I Eats My Spinach

Shane is a finicky salad eater. We both dislike iceberg lettuce, but he's not even a fan of some of the more substantial lettuces, like romaine, butter or leaf. However, he does like spinach salads, so....I buy big containers of baby spinach at Sam's Club. Then, sometimes I don't feel like eating spinach salads every night, and I need to use the spinach up before it goes bad, so we eat something like this...

RIGATONI FLORENTINE

Sounds kind of fancy, right? It's delicious, the kids liked it, and it had hidden (well, sort of) nutrients for the kids.

I found it here on Allrecipes.com by using their ingredient search. I love that I can put whatever ingredients I have on hand, or that I need to use, and recipes will come up every single time.

PASTA FLORENTINE (because I didn't use Rigatoni, I used bowtie...)

1 (16-oz.) package of pasta
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 pounds boneless chicken, cubed (I only used 1 pound, my kids don't really eat meat)
3 cloves garlic, chopped (I minced it)
1 pint heavy cream
26 ounces spaghetti sauce
10 ounces fresh spinach, washed and chopped (I didn't chop mine, I missed that step)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (I didn't use it, I was out, didn't want to go to the store...it worked ok without it, but I'll bet it's even better with it)

1. Bring water to boil and cook pasta to al dente, approximately 8-10 minutes.

2. In a large skilled, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken and saute until cooked through and no longer pink inside. Add garlic to skillet; saute until golden. Add cream and spaghetti sauce to skillet; cook over medium heat for 10-15 minutes or until sauce thickens.

3. Add cooked chicken and spinach and cook until spinach reduces. Then add pasta; toss with cheese and serve.

Birthday Dinners

Birthday dinners are a HUGE thing at our house.  The birthday person gets to plan the menu for their own, very special birthday dinner.  Whatever they want.  In a family of 6 this is a pretty big deal.  Especially when the mom loves to cook what she likes most of the time…

Savannah’s dinner was the most thought out, well planned meal from a six-year old EVER.  She analyzed her options, she thought long and hard, and came up with pretty much the perfect menu.  Each one of the 15 people who ate the dinner would agree, I’m sure.

Jalapeno poppers

Homemade rolls with homemade jam

Tomato/alfredo shrimp pasta bake

Green salad

10 layer rainbow layered jello

Grape soda (we also offered Strawberry)

Strawberry lemonade ice cream cake (just use Strawberry Lemonade mix)

Seriously, so fattening, so time-intensive to make, but oh, so delicious!  Thanks Nannah!

TOMATO/ALFREDO SHRIMP PASTA BAKE

• 16-18 oz. pasta (I use penne, radiatore, or farfalle), cooked as directed on packaging
• Large jar spaghetti sauce (it doesn't have to be fancy, I use Hunts, it's cheap and the spaghetti sauce isn't the star of this dish)
• Alfredo sauce (see recipe below, or you can use a large jar of store bought sauce
• 1 pound medium shrimp, cooked, deveined and tails removed, chopped into bits
• Mozzarella cheese - enough to cover a 9x13-in. casserole

Preheat oven to 350°.  Cook alfredo sauce, if you're making the homemade (and much, much tastier) sauce.  Once sauce is cooked, add the shrimp to it and stir in.  Line 9x13-in. baking pan with spaghetti sauce, just dump it in and spread it out. Add cooked pasta, then pour the alfredo sauce (w/ shrimp mixed in) over the pasta. Top with shredded mozzarella cheese.  Cover with foil and bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until it is bubbly.

Amazing Alfredo Sauce:

1 pint heavy cream

1/2 cup butter

2 tbsp. cream cheese

3/4 c. parmesan cheese

1 tbsp. garlic powder

In a saucepan, combine cream, butter and cream cheese.  Simmer until all is melted and mixed well.  Add parmesan cheese and garlic powder.  Stirring constantly, with a whisk, simmer for 15-20 minutes until thick.

Summertime Salad

I love me a good, complicated recipe every once in awhile, but for some reason come Summertime, I'm all about simplicity and lightness.  Hello, salads!  I love combining different ingredients to try new tastes together. Plus, most of our Summer recipes involve pasta, because I've got to provide for my kids energy and endurance somehow.

It seems that whenever I've failed to plan ahead, and dinnertime creeps up on me before I'm ready, and I'm smack dab in the middle of a huge project that I just can't step away from for more than ten minutes, and I've asked the kids what sounds good to them...inevitably they announce unanimously, "Pasta salad!"

Usually our fall back salad is this one, but I experimented a little this time and came up with this winner.  The kids loved it and I couldn't wait to have it for lunch the next day.  We ate it warm for dinner, but it was just as good cold for lunch.  See, versatile!

SUMMERTIME PASTA SALAD

16 oz. penne pasta

2 roma tomatoes, chopped

1 lb. small shrimp

1/2 green pepper, chopped

4 oz. mushrooms, sliced

2-3 oz. freshly grated parmesan cheese

Italian dressing

salt and pepper

- Cook pasta al dente

-While pasta is cooking, steam shrimp

-Chop veggies and place in bowl with parmesan cheese

-Add hot shrimp and rinsed pasta

-Season with salt, pepper, and Italian dressing to your taste. Serve warm, or cold, it's good either way.

Drive-Ins, Diners and Dives

I love food networks and cooking shows.  As inspiring as they are, I love most watching whip together food quickly, efficiently and plating it beautifully.  That doesn't happen at our house.  I may whip it together quickly, sometimes efficiently, but the plating is lost in the six of us wolfing it down without stopping to admire the beauty of the dish.  Hence the lack of pictures lately.  Sorry, we're hungry.

Last time Shane and I sat down to watch Triple D (yes, the title post, it's too long to type again) Guy Fieri watched a chef make Pastitsio.  Shane fell in love, but of course the restaurant didn't expose all of it's little secrets or the recipe in total, so we googled it...

This is the closest we could find, from Ina Garten...the restaurant we watched make it used only beef, no lamb.  If I make this I will be using only beef too.

Pastitsio

2009, Ina Garten, All Rights Reserved

Ingredients

For the Tomato Meat Sauce:

• 3 tablespoons good olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion (1 large)
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 pound lean ground lamb
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 large cloves)
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes in puree
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Bechamel:

• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan or Kasseri cheese
• 2 extra-large eggs, beaten
• 2/3 cup Greek-style yogurt, such as Fage Total
• 3/4 pound small shells

Directions

For the sauce, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large pot. Add the onion and saute for 5 minutes. Add the beef and lamb, and saute over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until it's no longer pink, crumbling it with the back of wooden spoon. Drain off any excess liquid, add the wine, and cook for 2 more minutes. Add the garlic, cinnamon, oregano, thyme, and cayenne, and continue cooking over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 40 to 45 minutes. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the bechamel, heat the milk and cream together in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until simmering. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Add the flour and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly for 2 minutes. Pour the warm milk and cream mixture into the butter and flour mixture, whisking constantly. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes, until smooth and thick. Add the nutmeg, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Stir in 3/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup of the tomato and meat sauce, and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Stir in the eggs and yogurt and set aside.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling water until al dente. Don't over-cook because the pasta will later be baked. Drain and set aside.

Add the pasta to the meat and tomato sauce, and pour the mixture into a baking dish. Spread the bechamel evenly to cover the pasta and sprinkle with the remaining 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Bake for 1 hour, until golden brown and bubbly. Set aside for 10 minutes and serve hot.

Warm and Home-y Comfort Food (for kids)

My kids love macaroni and cheese.  My 3-year old daughter has a special thing going on with mac 'n cheese.  She asks for it a lot.  Like every. single. day...  See when I was in school, the twins got to eat lunch twice a week at Grandma's house.  She, like most Grandma's, spoiled them.  Where I will only make one lunch, she made two different ones.  PB&J for Cael, and mac 'n cheese for Landry.  When I would drop them off Landry would greet Grandma by saying, "Iamhungry,Iwantmac'ncheese..."  They got spoiled.  Really spoiled.  They are now getting used to the fact that Mom doesn't cater to every whim like Grandma and they are settling for either PB&J or mac 'n cheese some days now.

So, when I was perusing recipes the other day, and found this one I decided to try it out.  You see, I am a macaroni and cheese lover too.  I just don't love the fake powdered cheese in unnatural colors like my kids do.  I love a great, baked, creamy mac 'n cheese with real cheese and maybe some additives, like bacon, or chicken.

If you've ever eaten at Z'Tejas, I love their mac 'n cheese.  This recipe is really close.

THE BEST MACARONI AND CHEESE

12 oz. medium cheddar, grated

4 oz. monterey jack, grated (I used only cheddar, with a little horseradish cheddar mixed in)

4 oz. Velveeta, cubed (if you don't like processed cheese use more cheddar, the processed cheese just makes it more smooth)

4 oz. cream cheese

1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk

2 tbsp. Dijon mustard (I used Grey Poupon)

1/2 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled

salt and pepper

16 oz. elbow macaroni, cooked and drained

1/2 cup bread crumbs, plain and dry

2 oz. Parmesan cheese, grated

Heat oven to 350°.  Put cheeses (except Parmesan) in top of double boiler (if you don't have one, set a heat proof bowl over a saucepan with about 1 inch of water in it) and melt over simmering water, stirring frequently.  Gradually add milk, whisking until completely smooth.  Whisk in mustard, bacon, salt and pepper.

Pour the cheese mix into a large bowl, add the macaroni and toss to coat.  Then pour the coated mixture into a 9x13 inch baking dish. 

In a small bowl, combine the bread crumbs and the Parmesan cheese.  Sprinkle over the top.

Bake until crumbs are browned and the cheese is bubbling, 25-30 minutes.

Note: This recipe would be awesome with a couple of grilled chicken breasts cut up into it.  I'm adding the chicken on the side for our "non-meat eating children" but chicken would be a perfect addition to make this side a complete main dish.

Yes, it's kind of messy to make, it takes a lot of bowls and pans, and it's certainly not the healthiest dish we've posted here, but seriously, it's delicious, and it's a perfect dish for a really cold day (like today).

Turkey Day

I am not going to post about "the most amazing Thanksgiving dinner ideas ever". If you want those I'll refer you to either Karen or here. I'll admit I've never hosted an entire Thanksgiving dinner by myself. I can do rolls, salads, potatoes, yams, etc. but I've never cooked a turkey or made green bean casserole...whew, that's kind of a big weight off my shoulders.

I'm going to talk today about what we'll be facing a week from tomorrow...

No, not incredibly huge sales and crowds...(thankfully, I do the majority of my shopping on-line)

I'm talking about LEFTOVERS. *cue angelic singing*

We all know next week's menu skips Friday, Saturday and Sunday because those days are going to include eating what's left of Tom Turkey, right?

How about a recipe to help out?

Turkey Tetrazzini

2 tsp olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 carrot, diced

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

8 oz mushrooms, sliced as small as you need to to hide them from your kids...

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup flour

2 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

3 oz cream cheese

12 oz uncooked spaghetti, or other long, thin pasta

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

2 tbsp crushed saltine crackers

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat.

Add onion, carrot, pepper, salt and mushrooms. Saute until vegetables are tender. Add garlic and cook for another minute.

Add 1/4 cup chicken brother, cook for a minute.

Gradually add flour to pan. Cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

Add remaining broth, stirring constantly.

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.

Add 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese and cream cheese, stirring until cream cheese melts. Add the pasta and chicken and stir until mixed.

Transfer to a greased 9 x 13 baking pan.

Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the pasta.

Combine breadcrumbs and remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese and sprinkle over pasta.

Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until lightly brown.

Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Slow Cooker Mac & Cheese

I have a confession. I have never out grown my macaroni and cheese addiction from a child. I am not a fan of the blue box special, but I LOVE the homemade kind. This recipe combines homemade flavor and a crockpot. What more could I ask for? I made a few changes from the original recipe to suite my taste more.. I think that it is scrumptious. Sorry, no picture.

Slow Cooker Mac & Cheese
adapted from a Paula Deen recipe

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni (an 8-ounce box isn't quite 2 cups. I also think the "Ronzoni Smart Taste" pasta work the best. It takes longer to cook so it seems to hold up better.)
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, cut into pieces
2 1/2 cups (about 10 ounces) grated sharp Cheddar cheese
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup sour cream
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed Cheddar cheese soup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions
Boil the macaroni in a 2 quart saucepan in plenty of water until barely tender (al dente), about 7 minutes. Drain. In a medium saucepan, mix butter and cheese. Stir until the cheese melts. In a slow cooker, combine cheese/butter mixture and add the eggs, sour cream, soup, salt, milk, mustard and pepper and stir well. Then add drained macaroni and stir again. Set the slow cooker on low setting and cook for 3 hours, stirring about every 45 minutes. I like to serve it with parmesan cheese and more pepper sprinkled on top.

Lasagne with "homemade" noodles

As very few of you know I have major heart burn problems. When I get stressed for a couple of weeks my presciption miracle pills ($2 each!) don't even seem to have much of an effect. Well, when it seems to finally calm down I do what I probably am not supposed to do. Eat what I have been craving for weeks! Yesterday, it was lasagne. With sausage. And lots of cheese.

When I went to pull out the cheese out of the fridge in my drawer, something caught my eye... leftover egg roll wrappers. My wheels started turning. They're just raw noodles right?

Well, it tasted like homemade noodles! It was a great change. I was however dissapointed when I was cleaning up and started looking at the recipes inside the package. I was not the first afterall. There were recipes for cannolli and lasagne! Who knew all these years? I just thought I would pass on the possibilities for everyone on the versatility of egg roll wrappers.

For more ideas you can go to the VitaSoy website.

Sorry that my first post for ya'll is not an original idea all of my own...

For my fast and easy breadsticks I just opened a can of cheap biscuits, rolled them in butter and sprinkled with lots of garlic powder and parmesan cheese. I then dumped the leftover butter into a skillet with some italian dressing for the veggies.

Give it a try next time!

Past Post Reviews, Pantry Plans, New Fridge and Manicotti

I've been MIA lately, I know. I was reviewing some past posts this morning and realized I needed to follow up on a couple of them.

I made the Sweet Potato Enchiladas on Monday and they were great!  Everyone liked them and everyone but the 3-year old had seconds! 

I didn't fry the tortillas, I didn't feel the need to up the calories/fat or the effort.  I just warmed the tortillas before filling them and it worked great!  Though I'm not a fan of chili powder or cumin, I used it and it fits the recipe so well.  It was a perfect blend of sweet and spicy!

For April Fools Day I tried the chocolate dipped ice cubes and failed, miserably. I'll be the first to admit I am NOT an expert on chocolate, dipping or ice...seriously! After getting completely irritated with the process I filled ice cube trays with chocolate and made Tabasco chocolates instead. Shane's co-workers will testify that they were a great prank, definitely hot! If anyone is interested I still have a dozen in my freezer...we're not eating them!

The new pantry is coming along, slowly but surely.  I picked out my door so that's progress, right?  It's going to be nice and big, or at least much, much bigger than anything I've ever had.   Oh, and it'll have a window and a light...yeah, I'm that cool!

I got a new fridge last week.  My old fridge was doing just great and then it wasn't.  Overnight I lost a gallon of ice cream and my confidence in technology.  I vacuumed it out, Shane played around with it, we ordered the faulty part, decided to sell it, bought a new one...now the old one is working like a dream and so is the new one...sadly, I don't get to keep both.  I mean seriously, how cool would that be?

And now, for today's recipe.  I made this a couple of weeks ago and it was delicious!  My mom was here and everyone had seconds, even the 3-year old!  I've tried hard to integrate more meatless dishes into our menus and even my husband has no complaints.  With the manicotti and the Sweet Potato enchiladas you still get your fill without the meat.

SPINACH CHEESE MANICOTTI

1 (15 oz) container ricotta cheese

1 (10 oz) package frozen chopped spinach; thawed and squeezed dry

1/2 cup minced onion

1 egg

2 tsp. minced parsley

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese; divided

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese; divided

1 (26 oz) jar spaghetti sauce

1 1/2 cup water

1 (8 oz) package manicotti shells

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. In large bowl, combine ricotta, spinach, onion and egg.  Season with parsley, pepper and garlic powder.  Mix in 1 cup mozzarella and 1/4 cup Parmesan.  In a separate bowl, stir together spaghetti sauce and water.

3. Spread 1 cup sauce in bottom of 9x13 in. baking dish.  Stuff uncooked manicotti shells with ricotta mixture, and arrange in a single layer in the dish.  Cover with remaining sauce.  Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 45-55 minutes or until shells are soft. 

This recipe allows you to fill UNCOOKED manicotti, so you don't have to worry about splitting the pasta!

Here's a blurry picture of the end result, sorry!  They were so good and I was surprised at how well the pasta cooked, it was perfect!

Slow Cooker Saturday

So sorry for the lack of postings this week.  We've had company and I've been extra busy with a birthday.  Yay for kids and for Mother-in-laws that purchase the cake.  I'll be making his cake for the birthday party, but for the family dinner I was all for the store-bought ice cream cake....mmmmm.

For today's slow cooker recipes I'm heading to sparkpeople.com's recipe file.  SparkPeople is a great, free website that allows you to track your food intake, your exercise and fitness goals.  It's a great forum for weight loss and general health improvement.  They have a recipe file of user-submitted recipes.  I haven't made either of these recipes, but they look good, and I'm planning on making them this week.  I'll try to remember to post pictures when I've got them done!

Also, I've got company coming on Monday, and I've got to get a menu that's perfect....I don't want to disappoint.  I'll keep you updated on what I come up with.

SLOW-COOKER APPLESAUCE

4 cups apples, chopped

1/8 cup lemon juice

1 tbsp. cinnamon

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Chop apples into 1 inch pieces, removing the core.  Cut off peel and slice into small pieces.  Place apples in crockpot.  Add lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar.  Stir to coat apples.  Turn crockpot to low and cook overnight.  Can be cooked on high for 4 hours or overnight on low for at least 8 hours.

Makes about 8, 1/2 cup servings. 

**I think I will reduce the sugar a little, and I'm planning on using Fuji or Gala apples, my kids like unsweetened applesauce***

CHEESY CHICKEN SPAGHETTI

1 pack angel hair pasta

half of a large block of Velveeta cheese

1 can cream of chicken soup

2 cups of chicken broth

1 tsp garlic, minced

1 1/2 cups of cooked chopped chicken breasts

1 tbsp olive oil

Combine all ingredients in large crockpot and cook on high for about an hour.  Mixture will melt together and when liquid is almost gone it should be done.  Stir as needed.

**I think this looks good, it should be a thick pasta dish.**

Shells

I'm a pretty simplistic person. I like vanilla ice cream, neutral colors, and bare shelves. I also don't love extra complicated, super fancy-schmancy recipes. I like recipes that don't include odd, rare-used ingredients that I never keep in my pantry. I'll go out on a limb every once-in-awhile because I love a challenge, but I don't like to regularly venture into lands unknown. I'm going to work on this. The following recipe, however, does not fall into that category. It's a very simple recipe that I need to make more often. I love it, Shane loves it and I'm sure the kids would too, if I ever made it for them!

STUFFED SHELLS

16 large pasta shells
8-oz can tomato paste
16-oz can tomatoes, chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
1 stem fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 cup low-fat cottage cheese
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
2 tbsp parmesan cheese
1 egg
3 stems fresh parsley, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 375°. Cook pasta shells until al dente, about 10-12 minutes.

Add tomato sauce, chopped tomatoes, oregano, and 1 stem parsley to saucepan. Stir and bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer.

In a separate bowl, add cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, egg and 2 stems parsley. Mix well.

Stuff cooked shells with cheese mixture. Arrange stuffed shells in 8"x8" baking pan. Pour sauce over shells. Bake 20 minutes until heated through.

Side note: I will be working on getting more slow cooker recipes on this blog, and they will be included on the "slow cooker Saturday" postings... enjoy! :)

M = Mom

I miss my mom, a lot! So today's M post is my homage to my mom. She is wonderful, amazing and everything anyone could ask for in a mom, except for the 1000 mile distance... She was a home economics teacher, so everything I know about cooking was initiated by her. We didn't cook a lot at home (we were on a first name basis with the pizza guy, seriously!), but she taught me the basics and made me curious for more. She encouraged me in my curiosity and taught me that you can't often go wrong when you experiment. Today's recipe is another one of her simple, yet yummy, recipes. My kids can't get enough of this recipe, thanks mom! I love you!

Shrimp Pasta Salad

1 package garden rotini pasta
2 cans tiny shrimp
1/2 cup Miracle Whip
2 tablespoons Lawry's season salt
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1 green onion chopped
1 cucumber chopped

1. Boil pasta until al dente.

2. While pasta is cooking mix together all other ingredients.

3. Rinse pasta in cold water, until completely cooled, then drain completely.

4. Mix pasta into mixture and serve!

Thirty Minute Thursday

As grateful as I am for recipes that take less than 30 minutes to prepare, I've decided to dedicate Thursdays to recipes from my file that are quick, easy and yummy! I don't use recipes that often, or if I do use one I usually make lots of variations and then forget to write them down. Sometimes, like today's recipe, it's a food that my mom used to make and never used a recipe for, so I'm trying to make a recipe for something that we never measure...sorry!

Chicken Pasta Salad

1 (12 oz) package of pasta (I usually use garden rotini)
1 (12.5 oz) can of all-white chicken breast
1 (15 oz) cans of mandarin orange slices, drained (I use two cans, my kids love them)
3/4 c. miracle whip
2 tbsp. worchestershire sauce

1. Cook pasta as directed on packaging

2. While pasta is cooking, combine chicken, mandarin orange slices, miracle whip and worchestershire sauce in a large bowl

3. When pasta is done, rinse with cool water and drain; add to chicken mixture and serve.

This is a great recipe for the summer months when a light, refreshing meal is what you want. Kids love it for the chicken and the oranges. If you reserve a little of the mandarin orange juice and mix it in with the sauce it makes it even better!

Italian dinner

We had a couple of people over for dinner last night and I decided on an italian theme. I love homeade lasagna but it's a little time consuming and tedious to make with kids running around. I also haven't found a great recipe that sets well and doesn't run all over the plate when served...until now! I finally worked out a recipe that was near perfect (in a humbling way!) Yeah! Supplementing the lasagna was a green salad with tomatoes, green onions and avocados, and breadsticks. I used refrigerator rolls for the breadsticks as a short cut. Dessert was an italian cheesecake topped with peaches, chocolate and/or caramel, mmmm!

LASAGNA

12 no-cook lasagna noodles
15 oz. ricotta cheese
2 c. + 1 c. mozzarella cheese
1/4 c. parmesan cheese
2 eggs - beaten

1 lb. lean ground beef
2 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 1/2 tsp. italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. white sugar
salt and pepper to taste
1 bottle pasta sauce (I used ragu traditional); separate 1 c. of pasta sauce

1. preheat oven to 350°

2. make filling - combine in bowl; ricotta, 2 c. mozzarella, and parmesan cheese and eggs

3. make sauce - brown beef, drain grease, combine with oregano, italian seasoning, garlic powder, sugar, salt and pepper and pasta sauce (excluding separated 1 c.)

4. in a 9x13 pan pour 1/2 c. reserved pasta sauce and spread evenly over bottom of pan. alternate layers of noodles, sauce and filling, ending with noodles. use remaining 1/2 c. of pasta sauce to cover the no-cook noodles or they will be crunchy. Cover in remaining shredded mozzarella and cover. Bake for 40 minutes covered, then uncovered for 10 more minutes. Let sit for 15 minutes covered before serving.

BREADSTICKS

2 cans refrigerator rolls
melted butter
garlic salt
italian seasoning

1. preheat oven to 350°

2. take each roll and roll briskly between hands to make a long worm. lay on greased cookie sheet and sprinkle with garlic salt.

3. bake for 10 minutes or until tops of rolls are lightly tan

4. remove from oven, place in bowl, drizzle with melted butter and sprinkle with italian seasoning

ITALIAN CHEESECAKE

2 containers (15 oz. each) ricotta cheese
1 c. granulated sugar
3 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp. salt
2 egg whites
1 large egg

for the crust
1 c. graham cracker crumbs
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. melted butter

1. preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 9-inch springform pan with vegetable cooking spray. Set aside.

2. Prepare the crust; in a bowl, combine crumbs, cinnamon, sugar and melted butter; mix well.

3. Press crumb mixture into bottom of prepared springform pan. Bake for 8 minutes, place on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes.

4. To prepare filling, in a large bowl, using an electric mixer set on low speed, beat ricotta cheese, sugar, lemon juice, flour, salt, egg whites, and egg until smooth. Pour filling into prepared crust.

5. Bake until just set, about 50 minutes. Turn off oven and let stand in oven for 30 additional minutes. Refrigerate cheesecake, uncovered, for at least 3 hours. Garnish with fresh cut fruit, also good drizzled with chocolate or caramel.