White Cheese Chicken Lasagna

I made this for another Mom in our ward who is having a baby (we have tons). She is a vegetarian, so I ommitted the chicken and instead of using chicken broth, I used more milk, and then added artichoke hearts in one of the layers.
I made it normal for our family and it was delicious! Mike actually said "I think this might be my new favorite"


Ingredients
9 lasagna noodles
1/2 cup butter
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups milk
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cups ricotta cheese
2 cups cubed, cooked chicken meat
2 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese for topping


Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain, and rinse with cold water.
2.Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook the onion and garlic in the butter until tender, stirring frequently. Stir in the flour and salt, and simmer until bubbly. Mix in the broth and milk, and boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Stir in 2 cups mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Season with the basil, oregano, and ground black pepper. Remove from heat, and set aside.
3.Spread 1/3 of the sauce mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer with 1/3 of the noodles, the ricotta, and the chicken. Arrange 1/3 of the noodles over the chicken, and layer with 1/3 of the sauce mixture, spinach, and the remaining 2 cups mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. Arrange remaining noodles over cheese, and spread remaining sauce evenly over noodles. Sprinkle with parsley and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.
4.Bake 35 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven.

Summer Couscous salad

We are visiting Pratt's for the long wknd (LOVING the warmer weather). Enjoying a BBQ today. April reminded me to get it up on our cooking blog.

Summer Couscous Salad (serves 6-8)
1 pkg 5.9 oz. Parmesan couscous (Near East brand is great).
1/4 t. black pepper
2 T lemon juice
3 T olive oil
1 pkg cherry tomatoes (halved)-or a couple of garden tomatoes diced
1 small green zuchinni-diced
1 small yellow squash-diced
1/2 c. fresh basil (or sprinkle dry basil)
1 C. or container of feta cheese
*bunch of green onions-chopped
*Note to self: set aside onion-free portion for Mike

• Make couscous according to pkg, set aside.
• Mix lemon juice and olive oil, pepper together then add to couscous
• Add veggies to couscous mixture, stir and chill in fridge (up to 4 hrs)
• Stir in feta & serve

Bernice's famous Swedish pancakes

Sorry it has taken so long to get this recipe up. I know that some of you have been waiting for it.

Mix together, well:

-6 eggs, beaten
-2 1/4 C buttermilk
-1 rounded t baking soda
-3/4 t salt
-1 1/2 C flour
-1 1/2 T sugar
-1/3 C oil

Batter will be thin. Cook on hot griddle. Serve with any toppings you like!

Our New Family Favorite!

Hi Ladies.   So I get tired of the same old recipes that keep recycling through my kitchen.  I love this blog because I've gotten new and great ideas from all of you!  Thank You.   I like to purchase recipe books from time to time.... and tonight I dusted one off and hoped for inspiration.  I found an EASY recipe - most things we probably have in the pantry or freezer - and my kids LOVED THEM!  The nice thing is most of these ingredients are "lean" or "skim" or "low fat" if you so choose.  You could probably throw in  a few veggies and they would never know!  Here you go:

Cheeseburger Calzones

1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 tsp. salt
1 jar (1 lb 10 oz) Ragu Robusto Pasta Sauce
1 jar (8 oz.) marinated mushroom, drained and chopped (optional)
1 C. shredded Cheddar Cheese (about 4 oz.)
1 Package (12 oz.) refrigerated large flaky biscuits (8 biscuits)

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In 12-inch skillet, brown ground beef with onion and salt over medium-high heat; drain.  Stir in 1 cup Ragu Pasta Sauce, mushrooms and cheese.

2.  Roll or press out each biscuit to a 6 - inch circle (this is key - roll them big enough!)  Place 1/2 Cup beef mixture on each dough circle; fold over and press edges to close.  Seal completely by pressing along edges firmly with tines of fork.

3.  With large spatula, gently arrange on cookie sheets.  Bake 13 minutes or until golden.  Serve with remaining sauce (warm it up and dribble on top of Calzone or serve on the side)

De-lish :)

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

 

Yummy Enchiladas:

1 lb. cooked chicken strips, or canned chicken (that's what I used)
1 brick cream cheese (can use low fat)
1 sm can green chiles

*warm in a skillet until cream cheese melts

*Spoon mixture into 10, or so, warmed large corn tortillas (I found mine at Walmart), roll up and place seam side down in a greased casserole dish. Pour over the top, 2 10 oz. cans Old El Paso mild green chile ench. sauce (Jon says it's hard to find good green ench. sauce and he thought this one was really good) and put grated cheddar cheese on top. Bake @ 350 for 15-20 min. YUMMY! EASY! FAST! It's good with or without sour cream and serve with spanish rice, corn and or beans.

Me, Jon, and Haleigh loved it. Lauren and Collin thought it was a little spicy but putting sr. cream on it helped to cool the spiciness and then they ate it up!

HOLIDAY CANDIES

This recipe came in time to make Easter eggs with the little ones, but could be made in a variety of shapes and colors for any holiday - hearts, pumpkins, bells, etc.

Ingredients:

1/4 C. butter, softened

4 oz. regular cream cheese, softened

1/2 tsp. flavor extract of your choice

4 C. powdered sugar

2 1/2 C. shredded sweetened coconut (7 oz.)

colored sprinkle sugar (purchased, or color your own)

Method:

Mix softened butter and cream cheese, add flavor of choice and powdered sugar. Mix well, then add coconut, stirring by hand or with cookie dough attachment in mixer.

Roll candy into small egg shapes (about size of golf ball) and roll in colored sugar; place candy on cookie sheet to set up. Makes between 18 - 24 pieces.

Note: flavoring extracts could include almond, vanilla, orange, lemon (with a little grated rind), coconut. These could also be dipped or partially dipped in colored or regular melted chocolate. Use your imagination! The kids are great at forming and sugaring!

Something new for breakfast...

I bought a bag of quinoa grain at Costco a few months ago. A friend of mine told me it is the only grain that provides protein. Didn't even know how to cook it. I tried steaming it in Mike's rice cooker. Mike took one bite and basically said it tasted like a soggy rag. Thankfully, my sister Katie had a delicious breakfast recipe for it. Much better than my plain quinoa.

Cinnamon Quinoa Cereal

2 cups water

1 cup quinoa

2-3 tsp ground cinnamon

1-2 tablespoons maple syrup (can also use honey or agave)

dash of real salt

add all ingredients together except quinoa. when water/cinnamon mixture is boiling add quinoa. cover and let simmer for 15 minutes.