Cheesy Mostaccioli and Giveaway Winner!

This recipe was submitted by Rachael Wood--thanks for contributing! Want to send in your own favorites? shoot me an email: <5thingscooking@gmail.com>


Cheesy Mostaccioli

Ingredients:
1 pkg mostaccioli pasta, cooked and drained
1 lb ground beef, browned and drained
1 can (10 3/4 oz) cheddar cheese soup
1 jar (26 oz) spaghetti sauce
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp Italian seasoning
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400. Combine cooked pasta, cooked meat, cheddar cheese soup, and spaghetti sauce. Add pepper, seasoning and 2 cups of mozzarella cheese. Mix to combine. Place in 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining cup of mozzarella cheese on top. Bake for 25 minutes.

Rachael W. was the winner of Mary Ellen's Best of Helpful Hints books! I also have a special bonus prize for Sam B., so Sam, let me know when I can drop it off!

Updates and Cake Wrecks

I hope you've gotten a chance to try some of the recipes from the past few weeks! They're all tried and trued but up for tweaking. Please let me know if you change something and love it! I made the Taco Quiche the other day with a few revisions and it was great! I prepared the meat the same way, but added a can of corn, a can of black beans, and mexican rice (if you haven't tried the cheapo rice sides mixes, you're missing out!). It was delicious and much improved.

Second bit of news: the 5 Things Cooking giveaway is still going for one more day! Thanks for those of you who have submitted recipes and keep them coming! Please add your votes to the poll in the sidebar as well. I'm always looking for new things to try so they might as well be things that interest you as well...

Third, I have to pass on one of my favorite blogs, which isn't really a cooking blog, but celebrates the worst of professional cake decorating. If you're looking for a good laugh on a gray day, this is it. Cake Wrecks. Check it out--I promise you won't regret it! Click on the "best of" links in the sidebar to see some of the most popular wrecks.

A little contest

Ok, fellow 5 Things Cooks. It's time for a little contest. Think for just a second of that recipe. The never-fail dish you always fall back on when you need to cook unexpectedly for a large group, or it's too late to run to the store and you need to make something. The recipe you know off the top of your head that tastes good and is super quick to throw together. I know you all have at least one!

I have an extra copy (used) of Mary Ellen's Best of Helpful Hints book that I'd love to giveaway in exchange for your recipe ideas. All you need to do is email your recipes to <5thingscooking@gmail.com>. Send as many as you want! Each recipe counts as one entry, so the more you send, the better your chances of winning this amazing book.

Want more chances to win? Get one extra entry for following my blog (post a comment letting me know).

Hopefully you've had a chance to try some of the recipes you've found here! I know it's been good for me to find new recipes and try new things in order to post them here, so hopefully it's been useful for you as well.

What recipes have you tried? What have you liked best? What would you like more of? Vote on the poll in the sidebar and let me know! (post a comment letting me know you voted and you'll get ANOTHER entry!)

Giveaway ends March 31, 2009 at 12 pm MDT. Winner will be picked by random.org from all the comments and recipes received. Make sure you leave me a way to contact you!