Mama Mia! Lasagna

 My husband was out in the field for a couple weeks for some training and it was ridiculously cold so I thought no better way to welcome him home than his favorite meal. I had never made lasagna before but I found this recipe on food network and it was easy and turned out great. 

The only changes I made was adding more garlic, more cheese and doubling the tomato sauce mixture. 

 

Lasagna

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra for pan
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 clove garlic, minced
• 2 (14.5-ounce) can stewed tomatoes, chopped
• 2 (8-ounce) jar tomato sauce
• 2 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
• 1 (8-ounce) box no-boil lasagna noodles
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups cottage cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• 2 teaspoons freshly chopped parsley leaves
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon seasoning salt
• 1 (8-ounce) bag shredded mozzarella
• 1 (8-ounce) bag shredded Cheddar

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly oil the bottom of a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish.

In a large saute pan, over medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon oil and saute meat, onion, and garlic until meat is browned, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon. Drain pan of fat and add stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, and tomato paste. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, then mix in cottage cheese, 1/2 cup Parmesan, parsley, salt, pepper, and seasoning salt.

Spread a little of the meat sauce in the bottom of the prepared pan. Lay half the noodles in the bottom of the baking dish, overlapping by 1/2-inch. Spread half the egg and cottage cheese mixture evenly on top. Sprinkle half the mozzarella and Cheddar evenly over the cottage cheese mixture. Pour half the meat sauce on top. Repeat layering in same order. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan on top. Bake in center of oven 30 to 35 minutes until sauce is bubbling around the edges. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Weekly Menu

I don't know if this happens to everyone but my husband and I can never decide whats for dinner. I will ask and he will say what do you want and it goes around and around from there. When we started trying to eat healthier I decided to make a menu so we would stick to what we decided ahead of time. It has turned out to be a money saver and makes for a really nice way to plan ahead. I have noticed significant savings on the weekly grocery bill because you can shop out the item to get the best deal. It is a tip I have really found amazing. Hope it works for you!

Here is the rest of our weeks menu as an example. I mentioned we are trying to eat better but Superbowl Sunday doesn't count ;) It was all of the football foods my hubby wanted!

Cranberry Heaven

Cranberry Sauce

1 cup sugar

1 cup orange juice 

1 (12oz) package fresh cranberries

Directions:

In a medium sauce pan dissolve the sugar in the juice over medium heat. Stir in the cranberries and let cook until the cranberries begin to pop (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat and transfer to bowl. Sauce thickens as it cools. 

 

I have never liked cranberry sauce until I made this. I am IN LOVE with it. I kept sneaking "tastes" while I was making it! It was so good.

Turkey Tricks

I will say I was a newby to making a turkey this last Thanksgiving. I was terrified I would ruin it. I really wanted our feast to be perfect so I read online tutorials and asked around went to town. It really turned out perfect!!

I started thawing it a couple days before in the refrigerator. ( I took a Safety and Sanitation class and you must thaw meat & poultry in the refrigerator or cool water ) The day before I prepared the brine and let it soak up all the flavor. I found a few recipes online and complied some ideas and made a brine more my style.

Thanksgiving day I took it out of the brine and got it all ready and popped it in the oven upside down for a few hours. You will obviously have to decide on time and temp according to your oven and turkey size. I put chicken stock in the bottom of the pan for moisture. Tons of options out there for how to cook a turkey but this was a great way for a newby like me. I'm convinced The key is upside down. I have had dry turkey before and it is so gross. Above is our turkey and I don't think the pictures do it justice because it was SO moist and tasty. I recommend also seasoning the bird with whatever seasonings you prefer to let the flavor cook in. I have heard a lot of people do just salt and pepper and that's great to keep tradition going but we like a lot of stronger  flavors so we seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic salt, pressed garlic, basil and thyme. Be adventuresome it really makes cooking more interesting. You never know, you just might like it.

Julien's Citrus Brine

• 1 cup salt
• 3 lemon, cut into wedges
• 2 orange, cut into wedges
• 1 medium onion, cut into wedges
• 3 cloves garlic
• 5 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
• 2 tablespoon garlic salt
• 3 tablespoon ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 gallons cold water

Welcome Dolls

I have created this blog to coexist with my personal blog.  I always have so many recipes and cooking stories to share so I thought I would make a place to easily share them. I have always loved to bake with the ladies in the family and when I moved out on my own I was constantly making something but working so much I kinda got out of the habit. I moved here May 2010 and took some baking classes and well basically to sum it up cooking and recipes have become an obsession. I love to try new things and new recipes so I have got quite the collection to share.

Eating nourishes the body and the ones that eat with you nourish the soul. 

So let open your minds and your kitchen and let the cooking begin.