Cheesy Baked Mostaccioli Recipe

Hola Amigos! After cooking all week, we all feel like taking a break on the weekends, and the best way of doing it (and cheapest) is to cook a casserole big enough to feed an army and tasty and satisfying for your soldiers not to mind reheating leftovers the next day!
Mostaccioli is a favorite. My grandma used to called it Macarrones Asados! She made the most delicious food ever, well I think we all  believe our grandma's are the best at everything anyways, right? I'm sure they are!

I asked my readers on FB how they have theirs, with meat as a main dish or plain as a side, but you know Facebook, No One gets to see what you post there unless a) you have a large fan base b) you pay to promote your status, or c) your  family and friends love you so much they keep up with what you do. I'm blessed and proud to have option C . I got 2 answers, one from my friend +Diane Kaul blogger at Giraffe Legs and she likes it as a main dish with meat in it, delicious and with endless options and the other one from my sweet adoptive little "sis" and blog designer,  Brooke, creative at Uplifted Designs who likes it as a side. Knowing my boys, I decided to play it safe and make a big casserole as a side.

This is a common recipe, everybody has their own little extra special ingredient and that is what I'm interested on exploring. New possibilities and tastes for a classic!

My motto bake 2 freeze 1 applies to this dish, only don't bake  it after you are done preparing it, freeze it well sealed right away and then bake it for that day you are scratching your head for what to have for dinner!
They all liked it  and I was able to stay out of he kitchen for the weekend a win win situation in my book if you ask me!

Thank You for visiting the blog today! I wish you all a healthy and productive week! Before you leave don't forget to let me know what makes your Mostaccioli extra special and a hit among your family and friends! Big Hug and remember my friends, everything tastes better with a Pinch of Love!

Besitos,

Lizy

Cheesy Baked Mostaccioli 

Ingredients:

2 Cups Uncooked Tube Shaped Pasta

1 Jar (24 oz) Spaghetti Sauce of your choice

1 (10 3/4 oz) Condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup

1/2 Can Milk

1 Large Egg, Beaten

2 Cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese, Shredded (about 16 oz)

1 Cup Cottage Cheese

Pepper. Salt and Garlic Powder to taste

1 Cup Cheddar Cheese "Pringles" Chips, Crushed

1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven at 350 F.

In a large saucepan prepare your pasta with plenty of salt in the water as indicated on the package. Once drained, place it in a large mixing bowl and start adding ingredients to it mixing after each ingredient is added carefully not to break the pasta. After the last cheese is added, the cottage cheese, check the pasta for flavors and add the condiments, pepper and garlic powder to taste and extra salt if needed.

Pour the mix in 2 separate, previously greased baking dishes. I used (2) 9x9 dishes.

*If you are going to freeze one baking dish, cover the container well and freeze. Remove from freezer, thaw in the refrigerator add the toppings after it thaws and  you are ready to bake it.

Top the remaining baking dish with crushed chips and Parmesan cheese. Bake for 45 minutes. Let it rest and serve with salad, garlic bread and enjoy!

Prep Time 20 minutes                      Cook Time 45 minutes                       Serves 8-12

Sharing my Easy Cheesy Baked Casserole at these Fabulous Parties:

Gina's Craft Corner, Little House Living, Feeding Big, The Princess and her Cowboys, Love Bakes Good Cakes, Lady Behind the Curtain

Cookies and Cream Cannoli Cones Recipe

Hola Amigos! Another week comes to an end which brings us to the end of summer. I can't help to start getting in the mood for earthier  flavors on main dishes and desserts  even though the official start of fall is more than a month away (Sept.22) , do you feel the same way?
But...let's not rush it and have a few more rounds of fun and easy going summer treats! Just like this one!
I set my mind the other day to make homemade cannoli. Easier said than done. First,  I couldn't find cannoli shells anywhere and I didn't feel like baking any either, after all it's supposed to be an easy dessert. So I improvised and used waffle cones and then myy mix turned out a little softer than I wanted to fill the cones so I turned them into parfait by crushing almond cookies into the mix. Problem solved and a wonderful refreshing dessert was born!

I tell you, I think I like these better than if they were the real thing! Easy to handle, no forks or plates, Mobile, the kids took them outside right away.Crunchy, crumble cookies in the inside and crunchy waffle cone on the outside and Creamy...the cannoli filling just the way you like it!

I plan on doing this recipe for family gatherings for now on...I can see it already it would be a hit coming Thanksgiving...well it won't replace the pie...but, who knows!

Most of my ingredients I had at hand, I just had to buy the ricotta and it was on sale too! So it's an inexpensive dessert to feed at least 8, depending how generous you are with your cone filling.
Another summer dessert for you my friends. I hope you give this one a try! is worth every single calorie, I promise you that!

Oh one more thing, even though traditional cannoli is not a dessert that should be frozen by any means, my son couldn't finish his 3rd and froze his and had it like a real ice cream cone the next day...so seems to me it works as a frozen dessert too!

Thank You for stopping by! Put on your shades, go outside and enjoy the sunshine. Remember that no matter the season, everything tastes better with a Pinch of Love!

Besitos,

Lizy

Cookies and Cream Cannoli Cones

Ingredients:

For the Filling:

1 Cup Milk

1/4 Cup Cornstarch 

1 (150z) Container Ricotta Cheese (drain your ricotta overnite if possible)

1/2 Cup Cookie Butter

1/2 Cup Sugar

1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1/2 Teaspoon Almond Extract

8-12 roughly crushed almond cookies

Pinch of Salt

For the shells

Waffle Cones

Rainbow sprinkles, coconut, powder sugar.

Directions

In a saucepan on medium heat combine milk with cornstarch. Heat up  stirring constantly until it thickens. Add Cookie butter, sugar and pinch of salt. Stir until is all combined. Remove from heat. Set aside and cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap until is room temperature.

When your mix is room temperature, add the Ricotta cheese to it, add vanilla and almond extracts and combine them until everything is uniform. Add crushed cookies and gently fold them in the cheese mix.

Place in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve dessert. In the meantime, decorate your cones by dipping them in chocolate and then on your rainbow sprinkles, coconut or sugar, your choice.

To serve, scoop and spoon some of the mix into each decorated cone and top with more crushed cookies. Enjoy!

Prep Time: 10 minutes                     Cooking and Cooling 30 minutes           Serves 6-8 cones

Sharing some colorful cannoli cones at these fabulous parties:

WCFS, Dessert Now, Dinner Later, The Tablescaper, Life on Lakeshore Drive, A Pretty Life in the Suburbs,Rain on a Tin Roof, Huckleberry Love, Jembellish, A Southern Fairytale, Mad in Crafts, Between Naps on the Porch, Coastal Charm, Cupcake-n-Bake, Who Needs a Cape, BoogieBoard Cottage, The Blackberry Vine, Say Not Sweet Anne, My Mixing Spoon, Feeding Big, Setting for Four, Hun...what's for dinner?, Home Stories A to Z, Handmade Cuddles, Ladybugs Blessings, Mandy's Recipe Box, Nap-Time Creations, Kathe with an E, Pint Sized Baker, Adventures of a DIY Mom, Summer Scraps, The Princess and her Cowboys, Sugar Bee Crafts, Our Table for Seven, Memories by the Mile, Not Just a Housewife, Bebetsy, Clean and Scentsible, Mom's Test Kitchen, The Lady Behind the Curtain, The Everyday Home, Smart School House, Kitchen Meets Girl, Ducks'n a Row, The Shaddy Porch, Sew Much Ado, Thank You Honey, My Girlish Whims, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, This Silly Girl's Life, Someday Crafts, Polkadots on Parade, Real Housewives or Riverton, We Like to Learn as We Go, 733 Blog, Real Coake, 52 Mantels, The 36th Avenue, The Brambleberry Cottage, A Handful of Everything, Katherine's Corner, CrazyLou, House of Hepworths, The Mandatory Mooch, I Gotta Create, Lamberts Lately, Chocolate, Chocolate and More, The Crafty Blog Stalker, The Best Blog Recipes, Jennifer Rizzo, Do Small Things with Love, Kitchen Fun with my 3 Sons, The Answer is Chocolate, The Inspiration Network, My Turn (for Us), Simple Living and Eating, The Pin Junkie, Simply Designing, Tidy Mom, The Shabby Nest, A Simple Five, A Peek Into My Paradise, Living Better Together, One Tough Mother, Happy and Blessed Home, Five Days Five Ways, Shaken Together, Not Your Ordinary Recipes, Four Little Fergusons, Just Us Four, Esskunst, Made from Pinterest, The Wondering Brain, Cheerios and Lattes, Classy Clutter, A Little Claireification, Spatulas on Parade, Too Much Time on my Hands, Angels Homestead, What's Cooking with Ruthie, Serenity You, Frugal Foodie Mama, Claire Justine oxox, Craft-O-Maniac, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Flour Me With Love, Jam Hands, Keeping it Simple, Alderberry Hill, Ms. enPlace,The Gunny Sack, Chef in Trainning, The Trendy Treehouse, SNAP, Glitz and Gold, My Romantic Home, Tatertots and Jello

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Peach Rustic Custard in Chocolate Cups