What's For Dinner? Linky and Seashell Pasta

Do you ever think a recipe just tastes better because it has personal meaning? By this I mean did someone you care about give you the recipe? Maybe your grandmother, mother, or a good friend? Today's recipe, Seashell Pasta, always tastes good to me because one of my piano student's mothers made it for my family when I was on bed rest with GMan. I had a steady stream of meals and helpers during the last few months of my pregnancy, and I have several good recipes (and a precocious and fun little boy!) to show for it!

Seashell Pasta is on the menu this week because we just returned from a trip to the beach and are studying seashells. I usually make this ahead of time (in the morning while the kids are working at the kitchen table), adding the cheese on top just before I put it in the oven. It also doubles easily and it's a great dish to take to a sick friend or church pot-luck. Enjoy!

Seashell Pasta

1/2 box seashell noodles
1.5 lb. ground beef
1/2 diced onion
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1-2 cups shredded Colby-Jack cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Cook noodles. Drain and set aside. Brown meant with garlic and onion. Add spaghetti sauce and simmer for 15 minutes. Mix noodles with meat sauce. Put in a 9x13 dish and cover with cheese. Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes. Serve with a salad and garlic bread.

If you have a post with a favorite recipe, please feel free to link up with me today. All I ask is that you mention and link back to Homegrown Learners. You can even grab the cute button on my sidebar to use in your post.

*I'm linking this post to Foodie Wednesday at Daily Organized Chaos. Visit the site to find even more recipes!

What's For Dinner? Slow Cooker Cranberry Roast

This recipe is easy enough for a weeknight, or it can be fancy enough to serve for company (I even fixed it for Easter dinner last year). Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Cranberry Roast

1 (3 lb.) beef roast (or I sometimes use a pork roast)
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
1 can jellied cranberry sauce
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all purpose flour

Put onion soup mix in the bottom of your slow cooker. Lay roast on top, and then top with cranberry sauce. Cover and cook eight hours on low.

Remove the roast/set aside. Whisk together butter and flour and add to juices remaining in slow cooker to create gravy.

What's on the menu in your house tonight?? Please feel free to share a link (or even leave a comment) to a post that highlights something you're making in your house this week. If you link, please mention What's For Dinner? in your post with a link back to this blog. You can also grab the What's For Dinner? button from my sidebar and use it in your post. Thank you!

What's for Dinner - Crockpot Spaghetti

It's Wednesday again and I'm sharing what we are having for dinner.... tonight it is one of our very FAVORITES! It is also probably the EASIEST meal I make. You can make a whole bunch and put leftovers in the freezer and then pull it out on a night when you just don't feel like cooking. Ever have one of those nights?

We love spaghetti, and ever since my friend, Melissa, made this for us one cold night in North Carolina I've always made my spaghetti in the crockpot. It just doesn't taste good to us otherwise. It must have something to do with the fact that it cooks all day and really makes the flavors come out.... and the house smells really good all day.

Here goes -

Crockpot Spaghetti

1 lb. ground beef (I usually double this)
1 large jar (2 jars if you're doubling) of your favorite spaghetti sauce (I usually buy whatever is the cheapest!)
minced garlic
tablespoon sugar
chopped onions (I used the minced onions you find in the spices aisle)

Brown the ground beef and onions. Put in crockpot and pour sauce over top. Add a little minced garlic and sugar. Stir to combine. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. YUM!!!
Serve over cooked noodles.

*I have no formal recipe for this written down, and every time I make it I change it a bit, so feel free to play with the recipe.

Enjoy ~ leave me a comment and let me know what's for dinner in your house tonight!

Also.... if you like the recipes each week and want to grab the "What's For Dinner" button (available on my sidebar) to put on your site, feel free! I would love to turn this Wednesday post into a linky, but am waiting until after our vacation in mid February to do so.... it's a learning curve thing - if I have to learn one more thing right now my head might just explode!!