Recipe of the Week: Lasagna My Way

I'm hoping to begin sharing some of our family's favorite recipes.  Today, I will begin with one that is much loved.  I did however forget to take pictures last time I made it, but I think the process is fairly straight forward so here we go......

I cook from my pantry so all acceptable substitutions will be listed.  I rarely make this exactly the same every time.  We don't live in town and have a fairly strict grocery budget so I don't just run to the store if I am out of something.

Ingredients:
1/2-1 lb of ground beef, sausage or a combination of the two
1-2 pints homemade pizza sauce (1-2 pint of tomato sauce seasoned with basil or 1 jar store-bought pizza sauce thinned down a little bit - homemade pizza sauce is thinner than store bought)
Seasonings (basil, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, parsley)
1 cup Ricotta cheese  (you can use cottage cheese in a pinch but I don't think its as good)
1 egg
6 lasagna noodles - par boiled (I let them finish cooking in the oven)
1-2 bags of mozzarella cheese (I don't measure cheese, maybe 3 cups?)

Process:
Set the meat to cooking if it isn't already (this is a great use for extra meat from previous meals).  Boil water in a big pot and add lasagna noodles.  Boil them for approximately 5 minutes.

Add sauce to meat.  I start with 1 pint of sauce, adding more if it doesn't look like there will be enough.  Add seasonings to taste, don't be skimpy.

Add 1 egg to ricotta cheese and a good pinch of parsley.  Combine, set aside.

Drain noodles.

Put a 1/2 cup sauce in bottom of 8x8 baking dish.  Then layer with 2-3 noodles.  Top with more sauce, a few spoons of ricotta (roughly 1/3 of mixture) and a handful of cheese.  Noodles, sauce, ricotta, cheese......noodles, sauce, ricotta, cheese.  I use extra cheese on the top layer.  If you didn't use all your sauce, pour it on now.  If you felt your quantity of sauce was skimpy, add some of the reserved.  Remember that your noodles will finish cooking in the oven so they need some liquid.  A 1/4 c water will also suffice.

At this point the whole thing can be put in the fridge or freezer to bake later.  Otherwise, pop it into a 350 degree oven.  If the oven wasn't preheated just plan on cooking it a little longer.  I bake it until the cheese starts to brown, usually 45-60 mins.

Remove from oven and let set 5 mins before serving.  Feeds 4-5 people.

I try to find time to make French bread or breadsticks and a salad would go great with this, but we rarely have one.  My mom always made green beans with lasagna but my people don't eat green beans.

If there are leftovers, they are very good re-heated.

Enjoy!

What's New In My Homestead Kitchen

Good afternoon!

I am a homemaker on a very limited budget that must feed 2 adults, 2 teenage boys and 2 kids under 9.  I've discussed my grocery budget in previous posts and those would still be relevant as our budget hasn't changed much in the last 10 years.

The quickest and easiest way to save money in the kitchen is to grow/raise your food yourself, preserve it and buy in bulk.  I do shop sales monthly for things that we use regularly but doing the above things will save you money in the kitchen.

With that said, in order to save money, you must be willing to spend time working.  I don't regularly buy bread, I make it.  I make laundry soap (in the kitchen so I count it as kitchen work).  I can and preserve things all year.  Even when there isn't a garden.

Today's example is chili beans.  We are given dried beans throughout the year by people who get them and don't use them (I'm not sure how this happens exactly, but it happens regularly....I try to use, in some way, all the food I manage to acquire...but we are grateful).  Dried beans take a while to cook, but I like to throw together chili in the winter so I used google and found a chili bean canning "recipe" (I really needed the seasoning recipe) and got to work.  These beans are amazing.  They soak for 48 hours, changing water after 24. Then you cook for 30 mins, pressure can for 75 mins and then you have chili beans.  My cost would be the canning flats and seasonings (which I buy in bulk at a considerable savings at the Amish store).  I'm guessing around 25 cents a pint.  If you can buy them for less than that at the store, then I applaud you.  I can't.  So I did 7 pints after shopping Saturday night.

I had about 3 pints of beans that wouldn't fit into the canner so I added some home canned rotel, home raised ground beef and home canned tomato puree to the pan Sunday morning and started cooking chili.  We were busy all day so I didn't notice that it didn't get done in the time I thought it would.  The beans were still hard.  I'm thinking the very hard water here at the new house is the problem.  So I put them back in the fridge.

Monday we had spaghetti for supper (home canned sauce, home raised pork sausage).
Tuesday I fixed fried pork chops, fried potatoes and corn for supper (home raised pork and home frozen corn - the corn was picked from a generous relatives field).
I also baked oatmeal cookies for a treat.

Today has been a big kitchen day.  Early this morning I set the chili back to simmer.  For lunch I made shepherd's pie.  I've got bread dough rising.  In case the chili doesn't get done I put a pork roast in the oven (home raised pork).

The thing about living on a homestead is, that you might not have a ton of money.  We sacrifice a lot for me to stay home....but we eat well.  Lots of meat and veggies.  I'm hoping to be able to locally source dairy products soon but for now I buy them.  It's a lot of work but the rewards are worth it.

(Last) Week in our Homestead Kitchen

Good evening!

I had every intention of doing this post Saturday but then my wonderful husband took us out to supper and then it was Sunday :)  Life just gets in the way sometimes.  So this is last week's kitchen edition.

This week the star of my homestead kitchen was zucchini!

" 

"Plain" Zucchini Bread

From the Amish-Country Cookbook Vol.3

2 c. sugar

3 eggs, beaten

1 c. oil

2 c. flour

1/4 t baking soda

1 t. salt

1 c. quick oats (regular work just as well)

2 c. zucchini grated (skins on or off, doesn't matter)

1 t. vanilla

Cream sugar, eggs and oil.  Add dry ingredients, quick oats, zucchini and vanilla.  Grease pans.  Bake at 350 degrees an hour or longer.  This recipe makes 2 big loaves or 8 mini loaves or a combination of the two. 

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

taken from the Taste of Home website

2 c. sugar

1 c. oil

3 eggs

3 t. vanilla

2 1/2 c. flour

1/2 c. baking cocoa

1 t. salt

1 t. baking soda

1 t. cinnamon

1/4 t. baking powder

2 c. shredded zucchini (again peeled or not)

Mix wet and dry ingredients, combine.  Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 mins.  Makes 2 big loaves or 8 mini loaves.

Now, this is the trifecta of cleverness....

Zucchini Jam

recipe taken from All Recipes dot com

6 c peeled, shredded zucchini

6 c sugar

1 (16 or 20 oz) crushed pineapple, undrained

2 T lemon juice

1 (6 oz) box gelatin (ANY flavor - I've got orange on the left, cherry on the right)

Peel zucchini, remove seeds and shred.  In a large pot add zucchini.  Cook on low till it comes to a boil stirring often.  It should take 20 mins.  Boil for 10 mins. while stirring.  Add lemon juice, sugar and pineapple.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly for 10 more minutes.  Remove from heat, add gelatin....stir for 1 min.  Ladle into jar - water bath to seal.  Water bath 1/2 pints for 5 mins., pints for 10 mins.  Makes 11 1/2 pint jars.

I can't express how good this jam is.  I really can't.  It is a great use of zucchini and is clamored over in Christmas gift baskets.  I use this the most making jam bars....and NOBODY ever knows that it has zucchini in it.  I promise.

Also, the zucchini bread freezes VERY WELL.  I make the mini loaves, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze.  I give one to my husband on his way to work and it is the perfect snack.  They are just as good as they were fresh!

I'm going to try to keep track of "signature" meals I make so that I can share them also.  Many of them are quick, easy and feed a crowd.  Since I haven't been keeping track well yet, I only have one to share:

Creamy Chicken

Place chicken breasts in crockpot or oven safe dish.  Top with cream of chicken soup, dried onions, powdered garlic and dried parsley.  Cook all day or a few hours in the oven.  Serve over rice, noodles or mashed potatoes.  My picky eater even loves it.

Have a great evening!!!!!