Lasagna Rolls

I had heard about lasagna rolls, but never attempted to make them until now. You basically take the filling that you would make for lasagna and spread it evenly over the cooked noodles and roll them up and bake them. This was delicious and even got the stamp of approval from my 1/2 Italian husband!

Lasagna Rolls

courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients

Bechmael Sauce:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch ground nutmeg

Lasagna:
1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese (I used low-fat and it still tasted good)
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
3 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, chopped
1 large egg, beaten to blend
3/4 teaspoon salt, plus more for salting water
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
12 uncooked lasagna noodles
2 cups marinara sauce (I used Dom DeLuise's recipe posted at the end)
1 cup shredded mozzarella (about 4 ounces)

Directions
To make the sauce: Melt the butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and whisk for 3 minutes. Whisk in the milk. Increase the heat to medium-high. Whisk the sauce until it comes to a simmer and is thick and smooth, about 3 minutes. Whisk the salt, pepper, and nutmeg into the bechamel sauce.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Whisk the ricotta, spinach, 1 cup Parmesan, prosciutto, egg, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl to blend.

Add a tablespoon or 2 of oil to a large pot of boiling salted water. Boil the noodles until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain. Arrange the noodles in a single layer on a baking sheet to prevent them from sticking.

Butter a 13-by-9-by-2-inch glass baking dish. Pour the bechamel sauce over the bottom of the prepared dish. Lay out 4 lasagna noodles on a work surface, then spread about 3 tablespoons of ricotta mixture evenly over each noodle. Starting at 1 end, roll each noodle like a jelly roll. Lay the lasagna rolls seam side down, without touching, atop the bechamelsauce in the dish. Repeat with the remaining noodles and ricotta mixture. Spoon 1 cup of marinara sauce over the lasagna rolls. Sprinkle the mozzarella and remaining 2 tablespoons of Parmesan over the lasagna rolls. Cover tightly with foil. Bake until heated through and the sauce bubbles, about 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until the cheese on top becomes golden, about 15 minutes longer. Let stand for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the remaining marinara sauce in a heavy small saucepan over medium heat until hot, and serve alongside.

Mammas Marinara Sauce

courtesy of Dom DeLuise

4 tablespoons olive oil

5 garlic cloves, minced

2 28-oz. cans ready-cut peeled tomatoes

1 6-oz. can tomato paste

4 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes

Salt and Pepper to taste

In a medius sauce pan, heat the olive oil and gently sauté the garlic. Add tomatoes, tomato paste and sun dried tomatoes. Add salt and pepper. Put on medium for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Makes about 2 quarts of sauce.

Posted By: Julia

Fruit Dip

I originally made this with my sister when we threw a surprise 60th birthday party for our Mom. I'm not sure where the original recipe came from, but I have been making it ever since and it is delicious!

Fruit Dip

Ingredients:
1 jar marshmallow cream
1 container strawberry cream cheese (at room temperature)

Directions:
Mix ingredients and serve!

Delicious Cookies

Cookies are definitely my biggest weakness...as soon as I bake them, I have to take what we don't eat into work, otherwise I'll finish them off myself! I came across these two recipes on allrecipes.com and both turned out so delicious. The oatmeal raisin cookies called for ground cloves, which gave them such a good flavor and made my house smell like Christmas! Both cookies were just a little crispy on the outside, but mostly soft and chewy, just the way I like them. Perfect with an ice cold glass of milk!

Beth's Spicy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
courtesy of allrecipes.com, Beth Sigworth

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup butter flavored shortening
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup raisins

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, butter flavored shortening, brown sugar, white sugar, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Stir in the oats and raisins. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes until light and golden. Do not overbake. Let them cool for 2 minutes before removing from cookie sheets to cool completely. Store in airtight container.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
courtesy of allrecipes.com, Maureen Burr

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 ounces white chocolate, chopped
1 (6.5 ounce) jar macadamia nuts, chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Stir in the egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt, stir into the creamed mixture. Finally, stir in the white chocolate and nuts. Drop cookies by heaping teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until lightly browned. Cool on wire racks. When cool, store in an airtight container.

Posted By: Julia

Cinnamon Cake with Browned Butter Glaze

This is another recipe I snagged from Prudence Pennywise. She belongs to a group called TWD (Tuesday's with Dorie. Dorie Greenspan is a famous author/baker). Every Tuesday they make a different Dorie recipe. I have this cookbook and have been eyeing this recipe because originally it was a cinnamon cake with chocolate frosting. I love the chocolate/cinnamon combination but it had espresso in it and I wasn't sure how it would taste if I left it out. This girl is creative and tweaked it into a cinnamon cake with browned butter frosting. It was perfect. If you're not a big dessert fan, you'd probably like this as the cake is not overly sweet but the frosting is delicious and super easy and quick. Buttery, caramely and the perfect compliment to the moist cinnamon cake, this is a must try.

Cinnamon Cake with Browned Butter Glaze
Prudence Pennywise

1 and 1/4 cup sugar
1 and 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 and 1/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspooon salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

For the glaze:
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 or 1/3 cup milk or cream
1 cup powdered sugar, if desired (I left this out)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake pan with about 16 liners, or grease an 8 inch square baking dish. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients: sugar, cinnamon, flour, powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, combine buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla and butter . Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and lightly blend. Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake for about 35 minutes for square pan, and about 20 minutes for cupcakes. To make glaze, melt butter in small saucepan. Watching closely, cook butter without stirring until browned. Stir in brown sugar to form thick mixture. For a glaze add the lesser amount of milk, for frosting add the greater. Add milk and stir until lump free. It's ready as a glaze. If you want it to be like frosting, add powdered sugar and beat until lumps are gone. Spoon over warm cake. This makes a 8x8 pan so if you want it in a 9x13 double the recipe.

Cranberry Spinach Salad

I love spinach salad. It seems like it goes with everything. Sometimes I make this basic recipe. Other times I fancy it up. It's so versatile. You can swap out the almonds for candied pecans or toasted pine nuts, trade the cranberries for strawberries, even add sliced chicken and make it into a main dish.

Cranberry Spinach Salad (basic)

adapted slightly from All Recipes

1 tablespoon butter
3/4 cup almonds, blanched and slivered
1 pound spinach, rinsed and torn into bite-size pieces
1 cup dried cranberries
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1/2 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons minced onion
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used canola)

DIRECTIONS
In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Cook and stir almonds in butter until lightly toasted. Remove from heat, and let cool.
In a large bowl, combine the spinach with the toasted almonds and cranberries.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sugar, onion, paprika, white wine vinegar, cider vinegar, and vegetable oil. Toss with spinach just before serving.

*You can also toast almonds in the oven at 350 for 10 minutes , no butter required. Just watch them carefully.*

Cranberry Spinach Salad (Deluxe)

Follow the above instructions but add in:

red onions thinly sliced

grated swiss cheese

cooked and crumbled bacon

fresh sliced mushrooms

1 can mandarin oranges, drained

Posted by: Sallie

Weeknight Meal- Prudy Style

I love grilling this time of year and this meal was excellent. Mexican food is at the top of my list and this is a meal I will be making again. The chicken was moist and juicy with fabulous citrus flavor and a little kick from the jalapeno. The Spanish rice was just how I like it and so much better than the store bought packets. Just about as easy too. The best part though was the corn and black bean salad. I have made a similar recipe from Ina Garten but I actually preferred this one because it tasted much lighter. I added in some avocado and made mine into a rice bowl. I sliced the grilled chicken and then mixed in the rice and salad. I am seriously hoarding the leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Added bonus- this meal is so healthy. Most of the fat comes from the olive oil and avocado which are the good kind of fats. A great, light Mexican meal that is going to be showing up again on my menu really soon.

All recipes are courtesy of Prudence Pennywise

Cilantro Honey-Lime Grilled Chicken

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast (I doubled this for a family of 6) 1/3 c. lime juice plus 1 tsp. lime zest 4 tbsp. olive oil 4 cloves garlic minced or 1 tsp. garlic powder 1 chopped jalapeno or Serrano pepper, optional 1 tsp. each salt and black pepper 2 tbsp honey 1/3 c. chopped cilantro Rinse chicken and pat dry. (I also pounded mine in between two sheets of wax paper. This makes for more even cooking). In a small bowl, whisk together lime juice, zest, olive oil, garlic, jalapeno, salt, pepper and honey. Set aside two tablespoons of mixture. Pour remaining mixture into Ziploc bag. Add chicken and cilantro and squish to coat. Marinate for at least 1 hour and up to 12 hours. Grill or broil chicken over medium high heat, about 4 minutes per side. Let rest for 5 minutes. Drizzle with reserved marinade and serve.

*I doubled the meat and just used one recipe of the marinade. I left all the chicken in the marinade and skipped the drizzling.*


Corn and Black Bean Salad with Cumin Lime Vinaigrette

1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed well
2 cups corn kernels, (frozen and thawed, or canned, or cut off the cob)
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup red onion, minced
1 cup chopped cilantro
1 jalapeno pepper, minced-or less if you like it wimpy
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
juice and zest of one lime
1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper
1 avocado, optional

Combine beans, corn, tomatoes, onion, cilantro, jalapeno and avocado, if desired in a medium bowl. Sprinkle cumin and salt and pepper over the top. Drizzle with oil, lime juice and zest; taste for salt and pepper and adjust seasonings if necessary. Toss and serve.


Classic Mexican Red Rice

1 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 white onion, minced
1 cup long grain white rice
1 and 3/4 c. chicken broth, stock or bouillon
6 tbsp. salsa divided

Heat oil in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and rice and saute until rice is toasted, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add broth and 3 tbsp. of the salsa. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in remaining 3 tbsp. salsa. Let rest for 5 minutes. Fluff with fork and serve.

*I used Costco medium Salsa and the rice was very mild.*

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Sweet and Fluffy Malted Milk Waffles

I first read about adding malt powder to pancakes on the King Arthur Flour website. Apparently lots of popular pancake places use it in their pancake batter. When I found this recipe for malted milk waffles I couldn't wait to make them. They are everything their name implies. These waffles bake up light and fluffy and although my perfect waffle is crisp on the outside and soft on the inside these were really firm, yet soft so I didn't miss the crispiness at all.

Sweet and Fluffy Malted Milk Waffles

From The Kitchen

1 egg

1 cup flour

1 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

2 T. granulated sugar

3 -4 T. malted milk powder, to taste

3/4 cup milk

½ stick melted butter

Separate egg. Beat white until stiff peaks form. Set aside.Combine dry ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.Whisk together butter, milk and egg yolk until well combined. Stir in dry ingredients. When batter is smooth, fold in egg white.Heat a waffle iron according to manufacturer’s directions and cook waffles accordingly. Makes 3-4 waffles depending on the size of your waffle maker.