posted by mommies2cents on Dinner, recipes

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This was my first weekend home after our vacation and I had a LOT of catching up to do! When I left my husband at home I had a pretty abundant stockpile of food. When I came home I was down to 2 boxes of pasta, 6 bottles of soy sauce and 1/2 a gallon of milk that expired a month ago! Seriously, how gross is that…throw it away! If I’ve learned anything, it’s that leaving a man alone for 6 weeks could lead to a very probable case of food poisoning.

Anyways…

I had tons of shopping to do to, at the very least get the kids and I ready for the week ahead as well as make dinners. After spending my Sunday clipping coupons and restocking the house I did NOT want to spend hours making dinner. Now I usually think about all of you out there in blog world when I am trying to solve a problem because I figure if I am having trouble then some of you are too. So this week I wanted to share our Italian Sunday dinner with all of you! It’s easy, inexpensive and your family will love you!

First, I’ll tell you about the salad. I started making this salad quite a few years ago. It is something my mother-in-law almost always has on hand. I don’t care for Italian dressing so I never eat it but my husband and kids can put this stuff away like there’s a $100 at the bottom of the bowl! What I do love about it is it’s healthy, cheap and easy!

 

Cucumber Salad (Serves about 4)     

2 slicing tomatoes

1-2 Cucumbers

1/4 cup Italian Dressing

Salt and Pepper

Cut the tomatoes up into 1 inch chunks. Peel cucumber. Slice the cucumber and then cut each slice in half. This makes for easier bites. Add tomato and cucumber to salad bowl. Pour dressing over veggies (you can adjust the Italian dressing to your liking) and salt and pepper to taste. Toss! I usually chill this salad for about 30 minutes but it can be served right away.   

Time for a bottle glass of wine. When in Rome right?!

Now lets talk about the main course. We LOVE pasta in this house! Being a coupon fanatic puts a lot of pasta in my cabinets and I am always looking for ways to jazz it up. I also love when I can make enough of something to have leftovers for lunch. So here it is!

Baked Ziti (Serves ~8)

1 Box of Ziti Rigati noodle

1 32 oz tub of Ricotta cheese

1 lb cooked sweet italian sausage (crumbled)

2 eggs

1 cup of fresh spinach (Use fresh people, the other stuff is just gross…ummm…In my opinion…)

1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese

1 24 oz  jar of your favorite pasta sauce or if you are way cooler than me, make 24 oz of your own!

2 cups of shredded mozzarella/parmesan cheese

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Salt and Pepper to taste

Combine ricotta and eggs together in a large bowl. Then add spinach, parmesan cheese, Italian sausage and seasoning. Spray bottom on a large baking dish with some cooking spray, add a VERY thin layer of pasta sauce and then your noodles. Pour the rest of your pasta sauce over the noodles and fold it in until all of the noodles are coated. Now it’s time to add your cheese mixture. fold it into the noodles. You may have 1 1/2 – 2 cups of mixture left over. That’s OK! Put it into a bag and freeze it for another dinner! Manicotti anyone?!

Cover the top with shredded cheeses and bake in the oven for 30 – 35 minutes or until the cheese is bubbley! 

Have the hubby pick up a loaf of Italian bread on his way home and enjoy!  Ciáo!

 

 

 

Tags: Dinner, Dinner Recipes, Italian. Italian food. Italian Dinner, Pasta, pasta and salad, Recipes, salad