Beefy Macaroni with Cabbage

Last year, I made corned beef and cabbage and my husband didn't much care for it. I enjoyed it, but since that time I've been searching for a beef and cabbage recipe that my family likes. We've gotten cabbage a couple times through our CSA so I've been experimenting with some different recipes. My family really enjoys this meal. After making it a few times, we've incorporated it into our regular meal rotation. I really like the combination of the red wine vinegar and brown sugar as you cook the cabbage. It really adds great flavor to the meal. It's also another all-in-one meal and those are my favorite.

I originally found this recipe when I googled "beef and cabbage recipes". It was from ifoodTV but I tweeked it a bit.

Ingredients

• 1 LB ground beef
•  1 large onion, chopped
•  2 T crushed or minced garlic
•  1 regular sized cabbage
• 2 T red wine vinegar
• 2 T brown sugar
• 1 T bacon grease
• 1 tsp white sugar
• 1 can (28 oz) stewed tomatoes
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 cups elbow macaroni or shells

Directions

• In a Dutch oven or large pan over high heat, cook beef, breaking up into little pieces until nice and browned with no pink remaining.
•  Reduce heat to medium. Add onion and garlic. Cook while stirring for 3 minutes or until onion is softened. 
• Stir in cabbage, vinegar and brown sugar. (I also added a little bacon grease with a little bit of white sugar. It created a nice sweetness.) Cook, stirring often, for 3 minutes or until cabbage is wilted. Stir in stewed tomatoes, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer for 5 minutes or until cabbage is tender.
• Cook pasta to desired tenderness. (I like using shells.) Add to meat mixture.
• Sprinkle with a little Paprika and serve.

Enjoy!

Thanks for visiting!

Meatball Sub Casserole

I always love to try new recipes, and was excited to find this one. We love spaghetti in our house. In fact, my husband could literally have it every week. Yet I wanted to find something to mix up "spaghetti night" in our home and was glad I found this. It was from the Gooseberry Patch website. I enjoy their cookbooks so much, I check them out from our library regularly. They are fun to read! They have all kinds of neat country drawings and wonderful cooking, kitchen and home tips on every page. I signed up for their monthly newsletter too and now own my first Gooseberry cookbook called Blue Ribbon Family Favorites.

So, I had high hopes for the recipe but it wasn't as scrumptious as I'd hoped! I think my husband and I just didn't like the bread-y-ness of it. If I made it again (which I might), I would put spaghetti noodles on the bottom of it instead of the bread. I think that would help make it a bit lighter. Sorry the picture doesn't look the most appetizing. The picture on the Gooseberry website is much better ;)

Ingredients:

• 1 loaf Italian bread, cut into 1-inch thick slices
• 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened (I used Neufchatel with 1/3 less fat)
• 1/2 c. light mayonnaise
• 1 t. Italian seasoning
• 1/4 t. pepper
• 2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• Homemade meatballs (I use the meatball recipe from Taste of Home's spaghetti and meatballs)
• 28-oz. jar pasta sauce

Directions:

• Arrange bread slices in a single layer in an ungreased 13"x9" baking pan; set aside. 
• In a bowl, combine cream cheese, mayonnaise and seasonings; spread over bread slices. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheese; set aside. 
• Place meatballs on top of bread, then spaghetti sauce. 
• Sprinkle with remaining cheese. 
• Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serves 4.

Enjoy!

Thanks for visiting :)