Two Great Recipes... Pizza Casserole & Crockpot Barbecue

Hi All... I think most of my readers are moms and if you're like me, I get so tired of cooking the same old things (my family probably gets tired of it too)... So I thought I'd add a new category to my blog and start posting recipes when I find a really good one... If you have one you'd like to share, post it in the comments and I'll put it in a blog post in the near future.

With my trip to Africa just about 2 weeks away, I've been trying to plan and cook some freezer meals to leave for Scott, to make things a little easier for him. In the last 2 days, I've cooked two great ones... I just double the recipe, that way I have dinner for the evening and one to freeze. I think I'll keep this up, even after I come back from Africa. If you have any great freezer meals that you'd like to share this time, I'd be really appreciative (and so would Scott!)...

The first is for pizza casserole (I found this on www.allrecipes.com) This is so yummy, everyone LOVED it!

1 lb ground beef
15 oz jar of pizza sauce
1/2 pound cooked rotini pasta
3 cups shredded mozarella cheese (save 1 cup for topping)
1 package sliced pepperoni (cut the slices into quarters)
2 mediums onions, chopped (optional, I left this out since my kids don't like onions)
Minced garlic to taste (I added a heaping tablespoon... I mean HEAPING!)

Brown ground beef with garlic and onions
After ground beef is thoroughly browned, add all other ingredients and put into a casserole dish.
Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes... At about the 30 minute mark, add the additional cheese and finish cooking until melted.

If you freeze it, save the remaining cup of mozzarella until you're ready to cook it. Let it cool completely before freezing and to thaw it, put it in the frige overnight. You might have to set it out for a while to get it to thaw completely.


The second one that is so yummy is Crockpot Barbecue...

I used a whole pork loin cut into three sections so it would fit in the crockpot. Season with your favorite barbecue rub (ours is Stubbs), cover with water and cook on low all night and through the next day.

Rinse the pork, scrape off the fat and shred the pork. My kids love it dry, with no sauce, so I warm enough for their sandwiches in one pan and add barbecue sauce (again, Stubbs makes a great bbq sauce) for Scott and I, in another. We make pork sandwiches out of them.

Again, I doubled this recipe and froze about half of the shredded pork.

Next week I'm going to try lasagne manicotti... I'll let you know how it is!