Lasagna

This is dang good lasagna! I know that Darla doesn't like lasagna. I think it is because she has never had any good lasagna (Darla there are only 3 layers of noodles in this). What is my secret? Use sausage not hamburger! Here is what you'll need...

• Lasagna noodles
• 4 cans of tomato sauce
• 1 can of tomato paste (small can)
• garlic salt (you could also use real garlic)
• onion (I used dried kind this time)
• cottage cheese
• Italian sausage (I use Jimmy Dean)
• dried Parmesan cheese
• mozzarella cheese (I used two small shredded bags)
• 1 egg
  

Get your noodles boiling (don't over cook them) and your sausage browned.

Drain the grease from the sausage and add the tomato sauce, paste, onion and garlic salt (to your liking, I like a lot). Stir this up and put a lid on it to simmer for a while.

OK so I hate ricotta cheese... So I do this instead. 1/2 cup of cottage cheese, 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, and one egg. Mix this up together really good.

Put a little of your sauce in the bottom of the pan so that the noodles wont stick to it.

Add a layer of noodles (3 across). Top noodles with sauce and cheese mixture. This is how I do mine then I spread it together (see the top noodle).

Top with some cheese. Then repeat all this one more time (you should use almost all sauce, all cheese mixture, and almost all cheese).

This is your top layer. I sprinkle on what left of the mozzarella (which wont be much) and some Parmesan cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes till bubbly and cooked warm through. You can make this the day before and keep it in the fridge until you are ready to cook it.

I love to serve my lasagna with corn and salad.

Creamy Italian Chicken

Here is another crock pot specialty. I know this is pretty common, but I tweaked it bit to my liking. I usually serve it over rice. We had it over noodles tonight and I decided I like it better that way. This is what you'll need...

4 boneless skinless chicken breast

1 can of cream of chicken soup

1 can of cheese soup

1 packet of Italian salad dressing seasoning

1 package of cream cheese

noodles or rice of your choice.

(This will feed 4 adults comfortably)

Combine all these ingredients together in the crock pot. I add the soups first, plus a third of a can of water. Mix the soups and water together a bit. Add your chicken. Top chicken with 3/4 of the package of dressing. Top with cream cheese. I cut mine into cubes first.

Put the lid on and simmer on low for about 8 hours or so depending on your crock pot (or for a quick fix high for 4 hours). I usually stir mine up after it has cooked for an hour or so and stir a few times throughout the day.

Here is your finished product! Serve with a green salad and rolls.

(PS. why is my camera so funky? My pictures are always too dark. Any camera experts out there? I have a Nikon coolpix.)

Cheesy Italian Ravioli

1 lb. ground beef
15 oz. container marinara sauce (refrigerated is what I use)
(1 cup sliced mushrooms) - don't use this one because we're not big mushroom eaters
14 1/2 oz can diced tomatoes w/ italian seasoning, undrained
9 oz. package refrigerated cheese tortellini (or ravioli)
1 cup shredded mozarella cheese

Heat oven to 375. Brown the beef over medium heat. Drain off the fat. Add the marinara sauce, mushrooms, and tomatoes to the beef mixture and stir together. Pour half of this mixture into an ungreased 9x13 baking dish. Arrange the tortellini on top of the sauce and then cover with remaining sauce mixture. Top with shredded mozarella. Bake uncovered 20 to 25 minutes or until tortellini is tender and mixture is hot.