First up is a form of baked ziti. You first cook up half a pound of ziti. Then you cook 2 chopped onions and some tomatoes together and pour this over the cooked pasta. Then you cook ground turkey with some thyme and oregano, then pour this on top of the pasta. Add in some canned green beans, broccoli and sour cream to put it all together. Pour this into a baking dish and sprinkle generously with permesan cheese. The recipe itself did not call for a lot of spice, so I made sure to use some garlic, salt and lots of Italian spices to give the dish some flavor. Bake everything in a 400 degree oven for about 25 minutes until brown and the cheese has melted. Many restaurants and recipes like to finish off their pasta sauces with some cream or milk for a creamier taste. I liked how this recipe used sour cream to prevent adding in so many calories and adding a little flavor. I liked the crispy edges on it and I would have liked more of those, but I'm sure that would have dried it all out. This dish makes a lot and is reasonably healthy, so it's perfect for families or even small get-togethers.
I didn't think much of this originally, but I loved this so much I wanted to post it. This is an awesome morning sandwich if you want a change of pace from cereal or run-of-the-mill toast and eggs. While some bread was toasting, I cooked up my eggs with some pepper and garlic salt. My two favorite egg cooking methods are poaching (tricky unless you have a poaching tray for your pan like I do, but that's for a different blog post )and what I affectionately call a half scramble but what others might see as over-hard. Over hard is pretty much over-easy eggs that are cooked through more and the yolks are broken. On a side note, if you like to dip your eggs, but you don't want them still a little runny in the whites, you can order them over-medium in any restaurant. As the eggs were finishing, I threw on a slice of mild cheddar cheese to let it melt a little. Once the toast was done, I sprayed it with butter (spray butter is easier than regular butter for me in the morning) and topped one piece with the eggs. I tried to keep all the eggs together in one lump so I did not have lots of little bits falling everywhere. Now, here comes the surprise: I put three slices of turkey pastrami. I know many people may have used bacon or even turkey bacon, but I had the random idea to use the pungent and spicy flavors of some turkey pastrami I had handy. I let the meat get a little brown on each side and then I put it on top of the eggs and cheese. This was, to my surprise, one of the best breakfast sandwiches I've tasted in a while. I've actually made it for the past few mornings with small variations in the spices because I liked it so much. Too much of a good thing? Never heard of it.
