The Best Lasagna Ever

Pioneer Woman had a recipe for lasagna listed on her site titled Best Lasagna Ever.  Dewayne loves lasagna, well not the lasagna I have fixed before, but good lasagna fixed right. The first time I fixed and the first time I had ever eaten lasagna was the evening before I went into labor with Weston. I fixed lasagna and made sweet tea. I wasn't crazy over either, but fixed it for Dewayne. Having never had lasagna or contractions before, I thought the pain was from eating the lasagna. Silly me. Well, I fixed the lasagna on Thursday and I was in the hospital early the next morning and Weston came Monday evening. You might think I would never want to fix or eat lasagna again, but nah Dewayne likes it and I have been trying to find a good lasagna recipe that he will actually give his stamp of approval on. Over the years I have grown to like lasagna.. Unlike my better half, I am not a picky eater, I can eat about anything made anyway and be fine with it. I have tried several lasagna recipes over the last 9 years. Dewayne hasn't been thrilled with any of them and the last time I fixed I think he had given up on me ever making good lasagna, he said he really didn't like lasagna anymore. When I found this recipe I had to try it, afterall it was titled The Best Lasagna ever. I'll go ahead and tell you, this lasagna is titled right and Dewayne even gave his stamp of approval, he said it was the best lasagna he had ever eaten ever (even in restaurants which included our local Italian Dino's and the ever famous Olive Garden). We both loved it and I think I will keep this as my regular lasagna recipe.

What you need...
*1-½ pound Ground Beef
*1 pound Hot Breakfast Sausage
*2 cloves Garlic, Minced
*2 cans (14.5 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes
*2 cans (6 Ounce) Tomato Paste
*2 Tablespoons Dried Parsley
*2 Tablespoons Dried Basil
*1 teaspoon Salt
*3 cups Lowfat Cottage Cheese
*2 whole Beaten Eggs
*½ cups Grated (not Shredded) Parmesan Cheese
*2 Tablespoons Dried Parsley
*1 teaspoon Salt
*1 pound Sliced Mozzarella Cheese
*1 package (10 Ounce) Lasagna Noodles (my friend used the no cook noodles & they worked just fine)
*(add 1/2 Teaspoon Salt And 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil To Pasta Water)

What you do...
Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet or saucepan, combine ground beef, sausage, and garlic. Cook over medium-high heat until browned. Drain half the fat; less if you’re feeling naughty. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, 2 tablespoons parsley, basil and salt. After adding the tomatoes, the sauce mixture should simmer for 45 minutes while you are working on the other steps.

In a medium bowl, mix cottage cheese, beaten eggs, grated Parmesan, 2 more tablespoons parsley, and 1 more teaspoon salt. Stir together well. Set aside. Cook lasagna until “al dente” (not overly cooked).

To assemble:

Arrange 4 cooked lasagna noodles in the bottom of a baking pan, overlapping if necessary. Spoon half the cottage cheese mixture over the noodles. Spread evenly. Cover cottage cheese with a layer of mozzarella cheese. Spoon a little less than half the meat/sauce mixture over the top.

Repeat, ending with meat/sauce mixture. Sprinkle top generously with extra Parmesan.

Either freeze, refrigerate for up to two days, or bake immediately: 350-degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes, or until top is hot and bubbly.

Tuna Salad

My neighbor Lois brought me over some tuna salad a couple of weeks ago. I fixed myself a sandwich and then ended up eating what was left with spoon right out of the container. It was so good, I had to make me some more. This tuna salad is a great choice when you need something fast. Most people probably already have the ingredients in their kitchen and it takes less than 10 minutes to stir this tasty salad up.

What you need:
-2 (5oz.) cans tuna in water, drained ( I like to use Starkist Chunk White Albacore Tuna)
-1/3 to 1/2c. mayonnaise
-1/3c. chopped onion (preferrably vidalia)
-1 stalk celery, chopped
-dash salt
-dash pepper

What you do:
-In a medium bowl, stir mayonnaise into drained tuna and mix well. Stir in chopped onion and celery. Give a dash of salt and a dash of pepper. Stir again to mix well. Serve with Ritz or Club crackers or spread on bread for a sandwich. Yes, it is that easy.

You can add more or less mayonnaise, onion, celery, salt or pepper. Just whatever suits your taste. You can also add in chopped boiled egg whites or any type of relish.  So simple, so quick, so tasty. Great for snacks, lunches, parties and picnics.

Spinach Dip

















This recipe came from Melissa, a friend from school. I have fixed spinach dip before, but when she gave me this recipe, it sounded so good I just couldn't wait to fix it. Just like she told me and just as I expected it was delicious!! The best spinach dip I have ever eaten.

What you need...
-2 boxes frozen chopped spinach (thawed or heated and drained)
-1 stick margarine
-1 1/2 boxes cream cheese (12oz. total)
-1 c. shredded Parmesan cheese & extra for the top
-garlic powder
-chili powder or cayenne pepper
-tortilla chips

What you do...
-Make sure the spinach is thawed, you can set it out to thaw, heat it or do like I did... leave it in the sealed plastic packages and let it set in hot water until completely thawed. Then you want to make sure and drain all the liquid, I always squeeze the spinach with my hands to be sure I get as much liquid out as I can.
-Melt the margarine in a frying pan. Add the cream cheese and stir together well with the margarine as it melts. Add the Parmesan cheese and mix well with the butter/cream cheese mixture as it is melting.
-When the mixture is combined well, sprinkle with garlic powder and chili powder or cayenne pepper. You can use both the chili powder and cayenne pepper if you want, don't use too much or it will be too spicy. I used garlic powder and cayenne pepper and just kept adding to taste. Stir the spices to mix well.

Margarine, cream cheese, parmesan cheese & spice mixture.

-Add the drained spinach and mix well. Pour into a small baking dish (preferrably a glass casserole dish) and sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top ( I covered the top of mine).

Spinach stirred in & placed in a casserole dish.

Covered in Parmesan and ready for the oven.

- Bake in a preheated 350 degrees for 30 minutes ( I accidentally left mine in longer, don't make the same mistake, it was still delicious but the cheese was a little harder than if it would have only stayed in 30 min.) and serve warm dip with tortilla chips. I heated my leftover dip in the microwave. Yummy, yummy. Enjoy!!


Homemade Ice Cream

Easy Homemade Ice Cream without a Machine. This is another one I spotted on Kevin & Amanda's site. Her pictures looked so good and the process was so simple I just had to try some for myself. I decided to try my own flavors, one for me and one for Dewayne. My favorite ice cream is peppermint, the only time it is available is during the holidays, so my flavor choice included peppermint. I added in some chocolate and called it Peppermint Patty. Dewayne loves anything peanut butter, so something peanut butter it was, I went with Reese Cup. Making the ice cream was super easy and both flavors turned out delicious!!

What you need...
*2 c. (16oz.) heavy whipping cream
*1 can sweetened condensed milk
*whatever flavor add-ins you choose

~For the Peppermint Patty...
*1/2c. crushed peppermint candy
*3 Hershey bars, shaved~For the Reese Cup...

~For the Reese Cup
*1/2c. peanut butter
*6 regular-sized Reese cups, chopped

What you do...
In a large bowl, whip the whipping cream until it forms stiff peaks. In a different large bowl, combine the sweetened condensed milk and flavor add-ins. Stir the whipped whipping cream into the sweetened condensed milk mixture. Spoon into a 2qt. plastic container, cover with lid and freeze for 6 hours or until firm.

Peppermint Patty

Reese Cup

Fried Green Tomatoes

My brother has wanted fried green tomatoes all summer. They came down yesterday to watch the Bristol race and we had pulled pork sandwiches and fried green tomatoes. I had never fixed them before, but my best friend Shawna gave me this easy recipe. They were soooo good, I could never tell you how good. You will just have to try them for yourself.  Make sure to get them brown, some of the first ones that came off the stove were lightly browned and didn't taste as good as the ones that were  browned more.

Ingredients:
*green tomatoes, rinsed & medium sliced
*1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix (1 egg, 1/3c. milk)
*vegetable oil

Directions:
Pat tomato slices dry using paper towels. Pour in enough oil in pan to come 1/2 way up on the tomatoes. Let the oil get hot while you are preparing the corn muffin mix. Get the oil hot (similiar to frying chicken), but don't let it get too hot or it will burn the batter too quick. Prepare the muffin mix and dip the tomatoes in the mix one at a time. Place coated tomato slices in the hot oil and fry until browned on both sides. The less you turn them the better, turning too often can cause the batter to fall off the tomatoes. Drain the browned tomatoes on a plate covered with paper towels.

Sherbet Punch

This delicious punch recipe came from my aunt Jane and I absolutely love when mom treats us with a punch bowl full. She doesn't fix it too often, but it sure gets gone when she does.

Ingredients:
*1/2 gallon sherbet (any flavor)
*2 lg. cans pineapple juice
*2 lg. bottles 7-Up
*1 sm. bottle Ginger-Ale

Directions:
Place sherbet in a large puch bowl, pour chilled pineapple juice over top the sherbet. Let set a few minutes to soften sherbet. Add chilled 7-Up and Ginger-Ale. Stir and serve.

Cornbread

This recipe came from my stepdad (the best dad in the world). My mom has been fixing cornbread like this for as long as I remember. After I got married I started fixing it the same way and have ever since. This is very simple to prepare and makes the best cornbread ever.

Ingredients:
*1c. flour
*1c. cornmeal (sometimes I use just a little more cornmeal than flour)
*1 egg (optional)
*milk
*oil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 to 425 degrees. Mix flour and cornmeal together in a bowl, stir in the egg (I usually don't do the egg).  Before adding the milk, cover the bottom of your pan or cast iron skillet (I always use a cast iron skillet) with a thin, thin layer of vegetable oil and place in hot oven. Make sure to watch your oil, it can get too hot and smoke. If this happens you will want to wash your pan and add new oil. Back to the batter... add milk, stirring as you pour. You want your batter pourable, but not too thin (similiar to cake or pancake batter).  When your oil is bubbly hot, remove pan from oven and immediately pour batter into hot pan. Bake until the top of your bread is browned (usually 20 minutes or so). This cornbread is fairly thin, if you like thicker cornbread you may want to use 1 1/2 cups of the flour and cornmeal. Getting the oil hot, makes your crust turn out crunchy.  I love my cornbread like this, makes me want some soup beans and cornbread just thinking about. No wait, chicken and dumplings, green beans and cornbread.