Simply Lasagna

I made my tried and true Lasagna the other night.  It is my favorite recipe for lasagna because you do NOT have to precook the noodles.  This way you can throw it together really fast and enjoy the goodness quicker.  I have been trying to plan meals before I grocery shop for the week but that usually doesn't happen.  I plan as I walk through the store and something catches my eye.  I saw cottage cheese and thought - I should make lasagna.  That is what is traditionally in my recipe and will substitute the ricotta for if I don't have it on hand.  My kids are a little odd about the texture of cottage cheese and I try to be sensitive to that.  My oldest isn't a fan but my son ate 2 pieces and would have had a third if I would have allowed it.  He's my pasta boy!

 

Enjoy!

 

Simply Lasagna

1 lb ground beef

2 1/2 c mozzarella cheese

1 (15oz) container ricotta cheese

1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 c parsley

1 egg, beaten

1(24 oz) jar of spaghetti sauce

1 c water

12 lasagna noodles, UNCOOKED

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Brown meat in a large skillet.  Meanwhile, mix 1 1/4 c mozzarella, ricotta cheese, 1/4 c Parmesan, parsley and egg until well blended.  Set aside.  Drain meet and stir in spaghetti sauce.  Add 1 cup of water to empty sauce jar, cover with lid and shake well.  Add to meat mixture and stir well.  Spread 1 cup meat sauce onto bottom of 13x9 baking dish.  Top with 3 lasagna noodles, 1/3 of the cheese mixture and 1 cup of meat sauce.  Repeat twice.  Top with remaining meat sauce and remaining cheese.  Cover with greased foil.  Bake 45 minutes and remove foil.  Return to oven for additional 15 minutes.  Let stand 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

 

Mine is either super runny or stands up on the spatula.  You just never know.  If I let it stand (if they can wait that long) it usually the perfect serving piece.  Just all depends on my ovens mood!!

BLT Dip

This is a recipe I got in a cookbook from Pampered Chef.  It is one of my families favorites and it gets better if it sits in the fridge longer.  I have made it right before a party and served it and it wasn't as good as when I made it the night before and served it.  It needs at least 3 hours for the sugar to cure the bacon.  I used bacon bits in this batch and it turned out just fine.  You have to be careful you don't use too much bacon.  I love bacon but too much in a dip or soup gives it an overpowering hickory taste which I don't like.

BLT Dip

1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese, softened
1/2 c ranch salad dressing
1 med tomato, seeded and diced
6 bacon slices, crisply cooked and chopped
2 Tbl finely chopped onion
1 tsp sugar

Softened cream cheese.  Stir in dressing and mix well.  Add tomato, bacon, onion and sugar and mix well.  Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours.  Serve with crackers or bread.

Parmesan Fondue

I found this recipe years ago in a recipe magazine and I have made it several times.  I wanted to make something new for Trivia Night this past weekend at my children's school.  We always go all out on food for our 2 tables.  I love to make appetizers and this is so easy, gooey and yummy.  Everyone loves it!  I served it with a loaf of french bread I cubed and it was fabulous.  Perfect for a cold night with friends.

Parmesan Fondue
2 cups milk
2 pkgs (8oz) cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 loaf french bread, cubed

In a large saucepan, cook and stir the milk and cream cheese over low heat until cheese is melted.  Stir in Parmesan cheese and garlic salt.  Cook and stir until heated through.  Transfer to a mini slow cooker or fondue pot.  Keep warm and serve with bread cubes.

Green Bean Bundles

My neighbor brought these to either Bunco or a cookout one time and they were like candy.  Yes, I said CANDY.  A vegetable that tastes like candy does not happen very often.  I had to have the recipe for sure.  They are so easy to make and are partial healthy for you.  The brown sugar kind of drowns out the green beans but that is what makes it so wonderful :)  I used fresh green beans which I picked up at the store that look so pretty.  I snapped the ends off and blanched them first and they were so yummy.  I had never "blanched" anything before so I had to look up online what to do!  But it was super easy and didn't take that much extra time at all.

Hope you enjoy!

Green Bean Bundles

3 (14.5oz) cans green beans, drained
1 lb bacon, cut in half
1/2 c butter, melted
1 c brown sugar
1 tsp garlic salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease 9x13 baking dish.  Wrap 7 green beans with the 1/2 strip of bacon and place in pan.  Combine butter and brown sugar.  Pour over green bean bundles and sprinkle with garlic salt.  Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes.  Enjoy!

Scotcharoos

This treat has a very silly name but they are amazing!!  My sister-in-law shared her recipe with the entire Koch family and it is a staple at every family event.  My kids LOVE them and wish we would cut them a lot bigger.  Val has learned to hide them from the nieces are nephews because they tend to get into them early and stick their fingers into the chocolate topping quick.  These are a twist on a traditional rice krispie treat with peanut butter and chocolate rolled in.  I always seem to forget to about making them until she brings them to something.  I love rice krispies and they are even better with peanut butter and chocolate.

I need to get a photo of one cut and on my plate!

Scotcharoos
1 cup sugar
1 cup peanut butter
6 cups rice krispie cereal
1 cup light Karo syrup

Topping:
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 bag chocolate chips

Combine Karo syrup and sugar over medium heat until sugar dissolves and begins to boil.  Remove from heat.  Stir in peanut butter. Mix well. Add cereal.  Stir until well coated.  Press into a greased 13x9 baking pan.  Set aside.  Melt butterscotch and chocolate chips in microwave.  Mix well and spread over top of cereal mixture.  Cut into 2 inch bars when cooled.

Enjoy!

Buckeyes

These are one of my all time favorite treats.  I normally only make them at Christmas time.  They really are not that hard and I should try and make them more often but don't seem to be motivated to make them any other time because my family will inhale them if I turn around.

I got this recipe from my sister and she was thrilled when I made them this year for Christmas because she hadn't (or her daughter hadn't) made them.   The key to them is letting them harden as peanut butter balls in the fridge overnight then dip them in the chocolate.  I always make more chocolate than needed and end up having to throw it out.  Next year I am going to double my batch and see how that fares.  

Buckeyes
2 cups smooth peanut butter
2 sticks of margarine, melted
1 1/2 lb box of powdered sugar
1 pkg (12oz)chocolate chips
1/2 slab of paraffin

Mix together sugar, margarine and peanut butter. Form into 1 inch balls and place on foiled lined cookie sheets.  Chill until set.  Melt chocolate chips and paraffin in a saucepan stirring constantly.  Dip each peanut butter ball into chocolate mixture using a toothpick and return to foiled lined cookie sheets.  Leave top of ball uncovered to look like a buckeye. Chill until chocolate is set.  Store in an airtight container.

Baked Fajitas

I made these very quickly for dinner one night and they came out terrific.  My hubby and oldest inhaled them.  My younger two just ate the tortilla's with cheese for "cheese tacos".  I didn't have cumin but the flavor of these was great.  It feed the 3 of us fine and we had leftovers for lunch the next day.  I liked to make quick things during the week and am trying to get us to eat healthier and more veggies too.

Baked Fajitas
 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts - cut in strips
2 Tbl vegetable oil

2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 can rotel (diced tomatoes with green chilies)
1 medium onion, sliced
1 lrg bell pepper, seeded and sliced
12 tortillas

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place chicken in a greased 13x9 baking dish.  In a bowl, combine oil and spices.  Drizzle the spice mixture over the chicken and stir to coat.  Add tomatoes, peppers and onions to dish and stir to combine.  Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes or until chicken is cooked and veggies are tender.  Serve on tortillas with sour cream and shredded cheese.

Enjoy!

Cheeseburger Soup

I wanted to make something warm and quick for dinner last night.  I ran to the grocery store to grab a couple of ingredients on my lunch hour and ran home to start this soup.  It was super easy.  Brown the hamburger and throw all the ingredients in the crock pot and away you go.  But the grocery store didn't have the Philadelphia Cooking Creme the recipe called for.  I thought I had an onion but I didn't and my son would rather do anything than eat onions so I left it out.  It was good.  My hubby ate 3 bowls.  My kids not so much.  But we had some leftovers for them to survive on.  I will say that it wasn't my favorite.  I think it was the bacon that gave it the hickory taste.  I am not to big on that flavor.  Think it would have been better as a garnish on top of my soup.  Plus, I wasn't able to stir the soup after I had it on for 4 hours and my cheese burnt along the side.  But I will cube the Velveeta next time not throw the huge chunk in the crock pot and go next time.

Cheeseburger Soup
1 lb hamburger, browned and drained
1 pkg cooking creme (I substituted creme cheese)
1 small onion (which I left out)
6 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled (I used the bacon bits prepackaged)
1 (32oz) box of chicken stock
8oz of Velveeta (I will cube next time)
1 pkg of hash brown potatoes (southern style not shredded)

Mix all together in a crock pot and cook on high for 4 hour.  Stirring every little bit or the cheese may burn.

Enjoy!

Champagne Jello Shots

I decided total last minute to make Champagne Jello shots for New Year's Eve.  They looked fabulous on my tray and were very strong.  I also thought I would make some kid ones using Sparkling Cider but they never firmed up.  My son asked me to check on them all night and they just didn't ever have the right consistency.  Now I know not to try that again :)

Champagne Jello Shots
1 box unflavored gelatin
1 bottle champagne

Pour 2 cups of champagne into a saucepan.  Add all 4 packages of gelatin and let it sit for 2 minutes until dissolved.  Heat on low for 5 minutes stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and add the remaining champagne into pan.  Pour into 8x8 pan and place in fridge for a minimum of 3 hours.  Cut into squares and serve!

Cream Cheese & Sausage Crescents

I have been wanting to try these and they looked super easy.  They only have 3 ingredients and are bigger than I expected but tasted great.  I think I need to add some garlic to the mix and see if they add a little more flavor to the bites.  I baked them before hand and put them in a glass dish with lid and they stayed pretty warm.   That way they could be easily warmed up if needed.  They didn't last long enough to get cold :)

I had some filling left over and I going to make Stuff Mushrooms with them using this recipe.  So we get more appetizers again tonight :)  Which is my favorite thing to eat and make!!

Cream Cheese & Sausage Crescents
1 lb sausage, cooked and crumbled
1 (8oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
2 cans crescent rolls

Mix sausage and cheese together.  Separate rolls into triangles.  Cut each triangle in 1/2 lengthwise.  Scoop a heaping tablespoon onto each roll and roll up.  Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes on a cookie sheet.

White Cheese Dip

I wanted to make new recipes for New Year's Eve this year and found this one right away.  My friend pinned it as well and was thrilled when I told her I was making it.  It was very good but I wish I had not used the baking stone dish.  It didn't get a creamy as I would have liked it and was hard to eat.  I used the stone because I wanted it to stay hotter longer.  I think I will use a regular baking dish next time. 

White Cheese Dip
2 blocks cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 c mayo
1 (8oz) pkg shredded Parmesan cheese
1 (8oz) pkg shredded Monterrey jack cheese

Mix all together with fork.  Spoon into pie pan or baking dish.  Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes.  Serve with tortilla chips.