Copycat Olive Garden Pasta E Fagioli in a Crockpot

Copycat Olive Garden Pasta E Fagioli in a Crockpot

Easy as pie and DELICIOUS!!
Note: I had to use 2 regular size crockpots to fit everything in. I put all the ingredients in a giant bowl, stirred together, and then dumped 1/2 in 1 crock and the other half in another. It made enough to take dinner to another family!

Ingredients
2 lbs ground beef
1 onions, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
2 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (16 ounce) cans red kidney beans, drained
1 (16 ounce) cans white kidney beans, drained
3 (10 ounce) cans beef stock
3 teaspoons oregano
2 teaspoons pepper
5 teaspoons parsley
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce (optional)
1 (20 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce
8 ounces pasta

Directions
Brown beef in a skillet.
Drain fat from beef and add to crock pot with everything except pasta.
Cook on low 7-8 hours or high 4-5 hours.
During last 30 min on high or 1 hour on low, add pasta.

Pizza Roll-Ups

adapted from Let's Dish

Ingredients

Pizza Dough (you can make your favorite pizza dough recipe or cheat like I did and go to your nearest grocer's bakery and ask for uncooked french bread. Roll out 1 loaf of dough into a rectangle, and follow directions below. I used 2 loaves of bread dough for this recipe. I got 12 pizza rolls out of each loaf, so a total of 24 rolls). Served this as a meal with garden salads. It would also make a great appetizer!

1 teaspoon garlic salt
2 teaspoons basil
1 cup sliced pepperoni, chopped
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (I didn't have this on hand and they were still delicious!)

Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Divide pizza dough in half. Roll each half into a rectangle, about 1/4 inch thick and 12 inches long. Sprinkle each half with equal amounts of garlic salt, basil, cheeses and pepperoni. Starting at a short end, roll dough up tightly to form a log. (Just like you are making cinnamon rolls). Slice into 1-inch pieces. Each rectangle should give you about 12 rolls. Place rolls on lightly greased baking sheets. I brushed my rolls at this point with a little melted butter. It made them very soft and delicious, but the tops looked pale. I will continue making them this way though, as the taste was fabulous. Bake for 10 minutes or until browned on top. It took 12 minutes in my oven. Serve with warm marinara sauce for dipping. (I used Ragu).

Heath Bar Cupcakes

Ingredients
Chocolate Cake Mix
Heath Bars (crushed)

Frosting
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 pound confectioners sugar
1/2 cup caramel topping, plus more for drizzling
1 teaspoon salt

Directions
Mix and bake cake mix according to directions. Let cool.

To make the frosting, cream the butter in the bowl of an electric or stand mixer. Add the vanilla, salt and caramel syrup and mix to combine well. Add the sugar, a cup at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Frost cooled cupcakes. Garnish with crushed heath bars. Makes 24 cupcakes.

Creamy Ham and Potato Soup

Perfect for fall! I doubled the recipe, for everything except the white sauce, so it would be healthier. It was thinner than the original recipe, but the entire family licked the pot clean. I'm sure it is even better made with the original recipe below. Found on: The Girl Who Ate Everything

Creamy Ham and Potato Soup
3 1/2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
1/3 cup diced celery
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup carrot, diced (optional)
1 cup diced cooked ham (buy a ham steak in the deli section)
3 1/4 chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon ground white or black pepper, or to taste
5 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk

Note: I added some carrots that I had and Becky said she adds a can of corn too which would be good.

Directions:
1.Combine the potatoes, celery, onion, carrot, ham and chicken broth in a stockpot. Bring to a boil, then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the salt and pepper.

2.In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour with a fork, and cook, stirring constantly until thick, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in milk so that lumps don't form and until all of the milk has been added. Continue stirring over medium-low heat until thick, 4 to 5 minutes.

3.Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot, and cook soup until heated through.

4. Top with cheddar cheese, chives, and bacon if desired. Serve immediately.

5. Makes 6 servings

Source: adapted from Allrecipes

Moist Pumpkin Spice Muffins

I couldn't help myself. I doubled the recipe and ate a dozen of them myself!

Moist Pumpkin Spice Muffins (With Cream Cheese Frosting)
by The Pioneer Woman

Muffins:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
1 heaping cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup golden raisins (optional!)


Cinnamon Sugar Mixture:
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg


Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Generously grease 12 muffin tins.

Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Cut in butter with two knives or a pastry blender until all incorporated. In a separate bowl, mix together pumpkin, evaporated milk, egg, and vanilla. Pour pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture. Add raisins.

Fold gently until mixture is just combined. Pour into greased muffin pan—batter hardly ever fills all twelve unless you keep it down to 1/2 full. Sprinkle generous amounts of cinnamon-sugar over the top of each unbaked muffin. Bake for 25 minutes. Allow to cool in pan for 15 minutes, then remove and allow to cool. Ice with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting
1/4 cup softened butter
4 ounces cream cheese
1/2 pound powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Mix all ingredients on high until soft and whipped. Spread onto completely cooled muffins, or place into a large pastry bag with a large star tip and go crazy!
Store in fridge, as icing will soften at room temperature.

Cinnamon Caramel Corn with Pecans and White Chocolate (Cinnabon Popcorn)

Cinnamon Caramel Corn with Pecans and White Chocolate (Cinnabon Popcorn)
by Our Best Bites
*I found it on The Girl Who Ate Everything!
**You will not be disappointed with this recipe. FANTASTIC!!

12 C popped popcorn (about 1/2 C kernels or around 1 1/2 bags of microwave popcorn for me)
1 cup pecan halves, roughly chopped
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup karo syrup (or honey makes a good substitution)
1 stick real butter (1/2 cup)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 squares almond bark (about 4 oz) *I used chocolate bark instead of white chocolate!

Preheat oven to 250 degrees

*You can use air popped or microwave popcorn.
Place popcorn and chopped pecans in a large bowl and set aside. *Use a bigger bowl than you think you need.

Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a 2 liter capacity microwave safe bowl. Mix well. Chop butter into chunks and place on top of sugar mixture. Pour corn syrup over the top of everything. Microwave on high for 30 seconds and then stir to combine. Return to microwave and heat for 2 minutes. Remove and stir and then microwave for 2 minutes more. *If you microwave it too much your popcorn will turn out really hard.

Remove from microwave and add in vanilla and baking soda. Stir to combine. Mixture will foam and rise. Pour caramel mixture over popcorn and pecans and stir very well so everything is well coated. *STIR MORE THAN YOU THINK YOU NEED TOO.

Spread popcorn mixture onto a foil-lined jelly roll pan. Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and spread out on a large piece of parchment, waxed paper, or foil.

Melt almond bark according to package instructions. Drizzle over popcorn mixture. When almond bark is hardened and popcorn is cool, break into chunks and enjoy!

Calzones

Calzones (this recipe makes 2 extra-large calzones)
**My sister, Kristin, made this recipe for the kids and I when we went to Arizona this summer. It was a hit! Cali requested it for her b-day meal on Sunday. Fabulous!

Ingredients:
3/4 c. milk (warm)
1 pkg. yeast
1 T. butter (softened)
1 t. olive oil
1 T. cornmeal
1 T. sugar
2 cups flour

Directions:
Dissolve milk and yeast, then add rest of ingredients (add flour 1 cup at a time). Roll dough into 2 large, thin circles. On one half of each circle arrance desired toppings, such as sauce, pepperoni, and cheese. Fold other half over and pinch edges. Bake at 400 degrees for 14 minutes. When finished, remove from oven, brush with melted butter, garlic salt, and Parmesan cheese, and return to oven for a minute to let the cheese melt on top. Delicious!!