Go-to Recipies

Oh yes, I'm blogging again! I will admit, having a computer that actually works, makes this task much, much more desirable. So hopefully I can keep this up.
Not too long ago Chrissy posted a few of her family's go-to recipes and I thought about it and figured I should do the same. Especially because there's been a few new things come up lately that are pretty surprising. At least to me, anyway.
Like Chrissy, Pinterest has been very helpful in changing how I cook and what we eat. It seems like there is an endless supply of yummy looking recipes to find there. I really like cooking most of the time and I especially like trying out new things.
Anyway the first recipe is super surprising to me. Because my family LOVES IT. Especially Pete. And if you know him.....it's just weird. The man does not like soups. Or anything soup like. He doesn't like to wait for something to cool down. He doesn't like to have to blow on something. He never finds soup or stew to be satisfying. He says it's like eating a bowl of cereal. So basically, he has no appreciation for comfort food ;-) So When I made this and he said, "This is soooo good." I knew I had a winner. I added sausage and tortellini to a Minestrone recipe to sort of bulk it up a bit, thinking that he might like it better that way. I guess I was right.

Minestrone Soup/Stew--but not really. I don't know what to call it.
Adapted from Minestrone Soup from SkinnyTaste.

1lb Italian sausage
1 small onion diced
2 or 3 carrots diced
2 or 3 stalks of celery diced
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
2 cups chicken stock (I use the 'intense flavor' organic from Safeway or Trader Joes)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 can cantenelli beans (white beans)
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried (or fresh) basil
cheese tortellini or any other kind of pasta you desire
Salt and pepper to taste

Brown the sausage in a stock pot and then add in the onion, carrots and celery and cook till veggies are soft. Add in the garlic and cook for just a minute. Then add in the tomatoes, chicken stock, parmesan and spices. Simmer on the stove about 20 minutes.  Add in the beans and pasta and cook until pasta is done and beans are soft but not mushy. (you can also add some zucchini and spinach in at the end as well...it is more traditional in Minestrone)
Serve up warm with crusty bread and extra parm on top.

The next one surprised me as well. I made it one day because I happened to have all the ingredients and I thought....what the heck. Turns out this is seriously one of the most asked for things in my house. Who would have thought Sloppy Joe's would be anyone's favorite meal?? Jake ate four FOUR sandwiches one night. o_O I first posted about Pioneer Woman's Sloppy Joe's here a while back and have since made them many times over.

If you make the sloppy joe's, I recommend making your own buns for them. Seriously. They are SO easy and delicious! You will never buy buns for burgers again! They are the perfect taste and texture and I promise they are easy. And they take hardly any time at all. (they also freeze well)
Perfect  Burger Buns from Annie's Eats

The next thing is again--delicious. Like seriously addicting. The recipe calls for fresh corn off the cob, but I've made it with frozen sweet white corn many times and it works just fine. Also, the recipe calls for Mexican Cojita cheese (i think that's how you spell it) but I use Feta. Don't fear the jalepeno or chili powder in the recipe, it's really not that hot at all. My kids eat it up.
Mexican Corn Salad from Closet Cooking

And one more because we should end in something sweet....
Pumpkin Streusel Coffee Cake from Two Peas in their Pod
This isn't a go-to yet, but I think it will become one. I just made it last night and it is DE-licious!

The end.
Tell me if you try any of these :)