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. 

Million Dollar Spaghetti (Penne Style)

I know, I know, this recipe is all over Pinterest.  but I just had to try it.  I have to say, it really did live up to the hype. I'm not sure if it was worth a million dollars but at least a few hundred grand in my book.  Of course I did have to change it up a bit but in the end  I loved the ease of making this, just a couple extra ingredients and steps and bam you have something a little more exciting than regular spaghetti.  

Start with dicing up a small onion

Toss it in a large skillet with a little canola or olive oil and saute for a few minutes...just to soften it

Once the onion begins to soften, add the ground beef

Season with a little salt and black pepper.  Cook until no longer pink in the middle.

Add a jar of your favorite marinara sauce.  

Stir to combine, congratulations, you have made meat sauce. Let it bubble on the stove while you prepare the cheese mixture.

Which starts with sour cream

Cottage cheese...don't groan at this you guys.  Mr. Schwartz HATES cottage cheese but he said he couldn't even tell in this recipe.

A little garlic salt and oh yeah, toss a block of cream cheese in there.  Sorry, forgot to take that picture.

Dried parsley if you wish, I think it makes it look pretty...

And black pepper.

Stir to combine.

Oh yeah, and you made noodles! Surprise.  : ) Add a little butter to the noodles while they are hot and give it a mix.

Place half of the noodles in a 9x13 pan

Spread the cheese mixture over the first layer of noodles.  Don't worry, I thought it wasn't going to spread and be all weird but it worked perfectly. Trust me.

Add the other layer of noodles

And top with the meat sauce.

Pop it in the oven for 30 minutes to bake.

After 30 minutes, remove from the onion and add a bunch of cheese.

Back in the oven it goes for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is nice and melted.

That's it!  Million Dollar PENNE!

Million Dollar Spaghetti (Penne Style)

1 small onion, diced
Drizzle of canola or olive oil
1 pound ground beef or turkey
Salt and pepper for seasoning
1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce
1 pound penne noodles
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup sour cream
1 8 oz block of cream cheese
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Cooking spray
2 cups shredded cheese (Cheddar, Mozzarella, Colby Jack Mix, whatever floats your boat)

Preheat a large skillet on medium high heat as well as the oven to 350 degrees.  Add the oil and onion to the pan and saute for a few minutes to soften it.  Add the ground beef and season with black pepper and a little salt.  Cook until no longer pink in the middle.  Add the jar of marinara sauce and stir.  Let bubble while you work on the other components.

Cook the noodles according to the directions of the box.  You want them to be pretty al dente (not all the way cooked yet) since they will continue to cook and absorb the liquid while it bakes in the oven.  Once the noodles are cooked and strained, add the butter and give them a quick mix.  Set aside for now.

Combine the sour cream, cream cheese, cottage cheese, garlic salt, parsley and black pepper in a small bowl.  Now we are ready to assemble.

In a 9x13 pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray, add 1/2 of the noodles.  Spread the cheese mixture over the top of the noodles. Add the other 1/2 of the noodles and top with the meat sauce.

Place in the oven for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes, remove from the oven and sprinkle the cheese over the top.  Place back in the oven for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is completely melted.

Enjoy!!!

Recipe by: I'm really not sure who please enlighten me if you know!!! What I could find was the original was from the blog Being Grown Up.  But I'm not 100% sure of that!