Skillet Meaty Lasagna

I watched Chris Kimball make this on the Today Show last week. I had been trying to decide what to make for dinner that night and decided to try it. It was great!! My family loved it!! It was simple and easy clean up. I thought I had more lasagna noodles than I had, so I had to add some penne to it with the broken up lasagna noodles.

Skillet Meaty Lasagna

Ingredients:

• 3 (14.5-ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 medium onion, minced
• salt
• 3 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 1 Tablespoon)
• 1/8 t red pepper flakes
• 1 pound meatloaf mix (I just used ground beef)
• 10 curly-edged lasagna noodles (about 8 1/2 ounces), broken into 2-inch lengths
• 2 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded (1/2 cup)
• 1/2 ounce Parmesan cheese, grated (1/4 cup)
• ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup ricotta cheese
• 3 T chopped fresh basil leaves

Directions:

1. Pulse the tomatoes with their juice in a food processor until coarsely groun and no large pieces reamin, about 12 pulses.
2. Heat teh oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and 1/2 t salt and cook, stirring often, until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the ground meat and cook, breaking apart the meat, until lightly browned and no longer pink, 3 to 5 minutes.
3. Scatter the pasta over the meat, then pour the processed tomatoes over the pasta. Cover , increase the heat to medium-high, and cook, stirring often and adjusting the heat to maintain a vigorous simmer, until the pasta is tender, about 20 minutes.
4. Off teh heat, stir in half of the mozzerella and half of the Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Dot heaping tablespoons of the ricotta over the noodles, then sprinkle with the remaining mozzerella and Parmesan. Cover and let stand off the heat until the cheese melts, 2 to 4 minutes. Sprinkle with the basil and serve.

Tips:

Do not substitute no-boil lasagna noodles for the traditional, curly-edged lasagna noodles here. Meatloaf mix is a combination of ground beef, pork and veal.

White Chocolate Popcorn

Have you tried this before? A sister-in-law introduced this to us about a year ago. It is now my kids favorite popcorn. SO Yummy!! I usually like to stir in some M&Ms with it too.

This past week my kids planned a family party to watch the BYU/SDSU basketball game. They decorated with blue and white, made their Jimmer poster and asked if we could make their favorite popcorn and make it blue. While I was stirring in the food coloring, it made the chocolate set-up a little fast, so...it's not the prettiest popcorn, but it was very tasty!! The blue is a little on the light side too...oh well...the kids loved it.

The bowl of popcorn is sitting on an article about BYU in the Wall Street Journal.

White Chocolate Popcorn

Ingredients:

• 1-2 bags microwave popcorn (depending on how covered you like it)
• 1 bag white chocolate chips
• 1 bag M&Ms (optional)

Directions: Pop your corn. Put popcorn in a large bowl(pick out kernels). Melt chocolate chips in a microwavable bowl. Microwave on high for one minute. Continue to microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval, until melted and smooth. Pour over popcorn and stir.

Lime Chicken Tacos

My neighbor gave me this recipe and my family LOVED it!! In fact I made this chicken twice the first week I had the recipe, because my 10 year old was BEGGING for it. The picture I took of the tacos was really bad, so I'm just posting a picture of the chicken.

Chicken Lime Tacos

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breast - cubed
• 1/8 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/2 lime, juiced
• 1 t. white sugar
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/4 t. pepper
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 t. dried oregano

Directions: Saute chicken in medium sauce pan over medium high heat until no longer pink(I poached mine and then shredded it). Add vinegar, lime juice, sugar, salt, pepper, green onion, garlic, and oregano. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Place in tortillas, top with lettuce, tomato, cheese, and salsa. I like to squeeze a little more lime juice into my taco.

Pizza Rolls

Another recipe to use up some leftover bread dough. My sister told me about these. She said that she had a friend that would use Rhodes rolls, make pizza rolls, freeze them and then she would have a quick and easy snack for later. I thought that sounded like a great idea! I got these made and was going to freeze them, but didn't have anything else planned for dinner...so we ate them for dinner instead. They were a huge hit. I served them with some homemade marinara. MMM!!

Pizza Rolls

Ingredients:

• leftover bread dough
• string cheese
• pepperoni (optional)
• dipping sauce

Directions: Preheat oven to 350. Wrap a piece of bread dough around a piece of string cheese(cut into half or thirds) and pepperoni. Pinch closed. Place on greased baking sheet. I brushed mine with an egg wash(egg white + 1 teaspoon water) and then sprinkled with garlic sauce. Bake at 350 until lightly brown. Eat, or cool then freeze.

Snakmaster Apple Pie Turnover

I LOVE my Snakmaster. It was my Grandma's. I always loved it and when she passed away I got it. I use it a lot to make hot sandwiches. My kids really like pizza sandwiches from the Snakmaster. The other day...when I was canning apple pie filling I made my kids a quick, yummy treat!! They LOVED it and so did I! If you don't have a Snakmaster I would definitely recommend getting one.

Snakmaster Apple Pie Turnover

Ingredients:

• 2 slices bread (I used whole wheat)
• apple pie filling
• powdered sugar
• milk

Directions: Using a rolling pin(or your hands) flatten you bread. Butter one side of each piece of bread. Place butter side down in the snakmaster. Place a spoonful of apple pie filling in each side of the bread(each triangle section). Top with the other piece of bread, butter side up. Mix some powdered sugar with a little milk to make a glaze. When the 'turnover' is finished cooking place on a plate and drizzle with the powdered sugar glaze.

Does any of this make sense? I hope so:)

Monkey Muffins - with apple pie filling

This WONDERFUL recipe comes from The Pioneer Woman. These are SO yummy!! I used the white bread recipe that I posted last. The last time I made these I added some apple pie filling in with the balls of dough before I let them rise. I was canning apple pie filling and applesauce a couple of weeks ago and decided to try some of the apple pie filling in these and it was so good!! I got the apple pie filling recipe here. Yum!! If you like apple pie filling...try this!!

Monkey Muffins

From The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:
Leftover Bread Dough (or Refrigerated Biscuit Dough, Cut Into Thirds)

• Butter
• Sugar
• Ground Cinnamon
• Sweetened, Condensed Milk

Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Add 1/2 teaspoon butter to muffin tins. Sprinkle in sugar and cinnamon.
Roll dough into walnut sized balls (or cut refrigerated biscuit dough into thirds). Place three into each muffin tin.
Top with 1/2 teaspoon butter. Sprinkle on more sugar and cinnamon. Allow dough to rise, if applicable, or just go ahead and bake for 15 minutes, or until golden and bubbly. Remove from oven and immediately drizzle plenty of sweetened condensed milk over the top of each one. Be generous! Allow rolls to sit for a little while to absorb the sweet, sticky milk.

If you want to add the apple pie filling, chop the pie filling and add in with the rolls of dough. Repeat the other steps as described above.

The pictures above are not made in muffin tins, but little ceramic Christmas ornament dishes that I bought from Micheal's last Christmas season. I thought I had taken pictures the the 'muffins' I had made, but...guess not.

White Bread

This white bread recipe is from one of my wonderful MILs (Ava). This makes super light and super yummy bread!! I almost forgot to take a picture again last time I made bread. This loaf is actually one that had been in the freezer. I should have gotten a picture of a fresh loaf, it probably would have been prettier:)

White Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 2 T. salt
• 6 cups hot water
• 1 cup oil
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 3 eggs
• 3 1/2 T. yeast + 1t. sugar (dissolved in 1/2 c. warm water)
• 20 or more cups flour

Directions: Dissolve sugar and salt in hot water. Add oil and evaporated milk to cool. Add yeast(sugar added to dry yeast helps it work). Add eggs. Add about 10 cups of flour, mix well and let rest ~10 minutes. Add flour until the right consistency, a soft dough...not too sticky. Knead very well or mix in bread mixer for several minutes. Let rise in large bowl until about double(only once). Put in pans or make rolls or cinnamon rolls. Raise until double. Bake at 350 until golden brown. Butter tops of bread or rolls. Frost cinnamon rolls. When I make this bread, it makes 7 loaves.