Sweet & Sour Lentils

I was skeptical about this recipe...an entire meal with just lentils? Weird. However, it actually turned out quite well and hubby said it was decent. Although he did say it would be better with pork :)

I didn't take a picture because I didn't think it was going to be any good, and it's not very pretty!

The original recipe is from Hillbilly Housewife, and I made very few changes to it. I think next time I would also add pineapple chunks to it, and maybe add a small amount of pork for an 'almost meatless monday' meal. Also, hubby suggested that some roasted peanuts sprinkled on top before eating would add extra tastiness...I love it when hubby has culinary suggestions, often he just gives a thumbs up or a thumbs down, so input is appreciated!!

Ingredients

1 Cup Lentils

2 1/2 Cups Water

2 Beef Bouillon Cubes (Mine are vegetarian due to those being the only gf ones I could find!)

A sprinkle of Bay Leaf Pieces

1/4 Cup Pineapple or Apple Juice

1/8 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar

1/8 Cup White Vinegar

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar, Packed

2 Garlic Cloves, Minced

1 Tbsp. Oil

1 Red Pepper, Diced (I'm sure other peppers would be just as good, that's just what I had)

1 Large Onion, Diced

2 Cups Rice, Cook as Directed

Pineapple chunks (optional)

Peanuts (optional, obviously leave out if you are nut free!)

Place lentils, water, beef bouillon cubes and bay leaf pieces in a pot and bring to a boil. Cook until tender. Stir occasionally. 

While that is cooking, in a large frying pan, saute onion and pepper in oil, until tender/onion is translucent.

In a small bowl, mix together pineapple/apple juice, apple cider vinegar, vinegar, brown sugar and garlic. (If using pineapple chunks, add them here.)

When lentils are tender (most of the liquid will be absorbed), add them to the frying pan with the cooked onions and peppers. Add the juice mixture and stir to mix. Heat until bubbling and serve hot over rice. (If adding peanuts, add them to the top.)

Gluten Free Penne Carbonara

Gluten Free Organic Quinoa, Amaranth, Brown Rice Penne. Delicious!

Yesterday was meatless Monday...well we went with 'almost meatless Monday' instead. :)

Gluten Free Penne Carbonara

1 lb GF Penne, cook as directed
1 Tbsp. Oil
1 Onion, diced
3 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 Cup Bacon Bits
1 Tomato, diced
2 Cups Heavy Cream
1 Cup Parmesan Cheese (fresh grated, or powdered)
4 Eggs


Cook pasta as directed (if using gf pasta, do NOT overcook, this can happen quickly so it pays to stay close to the stove for the 6-8 minutes it takes to cook!).
Fry onion in oil until translucent, then add garlic and mix together. Add bacon bits and tomato and fry for 1-2 minutes until tomato softens. Remove from heat until pasta is ready.

Lightly beat eggs in a bowl and add heavy cream and parmesan cheese and mix together.

Strain pasta and put back into pot. Add onion mixture. With pot over low heat, slowly add cream and egg mixture. BE PATIENT! If you try to heat it up too quickly by raising the temperature, you will just end up with cooked eggs on pasta! Stir together and slowly heat through, stirring often.
Serve hot.

This was wonderful! I think next time I would add some spinach in at the end too, just to add some colour, but it was great just the way it was too!

I know it has bacon so it's technically not 'meatless', but I think this will make it into our meatless monday rotation on a regular basis!!

GF Pastry

Yummy!

 Almost a year after going gluten free, I feel like we are finally coming to a successful recipe collection. One thing that was sorely missing was pastry though. Thankfully Mennonite Girls Can Cook has come to the rescue!
This pastry was flaky, it held together and it tasted fabulous (and even tasted not so bad raw!).

I used all butter instead of shortening since I didn't have any, and it still turned out great!! I was finally able to make my favourite Chicken Pot Pie again! And the kids actually ate supper without fuss :) And I'm super excited to be able to make pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving!


INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup potato starch (NOT potato flour)
1 cup sweet rice flour
dash of sugar
1/2 tsp salt
rounded teaspoon of xanthan gum
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 egg
1 tbsp vinegar
4 tbsp ice water
sweet rice flour for rolling


Blend well together the flours, xathan gum, salt and sugar.
Cut in butter and shortening
Beat egg , add vinegar and ice-water.
Stir into flour mixture forming a ball. (Add a little more water if too dry)
(You may knead this a bit since rice flour crust can stand handling.) Knead until you have a smooth soft ball.

It looks like 'real' pie dough!!

Refrigerate dough for 1 hour or more to chill.
Roll out between wax paper or saran wrap dusted with sweet rice flour. Peel off top layer of wax paper/saran wrap , flip over onto pie plate and then carefully peel off the other layer of wax paper and fit pastry into pie shell -- for single crust pie or for double add filling and then top with top crust .
Bake at 375' until lightly browned.

Finished product

Korean Beef

Ahhh! Is it already the end of August? Where oh where did summer go? I feel slightly like a chicken with no head this year. Everytime I sit down to do something on the computer I get distracted by my school timetable and feel the need to pick up my textbook instead of blogging/emailing etc. 

Last summer our meals consisted of a lot of hamburgers and hot dogs. This year buns (or any bread items) are such a premium item around here that we have strayed from that. I have had to find a few other meals that are quick, easy and don't need the oven turned on! 

I came across this recipe on the blog LizzieWrites, and have made it numerous time throughout the last few months. Hubby loves it, the kids gobble it up and it makes the house smell fantastic!! From start to finish this recipe takes approx. 20-30 minutes (and most of that time is waiting for the rice to cook!). All I've changed are some quantities because I found her sauce didn't make enough to decently simmer the meat in.

I've made this so many times and I keep forgetting to take a picture. One day I will learn, one day!

Ingredients

1 pound lean ground beef,

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup soy sauce (I use a GF one)

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp ginger (1 tsp if using fresh ginger minced)

1 tsp crushed red peppers (or more if you want it spicier!)

1 Bunch green onions, diced (optional)

Rice, cooked as directed..

Brown ground beef with garlic. Mix brown sugar, soy sauce, ginger and red peppers in a bowl. Add to cooked ground beef. Simmer for 5 minutes to blend flavours. Serve over hot rice. Top with diced green onions if desired.

Gluten Free Chicken Nuggets

My son (and usually my daughter too) miss out on a few things that most kids take for granted...being able to stop in at (gag) McDonalds and have a happy meal, or even just being able to have chicken nuggets on a whim at home. I try my best to make sure if we go somewhere where other kids will be eating something (usually pizza at Christmas parties!), I bring 'exactly' the same thing for him to eat so he feels included, otherwise I don't usually let either kid have anything. They are too young to understand why one gets to eat something yummy in front of the other (I don't have any either if that's the case!). 

I've been kind of stumped on what to do for the inevitable McDonalds birthday parties. In fact, we went to 1/2 a birthday party earlier this year just to avoid such a problem (we played and had cake (the mom was nice enough to make a gf one!!!), and gave presents, but then we left when everyone else headed to McDonalds). Today I finally solved that problem!! I made some amazing (if I do say so myself) chicken nuggets. They were easy to make, freeze well uncooked and fry up in a matter of minutes. Don't look at me like that, yes, I deep fry things for my kids occasionally. Due to the high heat used and the minimal time immersed, I really do think they absorb less oil then if I pan fried them in 1/2" of oil. But I digress...I'm sure these would be tasty pan fried, or even baked. At least now I have an option that I could cook at home, bring to the party and let him eat along with everyone else. Yay!

I hesitate to call this a recipe, but here goes:

Ingredients
1-2 Cups Corn Flake Crumbs (GF)
2-4 Tbsp. Oil
4-6 Chicken Breasts
1 Egg
1/4 Cup Milk (If you need dairy free, I'm pretty sure water would substitute here just fine!)

Place Corn Flake Crumbs in a shallow dish and sprinkle 2 Tbsp. of oil over them for every 1 cup used. Mix up crumbs. Corn does not absorb liquid as wheat does, so this seems to be a necessary step to make it 'sticky'. (Although this may be a gf specific step, I'm really not sure...experiment!) Chop chicken breasts into nugget size pieces or strips. Mix together egg and milk in a bowl. Dip chicken pieces into milk/egg mixture, then roll in corn flake crumbs. Place on a baking sheet. When the baking sheet is full, place in the freezer.

NOTE: If you are making these from previously frozen chicken, you must cook all of the pieces once re-frozen to avoid becoming ill, if you are making these from fresh chicken then the freezer life (I think) would be the same as if you just froze the chicken.

When you are ready to cook, either bake in the oven (from frozen) at 425F for 20-30 minutes (I'm guessing here since I fried them!), or pan fry until cooked through. For deep frying, set your fryer to 375F and when the oil is up to temperature, place a single layer of frozen nuggets in the basket. Fry for 3-5 minutes (depending on size). When the oil stops making a lot of noise, generally whatever food is in there is done! That's my rule of thumb :)

I have not tried to freeze these after cooking. I have some leftovers in the fridge that I intend to re-heat in the oven tomorrow, but I think they would freeze ok.

In the words of my 3.5 year old "These are AWESOME Mommy!". I hope you enjoy them as much as we all did! :)

Note: I purchased my corn flake crumbs (see picture below) from amazon.com, and had them delivered in the states and had someone pick them up because I needed gluten free, however if you do not need gluten free Kellogg's has a corn flakes product that is available at any grocery store. It contains barley malt, so it's a no no in our house!

Meal Planning

I need help. 

There now that I've admitted it, it should get easier right? I hope so. 

I'm stuck in a rut of waiting until naptime, and then frantically trying to decide what to make for supper. The problem is that between 2 toddlers, trying to workout regularly, special diets, school work and all the regular household chores, I seem to end up throwing together the same thing over and over again. Then I get part way through the month and realize all the ground beef is gone, but there is lots of other meat left and I have to get creative again :) Also, I've been trying to workout and do some studying during naptime so that I can have a (small) life in the evening when hubby gets home. If I can get some studying done during the day then I only have to do an hour or two in the evening vs burying myself in a pile of books all night! But when I procrastinate all morning on supper prep I end up cooking at naptime and my time is gone! 

So these are my questions....

If you meal plan, how do you do it? Do you plan 1 week in advance? 2? A month? What is your system? Do you stick with it? Do you preplan everything or just the meat part? Do you find that even though you plan you deviate from your schedule? 

I have found multiple ideas on Pinterest that I want to make for a menu board (because I know myself, if I make something crafty I will actually use it lol), but I'm interested to know what everyone else does. I've done the chalkboard (write it up every month) menu on the inside of the pantry door and it ends up getting erased or I end up forgetting about it. So I want to do something fun and functional.

I've seen ones (like THIS) that are magnetic and allow you to add magnets for main, veggie and side separately. I can see this coming in handy with using everything in the fridge. Every time you go grocery shopping put the magnets on the board for what you have bought, then make sure you use all the magnets before shopping again :)

Other ones (like THIS) are simple and it's just a choice of a pre-decided meal. 

Then there are the over organized ones (like THIS & THIS) that would probably just give me a headache everytime I looked at it! Is anyone out there really this organized? 

Personally I am leaning towards one like the first picture above (the magnetic one) or one like THIS, recipe/ingredients are printed on the back with the name of the meal on the front. Printed on business cards with small nail holes punched into each one so they hang easily: 

What do you think? Please leave me a comment with what you do for meal planning, I need help! I've been up for 2 hours already this morning and would love to have supper already prepped or at least planned. However it's not happening! I'm thinking it's going to end up being a taco salad night...again!

Vodka Cream Sauce

This is my first time cooking with alcohol beyond wine and I have to say I'm thoroughly impressed! The whole family gobbled it down in no time!
I cooked up chicken breasts and cubed them, then put them into the sauce. Poured it all over rice pasta (a twisty kind, I'm really not sure what type!) and it was delicious. I haven't been able to stomach brown rice pasta very much since we switched and I ate a huge plate of this! And it was easy!! I was out of tomato sauce, so I used 2 tins of whole tomatoes (I blended them first), and 3 Tbsp. of tomato paste and let it boil for about 15 minutes before adding it to the recipe, worked like a charm!

2/3 Cup Vodka
1 Cup Whipping Cream/Heavy Cream
3 Cups Tomato Sauce
Meat (Bacon would taste good, I used chicken)
Pasta of your choice.
Parmesan cheese, for topping.

Cook your meat, pour in vodka and boil for 4-5 minutes until it has reduced by about half. Add tomato sauce and cream. Let simmer for 20ish minutes. Serve hot over pasta of your choice and top with Parmesan cheese!

Meatball Muffins!

I thought I would liven up supper a little tonight and see if I could convince my kids that supper can be fun. It actually worked quite well! I got the idea off this picture from Pinterest. It's supposed to be meatloaf, but I didn't feel like making the sauce that typically goes on top of meatloaf so I just made my favourite meatball recipe and went with that!
They have a wonderful presentation, and are fairly easy to make. The kids thought it was great to lick the potatoes off first then dip the remainder in ketchup :)

Mini Meatball Muffin...mmm

Meatballs Recipe

2 lbs Ground Beef

1 Egg

1/3 Cup Potato Flakes (or bread crumbs)

1/4 Cup Milk

1 Tbsp. Soy Sauce

1 Tbsp. Parsley

2 Tsp. Garlic Powder

1 Tsp. Onion Powder

1 Tsp. Pepper

Mashed potatoes for topping.

Grated cheese for topping.

I use my stand mixer to mix it all up, then fill the muffin cups (or just make meatballs). Bake at 350F for 15 minutes or until cooked through. Mini muffins will be closer to 10-15 minutes and large muffins will be closer to 20-30 minutes.

Remove from pans, top with mashed potatoes. I put mashed potatoes into an icing piping bag and it was quite simple. However I do not recommend trying to do this when the potatoes are still super hot. I was impatient and did this and my hands are paying for it! Top with grated cheese and serve hot :)

Don't know if the pink comes through, but it's pink enough to teach me a valuable lesson!

Taco Casserole

I was trying to decide what to make for supper yesterday and came up with this really yummy dish! Not really a super pretty dish, so I once again forgot to take pictures...I'll try to get better at that!

Ingredients
2 Cups Rice - Cook as directed
1lb Ground Beef, Browned
1 Recipe Refried Beans
1 Cup Sour Cream
1/2 Cup Water
2 Cups Salsa
2 Cups Grated Cheese, plus some for topping 
Tortilla Chips, Crushed

Mix together everything over medium heat in a large frying pan (except the rice and the topping cheese). Stir until well mixed (it wont look pretty lol). In a 9x13 pan start layering rice, meat mixture, rice, meat mixture. End with meat mixture and then extra grated cheese on top. Bake at 375F for 8-10 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Serve hot, topped with crushed tortilla chips.

Delicious the first time and delicious reheated the next day!

Chili

Yummy, super filling and easy to make. 3 of my favourite adjectives when describing cooking!
The original recipe was from a magazine called The Canola Digest. It was called Cheapskate Chili.
I have modified a few things and this is our regularly used recipe now :)

1lb. Ground Beef, browned
680mL Tomato Sauce  
398mL Diced Tomatoes  
3 Cups Kidney beans, soaked & cooked (or canned)  
1 Tbsp. Chili Powder  
1 Tsp. Garlic Powder  
1/2 Tsp. Onion Powder  
2 1/2 Tsp. Taco Seasoning  
1/2 Cup Lentils, dry  
1 Cup Quinoa, dry (I used red quinoa, but regular is fine too)


Mix together all ingredients except the quinoa in a large pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and allow to simmer, covered. Cook the quinoa as directed on the package (it cooks like rice...1 cup quinoa, 2 cups water). Simmer the chili on the stove while the quinoa cooks. When its finished add to the pot. Mix well. 
Serve hot with bread/buns or just topped with cheese! Or over fries with cheese sauce on top for chili-cheese fries!
It is also a really good meal to make ahead and freeze.

Sweet & Sour Baked Chicken

This was sooo tasty and moist I was amazed. And it honestly takes a lot for me to be amazed at supper!
This is gluten free (yay!) and my first attempt at breading without flour.

Ingredients

2 Large or 3 Medium Boneless Chicken Breasts

Breading
1-2 Cups Cornstarch
2-3 Eggs, Beaten
1/4 - 1/2 Cup Canola Oil
Salt & Pepper

Sweet & Sour Sauce
3/4 Cup Sugar
2 Tbsp. Ketchup
1/2 Cup Vinegar
1 Tbsp. Soy Sauce (If going GF make sure your soy sauce is GF!)
1 Tsp. Garlic Powder/Salt

Heat 1/4 cup of oil in a frying pan over medium heat (add more as needed). Cut the chicken into nugget size pieces and coat in corn starch. Then dip in beaten eggs. Place into hot oil and fry until slightly brown but not cooked through. Remove from pan and place in a greased 9x13 pan. Preheat oven to 325°F as you do this. When they are all browned and in the pan pour the sauce over top and turn to coat.
Bake for one hour turning chicken every 15 minutes.
Goes deliciously with fried rice...recipe to follow!

I meant to take pictures but I was so hungry and it smelled so good that I totally forgot. Just envision deliciousness and thats what it looked like :)

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Southwest Breakfast Casserole

Finished and ready to eat!

Before baking.

Our meatless Monday's dish...or this week's Meatless Tuesday lol (we had leftovers that needed eating yesterday).

So simple, so tasty and yes so filling...not to mention economical!

Ingredients
(I have tripled the recipe, and it is enough to feed 3 adults, 2 kids and have 2 lunches leftover (and yes, it reheats quite well! And of course I use more cheese then the original recipe because cheese is wonderful!)


3 Cups Cooked Rice
1 1/2 Cups Salsa
2-3 Cups Cooked Beans
Shredded Cheese (a cup or two)
8-9 Eggs

Mix rice and salsa in the bottom of a casserole dish and press flat. Sprinkle some cheese on top. Spread beans on top. Sprinkle more cheese. Dig 'pockets' in the layers for however many eggs you want to put in. I do 8 or 9 depending on how I space the pockets. Crack eggs into pockets. Sometimes I put 2 in the centre if its a bigger hole :)
Bake at 350°F for 30-50 minutes or until egg whites are no longer runny. Baking time depends on your preference of egg...a little runny yolk or fully cooked. Enjoy!

Sloppy Joes

mmmm Sloppy Joes on a cool fall day...or any day for that matter! We had this for supper tonight except instead of on buns we had it on fresh made bread (I toasted mine!), and it was delicious!
I like the idea of adding lentils in to bulk up the meal. It makes it feel like a package of hamburger meat goes that much further!
This recipe is from BudgetBytes and the only thing I changed was a little less sugar and a little less vinegar :)

Ingredients
3/4 Cup Dry Lentils
1 Tbsp. Oil
1 Sweet Onion
1 Green Bell Pepper
2-3 Cloves Minced Garlic
1 lb Lean Ground Beef
1 (15oz) can of Tomato Sauce
1 (3oz) can of Tomato Paste
2 Tbsp. Cider Vinegar
2 Tbsp. Brown Sugar (I used Demerara)
1/2 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard
1/2 Tsp. Salt
1/2 Tsp. Chili Powder
Bread or Buns to serve it on!

Lentils: Cook them first, you will thank yourself later when you aren't crunching your way through your supper! Boil water and add the lentils. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Test to make sure they are tender and then drain them. Set aside to add to the sloppy joe mixture later.


Chop the onion and green pepper and mince the garlic. Add to the frying pan with the oil and cook over medium heat until soft. (about 5 minutes)
Add the ground beef and continue to cook until the meat is no longer red (about 7-10 minutes)

Add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, cider vinegar, brown sugar, dijon, chili powder and salt. Stir well and heat through.
Stir in the cooked lentils and heat through if needed. Serve warm on buns or bread.

Crock Pot Taco Chicken

Last night's supper was amazing! And amazingly easy too. I was done making it (except the rice) by 930am! Now that's what I call a win!
BudgetBytes is a new website I have found courtesy of Pinterest, and she's got some pretty neat recipes. Also, they break down the cost of each recipe per serving. It's in American prices, but at least it gives you some sort of idea. It's a website that's worth taking a browse through :)

Ingredients
1.5lbs Chicken Breasts (I used 3 small ones and started with them frozen)
2 Cups Salsa
2 Cups Black Beans (Canned or pre-soaked and cooked)
1 Cup Frozen Corn
1/4 Cup Water
1 Tbsp. Chili Powder
1/2 Tbsp. Cumin
1/2 Tbsp. Minced Garlic 
1/2 Tsp. Oregano
1/4 Tsp. Cayenne Pepper
1/4 Tsp. Salt
Pepper, to taste
2 Cups Dry Rice
1 Cup Shredded Cheese (or more!)
Cilantro, to taste (optional)

Add everything to the slow cooker except the rice, cheese and cilantro (if using). Give it a good stir and then make sure the chicken is covered in the mixture.
Cook on low for 8 hours. (I have a large oval crock pot and it took less then 6, but yours may differ).
Cook rice towards the end of the cooking time.
At the end of the cooking time stir with a fork to shred the chicken.
Build taco bowls by placing rice on the bottom, then the taco chicken mix, shredded cheese and fresh cilantro!



I think you could get away with adding double the beans and make this recipe go even farther. Everything is so flavourful that extra beans would just make it better :)
I love that I was able to make this with frozen chicken breasts. Freezer to crock pot to plate. I love it!



This recipe makes about 8 Servings. It's hard for me to estimate because hubby eats enough for 2 adults most of the time! We had a wonderful supper plus I had enough left over for 2 lunches for him and 1 lunch for me. I think this is my new favourite crock pot recipe!

I haven't tried it yet, but the original poster of this recipe said it freezes wonderfully, rice, cheese and all! Just throw in the microwave to reheat!

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Fresh Salsa

My garden is producing! Very exciting except I need to use lots of cherry tomatoes! The ones I planted produce small yellow tomatoes first then medium orange ones then large (relatively speaking since they are cherry tomatoes!) red ones. Right now I have lots of yellow and a few orange. They are wonderfully sweet!

I threw together a salsa tonight and even my veggie-loathing hubby said it was good :) Only problem is I put red pepper flakes in not realizing how spicy they were and made it too spicy for me to eat more then a couple of bites!

This makes enough for 1-2 servings.
1/2 Cup Cherry Tomatoes
1/2 Medium Green Pepper
Seasonings to taste: Onion powder, granulated garlic and red pepper flakes.
A small amount of water to let the spices mix.
Chop your veggies small and add spices, lemon and water. Let sit in the fridge for about an hour to ensure a crispy flavourful taste.

I served it over chicken breasts cooked in vinegar and water (cayenne, onion powder & garlic powder to taste) on the stove top. A delicious combination!!

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Macasagna

Macasanga? This is what my 2.5 year hold has dubbed it :) It's a variation of the Super Easy Lasagna recipe.

If there is one thing you probably know about me by now it's that I'm frugal (I do not like the term 'cheap' because I feel it has a totally different definition...I'm frugal, but if we (especially our kids) need something, I wont hesitate to get it, to me cheap is avoiding purchasing anything that isn't an absolute live or die need, even if it might jeopardize your health to not have it (vitamins, medicine) etc. I'm not talking about absolutely not having the money to purchase necessities, but rather choosing to hoard money in the bank instead) But I digress! Back to Macasagna!

Lasagna noodles are pricey, and they almost never go on sale. Cheese is expensive and even when it is on sale it's still expensive! I really really enjoy lasagna, now that I know how to make it easily, but can't bring myself to make it as often as I would like.
Thus, Macasanga was born!!

Use the same sauce recipe from Super Easy Lasagna. But instead of lasagna noodles you use, yup you guess it!, macaroni noodles :) And in the cheese layers instead of fully layering cheese use mostly cottage cheese with a bit of grated cheese and then use grated cheese on top. It's delicious, it's economical and it's easy! It's a win win!

I buy the No Name Cottage Cheese at Extra Foods (Superstore), and it's approx. $2.50 for a 500mL tub, and the huge boxes of macaroni are available at the same store, or Costco for a fairly modest price. I'm sure it brings the price of the lasagna to half or less then it's original cost. Yes, it's nice to still have regular lasagna sometimes, but especially when you're coming to the end of the month (and the end of the budget!), this is a quick, easy, filling and economical meal :) Oh, and kids love it because what kid doesn't love macaroni?

Super Easy Lasagna

Mmmm Yummy!

This is my friend Jen's recipe, and as soon as I tasted it (and saw how easy it was to make), I knew I had to have the recipe! Thanks Jen, this is definitely going into our regular rotation of meals!
I have always hated making lasagna because of the noodles. Boiling them, then burning my fingers while laying them out in the dish, hoping they don't rip in the meantime. I never make lasagna.
This has got to be the easiest way to do it!

Sauce Ingredients
1 lb Hamburger - Browned
1 Tsp. Dehydrated Onion
1 Tsp. Salt
1 Tbsp. Sugar
1 Tsp. Chili Powder
1 Tsp. Garlic Salt
1 1/2 Tsp. Basil
1 6oz. Can Tomato Paste
1 14oz. Can Tomato Sauce
4 Cups Water

Put it all together in a big pot and simmer for 10 minutes (or so). Using a 9x13 pan start layering.
1 1/2 Cups Sauce on the bottom of the pan
Layer UNCOOKED noodles across the pan
Sauce to cover 
Cheese (any type you want, I used Tex Mex, but Cottage Cheese, Ricotta, Mozza etc. would work)
More UNCOOKED noodles
Sauce
Cheese
ETC. ETC. until your pan is full, ending with cheese.

Cover with foil and cook at 350 F for 1 Hour, then remove foil and cook another 20 minutes. 


The sauce will appear very watery, that's good since the noodles will suck it all up! I used 3 of the tin 'lasagna pans' (the disposable ones), since I'm giving away 2 of them. They weren't very deep, so a double batch of the sauce above filled them all. I made the sauce last night after the kids went to bed, and put everything together this morning. I had 3 lasagnas made before 9am!

Good Idea from Jen: Make up a bunch of sauce, and freeze just the sauce in batches (You know your pan and how many layers it takes. Plan on about 1.5 cups of sauce per layer and then add an extra 1/2 - 1 cup just to make sure!). Takes up less space in the freezer and you can always have fresh lasagna anytime with very minimal work!

Whats On The Table?

Ok technically this was last night but we are still drooling over it so I think it counts! I made the pizza crusts on the BBQ and topped them with chicken cooked with BBQ sauce, diced red onions, alfalfa sprouts and mozza cheese....of course anti-veggie hubby's only had chicken and cheese lol...and it was sooo good. It blows any other pizza Ive ever made out of the water! My one year old ate it sprouts and all and kept signing for more! 2 year old is sick so he just looked at it like it was poison...so his sister ate his :)
If you are a pizza fan you seriously need to try this! As a bit of a heads up just be aware that the toppings slide off easily...I dumped one going from BBQ to plate! Oh and don't plan on having any leftovers!!

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Pizza on the BBQ? Absolutely!

If my family could do everything on the BBQ we would! Especially in the summer! We love pizza around here but turning the oven on in the heat is a deterrent. Enter BBQ pizza!
I'm sure any pizza dough recipe would work but I find this dough holds up well to the grill.

Ingredients
1 3/4 Cup Warm Water
2 1/4 Tsp. Yeast
1/2 Tsp. Sugar
1/4 Tsp. Salt
1 Tbsp. Oil
2-3 Cups Flour


Mix first 5 ingredients together.
Add 2 cups of flour and mix.
Add extra flour only as needed.
You don't want sticky but you don't want dry either!
Let rise 15 minutes.
Separate into 4 portions.
Roll out each portion on a floured surface approx. 1/4 inch thick.
Oil the BBQ grill and heat to medium.
Place crusts on the BBQ and grill for 2-4 minutes on one side or until slightly browned.
Remove from heat.
Place toppings on grilled side.
Put them back on the grill until crust is browned and cheese is melting.

Note: Less is more on the BBQ. You can't do as many toppings as you can in the oven. Grate your cheese very finely. You need the cheese to start melting before the crust burns :)

Scalloped Potatoes

Potatoes are a staple in our house so I constantly try to come up with ways other then mashed to serve them. This is my favorite...scalloped potatoes! From Recipezaar.

Ingredients
4 Cups Thinly Sliced Potatoes
3 Tbsp. Butter
3 Tbsp. Flour
1 1/2 Cups Milk
1 Tsp. Salt
Dash of Cayenne Pepper
1 Cup Grated Cheddar Cheese
1/2 Cup Grated Cheese, to sprinkle on top
Paprika

In a small sauce pan melt the butter and blend in the flour.
Let sit for a minute.
Add all of the cold milk, stirring with a whisk.
Season with salt and cayenne.
Cook sauce over low until smooth and boiling, stirring occasionally.
Reduce heat and stir in cheese.
Place half the potatoes in a lightly greased casserole dish.
Pour half the cheese sauce over the potatoes.
Repeat with the second layer of potatoes and cheese sauce.
Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.
Top with paprika for colour.
Bake uncovered for about 1 hour at 350 F.