Olive Garden Protein Pasta

 Serves 6-8

From Zac Coens YouTube channel:

1.5- 2 pounds chicken breasts, diced

16 oz light Olive Garden dressing

1 TBSP garlic powder

1 TBSP onion powder

1 tsp paprika 

1 tsp oregano

Salt and pepper

8 oz Cream Cheese (Greek cream cheese if you can find it) 

14.5 oz Protein Penne

5 oz baby spinach

Place chicken in crock pot. Combine spices with dressing and pour over chicken. Dice cream cheese into 8 blocks and place blocks on top of chicken and dressing. Place lid on crock pot and cook on low 4 hours. When it’s almost time to eat, boil pasta. While pasta is cooking remove lid from chicken, stir cream cheese into mixture, then pour in the spinach and let wilt and cook while pasta is cooking. Once pasta is cooked, drain and stir into crockpot. Mix thoroughly then serve. 

Spaghetti in Muffin Cups

If I re-printed the recipe here, you would think it was mine. And it SO isn't.

So go here, and see a fabulous (and EASY) way to make plain ol' spaghetti seem like a big deal!

MawMaw's Spaghetti

by Anne Jones
Great Recipe...we call it "MawMaw's Spagetti" b/c my MawMaw always made it and we have no idea where the recipe originally came from.

In skillet, saute hamburger meat just like you would for spagetti.In a saucepan add 1/2 block of Velveeta cheese(chop it up so it will melt faster), 1 can cream of mushroom soup, and one can of tomato soup. I like to also add extra mushrooms, but not everyone likes mushrooms!
Heat until all melted and blended together.
Boil pasta, and add sause and meat! Voila!

Awesome MawMaw's spagetti! We love it, especially with toast instead of garlic bread! yeah, we are cheap! :)Enjoy!

Penne Pasta

I didn't realize that I have already posted this recipe here. But on this post I will alter it for freezing. It is SO easy to make, and SO easy to double that I freeze half of the sauce and then only have to boil some noodles later.

I used to make this ALL the time -- super easy to throw together, and, yes, my kids actually eat zuchini AND red bell peppers in this! (Thrifty hint -- buy red bell peppers when they are on sale. Not on sale they can run up to $2/each! Keep them in the freezer, then just slice them frozen with a good knife)

1 pound Italian sausage
2 garlic clove, minced
1 large zuchini, diced
1 largered bell pepper, diced
1 c. mushrooms, sliced
1 c. frozen peas
1 28-oz. can diced tomatoes, Italian style
1/2 lb. penne pasta, prepared as directed
4 oz. sour cream

Brown sausage in large 10"-12" skillet. Add garlic clove, saute' for 30-60 seconds (I think the original recipe called for onions, too -- but we're not big on onions here). Add all other veggies and continue to saute' until 'crisp-tender', about 5 minutes. Add can of diced tomatoes, cover and simmer for 20 minutes (while this is simmering, you can be boiling your penne pasta). At this point I divide the sauce in half. I let one half cool and later pour into a gallon-size Ziploc bag. The other half I continue as follows: Stir in cooked pasta (at this point I have to transfer it all to the pasta pot, running out of room in my skillet) then the sour cream until hot. When you thaw and heat the sauce next time, you will (again) need 1/2 lb. penne pasta (I let the sauce heat in a skillet while the pasta boils) and the 4 oz. sour cream. Easy dish from the freezer -- no chopping this time!

Five Minute Lasagna

1 (26 oz.) jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
1 (30 oz.) bag of frozen cheese ravioli (unthawed)
1 (10 oz.) package frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 (8 oz.) package shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese

Preheat oven to 350

Lightly grease a 13 x 9 baking dish and spoon in 1/3 of the sauce. Arrange 1 layer of ravioli, then evenly lay all of the spinach over the top of the ravioli. Top with 1/2 of each cheese. Now cover with another layer of the ravioli, the remaining sauce and the remaining cheese. Tent with foil (don't let cheese touch foil or it will stick) and bake 25 minutes; then uncover and bake 5 to 10 minutes more until bubbly. Serves 6 and really is very quick to put together. My family all likes this even my child who doesn't care for green veges.
Karene

6/2/2005 9:28 PM

Penne Pasta Dish

This is 'what's for dinner' Monday night. I used to make it ALL the time -- super easy to throw together, and, yes, my kids actually eat zuchini AND red bell peppers in this! (Thrifty hint -- buy red bell peppers when they are on sale. Not on sale they can run up to $2/each! Keep them in the freezer, then just slice them frozen with a good knife)

1/2 pound Italian sausage
1 garlic clove, minced
1 zuchini, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 c. mushrooms, sliced
1/2 c. frozen peas
1 14-oz. can diced tomatoes, Italian style
1/2 lb. penne pasta, prepared as directed
4 oz. sour cream

Brown sausage in large 10"-12" skillet. Add garlic clove, saute' for 30-60 seconds (I think the original recipe called for onions, too -- but we're not big on onions here). Add all other veggies and continue to saute' until 'crisp-tender', about 5 minutes. Add can of diced tomatoes, cover and simmer for 20 minutes (while this is simmering, you can be boiling your penne pasta). Stir in cooked pasta (at this point I have to transfer it all to the pasta pot, running out of room in my skillet) then the sour cream until hot.

Southwestern Chicken Spaghetti

Robin Sailor

This is a quick and easy recipe that my daughter loves:

Mix together in a saucepan:
1 large can of chicken from Sam's (you can also boil and bone a chicken if you've got more time)
1 can original Rotel tomatoes, drained
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 cup velveeta cheese, cubed

Heat until creamy and pour over cooked spaghetti. Serve immediately, or you can put in a casserole dish and rewarm to serve later.