Turkey Dogs and Salsa Pasta Bake

Thursday night my sister who is also a single mom of two little boys had to work late.

I ended up having my nephews over for dinner. They are not as easy going in the food department as my two boys.My sister has a full time job and she's not the cook in the family. Their main diet is quick and easy. Kraft Dinner, Hamburger Helper, Hot Dogs, Soups from can, Fried Chicken and of course Drive-thru.

I didn't get much notice about having them for dinner so I had to be inventive with what was in my fridge and pantry.

I wanted to make sure that the food is sort of healthy and that they would actually eat it without a fight.

I wanted to make some pasta dish, but I was out of pasta sauce. It was time to improvise.

I created Turkey Dogs & Salsa Pasta Bake. It was a hit. No whining, no complaining. Plates were licked clean and most of them asked for seconds. My sons gave this dish 9.7 out of 10 points.

Ingredients:

• 250g Catelli SMART Rotini (dry)
• Salt
• 2 cups Chunky Salsa
• 6 Turkey Wieners
• 1 cup Tillamook Colby Jack Cheese (shredded)
• Parmesan Cheese
• Italian Parsley

Preheat the oven to 400F. Grease your casserole dish.

Cook Rotini in salted boiling water till Al Dente. Drain it well.

Cut up Turkey Wieners into 1/2" chunks.

Place half of Rotini on the bottom of the casserole dish. Cover it evenly with 1 cup of Salsa. Spread turkey wieners on top of the Salsa. Cover it evenly with 1/2 cup of cheese and then put layer of the leftover pasta on top.Salt and pepper to taste. Evenly spread the rest of Salsa on top of Rotini.Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.

Cover with lid and bake for 45 minutes or until the cheese is nice and melted on top.

This was delicious as well as low calorie and low carbohydrate meal.

This recipe should give you 6 portions @ approximately 260 calories, 11g of fat, 27 carbohydrates and 6 g of fiber.