Simply Lasagna

I made this last night for dinner and it was delicious! It was quite similar to my Mom's recipe, maybe that's why I liked it!

Simply Lasagna

1 lb. (450 g) lean ground beef
2-1/2 cups Part Skim Mozzarella Shredded Cheese, divided
2 cups light ricotta cheese (I substituted cottage cheese)
1/2 cup 100% Parmesan Grated Cheese, divided
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 jar (700 mL) pasta sauce
1-1/2 cups water
12 lasagne noodles, uncooked

HEAT oven to 350°F. Brown meat in large skillet on medium-high heat. Meanwhile, mix 1-1/4 cups of the mozzarella cheese, the ricotta cheese, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese, the parsley and egg until well blended; set aside.

DRAIN meat; return to skillet. Stir in pasta sauce. Pour water into empty sauce jar; cover and shake well. Add to skillet; stir until well blended.

SPREAD 1 cup of the meat sauce onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish; top with layers of 3 lasagna noodles, one-third of the ricotta cheese mixture and 1 cup of the meat sauce. Repeat layers two more times. Top with remaining 3 noodles and remaining meat sauce. Sprinkle with remaining 1-1/4 cups mozzarella cheese and remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Cover tightly with greased foil.

BAKE 1 hour. Remove foil; continue baking 15 min. or until heated through. Let stand 15 min. before cutting to serve.

Dangerous Chocolate Cake in a Mug

Your every dream come true. Homemade chocolate cake only 5 minutes away any time of the day! (I'm a poet and I never knew it!)

1 coffee mug
4 Tbsp flour
4 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp cocoa
1 egg
3 Tbsp. milk
3 Tbsp. oil
Small splash of vanilla
3 Tbsp. chocolate chips, optional

Add dry ingredients to mug, mix well with a fork. Add egg, mix thoroughly. Pour in milk and oil and vanilla, mix well. Add chocolate chips, if using. Put mug in microwave, and cook for three minutes on 1000 watts. Cake will rise over top of mug--do not be alarmed! Allow to cool a little; tip onto a plate if desired. Eat and enjoy!

Sweet & Sour Meatballs

These are so tasty and go very well over rice.

Sweet & Sour Meatballs

For the meatballs

1 lb ground beef
Worcestershire sauce, to taste
3 tablespoons breadcrumbs
oregano, to taste
1 egg, slightly beaten
salt and pepper, to taste
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

For the sauce

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup onion, chopped
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons soya sauce

1. For meatballs: Mix all ingredients (minus oil) together. Form into balls. Fry in oil until golden then place on paper towel to drain. Set aside
2. For Sauce: In medium saucepan, fry onion in oil until tender. Add all other sauce ingredients and simmer 20 minutes. Add meatballs and cook 1 hour on medium. Serve and Enjoy!
3. *You can also place browned meatballs and sauce mix into crock pot.

Chicken and Broccoli Pie

My mother in law sent this recipe to me awhile ago and we've had the chance to enjoy it several times! So easy too!

Chicken and Broccoli Pie

1 1/2 cups broccoli (fresh or frozen)
1 1/3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups diced cooked chicken
2/3 cups chopped onion (I omitted for personal preference)
1 1/3 cups milk
3 eggs
3/4 cup Bisquick mix
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Grease a 9 inch pie plate or square pan. Mix broccoli, cheese, cooked chicken and onion in pie plate or pan. Beat milk, eggs, Bisquick, salt and pepper until smooth. Pour on top of chicken mixture. Bake 30-35 minutes or until knife inserted in centre comes out clean. Let stand 5 minutes. Enjoy!

Valentine Links

Here are some links that I enjoyed over the past week. They all feature a neat valentine idea. Enjoy!

Try out this tasty looking recipe for Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies from Bakerella.

How about some free printable Valentine cards from Oliebollen?






Looking for a cute iron on pillow transfer? This will totally complete your Valentine dreams. From Creature Comforts.

I found this great homemade greeting card at Taylored Expessions. Love it!

Need a Valentine cupcake recipe? Here's one at Cupcakes and Crinoline.

Have you seen anymore great Valentine ideas? I'd love to know in the comments!

A Valentine Treat

Today's recipe is so simple you hardly need a recipe! Kids will love this!

Jello hearts! My Mom use to make these for us when we were younger and they were always a hit.

To make these, all you need is some strawberry jello, a heart shaped cookie cutter and a 9"x13" pan. Prepare the jello according to the package then let set in the pan. After it's set, use the cookie cutter to cut the shapes. Carefully remove them with a spatula. Enjoy!

PS: In my browsing tonight I found this fabulous idea for chocolate dipped pretzels at Make & Takes. Go check it out!

Super Easy Samosas

I made these for dinner last night and we love them! My husband claims he doesn't like curry but really likes these. He's strange...but lovable!

Easy Cresent Samosas

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups cooked diced potatoes
1 cup cooked diced carrot
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
5 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp dried cilantro
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp salt
1 dash red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp water
2 (8 ounce) packages crescent rolls (I used Pilsbury)

1. Saute onion and garlic in oil for 5 minutes until onion is soft.
2. Add all other ingredients except crescent rolls.
3. Stir gently over medium heat for several minutes until well blended.
4. Set aside.
5. Heat oven to 375 degrees
6. Open cans of crescent rolls and unroll the dough.
7. Separate into 4 rectangles and pinch the triangular perforations to seal
8. Cut each rectangle in half to make squares (you'll have 8 squares per can of crescents rolls)
9. You may have to coax the dough gently with your hands to make it square and to close up the perforations.
10. Spoon a heaping spoonful of filling in the center of each square and fold over to make a triangle. (I made rectangles)
11. Pinch the edges to seal.
12. Bake on a greased cookie sheets for 12-15 minutes until golden.
13. Cool slightly on rack.
14. Serve warm with honey dipping sauce (recipe below)
15. Makes 16 samosas

Honey Dipping Sauce

1/3 cup honey
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp water
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 pinch red pepper flakes

Mix sauce well in a small bowl. Enjoy!

Delicious Cheddar Biscuits

Oh my...we're they ever good! I made these for dinner on Monday which I served with a creamy vegetable soup. They are supposed to be like Red Lobster's cheddar biscuits. They're so easy to make too!

Garlic Cheddar Biscuits

2 cups Bisquick

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1-1 1/2 grated cheddar cheese

2/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400*. Stir all these ingredients together in a mixer. (or by hand) Drop by spoonful onto a greased cookie sheet. Place in oven for 10 minutes.

While the biscuits are baking, melt 2 Tablespoons butter, add 2 tsp oregano and one tsp garlic salt to a little dish.

After the 10 minutes are up, remove the biscuits from the oven and brush the butter mixture overtop each biscuit.

Pop back into the oven for another 5-6 minutes.

Enjoy!

Ginger Crinkles

(photo by shannon2406)

These cookies are the best! My favourite part about them, besides the taste, is that they stay soft after baking! Go on give them a try!

Ginger Crinkles

2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/4 molasses
1 ¾ cup flour
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon (or more!)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
¼ cup granulated sugar (for rolling)

In large bowl, whisk oil with 1 cup sugar. Whisk in egg until smooth. Whisk in molasses. In separate bowl, mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder and soda, and salt. Stir into molasses mixture to form moist dough. Shape into balls, roll in sugar and place on baking sheet 2 inches apart.

Bake at 350 degrees until flat, cracked and browned all over - about 12 minutes.

***I use my kitchenaid mixer as this dough becomes quite hard to mix.

All You Wanted to Know About Vinegar

I love plain old white vinegar. It's delightful! :) I like to use vinegar for all sorts of things. Cleaning, since it's a natural disinfectant. Cooking, because some recipes call for it. Gardening, so it kills all those pesky aphids on my roses.

My favorite ways to use it right now are as a floor cleaner and a drain unclogger!

For the floor cleaner I fill a bucket with hot water, add some vinegar and my secret ingedient...a few drops of essential oil! You can't smell the vinegar once it's dry and the essential oils act as a bit of aromatherapy while you're cleaning!

My drain cleaner method works really well. I thought I would try to get one of our sinks to drain a bit faster by pouring a bunch of baking soda, then by adding an equal part of vinegar. This would be fun for kids! After the vinegar and baking soda calm down, pour a bunch of boiling hot water down the drain. I was so pleased with the results! This is also a great way to freshen the drain.

Since vinegar is a disinfectant and natual cleaner, I like to use it to clean the tiles in the washroom. (I don't do this very often because well, I don't like cleaning that much!)

You know that expensive Jet Dry shine stuff you throw in your dishwasher? Well vinegar works great as a cheap replacement! Trust me, that's what I do.

According to this neat website I found in my searching, you can use vinegar on your hands to take away onion smell. I wonder if it would work for garlic too? I'll have to try!

So tell me, what do you like to do with vinegar?

World's Best Cheesecake

(originally uploaded by Sabotrax)

I foundthis recipe typing in 'World's best cheesecake' in Google, and I must admit, it is fabulous! Apparently, it's a version of the original Lindy's cheesecake which goes all the way back to 1921!

World's Best Cheesecake:

Cake:
6 eggs
1 1/2 C sugar
2 lbs. (four 8 ounce packages) cream cheese, preferably Kraft's Philadelphia brand
1/2 pint sour cream
1/2 pint heavy cream
juice of one lemon
1 Tablespoon vanilla
2 heaping Tablespoons flour

Crust:
1 1/2 C crushed vanilla wafers (you can also use crushed graham crackers, or digestive biscuits) 6 Tablespoons melted butter
1/2 C sugar

Preheat oven to to 425°.

Add eggs, sugar, cream cheese, sour cream, heavy cream, lemon juice, vanilla, and flour to mixer. Beat thoroughly, until completely smooth.

While cake mixture is beating, make the crust.

Mix crust ingredients together in small mixing bowl. Pour into 9" spring form pan, pressing into place with your fingers or the back of a spoon. Chill in refrigerator for 15 minutes.

When crust is cool, and cake is thoroughly mixed, pour batter into the pan over the back of a big spoon, so the batter does not disturb the crust. Let it rest for 5 or 10 minutes.

Bake in 425° oven for 15 minutes. Then turn oven down to 275° and bake for 1 hour. Turn off oven. Do not open the oven door for 2 hours! After the 2 hours are up, remove cake and refrigerate.

My tips:

• Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature.
• A big mixer is very useful since it's pretty thick
• Firstly, I beat the cream cheese then I beat after adding each additional ingredient
• Do not open the oven at all during the cooking and cooling process