Lasagna with Creamed Spinach

I got this recipe a couple of weeks ago from my Aunt. My Aunt is a great cook and I remember her cooking all the time growing up. She has a blog that she updates every once in a while that talks about the history behind holidays, usually has some funny stories, and she shares a recipe relating to that holiday. You can check it out here. This turned out great and I will definitely be making it again. For the most part, Emi likes vegetables and doesn't mind when I include them in our dinner, but every once in a while he throws a fuss. He did ask me "what is that green stuff?" when I served him this dish, but he ended up asking when I would make it again by the time he got a mouthful. We had Emi's sister and her husband over for dinner and they really enjoyed it as well. Yum!

CREAMED SPINACH
2 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach , thawed, drained and squeezed dry
1 cup cottage cheese
1 8-oz package cream cheese
1/2 cup butter, cubed 3 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups cubed process American cheese
1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt

Lightly grease your crockpot. In a large bowl, mix together the spinach, cottage cheese, cream cheese and butter, American cheese, eggs, flour and salt until everything is evenly distributed. Transfer to the greased slow cooker. Cook on high for one hour, then reduce heat to low and continue cooking for 4 - 5 hours. Use for filling in lasagna, or manicotti shells. Can even be eaten by itself.

You'll find my recipe for lasagna here. Just substitute the cottage cheese, cheddar, and eggs for the creamed spinach.

Philly Loaf

I made this about a week and a half ago, but I'm trying to break up all of the chicken recipes that I have. :-D If anyone has some good recipes that involve beef or pork and doesn't involve beans... let me know. My husband and I aren't big fans of beans. Oh, and preferably isn't a standard dish like spaghetti or lasagna unless its a relatively unique recipe.
Emi and our friends Cody and Missy absolutely loved this meal. I didn't LOVE it, but I didn't hate it either. There is a little deli really close to our home and Emi and Cody swear that this meal tasted exactly like their Philly Cheesesteak so I had to change the name a little bit. Next time I make this I will add some green bell peppers to tie off the whole new Philly outlook on it.

Philly Loaf
(aka Bacon Mushroom Swiss Meatloaf)

12 ounces chopped raw bacon
1 small white onion, chopped
5 button mushrooms, chopped
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 1/2 pounds extra-lean ground beef
1 egg
1/4 cup evaporated milk
6 ounces shredded Swiss cheese, divided
1/2 cup corn flake crumbs

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Place bacon in a skillet and cook over medium heat until the pieces are browned. Remove with a slotted spoon to paper towels. Discard all but 1 tablespoon of bacon grease. Stir in onions, mushrooms, and green bell peppers, and cook until soft. Remove from heat.
3. In a large bowl, stir together beef, egg, and milk. Stir in the onion, mushrooms and green bell peppers. Mix in about 4 ounces of Swiss cheese, and all but 1 tablespoon of bacon. Stir in cornflake crumbs, and mix until well blended. Shape into a loaf, and place in a meatloaf pan.
4. Bake in a preheated oven for 1 hour. Drain fat, and sprinkle with remaining cheese and bacon. Return to oven, and bake until cheese is melted, about 5 minutes.

Swedish Meatballs

I got this while watching the Food Network late one night waiting for Emi to come home. Have you ever watched Good Eats? Man, that guy is annoying!, but the recipe sounded awesome.

It turns out that this recipe WAS awesome. Emi loved it! I wasn't exactly sure what I was supposed to serve it with because on the show, he did it as a type of appetizer. I remembered my other meatball recipe, and decided to serve it over noodles.

With the directions, it may seem really intense, but it was relatively quick and easy to put together and cooked pretty fast. I would just personally like to thank whoever gave me that electric skillet for my wedding. I can't imagine trying to make 2 pounds of pork/beef mixture in one of my tiny sauce pans!

Swedish Meatballs

INGREDIENTS
2 slices fresh white bread
1/4 cup milk
3 tablespoons butter, divided
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
A pinch plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt (I used regular salt)
1 pound ground chuck
1 pound ground pork
2 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups beef broth*
1/4 cup heavy cream (I used closer to 1/2 c.)

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.
2. Tear the bread into pieces and place in a small mixing bowl along with the milk. Set aside.
3. In a 12-inch straight sided saute pan over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and sweat until the onions are soft. Remove from the heat and set aside.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the bread and milk mixture, ground chuck, pork, egg yolks, 1 teaspoon of kosher salt, black pepper, allspice, nutmeg, and onions. Beat on medium speed for 1 to 2 minutes.
5. Using a scale, weigh meatballs into 1-ounce portions and place on a sheet pan. Using your hands, shape the meatballs into rounds. (I don't have a scale. I just made little meatballs.)
6. Heat the remaining butter in the saute pan over medium-low heat, or in an electric skillet set to 250 degrees F. Add the meatballs and saute until golden brown on all sides, about 7 to 10 minutes. Remove the meatballs to an ovenproof dish using a slotted spoon and place in the warmed oven.
7. Once all of the meatballs are cooked, decrease the heat to low and add the flour to the pan or skillet. Whisk until lightly browned, approximately 1 to 2 minutes. Gradually add the beef stock and whisk until sauce begins to thicken. Add the cream and continue to cook until the gravy reaches the desired consistency. Remove the meatballs from the oven, cover with the gravy and serve.

*I must have accidently used the other can of beef broth I had for this recipe. Instead, I used 2 c. beef broth and 1 c. chicken broth. Eh, you do what you can.

Cheesy Lasagna Rolls

Grading scale: A

I actually made these about a week ago. I didn't post it because Shayla had just barely posted it on her blog (that's actually where I got the idea!), but these little lasagna rolls have had such an effect on me that I haven't stopped thinking about them since. I made 13 lasagna rolls and I, like Shayla, added 1 lb of meat into the mixture. As I was sitting watching the food network last night, I was thinking about these lasagna rolls and I think I found the perfect way to make them just PERFECT. While I really loved these, I also thought the filling was a bit dry, kind of pasty texture. I also thought that the meat didn't have a lot of flavor. I've added a small jar of tomato sauce to the filling and suggest while browning the meat to add some Italian Seasoning. I also think it might be good to do a mixture of cottage cheese and ricotta cheese. These made excellent leftovers!

Here is my edited recipe:

Cheesy Lasagna Rolls

12 Lasagna noodles, cooked and cooled (I used 13 because I boiled 14 and only one of them came out cracked)
1 jar spaghetti sauce, divided

Filling:
1 lb ground beef (cooked with a bit of Italian Seasoning to taste)
1 small can tomato sauce (the smallest can you can find because you might not use it all)
1 container (15 oz) ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp parsley flakes
1/8 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic salt
2 cups mozzarella cheese, divided (1 1/2 cup for filling, 1/2 cup on top)

Pour 1/2 of spaghetti sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan, just enough to cover the bottom to prevent sticking. Brown meat. Mix together all ingredients for the filling, using just enough tomato sauce to make it moist, but not runny. Lay noodles flat and spread filling mixture on noodles. Roll up like a sleeping bag and lay in pan. Top with remaining sauce and mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

*Note: Do not over cook noodles. Follow directions on box of noodles.

"Slappy" Joes

I will be making this tonight. My husband, who grew up in Romania, had never heard of sloppy joes until I made them about a year ago. He never seems to get the name right, so to us they are "Slappy" Joes . Silly boy!

Apparently this recipe makes a ton so I am going to cut it in half, and hopefully we'll still have plenty for leftovers tomorrow.

Sloppy Joes

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 onions, roughly chopped
2 ½ pounds ground beef
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2/3 cup smoky BBQ sauce (or whatever BBQ sauce is in your fridge)
½ cup ketchup
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup soy sauce
Freshly ground black pepper
8 to 12 potato rolls

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until they start to turn translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the beef and cook, stirring and breaking up the meat, until it is finely crumbled, the liquid boils off and the meat begins to brown, about 10 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, and keep stirring until the meat is coated. Add the BBQ sauce, ketchup, Worcestershire, soy sauce, and pepper, and bring to a boil. Cook until the sauce is slightly thickened, 4 to 5 minutes. You can make the sloppy joe up to 2 days in advance and reheat it over low heat or in the microwave.

Wrap the rolls in aluminum foil and warm in the oven for about 10 minutes. Serve the sloppy joes hot with the warmed rolls.

Cabbage Casserole

Cabbage Casserole
Grading scale: A-

This one is a little unusual, and it looks kind of gross, but it is really good. My husband is a big fan of cabbage because he grew up eating a dish called Sarmale (Cabbage rolls, recipe to come soon!). I got this recipe from my mom. When she first made this for us, both my brother and I stuck up our noses at it, but after we tried it - we asked for her to make it again. I have made a couple of changes from her original recipe to suit it more to mine and Emi's liking.

1 lb. Ground Beef
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Head of Cabbage (cut up)
1 Onion (chopped)
1 1/2 15 oz cans tomato sauce
1 1/2 c. frozen corn
Top w/cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place cut up cabbage in a pot of water, bring to boil. Let boil until cabbage is softened (I don't have a time on this, but I would estimate about 8-10 minutes.).
3. Drain.
4. In the meanwhile, place onion and ground beef in a pan and brown.
5. In a casserole dish layer cabbage, beef and onion, tomato sauce, and corn. Top with cheese.
6. Cook for 30 minutes.

Easy Lasagna

I have been making this lasagna dish since I was about 15 years old. My mom had cancer when I was a little girl, and when I was almost 16 she had to have surgery so I became the cook for about 2 weeks. My next door neighbor Lisa, stepped up to the plate and taught me how to make a couple of dishes, this was one of them.

This is my brother's and my dad's favorite thing that I make. If I were to call them up right now and tell them I was making this both of them would get in their cars and come down right-away. :-D My dad requested that I make this for him as his birthday present, so I need to go up there soon and make it!

Easy Lasagna

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb ground beef
1 16oz carton of cottage cheese
2 1/2 c. of cheddar cheese, grated.
2 eggs
1 jar Classico Traditional Sweet Basil (or the marinara sauce of your choice)
1 box Lasagna noodles*

DIRECTIONS:
1. Boil noodles (or use oven-ready noodles and skip to step 5). Follow directions on the box.
2. In the meanwhile, in a mixing bowl mix together cottage cheese, half of the cheddar cheese, and the eggs.
3. Brown the meat. Drain. Pour the marinara sauce into the same pan.
4. Once noodles are done, lay aluminum foil down on the counter and using prongs pull noodles out and lay them on the foil to dry slightly
5. Put a layer of noodles in a 9x13 baking dish.
6. Layer: 1/2 cup Meat and sauce, 1/2 cup cheese mixture, noodles. Repeat until all noodles are gone. On the top put cheese mixture and remaining half of grated cheddar cheese.
7. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 35 minutes. Remove aluminum foil and bake for 10 minutes.

Back to School Sloppy Joes

I got this from Campbell's Kitchen. This is for one of those nights where you don't feel like cooking but you have to eat SOMETHING.

Back to School Sloppy Joes

1 lb ground beef
1 can (10 3/4 oz) Campbell's Condensed Tomato Soup
2 T. ketchup
1 tsp. prepared mustard
6 hamburger rolls

Cooke beef in skillet until browned. Drain.
Add soup, ketchup, and mustard and heat throup. Serve on rolls.

I'm sure that you could add some onion powder and some worchestershire sauce and it would give it an even better flavor without adding much work!

Meatballs with Cream Sauce

This was really good. My friend Jessica's birthday was on Monday and she was working so we couldn't get together so instead we packed up all the ingredients and went to her house last night (As well as our friends' two children! :-D). Jessica paired up the dish nicely with some garlic bread and a salad.

I did a couple of things different and then Emi did something typical of him that probably made the dish taste a bit different. First of all, I put cheddar cheese in the meatball mixture and I also used all dried ingredients. Not on purpose, but because Walmart was slacking (as usual) in the produce department. The dried ingredients are a little more potent so I think that was part of the reason the meatballs were SOOOO flavorful. If you use fresh, use more than recommended.

Now on to Emi.... haha. Jessica was feeding the baby, and I was watching the sauce, so I asked Emi to take care of the noodles. He asked us if he should put salt in the water and we said yes. Well come time to taste the noodles to find out if they were done, we realized just how much salt Emi put in the water. Emi LOVES salt. It worked out though, because the sauce wasn't salty at all so what we got in the end was a perfect dish. Only next time I think that I will put the salt in the sauce instead.

If you're going to make this dish, I recommend tasting the sauce every once in a while and adding things to it if you think it is not so flavorful. I think some parmesan cheese would have gone perfectly inside the sauce. As for the thickness, of the sauce, I thought it had a pretty good thickness, but Emi would have perferred it a bit thicker. Also, I would use and did use equal portions butter and flour when making the sauce because I tried it the other way and it didn't work out for me.

I WILL MAKE THIS AGAIN! :-D

I got this here.

Meatballs with Cream Sauce

MEATBALLS:
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup milk
2 T. ketchup
1 t. Worcestershire sauce
3/4 cup quick oats
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1 1/2 lb. lean ground beef
3 T. flour

CREAM SAUCE:
2 T. butter
3 1/2 T. flour
1/4 t. dried thyme
1/4 t. salt
1/8 t. pepper
14 oz. can chicken broth (If you want your sauce thicker, cut down the chicken broth to 1 cup)
2/3 cup milk
2 T. minced fresh parsley

In a bowl, combine all of the meatball ingredients EXCEPT the beef and flour. Add beef and mix well. Shape into balls. Roll in flour, shaking off excess. Place 1 inch apart on cookie sheet and bake, uncovered, at 400 for 10 minutes.
Turn meatballs, bake 8-10 minutes longer or until no longer pink.
Meanwhile, for the sauce, melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour, thyme, salt and pepper until smooth. Gradually add broth and milk; bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes, until slightly thickened.
If using the full can of chicken broth, the sauce doesn't thicken overly much, but it is delicious that way. If you want it slightly thicker, cut down the chicken broth to 1 cup.
Drain meatballs on paper towels; transfer to a serving dish. Top with sauce and parsley. Serve over rice or egg noodles.

Enchilada Casserole

I got this here.

ENCHILADA CASSEROLE

4-5 flour tortillas
1 lb. hamburger
Onion powder to taste
1 can enchilada sauce
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 can chopped green chilies
6 tsp. milk mixed with soup
1 can sliced black olives
Grated cheese
Sour cream, lettuce, and tomatoes as desired

Fry hamburger with onion powder until brown. Drain. Add enchilada sauce, soup with milk, and green chilies. Simmer while preparing the rest.

Tear tortillas into fourths. Put a thin layer of meat sauce on the bottom of a 9 X 13 pan (to avoid sticking). Layer ingredients: tortillas, grated cheese, chopped olives, sauce, then repeat until all the sauce is gone. (Usually 2 layers of each). Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Top as desired.

Meatloaf Cordon Bleu

This was really good. The only thing I didn't like about it was that it was kind of dry. I think next time I will cover it in aluminum foil while cooking to keep some of the moisture in there. Either that, or I will make some sort of a sauce to baste it with while it is cooking. Still good, and definitely worth a go.

I made this for Father's Day. My Dad LOVES Meatloaf and I thought this would be good to switch things up a bit.

Meatloaf Cordon Bleu

INGREDIENTS:
2 pounds extra-lean ground beef
1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1 small onion, chopped
2 eggs, beaten
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
4 ounces thinly sliced cooked ham
4 ounces provolone cheese, sliced

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the ground beef, bread crumbs, eggs, and onion. Season with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Pat the meat mixture out onto a piece of waxed paper, and flatten to 1/2 inch thick. Lay slices of ham onto the flattened meat, and top with slices of cheese. 3. Pick up the edge of the waxed paper to roll the flattened meat up into a log. Remove waxed paper, seal the ends and seam, and place the loaf into a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the loaf is no longer pink inside.

I got this here.