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Ever since I discovered skillet pasta dinners, I have been fascinated with them. It’s a good thing my family likes them, too. Because I have been making a lot of them. I love that they are so quick and easy. My family loves that they are good!

 

 

Skillet Sausage Pasta

 

1 pound your your favorite fully cooked smoke sausage or kielbasa, sliced or quartered

1 onion, diced

2 cups water

2 teaspoons Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base

1 – 28 ounce can diced tomatoes, with liquid

1 pound bite size pasta

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 cup heavy cream

 

 

Lightly brown sausage in skillet. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to boil, cover skillet. Simmer on low for 12-15 minutes, until pasta is tender.

 

If your family, like mine, thinks that no meal is complete without cheese, you can top this dish with the cheese of your choice. In the pic below, I used cheddar. Parmesan cheese is good on it, too.

 

 

Note: I use a big 12 inch Cast Iron Skillet, a smaller skillet won’t hold this recipe, either cut the recipe in half, or use another pan that will hold it. This is the pan I use:

 

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I am so enjoying the cooler temperatures of Fall! It makes me want to cook more. And my family loves that! lol

 

One of the dinners I made last week was BBQ Chicken, Roasted Potatoes, and Broccoli. This time, I used store bought  BBQ sauce. I know, I know. I do like to make my own, but sometimes quick is good! I tossed the quartered potatoes with some oil, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and paprika, before baking. The family loved it, of course.

 

 

Please excuse the messy BBQ sauce covered plate. I started to take a picture of my plate, but decided my husbands looked better. He had more chicken than I did. I said Hey, Can I take a picture of your plate before you start eating? He said yes! lol

 

My family also loved the Beef Roast with Potatoes, Carrots, and Onions that I made last Friday. Of course, my family always loves this kind of meal. They would like it if we had this every week. I don’t think they would mind if I served it twice a week. They are all about their meat and potatoes. They also love carrots cooked in with the roast in the slow cooker. I thought I made enough. But, nope, my husband and I only got 3 or 4 carrot pieces each. The kids ate all the rest! Note to self: Make more carrots!!

I had taken some pork loin chops out of the freezer Saturday intending to cook them that night. We ended up cooking out instead. So I am switching up the menu and having the pork tonight. We will have chicken on pork night. While I find a weekly dinner menu a necessity, I like having the flexibility to change meals around if it works better for us.

 

 

In the Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu

 

Now…. to answer the question that I get asked about a hundred times a day……….What’s For Dinner?

Saturday – quick & easy- Cookout! Hot dogs, baked beans, & s’mores!

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – Dinner at church

Monday – chicken – Chops in the Crock, rice, green beans (Trying a new recipe from a cookbook I’m reviewing!)

Tuesday – pizza/pasta – Macaroni & Cheese, meatballs, broccoli

Wednesday – Taco Night- Beef Fajitas, salad

Thursday – pork – Fried Chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn

Friday – beef –  Venison Roast with potatoes, carrots, and onions

 

 

For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday

My daughter started to make pancakes the other day and found out we didn’t have enough baking powder. I had heard of homemade baking powder before, but had never made it myself. I quickly mixed some up and my daughter carried on with the pancake recipe. The pancakes came out great!

 

Here’s how I made my own homemade baking powder.

 

 

Homemade Baking Powder

 

1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cream of tartar

Mix the two together thoroughly. This makes one tablespoon of baking powder.

 

See how easy that is? It needs to be used immediately, so don’t make extra. If you don’t need a tablespoon of baking powder, you can cut the recipe in half.

 

Making your own Homemade Baking Powder is quick, easy, and can save you a trip to the store.

Now that the weather has cooled off some here in Kentucky, I feel more like cooking. Who wants to use the stove and oven when it’s 90 degrees outside?  I sure don’t!

 

My daughter said, “Can we have pancakes for lunch?” I said sure, go ahead and make them. Like how I turned that around to HER making them? lol

 

She made them, and did a great job. As usual. After she had measure out the ingredients, we discovered that we didn’t have enough baking powder for our usual large batch of pancakes. I had heard of homemade baking powder before, but never tried it. I quickly made some for her to use, and the pancakes come out great as always.

 

Here’s my short stack. With lots of butter, and real maple syrup. yum!

 

 

 

Ok, so my weirdie teenage son was eating his pancakes with Ranch dressing. I’ve said before that my kid will eat anything with ranch on it. But, ew! He said, “This is good, take a picture!” I told him no, that’s disgusting. So he got my phone and took a picture himself. In case you’re wondering, he also had some leftover homemade oven fries on his plate. An odd meal, to say the least. Considering the lighting in my house stinks, he did a good job! Hopefully, his taste buds change as he gets older?! Or, who knows, maybe being a food blogger is in his future? lol

 

 

I love Fall because it’s soup weather again! Thanks to Influenster’s Comfort VoxBox, I got to try Annie’s Homegrown Organic Tomato Soup! It was so good! My husband and I had it with grilled cheese sandwiches made with sharp cheddar cheese. Yum!

 

 

Sunday, I made a quick homemade Vegetable Soup with Garlic Cheese Bread. Yes, the bread is made from a hot dog bun, in this case, a whole wheat one. I spread them with butter, poured on the garlic powder, and sprinkled on some oregano. I then topped them with grated sharp cheddar cheese and put them under the broiler until the cheese is melted, and the bread is lightly browned. Perfect for dipping into the soup! I made some with just cheese on the bread. They were good, but the ones with butter and garlic were soooo good! Why, yes, my vegetable soup is topped with shredded sharp cheddar cheese AND parmesan cheese! I usually serve it with just parmesan cheese, but I had some cheddar left from making the bread so we used that, too. Yum! Ok, I’ve said that a few times already, but it’s true! lol

 

 

Our youngest daughter turned 17 last week! She didn’t want a party, but we did have a family birthday dinner.  She didn’t want a big family dinner, either, but I told her she WAS having a birthday dinner with her grandmother. She didn’t have a problem with eating all the shrimp! lol I served Shrimp Cocktail, Shrimp sauteed in butter, Chicken Strips, Hush Puppies, Green Beans, Corn, and Sweet Hawiian Dinner Rolls. Yes, I bought the Shrimp Cocktail in the freezer section of the store. It was so easy, just thaw and serve. I am not a shrimp eater, but my family said it was good.

 

 

My family kept bending my big slotted spoon so I had to buy another one. Since The Pioneer Woman’s new line is my current favorite, I bought hers. I also bought this all purpose turner, because I loved it, too.

 

 

In the Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu

 

Now…. to answer the question that I get asked about a hundred times a day……….What’s For Dinner?

Saturday – quick & easy- Hot Dogs, homemade oven fries – Husband cooked!

Sunday – soup & sandwich day -Homemade Vegetable Soup with Garlic Cheese Bread

Monday – chicken – Oven BBQ Chicken, Roasted Potatoes, Broccoli

Tuesday – pizza/pasta – Skillet Sausage Pasta

Wednesday – Taco Night- Beef Tacos with all the fixin’s

Thursday – pork – Pork Loin, rice, green beans

Friday – beef –  Roast with potatoes, carrots, and onions, corn

 

 

For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday