A Few Good Recipes...

Dinner seems to haunt me. I think it haunts most moms. Oh, what to make??? There are even days when I have it all planned out, but forget to defrost my meat or am missing one key ingredient. (Thank goodness for neighbors, huh?)

Anyway, I try hard to plan "normal" meals while my husband is gone. After all, we're talking at least 2-3 nights a week. Since it's still near the beginning of the year and one of my resolutions is always to do better at planing meals, I've done fairly well so far. The last two nights while Daniel was gone I tried some new recipes from Pinterest. I enjoyed them both. My girls ate them; can't say they were a huge hit, though. Perhaps your kids will like them better, so here you go:


1. Broccoli and Italian Sausage Egg Muffins

Ingredients
1 pound Italian Sausage (my girls told me to try bacon next time)
1 cup broccoli florets
8 large eggs
1/4 cup milk (or half and half depending on how you're feeling that day)
1/2 tbsp vegetable oil 1/2 tsp baking powder salt & pepper to taste Freshly grated Parmesan Cheese as needed

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. In a large saute pan, over medium high heat, brown Italian Sausage for about 5 minutes, or until the sausage is no longer pink. Remove from heat and stir in broccoli.
3. Whisk together eggs, milk, oil and baking powder. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Lightly spray a 12-cupcake pan with oil.Spoon out the sausage and broccoli mixture evenly into each cupcake.
5. Ladle the egg mixture over sausage and broccoli.
6. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes.



2. Tortellini and Garden Vegetable Bake

Ingredients
* 10 ounces dried cheese-filled tortellini (2-1/2 cups) or two 9-ounce packages refrigerated tortellini (I only had one package so I added some penne pasta)
* 1 medium carrot, thinly sliced
* 1 1/2cups sugar snap peas, halved crosswise
* 1 tablespoon margarine or butter
* 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
* 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
* 1/3 cup chicken broth (I would use more)
* 2 tablespoons snipped fresh oregano or 1-1/2 teaspoons dried oregano, crushed
* 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
* 3/4 teaspoon garlic salt
* 1/2 teaspoon pepper
* 1 cup milk
* 1 8 ounce package cream cheese or light cream cheese (Neufchatel), cubed and softened
* 1 tablespoon lemon juice
* 1 cup quartered cherry tomatoes
* 1 small red or green sweet pepper, coarsely chopped
* 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
1. Cook tortellini in boiling salted water according to package directions, adding the carrot during the last 5 minutes of cooking and the sugar snap peas during the last 1 minute of cooking; drain. 2. Meanwhile, heat margarine or butter in a 12-inch skillet. Add chicken and mushrooms, and cook about 5 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Remove from skillet.
3. Shake together chicken broth, oregano, flour, garlic salt, and pepper in a screw-top jar until smooth. Add to skillet along with milk. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly; add cream cheese. Cook and stir until cream cheese is smooth. Remove from heat. Stir in lemon juice. Add pasta mixture, chicken mixture, tomatoes, and sweet pepper. Toss to coat. Turn into an ungreased 13x9x2-inch baking dish or shallow 3-quart casserole.
4. Bake, covered, in a 350 degrees F oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until heated through. Stir mixture and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Transport in an insulated carrier. Makes 12 main-dish servings.