Easy Cheesy Sausage & Pesto Ring

This easy dinner is like a savory monkey bread but less work!

This was one of the first foods I made back when we had moved into our current house. Since it was April 2020, we were still having issues finding some foods especially meats. I got lucky and was able to get sausage to make this recipe. It's very reminiscent of monkey bread but there's no cutting up all the biscuits. It's so much less effort and still turns out incredibly.

Ultimate Bangers and Mash

A classic British dish with the most amazing onion gravy ever!

I really cannot express how much I love this recipe. But I can start with the fact that I don't like bratwursts and I don't like gravy and I reluctantly made this because I felt like it was something my family would enjoy. I ate brats. I ate them and liked them! The onion gravy is probably my all-time favorite gravy and one I would eat with so many different meals. It's incredible.

Crazy Crust Pizza

This thin crust pizza is made with liquid batter for the crust and meat that cooks into the crust before topping with sauce and cheese!

I was really intrigued by this pizza - initially because of the name. Why is the crust crazy? Then reading the method behind it and I was like...okay this is a little crazy! You have a liquid batter and the meat goes onto it before the crust bakes?! Then comes pizza sauce and cheese. I reserved judgment until it was made and I had no problems whatsoever. It turned out beautifully and we all really enjoyed it. I mean, it was so easy and the crust was really yummy. The original recipe maker said they do different toppings all the time, so it doesn't have to be this specifically - try whatever combo sounds good to you!

Cheesy Kielbasa, Rice, and Broccoli Skillet

Extra cheesy one pot skillet meal that is so easy to throw together and is a crowd pleaser!

I think it's wild that I didn't like kielbasa years ago. It's one of my favorite things. I typically will buy turkey sausage and I'm not sure if that counts for kielbasa but I do like both. I really loved how easy this recipe was - it really reminded me of something I would have made when I was first married. I made a lot of easy skillet meals or casseroles and this was very much that.

Eggplant Parmesan Boats

On a quest to be successful at eggplant parmesan, I found these easy and delicious eggplant parmesan boats!

One of my favorite dishes of all-time is the eggplant parmigiana at Olive Garden. I haven't been in years and I think even when I did go, it was once a year. I always get the eggplant parmigiana and that's because I have been unsuccessful with making it at home. I've almost worked up the nerve to try again, but until then, I really liked this "cheat" version where there's no breading or frying but still the flavors of eggplant parmesan.

Four Cheese Garlic White Cream Pasta

This quick pasta is super cheesy and garlicky - and pairs well with chicken!

I love this pasta recipe because it has my favorite things: cheese and garlic. I always put the amount of minced garlic the recipe calls for, but I can guarantee that I rarely ever put that amount in. I just dump in like 3 spoonfuls or more in. There is no such thing as too much garlic. I like the Italian four cheese blend of cheese for this recipe so I don't have to buy four different kinds of cheeses out just for 1 1/2 cups. I made Italian seasoned chicken to go with but I think Italian sausage would be great too.

Angel Hair Pasta with Italian Sausage

A quick pasta dish with sausage and red onions - and mushrooms if you like them!

I really like the simplicity of this recipe. The original recipe had mushrooms (you cook them with the onions if that's something you want), but only Cami eats mushrooms... so no mushrooms here. If you want to make this vegetarian, the original poster said you could sub in the sausage for more mushrooms and red onions. So it's super flexible to what you want. 

Prado's Flatbread Copycat

Check out the Mexicali and Blanca flatbread pizzas inspired by a restaurant in San Diego.

One of my favorite things to do (if you didn't know by now) is to come up with copycat recipes of foods in restaurants or that I've seen on the internet. This particular recipe is from a restaurant in San Diego called (The) Prado. My husband spent 2019 traveling to San Diego for work and he loves it. He actually lived there when he was really young for a few years and so it's a bit nostalgic for him too. One of his favorite foods he ate (outside of all the amazing Mexican food) was the Mexicali flatbread pizza at Prado. He sent me a picture of the menu and I immediately went to the Blanca flatbread pizza with goat cheese and spinach. As I have not had these pizzas and cannot speak to how close the recipes actually are...these are just loose copycat recipes that I made on what little information was given on the menu. Both were crazy delicious.

Spicy Touchdown Chili

A three meat chili with beans, tomatoes, and a good kick of jalapeno and cayenne will warm you right up!

I thought I would put this spicy chili on the meal plan in hopes it would be spicy because I have some spicelords in the house who have very high spice tolerances and sometimes when things claim to be "spicy", they aren't spicy enough. I will say that this was the perfect amount of heat. You have hot Italian sausage, Rotel, jalapeno, and cayenne in it. My family likes beans in our chili, although I've heard there are people who don't like it. This is such a hearty recipe and it makes a good amount - I want to say we ended up freezing some of ours.

Three Cheese Pasta with Kielbasa and Peppers

This quick pasta dish has the most perfect 3-cheese sauce!

Any recipe that has three cheese in the title is one I will almost immediately save. But I try to make pasta recipes on Mondays and so it can take forever for me to get around to putting pasta recipes on my meal plan. Especially if I'm craving an old favorite. I think this recipe will end up in our rotation and take the place of recipes that I haven't made yet because it is fantastic! It's easy. It's quick. It has 3 cheeses! And you get precooked meat that you basically just brown. I really like this one because I can use turkey sausage in place of kielbasa if we have a heavy red week and I'm trying to even things out.

 

Italian Vegetable Soup

This hearty soup is full of vegetables and a little bit of Italian sausage.

This vegetable soup reminds me a lot of minestrone soup but I do like it because yes to all the veggies! I love the straight up crazy amount of vegetables in the soup. I do like that it has a little bit of meat in it and that it's a tomato-y broth with Italian seasonings. I mean honestly I can't ask for anything more. As a kid, I hated the canned vegetable soups, so it's nice to find something so great.

Easy Sausage Gravy

4 ingredients plus salt and pepper and you have the best breakfast gravy ever!

Never in a million years did I think that a gravy recipe would make its way to my favorites list, but here we are! I started making gravy more regularly a few years ago because Nick and Cami both like it on mashed potatoes and in the 13 1/2 years I've been married, I basically never made gravy or purchased it for mashed potatoes. I was really surprised at how easy and quick it is and since Nick, Cami, and Matthew all love biscuits and gravy, I wanted to learn how to make a proper sausage gravy for them. I wanted to try it and give it another chance and it turns out that I really liked it too! A win all around!

Copycat Marion's Pizza

This pizza copycat is straight out of Dayton, Ohio - an okay imitation at best - the real thing is too good!

When I had first met my husband, all I heard about was this amazing pizza place in Ohio called Marion's Piazza (and Skyline too). We met in 2004 and it took me until 2016 to actually go to Marion's and have this infamous pizza. In particular, my husband's favorite is the one with Italian sausage and banana peppers. It's a thin crust pizza that's cut into squares. Marion's crust reminded me a lot of the pizza crust at my childhood favorite pizza place, Pizza Ranch. :) I'm still trying to find a good thin crust recipe that tastes like the ones at restaurants and it's driving me bonkers.

Sausage Pesto Lasagna Rolls

Only 5 ingredients and way less heavy than a pan full of lasagna, this sausage and pesto combination is the best!

Sometimes it's a little difficult to find a lasagna recipe that we all like. Somehow it just so happens that none of us really care for lasagna. I personally think it's the ricotta cheese in it, but none of us will choose to eat it. However, I find so many recipes that I think...maybe this one will be one we enjoy. I think lasagna rolls are particularly a hit with us because they aren't as heavy as lasagna, nor are they as messy. Most of them do not use ricotta cheese in them and they are really quick compared to actual lasagna. My family loves pesto so I knew this recipe wouldn't let us down!

Italian Sausage Pasta with Basil Cream Sauce

Sauteed onion, garlic, sausage, and tomatoes with a creamy basil sauce make for a fantastic dinner!

I cannot tell you when I actually made this recipe for the first time. It seems that I really never got a good picture of it and I kept having to push off posting it until I finally got a picture. I have made multiple recipes with a creamy basil sauce and I could not resist making another one. I really enjoy this one and appreciate that it's another quick pasta dish that I can add to my collection of recipes - especially for busy days!

Breakfast Burritos

Homemade hashbrowns, sausage, and egg burritos with loads of toppings are a great way to start the day!

I'm unsure how Nick stumbled upon it, but he got us all hooked on Parry Gripp songs. One of our favorites is Breakfast Burrito. It's absolutely ridiculous but it's the anthem when we make our breakfast burritos. I'm not reinventing the wheel here by posting this recipe, but I do really enjoy it. It has homemade hashbrowns and not pictured is the avocado I put on my burrito. I love that these breakfast burritos have a more Mexican feel to it with salsa, cilantro, and avocado in it.

Meat Lovers' Sheet Pan Pizza

Find the recipe on The Recipe Jackpot

Latin Burgers

Find the recipe on The Recipe Jackpot

Eggs Florentine Casserole

This egg casserole has loads of spinach plus sausage, red bell pepper, and cheese!

I adore breakfast casseroles. They are so convenient to feed a crowd - especially for any holiday. We didn't do Easter this year like normal with the Stay at Home order and all that. We don't really celebrate Easter, but we always do an Easter dinner with our family (who does celebrate Easter). I grew up celebrating it and loved when my grandma would make casseroles for breakfast. I guess that tradition just really stuck with me. On a normal year, I probably would have made this, but we have had a hit or miss with eggs in the grocery store.

This casserole is great because it has sausage in it - usually it's ham or bacon. Plus there's spinach and red bell in it. The original recipe also used mushrooms, but as per usual, I omitted them. The original recipe also had Swiss cheese, but we also don't eat that, so I typically switch it out for either mozzarella, gruyere, or gouda. Just depending on my mood.

Cheesy Gnocchi Skillet

A great one pot sausage meal ready in under 30 minutes without complicated ingredients!

I feel strange posting recipes as normal, but I have been cooking as normally as I can while the shelves are picked clean. I've made some changes here and there on the fly, but have been pretty lucky to find what I need - because I planned for the whole month in the end of February not knowing what would happen in a few short weeks.

For us, food is starting to be better kept in stock but when it was more scarce, sausage was more available than any other protein. I couldn't tell you if there's gnocchi. We have barely had diced tomatoes - but you could go fresh. This recipe would be great if you can find those ingredients or make some slight modifications. If you can't, save it for later :) I know I have eyed some things I probably won't be able to make in the near future and have been saving them to my pin boards.

I hope that you readers are doing well and you and your loved ones are in good health. My hope is that with all the stay home orders going out this past week that this will be over soon and we can go forward with more insight on how to better prepare ourselves and prevent the mess that has ensued.