Lots O'Meat Lasagna

Oh Paula Deen, you are my fatty southern food cooker. I love you! I wanted to make a lasagna one night, because I figured it would have ingredients Carter might eat and enjoy - so I found this recipe by Paula Deen. She is an excellent cook, but not a healthy one. Oh well...it's good to have a pound of meat on your ribs (or 2, or 6...)! So, yes the lasagna was a success and Carter and Don both loved it. The best thing about the dish was that it lasted a LONG time...I mean, long time. - and made for great Tupperware lunches for Don to take to school. This is not your typical Lasagna, in that it has a variety of meat wedged all so fatly within it. I believe "portions" are the key to eating such things as this... enjoy!! :D

Recipe:

• 1 1/2 pounds ground chuck
• 1 pound ground Italian sausage
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons ground oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground basil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano
• 2 (15-ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
• 1 1/2 cups small curd cottage cheese
• 1 (5-ounce) package grated Parmigianno-Reggiano
• 2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley leaves
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 9 oven-ready lasagna noodles
• 2 (8-ounce) packages shredded mozzarella
• (haha, uhmmm yeah. A lot of good stuff, eh?)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large saucepan, combine ground chuck, sausage onion and garlic. Cook over medium heat until meat is browned and crumbled; drain. Return meat to pan and add oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce and paste. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 30 to 45 minutes.

2. In a small bowl, combine cottage cheese, Parmesan, parsley, and eggs.

Spoon 1/4 of sauce into bottom of a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking pan. Place 3 uncooked lasagna noodles on top of sauce. Do not overlap noodles. Spread 1/3 of cottage cheese mixture over noodles, top with 1/4 of sauce and 1/3 mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers, ending with sauce, reserving 1/3 of mozzarella cheese.

3. Bake 45 minutes. Top with remaining cheese and bake 15 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

Whew! You're done my friend! Now go enjoy your efforts! Just remember, portions are key to eating dishes like this! Give yourself about a closed fist size - then load your plate with a nice salad, veggie and or fruit. This should be made and eaten on occasion.

Breaded Pork Chops

I am trying to catch up all my recipes that I have gotten behind with - so my explanation will be brief. I read, I made, We ate. Plain and simple :D Sorry for the photo quality, I was in a hurry to get this meal cooked, because I was rushing it to Don at school before his next class. I just threw it into a Tupperware, so only a skillet shot for y'all. - It was very tasty though! :)

Recipe:
1/4 Cup Original Bisquick
7 Saltine Crackers
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
1 Egg
1 Tbs water
4 boneless pork loin chops

(SUPER SIMPLE!)

1. Mix the Bisquick and Saltine crackers (crushed), salt and pepper in a shallow bowl. Mix egg nd water into another bowl.

2. Take your pork chops and dip them in the egg mixture, wetting both sides well.

3. Take your pork, and one by one, coat both sides well with the Bisquick mixture. Pat, squish, sprinkle...whatever you must do to layer that dry ingredients on well. :)

4. Spray your skillet with some PAM and heat over a medium-high temperature (6/7). Cook pork in the skillet 8-10 mins, turning once - until pork is white when cut through.

5. WOW, you're done. How easy was that!?

I served mine with french styled green beans and potatoes. Also, I made a pound cake earlier and cooked in little tin foil pans (the give away type) - cut up some strawberries - and put some whip cream in a jar and gave to Don for a little dessert afterward. A strawberry shortcake...but with pound cake. hehe :) Sorry....no pictures. But a nice idea for ya! :-D

Black Bean with Sausage Soup

What happened to last nights meal? Uhhhhh my dog ate it...? Okay, okay! Fine...my dog did not eat it. In fact, I don't even have a dog! The truth is, my cat ate it. Yes, I have a cat thank you...and no, I can't seem to pull anything pass you - my cat didn't touch a thing. Not because he didn't want to, but because (*hold breath*) I DID NOT MAKE ANYTHING...gulp. Yes, I said it. I made not one tantalizing tid-bit for anyone to taste. It was a "left-overs" kinda night. Don has school late twice a week and Carter and I were out with some new friends. I predict this type of post to possibly happen a few more times in the future.

So, did I make anything tonight then? Yes, yes I did. Thanks for asking. I indeed cooked and baked up quite a special treat! The treat won't be done till tomorrow, but dinner tonight was very tasteful. The past few days have been cold here in Arizona. Very windy! So this was perfect to warm up my frozen husband when he came home. I tried and tested "Black bean and Sausage Soup", and it was YUMMY!

(Came from Better Homes and Garden New Cook Book)

Recipe:
(quick version, with black beans already cooked, not dry)
2 - 15oz Can Black Beans
1.5 Cups Chicken Broth
2 Cups Water
1 cup chopped Onion (one large)
1 cup chopped Celery (2 stalks)
1 tea ground Coriander
1/4 tea Salt
1/4 tea Cayenne Pepper
4 cloves Garlic, minced
8 oz cooked, smoked, Sausage (I used Italian, and 16oz)

First cut up your sausage and cook thoroughly. Set aside. In a large pot combine all the above ingredients (excluding meat) and bring to a boil. Boil for a minute or two then turn down to a simmer for about 15 mins. Check the veggies to see if they have softened and then toss in the sausage. I turned the temperature of mine up to about a 3-4, till is was starting to bubble --then back down to a simmer. Leave it on simmer/warm until ready to serve. SUPER easy and very tasty! That coriander is awesome - and the celery really give it a special taste too.
You can add some sour cream if desired as well. I put some on mine and Don left it out. We ate warm with saltine crackers. Mmmmm just right. :)

I thought this Celery base looked pretty after I chopped off the stalks...is that weird? ;)

Onions and Celery chopped and ready to get in the Pot
Black bean and Sausage Soup with sour cream (optional)

Island Pork Tenderloin

I made this meal last night. It turned out quite yummy and the homemade bread was a great addition. Of course, I did not take a picture of that - so...will make for another post :).

At our "Kroger" type food store, called Frys (Arizona) - they were having an AWESOME deal on meats. Buy 1, get one of equal value free...yes, FREE meat! I am not huge into consuming large amounts of meat - but my husband loves it, and it does serve a healthy purpose in correct portions - so I did not mind spending the extra money to buy a nice piece of meat and get another free. That is what a freezer is for, right? Another nights meal saved. Anyway, we went in the evening and they did not have any nice pot roasts of anything yummy like that left - but they did have these HUGE pork tenderloins available. I mean like 4 and 5 lbs hunks of meat! We scored 2 of those and happily brought them home. One in the fridge, one in the freezer.
Now for the recipe.
This is something I snatched from my P90X nutrition book (with slight variation).

This recipe is for 16 ounces (1lb) of meat, so double, triple..whatever must, for your meat size.

Mix together:
1/2 tea Salt
1/4 tea Pepper
1/2 tea Chili Powder
1/2 tea Ground Cumin
1/2 tea Cinnamon
2 tea Olive Oil
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar (packed)
About 1/2 cup, if not more of BBQ sauce (whatever style you like) - I've done Honey and traditional.
Mix together till a nice thick paste. You can add a tiny bit of water if you want it more in liquid format.

Now instead of using the crock-pot like I have in the past I simply cut my tenderloin in 1-1.5 inch slices and threw them in a skillet. I cooked in medium heat with some water in the pan and added sauce to top (then turned over) bottom of the pork slices. Since I had a 4lb tenderloin I was cutting from it took a few sequences to get it all cooked. Meaning, I placed about 5 slices in a pan at a time to cook (when finished, placed on a plate - and started the next batch). Cook fully, and add as much yummy sauce as you want. Afterward transfer to plate, sprinkle some parsley on top, and you're done! Good job :)

I served mine with hot home made bread, french style green beans, wild rice and strawberries.
(friends brought over a DELICIOUS chocolate mousse for dessert and the strawberries were quite tasty with that too, YUM!)