Gale's Lasagna Filling

Tonight I'm making a dish of lasagna. It's always a great way to get rid of your leftover cottage cheese, isn't it? Who cares if it's a week expired - it's getting cooked, right? ;o)

I'm using a modified version of a recipe that Gale, my friend from the office, used for a Ladies Luncheon a couple years ago. The recipe is basically the same as every other lasagna recipe, but for hers, the white filling at the top goes like this:

6 oz. cream cheese
1 c. sour cream
4 diced scallions

This is how I modified it:
8 oz. cream cheese (when it comes to cream cheese - the more the merrier, I say!)
1 c. cottage cheese (ran out of sour cream)
1 beaten egg (just cause that's how I always do it)
drained and squeezed chopped spinach (for added nutrition and to make it look "gourmet")

I used some leftover spaghetti sauce from last night. I made this wild recipe that calls for cinnamon and cocoa powder! There was only about a cup left though, so I added a 14.5 oz. can of Italian-style diced tomatoes and a small can of tomato sauce. It made the perfect amount. Now the lasagna is congealing on the stove until we're all ready to eat.

Chicken Recipe & Meatballs with Peas

Here are a couple recipes I just received from my old friend Erica. ("Old" as in, we've known each other since 6th grade - she's not that old!) - Dianna

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ERICA WROTE: Making me hungry just reading those recipes. So I thought I'd submit a couple of my families favorites. The first one really has no name- my grandma cooks her chicken like this, and I always find it foolproof to make- takes 20- 30 min. as long as you have chicken defrosted.

GRANDMA'S NAMELESS CHICKEN
Ingredients:
3-4 Chicken Breasts (Bone in or out - if in, cooking time takes little longer)
2 T. Olive oil
1 T. Butter
1 chicken bouillon cube
1-2 fresh tomatoes diced, or 1 can diced
2 T. garlic - less if you prefer
parsley
basil
pinch of rosemary
salt and pepper
3/4 c water
1/4 c water

* Heat butter and olive oil over med. heat until warm - add garlic. (make sure you use a skillet with a 2" rim)
* Rinse and dry chicken, add salt and pepper to taste (remember bouillon is salty), then add to olive-oil/butter - remember to keep the heat on low-med. You don't want to have it completely browned or it won't suck up the juices
* Add 3/4 c water and bouillon cube
* Add tomatoes, garlic, parsley, basil, and rosemary
* Let it simmer 15-20 min. turning chicken occasionally.
* When the water has been almost entirely sucked into chicken, add the last 1/4 c. and let simmer 5 more minutes. You now have gravy for whatever else you serve with it.

I serve this with just about everything. Buttered noodles, leftover spaghetti, rice, biscuits, salad, and another of my families favorites, green beans cooked on a skillet. (2 T butter, melted in skillet over med. heat, add green beans, stir
often until cooked - watch though, they go from cooked to burnt fast!)

And because I know you are such a huge fan of peas here is another family favorite, handed down from my great-grandmother:

MEATBALLS & PEAS
1 Pd. gd. beef
1 can/bottle (or if you prefer otherwise) of mushroom gravy
ketchup
mustard
seasoned salt
bread crumbs
olive oil
1 bag of frozen peas(or again-if preferred fresh)

* Heat olive oil in large skillet over low-med. heat
* Take 1 pd. of ground beef, and in a bowl, add (you ready for this?) a squirt of ketchup, a squirt of mustard, about 1 tsp of seasoned salt, about 5T. of mushroom gravy, and enough bread crumbs to make the meatballs hold together.
* Scoop up meat and make into about 1-2" meatballs.
* Put in skillet and cook them, turning with a spoon often - try not to let them fall apart.
* Add the bag of peas, and the remainder of the mushroom gravy and about 1/4 c water (little less if peas are frozen)
* Cover and simmer until peas are cooked.

You can serve with noodles, but I prefer just a slice of buttered bread to soak up all the leftover gravy! My family can't get enough of their meatballs and peas!!!!!

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Thanks for the recipes, Erica! They both sound wonderful! I'm always looking for ways to use my Rosemary. I guess I'm not sure which dishes it should go in. I'll let you know how they turn out. :o)

Cashew Chicken Salad

Just tried a new recipe this evening that I got from AllRecipes.com. We originally had Fried Rice on the menu, but it just didn't sound very tasty to me. (Maybe it was because I had pineapple beef leftovers for lunch.) So I went searching for something with chicken that could be baked because I was in no mood for slaving in front of a pan for an hour. Here's what I found and how I modified it.

Original Recipe | Modified Below

Combine these and pour into a large Ziploc freezer bag:
3 Tbsp. melted butter
1 beaten egg

Put the following into a food processor and chop until coarse. I'd suggest using the "pulse" function and not holding it down too long. Otherwise your mixture will get too fine.
(generous) 1/2 c. sweetened flaked coconut
(generous) 1/2 c. cashews
10 Ritz crackers (I used wheat ones and it was awesome)
Garlic salt & garlic pepper

Pour the chopped stuff into a large Ziploc freezer bag.

Dice 4 chicken breasts and place in the first bag with the butter and beaten egg. ZIP THE BAG!! (I did actually forget to check and see if it was totally zipped and ended up having to spray down my counter with bleach.) Squish chicken around until coated.

Pour the coated chicken into the second bag with the coconut/cashew mixture. ZIP UP! (I didn't forget to check that time.) Squish chicken around as you would with Shake n' Bake until all coated.

Line a cookie sheet with foil and coat with non-stick spray. Pour out the chicken and spread it evenly over the pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Serve over salad greens with a dressing of your choice.

We both really liked this. I wasn't sure if Heath would like it, thinking that he wouldn't enjoy the coconut. But as it turns out, he recommended that I add more coconut next time! This is definitely going into our stock of regular meals.

I pre-diced my chicken, so it wasn't a big deal to use it. Whenever we get raw (not frozen) chicken, I try to dice up some of it ahead of time and put one breast of diced chicken each in a snack size Ziploc bag. Saves time on days when I'm in a hurry - like today! You could just cut the breasts into strips if you were short on time too.

The Olive Branch

Something else I wanted to note about food today: We ate at the Olive Branch today with a bunch of Heath's family. It was excellent as usual. Linda thought she tasted chemicals on her sausage, but as it turned out, it was just the sausage. Eew.

At the Olive Branch, they have these gigantic cinnamon rolls with white frosting just dripping off of them. These things can literally fill six people. They're huge! They also have yummy raisins baked in and are especially tasty with a little butter spread on them while they're hot so it melts in. Mmmm...

I ordered the Sicilian skillet just like I have done the last several times we've met Heath's family there for breakfast. It's a skillet with chorizo, potatoes, onions, eggs, and a marinara sauce. When I ordered it for the first time, I thought it would be really strange to have marinara in my breakfast. But as it turns out, it's quite tasty.

I do need to order something else next time though. How do I get into these ruts of always ordering what's "safe"?

Tortilla Pizzas & How to Make Faux Sausage

Thanks for your comment, Tricia! Here's an idea for your dilemma of needing a quick dinner for teenagers.

Tortilla Pizzas
Take 6-8 flour tortillas and place them on the oven rack at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Pull them out and place on cookie sheets. Spray the outer edges with cooking spray to get that extra crispness you need when you pick up the pieces later.

Spread jarred spaghetti sauce on the tortillas.

Top with whatever you have around for toppings - minced mushrooms, diced green bell peppers, tomatoes, olives (not a personal fave, but my husband likes them), onions, etc. If you happen to have pepperoni around of have a moment to brown some ground beef*, all the better! (See below for a trick to making regular ground beef taste like sausage.)

Top generously with shredded mozzarella. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until the cheese is slightly browned and melty.

Cut into wedges as you would a pizza and serve. Deee-licious!

Now granted, if you have teenage boys, it may take 3 or 4 of these mini pizzas each to satisfy the hunger. But they're so easy to make they could probably do it themselves. Hey, they could make you dinner!

I've often used this recipe for a quick snack when we have friends over. We've always got tortillas and most of the time I can get away with just putting the sauce and cheese on it. Heath used to be an avid video game player along with several of his friends. It was great to put these little darlings out on the table for the guys to munch while they played.

Oh and don't forget the power of the Crock Pot! If you need dinner in a hurry, there's nothing like coming home and just having to dish it up!

* Making Ground Beef taste like sausage:
It's so easy, you've probably already thought of it! Just begin browning the meat. Add garlic salt, garlic pepper, and "Italian seasonings" (or oregano, basil, thyme, marjoram, rosemary, minced garlic, and crushed red pepper - if you don't have all these, just use the ones that you have - though oregano and basil are key). Brown until all the oil has been mopped up by the cooking meat and it's very dark. I made this once when my mom was in town and she looked at it saying, "I thought you didn't have any sausage!"

Welcome, welcome, welcome!

I just love blogging, so I've created this second journal section of our website entitled "Fooblog." That is, it's a "Food Blog" wherein I'll post interesting recipes I've come across (or made up) and tried. But sometimes, I may just tell you what we had for dinner.

I was inspired to do this by my mom's new website. (Friends and family, email us for the link!) She has some recipes listed on hers. I realized just how big a part of our lives food is. In fact, growing up, food was always a big deal. And with my mom and I, food is still a huge part of our lives. Just come over to one of our houses and see if you can't leave without having stuffed something in your mouth!

So here's where we share. Do with this what you wish...

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The first recipe I'll ever post...

We love bananas, but unfortunately bananas don't always last. So we throw them in the freezer so that one day, they may be served up as banana bread. I almost always make two loaves when I make this bread, for two reasons. One, it's always nice to spring a treat on someone. Two, it uses more of those annoying frozen bananas!

BANANA BREAD (double recipe)

1. Combine the following in a medium sized bowl:3 c. white flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon

2. Mix the following in a separate bowl or food processor:
2 eggs
1-1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce

3. Defrost 5-6 frozen bananas in the microwave. (45 seconds per banana used) They may come out slimy - that's all right! Add these to the bowl or food processor and mix until bananas have been beaten to a chunky pulp.

4. Pour in the flour mixture and mix some more until just combined.

5. Fun additions to put in now: quick oats; chocolate chips; nuts of any kind; Grape Nuts cereal; sunflower seeds

6. Spray two loaf pans with non-stick spray. (Or two 12-ct. muffin pans; or one muffin pan and one loaf pan; or one single loaf pan and one 8 ct. mini loaf pan, or... well, you get the idea.)

7. Pour half of the mixture in each pan. Be sure to sprinkle a few of whatever you added in step 5 on top of the loaf for decoration!

8. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes (depending on what pans you used - muffins and mini-loaves take about 25 minutes) or until a toothpick (if you're most people) or a straw of dried spaghetti (if you're me) comes out clean.

Allow to cool in pans for 10 minutes before removing. Then allow to cool completely before wrapping.

Now does that sound delicious or what?