Baked Tomato Sauce

My Mom gave me my Step Dad's cast iron skillet.  It was his favorite thing to cook with.  He passed away a year ago October 28th, and we do miss him very much!  He helped spark my interest in cooking by always trying new things and making yummy stuff for us to try.  This is the first thing I made in his cast iron skillet.  I actually really enjoyed it.  You can cook with it on the stove and bake...no extra dishes!

This recipe I found on Evil Chef Mom's blog.  She is a funny blogger.  Her stories and sarcasm crack me up.  Well when I saw this recipe I knew I wanted to try it!  So easy and tasty.  Her recipe has no meat in it, but my husband for some reason doesn't think that it's supper without some meat at dinner.  So hear it is.

Baked Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:
 1/3 cup melted butter

2-3 pounds very ripe tomatoes, halved...I used 5 large tomatoes
1/3 cup panko break crumbs
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 pound dried penne
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves, torn


Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 13-by-9-inch baking dish or a cast iron pan with one-third of the oil. Place the tomatoes cut side up in the dish. Pour melted butter over tomatoes.

In a small bowl, combine the bread crumbs, cheese, and garlic and toss with a fork to mix well. Sprinkle the bread-crumb mixture over the tomatoes, making sure that each cut side is covered with the crumb mixture. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Bake until the tomatoes are cooked through and the tops are golden brown, about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, make noodles and drain. 
Time the pasta so it finishes cooking about the time the tomatoes are ready to come out of the oven.
When the tomatoes are done, add the basil and stir to mix everything into a sauce. Drain the pasta and immediately place it to the baking dish. Mix well.

(I cooked some turkey breasts and added them into the mixture too.)

EAT!  :)

Stuffed Chicken with Crash Hot Potatoes

I apologize...I have no pictures again for this!  We ate it far too fast!  However, that usually means it's delicious when that happens.  Right?!  Go with me on this...no pictures means we gobbled it up in record time.  I wish I would have taken some pictures though the chicken and potatoes turned out wonderfully!

When I was looking at the Budget Bites blog I found a yummy looking chicken I wanted to try.  I had made something like this before, but it was chicken cordon blue.  Beth from Budget Bites made this with pepperoni, but I used ham instead of pepperoni.  Here is the recipe for the Stuffed Chicken Breasts.  My Mother in Law and Father in Law both loved them too!  They came over for dinner. ♥

The Crash Hot Potatoes also turned out to be really great.  The recipe is from Ree Drummond's The Pioneer Woman Cooks website.  I also just bought her cook book The Pioneer Woman Cooks Recipes from an accidental country girl!  I totally love it!  I must admit though, I do transform her recipes into some healthier versions.  She does use a lot of butter! 

Anyway, we also had green beans for good measure.  Lukas won't eat them, but he at least put them in his mouth to taste them.  I used about a tablespoon of Tastefully Simple's Garlic Garlic on the green beans and they are always a hit!

Some sides for Summer

We had a little grill out with just my husband, son, and I last week. I found some yummy recipes to try from Dinners for a Year and Beyond blog. I found a coleslaw that didn't require any salad dressing. It was a pretty simple coleslaw and it was rather tasty! Sweet and Tangy Slaw


We also had these Parmesan Potatoes from the same blog. They were really good. Next time I will probably change these a little adding some more flavor, but Lukas loved them! Gobbled them right up!