One more week.
That’s all I have until I have to go back to school.
Yesterday, Michael and the kids spent two hours with me in my classroom. We cleaned. We organized. We threw away. We rearranged. Michael swept the floor. Christopher did most of the heavy lifting. Elizabeth whined a lot – but she did organize my paint!
There is a huge pile of black trash bags and boxes full of trash in the hallway outside my classroom. I will have to buy the janitor his favorite snacks for awhile to get back in his good graces. He’s going to be pretty upset this morning when he rounds the corner to my hallway and sees the giant pile that needs to be taken to the dumpster! So I’m stocking up on Dr. Peppers and pork rinds!
So far, our low-carbing has not been bad. I can say this because we are approximately 4 days into it! Talk to me again in a couple of weeks and we’ll see! For me, the success of reducing carbs comes when I don’t cook the same things over and over. If I can keep things interesting and un-rut-like, everybody’s happier!
This is a very rich dish. And in case, you missed the title, “Parmesan Cream Sauce” is pretty much just a really rich alfredo. It drenches cooked ground beef, sausage, and broccoli and bakes into a luscious meaty, cheesy, broccoli-spiked wonder. I can even see this being delicious as a dip – if we still ate crackers. We don’t.
While it’s certainly not going to win any beauty contests, it more than makes up for that with its flavor!
Sausage Hamburger and Broccoli with Parmesan Cream Sauce
- 2 pounds of ground meat
- 1 pound of ground sausage
- 2 12-ounce bags of frozen cut broccoli
- Salt
- Pepper
- Onion powder
- 4 tablespoons of butter
- 2 8-ounce packages of cream cheese
- 1 cup of Parmesan
- 1 cup of heavy whipping cream
- 2 cups of shredded Colby Jack
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a pot, pour the broccoli pieces. Add enough water to cover and sprinkle in 2 teaspoons of salt. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook until tender.
While the broccoli is cooking, in a large skillet, crumble the ground meat and sausage and cook until browned and cooked through. Drain completely and return to the skillet. Add the butter, 1 teaspoon of onion powder, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Stir to combine. Remove from heat.
When broccoli is tender, drain and add the broccoli to the meat mixture, stirring to combine. Pour this mixture into a 9X13 baking dish.
Place the cream cheese into a large bowl and microwave for 2 minutes. Whisk until creamy. Add the Parmesan and mix completely. Whisk in the heavy cream until the mixture is smooth. Pour this mixture over the meat and broccoli and spread evenly.
Bake for 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven. Stir to make sure everything is coated with the sauce. Sprinkle on the cheese and let the dish sit for 5-10 minutes until the cheese is melted.
Well Duh #1 I used ground turkey, but you could use any ground meat.
Well Duh #2: Wait until after baking to stir. The heat from the oven will melt the sauce and make it creamier so that it coats everything beautifully.
Well Duh #3: I think this would be awesome if I kicked it up a little. Maybe add a few tablespoons of Tabasco to the meat mixture and use pepper Jack at the end. That’s my next venture!
Well Duh #4: Don’t get hung up on the size of the bags of broccoli. Sometimes I find a 12-ounce bag. Sometimes I find a 14-ounce bag. Sometimes it’s a pound. Don’t sweat it! Just grab a couple of bags of broccoli and you’re good!
This was really great. The flavors are wonderful. The sauce is cheesy and creamy. It is VERY rich and filling. Even my heartiest eater could only eat one bowl of this. But he loved every bite! It was another low-carb success!
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