Baked Angel Hair with Sausage

This baked angel hair with sausage is the perfect recipe for a large dinner. It makes a really big batch, and is really easy to make. I recently made this great dish and took it along for an overnight trip. It reheated easily in the hotel room, making for a nice, inexpensive dinner. A little green bean salad and some garlic bread and I was eating like a king.

We often also make this dish for friends. It’s easy and makes a lot, perfect for feeding a big family. And it tastes great of course!

Baked Angel Hair with Sausage

A Great Way To Feed A Crowd

You can switch things up a bit by omitting the rosemary and substituting Creole seasoning. I found the original recipe for baked angel hair with sausage over on Bo’s Bowl blog, which is chock full of great food ideas!

I highly recommend that you shred or grate your own cheese at home. Don’t buy the pre-shredded or pre-grated stuff. It has stuff added to it to keep it from sticking together. That ‘stuff’ affects how the cheese melts. Shred it yourself and use the good stuff.

Also try my Christmas pasta. It also makes enough for a crowd. So does my smoked sausage casserole.

Baked Angel Hair with Sausage
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Baked Angel Hair with Sausage

This baked angel hair with sausage is the perfect recipe for a large dinner. It makes a big batch, and is really easy to make. I recently made this great dish and took it along for an overnight trip. It reheated easily in the hotel room, making for a nice easy dinner. We often also make this dish for friends. It’s easy and makes a lot, perfect for feeding a big family.
Course Main
Cuisine American
Keyword pasta, sausage
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Servings 8
Calories 612kcal

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 F.
  • Remove the sausage from casings.
  • Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Crumble the sausage into the pan and brown on both sides. Remove to a paper towel-lined planed
  • Add the mushrooms to the skillet and saute until soft. Add 1/2 of the rosemary, combine.
  • Add the two jars of Alfredo sauce to the skillet. Stir, bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer.
  • While the sauce is simmering, cook the angel hair pasta per the package instructions EXCEPT do not cook fully. Reduce the cooking time by 1 minute instead so that the pasta is a little al dente (still a bit raw).
  • Rinse and drain the pasta and add to the sauce. Combine well.
  • Spray a 9″ x 13″ baking dish with non-stick spray.
  • Add half of the cooked pasta mixture. Top with half of the crumbled sausage and half of the remaining rosemary.
  • Add the rest of the pasta, topped with the remaining sausage and rosemary.
  • Sprinkle with the cheeses.
  • Bake 25-30 minutes or until the sauce is bubbly and the cheese is melted. Place under the broiler for a minute or two to brown the top and serve.

Nutrition

Calories: 612kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 28g | Fat: 35g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 89mg | Sodium: 888mg | Potassium: 496mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 232IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 217mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutritional values are approximate.

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Cinnamon Roll Waffles

This is the easiest breakfast you’ll ever make. And certainly one of the most addicting. Just fire up your waffle maker and add a few out-of-the-can cinnamon rolls. In minutes you’ll have a delicious plate of cinnamon roll waffles, nice and hot and slightly crispy. Topped with icing, syrup and butter. You’ll never eat those regular ole kinda-boring cinnamon rolls again. These are better. Why? Oh that crispy goodness! And the crannies for the icing and syrup and butter?!?? ! Oh my!

Cinnamon Roll Waffles

Tasty Fun

Add walnuts, pecans, fruit… Use whatever toppings you like to these cinnamon roll waffles. Or just pour some warmed real maple syrup on top and enjoy. I use my lil Cuisinart Classic Waffle Maker for making these. It works like a charm. I can make four mini waffles at a time. The first waffle usually gets ‘sacrificed’ in the name of ‘quality control’. That’s another word for ‘I can’t control myself so I have to eat one’.

Also try my Texas Toast French toast waffles!

This recipe is based on a recipe from A Hen’s Nest.

Cinnamon Roll Waffles
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Cinnamon Roll Waffles

This is the easiest breakfast you’ll ever make. And certainly one of the most addicting. Just fire up your waffle maker and add a few out-of-the-can cinnamon rolls.
Course Main
Cuisine American
Keyword cinnamon rolls, waffles
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Servings 4
Calories 320kcal

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 1 tube cinnamon rolls
  • maple syrup warmed, optional
  • butter softened, optional

Instructions

  • Heat your waffle iron. Open the cinnamon rolls and separate them. Stretch them out just a bit then toss them on your waffle iron (my little iron only holds two at a time). Cook for 2-3 minutes or until starting to get crispy.
  • Microwave the icing per package instructions and pour over the waffles. Serve with warmed syrup and softened butter, if desired.

Nutrition

Calories: 320kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Sodium: 660mg | Sugar: 20g | Iron: 1mg

Nutritional values are approximate.

Chorizo Sloppy Joes

Wow, these chorizo Sloppy Joes are good. I really liked them, but then, I was already a huge fan of Mexican chorizo. I used extra hot chorizo to really crank these up another notch. Use regular chorizo if you’re not into heat. It’s the wonderful flavor of the sausage that makes these special. The heat is an extra bonus. One bite and you’ll never go back to ‘regular’ Sloppy Joes again.

Chorizo Sloppy Joes

A Spicy Twist On The Classic

These chorizo Sloppy Joes are a great twist on the classic Sloppy Joes I grew up on. I’ll never go back to those after having these, that’s for sure!

I love chorizo in darned near everything. If you feel the same way, you’ll also want to make my chorizo fried potatoes.

This recipe is based on a recipe from Our Krazzy Kitchen.

Chorizo Sloppy Joes
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Chorizo Joes

Wow, these chorizo Sloppy Joes are good. I really liked them, but then, I was already a huge fan of Mexican chorizo. I used extra hot chorizo to really crank these up another notch.
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword Mexican, sandwich, sloppy Joes
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings 8
Calories 478kcal

Ingredients

  • 2 poblano peppers
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1 pound Mexican Chorizo sausage
  • 1 small white onion diced
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 6 ounces tomato paste
  • 2 cups water
  • ½ tablespoon cayenne pepper
  • ½ tablespoon cumin
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 8 hamburger buns

Instructions

  • Fire up your grill (or oven broiler) and roast the peppers (both the poblano and the red bell) until charred. Let cool slightly then remove the charred skins. Remove the seeds and stems and chop.
  • Crumble the beef and chorizo into a large pot or Dutch oven and brown over medium high heat. Drain and remove the meat, reserving 1 tablespoon of the meat drippings in the pot.
  • Add in the onions and saute until starting to soften, about 4 minutes.
  • Add garlic and cook another 2 minutes or until fragrant.
  • Return the meat to the pot along with the remaining ingredients except the buns. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  • Serve over lightly toasted hamburger buns. Enjoy!

Nutrition

Calories: 478kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 76mg | Sodium: 832mg | Potassium: 539mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 1339IU | Vitamin C: 50mg | Calcium: 107mg | Iron: 4mg

Nutritional values are approximate.

Roasted Chicken Noodle Soup

One of the main reasons I roasted a chicken on my Big Easy the other day was to make this roasted chicken noodle soup. It sounded fantastic, and it came out fantastic. You could also make this with leftover turkey from Thanksgiving!

Roasted Chicken Noodle Soup

You can substitute a rotisserie chicken from the store if you like, but roasting one yourself, either on the grill or in the oven, produces even tastier results. Because of the noodles, this soup tends to thicken up overnight. You’ll need to add a bit of water (or chicken broth) when reheating it. My wife likes hers very thick, almost like a stew.

Also try my roasted tomato soup.

Roasted Chicken Noodle Soup
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Roasted Chicken Noodle Soup

Wonderfully tasty thick, hearty soup.
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword chicken, pasta, soup
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings 8
Calories 259kcal

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.
  • Add the onion, carrots, celery and garlic and saute for 5 minutes.
  • Sprinkle in the flour and stir.
  • Add the oregano, thyme, poultry seasoning and Creole seasoning and cook for 1 minutes.
  • Add the chicken broth and potato and salt to taste. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and continue simmering for 15-25 minutes or until the potato starts to get tender (depending on how you want it, you might want to keep a little ‘bite’ to your potatoes).
  • Stir in the remaining ingredients and cook until the noodles are tender, about 10 minutes.

Nutrition

Calories: 259kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 47mg | Sodium: 1044mg | Potassium: 792mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 2948IU | Vitamin C: 20mg | Calcium: 134mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutritional values are approximate.

Easy Baked Beans and Smoked Sausage

We had one of those odd cool days the other day. Not too cool, but enough to put me in nesting mode. And that means stick-to-your-ribs food for dinner. So I threw together something super simple – easy baked beans and smoked sausage with a little corn bread on the side. I wasn’t going for fru-fru fancy stuff. I just wanted something to fill me up and warm me to the bone. This was it.

Easy Baked Beans and Smoked Sausage

The Perfect Cold Weather Dish

I’ll be making this again this fall. As much as I hate to kiss summer goodbye, I sure love those fall meals. Easy baked beans and smoked sausage not only fills you up, it’ll keep you warm on those cool fall days for sure.

Also try my easy-to-make cowboy beans.

Easy Baked Beans and Smoked Sausage
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Easy Baked Beans and Smoked Sausage

We had one of those odd cool days the other day. Not too cool, but enough to put me in nesting mode. And that means stick-to-your-ribs food for dinner. So I threw together something super simple – easy baked beans and smoked sausage with a little corn bread on the side.
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword baked beans, easy, sausage, smoked
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings 6
Calories 424kcal
Author Mike

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 F.
  • Lightly brown the sausage in a Dutch oven or large skillet. Remove
  • Saute the onion, bell pepper and jalapeno pepper until tender.
  • Combine the beans, pineapple, brown sugar, ketchup and dry mustard in a large bowl. Stir in the sausage, peppers, onion, and jalapeno. Pour into a 9×9 baking pan.
  • Bake for 1 hour. Check and stir after 30 minutes. If the mixture is too dry, add a few squirts of ketchup, stir, and continue baking.

Nutrition

Calories: 424kcal | Carbohydrates: 50g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 54mg | Sodium: 1016mg | Potassium: 364mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 45g | Vitamin A: 268IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 49mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutritional values are approximate.

Four-Pepper Chicken Fried Rice

I’ve been subscribing to Chile Pepper magazine (no longer in publication) for quite some time now. Though I certainly don’t consider myself to be a Chilehead, I do like some heat in my dishes, like this four-pepper chicken fried rice. A lot of people are afraid of using peppers or hot sauces in their dishes, but I’ve found that if you experiment with them you can get a better tasting dish, and one that doesn’t burn off the roof of your mouth.

Four-Pepper Chicken Fried Rice

Fried Rice With A Twist

I found this recipe for four-pepper chicken fried rice in the November 2009 issue of the magazine. It came out absolutely fantastic. You can use whatever peppers you have really. I had some roasted chicken left from a cookout on my Char-Broil Big Easy. It worked just great in this meal. Rotisserie chicken would be fantastic, too.

I’d make this again in a heartbeat.

Also try my grilled Kung Pao chicken with egg-fried rice.

Four-Pepper Chicken Fried Rice
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Four-Pepper Chicken Fried Rice

Fantastic flavors with a little kick to boot!
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword fried rice
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings 4
Calories 349kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 cup brown rice
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil divided
  • 1 pound green beans fresh, trimmed, and cut into 1" lengths
  • 3 jalapenos seeded if desired, cut into strips
  • 2 red bell peppers cut into strips
  • 2 poblano peppers can sub green bell peppers, cut into strips
  • 6-8 dried chiles
  • 2 large eggs lightly beaten
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce plus more for serving
  • 1 tablespoon hot sauce I used Cholula, my favorite
  • 2 cups chicken roasted, chopped
  • green onions chopped, for garnish

Instructions

  • Cook rice per package instructions.
  • Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet. Add the green beans and cook until slightly tender, about 8 minutes.
  • Add in the peppers and dried chiles and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.
  • Remove the vegetables to a large bowl.
  • Reduce heat to low.
  • Add the eggs and scramble. Cook until done. Remove to the bowl with the vegetables.
  • Add the remaining oil. Increase the heat to medium high. Add in the rice and toss to coat. Cook for 1 minute.
  • Add in the chicken, soy sauce, and hot sauce. Stir. Cook until the chicken is heated.
  • Add the vegetables and eggs back and heat.
  • Serve garnished with green onions and a little extra soy sauce on the side.

Nutrition

Calories: 349kcal | Carbohydrates: 52g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 113mg | Sodium: 499mg | Potassium: 739mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 3379IU | Vitamin C: 153mg | Calcium: 91mg | Iron: 3mg

Nutritional values are approximate.

Smoked Pulled Pork Po Boy

One of my favorite things to throw on the smoker is a pork butt. Pulled pork is well worth the time it takes to make. I made a big batch of BBQ the other day. Now, usually, I’ll throw it on a bun with some BBQ sauce. Or I’ll even put it in a baked potato (soooo good!). This time, I went with a smoked pulled pork po boy.

Smoked Pulled Pork Po Boy

I Have To Have Slaw

You can pretty much throw anything on a smoked pulled pork po boy and it’ll be good, but start with good BBQ and you end up with a fantastic sandwich! And don’t forget the slaw. That coolness, that crunchiness, that’s what makes a good sandwich great. As does the messiness. A great sandwich makes a mess when you pick it up and take a bite. The juices have to run down your arm and onto your plate. Or into your lap. An ingredient here, an ingredient there will fall out onto your lap. You pick those up, get some of that juices from your plate on them, and into your mouth they go. Hey, I know it’s not pretty. It’s not supposed to me.

Also try my slow cooker New Orleans roast beef po boy.

Smoked Pulled Pork Po Boy
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Smoked Pulled Pork Po’Boy

Great po’boy!
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword pulled pork, sandwich
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 6
Calories 160kcal
Author Mike

Ingredients

  • 2 loaves French bread halved lengthwise
  • 1 cup Kaw-Cajun Comeback sauce or more, or your favorite remoulade
  • 1 pound pulled pork BBQ
  • 1 pound slaw mix broccoli slaw mix works great too!
  • 1 jar coleslaw dressing regular or Southern

Instructions

  • Lightly toast the bread, if desired.
  • Slather the bread halves with the Comeback sauce. Don’t be shy with it, either.
  • Add the pulled pork.
  • Add the slaw.
  • Cut into each loaf into 3 sandwiches and serve.

Nutrition

Calories: 160kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 33mg | Sodium: 466mg | Potassium: 129mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 188IU | Vitamin C: 29mg | Calcium: 68mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutritional values are approximate.

Tiny Tim’s Sub

I recently posted about one of my favorite places to eat back in my college days, Tiny Tim’s Pizza on the square in Fayetteville, Arkansas. My go-to sandwich there is the Tiny Tim’s sub. I’ve been hankering for one ever since I finished the last one, so I decided to make a clone of it. Though it’s not a complicated sandwich, it’s mighty good. I miss my days at Tiny Tim’s. This sandwich brings back great memories for sure!

Tiny Tim's Sub

The Keys To Sandwich Success

There are three things that make this Tiny Tim’s sub my favorite. First, the spicy pepperoni. Second, the delicious Canadian bacon. And last, of course, the Italian dressing. I couldn’t find creamy Italian dressing in my local grocery store, so I ended up making some from this recipe here.

Tiny Tim's Sub
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Tiny Tim’s Sub

My remake of the classic Tiny Tim’s sub.
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword chicken sandwiches, Italian, submarine
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Servings 3
Calories 586kcal
Author Mike

Ingredients

  • 3 Hoagie buns
  • 4 ounces sandwich pepperoni not the small pepperoni used on pizzas
  • 6 slices Swiss cheese
  • 5 ounces Canadian bacon finely chopped
  • 2-3 tablespoons Creamy Italian dressing or use store-bought
  • handful lettuce shredded
  • Plain potato chips for serving
  • Dill pickle for serving

Instructions

  • Lightly toast the buns under your broiler.
  • Divide the pepperoni between the 3 bun bottoms.
  • Top with one slice of Swiss.
  • Add the Canadian bacon.
  • Slather the top half buns with the dressing.
  • Add the remaining cheese to the top buns.
  • Put under the broiler, open-faced, until lightly browned.
  • Top with lettuce and serve with chips and pickles.

Nutrition

Calories: 586kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 33g | Fat: 34g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 95mg | Sodium: 1543mg | Potassium: 302mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 286IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 289mg | Iron: 12mg

Nutritional values are approximate.

Smoked SPAM

I fired up my smoker the other day. I was going to smoke a big chub of bologna. I figured I might as well throw a few bricks of SPAM on there too. There was plenty of room. I’m a big fan of not wasting space on a smoker. It’s already lit, why waste it? I haven’t had SPAM in like 100 years, and I’ve heard that smoking it makes it even better, so I figured… why not? Well, believe me, smoked SPAM is awesome!

Smoked Spam

A Blank Canvas For Flavors

I tried this two ways. One I just scored the SPAM and sprinkled it with Dizzy Pig Swamp Venom before putting it onto the smoker.

The other SPAM was scored in a checkerboard pattern. It expanded sort of like a Bloomin’ Onion. I then inserted some pineapple chunks and onto the smoker it went! Yum! Either way is fantastic. You can’t go wrong with smoked SPAM.

Also try my cedar planked SPAM and SPAM burnt ends.

I like to get my smoker going using my homemade fire starter cubes.

Smoked Spam
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Smoked SPAM Two Ways

Smoked SPAM two ways!
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword smoked, SPAM
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours 5 minutes
Servings 10
Calories 232kcal
Author Mike

Instructions

  • Heat your smoker to 225 F.
  • Score one block of SPAM from side-to-side, about halfway through. Sprinkle with rub.
  • Score the other block in a checkerboard pattern. Sprinkle with rub.
  • Smoke for 2 hours. Insert pineapple chunks into SPAM with the checkerboard pattern.
  • Smoke another hour.
  • Slice the SPAM without the pineapple and serve on sandwiches. (You can also brown them a bit in a skillet or on the grill first).
  • Serve the SPAM with pineapple as an appetizer with crackers.

Nutrition

Calories: 232kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 52mg | Sodium: 1040mg | Potassium: 301mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutritional values are approximate.

Spiraled Hot Dogs

Just tossing a few dogs on the grill is a quick way to get dinner done. But those plain-old looking dogs can get mighty boring after a while. Of course you can put all sorts of fancy toppings on them (my favorite is the Chicago dog or just chili, onions and cheese). Another simple way to visually jazz them up is to score them in a spiral pattern, making spiraled hot dogs. This not only looks cool, it also gives your condiments a way to hold on to the dog.

Spiraled Hot Dogs

Easy Once You Get The Hang Of It

To make the spiral, just start on one end with a sharp knife held at a 30-to-45 degree angle (the sharper the angle, the less spirals you’ll get) and start to rotate the dog. I find it’s easier to do with the dog standing up on one end. Start at the top with the knife, rotating the dog until the knife gets to the bottom.

For an extra flash, score the ends with a ‘+’ sign, 1/4″-1/2″ deep.

Grill the dogs until they puff up pretty and golden brown!

Also try my steakhouse hot dogs.