Lasagna

Serves: 12 or so in Time: About 4 hours

1 lb. sweet Italian sausage

1 lb. lean ground beef

1/2 C. minced onion

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 can (28 oz.) crushed tomatoes

2 cans (6 oz. each) tomato paste

1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce

1/2 C. water

2 Tbsp. white sugar

1 1/2 tsp. dried basil leaves

1/2 tsp. fennel seed

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

1 Tbsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

4 Tbsp. chopped parsley, divided

12 lasagna noodles

15 oz. ricotta cheese

1 egg

1/2 tsp. salt

1 lb. mozzarella cheese, sliced

3/4 C. pamersan cheese, shredded

-In a large pan, brown meat, onion and garlic. Stir in tomatoes, water, sugar, basil, fennel, Italian seasoning, 1 Tbsp. salt, pepper, and 2 Tbsp. parsley. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.

-Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles as directed on package. Drain and rinse noodles with cold water and set aside.

-Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta, egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 tsp. salt.

-In a 9x13-inch baking dish, spread 1 1/2 C. meat sauce over bottom of pan. Arrange 6 noodles over sauce and spread with half of the ricotta mixture. Top with 1/3 of mozzarella slices. Spoon 1 1/2 C. meat sauce over cheese and sprinkle with 1/4 C. parmesan. Repeat layers, ending with remaining cheese. Spray foil with cooking spray and secure over baking dish.

-Bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Notes: I get the crushed tomatoes with Italian seasoning, as well as the garlic and basil tomato sauce. Usually the meat portions are more generous in one package than listed, but I have adjusted the tomatoes to compensate. Also, the usual package of lasagna noodles has about 16, and I cook them all to make sure I have whole noodles to work with in case of breaking/sticking. I also recently tried this as shown above, by splitting the recipe into 2 8X8 pans and they came out okay-- both were still pretty full. The ricotta portion is fairly thin for each layer, and you may want to double it if you love the ricotta cheese.

Baked Chicken Nugget Spaghetti

8 oz. uncooked spaghetti noodles
1 jar (26-28 oz.) tomato spaghetti sauce
1 box (approx 12 oz.) frozen chicken nuggets
1 1/2 C. shredded mozzarella cheese

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9X13-in. pan with cooking spray and set aside.
-Break spaghetti noodles in half and cook according to package directions. Drain.
-Mix in the entire jar of spaghetti sauce with noodles. Spread mixture evenly in pan.
-Top with frozen chicken nuggets. Bake for 8 minutes.
-Remove from oven. Flip chicken nuggets over. Top with cheese. Return to oven and bake 5-7 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Notes: I used vegetable spaghetti sauce that was full of mushrooms and green peppers and it turned out really well. Also, I couldn't find a "healthy" variety of chicken nuggets and will keep looking. This was a great chicken parmesan-style meal, though, especially for Mason. He was fascinated with it.

Chicken Pot Pie Bubble Bake

This recipe is a throw back to when we were first married and I was still learning. Unfortunately for Alan, most of the recipes I used at that time involved some sort of casserole with chicken and frozen mixed vegetables. When I made this, he asked me if I had run out of recipes and started over! I haven't, but I wanted chicken pot pie and this recipe is the closest I have. So if anyone has a really good, fairly easy chicken pot pie recipe, please share!

Serves: 6 in Time: 1 hr. 10 mins

1 can (10 3/4 oz) cream of chicken soup

1 1/3 cups milk

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

2 C. frozen potato wedges

3 C. deli rotisserie chicken, cubed

1 bag (1 lb.) frozen mixed vegetables, thawed

1 can (12 oz.) refrigerated buttermilk biscuits

1/2 C. shredded cheddar cheese

-Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9X13-inch glass baking dish with cooking spray. In a large bowl, mix soup, milk, and Italian seasoning. Stir in potatoes, chicken, and thawed vegetables.

-Separate dough into biscuits. Cut each biscuit into quarters. Add to potato mixture and stir gently to mix well. Spoon into baking dish.

-Bake uncovered for 35-40 minutes or until top is deep golden brown and biscuits are no longer doughy. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake 4-6 minutes longer until cheese is melted.

Notes: You can thaw out the frozen veggies by running them under warm water in a colander. Also, this works just fine with cubed boneless skinless chicken breasts, it just takes a little longer because you have to cook the chicken first. Also, I have never been able to find the potatoes the recipe actually calls for, so I use the frozen, pre-roasted ones. The seasoning on them adds extra flavor.

Speedy Ravioli Bake

This is a favorite "quickie" meal of ours on nights that mom has to work, plus it makes just enough for a few leftovers.

Serves 6 in Time: 20 minutes

2 (9 oz. each) pkgs. refrigerated cheese ravioli
1 jar (25-26 oz.) chunky tomato pasta sauce
1 tsp. basil
2 C. shredded mozzarella cheese (8 0z.)

-Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a 3-quart saucepan, cook ravioli according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
-In same saucepan, mix pasta sauce and basil. Cook over meduim heat until heated through, about 5 minutes. Stir in cooked ravioli. Pour into an ungreased 9X13-inch glass baking dish. Sprinkle cheese over top.
-Bake 10 minutes, or until sauce is bubbly and cheese is melted.

*Frozen ravioli also works well. We've mixed in meat ravioli with success, too.

Texas Lasagna

Apparently, along with this fantastic weather and lower temperatures, I am also enjoying a bout of dinner-time unoriginality. We're eating Mexican-themed food all week. Stay tuned for more recipes.

Serves 10-12 in Time: 1 hr. 10 mins

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 tsp. seasoned salt
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
1 can (4 oz.) diced green chile peppers
2 C. small curd cottage cheese
2 eggs, beaten
12 corn tortillas (6-in. diameter), torn in halves
3 1/2 - 4 C. shredded Jack cheese, divided

-In a large skillet, brown meat; drain. Add salt, tomatoes, tomato sauce and chiles. Mix well. Simmer uncovered for 15-20 minutes.

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine cottage cheese and eggs.

-In a greased 9X13-inch baking dish, layer half of meat mixture, followed by tortillas torn to fit pan, half the cottage cheese mixture, and then half of the Jack cheese. Repeat again, ending with last of the cheese on top.

-Bake uncovered until bubbly, about 30 mins. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

This yummy recipe came from my mom. She likes to use the diced tomatoes with italian seasoning, and to replace the seasoned salt with Italian seasoning. She also uses flour tortillas instead of corn. We have done this recipe like that and it is fantastic. This time, we had a surplus of corn tortillas from trying fried tacos and we were out of Italian seasoning, so we stuck to the recipe as-is. It was great this way, too. We tried it this time with the diced tomatoes seasoned with lime and cilantro and it put a totally different spin into the mix. This dish is versatile and can be experimented with endlessly. Plus, it's relatively inexpensive and it makes a lot, so we'll be eating it all week!

Layered Macaroni and Cheese

Serves: 6 in Time: 1 Hr.

2 C. uncooked elbow macaroni
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
2 Tbsp. butter or margarine
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
2 C. milk
1/2 C. chicken broth
2 C. shredded Cheddar cheese
1 C. soft bread crumbs

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 2-quart casserole dish with cooking spray.
-Cook and drain macaroni
-In a skillet, cook ground beef with 1/2 tsp. salt and the pepper over medium-high heat for 5-7 minutes until thoroughly cooked.
-In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly, until bubbly. Stir in milk and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens slightly, about 5-6 minutes. Stir in broth and remaining salt. Remove from heat and stir in cheese. Fold in macaroni.
-Spoon about 1/3 of the macaroni mixture into the prepared casserole dish (approx. 1 1/3 C.); top with half of the beef (approx. 1 1/2 C.). Layer with another 1/3 of macaroni mixture, top with remaining beef, and finish with the last of macaroni. Top with bread crumbs.
-Bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes or until bread crumbs turn golden.

*My notes: I used 1% milk. I made my own chicken broth. I used whole grain pasta and the leanest ground beef I could find (95% lean). I also tried it with the cheese made from 2% milk, which worked beautifully. Then, I got a loaf of crusty hearth bread to go with another meal, so I made my own soft bread crumbs by putting two slices of that bread in our (new-yay!) blender.


This recipe was courtesy of my addiction to the Pillsbury recipe books.