Beach Buffet Boogie

Each year, we go on vacation to the beach with my extended family. We stay in a house on the beach and enjoy lots of good times and good food! In my attempt to relax some while we’re there, I like to cook ahead!

It’s that time of year again, vacay time, so I thought I’d share some of my favorite make-to-take recipes with you (a couple recipes I’ve shared before, but I’ll link to them here – links have red/maroon text).
►BAKED SPAGHETTI CASSEROLE – So easy to build an “Italian Night” around!
►BLONDE CHICKEN PARMESAN – A light basic dish that can be dressed up quickly with a couple sides (like my spicy green beans) and hot buttered rolls.
►CHILI DE LAURIE – Good to have on hand for the first night there when all are tired from travelling and for quick soup and sandwich lunches.
I’ve combined ingredients and directions here – you just throw all these items into a large stockpot and simmer, simmer, simmer..til you’re ready to eat! I serve this chili with tortilla chips, sour cream, shredded sharp cheddar cheese and scallions. Here you go:
1-2 lbs. lean ground meat (browned & drained), 1 onion + 1 green pepper + garlic (diced and sauteed til browning), 1 large jar salsa, 2-3 cans diced tomatoes, 4 small cans tomato sauce, 1 large can light red kidney beans (drained), 1 can chili beans, chili powder + cumin (sprinkled in to taste) – feel free to adjust ingredient amounts per your preference
►CREAM CHEESE DANISH CASSEROLE – Soooo yummy with hot coffee or tea in the sunny morning.
►FRENCH TOAST CASSEROLE – Absolutely sinful for breakfast or dessert and a big hit with kids. You can also provide various toppings such as fruit, powdered sugar, syrup, preserves, even chocolate sauce and whipped cream!
Ingredients: French bread (I have also used hoagies rolls before) to make 5 cups bread chunks/cubes, 4 eggs, 1-1/2 cup milk, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp vanilla flavoring, 1 Tbsp butter, 1 tsp cinnamon/sugar
Directions: Butter a 9x13 casserole dish/pan. Put about half of bread chunks/cubes on bottom of dish. Mix eggs, milk, sugar, salt and vanilla together. Pour about half of egg mixture over bread in dish. Sprinkle 1/2 of cinnamon/sugar over this layer. Use the rest of the bread to make another layer in dish. Pour remainder of egg misture over top bread layer. Sprinkle rest of cinnamon/sugar all over the top layer of bread. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes or until top layer of bread it starting to brown around the edges.
►ASSORTED SWEET GOODIES – Oh, c’mon, you know these will be scarfed.
I’ll take a large Tupperware box full of cookies, brownies, etc to include:

Peanut Butter Crunch                Dippy Cookies                   And More!

Hope you can use some of these ideas, they are def tried-and-true and never fail to be gobbled up quickly! Happy travelling this season! Be safe and eat well!
Hugs & Yums, Laurie

SAUCY LASAGNA ROLLS

I LOVE ALDI FOODS!  Do you shop there, too?  One day, I’m gonna post about all my favorite items there.  Today, however, an Italian dinner idea!

Aldi sells these pasta rolls for less than $5  The rolls are large and stuffed with delicious cheese.  No sauce, though.  Hey!  An opportunity to provide OPTIONS for my family (especially my teenage son, the pickiest of the bunch!).  This time, I whisked up a creamy pesto sauce (from a packet I got at ALDI!) and also served a spicy marinara with diced tomatoes.  But, you could easily add an alfredo sauce to the menu as well.  I made 1/2 with each sauce.  The result?
 
I added a simple salad and another recent DELICIOUS Bi-Lo find, GARLIC MONKEY BREAD(gonna have to learn how to make this – a huge hit at our house)!  Sorry, the pic is of the cinnamon (only one I could find), but the garlic parmesan flavor is in the same type box.


This easy-to-make supper resulted in a very happy (& full) family!
Hugs & Yums,
 
PS  You know I’m gonna try the cinnamon flavor, too!

MICROWAVE BAKED SPAGHETTI PIE

This WONDERFUL and easy-to-make/freeze/bake spaghetti casserole was shared with me by my cousin Judy who lives in Maine.  You can easily adjust to your taste (spices, etc). I always make at least 2 or even more, so I'm making more than one dinner at once. 

The 1st pic was this morning - I put together 2 pies, 1 to freeze + 1 to eat tonight! The 2nd pic shows tonight's pie, just out of the microwave.  Add a crispy salad and crunchy garlic bread and you're golden!  ALL my family members love this one!  It's also popular at gatherings & on trips.

Ingredients:  1 pound spaghetti noodles, 1 pound lean ground meat, 1 Tbsp. butter, 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese, 2 jars spaghetti sauce, 1 large container cottage cheese, 1 package shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Boil 1 pound spaghetti noodles, then drain.  Brown 1 pound lean ground meat, then drain.

2. Add a little butter to noodles and stir through.

3. Mix 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese into the noodles.

4. Transfer about 1/4 of the noodles to the bottom of one dish, and another 1/4 to the other dish (you should've used about 1/2 the total noodles at this point).

5. Now add ground meat to each dish on top of noodles (use about 1/4 of meat in each dish).

6. Pour about 1/2 jar of spaghetti sauce over top of noodles and meat in each dish (1/2 jar in each dish, you've used 1 full jar at this point).

7. Now, repeat the same layers (remaining noodles, then remaining meat, then remaining sauce - other jar).

8. Add 1/2 container of cottage cheese (large container) on top of one dish, then add the other 1/2 cottage cheese on top of the other.

9. Lastly, add shredded mozzarella cheese as top layer of each spaghetti pie.

10. At this point, you can store in freezer (wrapped properly), store in refrigerator (to use w/in next day or two), OR immediately bake in microwave.

11.When you bake spaghetti pie, first loosely cover it, then heat at 50% power for about 12 minutes.  Then, take off cover and heat at 100% power for another 12 minutes.

12.  Enjoy digging in!

Hope you enjoy sharing this dish with your family and friends!  It's made me quite popular at times - ha!

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Hugs & Yums, Laurie