Spaghetti Pie

8 oz whole grain spaghetti

4 TBSP butter

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1/3 - 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 1/2 cup sour cream

1 - 2 TBSP onion (I used 2 green onions)

1 small jar marinara sauce (14 oz?)

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella

Preheat oven to 350.

Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain and return to pan. Add 2 TBSP butter, the parmesan cheese, and the eggs. Stir to combine, then press into a 9 inch round casserole dish to form a crust.

Melt 2 TBSP butter in a small pan. Add onions and cook till tender. Stir in sour cream and heat through. Spread the sour cream/onion mixture over the pasta.

Pour the marinara sauce over sour cream, spread to edges.

Bake uncovered at 350 for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle mozzarella over the top, and return to over until mozzarella is melted and casserole is bubbly.

Notes: I forgot to buy cottage cheese, and I wanted a vegetarian meal, so I tweaked the following recipes: Spaghetti Pie, and Sweetheart Pasta Pie.

Whole Wheat Waffles

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

3/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 TBSP baking powder

3 eggs

2 cups milk

3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

4 1/2 tsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

In small bowl, mix together flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.

In large bowl, mix together eggs, milk applesauce, sugar, and vanilla. Once combined, add the dry ingredients and stir together.

Bake in a waffle baker that has been greased or sprayed with cooking spray. Keep waffles warm in the oven while you prepare the rest of the waffles.

Notes: These heat up well in the toaster. I don't like to use the Belgium waffle maker for these. The small, rectangular ones heat up better in the toaster.

Made about 10 waffles and fed our family plus Mikey

adapted from this recipe

Pasta Night

Monday is still Pasta Night at our house. Tonight I tried three new recipes for our dinner.

The main dish was Pioneer Woman's Fettuccine Alfredo. It was pretty good, although not as good as I had hoped it would be. It was good enough that I will probably try it again sometime. Maybe next time I can get it just right.

For our vegetable, I tried used a Food Network recipe for Sauteed Broccoli. I really liked this one. Hopefully the next time I make it it will turn out as well as it did tonight.

I wanted to have french bread with our pasta tonight. I have made this recipe from Our Best Bites before, but I'm trying to use whole wheat more often (and less sugar) in my baking, so I did a quick search and tried this recipe for Whole Wheat French Bread. It uses 2 cups white flour and 2 cups whole wheat flour. It was okay, but not great. I think I'll keep looking for the perfect recipe.

ps we also had mandarin oranges with dinner

Shepherd's Pie

I tried this recipe with a few changes. The recipe below is with my changes.

Ingredients

For the potatoes:

• 1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 ounces unsalted butter
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 egg yolk

For the meat filling:

• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced small
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 pounds ground beef
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed rosemary leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels

Directions

Peel the potatoes and cut into 1/2-inch dice. Place in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water. Set over high heat, cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, uncover, decrease the heat to maintain a simmer and cook until tender and easily crushed with tongs, approximately 10 to 15 minutes. Drain the potatoes in a colander. Place the half-and-half and butter into the pan and heat until butter is melted. Add the potatoes back into the pot, and mash them. Add the salt and pepper and continue to mash until smooth. Stir in the yolk until well combined.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the filling. Place the canola oil into a 12-inch saute pan and set over medium high heat. Once the oil shimmers, add the onion and carrots and saute just until they begin to take on color, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and stir to combine. Add the ground beef, salt and pepper and cook until browned and cooked through, approximately 3 minutes. Sprinkle the meat with the flour and toss to coat, continuing to cook for another minute. Add the tomato paste, chicken broth, Worcestershire, rosemary, thyme, and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer slowly 10 to 12 minutes or until the sauce is thickened slightly.

Add the corn to the beef mixture and spread evenly into an 11 by 7-inch glass baking dish. Top with the mashed potatoes, starting around the edges to create a seal to prevent the mixture from bubbling up and smooth with a rubber spatula. Place on a parchment lined half sheet pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 25 minutes or just until the potatoes begin to brown. Remove to a cooling rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Graham Crackers

Carla shared this recipe.

Vanilla Buttermilk Cupcakes

Tried this recipe tonight, and I think it will be keeper.

Cheesy Pepperoni Pizza Quick Bread

Ginger shared a link to this recipe recently, and I gave it a shot tonight. Maxwell and Bentley really liked it. John and I thought it was a little salty. I want to try it with sausage instead of the pepperoni, so we'll see how that goes. It took longer than I thought it would, because you are supposed to cool it for 30 minutes before you eat the bread.