Overnight or Super Easy Lasagna

I was feeling guilty about the bread recipe I just shared. So I'm going to give you a great lasagna recipe that is actually from Weight Watchers but you can't tell at all. The best part of this recipe (well there are a couple of good parts) is that you don't have to boil the noodles, it's super cheesy without being greasy, it's very easy and can be made up to 48 hours before you bake it or just before you bake it. So you can plan ahead or not. Flexible lasagna, that should be it's title. No, flexible, non greasy, super cheesy, yummy lasagna that will make you feel less guilty about eating that bread. Add a salad with my dad's healthy salad dressing and you can eat 1/2 the loaf.

1 pkg jimmy dead reduced fat breakfast sausage (in the tube)

1 jar prego tomato, onion and garlic spaghetti sauce

1 15 oz container of lite ricotta cheese

1 lb skim or part skim mozzarella cheese

1 egg

1 TB dried oregano

2 TB Parmesan cheese

1 can sliced mushrooms, drained

1 can sliced olives, drained

1 can diced tomatoes not drained

10 lasagna noodles (not baked) the ruffled edges kind

1 cup water

Cook and crumble sausage. Take paper towel and wipe up some grease in bottom of pan although there really isn't much. Add mushrooms, olives, spaghetti sauce, diced tomatoes and water. Cook until it barely comes to a simmer then take off the heat. Beat egg, ricotta and oregano in a separate bowl. Grab your 9x13 pan. Layer a little bit of meat sauce in bottom of pan just so noodles won't stick. Add layer of noodles. Spread 1/2 ricotta mixture on top of noodles. (a rubber spatula works good for this part) Sprinkle half the mozzarella cheese on top. Spoon about 1/3 of meat sauce on top of mozzarella. Repeat process with noodles, ricotta, mozzarella and then the rest of the meat sauce. Top with 2 TB of Parmesan. Cover with foil and pop in the fridge until you are ready to bake it. Or proceed to baking directions now.

Baking: Bake UNCOVERED at 350 for 55 minutes. Take out of oven and cover tightly with foil for 15 minutes. Let sit another 5 to 10 minutes uncovered. A weight watcher portion is 1/10th of the pan. In reality it feeds about 8 people max if you have salad and bread and 6 if you don't. We always add 2 cans olives and 2 cans of mushrooms just because I HAVE to change recipes (it's a thing I have) and we really like mushrooms and olives around here.

The Best Garlic Herb and BUTTER Bread

Look, if you came here for low fat recipes, you probably know by now you are in the wrong place. I will offer some healthy recipes if they are super good like My Dad's Healthy Salad Dressing. But I have a skinny doctor husband who surprisingly needs a meat, side dish and veggie every night. The only exception is Japanese food. He LOVES all things Japanese, from sushi (including the raw stuff), udon, gyoza, katsu, teriyaki, sunomono, sukiyaki etc. But - I digress. This is about this BREAD. It is amazing. The only way you can make it is to not change this recipe. I know it's loaded with butter. You should not eat this everyday. But it is really really really good and should be experienced once in a very great while when you are really craving garlic, butter, salt and yummy bread. You won't be sorry. So lets get rollin...

1 loaf of French Bread sliced horizontally so you have two long halves of the bread.

2 sticks of salted butter (don't abandon me at this point!)

Fresh garlic, crushed and Grey or Sea Salt to taste OR garlic salt

Fresh thyme leaves chopped up fine

Soften the butter but don't melt it. Spread one stick on one half of the bread and the other stick on the other half. This will seem like a lot of butter. But butter is in the title of this recipe. It is in fact in all CAPS. So just spread it on, don't miss a spot of bread, go all the way to the edges, get a tattoo and decide to just go for it. Spread crushed garlic on top of bread to your taste. I usually use 2 cloves per side, but I like garlic. Sprinkle with grey or sea salt to taste. I just give a light sprinkle over the top. These pieces will be cut small so you need to make sure each piece has a little bit of salt. You don't want under salted bread. Trust me. Okay, now bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes until the butter is melted and has soaked into the bread. Turn on your broiler and while watching the whole time, broil top of bread until it is golden and toasted. Remember, golden brown butter means flavor so don't under broil the bread but don't burn it. This is tricky but just watch it the whole time. Take out of the oven and sprinkle with thyme. Cut into max 2 inch slices.

You know you are drooling. Just go make it and get it over with already.

Grey Salt

There is a salt that comes from the sea on the Brittany Coast of France. It is grey in color and has a very mineral, salty and peppery flavor. My cousin Ali introduced it to me this last summer. It used to be very pricey (like $20 for a tin in specialty food stores or online only) but now it can be found at my local Raley's for $9 for the same sized tin for which I used to pay double. It is excellent on meats, popcorn, veggies, sliced tomatoes, baked potatoes, fries...anything you put salt on. Jessica's favorite is to sprinkle it on sliced apples. My girls have developed such a taste that they always ask for "grey salt" specifically instead of salt. If I tell them they have to have the "normal" sea salt that we have in the salt mill, they have a cow. If I ever offered them plain ol' Morton's Iodized Table Salt I think they would die. Anyway, check out grey salt. Besides the drawback of develping food snob toddlers, you'll love it!

Brown Sugar Turkey Meatloaf

You can make this with lean ground beef or turkey. I normally would prefer the beef version but in this case both Mike and I prefer the turkey version. It is very very good, isn't as greasy and makes awesome sandwiches. This is what we had for dinner last night with mashed potatoes and broccoli. It's nothing fancy - just good comfort food. Enjoy!

2 lbs ground turkey breast (or the leanest ground beef you can find)

1 envelope liptons onion soup mix

1/2 diced onion

1/2 cup ketchup

1 cup crushed saltine crackers or 1 cup plain breadcrumbs

3/4 cup water

2 eggs, beaten

Mix all ingredients above with heavy duty spoon or your hands. Form into a loaf in a 9x13 pan. Should reach end to end. I try to make it about the size of a piece of bread so we have the right size of meat for sandwiches in the next few days.

Mix 1/2 cup ketchup with 3/4 cup brown sugar in a cup. After you form the loaf in the pan, pour this over the top and spread it around the sides and ends. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes (or until juices run clear) and let sit up for about 10 minutes. You can make a great pan gravy with butter, flour pan bits and either chicken broth or beef broth depending on what kind of meat you use.

Leftover meatloaf sandwiches - wheat bread, mayo, a little ketchup, slice of meatloaf and thin slices of dill pickle. That's it. I like these better than the hot meatloaf!

Menu Planning and Buying In Bulk

I HATE to grocery shop. I really hate it. I've tried delegating this job to Mike, ordering groceries online and eating out way more than I should. None of this worked. So recently, I just took a moment to be pissed and then took a breath and accepted that I will NEVER be able to avoid this chore. So...the only way this is going to work for me is to buy as much as possible in bulk, planning out menus so I have to go once/week for fresh produce and live off of everything else for as close to a month as possible.

With that said, this takes some prep work but it is totally worth it if you are operating on a budget AND hate grocery shopping.

Here is what I do:

Costco: buy meat, cleaning supplies, bath supplies, soda/bottled water, frozen fruit/veggies, some canned items, milk, eggs, cheese and some prepared meals. I just bought 6 lbs of hamburger, 12 chicken breasts, 2 meals of salmon and 8 tilapia fillets. The question arises...what the heck am I going to make with all that? Here's what I came up with:

Hamburger 6lbs: meatloaf, tacos, spaghetti, lasagna, shepherd's pie, beef mac n cheese. This will give a family of four at least 13 nights of meals including leftovers. Chicken Breasts: Flautas, Fajitas, Chicken and Broccoli Casserole, Chinese Chicken Salad, Chicken Marsala Lasagna. This will give a family of four 11 nights of meals. Salmon: Miso Salmon and Blackened Salmon. This will give a family of four 2 nights of meals. Tilapia 8 fillets: Japanese Panko Fish, Fish Tacos. 2 nights of meals. Shrimp 2lbs: Shrimp pesto linguine, chilled shrimp salad, shrimp and bacon with rice. 4 meals. GRAND TOTAL: THIS WILL FEED A FAMILY OF FOUR 32 NIGHTS OF MEALS. So approximately one month of dinners if you don't eat out at all which we do once/week so this will enable us to have people over for dinner a couple of times and still make it through the month.

After I planned my dinner menu, I bought as much of the ingredients as I could at Costco and a discount grocery store. I also purchased cereal for at least 3 weeks, bread (one goes in freezer), frozen juices, side dishes and other snacks and stand by items like pb&j, cheese, lunch meat, produce (apples, bananas, salad mix, broccoli, green beans, corn, peas, stir fry veggies, carrots, celery, onions and potatoes), soda for the month, bottled water, cleaning, laundry and bath supplies, dried pasta, sauce and seasoning mixes, canned soups and dried fruit, a month of diapers & wipes, ziploc bags, drink mixes, flour, sugar, some spices, handsoaps and glade refills. Oh paper towels and toilet paper too.

I think my grocery total for the month will be right around $500 which really isn't that bad for four people.

I know those people who cook at home and cook simple meals that yield a lot of leftovers really can stretch their budget. I know my meals aren't very gourmet and I could do a lot more salads, vegetarian dinners, lowfat cooking. I try to use light, lowfat and whole grain substitutions as often as possible except for pasta. I hate whole wheat pasta. But I don't buy white breads or cereals, I use a lot of rice and we have a green veggie each night that I cook. I'm trying to keep it real, simple and as fresh as possible as long as I don't have to do major grocery shopping every few days.

Hope this look into my life and my meal plan can help you on your budget, ideas for buying in bulk and meal ideas.

Happy relaxing (instead of stressful shopping)!

Anything Wrapped in Bacon HAS to be good!!!

Shrimp Wrapped in Bacon w/pineapple

I made these little darlings for Valentines dinner with Mom, Dad, Grammie Bea, Mike and the chicks. Everyone loved them. The pineapple really makes them.

2 dozen large shrimp peeled and devained

24 pineapple chunks (from a can)

12 slices of bacon (not thick sliced) cut in half

toothpicks

Place pineapple chunk in the curve of the shrimp. Wrap in bacon. Secure shrimp, pineapple and bacon with a toothpick. Fry at medium high heat until bacon is crispy and carmelized. Drain on paper towels and serve alone on a platter or with a brown sugar and pineapple sweet and sour sauce (recipe to follow soon)

Coconut Cake

My coconut cake is famous. It's not mine though. My friend Cherie gave me the recipe in 1996. Since then, I have made it for every Easter, every Mothers Day, sometime during the holidays, every 4th of July and usually for a birthday or two during the year. Oh and don't forget the surprisingly regular occasion of a luau. The funny thing is, every person I have given the recipe to now does the same. It makes me happy just to know that Cherie and a host of her friends like me and a host of my friends are all making and serving the same cake on Easter. Hope you luuuuvvvv it. I can honestly say if you don't - there is something wrong with you.

1 white cake mix baked according to pkg directions into 2 rounds

1 cup sour cream

1 cup shredded sweetened coconut

1/2 cup sugar

Cool whip - trust me

Fresh Whipped Cream 1 pt

1/2 cup sugar

2 to 3 more cups of shredded sweetened coconut

48 - 72 hours before you want to serve the cake. Cut cakes horizontally to make 4 layers. Mix sour cream, 1 cup coconut and sugar together. Fill in between layers of cake. It will glop out of the sides. Take cool whip and seal the edges and top of the cake with a THIN layer of cool whip. It's okay to even see crumbs through the coolwhip. you are using the coolwhip like mortar to seal the cracks so nothing leaks out. Day of or right before you serve it. Whip cream and sweeten with sugar. Frost cake generously on all sides and top. Cover entire cake with coconut (sides and top) Serve alone or decorate with fresh flowers, strawberries, sliced pineapple and cherries etc.

Basil Red Mashed Poatoes with Browned Butter

When we lived in DC our favorite restaurant was Mike's American Grill in Springfield, Virginia. Our favorite thing on their menu was their blackened prime rib with these potatoes. I weaseled the potato recipe out of them late one night. I have made this for lots of folks for lots of occasions and almost always someone cries. They are the bestest.

Stuff you need to go hunt for:

5 lbs redskinned potatoes
1 pt half and half
2 sticks brown butter plus 1/2 stick for topping
1/4 cup fresh basil chopped
2 TB salt
2 TB garlic powder
1 TB black pepper

Boil scrubbed potatoes with skin on until they are done. While they are cooking brown your butter in a skillet. It should be the color of caramel or honey and smell nutty. Reserve about 4 TB of butter for topping. Mash potatoes with half and half, butter, basil, salt, garlic and black pepper. Top with rest of browned butter and serve. Let the weeping begin.

Beef or Chicken Fajitas

It is widely known by my friends that I make the best fajitas on the planet. This is not a braggie thing, my mom discovered a recipe in a newspaper before fajitas were really a thing and we've been making them this way ever since. You won't be sorry if you look for actual skirt steak. It's easy to find at most grocery stores that have a good meat dept. We throw a mean cinco de mayo party every year. It's just an excuse to serve these fajitas. We also make them for 4th of July or anytime we feel like great fajitas.

3 lbs skirt steak (or flank steak, boneless chicken breasts)
2 cups soy sauce
1 cup brown sugar
1 TB lemon juice
1 TB garlic powder
1 tsp black pepper
1 TB oil

Mix everything except steak together in a jar or tupperware container. Let sit for 24 hours. Pour over meat and marinate overnight up to 24 hours. Grill over very very hot coals or heat on a gril until temperature of meat is about 135. Bring inside and let meat rest for 15 minutes tented with foil. Slice as thinly as you can and serve with cooked onions, peppers, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, tomatoes and olives wrapped in warm flour tortillas. Serve a salad and spanish rice on the side. (If you do chicken make sure your internal temperature reaches 165 before taking it off the grill.

Shepherd's Pie

My mom made Shepherd's Pie for me when I was growing up. My dad always really liked it. I wasn't too crazy about it but then after I got married I started playing around with different techniques to make it better. A few years back, we settled on this recipe as the best and easiest version. It makes a great weeknight one dish meal because your meat, starch, dairy and veggies are all in one pan. Enjoy!

Gather Up the Following Stuff:
1 lb very lean good quality ground beef
2 cans drained sliced mushrooms
2 cans cream of mushroom soup (I know I don't usually use this ingredient, just trust me)
1/2 onion diced
1/2 bag frozen corn niblets or 1 can niblets
1/2 bag frozen peas
7 russet or 9 yukon gold potatoes
1/2 brick cream cheese
milk
butter, heated and browned in a skillet
salt and pepper to taste

Brown and cook beef, onions and mushrooms in a big skillet. Add soup, peas and corn. Stir to combine and spread into a 9x13 glass dish. Boil potatoes in salted water until done. Mash with cream cheese, milk and browned butter. Season with salt, pepper, garlic salt/powder etc to taste. Top beef mixture with mashed potatoes. Dot top of casserole with little bits of butter and bake uncovered in a 325 degree oven until heated through and bubbly. This rocks!

Dad's Healthy Salad Dressing

Who wants to take a big bite of healthy salad and bite into a ton of oil and grease? Well, if you enjoy ranch, 1000 island or most vinegar based dressings that is basically what you are doing. But who wants to buy light or fat free dressing that tastes disgusting? NOT ME! But I love salad. So what's a girl to do? My dad came up with the best salad dressing I have ever tasted PLUS it has almost no oil. Can it be true? It can! Keep reading girls. The secret to loving salad again is right here. Oh, and this will make enough dressing for a gigantic bowl of salad to feed all of your family and friends. Or store in a container in fridge until you need more. Just bring to room temperature before serving.

3 TB Balsamic Vinegar
3 TB Honey or Splenda
2 TB Olive Oil
2 TB Wheat Germ (that's right, I said wheat germ, get over it. This is the secret)
Sprinkle of garlic powder
Sprinkle of salt
Couple of grinds of black pepper

Mix Vinegar, Honey, Oil and Wheat Germ in a mug (I use a small teacup) and then place in microwave for 15 seconds. Stir again. Season it up and dress whatever salad you want with it. My dad sometimes will add some yellow or dijon mustard, real sugar or play around with lighter vinegars. Important - when it comes out of the microwave...taste it! Play around with the sweetness or vinegar so you have it to your liking.

Here's why it works (for those science types out there): The wheat germ soaks up the oil. Heating it up makes the wheat germ absorb the oil even better. This creates a yummy texture that will actually cling to the items in the salad. We use oil to bind the dressing onto the lettuce or the tomato or whatever. Instead, you have this thicker consistency that actually sticks to the salad. This does 2 things. First, you need way less oil. Second, you need way less dressing. Third, you won't have a bunch of dressing at the bottom of your salad bowl. Oh, that's 3 things. I guess you got a bonus. But honestly, this works and you'll love the dressing. Don't forget salt and pepper. People never season their greens enough. Tonight, my mom put in spring lettuce mix, avocado, a ripe anjou pear, tomato, whole black olives, roasted sliced almonds and cucumber. It was great!

Cornbread and Sage Encrusted Pork Tenderloin

I thought it would be fitting that my first recipe is one of my "Go Tos" when company comes over. I discovered the basic concept about 3 years ago and have tweaked it until I got it how we like it. We serve this meal with a tossed green salad with oranges, sweetened almonds and an OJ sweet dressing (recipe to follow), sautéed spinach with apples, pine nuts and golden raisins, steamed and sweetened carrots and an herby creamed fresh corn. Okay...let's go!


Stuff you'll need to round up:

2 pork tenderloin roasts

8x8 dish of cornbread (you can buy corn muffins if you don't want to make cornbread)

3 TB chopped fresh sage or 2 TB dried rubbed sage

4 TB Dijon Mustard

1 clove crushed garlic

2 TB oil

2 TB butter


And here's what you do to make it:

Heat oil in the skillet until hot

Season pork with salt and pepper

Brown pork tenderloins on all sides

Take pan off the heat and transfer roasts to a baking dish (like a 9x13)

In pan, melt 2 TB of butter and garlic on low heat then turn burner off

Stir in crumbled cornbread & sage with salt and pepper to taste (set aside)

Brush browned pork with Dijon mustard on all sides

Begin taking cornbread mixture by handfuls and press it onto all sides of pork. The mustard will help it stick and you want to continue until you have a think coating on all sides of each roast. Any extra cornbread and can be pressed on top of both roasts


Bake at 350 degrees uncovered until tenderloins reach internal temperature of 150. This should take about 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours. Tent with foil if cornbread starts to get too brown. Let this rest for about 15 minutes and transfer to carving platter. Cut slices about 3/4 inch thick to make medallions of pork. Give each person about 3 or 4 medallions.

Stock Your Pantry

People are always asking me what are the staples in my pantry/fridge/freezer so I can create meals over the course of the week and not have to run out for ingredients? I have twin toddlers and going to the grocery store is something I avoid at all cost. This list helps me and I try to keep these things on hand. Don't be overwhelmed that it is so long. Build it slowly. Hope it helps you build a rockin pantry.

Freezer

• Chicken Breasts - buy in bulk (Costco/Sam's Club) and freeze 2 breasts per pkg


• Chicken Thighs - (boneless) buy in bulk


• Lean Hamburger or Ground Turkey Breast


• Package of steak


• Salmon


• Frozen vegetables (peas, corn, broccoli florets, chopped spinach, diced onions)


• Frozen homemade stocks (chicken, vegetable)


• Spaghetti Sauce that you've made previously


• Stewmeat


• Italian Sausage


• Ground Pork


• Boneless pork loin or pork tenderloin roast


• Frozen puff pastry


• Assortment of grated cheeses (mozarella, cheddar etc.)


• Butter

Fridge

• Kikkoman Soy Sauce


• Minced garlic (found in produce section)


• Minced or crushed ginger (found in produce section)


• Box of Good Quality Chicken Stock (if no homemade in freezer)


• Apricot or Peach Jam


• Dijon & Yellow Mustard


• Mayonaise (Bestfoods)


• Ketchup


• Pesto Sauce


• Sundried tomatoes in olive oil


• Heavy Cream


• Whole Milk


• Butter - store excess in freezer


• Parmaseanno Reggiano


• Assorted Cheeses


• Good quality olives - green


• Thai peanut sauce


• Thai sweet chili sauce


• horseradish


• sour cream


• cream cheese


• eggs

Pantry

• Parsley Flakes


• Italian Seasoning


• Herbes de Provence


• Ground Sage


• Rosemary


• Colemans Dried Mustard


• Sea Salt


• Kosher Salt


• Grey Salt


• Black Pepper


• Emeril's Essence


• Garlic Powder


• McCormick's California Style Garlic Salt


• Onion powder


• Cumin


• Paprika


• Sesamee Seeds


• Lemon Peel


• Brown Sugar


• Honey


• White Sugar


• Washed Sugar


• Baking Soda


• Baking Powder


• Vanilla


• Whipped Cream Stabilizer - called whipit


• Karo Light Corn Syrup


• cinnamon


• whole nutmeg - you'll grate the nuts


• Extra Virgin Olive Oil


• Vegetable Oil


• Vegetable Shortening - Crisco


• White Wine


• Red Wine


• Sherry


• Marsala


• Balsamic Vinegar


• Red Wine Vinegar


• White Vinegar


• Apple Cider Vinegar


• Rice Vinegar


• Flour


• Cornstarch


• Quaker Instant Oatmeal


• Calrose Rice


• Cornmeal


• Assorted cake mixes


• Gelatin (unflavored)


• Dried Cranberries


• Dried Apricots


• Raisins


• Breadcrumbs


• Mushrooms


• Black Olives


• Kalmata Olives


• Potatoes


• Onions


• Artichoke Hearts


• Good Seasons Italian Dressing Mix


• Angel Hair dried pasta


• Lasagna noodles


• Linguini dried pasta


• Sweetened condensed milk


• Pineapple slices in juice


• Peaches in light syrup


• Bisquick