Fiesta Pasta!!

Everything for this meal was bought from Aldi and it was delicious!!!!!  Not the healthiest but you can tweak it to what you want!

Fiesta Pasta adapted from:
Http://www.wishesdocometru.com/2013/10/fiesta-pasta.html

Fiesta Pasta

Ingredients

1 package of  Fusilli pasta

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2/3 cup light sour cream

1 pack taco seasoning

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can of mexican corn

1 lb ground beef

Salt and pepper
 3 oz Cream Cheese

Steps:

1. Cook pasta like it says on the box. 

When you drain the water save 1/2 cup of pasta water. Set both aside.

2. Brown the ground beef.

3. Add garlic powder.

4. Drain the tomatoes and corn and add to beef mix.

5. Add taco seasoning and let simmer on low for 3-5 minutes.

6. Combine 1/2 cup pasta water, pasta, and meat together in the pasta pot.

7. Add sour cream, cream cheese, salt and pepper to taste.

8. Mix and let stand for a few minutes.

Home cooking!

I have been trying really hard to stick to meal planning and keeping to a strict grocery budget.  I have been shopping at ALDI lately with surprising results.  We have really liked almost everything we have eaten!!!  I found a blog with ALDI meal plans and shopping lists and I have been tweaking those recipes to better suit our family! I also love trying new recipes from Pinterest.   I have been asked to share so I will start with a few recipes here and try to update with our favorite ones!

Tortellini Soup (Served with Tastefully Simple Salted Pretzel Rolls and homemade cinnamon applesauce) adapted from:
 ( http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/tortellini-soup/e2a8d3ac-207d-4617-b20c-df3517f0aa8a)

Ingredients

3

tablespoons butter or margarine 

2

garlic cloves, finely chopped

2

medium celery stalks, chopped (1 cup)

1

medium carrot, chopped (1/2 cup)

2        Cartons (32 oz each)  chicken broth (8 cups)

4

cups water

2

packages refrigerated  cheese-filled tortellini

2

 1/2

teaspoon pepper

Pinch of Basil

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

• 1Melt butter in 6-quart Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Cover and cook garlic, celery, carrot in butter 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• 2Stir in broth and water. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, adding tortellini in the last 2-3 minutes until tortellini are tender.
• 3Stir in Basil, pepper. Cover and simmer 1 minutes. Top each serving with cheese.

Mexican Style Stuffed Peppers: adapted from

http://www.wishesdocometru.com/2014/03/stuffed-green-peppers.html

Stuffed Green Peppers

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Mama Casita Salsa

9 multi colored  peppers

Mama Casita taco seasoning

1/2 cup Happy Farms cheddar cheese (leave off for healthier choice)

2 cups cooked mexican style rice ( I used the microwaveable pouches)

1 bag frozen corn

2 lb Ground Beef

Salt and pepper to taste

Steps:

1. Cook rice as it says on package

2. Cook corn as it says on the bag.

3. Dice one pepper

4. Brown the ground meat, add diced pepper and cook for 5 minutes.  Add taco seasoning and 2/3 cup of water.  Reduce heat and let simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.  Add Corn, Rice, and salsa and let simmer

5. Slice the top of the peppers off. 

6. Fill peppers with rice and meat mix. Top with cheese

7. Bake in 370 oven for 30 minutes or until peppers are soft and cheese is melted and browned

****Both of these recipes made excellent leftovers for lunch the next day!!!   I had extra pepper filling that I filled tortilla shells with and made delicious burritos with!!!******

Must eat

Oven Baked Meatball Subs

So delicious!  So easy!  Just my kind of meal!

I found the recipe here http://www.wishesdocometru.com/2013/11/meatball-subs.html

All of the ingredients were bought at Aldi and everything tasted great!  This one will make our meal rotation quite often!

I added a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese before topping with Italian cheese.  So delicious.

Kenny approved!  He was shoveling entire meatballs in his mouth!!!