happy tonight, so I had to be quick and cook while mainly holding him lol.

Chicken Sausage Tortellini Alfredo

 

Chicken Sausage Tortellini Alfredo

I saw something similar on TikTok that was a 9x13 pan dump and bake recipe, but I was able to put a little more time into dinner tonight, so I decided to use a cast iron skillet.

Ingredients:

- 1 package chicken sausage chopped (I used 3 links)

- 1 bag frozen tortellini

- 1 small onion chopped

- 1 bottle alfredo

- a bit of olive oil, butter, Italian seasoning (1/2 tsp), jarlic (prob 2 tbs), pepper, red pepper flakes

- 1 tsp chicken Better Then Bouillon

- shredded mozz & parm. I honestly eyeballed it, maybe less then a cup of each?

While the tortellini was cooking, I just sauteed the onion and chicken sausage until it looked browned in some olive oil and like 1-2 tbs butter, it was just the end of a stick. Then I added a bunch of jarlic with the seasonings, and sauteed for a few minutes. I then added the jar of alfredo, then filled it halfway with water and added it to the skillet along with the bouillon. Then I topped it with the cheese and covered it for like 15 minutes and baked at 350. Then I broiled for 4 minutes and done! It was super good and flavorful, I'd definitely make it again. 

It was based off of @itsmesaramartinez on TikTok. She also added pumpkin to hers, which I personally would love but I know my husband would prefer no pumpkin so I left it out. 

Enchilada Casserole

 

Enchilada Casserole

I made BudgetBytes Not Refried Beans earlier this week, so we had a lot of beans to use. They are so good! So I thought I'd throw together an enchilada casserole. A casserole because it's much easier to do then rolling enchiladas while wrangling a 1 year old. Super good.

Ingredients:

- Corn tortillas, because that's what I had

- 1 lb ground beef, cooked with an onion then mixed with the 1/2 can chopped chilis

- 1/2 can green chilis, because I didn't want it too spicy for the baby

- Like 1 1/2 cups of the beans? I didn't measure

- Almost 2 cups of colby jack cheese

- 1 recipe of BudgetBytes enchilada sauce

I layered it like a lasagna, cooked at 350 for 30 min. I should have removed the foil and cooked it for another 10, but baby needed to go to bed, and husband can't help much because he just had surgery. You can top it with chopped onions, salsa, sour cream, hot sauce...whatever. Easy, quick and cheap. I've been making this sauce recipe for like a decade, it's so easy and delicious. I know it's even easier to open a can of sauce, but this tastes soooooo much better!

Click here for the Enchilada sauce recipe by BudgetBytes

Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef & Noodles

 

Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef & Noodles

This wasn't that great. And with beef being crazy expensive right now that kinda sucks. I mean we will still eat it but it's not that great lol. It kinda just tastes like beef and gravy? I ended up adding some frozen stir fry veggies just to get some veggies in us. I mean it's not gross, but it's pretty heavy and doesn't taste too much like any sort of Asian food. We topped it with sriracha, chili crisp and green onions.

Recipe from @coolkitchenbro on Tiktok

Salsa Verde Chicken Enchiladas

 

Salsa Verde Chicken Enchiladas

Again I forgot to get a picture, dinner time is chaotic with Linc now that' he's almost one. These were okay, they tasted too much like cream cheese we thought. Next time we'd half the cream cheese or honestly omit it all together and just add shredded cheese in the filling.

We really did like the flavor it just felt like a bit too much cream cheese :)

Click here for the recipe from The Everyday Cookbook