Classic Lasagna with Bechamel

  I made this lasagna last night for my mother-in-law’s Birthday. It’s been a couple of months since I’ve made my Dad’s famous bolognese sauce and it has been on my brain the past couple of weeks. Since it makes so much, we usually eat it a couple of nights in a week and freeze the rest. It is the perfect meal to feed a crowd so I decided to make it for Renee’s birthday dinner. At the last minute, I decided to have some fun and make lasagna with the sauce instead of spaghetti.

   I’m not a huge fan of ricotta cheese in lasagna, so I decided to go the classic route and use a béchamel instead. It is one of the simplest sauces to make and it can be used in a variety of dishes. The only ingredients you need for it are butter, flour, milk and a little nutmeg. Sometimes, it’s even better with a little cheese melted in, but for lasagna, I like to keep in simple. Believe me, there is PLENTY of cheese in this recipe!

  The bolognese gets better the longer it simmers. Mine cooked for about 6 hours before I assembled my lasagna. I only used about half of the sauce and saved the rest for another night. You could seriously feed an army with this sauce. It’s pretty well known around these parts as the best spaghetti sauce you’ll ever eat. So, even if you don’t want to brave the lasagna recipe, do yourself a favor and at least make some spaghetti, k?

   I'm a fan of what some refer to as a 'crunchy lid'. I would be happy to just peel off the entire top layer of the lasagna and have it for my meal. But, I settled for a nice big corner piece so everyone could enjoy the deliciousness that is the 'crunchy lid'.  If you are not interested in a nice brown top, just add some spaghetti sauce to the top layer before adding the cheese and it will be gooier. Gooier? Is that a word?

  Classic Lasagna with Bechamel
 (serves 8-10)

For the Bolognese:
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 large sweet onion, chopped
2-5 cloves garlic, minced ( of course I use all 5)
2 Tbsp olive oil
2Tbsp butter
2 large cans plum tomatoes
1 jar tomato basil sauce
1 small can tomato paste
1 lb ground beef
1lb sweet Italian sausage
dried Italian seasoning
1-2 Tbsp sugar
Fresh basil, chiffonade

For the Bechamel:
1/2 cup (1stick) butter
1/2 cup flour
3 cups milk
Pinch nutmeg
salt to taste

For the Lasagna:
12 lasagna noodles ( boiled 10 minutes, until al dente)
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese

To make the bolognese, brown beef and sausage til cooked through. Add some dried herbs, salt and pepper to taste; drain.
Meanwhile, saute the onion and bell pepper in olive oil and butter until translucent. Add minced garlic and saute another 2-3 minutes.
Combine veggies with meat and add tomatoes, tomato paste, jarred tomato sauce, and sugar. (Break the plum tomatoes up a little bit, depending on how chunky you want your sauce.) Season with more dried herbs, salt, and pepper to taste. Simmer on low for as long as possible. Add fresh basil just before serving.

To make the bechamel, melt butter in a saucepan over med-low heat. Once melted, add flour. Stir constantly until well combined and no lumps remain. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally. Be careful not to burn it!
Slowly add the milk, about a half cup at a time, stirring between each half cup until combined. Sauce should start to thicken up after each addition, but be careful that it doesn't get lumpy. After all milk has been added, add the nutmeg and salt to taste. Continue to cook the bechamel until it reaches a nice thick consistency ( about 5 minutes) stirring occasionally to avoid lumps. It is ready when it will coat the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from heat.

To assemble the lasagna, coat the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish with bechamel. Layer 3 lasagna noodles, overlapping slightly. Cover noodles with a couple of ladles bolognese, more bechamel, and about a cup of mozzarella. Continue with 3 more lasagna noodles, bolognese, bechamel, and another cup mozzarella. Make one more layer of noodles, sauces and cheese. You should have 3 layers in all. Top final layer with 3 remaining lasagna noodles and cover with bechamel. (If you want the top to be gooey, add a little bolognese; if you want crunchy, just use a little bechamel.) Top with remaining cup of mozzarella and the Parmesan cheese.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, bake lasagna for 30 minutes. Raise temperature to 400 and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Keep an eye out to make sure it doesn't burn. You want the cheese to get brown and crispy but not burnt. Remove from oven and let rest for 15-20 minutes before slicing.

Serve with a green salad and garlic bread. Enjoy!

Thai Chicken Pizza on Homeade Naan

   This pizza was unlike anything I've ever made before....and it was DELICIOUS! Brian always likes it when I make pizza, but of course I always want to try something new and interesting besides the normal pepperoni. I'm not a huge fan of store bought pizza crust, but making it homemade can be a real chore. Then this recipe for homemade naan caught my attention. This makes 8 (6 inch) flat breads. I made four pizzas and saved the rest for another night. The flat breads come out soft and chewy but get crispy in the oven. These flat breads would also be great for wraps, quesadillas, or just by themselves.

    I got the pizza recipe from Simply So Good. It is originally from the CPK cookbook. I've never ordered the Thai Chicken Pizza from CPK, but if you like it, this is the recipe for you! The sauce was easy to throw together and the toppings were simple. I sprinkled some chopped Thai Basil on top of the pizzas after taking them out of the oven. I have Thai Basil in my herb garden, but cilantro would work just as well. The recipe is for 8 individual pizzas. I think this was a successful dish and a nice twist on traditional pizza. Nothing about it is complicated, but it does take time to prepare the flat breads, so I would probably only make this on the weekend.  Give it a try and tell me what you think!

Homemade Naan
(from Budget Bytes )

2 tsp dry active yeast
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup water
2-3 cups water
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 large egg

In a small bowl, combine the yeast, sugar and water. Stir to dissolve then let sit for a few minutes, until frothy. At that point, stir in the oil, yogurt and egg until evenly combined.
In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup of the flour with the salt. Next, add the bowl of wet ingredients to the flour/salt mixture and stir until well combined. Continue adding flour a half cup at a time until you can no longer stir it with a spoon (about 1 to 1.5 cups later).
At that point, turn the ball of dough out onto a well floured counter top. Knead the ball of dough for about 3 minutes, adding flour as necessary to keep the dough from sticking. I ended up using about 3 cups of flour total. The dough should be smooth and very soft but not sticky.
Loosely cover the dough and let it rise until double in size (about 45 minutes). After it rises, gently flatten the dough and cut it into 8 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a small ball by stretching the dough back under itself until the top is smooth and round.
Heat a large, heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat and spray lightly with non-stick spray. Working with one ball at a time, roll it out until it is about 1/4 inch thick or approximately 6 inches in diameter. Place the rolled out dough onto the hot skillet and cook until the under side is golden brown and large bubbles have formed on the surface. Flip the dough and cook the other side until golden brown as well. Brush with melted butter.

Thai Chicken Pizza
( adapted from Simply So Good )

Spicy Peanut Sauce

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1 Tbsp honey
2 tsp rice wine vinegar
2 Tbsp roasted sesame oil
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp siracha
2 Tbsp water

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring, until well combines and slightly cooked. (Sauce can be made ahead and refrigerated until ready to use.)

Pizza Toppings

2 chicken breasts, chopped
1 Tbsp siracha
3 cups shredded mozzarella
4 green onions, chopped
1/3 cup shredded carrots
3 Tbsp roasted peanuts
4 Tbsp sweet chili sauce
fresh Thai basil or cilantro, chopped

Saute chopped chicken breast in a little olive oil over medium high heat until cooked through. Stir in siracha.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
To assemble pizzas, spread about 1 Tbsp peanut sauce over each flat bread. Sprinkle 1/8 mozzarella over top of each pizza. Continue topping each flat bread pizza with about an 1/8 of the remaining toppings; cooked chicken,  green onions, carrots, and peanuts.
Place pizzas on pizza stone or directly on oven rack. ( I only made four pizzas which fit nicely in my oven, but you may have to do it in batches if making all 8)
Bake for 10-15 minutes until cheese is melted and crust is golden brown.

Remove from oven and drizzle with sweet chili sauce and sprinkle with fresh chopped herbs.

Enjoy!

1st Birthday Cupcakes

    I baked two different kinds of cupcakes for Ethan's party; Peanut Butter & Banana and Oreo Crumb Cupcakes.  I started out looking for a recipe for banana cupcakes because I thought it would be cute with the sock monkey theme. I found the perfect recipe at Annie's Eats.  The cupcakes were light and fluffy, not too dense like a lot of banana cake recipes. Although the caramel icing sounded delicious, I was hooked on the idea of peanut butter icing. Peanut butter and bananas is one of my all time favorite combos. So I began my search for a delicious sounding peanut butter icing. My journey ended with Lick The Bowl Good 's peanut butter cream cheese icing. MmmmMmm good!

    I needed an alternative to the banana cupcakes for anyone who wasn't excited by the thought of creamy peanut butter atop a fluffy banana pillow. Who the heck wouldn't be interested in something so wonderfully delicious, you ask? The only person I can think if is my Daddy whose throat closes up at the mere thought of eating a banana. But one thing he does love is OREOs!! And what better counterpart to my light and fruity banana peanut butter cupcakes, than the rich and chocolaty Oreo crumb cupcakes from Your Cup of Cake. Nothing I tell ya, NOTHING!!
     

Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Icing
(makes 24 cupcakes)



  
For the cupcakes:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
12 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 1/2 cups sugar
6 eggs
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp buttermilk
1 1/3 cups mashed ripe banana

For the icing:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar


Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 2 cupcake pans with liners. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt with a whisk. Using either a stand or hand mixer, cream together butter and sugar, on med-high speed, until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to med-low and add eggs one at a time, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Mix in mashed banana until well combined. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add in the dry ingredients and buttermilk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients and mixing until just combined.
Fill liners 2/3 to 3/4 full and bake 20-22 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes, the transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.

For the icing; cream the butter, peanut butter and cream cheese together with a mixer on low speed. Beat until the mixture is smooth and no lumps remain. Add the vanilla. Add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, blending on low speed until fully incorporated. Scrape down sides and beat the mixture on medium speed until light and fluffy.

When cupcakes are completely cool, spread or pipe about 2 tablespoons icing onto each cupcake.




Oreo Crumb Cupcakes
(makes 24 cupcakes)



For the cupcakes:

24 tsp oreo crumbs

3/4 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup sour cream

3 eggs

Devil's food cake mix

For the icing:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter. softened

oreo cream from cookies

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups powdered sugar

2 Tbsp heavy cream

I cup oreo crumbs, sifted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 2 cupcake pans with paper liners. Separate about 24 Oreos and scrape out the cream, put aside. Place cookies in food processor and pulse until well crushed, sift oreo crumbs. Set aside one cup sifted oreo crumbs for the buttercream. Combine the remaining sifted crumbs and the larger pieces. Place 1 teaspoon oreo crumbs in the bottom of each liner.

In a large bowl, use a whisk to combine buttermilk, oil, sour cream, and vanilla extract. Add the eggs one at a time. Stir well between each addition, being careful not to beat the eggs. Slowly add devil's food cake mix while stirring, scraping down the sides of the bowl.

Fill cupcake liners ( with cookie crumbs on bottom) 3/4 full and bake for 13-18 minutes. The top should spring back when touched. Place in airtight containers while they cool to seal in moisture.

For the buttercream, beat cream cheese, butter, and oreo cream centers for about 5 minutes. Add vanilla, powdered sugar,  and heavy cream and beat again.

Stir in cookie crumbs and pipe onto cooled cupcakes.



Enjoy!!

Sock Monkey 1st Birthday Party

   We finally had Ethan's 1st Birthday party a couple of weeks ago. Everything looked great and Ethan had a fantastic time. It was absolutely perfect. Which means, the bazillion hours I spent crafting the past 3 months, paid off. I couldn't have been happier with the result. So without further ado, here is Ethan's Sock Monkey 1st Birthday party!

      When the guests arrived, they were greeted by this little guy hanging out in his radio flyer wagon with "ONE" spelled in cardboard letters from the craft store.  I also made a welcome sign for the front door. I started by making a template for the monkey head using card stock. Then, I cut out the pieces using foam. Finally, I printed the welcome page and layered it with different scrapbook papers in the sock monkey theme.  I used the template for both the welcome sign, and Ethan's birthday shirt.

      Ethan's shirt was by far the most meticulous and time consuming of all my projects. Using my template, I cut each piece out in felt. I used embroidery thread and sewed each piece on by hand. It took me a total of 6 hours to make the shirt from start to finish. But it wasn't as bad as it sounds, most of it was done lying in bed, watching TV. Here is Ethan in his birthday shirt. I think it was definitely worth the effort :)

     I made a birthday hat to go with his shirt. But, he wouldn't wear it for even a second. I'm kind of sad I couldn't get a picture of him in it because it is so cute. It was pretty simple to make, I just wrapped a paper party hat from the dollar store with felt and trimmed it with ribbon. Then I hot-glued a '1' onto the front and a red pom pom on top. I finished it with a little ribbon to tie around the neck.

   One of the most exciting things about Ethan's party was the time capsule. I found the idea on Pinterest and couldn't resist including it in Ethan's party. I had everyone write a note to Ethan, to be included in a time capsule, he will open on his 18th Birthday.  With each invitation, I sent a couple of note cards, along with an explanation of the time capsule, and a few ideas of things to include.  Ethan got a lot of sweet notes, and I am going to throw in a few things from the party, too.

    For the food, I really wanted to keep it simple and mainly focus on the centerpiece; the cupcake tower! I made two different types of cupcakes; Banana with Peanut Butter Icing and Oreo Crumb Cupcakes (you can find the recipes here.)I found some cupcake trees on the Internet, but I refused to pay $50 for a piece of cardboard. Instead, I bought some styrofoam boards from the dollar store and had Brian build a cupcake stand. I saved $45 by doing it this way! I got the cupcake wrappers and toppers from Etsy and printed them out from my computer. I bought Ethan's smash cake from the grocery store. I ordered an awesome fondant sock monkey to sit on top of the display, but sadly, it was delivered to the wrong address. At the last minute, I cut a '1' and a sock monkey out of paper and stuck them in the top of the cake with a wooden skewer. I was a little bummed because it didn't make the same statement (and it wasn't 3D) but I was the only one who knew and it still looked fantastic.

Aside from the cupcakes, I kept the food pretty simple. I served a nugget tray from Chick-fil-A, chips and dip, and fruit skewers with yogurt dip. My Dad made sausage balls, spiced pecans, and pimento cheese on celery.

         The last of my craft-apalooza included 2 banners. A 'Happy 1st Birthday' banner and a highchair banner that read 'I am 1'. They were made using scrapbook paper matching the sock monkey theme. 

          

       After presents, Ethan was ready for his birthday cake. He absolutely loved it and ate almost the entire thing. Although, he was nice enough to share a bite with Daddy! :)

       I hope you enjoyed Ethan's 1st birthday party as much as we did!

All printables from Cupcake Express

Inspired by See Vanessa Craft & The Macs

Craft supplies from Hobby Lobby

Rustic 1st Birthday Photo Shoot

     I am so excited to finally be able to share the results of Ethan's 1st Birthday photo shoot! Everything turned out perfect and I couldn't be happier with the outcome. I spent hours planning his photo shoot, trying to figure out exactly how I wanted it and collecting everything I needed for props. I knew from the beginning it would be in a rustic setting with Ethan wearing his overalls, sans shirt and shoes. I was surfing Pinterest  for inspiration, when I came across this adorable smash cake session from On To Baby. I immediately fell in love with it and knew I would be making a boy version for Ethan's photos.

      I have a friend whose family owns a wedding venue in Odenville, Alabama. There is a fantastic old barn on the property complete with old wagon wheels and bales of hay. It was the perfect spot for our pictures and my friend's Mom was kind enough to let us use it. Once I had the location, I started collecting my props. I used the chalkboard I painted a few weeks ago to write Ethan's name on and found an old wicker chair at my grandmother's house. I went to the local flea mall and found a great deal on an old Radio Flyer wagon. I bought some cardboard letters, spelling "ONE" at the craft store to put inside the wagon. I really loved the idea of the mirror, so I had my handyman/husband build me a rustic frame and tarnish it with our homemade stain. Brian's work boots were the perfect finishing touch.



   As far as the cake went, I HAD to have a giant cupcake! I bought a silicone pan that makes a cake 25x the size of a regular cupcake. I used boxed cake mix and a tub of icing and covered it with TONS of sprinkles! It looked perfect and it was so much fun to watch Ethan tear into it.

    One of my favorite details of the pictures is the giant moss-covered E. It was not part of my original plan. But, when we pulled up to the barn, the 'E' was hanging from a window. It turns out, my friend had gotten married there the day before and her new last name begins with an E. They had simply forgotten to take it down when they cleaned up after the reception. How great is that? It was the perfect accompaniment to Ethan's pictures.

    We used anything and everything we found laying around the barn. There was an old wash bin, hay bales, and 2 huge wagon wheels. Ethan is a ham in front of the camera and he had a ball walking around and playing. He carried his favorite wrench around with him almost the whole time. (He already gravitates towards tools and is very interested in how they work. Like father, like son.)

Sour Cream Noodle Bake

         I came across the recipe for Sour Cream Noodle Bake on Pinterest. It originally came from The Pioneer Woman, so you know it's good! She uses cottage cheese in her recipe, but I absolutely HATE cottage cheese so I used cream cheese instead. It turned out wonderfully and I've made it a few times. The recipe calls for 8oz of egg noodles, but I have only been able to find 12oz packages. Don't make the mistake I did and use the whole package anyway. Try to get as close to 8oz as possible because it will not be as yummy and creamy otherwise! This dish is so delicious and easy to throw together on a busy weeknight. I served it with garlic bread.

Sour Cream Noodle Bake
(adapted from The Pioneer Woman )

1 1/4lbs ground beef

1 15oz can tomato sauce

salt &pepper

8 ounces, weight egg noodles

1/2 cup sour cream

1 pkg cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sliced green onions (less to taste)

1 1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Brown ground beef in a large skillet. Drain fat, then add tomato sauce, salt, and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Stir, then simmer while you prepare the other ingredients.
Cook egg noodles. Drain and set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine sour cream and cream cheese. Add plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Add to noodles and stir. Add green onions and stir.
To assemble, add half of the noodles to a baking dish. Top with half the meat mixture, then sprinkle on half the grated cheddar. Repeat with noodles, meat, then a final layer of cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until all cheese is melted.


Enjoy!

Posted by Ree on March 16 2011

 

The Best Baked Chicken Fingers You'll EVER eat!

 
       I have made these chicken fingers twice in the last two weeks. That NEVER happens! Most dishes never make a repeat appearance, and if they do, it is several weeks later. This is looking like a weekly meal for us. Brian just can't get enough of these and I don't mind because they are such a healthy version of chicken fingers.
        I have tried to make baked chicken fingers a few times and have never been happy with the results. They just never seem to get crispy enough. But these chicken fingers, from Sweet Pea's Kitchen, are the exception. They are super crispy and light; and they aren't the least bit greasy. The trick is to toast the panko in a pan before crusting the chicken. That way they are nice and crispy before they even hit the oven. GENIUS! They are also quick and easy to prepare, which makes them the perfect weeknight meal. So please, make these tomorrow....and the next day...and the day after that......

 

Crispy Baked Chicken Fingers
(from Sweet Pea's Kitchen )


2 cups panko breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 large egg whites
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 1/2 lb chicken tenderloins (or boneless, skinless breasts cut into 3/4-inch strips)

Preheat oven to 475 degrees and set a wire rack on a rimmed baking sheet; spray with cooking spray.
Combine canola oil and breadcrumbs in a skillet and cook over med-high heat, stirring constantly, until browned. Remove from heat and let cool.
In a shallow dish, combine flour, cayenne, and garlic powder.
In another shallow dish, combine egg whites, water, thyme, and Dijon mustard. Whisk until eggs are broken up and mixture is foamy.
Season chicken with salt &pepper. Dredge each piece in flour, then the egg whites, and finally the toasted panko; coating evenly. Place on wire rack making sure not to crowd them to close together.
Spray chicken lightly with cooking spray and bake 10-12 minutes until cooked through.
Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.
Enjoy!