Crockpot Baked Spaghetti

Last week I shared my easy spaghetti sauce and today I have a crockpot recipe for Baked Spaghetti that uses my spaghetti sauce.

Add one-third spaghetti sauce to the bottom of a greased crockpot.

Layer half of the pasta on top

Add 1 cup on cheese next and repeat the layers

Bake for 4 hours till done and bubbly on top

Enjoy!

Crockpot Baked Spaghetti

Ingredients

1 box spaghetti pasta (I used whole-wheat)

1 pound ground beef

1 recipe Heather's Spaghetti Sauce (or a large jar and half of spaghetti sauce)

3 cups of shredded cheese (I used a mix of italian blend and cheddar)

Directions

1. Spray your crockpot with cooking spray

2. Ground the beef and drain the fat

3. Add the spaghetti sauce to the ground beef

4.  Put one third of the sauce mix in the bottom of the crockpot

5. Take half of the spaghetti and break it into 3 inch long pieces and place on top of the sauce mix

6. Add 1 cup of cheese on top of spaghetti

7. Repeat steaps 4-6 again

8. Top with the rest of spaghetti sauce and then top with the rest of the cheese

9. Cook on LOW for 4 hours

10. Eat and enjoy!

Simple and Easy Spaghetti Sauce

This is my go to sauce.  I use it for everything Italian - spaghetti, lasagna, calzones, ravioli, etc. It is very versatile and so easy to make that I was able to have my husband make it while I was on bedrest and told him the ingredients off the top of my head.

 

It is made from ingredients that most people have on hand and tastes 10x better than anything from the jar.  You can also make ahead of time and freeze it but since we usually have the stuff on hand and its quick to put together, I never bother.

I like to use the eyeball method for measuring my spices

Heather’s Spaghetti Sauce

(Adapted from Recipezaar.com)

Estimated Times:

Preparation Time:     15 mins

Cook Time:                60 mins

Servings:                    4-6

Ingredients

1 pound lean ground beef or turkey

2 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion chopped, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 bay leaves

1 tbsp oregano

1 tbsp dried basil

1 tbsp Italian seasoning

1 tbsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp parsley

Ground pepper

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce

1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes

Directions

1. Brown the ground beef in a saucepan. Remove beef and set aside
2. Add olive oil to pan and sauté onion and garlic.
3. Add tomato paste, tomato sauce, and diced tomatoes.  Stir well and add seasonings.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat for 30 minutes.
4. Puree with a hand blender or in a blender till smooth. Add ground beef back to sauce and simmer for 30 minutes.
5. Serve with cooked spaghetti.

 

The proper way and best way is to let this sauce simmer for a half or so and then puree it in a blender or with a hand blender but if you don't have much time you can throw all ingredients into a blender, heat up and have great sauce ready in 5 min.  You can also leave chunky instead of pureeing it.  You can have it plain, add browned ground beef to it or simmer meatballs in it.  Use it in lasagna or on top of any pasta of your choosing.

No need to buy jar sauce anymore!

Chocolate Pumpkin Mini Muffins

I should start out saying that I am not a big fan of pumpkin.  I have tried it in breads, muffins, pies and never been a big fan of it's flavor.  However, I want my son to grow up trying new things and different flavors so I took a small step and made some Chocolate Pumpkin muffins.  I did not make up this recipe, there are tons of variations online but it is easy, quick and most important, doesn't have a strong pumpkin flavor.

Similar to Diet Soda cupcakes, this recipe really calls for 2 ingredients.  Can of pumpkin puree and a box of chocolate cake mix.  Being the "make everything yourself" person that I am, I made my own pumpkin puree.  The Happy Housewife has a great tutorial on how to do so.  I was hoping I would get more puree out of the pie pumpkin but I got only 3 cups.

I added a little vanilla extract and Baking Spice mix from Penzys.  I have seen other add chocolate chips and I personally think that pecans would be awesome in them too.  Next time I am adding pecans for sure.  Others use spice cake mix instead of chocolate but I am a chocolate lover so of course I used chocolate.

These "muffins" are super fudgy and very yummy.  You can't really taste the pumpkin at all but you save calories by omitting oil and eggs and you gain the nutritional benefits of pumpkin which include good sources of vitamin A, beta-carotene, fiber and iron.

Chocolate Pumpkin Mini Muffins

1 15 oz can of pumpkin or pumpkin puree
1 box chocolate cake mix
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon or baking spice


Mix all ingredients together, scoop into mini muffin pans.  Bake at 350 degrees for 18 min or until done.

These come out to about 60 calories per mini muffin.

Fourth of July Goodies

I was looking forward to this July 4th because we were planning on doing fireworks for the first time.  We live outside the city limits and are normally allowed to do fireworks in our neighborhood.  However, Texas is in an extreme drought so there was no buying or setting off fireworks at all and for good reason.  Almost all of the towns in the area cancelled their fireworks shows too because of the extreme wildfire conditions.  Instead we had a pool party with our neighborhoods with kiddie pools, water balloons, water guns and yummy goodies.

For our party I made some Red, White and Blue cupcakes and a delicious white wine sangria to help me cool down in this 100 degree heat.

For the Red, White and Blue cupcakes, I used the Rainbow Cupcakes method but instead of doing rainbow colors I dyed the cake batter red and blue (and left some white batter alone).  I layered the White Almond Sour Cream cake batter into cupcake wrappers, baked them and topped with buttercream and some patriotic sprinkles I found at the grocery store.  The result is super cute and yummy cupcakes.

They were a huge hit at the party and with my son who kept trying to pull them down from the counter.  I eventually threw a towel over the container so he wouldn't see them and keep asking to have cupcakes all day long.


The other item I made for our July 4th get together was a White Wine Sangria.  The weekend before July 4th I searched the internet for recipes but eventually came up with my own mixed based on what I had on hand.  I didn't measure anything and tasted as I went so if you try to make this you probably will need to taste test at least a few times to get the drink how you like it.

 
White Wine Sangria
1 large bottle white wine (I used Ste. Genevieve White)
1 bottle Club Soda
~1/4 cup Peach Schnapps
~1/2 cup sugar
~1 pint strawberries sliced in half
~1 cup frozen blueberries

Mix everything together in a pitcher and let set at least 4 fours or longer to allow the berries to penetrate the mix.  Taste and adjust ingredients as necessary.



This is great over ice and a perfect adult beverage for a hot day.  When you finish the pitcher of Sangria, throw the leftover blueberries and strawberries in the blender, add some ice and some more Peach Schnapps and have an adult smoothie.

Homemade Graham Crackers

A few weeks ago my next door neighborhood said she made homemade graham crackers.  Being a big baker person myself, I said, "hey I could easily do that" and I needed a new challenge in the kitchen.  I went online and googled graham cracker recipes and finally found one at Smitten Kitchen that looked good.

I made my first batch of graham crackers on a Thursday and then made another batch on a Monday because they were all gone.  I can't tell who how many crackers each batch should make as I experimented with different level of thickness and sizes to see which I like best and also which would be the easiest way to feed snacks to my son.  Each batch does make plenty though.

Graham Crackers


Ingredients

2 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup light brown sugar plus 2 tbsp molassses or 1 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen
1/3 cup honey
5 tbsp whole milk
2 tbsp vanilla extract

Topping
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions
Make the dough:
Combine the flour, brown sugar (and molasses), baking soda, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse to incorporate. Add the butter and pulse on and off on and off until the butter is incorporated.

In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, milk, and vanilla extract. Add to the flour mixture and pulse on and off a few times until the dough barely comes together. It will be very soft and sticky.
Lay out a large piece of plastic wrap and dust it lightly with flour, then turn the dough out onto it and pat it down until it is 1-inch thick. Wrap it, then chill it until firm, about 2 hours or overnight.
While the dough is chilling, prepare the topping, by combining the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and setting aside. 

Roll out the crackers:
Break off a chunk of the dough and return the rest to the refrigerator. Sprinkle flour onto the work surface and roll the dough into a long rectangle about 1/8 inch thick. The dough will be sticky, so flour as necessary. Trim the edges to make an even rectangle using a pizza cutter or pastry wheel. Cut the dough to make 4 1/2 inch rectangles or 2 inch squares or whichever size you prefer.  I made some squares, some sticks and some using mini cookie cutters and some with regular cookie cutters.
Place the crackers on  parchment-lined baking sheets and sprinkle with the topping. Chill until firm, about 30 to 45 minutes in the fridge or 15 to 20 minutes in the freezer. Repeat with a second batch of dough. Finally, gather any scraps together into a ball, chill until firm, and re-roll and keep repeating until all the dough is cut out.  Make sure to refrigerate the dough in between uses.
Adjust the oven rack to the upper and lower positions and preheat the oven to 350°F.

Decorate the crackers: 
Mark a vertical line down the middle of each cracker, being careful not to cut through the dough (again, this is for the traditional cracker shape). Using a toothpick or skewer, prick the dough to form two dotted rows about 1/2 inch for each side of the dividing line. You can also leave the crackers undecorated.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until browned and slightly firm to the touch, rotating the sheets halfway through to ensure even baking. I found I only need 10 minutes to bake my crackers but more time might be needed.  If you use cookie cutters, watch the crackers carefully as they might need less time.

Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

I made Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream for Easter last month following this recipe for Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream.  I was going to use blueberries but my family wanted strawberries instead so I obliged. Since this is a recipe from Cooking Light magazine it is lower in fat and a little healthier for you.

I decided to post about it tonight because my husband asked for a bowl with chocolate chips added.  Chocolate + Strawberries is always a winner in my book.

Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

Ingredients 
2 cups granulated sugar 
3/4 cup (6 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened 
4 large egg yolks 
3 cups 2% reduced-fat milk 
1 cup half-and-half 
3 cups fresh strawberries, coarsely chopped 
1/4 cup powdered sugar 
1/4 cup water

Directions

• Combine first 3 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until smooth. Combine milk and half-and-half in a medium, heavy saucepan; bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Gradually add half of hot milk mixture to cheese mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk. Return milk mixture to pan. Cook over medium-low heat 5 minutes or until a thermometer registers 160°, stirring constantly. Place pan in an ice-filled bowl. Cool completely, stirring occasionally.
  
• Combine strawberries, powdered sugar, and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes or until mixture thickens slightly, stirring frequently. Remove from heat, and cool completely.
  
• Stir strawberry mixture into milk mixture. Pour mixture into the freezer can of an ice-cream freezer; freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. Spoon ice cream into a freezer-safe container; cover and freeze for 1 hour or until firm.