Hi friends!  I have a delicious guest post from my dear friend, Cinnamon, today.  Cinnamon is absolutely hilarious and so sweet.  I hope you love her as much as I do!

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Well, hi there NSD readers! My name is Cinnamon (spice, spicey, spice girl, C, Cinn, Cinni, Cinna, CinnaMOM…whatever you want to call me really….) and I like to blab my thoughts on the internet over at eatPRAYtri.

I like to tell funny stories, talk way too much about my dogs and my husband and in between all that I like to show pictures of food, 5k’s and cookies. I love Kristen’s blog for what I’m sure are a lot of the same reasons you do and when she asked me to do a guest post for her I immediately needed to fist bump someone and celebrate the excitement.

Unfortunately I think I was sitting at my work desk with no one any where near me, so I was left with no choice but to awkwardly fist bump myself.

Anywho…I don’t share a TON of recipes on my own blog, although I plan on doing that more in the future. I do however have a favorite recipe that I was waiting to share on a special occasion and well, I think guest posting for Kristen is about as special as it gets (you know, aside from weddings, birthday, anniversaries and all that jazz).

Even though one of my favorite chores to do around the house is doing dishes…(I know, I blame it all on my mother) I DO enjoy making dinner and using as few pots/pans/dishes as possible.

Enter the one pan wonder- Baked Penne with sausage and peppers.

This is seriously one of the easiest meals I have ever made. AND it freezes perfectly. On more than one occasion in the past, I have made two batches and put one in the freezer for later. Cinnamon= Brilliant.

You don’t need a ton of ingredients and most of it you should have around your kitchen anyway. The only thing I usually need to get that I don’t have on hand is the heavy cream.

INGREDIENTS

1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed (TJ’s sweet Italian is the BEST!)
6 medium garlic cloves, minced or press through a garlic press (about 2 tablespoons)
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or less depending on how spicy you like things)
1 1/2 cups water
8 oz. (2 cups) penne
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
Salt and ground black pepper
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 oz. Parmesan cheese, grated (1/2 cup)
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves (I usually use dried b/c I dont have fresh on hand…)
6 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded (1 1/2 cups)

DIRECTIONS

Heat the oven to 475 degrees.

Cook the sausage in a 12-inch oven-safe nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon until lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes.

Stir in the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the tomatoes and simmer gently until the tomatoes no longer taste raw, about 10 minutes.

Stir in the water, ziti, bell pepper and 1/2 teaspoon salt and bring to a rapid simmer. Cover and simmer vigorously, stirring often, until the pasta is just tender, 14 to 17 minutes.

Off the heat, stir in the cream, Parmesan and basil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle the mozzarella evenly over the top. Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake until the cheese has melted and browned, 10 to 15 minutes.

And viola!! I transferred mine to a baking dish in order to freeze, otherwise, this is one pan baby. Talk about a easy, non-kitchen-messing-up, flavorful dinner!

Enjoy! *Virtual fist bump*

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Question for ya …

What are you up to this weekend?

What’s your favorite one-pot meal?