Fantastic Food Friday!
It's that time again! Time for me to share some of our favorite easy recipes! I'm actually going to share only two recipes today, followed by some of my own personal tips about anything and everything related to cooking & meal planning.
Veggie Lasagna (inspired by Food Network!)
Portobello mushrooms--4 or so
1 zuchini
1 yellow squash
1 yellow onion
2 cups fresh raw spinach
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 jar tomato sauce / spaghetti sauce
1 box lasagna pasta (I buy the type that you don't have to boil, but if you do not buy that type, then cook the noodles first)
12 oz ricotta cheese
2 cups mozzarella cheese
Dice the mushrooms, zuchini, squash & onion; then pan fry the diced veggies & minced garlic in the olive oil
Put a little bit of tomato sauce in the bottom of your pan, then layer in this order pasta, spinach, pan fried veggies, ricotta, mozzarella, sauce. Repeat sequence two more times, then top with one last layer of pasta and top that with the remaining sauce & mozzarella cheese. (Does this make sense? Let me know if it doesn't! I don't write recipes, I just COOK them! haha!)
Bake the lasagna at 350 for one hour
I like to make two smaller pans of lasagna out of this recipe instead of one large 13x9 pan because smaller pans fit my family's appetites. Then I can freeze one for later!
Chicken & Rice Casserole (inspired by Campbells soup!)
3-4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 jar Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup
1 cup water
3/4 cup uncooked white rice (normal cooking rice, not the quick-cooking style)
Paprika, Salt, Pepper
Coat your pan with non-stick cooking oil spray
Put the chicken breasts into the pan
Mix soup, water & uncooked rice; pour over chicken
Sprinkle spices overtop the casserole
Bake at 375 for 45 minutes
Some of my favorite extra tips for in the Kitchen...
--Try substituting ground turkey for ground beef in ANY recipe from tacos to chili and more. It tastes fantastic and not much different than the good ol' beef.
--Try marinating and grilling extra chicken breasts the next time you've got your grill heated. Then wrap them individually and freeze, taking them out as needed to put over a salad for lunch!
--Double recipes & make multiple pans to freeze for later. You KNOW I'm a fan of this one :) I LOVE the nights when I just have to throw an already-prepared-casserole into the oven and voila, dinner's done!
--Plan your meals a month at a time to avoid making the same meals all the time. I list every meal planned on a calendar to have a month of no repeats. This is also helpful when planning your grocery list because if you see something on sale that is okay to buy ahead of time, it could save you some $$! I personally shop at the first of the month for most of my meats, all ingredients that go into meals I can freeze and all dry non-perishables. Then I spend a few days making and freezing meals for the rest of the month. It cuts the total amount of time I spend grocery shopping in HALF because for the rest of the month I only have to buy produce, dairy & sandwich supplies!
--Look for buy one, get one free! At our local grocery store there is at least one type of meat every week that you can buy this way. I take advantage of these sales as much as possible and freeze extra meat all the time for later.
Happy cooking everyone!
Veggie Lasagna (inspired by Food Network!)
Portobello mushrooms--4 or so
1 zuchini
1 yellow squash
1 yellow onion
2 cups fresh raw spinach
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 jar tomato sauce / spaghetti sauce
1 box lasagna pasta (I buy the type that you don't have to boil, but if you do not buy that type, then cook the noodles first)
12 oz ricotta cheese
2 cups mozzarella cheese
Dice the mushrooms, zuchini, squash & onion; then pan fry the diced veggies & minced garlic in the olive oil
Put a little bit of tomato sauce in the bottom of your pan, then layer in this order pasta, spinach, pan fried veggies, ricotta, mozzarella, sauce. Repeat sequence two more times, then top with one last layer of pasta and top that with the remaining sauce & mozzarella cheese. (Does this make sense? Let me know if it doesn't! I don't write recipes, I just COOK them! haha!)
Bake the lasagna at 350 for one hour
I like to make two smaller pans of lasagna out of this recipe instead of one large 13x9 pan because smaller pans fit my family's appetites. Then I can freeze one for later!
Chicken & Rice Casserole (inspired by Campbells soup!)
3-4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 jar Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup
1 cup water
3/4 cup uncooked white rice (normal cooking rice, not the quick-cooking style)
Paprika, Salt, Pepper
Coat your pan with non-stick cooking oil spray
Put the chicken breasts into the pan
Mix soup, water & uncooked rice; pour over chicken
Sprinkle spices overtop the casserole
Bake at 375 for 45 minutes
Some of my favorite extra tips for in the Kitchen...
--Try substituting ground turkey for ground beef in ANY recipe from tacos to chili and more. It tastes fantastic and not much different than the good ol' beef.
--Try marinating and grilling extra chicken breasts the next time you've got your grill heated. Then wrap them individually and freeze, taking them out as needed to put over a salad for lunch!
--Double recipes & make multiple pans to freeze for later. You KNOW I'm a fan of this one :) I LOVE the nights when I just have to throw an already-prepared-casserole into the oven and voila, dinner's done!
--Plan your meals a month at a time to avoid making the same meals all the time. I list every meal planned on a calendar to have a month of no repeats. This is also helpful when planning your grocery list because if you see something on sale that is okay to buy ahead of time, it could save you some $$! I personally shop at the first of the month for most of my meats, all ingredients that go into meals I can freeze and all dry non-perishables. Then I spend a few days making and freezing meals for the rest of the month. It cuts the total amount of time I spend grocery shopping in HALF because for the rest of the month I only have to buy produce, dairy & sandwich supplies!
--Look for buy one, get one free! At our local grocery store there is at least one type of meat every week that you can buy this way. I take advantage of these sales as much as possible and freeze extra meat all the time for later.
Happy cooking everyone!
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