The BEST Lasagna EVER!!!!! Seriously!!!

I'm so excited that I get to cater my first wedding in November. The bride wants Italian food so of course, one of the dishes we decided on was lasagna. I was looking around for a special recipe but couldn't find one. I did however, come up with a few different ideas based off of what I found. I made this the other day and it was a hit to those I served. Don't get scared!!! It's easier then it reads. Happy lasagna layering!

Ingredients

1 lb ground meat

1/4 cup diced carrot

1/4 cup diced celery

1/2 of a large white onion diced

1 package of oven ready lasagna noodles

12 oz ricotta

8 oz package sliced mozzarella

1 cup parmesan cheese

1 jar spaghetti sauce ( I use Ragu mushroom flavor)

1/8 tsp cinnamon

4 tbs butter

4 tbs flour

2-21/2 cups milk

 

Put about two tablespoons of oil in a large skillet. Add onions, carrots and celery. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Cook until veggies are soft. Transfer to a large bowl. Add ground meat to skillet. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder and cinnamon. Cook until brown. Transfer to same glass bowl with veggies. To this bowl, add ricotta and sauce and mix.

 

 In a medium sauce pan, add butter and melt on medium heat. When butter is melted, add flour and stir to combine. Let this cook about two minutes so the flour taste cooks out. Slowly whisk in milk. While still whisking, bring mixture to a light boil for about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and add 1/2 cup of the parmesan cheese. Salt and pepper to taste.

 

Lightly cover the bottom of your baking dish with meat mixture. Put one layer of noodles down. Pour 1/3 of white sauce over noodles. Then layer 1/3 of the meat mixture and top with 3-4 slices of mozzarella. Continue layering ending with mozzarella. Sprinkle the rest of the parmesan cheese on top and cover with foil. Bake at 425 for 45-60 minutes or until noodles are fork tender. Remove foil and allow to cook for about 10 more minutes or until cheese is brown and bubbly.

 

Not So Ordinary Hot Dogs

There are not many people that I know of that do not have a package of hot dog franks in their refrigerator. Here are a couple of ways to jazz up a boring hot dog or use up left over hot dogs.

Day 1- Hot Dog Melts

Ingredients
Hot Dogs, slit lengthwise
Bacon slices (as many as the number of hot dogs you are using)
Hot Dog buns (as many as the number of hot dogs you are using)
Cheddar cheese slices
1/4 c. mayo
2 TBS sour cream
1 TBS Hot sauce
1 TBS Dijon mustard
1/2 Tbs Honey
Salt and Pepper

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. In a small bowl, combine mayo, sour cream, hot sauce, honey and mustard. Salt and pepper to taste. Cover and chill in refrigerator. Place a slice of cheese in each slit of the hot dog. Tear the slices to fit. Wrap each hot dog with a slice of bacon securing with toothpicks. Place on a line baking sheet and cook for about 10-12 minutes until bacon is crisp. Place the hot dog in a bun and smear with mayo sauce.


Day 2- Hot Dog Tenders

The pancake mix makes these "tenders" fluffy like a corn dog. If you don't have Parmesan cheese on hand, its ok. You can omit it and it will still taste good. Instead, add 1 tsp of salt instead of the 1/2 as stated below.  You can use this recipe to make easy chicken tenders or even sausage for breakfast.

Ingredients
2/3 pancake mix
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. paprika
1 egg beaten
3 Tbs butter or margerine - melted

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray. In a large Ziploc bag, place pancake mix, cheese, garlic, salt and paprika. Seal and mix well. Cut hot dogs in half length wise. Dip hot dog into egg and then into dry mix. Place hot dogs on baking sheet. Drizzle with melted butter. Bake 10- 12 minutes turning half way through. Since hot dogs are already cooked, you are only looking to bake until the crust is browned. If you are making chicken tenders, you will want to cook them for 14-16 minutes until the chicken is no longer pink in the middle.

Easy Olive Spread

I made this for a wedding shower. I made tea sandwiches out of it. You could do the same, use it as a dip with crackers or spread on a toasted baguette. It could even be good as a spread for a sub.

Ingredients
8 oz softened cream cheese
1/2 c. finely chopped olives
1/4 c. chopped walnuts or pecans
Olive juice

Mix all ingredients together. Add juice to help make a smooth consistency. It should be 1-2 Tbs.

Onion Dip

I made this dip for my best friend Sarah's wedding shower. It is really easy and very yummy!!!

Ingredients

2 large yellow onions

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayo

Directions

Cut the onions in half and then slice them into thin strips. Heat the butter and oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the onions, cayenne, salt, and pepper and saute for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 more minutes until the onions are browned and caramelized. Allow the onions to cool.

Meanwhile, mix cream cheese, mayo, and sour cream together with a mixer on low until smooth. Stir in onions and serve room temperature.

Crunchy Stuffed chicken w/ cauliflower mash

Ingredients
**3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 oz softened cream cheese
1/2 small onion diced
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 one small box of frozen spinach, thawed (cut the box in half with a sharp knife while frozen)
1 tsp  of each salt, pepper and garlic powder
1 c. crushed regular potato chips (you can use tortilla chips or whatever you have on hand)
1 bag frozen cauliflower- thawed
1/2 c. warm milk
Butter or margarine to taste

*** Usually chicken breasts come in a package of 3 or 4. For these recipes you will need either 3 large chicken breasts or 4 smaller ones.

Coat the bottom of  skillet with oil. Cook onions over medium heat for 3-4 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook 3-4 more minutes. Meanwhile, drain thawed spinach thoroughly and add to a small mixing bowl with cream cheese.  Add onions and mushrooms to cream cheese with salt, pepper and garlic. Mix well. You will be stuffing two of the chicken breasts and reserving the other two for round two recipe. Make an incision on one side of chicken starting about 1/2 inch in. Make a large pocket without going all the way through the chicken. Stop 1/2 inch before the end of the chicken. Repeat for second breast. Place an even amount of stuffing in each breast. Drizzle all four breasts with a small amount of oil and lightly season on both sides with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Take the two stuffed chickens and coat on both sides with potato chip crumbs. Place all 4 breasts in skillet on medium high cooking 5-7 minutes on each side.  Un-stuffed breasts will cook faster then stuffed. Cool un-stuffed and reserve for round two recipe.

Cauliflower Mash-
** This dish definitely has a different texture then regular mashed potatoes but you still get good flavor and less guilt!

Steam cauliflower in a medium saucepan with 1/4 cup water. Leave the lid on to steam over medium heat. When cauliflower is tender drain and return to saucepan. Heat up milk in a saucepan or microwave. Add a small amount of milk and begin to mash cauliflower like you would potatoes. Continue to add milk until mash is the consistency you like. Add butter, salt and pepper to taste

Round 2- Easy Chicken Potpie

Ingredients
Reserved chicken- diced
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can mixed vegetables
1 can diced potatoes
1 serving pancake mix- prepared as package instructions

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a small baking dish with non-stick spray. Mix all ingredients together in bowl minus the pancake mix. Prepare pancake mix and spoon over the top of the casserole. Bake for 30 minutes or until the top becomes golden brown.

Poor Man's French Onion Soup

The only thing you have to be careful with in this recipe is the amount of salt you use. The beef bouillon is already loaded with sodium. French onion soup is traditionally made with Gruyere cheese but most of us don't have this lying around so you can use Parmesan or Mozzarella. If you use Parmesan, go extremely light with it since it is already so salty.

Ingredients
2 beef bouillon cubes
1 small onion sliced into thin strips
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 Tbs. butter
1 Tbs. oil
Gruyere Cheese
Toasted french bread ( You can also use left over buns that have been toasted)

Heat butter and oil in a medium pan over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook until onions are starting to caramelize (turn brown). Remove from heat. Some an even amount of mixture into serving cups or bowls. In a medium saucepan, bring 5 cups of water to a boil. Add bouillon cubes and stir until the are dissolved. Pour broth into serving dishes. Do not add bread until right before serving. It will start to break down. Place toasted bread or bun on the top of the bowl and cover with cheese. Heat from the soup will help melt the cheese.

Date Night/Game Day

Every once in a while you have to step up your game and cook to impress for a date night at home. The go to standard is usually a steak of some kind. Everyone has there favorite way to prepare a steak so I won't even try and convert you to my way. I will, however give you a great easy side dish to go along with those steaks.

***** Cook an extra small steak or reserve part of a steak for the round two recipe.

Round 1- Steak and Not So Ordinary Baked Potatoes

*** Cook potatoes in oven at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. Poke potatoes with fork all over and wrap in foil. You can also cook potatoes in the microwave.

Creamed Corn Filling
1 can creamed corn
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 tsp dried parsley leaves

Heat ingredients in saucepan on medium heat until well blended.

Chili Filling
1 can chili (No Beans! It's date night!!!!)
4 oz cream cheese
1 tsp cumin

Heat ingredients in saucepan on medium heat until well blended.

Creamed Greens
1 can (14 oz) Already seasoned mixed greens
1/4 heavy cream

Drain greens and add to saucepan with cream. Heat on medium and cook until liquid is reduced by half. A little under 5 minutes.


Round 2- Game Day Steak Pizza
*** This is something that you can make any way you like. I use a piece of french bread. If you don't have it on hand, you can use hotdog buns, hamburger buns, or tortillas.

Ingredients
Reserved Steak- sliced as thin as possible
1 Tbs butter
1 Tbs oil
1 Small onion sliced into strips
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1 cup cheese- mozzarella works best but you could also use cheddar
Steak sauce or BBQ sauce

Heat butter and  oil in pan on medium heat. Add onions and cook for about 5 minutes. Lightly sprinkle with salt. Add mushrooms and cook for another five minutes. Remove from heat.

Spread bread with your favorite steak sauce or BBQ sauce. Layer with steak and onion mixture. Top with cheese. Bake on a non-stick baking sheet at 400 degrees for 10 minutes or until cheese is completely melted.