Inside Out Sausage & Cheese Manicotti : Meals Made Easy    

          Here is the recipe I promised last week of Manicotti using Cheese sticks. The prep time is about 15-20 minutes                                           which is  considerably less than the usual 40-60 minutes in a regular Manicotti dish. It looks a bit messy when                                             its done but it sure taste good.

                                                           Ingredients:
                                1 pckg Manicotti                                                                                                                                                                                                 1 pckge Sausage or Turkey Sausage Links

                              1 pckg of Mozzarella sticks
                              1 pckge of Marble Jack cheses sticks
                              1 pckg shredded Mozza
                              2 jars of Pasta Sauce ( i used Prego Meat flavored and Prego 3 cheese)
                              1 Container of Ricotta Cheese

                                                    Seasonings;
                                 1 Tsp Oregano
                                 1 Tsp Garlic
                                 1 Tsp Italian Seasoning

                                 Parmesan Cheese

                                                 Directions:    

              Preheat oven to 350* . Cook manicotti according to pckge directions. Meanwhile cut up  the sausage                                                          into bite size pieces. Remove your cheese sticks from the individually wrapped packaging,  set aside.
             In a bowl mix Ricotta with Sausage Bits, 1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella and oregano , garlic an Italian seasoning. 

   
                  Remove Manicotti from the stove. Drain. Set aside
                  Use half of 1 jar of pasta and spread over the bottom of your baking pan/dish.
                  "Stuff" the Manicotti with 1 each of the cheese sticks or 1 cheese stick if you prefer. And place  all in a                                                          single layer in the pan.
                  Cover the Manicotti with the other half of the Jar of pasta sauce. Spread over evenly. 
                  Then drop evenly, spoonfuls of the ricotta/meat mixture over the manicotti shells. And top with remaining                                                    jar of Pasta sauce. Be sure to spread evenly over the mixture.

                   Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, then remove from oven for just a minute, sprinkle 1 cup of the Shredded                                                  Mozzarella  and some parmesan over the casserrole and bake for 20 minutes more

                   I like making casseroles because you can be doing other things while they bake in the oven, just don't forget                                              to set  that timer. 

                                                                                          Keep it easy!                                                                                                                                               Yvonne D.

                        Added Jan. 4, 2015c

                                                Easy Tortilla Pizza

          This recipe is so easy to make my kids devoured their personal pizza and best of all if                                   you are watching your waistline this pizza  is about 255 calories with this recipe, I used                                   low carb Tortillas and Turkey Pepperoni which I am sure made it less. You won't ruin                                     your diet and you can still have pizza with this easy recipe. I am sure what decreases                                     the calories is you don't have all that bready crust. You could probably shave off even                                     more calories by doing a veggie pizza. I think this would be a great Taco pizza as well                                   just use refried beans instead of sauce top with Tomato and add lettuce after you have                                   removed from cooking source.

                              INGREDIENTS: 

                         1 Tortilla, 8 inches                                                                                                                                      2 TBSP Pizza or fav Pasta Sauce                                                                                                                2 TBSP Shredded Mozzarella                                                                                                                      1 TBSP Parmesan                                                                                                                                      6 Pepperoni Slices

                             Directions: 

                       Preheat Oven at *375

           Pierce tortilla in several places with fork. Bake crust for 3 mins or until slightly                                                crispy. remove from oven and add sauce. then top with Cheese.then add toppings.                                        Bake for 5 mins, remove from oven and enjoy. 

          or you can Microwave: Microwave crust for 1 to 1 1/2 mins ad sauce and cheese                                           and toppings, then microwave for 45 secs or until cheese melts.

                   Added May 18,2014                                    Keep It easy!                                                                                                                                             Yvonne D.