Creamy Filled Lasagna

I made a pork roast yesterday for dinner, and it was mighty tasty and all, but what I absolutely LOVE about it...all the yummy left over meat.  So this week I am dedicating it to left over week.  More time to sit back and watch the kids destroy my cleaned house.  Ah, this is the life.

Ingredients

• 1 small box of Lasagna Noodles
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 cups cottage cheese
• 2 cups of LEFT OVER PORK ROAST 

(ok, really, just use chicken if you don't have roast on hand)

• 2 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese for topping

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain, and rinse with cold water.
2. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook the onion and garlic in the butter until tender, stirring frequently. Stir in the flour and salt to make a rue. Mix in the broth and milk, and boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Stir in 2 cups mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Season with the basil, oregano, and ground black pepper. Remove from heat, and set aside.
3. Spread 1/3 of the sauce mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer with 1/3 of the noodles, the cottage cheese, and the pork (or chicken). Arrange 1/3 of the noodles over the chicken, and layer with 1/3 of the sauce mixture, spinach, and the remaining 2 cups mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. Arrange remaining noodles over cheese, and spread remaining sauce evenly over noodles. Sprinkle with parsley and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.
4. Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven. 

 

So yummy!!  I had double my portion with no regret because it was super good.

Hubbie's Big BDay Bash

Oh how I love to celebrate birthdays...really any holidays for that matter.  So this morning the big boy got breakfast in bed.  He got classic sausage patties and strawberries, but I found THIS recipe and it was a winner!

Cake Batter Pancakes
makes about 12 pancakes

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup yellow cake mix (I personally just used funfetti cake mix and skipped the sprinkles part)
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 cups milk
assorted sprinkles

Combine flour, cake mix, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl and mix. Add 1 cup of milk, egg and vanilla extract and stir until smooth. You want the batter to look like regular pancake batter; not too thin, not too thick. This will vary greatly on the brand of cake mix you use. Start with 1 cup of milk and add more if needed. I suggest a small taste test as well to see if the pancakes are flavored enough.
Preheat a skillet on medium heat (I use an electric grilled and turn it to 250 degrees). Fold desired amount of sprinkles into batter. Pour batter in 1/4 cup measurements onto skillet and let cook until bubbles form on top, about 2-3 minutes. Flip and cook for 1 minute more. Serve with vanilla glaze.


Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tablespoon milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
assorted sprinkles

Mix milk, extract and powdered sugar until glaze forms. You may need to add a little more sugar or water/milk to reach desired consistency. Mix into glaze and drizzle on pancakes.


A tradition we had growing up that I love, the birthday person got to pick their favorite meal to have prepared for dinner.  I am lucky by having a hubby that eats anything and everything, so his favorite meal changes daily.  This year's request:
 

Chicken Braid 

Ingredients

• 2 cups diced, cooked chicken meat
• 1 cup fresh broccoli, chopped
• 1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 clove crushed garlic
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons slivered almonds
• 1/4 cup diced onion
• 2 (8 ounce) packages refrigerated crescent rolls
• 1 egg white, beaten

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F 
2. In a large bowl, toss together chicken, broccoli, red bell pepper, garlic, Cheddar cheese, cream of chicken soup, salt, almonds and onion.
3. Unroll crescent roll dough, and arrange flat on a medium baking sheet. Pinch together perforations to form a single sheet of dough. Using a knife or scissors, cut 1 inch wide strips in towards the center, starting on the long sides. There should be a solid strip about 3 inches wide down the center, with the cut strips forming a fringe down each side. Spread the chicken mixture along the center strip. Fold the side strips over chicken mixture, alternating strips from each side. Pinch or twist to seal.
4. Brush braided dough with the egg white. Bake in the preheated oven 25 to 28 minutes, or until golden brown.

Better than Sin Cake 

{this picture makes me salivate...a lot!}

1 package Devil's food cake mix
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
6 ounces caramel ice cream topping

Chopped up Heath or Skor bars (hm...I think I use about half a bag of the mini Heath's)
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

Directions

1. Bake cake according to package directions for a 9x13 inch pan; cool on wire rack for 5 minutes. Poke holes across the top of the cake.
2. Slowly pour the sweetened condensed milk and caramel topping mixture over the top of the cake, letting it sink into the holes; then sprinkle the crushed chocolate toffee bars liberally across the entire cake. (I crush my candy bars into small chunks as opposed to crumbs - I like to have pieces I can chew on!)
3. Let cake cool completely, then top with whipped topping. Decorate the top of the cake with some more chocolate toffee bar chunks. Refrigerate and serve right from the pan!