Lasagna Roll Ups

These are really fun to make and fun to serve to guest. They also freeze wonderfully making it a great meal to make ahead of time and keep in your deep freeze. This stuffing can be used for traditional lasagna, stuffed shells, or manicotti as well. I've used it for stuff shells for years and will eventually post those on here as well. It takes about 30-45 min. to make this so a little more time is needed than my other recipes. They also need to bake for 45-60 minutes as well.

So, here we go....

1 box of whole wheat blend lasagna noodles
1 32 oz container of ricotta cheese
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs (although, for these roll ups, I recommend 3 eggs)
extra Parmesan for on top
1 jar of pasta sauce
spinach or parsley (optional)

Mix together in your electric mixer the ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, eggs, spinach and/or parsley. (In the pictures I used about a cup of frozen chopped spinach defrosted.) Boil noodles about 6 at a time for 7 minutes in boiling water. Remove them onto a cookie sheet covered with a piece of wax paper. This prevents the noodles from sticking together or to anything else. While you are stuffing these first six, the next six can be cooking in the pot but be sure to set your timer for 7 minutes because if you over cook them they'll start to split and break apart.

Add a scoop of filling to each noodle close to the end but leaving about 3 inches at the end to roll it. You can do this right on the cookie sheet they were placed on so that you don't have to transfer them around anywhere. Roll each one and place them into a pan that has been sprayed with olive oil and a little sauce has been spread into.

Place the loose end up against the side of the pan so that it doesn't unravel. Continue filling and rolling until they are all done and then get your next 6 out of the boiling pot. Continue with this process until all the noodles have been used and the filling is gone. You should come out close to even when using one box of noodles.

Next, spoon a little more sauce over the tops and sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese. I like to make two pans and freeze one. The pan that didn't have as many in it is the one we ate for dinner that night.

If you are going to freeze one, I recommend always covering with cling wrap first and then foil to give it a tight seal and preventing freezer burn.

Bake covered with foil at 350 for 45-60 minutes.

You can just as well, lay the rolls on their sides if it is too difficult to stand them up. I didn't have trouble getting them to stand up but some of the filling did leak out the bottoms of them. Next time I'll probably lay a few flat noodles on the bottom to help seal the bottoms off. They are a really cool presentation standing on end though.

Variations:
-You can certainly use ground Italian sausage or Italian ground turkey sausage in your stuffing and sauce.
-You can omit the spinach and have it turn out just as well.
-You can use white flour noodles just as well.

I just have to tell you that this was the most difficult meal I've made and tried to photograph at the same time. =0)

Risotto

I had never made risotto before and now that I tried this recipe I like it a lot. My family liked it to.

1 cup Arborio Rice
2 tbsp butter
1 minced garlic clove
3 cups hot chicken broth
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese grated
pinch of salt and pepper
diced veggies equalling 1-2 cups (including some diced onion)
1/2 cup white cooking wine

The original recipe I found used these veggies:
whole leaf spinach
peas
asparagus

But, I didn't have those so I added whatever I had in the refrigerator. Which included corn, frozen chopped spinach, green onion, yellow bell pepper, and some mushrooms that I needed to use up. So you can pretty much dice up whatever you have that sounds good to you. (I like it when I can do that!)


Then, heat your chicken broth in a pot on the stove. In a deep skillet, melt 1 tbsp of the butter and saute the rice, onion and garlic. Then add your remaining veggies and saute them till they soften up a bit. Then add your wine and let it cook till it's absorbed.

Start adding your broth a half cup at a time. Cook the 1/2 cup of broth in the rice till it's absorbed. Then add the next 1/2 cup and then the next 1/2 cup, waiting each time to till it's absorbed before adding the next one. The rice will be start to become creamy. I used a little more than 3 cups. When the broth is used up, the rice should be done and creamy. If the rice isn't cooked through, add one more half cup and cover it on low so that it can finish cooking.

Now fold in the Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and remaining butter. Now it's ready to serve. This works well as a colorful side dish but is also great as a vegetarian main dish.

Featured Product - Fruit Crisps

My neighbor gave me these and she got them at Costco. They are a great healthy snack of pure fruit. I didn't care too much for the strawberry banana ones but I did try rehydrating them in water which made them good for yogurt, oatmeal, pancake, and cereal topping.

I love the apple ones for a healthy snack. For WW points system, they are 0 points! =0)

Stuffed Mushrooms

This is a really yummy appetizer that you can stuff with just about anything you like. The night I made these, I did them the following way:

2 boxes of cream cheese

1 bag of "real bacon" (found near the salad dressing at the store)

4 chopped green onions with scallions

dash of salt and pepper

2 large boxes of whole mushrooms

Do not rinse the mushrooms but rather wipe them off with a wet paper towel. If you rinse them they'll absorb the water and get spongy. Remove the stems (with a spoon if you have to). Mix the remaining ingredients together till creamy. Fill the mushroom stem holes with the cream cheese filling and pile it high. Bake on a foil covered cookie sheet at about 375 till lightly browned on top.

Variations-

add chopped crab or lobster meat

add cilantro

omit the bacon and add sun-dried tomatoes and grated Parmesan cheese

omit cream cheese and bacon and add feta and chopped spinach

French Toast Bake

I got this recipe recently while searching for "healthy" recipes and thought it sounded good. Well, it's great! Yum!

inch thick sliced whole grain bread

4 eggs

4 egg whites

1 cup milk

1 tbsp vanilla

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 bag frozen sliced peaches

Spray a 9x13 glass pan and layer slices of bread on the bottom. Beat eggs, milk and vanilla together and pour over bread. Layer frozen sliced peaches on top. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle over top. Refrigerate overnight. In the morning bake it at 350 degrees for 40 min. Serve as is or with butter and syrup.

In the pictures I used our homemade honey whole wheat bread for the bread. Pictured with peaches and another one with bananas. I didn't have time to do it the night before so we just let it sit for a few minutes to let the bread absorb the egg mixture and then we baked it. We also cut this recipe in half and baked it in an oval glass pan....it would work better to use a oblong 9 x 13 so that the squared bread slices would fit better in the corners. But it turned out great and my kids also LOVED it!

Healthy?

-Yes, whole grain bread is better than white. If you don't have whole grain bread made from scratch, you can use whole wheat french bread or layer two slices of whole wheat sandwich bread...even 3 if you like it really thick.

-The recipe uses 4 egg whites to cut down on cholesterol.

-You can use pure maple syrup for a healthier syrup.

Costco Finds

Mini Peppers (we love these for a healthy snack-we dip them in ranch dressing)

Mini Organic Carrot packs (these are great on the go snacks for kids or dipped in ranch as well)

Coconut Shrimp

Mozzarella Cheese (I love the packs of this whole milk mozzarella. That's what I use for my pizzas. Just slice it and use it.)

Right now they are carrying these yummy Belgian chocolates that make a great gift or are wonderful to put out for a Christmas party. They look like mini cup shapes.


Fresh Deli section:

Chicken Florentine

Chicken Alfredo Penne

Snowman Mashed Potatoes

In honor of the snow we've been having for three days, we made these cute snowmen mashed potatoes. Got the idea from Taste of Home. I used a ladle to scoop the mashed potatoes and then a soft spatula to smooth them a little. Use a cooked mini carrot for the nose and sliced olives for the eyes and smile. We got creative and gave our snowmen hair which made them look more like the Wilson volley balls from Cast Away. LOL.

To make mashed potatoes from scratch....

boil peeled and quartered potatoes (Yukon gold are great for this)

drain once they are cooked through

mash with a potato masher

add butter, one minced garlic clove, sour cream, salt, and milk

Panini

It's Panini time!

This is a great lunch or simple dinner if you like Paninis! You can make it really healthy too if you want to.

First grill up in a little olive oil (1 tbsp) all the sliced veggies you want on your sandwich. Meantime, lightly butter two slices of sour dough bread (or you can omit the butter or substitute a little olive oil in the pan). Add a few slices of your favorite lunch meat or roasted chicken to the grilled veggies. Last, top the pile of meat and veggies with two slices of your favorite cheese. In a grill pan or panini maker, lay down your first slice of bread. Next pile on your veggie, meat and cheese pile. Top with the other slice of bread and place another skillet on top of it if you don't have a panini maker. Press the skillet down on top of it till the cheese melts everything together and then give your sandwich a flip. You can cut it after it's done or in my case I couldn't flip the whole thing so I cut in half while it was in the pan so that I could flip it. =0)

In the pictures, I loaded this one with way too many veggies! They were coming out everywhere. Of course, I forgot to take a picture of the one that turned out all nice and neat like in a restaraunt. The one in the picture is just veggies and cheese, no meat.

What you can fill your panini with:

VEGGIES:

fresh spinach

green onion

red onion

yellow or white onion

olives

egg plant (peeled and grilled is delicious)

mushrooms

bell peppers (any color)

artichoke hearts

sun dried tomatoes

sliced tomato

MEAT:

turkey

chicken

steak

salami

pastrami

ham

CHEESE: (be creative)

provolone cheese

Parmesan cheese

Munster cheese

Havarti cheese

cheddar cheese

jack cheese

pepper jack cheese

You don't have to use seasoning unless you want to. The olive oil gives it a nice flavor and the meat and cheese is usually salty enough. If you make it vegetarian you may want to add a little salt or pepper. You can also add some minced garlic to any of the combos and that would give it a yummy taste too!

Chicken Salad

This is a super easy thing to make.

You can either bake chicken to make it or in my case, I just make it anytime I have left over baked or roasted chicken. I'm not a big fan of reheated chicken because it's always dry the second time around so this is a great way to use up leftovers.

Chop the chicken (I use about 2-3 chicken breast)
Add about 1/2 - 1 c real mayo (not miracle whip)
1 can sliced water chestnuts chopped
1/4 c sliced almonds
salt and pepper to taste

Notes-
You can use light mayo but if you do you'll need to increase your seasonings.
You can add all kinds of additional seasons to taste (such as dried parsley) but you may not need any seasonings if your chicken was already well seasoned.
You can add other things like sliced grapes, diced tomatoes, sliced avocado if serving it as a sandwich, etc. I like to use spinach instead of lettuce on my bread or wrap.
You can serve this on bread like a sandwich, with lettuce wrapped in a tortilla, with corn chips, or on crackers as a hefty dip (like you would tuna on crackers) for a luncheon appetizer.

In a hurry? Use canned chicken (found by the tuna in the store) and drain it well. Season it well and toss with remaining ingredients.

This is a great summer lunch or light dinner and is also a great main dish for a baby shower, bridal shower, or tea party.

Cheese Potato Soup

I got this recipe from a friend at church. It's really good. I have a few more potato soup recipes that are really yummy and less fattening that I'll have to post on here sometime....

1 tbs. dried onion, or can use fresh onion
¼ cup butter
5 cups cubed peeled potatoes (I keep mine in water till I'm ready to use them so that they don't turn color)
3 cups water
2 cups frozen peas & carrots
3 cups milk, divided
4 tsp chicken bouillon granules
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
¼ cup flour
4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
½ pound sliced bacon, cooked and crumbled

In large kettle, melt butter and add onion, sauteing if fresh. Add potatoes and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15 minutes. About half way through simmer, add peas and carrots to boil for remaining time. Stir in 2 cups milk, bouillon, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Reduce heat. Toss cheese with flour till cheese is well coated. This prevents your cheese from clumping once it's added to the soup. Add cheese and bacon; stir until cheese is melted. Makes 10-12 servings (about 2 ½ quarts).

Thanks Pam!
Substitutions:
Use turkey bacon instead of real bacon
Use ham instead of bacon
Omit the bacon altogether
Cut the cheese down to 2 cups
Use low fat milk instead of whole milk
Use low sodium chicken broth instead of bullion
Omit extra salt if using bacon

Potato Skins

Okay, until I can go grocery shopping there are going to be some unhealthy recipes posted on here so I apologize for all of you out there that are trying to start your New Year's weight loss resolutions! =0)

I tried a new way of making potato skins for new year's eve that is similar to a style that one of our local restaurants does and it came out really well.

I pre-baked the potatoes to soften them up a bit...about 20-30 min. will do. I like to bake them in a muffin tin so that they aren't rolling all over the oven. Then I cut them in wedges and cut a slice of their white center off to make them flatter. Then I layered them in a casserole dish (sprayed with olive oil) like you would lasagna except with cheese, chopped cooked bacon (I was in a hurry so I used that crumbled real bacon that's in the salad dressing section of the store), chopped green onion, chopped cilantro, and a sprinkling of salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Top the last layer with cheese and bake in the oven for another 20 min or so until the whole thing is melted through the center. I made some ranch dip and our potato skin casserole was enjoyed. Believe it or not, the layers separated just fine for those who wanted to take a layer right off the top.

You can make this vegetarian by using soy substitute bacon or leaving the bacon out. For a healthier version you could use turkey bacon if you'd like to.

Organizing Your Recipes

I've had a request for information about organizing your recipes. I think I've seen just about every option out there and have tried most of them. I'll tell you what I've settled on and been the happiest with but I'll also list the other options I've seen in hopes that you can find one that fits you.

A few years ago I started using a scrapbook memory type recipe book and I love it. It's called The Family Recipe Collection Book by Joy Rodgers Mernin. You can get it here through amazon. It's on sale right now for $25 with free shipping.

Here's a brief description from amazon:

"A recipe collection book that helps collect the traditions of a lifetime easily and elegantly. Includes 12 sections, each with 4 ways to organize.
Pocket pages for clippings

Lined recipe pages for handwritten favorites I write our passed down family favorites on these

Clear full pages for handwritten favorites These are page protectors that you can slide full sized page recipes into. Usually I put ones that I've printed from my computer into these.

Clear pocket pages for recipe cards & photos These are clear 4x6 or so sized pockets to stick recipe cards into

and 24 glorious recipe cards to start you off. The recipe cards are beautiful and match the book.
This book is constructed to last a lifetime, the cover is sturdy hardboard, laminated to resist spills of a busy kitchen. Extra~duty binder rings have 2 springs, to reduce spring fatigue and misalignment, and to lock - so they cannot open accidentally."

It also includes some recipes already in there and has charts for measurements, etc. The book is quite large so it's a hefty thing but is able to handle a lot of recipes. You can purchase more page protectors and 4x6 page pockets from Wal-mart (brand x) if you need more. What's great about this book is that it's laid out well and very practical but it's also a wonderful treasure to pass down in your family.

Now, funny enough, I found this book on Amazon by chance and just had to put it on here. It's a recipe organizer as well but look at the title. =0)

Okay, moving on....for other ways to organize your recipes:

3 Ring Binder- You can duplicate the formal recipe binder above by purchasing your own large 3 ring binder, scrap booking your own cover and buying your own pages, page protectors, 4x6 pockets, etc. You can make it your own style and all. With scrap booking supplies, there are tons of cute cooking stickers, die cuts, brads, and more out there to use for embellishments. This is also makes a wonderful personalized gift for a bride.

Recipe Box- some people prefer this route. You can purchase a small recipe box just about anywhere these days which makes this route easy to get started. My only advice would be to consider the size. There is only so much room in a box. If you tend to be someone that collects a LOT of recipes, this might not be the option for you. Personally I prefer to look through my recipes as I flip pages in a book as opposed to having to pull up each recipe to look through a box.

Recipe Box expanded- again you can do your own version of this and purchase a large box that is meant for storage or pictures. I got one of these for my mom one year and she still uses it and loves it. She has so many recipes that she had no trouble filling this quite larger than a shoe box sized box. TJMaxx used to get them in all the time and it's a sturdy box with lid that is all covered in beautiful blue toile. I used invitations from Kinko's for the dividers that were two on a page that you cut in half that had wine and grapes on them and were made of heavy card stock.

Recipe Book- There are several versions of recipe books out there for organizing your own recipes. If you aren't interested in the family heirloom version but don't want a box, this might be right for you. You can purchase them at most cooking stores and most general grocery stores including Wal-mart and Target stores. They come in just about every style, design, and size you can imagine.

Software- There is also recipe organizing software. Here's an example, click here. Here's another one. I would do some research first if you are considering going paperless. Even get recommendations from people about whether or not they like the software they are using. You can also read reviews online if you can find them. You want to make sure that you really like the software and that it's easy to back up before you spend the time entering all of your recipes into it. Personally, I'm not ready to forgo my hard copies plus I'm sentimental about the hand written recipe. But if you're a modern woman with a lap top on your kitchen counter and love the idea of paperless recipe organizing, this might be a wonderful option for you.

Online Storage- There are also websites that will store your recipes for you. Such as this one. Your recipes will be available to you wherever you have Internet access. That way you don't even have to have your own computer with your own software on it. This again might be appealing for the convenience and the accessibility especially for someone that travels a lot, has a summer home, wants to share their recipes with others, etc. Do consider though that you are putting all your recipes in the hands of a web site company that one day you might go to and it's no longer there.

I think that covers the main options that I've seen. But I do want to point out a way of organizing your cook books. You can use an upright holder like this one pictured that can hold several small cookbooks for easy viewing and access. They even make ones that I've seen specifically for cookbooks. You can also get a solid one and cover it with your own cute cooking paper. Be creative or keep it simple. This makes storing your cookbooks in a pantry very helpful.

Well, I hope that was helpful.

Prime Rib

I've been making Prime Rib for Christmas dinner as a tradition for the past 5 or 6 years. I was so intimidated by it the first time but was pleasantly surprised how easy it is to cook. Now my husband insist that we have it every Christmas.




Prime Rib Roast comes with either the ribs still attached or with no rib bones. The one in the picture is without the rib bones. If you buy a prime rib roast with the ribs you cook it in the same position with the rib side down and the fat side up. I prefer to buy the no bone roast for simplicity.

All you do is season it the way you like. I prefer to use Montreal Steak Seasoning but you can use just about any rub that you like or just sea salt and crushed peppercorns. You also want to cook it fat side up.

You'll need a thermometer to gage when it's done to your liking. Stick the thermometer in the center but not all the way to the other side. Be sure that if you are using a roast with rib bones in that the thermometer is not touching any bones. Use a cook book to determine the right amount of time or my chart below. When it reaches the desired doneness, push the thermometer into the meat a little farther. If the temperature drops, continue cooking. If the temperatures stays the same, remove the roast. Cover the meat and let stand about 15 minutes before carving (this is called "resting") which will help to stabilize the juices so that they don't all run out when you cut it. The meat will continue to cook slightly while standing. If you like, remove the roast when the thermometer registers 5 degrees below the desired doneness. The one in the picture was being served medium-well so it might look a little more done on the outside than it would if you were cooking it medium-rare or rare. Here is a general guide:


Rare
140 degrees

Medium
160 degrees

Well
170 degrees

I always cook mine in a 325 degree oven.

The one in the picture is quite small because it was going to serve 4-6. You can purchase different sized cuts to fit your guest list size or prepare two at the same time for a large party. Cutting it in at least 1 inch thick cuts, this roast served 6. They do shrink up quite a bit so you want to figure that about a 12 inch long roast will feed about 6-7 adults once it's cooked.

A roasting pan is really helpful if you'd like to catch the drippings. You can use the drippings for au jue, to make gravy for mashed potatoes (strain the drippings first), or in our case- to cook the roasted potatoes and carrots in.

It's common to serve prime rib with horseradish mixed with sour cream or just plain sour cream. But it's perfectly fine to eat it plain or dip it in au jue.

Recipe for au jue:
Strain drippings and set aside. Pour 2 cups boiling water into the original drippings pan and stir and scrap all the crusty browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Stir in the pan drippings and then cook and stir till bubbly.

If cooking a prime rib has been intimidating to you before, I hope you've been inspired to give it a try until you've perfected it for yourself.

Chicken Stuffing Casserole

This recipe isn't that healthy but it's a nice easy dinner in the crock pot. I've been researching more vegetable and grain recipes so I'll be trying some of those out soon and will be posting the good ones on here.

I don't know what this recipe is called nor do I actually have a recipe for it. Someone brought it to us as a meal when our daughter was born and we liked it so much that this is my attempt to duplicate it. I've been making it in the crock pot the past several years for a simple dinner.

Ingredients:

3 frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 can cream of mushroom soup

milk

2 c chopped spinach (frozen or fresh)

2 c grated jack cheese

1/2 package of boxed stuffing

Put chicken in the bottom of your crock. Mix the cream of mushroom soup with enough milk to equal 2 cups so soup is thinned out. Pour over chicken. Put spinach in next. In the pictures I used frozen chopped spinach (not the boxed kind, the bag kind. You could use fresh or boxed if you drain it) but you can use just about any veggie of your liking (green beans, broccoli, corn, etc.). Layer the cheese next. In the pictures I used grated Colby jack and Monterrey jack. Sprinkle on top about 1/2 of a package of chicken stuffing. I used one made with whole wheat.

Your crock will be really full (if it's around a 5-6 qt.) but it will cook down quite a bit. I cook mine starting at noon on high till dinner time. You could very well put this together in the morning and cook on low all day till dinner. Serve over brown rice or whole wheat pasta if you like.