Chili Pasta Bake and a Cooking Planit and T-Fal Giveaway!

In my last post I did a little demo of how to use the cool new Cooking Planit application.  This time I am going to talk a little about my experience using the T-Fal cookware that was sent for me to review and GIVEAWAY!  I made this awesome Chili Pasta Bake which is perfect for chilly weather that is right around the corner this fall.  YAY!  

First I drizzled a little canola oil in the skillet to get things going.  As you can see there is a thermo-spot in the middle…just watch...

Once the skillet gets hot, the little target in the middle disappears.  To the naked eye, it truly was gone but in this picture it still shows up a bit.  Awesome!

From there I added the onions and let them sauté a bit...

I then added the ground beef

And seasoned with a bit of salt

And plenty of black pepper. From here, let the meat cook until no longer pink.

Meanwhile, I brought the stock pot out and filled it with hot water.  How pretty is she!?

And how smart, it has the measurements inside of the pot!  Awesome!  I brought this to a boil and cooked my pasta--yeah I didn't take a picture of that but you can handle cooking pasta, right?

Once the ground beef was cooked, I added tomato sauce

And diced and fire roasted tomatoes with green chilis.  LOVE that stuff.

Gave it a quick stir

And added a few kidney beans.

Next came the seasoning, lots of chili powder

Cumin

Cayenne powder

And a bit of water

Gave it a stir and let it bubble for a bit

I drained the noodles and added them back to the pot

I then added the chili mixture to the noodles 

And gave it a quick stir to combine.

After that, I poured everything into a 9x13 pan

And sprinkled with a three cheese mix.  I popped it in the oven for 30 minutes until it came out looking like...

THIS!

Cheesy chili pasta goodness.

We topped ours with a  little sour cream and green onions, just like we like our favorite Perfect Chili.

This will definitely be a staple in the Schwartz Household this fall and winter!

Chili Pasta Bake

• ½ Tablespoons Canola Or Vegetable Oil
• 1 pound Ground Beef
• 1 whole Onion, Chopped
• 1 dash Salt
• 1 dash Black Pepper
• ½ pounds Cooked Pasta
• 15 ounces, fluid Tomato Sauce
• 14-½ ounces, weight Diced Tomatoes And Green Chilies
• 15 ounces, weight Kidney Or Black Beans, Rinsed
• 1-½ Tablespoon Chili Powder
• 2 teaspoons Cumin
• 3 dashes Cayenne Powder
• ¼ cups Water
• 2 cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• ½ cups Sour Cream, For Topping
• 4 Tablespoons Green Onions, Chopped

Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees.

Drizzle the oil in a large skillet on medium high heat. Add the onions and sauté for about 3 minutes. Add the ground beef and season with salt and pepper. Cook until no longer pink.

While the ground beef is cooking, cook your pasta to firm al dente. Once cooked, drain and set aside for now.

After the ground beef is cooked, add the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and green chiles, beans chili powder, cumin, cayenne and water. Give it a stir and let it simmer for about 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, stir in the cooked pasta. Stir to combine.

Pour the chili pasta mixture into a 9×13 pan. Flatten out with a spatula and sprinkle with cheese. Place in the oven for 30 minutes or until the edges are bubbling and the cheese has fully melted.

Spoon into serving dishes and top with sour cream and green onions.

Enjoy!

(NOTE MY FORMATTING IS ALL DIFFERENT BECAUSE I COPIED AND PASTED THIS FROM MY TASTYKITCHEN PAGE.) 

Isn't this cookware set just about the prettiest thing you have ever set your eyes on!?  Well, not only are they gorgeous, they are oven safe to 500 degrees, are dishwasher safe, have a limited lifetime warrantee  and have a stainless steel interior!  I have to say, I also made eggs the other day in the skillet and wow, that baby cooked my eggs to perfection cleaned like nothing! 

So, after all of that, have I convinced you that this cookware is awesome?  Well good, because you can WIN it! Use the Rafflecopter widget below and let me know if you have any questions!  

You will need to create a Cooking Planit account to enter and your an do so by going here.  Or you can download the FREE or for purchase app by going to the app store on your phone.  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The giveaway started on August 19th and goes until August 25th.  I will be announcing the big winner on Monday, August 26th.  If you don't win on my blog, please check out the other 49 bloggers who are participating below:  

THE COOKING PLANIT AND T-FAL 2013 GIVEAWAY
Start	End	Flight 1	Flight 2
8/19/13	8/25/13	Baby Boomster	Mrs. Schwartz’s Kitchen
8/20/13	8/26/13	CopyKat Recipes	Daily Dish Recipes
8/21/13	8/27/13	Lisa Cooking	Lark’s Country Heart
8/22/13	8/28/13	ME Redone	Hot Eats and Cool Reads
8/23/13	8/29/13	Mother Would Know	The Two Bite Club
8/24/13	8/30/13	Sophistishe	Citron Limette
8/25/13	8/31/13	Kitchen Concoctions	Cupcakes and Kale Chips
8/26/13	9/1/13	I Can Cook That	Leave a Happy Plate
8/27/13	9/2/13	Peaches & Cake	i love my disorganized life
8/28/13	9/3/13	Diddles & Dumplings	Yates Yummies
8/29/13	9/4/13	basilmomma	Cooking With Libby
8/30/13	9/5/13	Persnickety Plates	Creole Contessa
8/31/13	9/6/13	Ancestral Chef	Bite Sized Blog
9/1/13	9/7/13	The Staten Island Family	Mamal Diane
9/2/13	9/8/13	Food Fash	Recipes For My Boys
9/3/13	9/9/13	The Wicked Noodle	Hungry Little Girl
9/4/13	9/10/13	Unorganized Mommy of 3	The Tasty Fork
9/5/13	9/11/13	Yi Reservation	Dixie Chik Cooks
9/6/13	9/12/13	Chicago Foodie Sisters	The Fountain Avenue Kitchen
9/7/13	9/13/13	Cooking from a SAHM	FoodThoughtsOfaChefWannabe
9/8/13	9/14/13	Bobbi’s Kozy Kitchen	Rants from My Crazy Kitchen
9/9/13	9/15/13	What Jew Wanna Eat	Sumptuous Spoonfuls
9/10/13	9/16/13	The Mama Report	Busy Mom of Two
9/11/13	9/17/13	Culicurious	Huppie Mama
9/12/13	9/18/13	Three Diets. One Dinner.	Spice’s Bites

• FINE PRINT: Contests open to US only. Limit one winner per household/per family from the 50 blogs participating in the promotion. Individuals winning more than one giveaway will receive 1 set of cookware and the other winning entries will be disqualified and an alternate winner will be chosen. 

• 
  

I was given a set of T-Fal pans as a promotion to try before giving a set away.  Please know that all of the opinions are my own, as always, you cannot buy my love baby. 

Cheesy Spaghetti Squash and Cooking Planit T-Fal Giveaway

Remember when I said I was going to host a Cooking Planit T-Fal Giveaway!?  Well, friends, today is the day!  It is LIVE baby!  

When I was approached by Cooking Planit for this giveaway, I was a bit skeptic…there are a lot of cooking apps out there…what made this one so special?  

Since I'm not one to just post something without trying it myself…I decided that I would actually make something using the Cooking Planit app on my iPhone.  I started by searching for a recipe that uses spaghetti squash since we have a huge abundance from our garden right now.  This is what came up: 

SOLD!  It looks great and I happened to have all of the ingredients on hand.  But, I have to say it is quite nifty that if you don't you can just click on the "groceries" icon and it adds everything that you need onto a customizable grocery list.  Sweet!

Next, I needed to decide how many servings to make…two for us please.

It goes through exactly what is needed and then we jump right into it.  I'll let the app do the talking from here on out!

I only had frozen garlic so I microplaned it :)

I also omitted the chives since I didn't have any….

Ha!  I was cruising through this recipe so this came up…I think it's a pretty cool function and really keeps you on task.

I added the onions and garlic at the same time 

This was a perfect side dish to go with our grilled pork chops.  We will definitely be keeping this recipe on hand since we have about 60 spaghetti squash yet to pick this year! 

I have to say, the Cooking Planit app made making this side dish a breeze.  It had automatic timers, easy to follow directions and all of the ingredients and supplies were listed before I even started.  I really like the function that creates a master plan for the meal so that everything is done at the same time.  Perfect for entertaining!!! I have to say, I will continue to use the Cooking Planit app again and again...

But, I know you didn't just come here to talk about spaghetti squash….

So what do you say!?  Are you interested in winning the 12 piece cookware set from T-Fal!?  Well if you are, you can enter below by using the Rafflecopter widget.  To enter you will need to create a FREE Cooking Planit account.  I would highly suggest it, making this Cheesy Spaghetti Squash was a breeze using the step by step instructions and timer!  To create your own account, go to the Cooking Planit website or download the application through the Apps store on your phone by searching for Cooking Planit.  There is a free version or one for purchase, your choice! It is quick and easy to create an account.  You will be up and running in no time! 

Please let me know if you have any questions or difficulty with this!  The giveaway runs from today (August 19th) through August 25th!  I will be announcing the BIG winner on Monday, August 26th. 

Also, be sure to check out the other blogs, remember, there are 50 of us giving away a set of this beautiful cookware so your chances are pretty good!  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

THE COOKING PLANIT AND T-FAL 2013 GIVEAWAY
Start	End	Flight 1	Flight 2
8/19/13	8/25/13	Baby Boomster	Mrs. Schwartz’s Kitchen
8/20/13	8/26/13	CopyKat Recipes	Daily Dish Recipes
8/21/13	8/27/13	Lisa Cooking	Lark’s Country Heart
8/22/13	8/28/13	ME Redone	Hot Eats and Cool Reads
8/23/13	8/29/13	Mother Would Know	The Two Bite Club
8/24/13	8/30/13	Sophistishe	Citron Limette
8/25/13	8/31/13	Kitchen Concoctions	Cupcakes and Kale Chips
8/26/13	9/1/13	I Can Cook That	Leave a Happy Plate
8/27/13	9/2/13	Peaches & Cake	i love my disorganized life
8/28/13	9/3/13	Diddles & Dumplings	Yates Yummies
8/29/13	9/4/13	basilmomma	Cooking With Libby
8/30/13	9/5/13	Persnickety Plates	Creole Contessa
8/31/13	9/6/13	Ancestral Chef	Bite Sized Blog
9/1/13	9/7/13	The Staten Island Family	Mamal Diane
9/2/13	9/8/13	Food Fash	Recipes For My Boys
9/3/13	9/9/13	The Wicked Noodle	Hungry Little Girl
9/4/13	9/10/13	Unorganized Mommy of 3	The Tasty Fork
9/5/13	9/11/13	Yi Reservation	Dixie Chik Cooks
9/6/13	9/12/13	Chicago Foodie Sisters	The Fountain Avenue Kitchen
9/7/13	9/13/13	Cooking from a SAHM	FoodThoughtsOfaChefWannabe
9/8/13	9/14/13	Bobbi’s Kozy Kitchen	Rants from My Crazy Kitchen
9/9/13	9/15/13	What Jew Wanna Eat	Sumptuous Spoonfuls
9/10/13	9/16/13	The Mama Report	Busy Mom of Two
9/11/13	9/17/13	Culicurious	Huppie Mama
9/12/13	9/18/13	Three Diets. One Dinner.	Spice’s Bites

• FINE PRINT: Contests open to US only. Limit one winner per household/per family from the 50 blogs participating in the promotion. Individuals winning more than one giveaway will receive 1 set of cookware and the other winning entries will be disqualified and an alternate winner will be chosen. 
• 
  
• I was given a set of T-Fal pans as a promotion to try before giving a set away.  Please know that all of the opinions are my own, as always, you cannot buy my love baby.