Pasta Salad With a Kick!

I should have taken a picture of this one too, because it came out really pretty. I really need to get better at taking pictures of my food before I eat it all...

12 oz. box of pasta
1 red bell pepper, minced
8 green onions, green parts only, finely chopped
most of a 7.5 oz. can of sliced olives
4 baby bella mushrooms, sliced thin
1/2 cup olive oil*
1/4 cup red wine vinegar*
Chili pepper flakes
Thyme
Oregano
Sage
Salt and Pepper
Optional: Grated parmesan
I've never added sausage before, but I bet it would be a really great addition.
*The olive oil and vinegar will seem like a lot when you first pour it in, but the pasta will absorb a lot of it, so you'll need extra to keep the salad from drying out.

Cook pasta according to box instructions. Combine the pasta and all ingredients in a bowl and stir. Add just a couple shakes of chili flakes, salt, and pepper. Be very generous with your oregano, thyme, and sage. Let sit for about an hour then salt to taste. When serving, top with parmesan.

Beef Noodle Bake

This isn't the best picture, but hopefully it does the trick. Noodle bake was a dish that my step-grandmother used to make all the time and we grandkids went CRAZY for it. I don't know exactly what she put in hers, but from a quick google search it seems like this is a pretty popular recipe. All of a sudden I had a HUGE craving for this dish this weekend, so this is what I threw together with the ingredients I have. I have a feeling this is the kind of dish where any combination of ingredients thrown together in any amount will result in something amazing. I also think this is supposed to have cottage cheese, which I didn't have tonight, but I'm definitely going to try and add it to the recipe some time in the future.

1/2 box pasta, any kind
1 lb. ground meat (usually beef)
1 sweet onion
1 can petite diced tomatoes
7.5 oz. tomato sauce
garlic salt
pepper
1 cup Macaroni blend shredded cheese (or 3 cheese blend shredded cheese)
1 oz. ranch dressing
sour cream
1 or 2 green onions, chopped.
I also seasoned this with some smoked paprika and ancho chili powder, but I don't know if I used enough to really make a difference. I think it's the ranch dressing that really makes it.

Cook pasta according to instructions on the box. While the pasta is cooking, brown meat in a large pan, sprinkling very liberally with pepper and garlic salt. Drain pasta when done, rinse, and let sit.

Finely chop onion. Mix onion, diced tomatoes, and tomato sauce into the pan with the beef. Cook until the onion is translucent and most of the liquid as evaporated.

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, mix together pasta and beef mixture. Add shredded cheese and ranch dressing.

Pour mixture into a 13x9 baking pan. Top with a thin layer of sour cream, and mix into the noodle mixture a little bit (as if you were mixing batters for a swirl cake). Top with green onions.

Toss in the oven and bake until bubbling a little bit, about 10 minutes.