Vegetarian Week (Spinach Lasagna

This was the first night of “vegetarian week.” I was trying to have only vegetarian meals for every meal . This was going to be a hard week for me to stomach I had thought, and for me anyways, I didn’t think it was that difficult. The only hard part was eating a lot of ice cream at the end of the night because I was hungry because of the lack of meat! Enjoy the two veggie meals.
Spinach Lasagna
This meal required a lot of work, but it was worth it. It is the first time that I have ever made any type of lasagna, so it was fun for me. The girls liked it for the most part, and best of all, the adults enjoyed it.
Grade: B
Ingredients
9 dried lasagna noodles
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbs margarine/butter
1 7-oz jar roasted red sweet peppers drained and chopped
1 10-oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
1 15 oz container ricotta cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
½ cup grated parmesan or romano cheese
2 beaten eggs
1 tsp dried basil
½ tsp dried oregano
1 30 ½ oz meatless spaghetti sauce
¼ cup grated parmesan or Romano cheese
1. Cook lasagna noodles for 10 to 12 minutes or till tender but still firm. Drain noodles; rinse with cold water. Drain well.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet cook onion, mushrooms, and garlic in hot margarine till tender but not brown; stir in sweet peppers. Set aside.
3. Pat spinach dry with paper towels. In a medium bowl stir together spinach, ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, the ½ cup parmesan cheese, eggs, basil, oregano, and ¼ tsp pepper. Stir sweet pepper mixture into spinach mixture.
4. Spread ½ cup of the spaghetti sauce evenly in a 3-quart rectangular baking dish. Arrange 3 lasagna noodles over sauce. Repeat layers, ending with noodles. Bake, covered in a 375 degree on remaining spaghetti sauce over the top. Sprinkle with the ¼ cup Parmesan cheese.
5. Bake, covered, in a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake about 10 minutes more or till heated through. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Makes 8 main-dish servings

The pictures are all about Sarah, from the start of her meal to the end. Enjoy!

Baked Chicken, peas, mashed potatoes, and salad

This was a great meal and believe it or not, fun to make. The baked chicken, wasn't really baked I would call it "butter-fried" chicken. The chicken was first dipped in an egg wash and then put in flour before putting it in some melted butter. I cooked half of the chicken in an 8x10 pan in the oven and the other half I did on the stove top in a new skillet that I got for Christmas. The skillet is a grilling skillet and it was good. The mashed potatoes and peas were prepared as usual with nothing special. Anna never liked mashed potatoes, but the girls could not get enough of them. I am going to try to sneak some brussel sprouts pass them by slipping it mixed in with the mashed potatoes.

Grade: A-

Lucy wondering what the mashed potato stuff is.

Anna trying not to pose for the camera

Sarah sucking it all off of her hand

Emily looking a little clueless

Pizza, Garlic Bread, and a Salad

This is all of the items before being served.

This dinner was definately a favorite with the girls. There was not any complaining or food dumping on the kitchen floor! Granted it was pizza, but still, for all to agree is simply amazing. I had made the pizza earlier this year before the blog, I think, so I knew how easy it was. The pizza dough is puff pastry from the freezer, but the sauce was homade with the help from Anna stirring the "pizza soup" as she put it. The salad is a simple chopped salad, but I made the vinegarette from scratch. And the bread is a simple garlic bread. The recipes are down below. I would stongly recommend using the puff pastry as the crust for an easily made pizza. Enjoy.

Grade: A-

Pizza Sauce:
In a medium saucepan combine one-8 oz can tomato sauce; one 7 1/2 oz can undrained tomatoes, cut up; 1/2 cup chopped onion; 1 Tbs dried basil, crushed; 1 tsp sugar; 1 tspdried regano, crused; 2 cloves garlic, minced; and 1/4 tsp pepper. Bring to boiling. Reduce heat. Simmer, covered, about 10 minutes or till the onion is tender.

For puff pastry:
Thaw the pastry shells at room temperature for 40 minutes or until they’re easy to handle. Heat the oven to 400°F. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the pastry shells into 7-inch circles. Put the pastry circles on the baking sheets. Using a fork, prick the pastry circles thoroughly. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden. Leave the pastry circles on the baking sheets, and place the sheets on wire racks. Set aside.
Spread the pizza sauce over the pastry shells, cheese, and whatever toppings you would like, and return it to the oven for 5 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.

Italian Herb dressing:

Combined 2/3 cup olive or vegetable oil, 1/3 cup Heinz Wine Vinegar, 1 clove garlic, split, 1 tsp dry mustard, 1/2 tsp each salt, dried basil leaves, dried oregano leaves, 1/4 tsp crused red pepper; cover and shake vigorously. Chill to blend flavors. Shake again before using.

Emily trying to stuff her mouth completely full.

Anna loving the cheese garlic bread that she helped make.

Sarah picking up her piece of pizza.

Lucy loving the garlic bread.

Sandies (snowballs)

This is the first "dessert" that is in the blog. I am going to try to post two desserts a week that I have made for the week. I had broken my mixer and got another one for Christmas, so I am into making desserts again. The pecan sandies were made because of lack of ingredients. I was originally going to make a different cookie that required semi-sweet chocolate chips, but I ran out the previous week when I made 5 batches of toffee. I flipped through the cookbook and decided to try the sandies. After I made them I realized that I had made the "snowballs" that my Mom makes as a part of her Christmas cookie collection. The girls liked the cookies, well at least the powder sugar :).


Grade B +


Ingredients
1 cup butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1 cup chopped pecans
powder sugar


1. Beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed 30 seconds. Add sugar. Beat till combined, scraping bowl. Beat in 1 Tbs water and vanilla till combined. Beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in remaining flour and pecans.

2. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in a 325 degree oven 20 minutes or till bottoms are lightly browned. Transfer to a rack; cool. Gently shake cooled cookies in a plastic bag with powdered sugar. Makes about 36 cookies.

Sarah putting her feet up and enjoying.
Emily loving the powder sugar.

Lucy cheesing it up.

Anna is Oh so happy.

New Year's Day Dinner

Taste better than it looks.

Mashed Potato Casserole and Ham and Noodle Casserole

I merged a past favorite (mashed potato casserole) with a new favorite. I first made the mashed potato casserole earlier this summer when we had a friend over for dinner and we loved it, so I knew it would be good. The ham and noodle casserole was a new one that I found on Campbell’s website and I thought the girls would like it because they love macaroni and cheese and this was similar. Both of these meals were fun to make and tasted amazing. All of the girls ate their entire bowlfuls except for Lucy. She saw a banana before she started to eat, so she was a little preoccupied to eat!

Grade: A+

Mashed Potato Casserole

Ingredients:

6 medium baking potatoes
Small onion (chopped)
2 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbs butter

1 8-oz carton dairy sour cream
4-5 Tbs milk

1. Grease a 1 ½ quart casserole, set aside. If desired, peel potatoes. Quarter potatoes. Cook, covered, in boiling salted water for 20-25 minutes or till tender, drain.

2. Meanwhile, in a small skillet cook the onion and garlic in butter till tender. Mash the drained potatoes with a potato masher or beat with an electric mixer on low speed. Add the onion mixture, sour cream, ½ tsp salt, and ¼ tsp pepper. Gradually beat in enough milk to make smooth and fluffy. Transfer to prepared casserole. Cover and chill up to 24 hours.

3. To serve, bake, uncovered, in a 350 degree oven for 45-50 minutes or till heated through.

Ham and Potato Casserole

Ingredients:

1 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 cups cubed cooked ham

1 medium onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup (Regular or 98% Fat Free)
2 cups shredded extra-sharp Cheddar cheese (about 8 ounces)
5 cups extra-wide egg noodles, cooked and drained

Directions:

Heat the oil in a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the ham and onion and cook until the onion is tender.

Stir the soup in the saucepan and heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Add the cheese and stir until the cheese is melted. Add the noodles and cook until the mixture is hot and bubbling.

Sarah couldn't get enough.

Emily too!!!!

Chicken Broccoli Divan

This was extremely easy to make, but I thought that it didn't have any taste. The girls didn't even think about eating it, but that seems to be their m.o. lately with dinner. Anna and I made gingerbread cookies earlier that they ate about an hour before dinner, so that did not add to their desire to eat the broccoli :).

Grade: B-

Ingredients:

4 cups cooked broccoli flowerets
1 1/2 cups cubed cooked chicken
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup (Regular or 98% Fat Free)
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
2 tbsp. dry bread crumbs
1 tbsp. butter, melted


Directions:
Place the broccoli and chicken into a 9-inch pie plate.

Stir the soup and milk in a small bowl. Pour the soup mixture over the broccoli and chicken. Sprinkle with the cheese. Stir the bread crumbs and butter in a small bowl. Sprinkle the bread crumbs mixture over the cheese.

Bake at 450°F. for 20 minutes or until the chicken mixture is hot and bubbling.

Anna looking oh so happy to eat

Emily actually escaping out of her high-chair so she wouldn't have to eat.

Lucy praying that I don't make her eat it.

Sarah...she looks like she is going to eat it, but she just set it down beside the bowl.

Sausage and Broccoli with Pasta

This dinner was very good. I made it during half time of a football game that a friend of ours came over to watch. It was quick and easy, like most of the dinners that I make are! Jen actually started to crave sausage after eating this dish. I used flower shaped pasta that Anna picked out instead of the corkscrew variety.

Grade: A-

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb. sweet Italian pork sausages, casing removed
1 medium onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Broccoli Soup (Regular or 98% Fat Free)
1/2 cup milk
1 bag (about 16 ounces) frozen broccoli cuts
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
4 1/2 cups corkscrew-shaped pasta (rotini), cooked and drained
crushed red pepper


Directions:
Cook the sausage in a 6-quart saucepot over medium-high heat until well browned, stirring often to separate meat. Pour off any fat.

Reduce the heat to medium. Add the onion and garlic to the saucepot and cook until they're tender, stirring occasionally.

Stir the soup, milk, broccoli and 1/4 cup cheese in the saucepot and heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until the sausage is cooked through and the broccoli is tender, stirring occasionally.

Add the pasta and toss to coat. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Serve with the red pepper, if desired.

"Aunt" Jane posing for the camera

Anna taking a bite

Emily putting her milk aside.

Sarah guzzling her milk down.

Lucy is showing Jane that she is strong.