One of my family's favorite recipes is this homemade macaroni salad which I add some shrimp to it...if you have not tried macaroni salad with shrimp, try out this recipe as I am sure it will become a favorite of your family's too!

Macaroni and Shrimp Salad

2 c. cooked macaroni
4 hard cooked eggs, chopped
1 can shrimp, rinsed and drained
1/2 c. celery, diced
1/2 c. pickle relish
1/2 c. grated carrot
1/2 tsp. celery seed
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. onion powder
3/4 c. mayonnaise

Combine all ingredients. Cover and refrigerate overnight as flavor improves with standing. I like to store and serve mine in the Tupperware Thatsa 32 cup bowl.

My husband Sam is Italian so he loves Italian Food and one of his favorites is this Manicotti so I baked it yesterday and he couldn't even wait for me to take a photo before he dug in! We had guests for dinner yesterday and the Manicotti was completely gone before everyone left!

Manicotti Recipe

12 large manicotti shells
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
2 cups ricotta cheese
6 tbsp. chopped fresh basil or 2 tbsp. dried basil
1 (26 ounce) jar prepared spaghetti sauce, divided
1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano Cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13x9" baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain; rinse with cool water. Let pasta drain in strainer. For filling: in a medium bowl stir together 3 cups of mozzarella with the ricottta and fresh basil. Using a teaspoon, carefully stuff pasta shells with prepared cheese mixture.

Spoon 2 cups of spaghetti sauce into prepared baking dish. Arrange stuffed pasta over sauce. Pour remaining spaghetti sauce over top of pasta. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella.

Bake manicotti for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with the Paremesan; bake for 10 minutes longer. Serve immediately.

My husband absolutely loves this pesto pasta salad recipe! You will need to refrigerate it for at least 1 hour...however, I like to refrigerate mine for 4-6 hours before serving it to allow all of the flavors to infuse into the pasta.

Perfect Pasta Pesto Salad

8 oz. of rotini pasta (can use colored pasta if desired)
3 sm. bell peppers, chopped
1 pt. cherry tomatoes
6 oz. Mozzarella Cheese, cut into chunks
1 c. carrots, thinly sliced
1 c. red onion, thinly sliced
1 c. fresh basil, slivered

Cook pasta according to directions, drain and place in large bowl. Toss in the rest of the ingredients. Prepare the Italian Dressing:

Dressing:

7 Seasons Italian Dressing Packet, fully prepared (tm)

Pour over the above mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Like Lasagna? Our family loves it! We were in the mood for some oven baked Lasagna and luckily for me, I had all of the ingredients on hand to make some. This recipe is fairly easy to make.

This recipe is from San Giorgio.(tm)

Oven Baked Lasagna Recipe

1 lb. ground beef (we used lean ground beef)
3 c. spaghetti sauce (or 1 jar)
1 c. tomato sauce
1 3/4 c. ricotta cheese
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. oregano
12 pieces San Giorgio (tm) Oven Ready Lasagna Noodles, uncooked
4 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 c. grated Parmesan Cheese

Remove 12 pieces of pasta from the package. Heat oven to 375 degrees F. In a large skillet, cook meat until browned, remove from heat. Drain. Stir in spaghetti sauce and tomato sauce. In a small bowl, stir together ricotta cheese, egg, basil and oregano.

In a 13x9" baking dish, spread 3/4 cup of meat sauce. Place 3 pieces of uncooked pasta crosswise over sauce. (pieces should not overlap or touch side of pan since they will expand when baked). Spread about 2/3 cup ricotta cheese mixture evenly over pasta. Spread 3/4 cup meat sauce evenly over ricotta covering pasta completely. Sprinkle with 1 cup mozzarella cheese. Repeat steps 2 and 3, TWO more times. Top with remaining 3 pasta pieces. Spread remaining meat sauce completely over pasta; sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes; remove foil. Bake 10-15 additional minutes or until hot and bubbly. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Cucumber Pasta Salad Recipe

1 lb. cooked pasta noodles
1 c. broccoli
1 c. carrots
1 c. cucumbers
1 c. celery
1 c. tomatoes
Italian Dressing
Parmesan Cheese
Salad Supreme

Cook noodles according to box instructions. Add chopped vegetables, mix Italian dressing. Top with Salad Supreme and Parmesan Cheese. Let stand for several hours before serving.

This recipe was given to me a few years ago by my auntie...since then, it has become a family favorite. It does take some time to prepare but it will be well worth your efforts because its delicious!

Chicken Caruso

4 c. chicken broth
7 oz. uncooked macaroni
2 slices bacon, chopped
1/4 c. chopped green pepper
1/3 c. chopped onion
2 c. cubed cooked chicken
2 c. shredded cheese
1/4 c. chopped pimiento
1/4 c. toasted almond slivers
1 (10 ounce) pkg. frozen green peas, cooked & drained
3 Tbsp. sherry

In a saucepan, heat chicken broth to boiling. Add macaroni. Cook 10 minutes or until tender. Do not drain.

In a large skillet, fry bacon until crisp. Add green pepper and onion. Cook and stir until onion is tender; drain off excess bacon fat. Stir in macaroni and broth mixture and remaining ingredients. Heat for 10 minutes or until all of the mixture is heated through. Makes 6-8 servings.

This recipe is from my good friend Sophia over on Work At Home Business Options Website. You can visit the site ---> HERE

Rotini Pasta with Garden Vegetables and Basil

3 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 sweet onion, cut 1/2 inch chunks
1/2 each green, red, yellow pepper cut 1/2 inch chunks
2 large tomatoes cut in chunks
25 snow peas, cut in half
10 basil leaves, rolled and diced
500 ml whipping cream
*Rotini pasta or other short pasta
Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

*Depending on how you will have this, side dish or main dish you can make as little or as much pasta as you want.

Cook pasta. Microwave peppers and snow peas for about 1 minute and a half.

Saute garlic and onions, add salt. Add peppers, snow peas and tomatoes and continue to saute. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add whipping cream and let it reduce (you may not want to add this all at once in case you reduce it too much). It will reduce fairly quickly so keep an eye on it. You want enough liquid in there so when you add the pasta and parmesan cheese it won’t soak it all up and become dry.

Once reduced, add pasta, parmesan cheese and basil. Mix well until pasta is coated.

You can serve it with cracked pepper on top and/or sprinkled with more parmesan cheese.

Baked Spaghetti Family Dinner Recipe

When it came to family dinners in our home, Spaghetti was at the top of the list with our children. Now that our children are all grown, my husband and I enjoy a more grown-up version of this favorite American dish.

I do not recommend freezing any left-overs, however, it will keep for up to 3 days in your refrigerator.

The following recipe will yield 6 servings.

Baked Spaghetti Dinner Recipe

1 cup onion, finely chopped
1 cup green pepper, chopped
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 (28 ounces) can tomatoes with liquid, chopped
1 can (4 ounces) mushroom stems and pieces, drained
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 lb. lean ground beef, browned and drained
12 ounces spaghetti noodles, cooked and drained
2 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1/4 cup tap water
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

In a large frying pan, saute the onion and green pepper in butter until fork tender. Stir in the chopped tomatoes, mushrooms, oregano and basil. Simmer for 2-3 minutes and then stir in the cooked ground beef. Continue to simmer over medium heat, uncovered for approximately 8-10 minutes.

Place half of the cooked spaghetti noodles in a lightly greased 9 x 13" baking dish. Pour half of the vegetable mixture on top of the pasta and then sprinkle with one cup of Cheddar cheese. Repeat the layers. Pour the soup into a small bowl and mix in 1/4 cup of warm tap water until they are combined. Pour the soup mixture over the casserole. Sprinkle the top with grated Parmesan cheese.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until it's heated through.

This article/recipe is copyright 2009 by Shelly Hill, all rights reserve. If you would like free reprints of any of my articles, please contact me.