Dinner on the Fly and a Blonde Moment…

Good Sunday Everyone.Hope the weekend has been nice for everyone.I can’t believe how fast Christmas is coming this year!This will be the weirdest Christmas by far for us.We head out to CA next week to unpack, then come back 5 or 6 days later to celebrate Christmas with our family then go back to our new home in CA after the new year.Are we crazy or what?

Aside from our craziness and my lack of cooking these days, I managed to make another nice and easy dinner that can be prepared in under 30 minutes. Not too many ingredients, but still has lots of veggis that hopefully the kids won’t mind. Try my tactic of chopping up the kid’s pasta with scissors and I bet they’ll eat it right up. If you haven’t tried ground chicken sausage in a while, give it a try, it has great flavor and cooks up fast. I found this particular sausage at Sprouts here in AZ for really cheap. Check it out next time you are at the grocery store, it makes for a great pasta!

 

A pot full of cheesy Chicken Sausage Florentine Rigatoni.

Chicken Sausage Florentine Rigatoni

An easy pasta bake packed with veggies. It makes a great quick and healthy dinner recipe for busy weeknights!
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: American
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
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Ingredients

  • 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 large onion diced
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 4 cups fresh baby spinach coarsely chopped
  • 1 lb ground chicken sausage
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 26 oz can Muir Glen Fire Roasted Tomatoes
  • 15 oz can Muir Glen Fire Roasted Tomatoes
  • 8 leaves fresh basil chopped
  • 1 lb dry rigatoni noodles
  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat oil into a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onion for 5 minutes or until softened. Stir in garlic and cook for 1 minute. Stir in spinach and cook until wilted down. Add chicken sausage and salt; cook until cooked through.
  • Place both cans of tomatoes into a food processor and process until nearly smooth. Add to skillet along with fresh basil. Reduce heat to low and simmer.
  • 3.Cook rigatoni according to packaging directions. Drain and transfer to sauce. Transfer to a 9x13 inch baking dish and sprinkle with shredded cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Keywords: baked rigatoni, easy pasta dish, sausage pasta

____________________

Remember THIS Beauty? It happens to be one of my all time favorite recipes to make and to eat. Here is another version that we enjoy just as much. These would be fabulous on any Christmas plate. Enjoy!!

A pot full of cheesy Chicken Sausage Florentine Rigatoni.

White Chocolate Butterfinger Blondies

Soft-baked blondie bars made with sweet white chocolate and rich butterfingers.
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings: 9 blondies
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Ingredients

For the Blondies:

  • ¼ cup butter
  • ¾ cup white chocolate chips
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup white chocolate chips
  • 6 Fun Size Butterfingers crushed up (I pounded them with a rolling pin)
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons sour cream

For the Topping:

  • 2 Fun Size Butterfingers crushed up
  • 2 tablespoons sanding sugar

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Melt butter in microwave safe bowl. Stir in ¾ cup white chips until melted and smooth. In a large bowl add the sugar, brown sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, ½ cup white chips and crushed Butterfingers. In a small bowl whisk the eggs and sour cream. Pour into the dry ingredient bowl along with the melted white chip mixture. Mix until just combined.
  • Pour into an 8x8 inch baking dish lined with foil that’s been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until toothpick comes clean from center. The last 15 minutes, mix the chopped Butterfingers and sanding sugar in a small bowl until combined then sprinkle over top of blondies. Finish baking then let cool completely before digging in!
Keywords: blondies, how to make blondies, white chocolate blondies

Have a Great Week! Best of luck with all of your Christmas Shopping! See you soon!

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33 Responses
  1. Amber Mitchell

    Cheers – great story
    Is any one aware if there is a cheaper text message marketing for stores @ California than 12stores.com? They only cost nine dollars per four weeks which is not much, unfortunately my boss Kingston told me there is, but he couldn’t remember its name. I completely start to get feeling that he remembered wrongly. Plz reply

  2. Janelle

    I made this for dinner tonight for my parents and they (and I)just loved it. It smelt so yummy cooking. Thanks for sharing all your amazing food with us. As you can tell I am on here a lot. I send people your recipes and the link to your page when they are looking to make something for dinner. My boyfriend and I just love it 🙂

  3. andrea

    Can’t seem to find sanding sugar…is it necessary? Is there something I can substitute for it?

  4. E

    I’ve been drooling over your recipes for a while now and this pasta is the first one I’ve actually made. Fab! My husband loved it too. Thanks! Your blog rocks.

  5. Clumbsy Cookie

    Sounds you’re gonna have a weird Christmas allright! Good luck with all the moving dear, and don’t stress much. Pasta and blondies are delicious as allways!

  6. Pam

    How can you go wrong with pasta oozing with cheese. The chicken sausage is a great idea.

    Loving the blondies…I could eat too many of those.

  7. Katrina

    Yum to the easy dinner! YUM to the blondies. I love those!
    Merry Christmas to you!
    Quick question–I just made your gingerbread biscotti and just wondered, there’s no ginger in the recipe. Was that an oversight or just how you made it? I wasn’t sure, so I added 1/2 t. of ginger. They just finished the first bake and are SO good! Love the cinnamon chips

  8. CookiePie

    That pasta looks so good! What kid wouldn’t want pasta with all that yummy cheese? And the blondies look sooooo luscious too!

    Best of luck with the move, and hope you’re enjoying the holidays!

  9. Aggie

    This is my kind of dinner!! It looks delicious. And those blondies!! I may have to make some for husband’s holiday party…they look irresistable!!

    Good luck with your move!! And enjoy your holiday with your family!!

    Stop by my blog when you get a chance…I’m having a little giveaway for my 100th post! 😉

  10. Live.Love.Eat

    That rigatoni looks outstanding. All my favs are in there. Good luck with everything. Are your boys excited? Or sad to be leaving friends?

  11. My Sweet & Saucy

    Both look delish! Hope you enjoy the Christmas season even with your crazy schedule!

  12. Patsyk

    As always, your recipes look delicious! You’ve got a crazy few weeks ahead of you, and I wish you lots of luck on the move!

  13. Allie

    You know I can’t pass up a good pasta recipe and the blondies look perfect! Best wishes on the move at least it’s almost here it’ll fly by in no time.

  14. Sharon

    I absolutely love all your recipes! I think I bookmark every post 🙂 Good luck with all the craziness!

  15. Helene

    Christmas will be without my husband. He is working in Africa. I’ll spend the day with my 3 kids. I love the blondies.

  16. Emily

    That pasta looks so cheesy and delicious!

    Yes, Christmas is coming up fast. I can hardly believe it.

  17. carol

    How can you go wrong with pasta? It sure does look like a tummy pleaser to me!
    And the blondies? Well-suffice it to say those sure sound over the top to me!
    Sounds like you won’t know whether you’re coming or going during Christmas with the move and the holiday family stuff-YIKES! Hang on with both hands and enjoy the ride, Jenny! 🙂

  18. Mary Ann

    This pasta would be a crowd-pleaser at our house. My kids love pasta, plus veggies- yum! Hope your week doesn’t end up being too crazy!
    The brownies look great too!

  19. Barbara Bakes

    I’m going to make this pasta recipe this week. My market makes a great chicken sausage. Thanks for sharing it. Good luck with the move!

  20. Catherine Wilkinson

    Oh, Jenny…I’m the lamest friend ever! I haven’t been keeping up, but I promise to do better. I’ve started to blog again, so I’m semi-lame.
    Drop an email whenever you get the time and fill me in on the move, etc. Kisses to the boys!
    Catherine

  21. Bob

    I could go for a big bowl of that pasta right now! I love chicken sausage. My girlfriend got a package of sweet ones and I did a tomato-cream-sage sauce with them. It was mad good.

  22. Lisa

    I never can pass up pasta. Nice blondies. I actually prefer them over brownies. Good luck in your move!

  23. HoneyB

    Hi Jenny! Its good to hear from you again – and with a great pasta dish too! I echo Cristine with her good luck wishes! 🙂

  24. Cristine

    That pasta looks delicious! My daughter loves spinach, so this is definately going on my menu! And those blondies look divine!

    Good luck with the move! 🙂

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