Quick, Easy and Economical Recipes For Your Table: Island Burgers and Penne Pasta Casserole

If you are a busy cook who wants to feed your family good meals on a tight food budget, the recipes in this article will be perfect for you. Each is a tasty recipe your family will love yet you can have it on the table quickly. The Island Burgers with their ingredients of honey, spices, soy sauce, and pineapple will transport your taste buds to an exotic island. The Penne Pasta Casserole will treat those taste buds to a bit of Italia!

ISLAND BURGERS
1/2 cup honey
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp curry powder
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 lbs lean ground beef
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1 can (23-oz) sliced pineapple, drained
8 hamburger buns or sandwich rolls, split, buttered, and toasted
Lettuce leaves, optional

In a large bowl combine the honey, paprika, curry powder, ground ginger, and ground cinnamon. Add the ground beef to the mixture and mix together well. Shape into 8 equal patties.

Grill hamburgers over medium-hot heat 3 to 4 minutes per side. Brush with the soy sauce and grill another 5 or 6 minutes until juices run clear or burgers are done to suit you. Baste and turn a couple of times during this cooking. Shortly before burgers are done, grill the pineapple slices until browned, turning once to brown each side.

To serve, place burgers and pineapple slices on the toasted buns or rolls and add a lettuce leaf if desired.

PENNE PASTA CASSEROLE
1 lb lean ground meat (beef or turkey)
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 can (14 1/2-oz) diced tomatoes with Italian seasonings
1 can (6-oz) tomato paste
1/2 cup water
3 1/2 cups uncooked penne pasta
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

Prepare the uncooked pasta according to the package directions.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

While pasta is cooking, brown the meat and onion in a large skillet until the meat is no longer pink; drain off any excess fat. Return meat and onion to skillet and stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, and water. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add some garlic powder, if desired. Cook just until heated through.

Spray a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

Combine the cooked and drained pasta with the meat mixture. Stir in 2 cups of the mozzarella cheese. Pour the mixture into the sprayed baking dish. Spread the remaining cup of cheese evenly over the top of the casserole.

Bake uncovered for 20 to 35 minutes or until bubbly and cheese is melted.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Enjoy!

For more of Linda's quick and easy recipes visit her blog at http://grandmasquickfixrecipes.blogspot.com/
For her crockpot/slow cooker recipes visit her at http://grandmasslowcookerrecipes.blogspot.com/

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Making Your Own Homemade Pasta

When it comes to making your own homemade pasta, having the right pasta machine is essential. Pasta makers come in all different shapes and sizes and can be manual or automatic. The manual pasta makers are the authentic, original machines. Now of days they are making electric pasta machines, which takes a little away from how authentic the hole process is.

When looking for the right machine for your home and restaurant, which one is right for you? Whether your getting one for your home, or for a restaurant, will pretty much be the biggest decision you'll have to make. If your getting one for your home, the machine will only need to be small, just big enough to make enough pasta for your family, or a small group of people.

If you own a restaurant and want a highly efficient pasta maker, then getting a bigger, faster, or maybe even an electric pasta machine would be a good idea. When dealing with a restaurant, the speed, amount made, and quality is the key to success.

There are many pasta cutters out there that work fantastic, and will get the trick done. But then there's ones that are high in quality, and will last you forever. When it comes to deciding on the right one to purchase, take quality, durability, and efficiency into consideration. I like to read reviews on the machines before I purchase one. Seeing what other buyers have to say is very helpful when making a decision on purchasing something.

If your thinking about getting into making your own homemade noodles for your pasta, then getting a pasta machine is the right idea. Go out and grab a nice, affordable, quality pasta machine for your home or restaurant, you wont regret it!

Getting a pasta maker was a great decision for my household. My grandmother just moved in and loves to cook just as much, if not more than my mother. My family is from Italy and we love a good sauce. Every Sunday we break out all the ingredients, the pasta makers, and everything we need to make our homemade pasta.

My friends come over every once in a while and say my mother has the best sauce out there! And to top it off the noodles are homemade right in my kitchen from our new pasta cutter. When it comes to a good homemade pasta, nothing beats the homemade noodles, with the homemade sauce and meatballs to go with it. Little bit of Parmesan cheese, and your ready to go!

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Quick and Easy Ways With Pasta: Linguine Carbanara, Noodles Romanoff, and Spinach Pesto

When you are in a hurry to prepare a hearty meal for family and/or friends, grab a box of pasta and get to work. Pasta is quick, easy, and almost everyone loves it. These recipes are for the busy cook who still wants to serve tasty, nutritious meals. The Noodles Romanoff is as easy as it gets! The Linguine Carbonara and the Spinach Pesto Pasta offer a variety sure to suit your family. Add a quick salad or steamed broccoli, some whole-grain bread, quick dessert if you desire, and you have a meal.

Quick and Easy Noodles Romanoff
8-oz pkg egg noodles
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

Cook the noodles according to package directions. Drain noodles well and return to the pan. Add the sour cream and Parmesan cheese. Toss noodles lightly to coat with the sour cream and cheese. Serve immediately while still hot.

Yield: 4 servings

LINGUINE PASTA CARBONARA
8 oz linguine
4 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup milk
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 slices bacon, fried crisp and crumbled
1/4 cup chopped parsley

Cook linguine as directed on the package. Drain but do not rinse; return to the pan. Whisk together the eggs, butter, and milk; toss with the linguine. Add the remaining ingredients and heat thoroughly, stirring occasionally. Serve sprinkled with additional cheese, if desired.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

SPINACH PESTO OVER PASTA
6 bacon slices
10 oz pkg spaghetti or fettucini noodles
1 pkg (10-oz) frozen chopped spinach
2 cloves garlic, minced
dash of fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

In a large skillet cook the bacon until crisp. Drain the grease off bacon but save 2 tablespoons of the drippings*. Crumble the bacon and set aside.

Cook the spaghetti or fettucini as directed on package.

While the pasta is cooking, cook the spinach according to package directions in a medium saucepan. Place the undrained spinach, reserved bacon drippings, garlic, and pepper in a blender or food processor. Cover and process until smooth. Add the undrained cottage cheese, replace cover and blend until smooth.

Arrange the pasta on a large serving platter. Pour the spinach pesto over the pasta; toss to mix well. Sprinkle the crumbled bacon and the Parmesan cheese over the top before serving. Serve immediately.

*For a healthier dish, substitute olive oil for the bacon drippings.
(Note: What a great way to get your picky eaters to eat spinach.)

Enjoy!

For more of Linda's quick and easy recipes visit her blog at http://grandmasquickfixrecipes.blogspot.com/
For her diabetic information and recipes visit her at http://diabeticenjoyingfood.blogspot.com/

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