Almost Lasagna

This made SO MUCH. I put a ton more vegetables in than was called for-almost an entire bag of spinach, two zucchini, and a red pepper-basically what's in the Farmer's Market Lasagna that we love. There was enough that we ate (large portions) for dinner and lunch the next day, and then had enough to freeze... which we unfroze a few days later when I forgot to take anything else out. That batch was better-the sauce was able to soak into everything, and we made it with cheddar cheese because we had no mozzarella-and that was a good switch (I think we'd use cheddar next time-it makes it different!)

Ingredients

• 1 pound elbow macaroni, cooked, (or other similarly shaped pasta-like small shells)
• 1 pound Ground turkey, (or beef, chicken, sausage or tofu crumbles)
• 1 jar Pasta Sauce, (26 ounces)
• freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1 pound Ricotta cheese
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 2 cups veggies , (diced zucchini, matchstick carrots, etc.)
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Brown meat and drain well, if necessary.
2. While meat is cooking, stir together eggs, ricotta, grated Parmesan and salt and pepper.
3. Mix cooked meat, macaroni, sauce and veggies. Add ricotta mixture and blend well.
4. Coat a 9-by-13 baking pan with cooking spray or olive oil and spread half of macaroni mixture evenly over the bottom. Top with a cup of mozzarella and a healthy sprinkle of grated Parmesan. Add the remaining macaroni mixture and top with another cup of mozzarella and another sprinkle of Parmesan. Cover with foil.
5. Heat your oven to 350 degrees F and bake the casserole for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 10 to 20 minutes until the cheese on top is lightly browned and bubbly.

Red Robin-esque Spinach Artichoke Burgers

We terribly miss Red Robin-there isn't one close to us at all. So I was super disappointed when we kept seeing commercials for a special burger they had... I think it's off the menu now, but we wanted to try to re-create it anyways. It was SO good! Probably not that fantastic for you at ALL (for a healthy version see the Turkey Burgers I'll eventually remember to take a picture of and post-I'll link it then!)

1 or 1 1/2lbs 93-97% lean ground beef
Package of bacon-we get the center cut kind
Cheese-this time we used the tiny bit of (fresh) Parmesan we had left, a little Italian three cheese, and some cheddar. Not much though.
Spinach Artichoke dip-make your own or buy a frozen version (we bought-it was a busy day)
1 Roma Tomato
Multi-Grain Sandwich Thins buns
Salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder to taste (or fresh, we were just in a hurry)

Cook the bacon. Cut a couple pieces into tiny bits. Mix those in with the ground beef, little bit of cheese, and seasonings. Shape into burgers, grill, and assemble as shown (top bun too of course). Soooo-o good!

Cheese-Stuffed Chicken

This is an absolute favorite in our house, but I haven't made it in awhile. Stupidly, I didn't take a picture of the innards-I will next time. Also, we ate it with Stuffed Zucchini Boats, which you can find here!

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (the fatter the better)
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 C shredded mozarella cheese

For the stuffing:
4 tbsp chopped fresh basil, divided (I've done it with dried basil too, not as great, but doable if you have to)
2 tbsp lowfat cream cheese, softened
2tbsp grated Romano cheese
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 clove minced garlic
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

(if you need more, just add a little more cream cheese, basil, and cheese, but you need less than you think)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray a baking dish with vegetable cooking spray, set aside. To prepare stuffing, in a small bowl, combine all of the stuffing ingredients except for 1tbsp of the basil. Mix well. Using a sharp knife, cut a deep horizontal pocket in each chicken breast. Spoon cream cheese mixture evenly into each pocket. Secure openings with toothpicks. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Add chicken and cook, turning once, until browned.

Transfer chicken to prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with mozzarella and remaining basil. Cover baking dish with foil and bake until cooked through and no longer pink, about 20 minutes.

Tomato Grilled Chicken

1/2 C fresh lemon juice
1 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper
3/4 C chili sauce
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp chopped sun-dried tomatoes
4 chicken breasts

Mix lemon juice with garlic powder in a medium bowl, add salt and pepper to taste. Blend chili sauce, mustard, and sun-dried tomato in a separate bowl, set aside. Place chicken in a shallow dish, marinate in lemon juice/garlic powder mixture in refrigerator for 30min-1hr. Preheat grill. Place chicken on and cook for 5-10 minutes, turn chicken over. Turn chicken over. Brush with tomato mixture. Grill, covered, until the chicken is cooked through. (We added a slice of provolone cheese to each and made into sandwiches-delicious!)

Taco Chicken Nuggets

Just looking at this picture makes me want them again. Now.

3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 C margarine or butter
1 egg
2 tbsp water
3/4 C cornflake crumbs
1 envelope taco seasoning mix
1/2 C flour
sour cream to serve

**note: this is what the recipe calls for. I personally add a lot more cornflake crumbs-probably another cup, because I used to run out of coating every time-and use more like a cup of flour and two eggs!

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut chicken into bite size pieces. Melt butter in a shallow baking sheet (one WITH SIDES of course!) in the oven (move the melted butter around and make it coat the bottom of the whole pan). Beat egg and water in a dish. Combine cornflake crumbs and taco seasoning mix in a plastic bag, shake to mix well. Coat chicken lightly with flour in a bowl. Dip into egg mixture, letting excess drain. Place in cornflake mixture, shake until completely coated (I work with about 5 pieces at a time. Just FYI-this step takes me a bit, so don't make this on a day you are looking for a superquick meal). Arrange chicken on a prepared baking sheet, do not allow nuggets to touch. Bake, turning once, for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Loaded Hamburgers

Patrick and I came up with this concoction, and we're pretty proud of it. We wanted some deliciously massive burgers, and since we're really into vegetables lately (who am I turning into?!?!) we wanted to put them in too.

-1lb lean ground beef
-1 green pepper and 1 red pepper, finely chopped
-packet of McCormick's Tomato Garlic & Basil Marinade
-Onion powder (or onions, if you are an onion lover -eww!-)
-Garlic or garlic powder
-Salt & pepper
-1 egg
-bread crumbs (just a handful, or enough to make the egg not so sticky)
-Shredded mozerella cheese

Mix it all together, sans the cheese. Patrick does it with his hands because it's easier. Then he separates it into 5 globs, putting one aside for Maya. With the other 4 he separates them in half, flattens one half and makes a pouch, and puts it on the plate. I put in the cheese while he's flattening the other half, and then pinches them together. Cook it on low/medium low until it's done-these are really thick burgers. They are so good we personally don't use any condiments!

TSFL edit:
Make 6oz patties. Use 1tsp of the spice packet and up to 1/2C diced peppers in each patty (if you are following TSFL do each one individually to ensure you have the right measurements, if just eating healthy it's not a big deal). Cook on the grill and enjoy with no bun but 1tbsp ketchup for dipping... and a nice massive salad :)

Three Cheese Chicken Penne Pasta Bake

I think this is hands down the best pasta bake I've had in my whole life. It was so good that we had it on Saturday and we'll have it again later this week, and with the risk of telling everyone what absolute cows we are, between the three of us we ate the whole thing (sans enough for Maya's lunch the next day).

Recipe is from this post, by Emilie! (And the picture on her blog looks SO much prettier than when I made it... doesn't matter, it was absolutely delicious!)

1-1/2 cups multi-grain penne pasta, uncooked

1 pkg. (9 oz.) fresh spinach leaves

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

1 tsp. dried basil leaves

1 jar (14-1/2 oz.) spaghetti sauce

1 can (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, drained

2 oz. (1/4 of 8-oz. pkg.) reduced fat cream cheese

1 cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided

2 Tbsp. Grated Parmesan Cheese

Heat oven to 375ºF. Cook pasta as directed on package, adding spinach to the boiling water the last minute. Cook and stir chicken and basil in large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat 3 min. Stir in spaghetti sauce and tomatoes; bring to boil. Simmer on low heat 3 min. or until chicken is done. Stir in cream cheese. Drain pasta mixture; return to pan. Stir in chicken mixture and 1/2 cup mozzarella. Spoon into 2-qt. casserole or 8-inch square baking dish. Bake 20 min.; top with remaining cheeses. Bake 3 min. or until mozzarella is melted.

**Note: When I made it the pasta was a bit soggy. I think that next time I won't start cooking the pasta till later, so it's done closer to when the rest of it is ready to go into the baking dish!

Broccoli & Rice Casserole

-Bag of frozen broccoli
-1 can Cream of Chicken soup
-2 cups minute rice-uncooked
-1lb Velveeta
-1C water
-1/2 C milk

Combine milk, water, soup, and Velveeta in a large pot until Velveeta is melted (stirring frequently-the cheese will burn. Eww). Add broccoli and rice. Pour into greased casserole pan or 9x13''pan, bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes.

This is my grandma's recipe... and for mine, if I'm making it for dinner I put chicken in it too. I bake the chicken ahead of time and cube it up, and add it when I'm adding the broccoli and rice.

Taco Pie

This is a favorite from my 7th grade Home Economics class... I loved it then and I've had it countless time since.

-1C bisquick
-3 tbsp water (or a tiny bit more if needed-but add in TINY increments)
-1/2lb ground beef (or we use 1lb (1 pkg) ground turkey)
-1C tomato sauce
-2 tbsp taco seasoning
-1C grated cheese

For crust:
Mix bisquick and water in a bowl with a fork until soft dough is formed. Press well into a pie pan, bake ate 375 for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown.

For filling, while crust is baking:
Brown meat, drain. Stir in tomato sauce and taco seasoning. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring once in awhile.

Remove crust from oven. Spread meat topping over crust. Sprinkle cheese over meat. Return pan to the oven until cheese melts.

Serve with sour cream, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, or any taco toppings you like.

Chicken Broccoli Braid

(It makes double what you see up top there... we were just piggies and dove in before I remembered to take a picture!)

This is the all-time favorite recipe in this house. Patrick asked for it as his last meal before Iraq as well as his first when he got home. Maya loves it and it makes delicious leftovers! This is a Pampered Chef recipe.

2 cups cooked chicken, chopped
1 cup cooked broccoli, chopped
1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1 garlic clove, pressed
4 oz. (1cup) sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp. all-purpose dill mix (or I use dried dill weed and I think it was better)
1/4 tsp. salt
2 pkgs. (8oz. each) refrigerated crescent rolls (those ones that are "for baking"-the flat ones-aren't so good with this!)
1 egg white, lightly beaten
2 tbsp. slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 375F. Chop chicken and broccoli and place in bowl. Add bell pepper, garlic, and cheese, mix gently. Add mayonnaise, dill mix, and salt. Unroll 1 package of crescent dough; do not separate. Arrange longest sides of dough across width of 12" x 15" rectangle baking stone (or baking sheet-but everyone should have a baking stone!) Repeat with remaining package of dough. Using roller, roll dough to seal perforations (or just pinch together really well-important!). Spread filling evenly over middle of the length of dough (look at my picture if you don't get it). On longest sides of baking stone, cut dough into strips 1 1/2 inches apart, 3 inches deep using a pizza cutter. To braid, lift strips of dough across mixture to meet in center, twisting each strip on turn. Continue alternating strips to form a braid. Tuck ends under to seal at end of braid. Brush egg white over dough using pastry brush. Sprinkle with almonds (optional-I don't care for them on there). Bake 25-28 minutes or until deep golden brown.