Low-Maintenance Lasagna

A friend offered this to me when I was complaining about pasta dishes in the slow cooker. I tried it and was pleasantly surprised.

 

Nonstick cooking spray 1 26-oz. jar pasta sauce 3/4 cup water 1 15-oz. carton light ricotta cheese 1/2 cup shredded carrot 6 lasagna noodles 1-1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (6 oz.) Directions Coat a 4-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. In a large microwave-safe bowl stir together pasta sauce and water. Cover bowl with waxed paper and microwave on high for 3 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl stir together ricotta cheese and carrot; set aside. Spoon 1/2 cup of the sauce mixture in the bottom of prepared slow cooker. Break half of the noodles to fit the bottom of the slow cooker and arrange over the sauce in the slow cooker. Spoon mounds of half of the ricotta mixture over the noodles. Top with 1/2 cup of the mozzarella. Spoon half of the remaining sauce over the layers. Top with remaining noodles, breaking to fit, remaining ricotta mixture, and 1/2 cup mozzarella. Spoon remaining sauce over and top with remaining mozzarella. Cover; cook on low heat setting for 3 hours (noodles should be tender). Remove crockpot from liner and let stand covered for 20 minutes. Makes 6 servings.

 

Tex-Mex Salad

I got this from Daphne years ago.
10 medium sized fresh tomato
10 tortillas or a bag of tortilla chips (if you choose tortillas bake in oven @ 350 until crisp)
20 c. fresh spinach (rinsed and spun or patted dry and then chopped)
10 green onions
2 1/2 c. black beans, rinsed and drained
15 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 c. cilantro (I use parsley)
10 oz crumbled feta cheese
5 jalapeno pepper
5 red bell pepper

Chop veggies. . Bake tortillas 2-3 minutes in 350 oven (I use tortilla chips but the recipe is from "healthy" cooking group so it called for baked tortillas) .  In bowl mix beans w/ cheeses, and all the veggies. Crumble chips or put tortilla on plate. Top with salad and enjoy.

Potluck Salad

I needed a recipe for a potluck and Daph sent me this one. It's delicious!

Toss ahead of time, or whenever:

1 bag spinach greens

1 bag or head Romaine lettuce

1 bag European blend salad mix

1/2-1 cup craisins

2 apples, chopped with skin on  (I cube them)

1/2 cup green onions, chopped

2 cans Mandarin oranges (I use fresh Clementines)

 

Add just before serving and toss:

1 - 1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese

1 cup almonds, slivered, caramelized or plain

Dressing

 

Carmelized Almonds:

Combine 2 T brown sugar and 3 T white sugar in a non-stick frying pan.  Add almonds and cook on a rather high heat stirring constantly until nuts are coated and caramelized.  Do not add liquid.  It will caramelize given time.  Adjust heat as necessary not to burn.  Cool, break apart (do not leave in pan for very long. . . .think big rock o' nuts).

 

Dressing:

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tsp. dry mustard

3/4 cup salad oil

1 T onion flakes or powder

1 T poppy seeds (add just before serving)

 

Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

Divine! From Betsy via another lady from church.

http://www.marthastewart.com/339353/chewy-chocolate-gingerbread-cookies

Pumpkin Muffins

My kids loved these pumpkin muffins recommended by my friend Betsy. Here is the link:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/pumpkin-wheat-honey-muffins/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=whole%20wheat%20pumpkin%20muffins&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page

Meatless Mexican Lasagna

I requested this from my friend Betsy. It works great for a freezer meal too:

2 c. frozen corn, thawed
2 cans (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes with basil, oregano, and garlic- undrained
1 can chopped green chilies
3 green onions, sliced
2 tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. ground cumin
6 corn tortillas (6 inch or larger)
1 ½ cups colby jack cheese
sour cream for topping

Heat oven to 350.
Combine first 7 ingredients in a bowl.
place three corn tortillas in a greased (with butter or spray) 13 x 9 pan. Place half of filling on top of tortillas and repeat the steps. Top with cheese and bake for 25-30 minutes. Garnish with sour cream.

Spinach Lasagna Freezer Meals (Makes 14)

Yield 14 (6-8 servings) lasagna dishes

3/4 c. vegetable oil

14 c. chopped onion

1 #10 cans tomato sauce

2 #10 cans crushed tomatoes

1/4 c. dried basil

1/4 c. dried oregano

2 Tbsp sugar

4 Tbsp salt

pepper

 

120 oz fresh spinach (3 Costco or Cash and Carry  bags)

15 lbs cottage cheese (Cash and Carry sells these in 5 lb tubs)

10 lbs mozzarella cheese (reserve 7 cups for topping at the end)

60 oz sour cream

14 boxes of oven ready lasagna noodles

 

In a large skillet over medium heat, warm oil. Add onions and sauté until tender. Add garlic, basil, oregano, sugar, salt, and pepper. Add all cans of tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Reduce temperature to low and simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

 

While the sauce is simmering, prepare spinach: In a large steamer steam the spinach until leaves are wilted (about 3 minutes). Squeeze as much water out of the spinach and then chop. Mix together the sour cream, cheeses, and spinach. Spread 1 ladle of the tomato sauce on the bottom of each 9x13 pan(about 1 cup). In layers, add 3 noodles (no boil noodles expand so don’t worry if they don't touch), 1 heaping, large serving spoon of cheese (it will not completely cover the noodles), 1 ladle of tomato sauce. Repeat until you have 3 layers of noodles ending with cheese/sauce on top (total of 9 noodles).  Top each lasagna with 1/2 cup mozzarella. Cover and freeze.

Cooking Directions: Bake, uncovered 45 minutes at 350. Let stand 10 minutes, cut into squares and serve.