Teriyaki Bowtie Spinach Salad

Here.

Cheddar Crackers

Another first for me: homemade crackers! Everyone at our house gave these a thumbs up.

True Lasagna

I got this recipe from my sweet friend who served a mission in Italy. I've changed it around a little so part of it's done in the crockpot and I tried oven-ready noodles last time (gasp! I know, I'm SO not authentic). The trick is that it has a white sauce instead of cottage cheese or ricotta in it--so yummy. And the original recipe actually calls for adding pats of butter on top before cooking it. So if you need a little more fat in your diet, go ahead and do that :).

Update for my kids: omit tomato sauce, puree 2 cans tomatoes, and skip the carrots and celery.

In crockpot (or on the stove, sauteeing the veggies and then letting simmer with everything else) make your red sauce:
1 lb. Italian sausage, browned and drained
1 small onion, diced
2 grated carrots
1 celery stick, diced
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 small cans tomato sauce
basil and parsley to taste

I let it go for about 4 1/2 hours on low (my sausage--already cooked--and onions were frozen) while we were at church.

Make your white sauce on the stove:
6 TB butter
scant 3/4 cup flour
2 1/4 cup whole milk
1/4 tsp nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste (for me, about 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper)

Grate 1 cup parmesan cheese (to divide up between layers--you can also use mozzarella for even cheesier)
Cook 9 lasagna noodles (or use oven-ready like I did last time)

Dirty a 13x9 dish with red sauce. Layer like this three times:
3 noodles
red sauce
white sauce
parmesan

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
If refrigerated first, bake for 30-40 minutes.

If using oven-ready noodles, bake at 425 degrees for 1 hour (check after 50 min.) with double foil covering it.

Crepes--if only I were the patient type

Mr. Brady is a crepe maker; I am not. He throws ingredients in the blender from memory and has the patience to flip over each paper-thin one. The kids love them! They sprinkle powdered sugar and drizzle lemon juice on them. Um, I'd rather have a thick pancake with homemade syrup. BUT, there are two crepe fillings that I absolutely adore, so if Mr. Brady will make the crepes, I'll happily make a sweet or savory one: berry cream filling and curry chicken filling.


Berry Cream Crepe Filling:
8 oz. cream cheese
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 TB lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup heavy cream, whipped
Berries of choice

Beat the first ingredients with a mixer until smooth. Fold in whipped cream. Fill and roll your crepes up and put the berries on top.



Curry Chicken Crepe Filling:


1/4 cup butter (I used olive oil last time)
1 1/4 cups diced celery
1 cup diced onion
2 TB flour
3/4 tsp curry powder
2 cubes chicken bouillon
1/2 cup warm water
3/4 cup sliced black olives
2 1/2 cups cooked, diced chicken
1 cup milk

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Melt butter; saute celery and onion in a big skillet. Add the rest of the ingredients and heat until bubbly and smooth. I like the cheese added very last--kind of melting just on the top of the filling--the original recipe says to sprinkle the cheese on top of the rolled up crepe. Fill up your crepes and put them in a 9x13 baking dish at 400 degrees for about 12 min. I love these--especially the slight crunch of the celery in there!

Whole Wheat Bread

This turned out very soft and yummy for us. Mine had to rise in the warmed oven for quite a bit longer than the recipe states. Still, I love that it all rises in the pan.

Chicken Noodle Soup

I'm a big girl now! I made my first homemade noodles. I used this yummy recipe. After rolling out the noodles with my rolling pin, I cut them with a pizza cutter. The chicken I used in the soup was already seasoned previously and was sitting in my freezer, so I'll probably never get that particular flavor again, but it was awesome and it will be fun to see what it tastes like next time. I used whole wheat flour for some of the flour content in the noodles, and I also threw in my diced onions from the freezer and omitted the peas.

Mandarin Creaminess

This was originally from a C**king Light magazine, but here it is how I usually make it:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray 13x9 baking dish.

Crust:
9 TB butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1/8 tsp salt

Blend crust ingredients together well and pat into baking dish. Pierce bottom of dough with a fork. Bake 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool crust on a wire rack. (Turn off oven.)

Filling:
2 (11-oz) cans mandarin oranges in light syrup, drained, reserving 1/2 cup juice
1/4 cup sugar
24 oz. sour cream (low fat if desired)
2 (3.4 oz) packages vanilla instant pudding mix

Combine juice, sugar, sour cream and pudding mix in a large bowl; stir well. Fold in the orange segments. Spoon orange mixture over crust, spreading evenly.

Topping:
8 oz. Cool Whip or sweetened whipped cream