Three-Cheese Baked Pasta

I served it with salad and green beans. It can be prepared up to 1 day ahead; cover and refrigerate. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes, and bake as directed.

Ingredients

1 (16-oz.) package ziti pasta (I used penne pasta)
2 (10-oz.) containers Alfredo sauce
1 (8-oz.) container sour cream
1 (15-oz.) container ricotta cheese
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese

Preparation

1. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain and return to pot.

2. Stir together Alfredo sauce and sour cream; toss with ziti until evenly coated. Spoon half of ziti mixture into a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish.

3. Stir together ricotta cheese and next 3 ingredients; spread evenly over pasta mixture. Spoon remaining pasta mixture evenly over ricotta cheese layer; sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.

4. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Makes 8 to 10 servings

Sticky Frosting

Sticky Pink Frosting

1 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
4 ½ tsp. Gelatin (strawberry or other flavor)
¼ tsp cream of tartar
Dash of salt
2 eggs white
½ tsp. vanilla

Boil together first 5 ingredients stirring until the sugar dissolves. Slowly add to unbeaten egg whites, beating constantly at high speed until stiff peaks form. Beat in vanilla. This frosting is very good on Angel Food Cake.

My friend Robin Wilson gave me this recipe and she serves it on a sponge cake and puts sprinkles on it. It looks beautiful and it is yummy. Courtney and Aubrey like to frost white cake cupcakes with it.

Pork Tacos

SHREDDED PORK TACOS

2 pounds boneless pork roast
1 cup salsa
1 can (4 oz.) chopped green chilies
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1-Place all ingredients in slow cooker.

2-Cover; cook on LOW 8 hours, or until meat is tender. To serve, use 2 forks to shred pork.

Serving Suggestions: Serve with tortillas, grated cheese, lettuce, green onions, tomatoes, taco sauce or salsa, sour cream, or pico de gallo instead of tomatoes and green onions.

*This is Stephen and Grey's favorite meal!

-If you live in TX you can get the Spanish rice from HEB, microwave it in the bag for 4 minutes and it is done to serve with tacos.

-I buy pork roasts at Costco, they come individually wrapped, 3 to a package.

Bonner Bars

Almond Toffee Bars
a.k.a. Bonner Bars

½ cup butter

1 ½ cups oats

½ cup graham cracker crumbs

1 cup semisweet chocolate pieces

1 cup almond toffee pieces (Heath Bites 12 oz.package)

1 cup sliced or chopped almonds

1 14-oz. can (1 ¼ cups) sweetened condensed milk

1. Preheat oven to 325. Place butter in 13x9x2-inch baking pan; heat in oven about 6 minutes or until butter is melted. Remove pan from oven.

2. Sprinkle oats and crumbs evenly over melted butter; press lightly into bottom of pan using back of large metal spoon. Sprinkle chocolate pieces, toffee pieces, and almonds evenly over crumb mixture. Drizzle all with sweetened condensed milk.

3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until edges are bubbly and center is just lightly browned. Remove from oven and immediately run a narrow metal spatula or table knife around edges of pan to loosen the cookie. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. Store, covered, in refrigerator.

Yield: 48 bars

Variation: For a fruity version of these yummy bars, replace half of the chocolate pieces with snipped dried apricots.

This recipe came from Robin Bonner. (We renamed them). They are so good and so easy!

Pasta e’ Fagioli Soup

Pasta e’ Fagioli Soup

From the kitchen of Silvia Winert

2 tablespoon olive oil

1 lb. Ground beef

1 large onion, chopped

2 cups diced celery

2 cups diced carrots

hot water

½ cup instant bullion cubes

2 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp black pepper

3 TBS. fresh chopped parsley

1 tsp. hot red pepper sauce

6 cups chunky pasta sauce

(2 1 lb. 10 oz. jars of Ragu Chunky Garden Vegetable Primavera or something similar)

1 (15 oz.) can red kidney beans (drained)

1 can white kidney beans (drained)

2 cups cooked pasta (macaroni or small shells)

Heat oil in large skillet or soup pot over medium-high heat. Add beef and sauté, stirring to break up, about 5 minutes or until beef looses it’s pink. Add onion, carrots, celery; simmer 10 minutes. Place 1 cup hot water in small bowl and add bouillon granules to dissolve. Stir into bouillon mixture oregano, black pepper, parsley, pepper sauce, and pasta sauce to skillet. Simmer 10 minutes. Add 6cups or the 2 Ragu jars filled with water, or enough to reach desired consistency, stir and simmer about 30 minutes. Stir in beans. Stir in Pasta just before serving. Makes 1 gallon. It makes a lot! Use a big soup pot.

Cheese Chili Mac

Cheese Chili Mac

From the kitchen of Silvia and Weight Watchers

cooking spray
1 lb. extra lean ground beef
2 medium onion(s), chopped
29 oz canned stewed tomatoes, Mexican-style (undrained)
2 1/2 cup canned tomato juice
4 oz canned green chili peppers, diced, drained
2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 cup uncooked macaroni, elbow
31 oz canned pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup low-fat shredded cheddar cheese

1. Coat a large skillet with cooking spray. Cook ground beef and onion over medium-high heat until meat is browned, about 10 minutes; drain off fat.

2. Stir in undrained stewed tomatoes including juice, tomato juice, chili peppers and chili powder; bring mixture to a boil.

3. Stir in macaroni and beans; return to boiling. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until macaroni is tender, about 15 minutes. Spoon chili into bowls and sprinkle with cheese. Yields about 1 cup of chili and 1 1/2 teaspoons of cheese per serving.

Points 6

Servings 8

Coffee Cake recipe

Coffee Cake recipe

From the kitchen of Silvia Winert

Kevin brought this recipe home from work, we all like it.

½ lb butter

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups flour

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

4 tbsp brown sugar

¾ cup chopped pecans

Combine and cream butter, sugar and eggs. Mix sour cream and vanilla and set aside. Alternate adding the sour cream mixture and the dry mixture the creamed ingredients until all is combined. Spoon half of the cake mixture into a Bundt pan, spoon cinnamon mixture onto cake batter. Spoon the remainder of cake batter into pan. Bake at 350 for 60-65 minutes. Cool on rack.