Texas Lasagna

Submitted By Melinda LeCheminant

½ c water

½ t garlic powder

12  lasagna noodles

1 t salt

1 carton (15 oz) ricotta cheese

1 egg

¾ lb mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced

¾ c grated parmesan cheese

1 lb Italian sausage in casing

½ lb ground beef

½ c finely chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 T sugar

1 t salt

1 T dried basil leaves

½ t fennel seeds (I only put 2 little seeds in)

½ t pepper

¼ c chopped parsley

1 can (35 oz) Italian style tomatoes

2 cans (6 oz each) tomato paste

Remove sausage from casing and chop. In 5-quart Dutch oven over medium heat, sauté sausage, beef, onion, and chopped garlic. Stir frequently and cook until well browned. Add sugar, salt, basil, fennel, pepper, and half of the parsley and mix well. Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste, and ½ c water, mashing tomatoes with a wooden spoon. Bring mixture to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer. Cover; simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Add garlic powder and simmer 30 minutes longer. In an 8-qt kettle (I just use a regular 5-qt pan), bring 3 qts water and 1 tsp of salt to a boil. Add lasagna noodles 2-3 at a time. Return to boiling and boil uncovered until noodles are just tender. Drain and rinse in a colander under cold water. Dry noodles on paper towels. In a medium bowl combine ricotta, egg, remaining parsley, and salt. Mix well.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Into a 9x13 baking dish, spoon 1 ½ cups of sauce. Place 6 noodles lengthwise and overlapping to cover sauce. Spread half of ricotta mixture over noodles and top with 1/3 of mozzarella. Spoon another 1 ½ c of sauce over cheese and sprinkle with ¼ c parmesan. Spread any remaining cheeses on top. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 25 minutes; remove foil and bake uncovered another 25 minutes or until bubbly. Cool for 15 minutes and serve.

Yield: 8 servings

Zucchini Casserole

submitted by Sandee Hinman

6 c zucchini, peeled, seeds scooped out, cubed
1/4 c chopped onion
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded sharp cheese
1 cube of butter or margarine (to use with stuffing)
1 8oz package of herb seasoned stuffing mix

Boil zucchini and onion in water for 5 minutes. Drain well. In a bowl, combine soup, sour cream and cheese. Add zucchini and onions and mix well. In a bowl, melt butter and stir in stuffing mix. Put 1/2 crumb mixture in bottom of dish. Pour zucchini mixture into the dish and top with remaining crumb mixture.

Bake 350 for 1/2 hour, uncovered.

*can add shredded chicken too.

Beef Vegetable Soup

Submitted By Katie Griffin

So I did a bit of tweaking on this recipe because it sounded so good but I didn't have all the right ingredients. The original recipe is in black and my "tweaking" is in red. If I didn't make any red notes next to the ingredients then I used the original ingredients. This turned out so yummy and yielded plenty of left overs.

Beef Vegetable Soup

1/2 T vegetable oil
3/4 lb beef chuck cut into 3/4" chunks
(I drained 2 cans of canned beef that I had in food storage, omitting the vegetable oil and fresh beef chuck)
1/2 medium onion chopped (I didn't have fresh onion so I used about a teaspoon of dried onion flakes)
2 cans (14.5 oz each) beef broth
1/2 can (28-35 oz) plum tomatoes in juice (I used a jar of tomatoes I canned last summer, if I were to do it again, I would strain a little bit of the juice before dumping it in)
1 c water
1/2 bay leaf
1/8 t dried thyme
1/8 t pepper
1/2 lb carrots, peeled and diced
1/2 lb red potatoes, peeled and diced (I used russets as I didn't have red potatoes on hand)
1 1/2 celery stalks, diced
1/2 package (10 oz) frozen peas (I drained a can of peas as I didn't have frozen on hand, though I would have preferred the frozen)
1/2 package (10 oz) frozen corn (I didn't have any corn so I did without but I will most definitely be adding it next time)

Brown beef in oil in large pot. Add onion and cook 5 minutes. Stir in broth, tomatoes and juice, water, bay leaf, thyme, and pepper; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 45 minutes.
Add carrots, potatoes, and celery; cover and simmer 45 minutes. Add peas and corn and cook 15 minutes.

In a large pot place beef, onion flakes, broth, tomatoes and juice, water, bay leaf, thyme, and pepper; bring to a boil. Add carrots, potatoes, and celery; cover and let simmer for 30 minutes. Add canned peas and let boil for about 5 minutes. Enjoy with some fresh french bread :)

Stuffed Shells

Not the best picture, I apologize. I load it with sauce so you can't really see how pretty the "insides" of the pasta shells are.

Submitted by Katie Griffin

1 Jar of red sauce
1/2 lb sweet Italian sausage
1/2 chopped onion
1 c part skim ricotta cheese
1 1/4 c mozzarella cheese
3/4 c Parmesan cheese
1/4 t pepper
2 T chopped basil leaves (this is if you're using fresh basil, you won't want to use as much if your using dried basil)
1 box of large shell pasta

Cut sausage out of the skins. Cook sausage with onions until brown, drain.
While sausage is cooling, stir ricotta, 1 c mozzarella, 1/2 c Parmesan, pepper and basil together in a large bowl. After the sausage is cooled, mix with the cheese mixture.
Cook about 25 - 30 shells (you can only fit about 25 shells in a 9x13 but I always cook extra just in case some break during the cooking process).
Pour some sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 to prevent the pasta from sticking.
Fill shells with cheese mixture and place in the pan.
Pour sauce on top.
Bake 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees until the sauce is bubbling.
Mix remainder of cheese and put on top. Bake five more minutes.

Orange Glazed, Stuffed Pork Chops

Submitted by Katie Griffin

p.s. Jared might kill me if he knew I posted this picture but I haven't made this recipe in a while and it's the only one I had. We won 1st place in a dutch oven contest with this recipe so that's why it's a funny picture :) I won't tell, if you won't ;)

 Orange Glazed Stuffed Pork Chops

-note that this was cooked in a dutch oven but it can just as easily be cooked in your kitchen oven.

Meat
(10) 8 oz. pork chops w/pockets cut (we cut the pockets on the small side so there was less to toothpick shut)

salt and pepper to taste

4 Tbs. olive oil

1 cup hot water

Stuffing
1 1/2 cup yellow onion; diced
1 cup celery; diced
12 Tbs. butter (we didn't use nearly this much!)
2 cups bread cubes; 1/2" cubes (I used wheat bread)
1 large apple; cored, peeled, and diced
1/4 cup slivered almonds (we used sliced instead and I just chopped them up a bit before adding them)

2 Tbs. parsley flakes

1 tsp. rosemary

1 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. allspice

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

1/2 cup water

Glaze
4 oranges; juice & zest
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. cornstarch
10 whole cloves (seemed like a bit much, taste the glaze as you cook it to make sure it's not too much)

Heat a 14" deep Dutch oven using 20-22 briquettes bottom heat. When oven is hot add butter, onions, and celery. Saute until tender. Return oven to the heat to stay hot.
In a large bowl combine bread cubes, apple, almonds, parsley, rosemary, and seasonings. Mix in the onions and celery. Add enough water to moisten the dressing.

Stuff the mixture into the pork chops. Seal the pockets with toothpicks and tie with butcher string (or just use toothpicks). Season both sides of the chops with salt and pepper.

Add olive oil to the 14" deep Dutch oven. Place chops in oven and brown both sides. Stand chops on end so they rest on the bone. Add HOT water to the oven. Cover and simmer using 14 briquettes bottom and 14 briquettes top for 45 to 60 minutes or until internal meat temperature reads 175° F.

In an 8" dutch oven add juice and zest from 4 oranges and the remainder of the glaze ingredients. Stir to mix. Heat using 12 briquettes bottom stirring frequently until mixture boils. Reduce briquettes on bottom to 4 and let simmer 15 minutes. ( We just used a cast iron skillet on top of the dutch oven coals).

Beef Stroganoff

Submitted By Amanda Hancock

Beef Stroganoff

1 lb. ground beef

1 tsp. minced onion

1 tsp. garlic salt

1 8-oz. can mushrooms

1 can cream of mushroom soup

4 Tbsp shredded cheese

2 tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

1 c. sour cream

2 Tbsp. chopped parsley

Brown hamburger in skillet. Add all ingredients except sour cream. Mix thoroughly. Simmer about 10 minutes Add sour cream. Serve over cooked rice or noodles.

Fish Tacos with Cilantro/Lime Dressing

Sorry not the best of pictures, this was actually seconds. I couldn't wait to eat the first one!

Submitted by Katie Griffin

Create a "pan-like" shape from aluminum foil. Place the foil on top of a cookie sheet. Drizzle olive oil on the bottom of the foil. Place fish fillets of your choice (I used Tilapia) on the foil and turn so each side gets a little bit of olive oil on it.

Sprinkle a generous amount of seasonings over the fish, I used plenty of salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne pepper, and Montreal Mesquite Seasoning (really whatever you want, it just depends on how spicy you want it).

Put the fish under the broiler for 5-10 minutes. Watch the fish closely to make sure they don't burn. The edges of the fish will become somewhat blackened from all the seasonings. When the fish is done, remove the pan from the oven and let it cool while you prepare the tacos.

I used wheat tortillas that we just heated up for about 15 seconds in a kitchen towel in the microwave (you can also use flour or corn tortillas). Add shredded lettuce, cheese, diced tomatoes (not pictured because we were out), green onions, black beans and fresh lime for garnish. Place a fillet on each taco and serve with a generous amount of lime dressing.

Lime Dressing:
3/4 C Ranch
1/2 C salsa
1 t dill weed
1/2 t lemon pepper
3T Lime Juice
1 t ground pepper
1/8 t ground red pepper
1/2 t horseradish
2 T cilantro
3 t sugar (this offsets the lime juice, you can omit it if you want)

Blend all ingredients together in a blender until smooth.

Jared gave this one a big thumbs up and it was a super quick meal to make. It took me no longer that 30 minutes from start to finish. Success!!!

Italian Meatball Soup

Prep Time: 30 Minutes  |  Cook Time: 45 Minutes  |  Difficulty: Easy  |  Servings: 8

Ingredients

• Meatballs:
• ¾ pounds Ground Beef
• ½ cups Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
• 3 Tablespoons Fresh Parsley, Minced (or 1 Tablespoon dry)
• 1 whole Egg
• 2 cloves Garlic
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• ½ teaspoons Black Pepper
• ¼ teaspoons Ground Oregano
• 2 teaspoons Lemon Juice 
  
  SOUP
• 1 T Olive Oil
• 7 cups Low Sodium Beef Stock
• 2 cups Water
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• 2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
• 1 Onion, Chopped
• ¾ cups Carrots, Chopped
• ¾ cups Celery, Chopped
• 2-3 cups Red Potato, Chopped (do Not Peel)
• ½ pounds Cabbage, Chopped
• 1 Cheyote Squash, Chopped (you know, that funny looking pear/pepper looking thing you got from Bountiful Baskets last weekend, completely optional, I just thought I would throw one in for good measure and it turned out perfect)
• Grated Parmesan Cheese To Serve
• TIED IN A CHEESECLOTH BUNDLE
• 4 Tablespoons Fresh Parsley, Minced (or 2 Tablespoons dry)
• 2 whole Bay Leaves
• 1 teaspoon Peppercorns

Preparation Instructions

To make meatballs, combine all meatball ingredients and mix well. Shape into small balls and chill for 30 minutes.
Gather 4 tablespoons parsley, bay leaves, and peppercorns in a cheesecloth bundle. Tie to secure.
After chilling, heat olive oil over medium-low heat in a heavy pot. Briefly brown meatballs, then remove to a plate. Do not cook completely through, the meatballs will finish cooking through when you add them to the soup later (you don't want them to dry out).
To pot, add beef stock, water, salt, tomato paste, and herb bag. Bring to a boil, then simmer 30 minutes.
Add onion, carrots, celery, cheyote squash, and potatoes. Simmer 15 more minutes. Remove herb bag.
Add cabbage and meatballs. Bring to a boil, then simmer 8 to 10 minutes.
Serve with plenty of freshly grated Parmesan cheese sprinkled over the top.