Veggie Lasagna Rolls

Lasagna Rolls

They are as easy as 1, 2, 3... At least I thought so. Pretty simple and easy to make. These are so good... I forgot to get a picture of them when they were fully baked. They went fast!

Ingredients:

1 box Lasagna noodles*

2 zucchini, sliced thin

6 roma tomato's, sliced thin

1 small ricotta cheese container

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

2 Tbsp pesto

2 cups mozzarella cheese

1 jar alfredo sauce

1 jar spaghetti sauce

2 eggs

4 Tbsp italian seasoning, plus some to taste

Directions:

Boil water and cook Lasagna noodles until Al Dente, rinse with cold water and set aside. While noodles are cooking.... In a medium bowl combine the ricotta cheese, egg, pesto, parmesan cheese, and 1/2 of the Italian seasoning... stir until combined. Set aside. Cut/slice the zucchini and place in a bowl. I used my kitchen-aid slicing attachment to slice my zucchini. Next, slice the Roma tomato's, thinly. A mandolin slicer would work well to slice thin, I just didn't have one. 

Prepare 13X9 baking pan by pouring about 1/3 of the spaghetti sauce in the bottom of the pan. Set aside.

Preheat oven 375F.

Once the noodles are cooked, cooled and drained, and all ingredients are sliced and/or mixed... it's time for assembly. Take a tablespoon and spread a spoonful of the ricotta mixture on the lasagna noodle. Then layer zucchini on top of the ricotta mixture and finally add the thinly sliced roma tomato's. Roll from one end over the other until makes a sort of "ball"(using word loosely, see pic above).  Repeat until pan is full.

Once pan is full pour remaining spaghetti sauce over the lasagna rolls, and then pour the alfredo sauce over the spaghetti sauce. Top with Mozzarella cheese. Cover with Foil.

Can be frozen and baked later or baked right away.

Bake 375F for 30 minutes, then remove foil and bake an additional 20 min. 

* Can be Gluten-Free if you use Gluten-Free lasagna noodles.

Serve with salad, and garlic bread. 

Garlic Bread...

Take sliced bread and 2 sticks of melted butter. mix in to the butter about 3 tbsp italian seasoning and 2 Tbsp garlic powder. Spread butter mixture over bread with a pastry brush and bake or broil. Bake for 7 min until brown, or broil until slightly brown on top. 

Baked Macaroni Casserole with Smoked Turkey Sausage

Tonights dinner was inspired by a dear friend's macaroni casserole. I was going to make it the way she does, but I had to use of some of the stuff in my refrigerator since we are leaving for vacation in a couple of days. So I wanted to use what I had on hand.

I used similar measurements except doubled them since I have 5 people to feed. And they love mac and cheese things. This smells heavenly, and alas, I have yet to try it. It is sitting on my stove, waiting for my dear husband to come home so we can dig in to dinner. I know I'm such a good wife I'm waiting for him. I cooked it in my pampered chef 13X9 stoneware dish. So it will stay warm for 30 minutes. He should be home shortly.

This dish has my kids swarming in the kitchen. Their cheese and noodle detectors must have gone off and are now impatiently waiting for their cheesy noodle dinner.

Ingredients:
Preheat oven 350F

4 cups dried pasta (macaroni, medium shells, penne)
1 pkg smoked sausage (I used turkey)
2 cups shredded cheese
4 cups milk (I used prepared non fat dry milk)
1 can cream of mushroom soup with roasted garlic
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 vidalia onion
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together, dump in a greased (non-stick cooking spray) 13X9 baking dish, Place in 350F oven bake for 40 minutes.

*Optional - place extra cheese on top 5-10 min before finished baking.

Pesto Tilapia with a Pesto Alfredo Orzo

Tonight was the ending of a very busy day. I am surprised that my brain and my head hasn't exploded... I am trying to find a car we can afford after my vehicle accident. So, I also started my last term towards my associates degree, with three classes. On top of that I had a job interview today, first one in two years. It felt really good. Then we had spanish club and liberty bowl club for the boys after school, then pack meeting for cub scouts. And my husband is working late tonight. So dinner, is not the typical dinner, but still some of it is mostly scratch. The fish was delicious, the orzo was very creamy and flavorful.

I am really loving pesto. I guess its some sort of pesto faze but it is so tasty. And I'm loving all of the delicious things that go with it.

Ingredients for Pesto Tilapia
7 tilapia filets
1 1/2 cup italian seasoned breadcrumbs
4 Tbsp olive oil and 4 Tbsp margarine or butter
1/2 tsp of pesto per tilapia filets
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
* do not dry the tilapia filets. Mix salt and pepper in the italian seasoned breadcrumbs, then dredge the tilapia filets in the italian breadcrumbs, (their natural moisture will help the breadcrumbs stick). Then heat the oil and butter/margarine in a saucepan til bubbly. Then add the filets to the bubbly oil mixture and don't move until they are browning on the edges, then flip the fish and continue to cook one or two minutes longer. (the filets cook fast). I placed them on a foil lined jelly roll pan (cookie sheet) and then spread the pesto on to the fish and place in an oven at 325F for about 5 minutes to make sure the fish is nice and flaky.

Ingredients for the Pesto Alfredo Orzo
1 lb orzo
1 bottle garlic parmesan Alfredo (ragu)
1 Tbsp pesto (a little goes a long way)

Directions:
Cook the orzo according to package directions or until your taste. Then drain off the water. Add the pesto and Alfreo sauce to the same pan, stir. Then add the orzo and stir to incorporate. and serve warm.

Delicious and flavorful!

I loved it, One of my son's had two pieces of fish, my husband had 3 pieces. I'd say the fish was a HIT! and then the Orzo is delicious and creamy! a win for a quick dinner :)

Just what I needed to end the day!

Fetteccini with carbonara and peas

I wanted to make a quick and easy dinner. I also needed to have all the ingredients, isn't that always the way, wanting to make something yummy, but limited on ingredients. I don't have chicken tenders or chicken breasts. The kids wanted bacon wrapped teriyaki chicken skewers. That sounded so yummy, but since i'm out of the chicken, i couldn't make it. So I found this recipe and it was so yummy! I found this in my Better Homes and Garden's Cookbook. I know I use it a lot, but it has some GREAT recipes.

Ingredients:

12 slices of bacon cut into 1-inch pieces
12 oz dried fettuccini or linguine or pasta of choice I kept thinking bow tie noodles would be fun.
2 beaten eggs
1 cup half-and-half, light cream, or milk
4 Tbsp margarine or butter
1 cup grated parmesan or Romano cheese
1 bag frozen peas
salt and pepper

Directions:
First put the pot of water to boil, for the pasta. Then start cooking the bacon and cook until crisp, drain on paper towels. Add the fettuccini to the boiling water  cook for 8-10 minutes or until desired tenderness. Remember to salt your water after you add the fettuccini to add flavor to the pasta. This is the only time you can flavor your pasta. You can test the water to see if it's salty enough. If it's not salty enough add more salt, if too salty, add a extra water. While the pasta cooks, start the sauce.

For the sauce in a medium sauce pan combine egg, milk, and margarine. cook and stir over medium heat till egg mixture just coats a metal spoon (about 6 minutes). Immediately add the bacon and peas, cook a little longer to cook the peas.

When sauce is finished, the pasta should be finished and drained.  Immediately pour sauce over fettuccini, toss gently to coat.

Add Parmesan cheese and parsley; toss gently to mix. Season with pepper. Serve immediately.

Sprinkle with fresh parsley. Enjoy!

Broccoli Cheeseburger Mac

Tonight, my kids asked if they could have cheeseburger mac. I tried to think of some way to sneak in veggies into dinner that were not corn. Since that was the side dish they requested. I had some broccoli that I needed to use up from Bountiful Baskets. I had some bulk breakfast sausage and half an onion that I thought would be good and add flavor to the mac instead of just plain hamburger meat.

This was a delicious dinner, that had all the basic food groups in one dish. So yummy! I'm heading back for bowl number 2... Mind you, I didn't have lunch... So I'm a little hungry. This makes enough for company if your kids have friends over for dinner, and it's also good if you want leftovers for your spouses lunch the next day. This would be good re-heated and the next day. :)

Ingredients:

2 boxes Mac N Cheese

1 stick of butter

1/2 cup milk

4 oz velvetta cheese, cubed

3-4 cups fresh or one frozen bag of broccoli

1/2 onion

1 lb bulk sausage or ground beef

Directions:

Boil water in a large pot on the stove. As the water is boiling, dice the onion and cut up the broccoli... in a medium skillet add the bulk sausage and onions and cook until meat is browned and the onions are slightly transparent. Then set aside. In the water pot once it's boiling add the noodles from the mac n cheese box, holding out the powdered cheese to add later. Cook the pasta, about 2 minutes after you add the pasta, add the fresh or frozen broccoli to the same pot. Once the pasta is al dente or til desired tenderness drain the broccoli and pasta together. Then add the milk, velvetta cheese, powdered cheese, and all other ingredients including the sausage onion mixture and pasta broccoli. Stir until all incorporated and the velvetta is melted. Then serve.

This is SO DELICIOUS full of yummy vitamins from the broccoli and onions. Great flavor! no added salt, or pepper needed. Except to cook the noodles which adds flavor to the pasta.

* Make sure you salt the noodles when cooking them.

Creamy Pesto Shrimp and Spinach Whole Wheat Pasta

Tonight was Shrimp Pasta on the menu. I had some frozen shrimp to use. I wanted to use the shrimp and then looked up a few recipes online to see how other people would make shrimp pasta. I saw a lot of Alfredo and Linguini and a few pesto, even some with tomato stuff. So I had a lot of options to choose from if I was going to copy a recipe already online. However, I saw a recipe for creamy pesto, and I had a "lightbulb" moment. Don't you just love those... :) I sure do. So I read how they made it and then I realized I was missing a few items to make this and I had to go to Walmart to get a few uniform shirts for my son. So I picked up half and half and some parmesan cheese. That's all I needed for a delicious meal.

Long story short. I made up my own recipe. I have to say this is by far my favorite shrimp pasta I've made. What do you think?

Ingredients:

2-3 cups half and half

1 cup parmesan cheese

1/4 stick butter

4 Tbsp flour

1 Tbsp garlic, minced

3 cups fresh spinach

1/5 orange bell pepper, minced

2 fresh basil leaves

1/2 tsp garlic, minced

1 pkg Knoll pesto mix

60-70 medium shrimp (deveined, peeled, tails off, raw)

1-1lb package dried pasta of choice

Directions:

In a large pot bring water to boil, add salt and pasta, stirring, then cook til al dente. Drain leaving about1 cup of pasta water in the pot and place back on the burner. While pasta is cooking mix the following:

In a small sauce pan over medium heat add the butter and garlic. When the butter is completely melted and bubbly, add the flour (making a rue). Then gradually add in the half and half. stirring constantly. once thickened add the parmesan cheese and the pesto mix. Stir well. This should be fairly thick, if too thick, add more half and half or 2%milk to thin out a little. (don't thin too much). Once this is thickened and mixed together. Turn off heat.

Cut up the bell pepper, garlic and basil in a small chopper. Then add to the finished pasta along with the cut, fresh spinach. Then stir. Once evenly distributed add the shrimp. Cook until shrimp turns pink. Once the shrimp is pink, add the creamy pesto sauce to the pasta/shrimp/spinach mixture. Stirring over medium heat until slightly thickened. Then turn off heat and let set for 5 min. The sauce with continue to thicken. Then serve.

Believe it or not, this meal only took me 30 minutes to prepare and make. This is so good and full of vitamins. You can substitute milk for the half and half. But the sauce was delicious. I got all of my kids to eat their whole plates, My oldest had two plates full. That's huge! I was full with one plate since it's such a filling dish. This will have enough for almost 7 people with a hearty appetite. I hope you really enjoy this dish, as much as we did :)

Once the pasta is finished and the sauce is finished.

Pasta Carbonara with peas

My favorite pasta sauce is carbonara... what's not to love, creamy white sauce with bacon (or bacon substitute) and cheesy goodness... I know dreaming of yummy sauciness right now! ah... ok little drooling over,... maybe. As I dream in cheesy, creamy bacon filled pasta sauce.... I decided to do a little semi-homemade from scratch dinner, quick and easy while still being full of yummy flavor. Such a simple easy recipe... it's fool proof... well practically. So, After a HUGE thanksgiving meal, I wanted something quick, easy and delicious. I wanted pasta...I checked the cupboard for what I had on hand... luckily for me... I almost always have on hand spaghetti sauce, pasta noodles, and some kind of additive to make it just a little more special... I looked through my stash of goodies... and found a hidden bottle of garlic parmesan cheese sauce... (white sauce to my kids). And then I had a genius moment.... I know rare for me... I haven't had carbonara sauce in a long time... I thought, it can't be that hard,... can it... especially since the pasta sauce is practically finished... I had cooked up bacon during lunch thinking it would be good for BLT's or added to a turkey sandwich (yes I'm still eating leftover turkey)... I bake my bacon in the oven for 400F for about 15-20 min, turning over about half way through. This keeps the shape of the bacon pretty well, and less splatter on me and my counters. It is a trick I learned on the FoodNetwork channel. So with the already cooked, drained bacon, a jar of pasta sauce... a pound of noodles and a can of sweet peas... Dinner was done :)

Ingredients

1 lb pasta of choice cooked al dente

1 jar of Ragu garlic parmesan cheese sauce

3/4 lb bacon - cooked, drained and chopped

1 bag of frozen sweet peas (thawed and drained) or 1 can sweet peas

In a small sauce pan, while the pasta is cooking in salted water, add the pasta sauce, bacon and peas. Simmer until the bacon becomes pliable again. (if your bacon was cooked to crunchy as my son calls it) The bacon will infuse the sauce with a bacon flavor... about 5-7 min... about that time the pasta should be done cooking. Once the pasta is drained, add the pasta sauce to the pasta and mix well, incorporating the bacon and peas throughout the pasta, then serve and sprinkle with fresh parmesan cheese or dig right in... That quick and easy. leftovers are good the next day too... I had them for lunch and even shared with a friend, who said it was amazing! :)

Verdict... Delicious... but don't just take my word for it... try it and share what you think... I'll be making this again... Gotta love bacon, cheesy sauce and mmmm pasta... drooling again... not good.... I think I have a problem... Too yummy!*** sorry no pictures, this was eaten and made too fast for pictures. :)

Lasagna!

LASAGNA

I decided that since my husband and I are going out tonight that I couldn't really make my homemade pizza. We have to get ready for our primary program that's on sunday. This afternoon right before my date I will be practicing with my kids at the church. So, I thought that I'd make some lasagna for the kids to scarf while, Bill and I are out eating sushi. :) So, I took a look around to see what ingredients I had that would work in a lasagna. I was quite surprised at what I found. I made a 9X9 pan of lasagna, which is perfect for my three boys to eat.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb ground sausage

1 lb ground beef

1/2 a bell pepper (diced)

4 or 5 button mushrooms (diced)

1 can premade spaghetti sauce

3 tbsp dried minced onions (or 1/2 a diced fresh onion)

1 medium tomato (diced)

1 cup cheddar cheese

1/2 cup mozzerella cheese

4 tsp fresh parmesan cheese

7-9 lasagna noodles (broken in half)

4 tbsp and 2 tsp italian seasoning

12 oz cottage cheese

2 eggs

1/4 cup ricotta cheese

salt and pepper

Ok this might seem like a long list of items for lasagna. but it was what I had in the house, it was going to have to work.

Directions:

Brown the sausage and beef in a pan. Once almost all browned, add the minced onions, mushrooms, and bell pepper, cook until the minced onions are transparent and like fresh onions. Drain grease. Makes a lot of meat mixture, I stored part of it about 1/2 - 1 cup in a separate container for a different meal. Add the spaghetti sauce. simmer for 5 min. add the diced tomato, 4 tbsp italian seasoning. Mix and simmer on low heat. Meanwhile, cook the lasagna noodles in pot with salted water. Once those are al dente, take off heat and run under cold water keeping them in the same pan. After they have cooled, keep in pan. In a small bowl, add the cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, 2 tsp italian seasoning, eggs and a little mozzarella cheese. Mix until thoroughly blended.

Layering

place enough sauce mixture on the bottom of the 9x9 pan. Just enough to cover. then place lasagna noodles (which are broken in half length wise) covering the sauce. Then place another layer lightly of the meat sauce mixture. Next is 1/2 of the cottage cheese mixture. Sprinkle that with some cheddar cheese. Add another layer of lasagna noodles on top of that mixture. Then add the rest of the cottage cheese mixture on top of the new layer of lasagna noodles. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese and add the remainder of the spaghetti sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese.

Cover with foil. Bake in a preheated oven for 30-35 min, until cheese on top is melted and sauce is bubbly.

remove the foil, bake another 5 min. remove from oven and let set for 5-10 min.