Italian Sausage Hawaiian

I love sweet italian sausages, but I get tired of using them in the same old pasta based dishes. I found this recipe on Recipezaar.com, and it instantly appealed - I love the mix of sweet and savory flavors! And since I often find canned pineapple on sale, this will be easy to mix up from the pantry.

Italian Sausage Hawaiian

Ingredients:
1 lb fresh sweet Italian sausage link
1 (20 ounce) can pineapple chunks
1 green pepper, julienned
1 onion, julienned
1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 lb very thin spaghetti, or 1 cup rice

Directions:
- Remove sausage from casing, break into small pieces and saute until meat is done.
- Saute peppers and onions.
- Add tomatoes, can of pineapple to peppers, onions and meat.
- Cook for 15 minutes.
- Mix cornstarch with a little cold water and add to mixture.
- Meanwhile cook spaghetti or rice until done.
- Serve meat sauce over spaghetti or rice.

Total Cost:
Sausage - $2.00
Pineapple - $1.00
Pepper - $0.40
Onion - $0.30
Diced Tomatoes - $0.80
Rice - $0.40

Grand Total - $4.90 for 4 servings!

Cheesy Kielbasa Bake

I came across this recipe on Stumbling Along Faithfully, it originally comes from Allrecipes.com and is a FANTASTIC recipe for OAMC cooking! I regularly pick up Kielbasa at BOGO sales and I'm always looking for new ways to serve it. This is a nice, hearty dish that can be frozen in two 9X13 or four 8X8 pans depending on how many mouths you need to feed at a sitting.

Cheesy Kielbasa Bake

INGREDIENTS
1 box uncooked elbow macaroni
2 pounds kielbasa (Polish) sausage, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium onion, chopped
2 medium zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced
2 medium carrots, grated
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (26 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 (15 ounce) container ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
2 green onions, chopped (optional)

Directions:
- Cook macaroni according to package directions; drain and set aside.
- In a large skillet, brown the sausage in oil over medium heat. Add the onions, zucchini, carrots and garlic; cook and stir for 5-6 minutes or until crisp-tender. Stir in spaghetti sauce and tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
- In each of two greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dishes, layer a fourth of the macaroni and meat sauce. Combine the egg and ricotta cheese; spoon a fourth over sauce. Sprinkle with a fourth of the cheddar and mozzarella cheeses. Repeat the layers once more.
(I actually combined the macaroni and meat sauce together in a big bowl, and squished things down as I layered them)
- Cover and bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes. Uncover; bake 15 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Serve one casserole. Cool second casserole; cover and freeze for up to 2 months. To bake after freezing, thaw overnight in the fridge, then bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes or until heated through.

Total Cost:
Macaroni - $1.00
Kielbasa - $4.20
Olive Oil - $0.30
Onions - $0.50
Zucchini - $1.00
Carrots - $0.30
Spaghetti Sauce - $1.00
Garlic - $0.15
Tomatoes - $0.80
Egg - $0.14
Ricotta cheese - $1.35
Cheddar cheese - $1.50
Mozzarella cheese - $1.50

Grand Total - $13.74 for 12-16 servings, $6.87 per 9X13 pan!