Alfredo Lasagna

This will be a work in progress.

I saw a recipe posted on Facebook for some Alfredo lasagna roll-ups. I am not interested in that much work, but I thought the idea sounded lovely. I searched for an existing recipe and didn't like anything I saw. So I decided to make my own, based on my regular lasagna.

Here is what I made.

ALFREDO LASAGNA

1 box lasagna noodles, uncooked

Sauce:

2 pounds ground or chopped meat (chicken, turkey, or pork)
1/2 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped

Cook and drain. Add:

2 quarts of alfredo sauce
1 T Italian seasoning
1 t salt
1 t garlic salt

Mix well and simmer for about 15 min.

Cheese mixture: 

16 oz of small curd cottage cheese (24 oz each)
2 eggs, beaten
1 T pesto sauce
1/4 parmesan cheese
1/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese

Mix well.

In a large lasagna pan (not sure the measurements. It's larger than a 9x13), layer as follows:

Thin layer of sauce
Dry noodles, broken as needed to fill the pan
Cheese mixture
Thick layer of sauce
Noodles
Cheese
Noodles
The rest of the sauce

I know that is out of pattern, but it's how I do it to end up with 3 layers of noodles. The noodle layers with just cheese in between is quite good.

This completely fills up the pan so I set it on a baking sheet. IT WILL OVERFLOW a little bit and you don't want that on your oven floor.

DO NOT top with cheese just yet unless you like it burned.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Top with 2 cups of mozzarella cheese and return to the oven for 15 minutes more. The cheese will be slightly browned and really gooey. Y0u really don't want to cook it any longer than this.

Remove from the oven and let it sit for at LEAST 15 minutes. The longer the better, really. The sooner you cut it, the soupier it will be.


It was good, but didn't quite meet my expectations. It seems strange to me to post it anyway, but it was good enough for me to keep working on, and the kids absolutely loved it. So I'm posting my further ideas and will keep adding to this.

At the grocery, none of the bottled sauces were on sale, so I made my own. My recipe uses only butter and cream, which is why it was so so very rich. I think I would adapt my recipe for this by using milk instead, and thickening it with flour or cornstarch. Quantities are the same no matter which you use.

I used boneless chicken thighs, chopped up and cooked with the onions. It was too chunky. From now on, I will use ground meat (chicken, turkey or pork). I will also add a vegetable - spinach, kale, or broccoli, maybe some chopped mixed veg like broccoli/cauliflower/carrot.

My son had several friends over and they all liked it.

Low Carb "Stuffed Cabbage"

The family voted this a keeper. :)

Serves 8

Ingredients:

2 pounds ground beef
1 medium cabbage
4 T butter
1 can rotel tomatoes
1 t salt
2 t onion powder
2 t garlic powder
1/2 t pepper
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Chop cabbage. In a dutch oven, cook the cabbage with 4 T butter and 1/2 cup water, until tender (about 20 minutes).

Meanwhile, brown the ground beef and drain well. Add tomatoes (undrained) and seasonings. Add cabbage and mix until combined.

Place 1/2 of meat mixture in a 13x9 pan. Sprinkle with 1/2 the cheese. Repeat layers.

Bake at 350 for one hour, uncovered.

Vegetable Beef Soup

I love soup. My favorite method for making soup is to make some broth, then throw in whatever veggies we have on hand, and barley. I love barley!!

My dear friend Jill made this soup once when we were visiting her and we loved it! My 15-year-old son asks for it from time to time, so this is one recipe I do follow (well - I closely follow it. Ha)

I will first post the original recipe as given to me by Jill, then the variations I did. I don't vary too far, because this is an amazing soup. I would love to give it a more special name, because it deserves it!

Jill's Vegetable Beef Soup

(Most all amounts are approximate!) 1 lb ground beef browned 1/2 cup red wine ( I use what may be on hand, Merlot usually) 3 - 4 bouillon cubes salt & pepper to taste Tony Cacheres Cajun spice to taste 1 med onion chopped 1 tsp chopped garlic (to taste or health need in my house!) 3 - 4 carrots chopped, or sliced 1/2 purple (or green if you prefer - I just love the color!) cabbage, chopped 3 med zucchini diced 3/4 cup tiny pasta (I like alphabets) 1 large can diced tomatoes 3 large stalks celery chopped 1/2 bag of fresh spinach, chopped 2 boxes beef broth

Here's the order I do things: Brown hamburger and use wine to deglaze the pan after transferring meat to soup pot. Empty 1 box of beef broth to pot and set on low heat. Saute' onion, garlic, celery and carrots in small amount of beef broth so they can actually brown a bit. Add to soup pot, then add chopped cabbage, zucchini, and diced tomatoes. Add remainder of beef broth (use a small bit to dissolve bouillon), season and bring to boil. Add pasta to boiling soup, stirring frequently. I usually have to add water after pasta has cooked. Season to taste. I add spinach last, let it just wilt and serve. I don't let it cook down much to preserve the antioxidant punch and the color of course! Wonderful with some french bread and butter.

VARIATIONS by me:

I don't use bouillon unless I have some all natural ones around, which usually I don't because it's hard to find.

Since we're eating clean at the moment, I left out the pasta. I did add some barley because I LOVE barley in soup. However, the store only had "quick barley". I will never use that again! It turned to mush.

I added 3 cloves of garlic because we love it and it's good for you. :)

I used fresh kale, chopped up, instead of spinach. I'm on a kale kick so it was in my fridge anyway, but I've started using kale in almost anything that calls for spinach or parsley! I used about 2 cups and stirred it in AFTER I turned off the burner, so as Jill said, it wilted but didn't really "cook".

My broth and beef just happened to be from an organic grass-fed cow this time around because we happened to have it, so I like to think of this batch as "super soup".

Daniel then told me he prefers the kind of beef soup with "beef strips" to the one with hamburger. I've made this before using cut up stewing beef - it's great either way!

**This is the ONLY way I can feed my gang a meal using only one pound of beef!

Pizza Burgers

I created this dish on the fly the other night, and it was amazing, so I want to get it down even though I didn't measure anything!

My daughter had her birthday party and the kids made their own pizzas. My husband and I are eating low carb so I got out some ground beef to make us some hamburger patties. As it thawed, I was feeling kind of bitter about missing the pizzas. I love pizza! Then I got the idea to season them into "pizza burgers". I chopped up the pizza toppings and mixed them right in with the meat, formed it into burgers and cooked them on the stove.

As they cooked, I got to thinking I could top them with mozzarella cheese, just like the pizza. Then I thought how about some pepperoni? And I kept thinking!

So, here's the basics. I didn't measure any of it, just put in what you like.

1 pound lean ground beef
1 egg
about 3 T bread crumbs or substitute (since we are low carb, I used ground flax meal)
1 clove garlic, pressed
about 1/4 onion, chopped fine
a few slices green pepper, chopped fine
about 10 back olives, chopped fine
about 10 slices pepperoni, chopped fine
about 1 tsp Italian seasoning
about 1/2 tsp salt
a sprinkle of red pepper flakes
about 2 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese
about 3 Tbsp pizza sauce

mix all of the ingredients together until well mixed. Form into patties (we got 5). Flatten the patties as much as possible, but not too thin or they'll fall apart.

Cook on both sides just till brown. They'll be rare, but that's fine.

Transfer to an oven safe pan if your skillet is not oven safe. Top the patties with another dollop of pizza sauce and your choice of toppings. We used - in this order - cheese, pepperoni, sauce, then more cheese.

Bake at 425 for about 8 minutes until cheese is melted and slightly brown. This was the same time and temp the pizza crusts said to use, so we ran with it and it seemed to be just right. Keep an eye on it and don't let the cheese burn.

Serve with extra sauce and parmesan cheese.

This will definitely go into our meal rotation!

Beefy Tacos

My sister-in-law posted this the other day and I had to try it. I made a triple recipe, due to the size of my crew. I had ground turkey and pork so I used that instead of beef (so they weren't all that "beefy" I guess! LOL!). Everyone loved it, even the one that was initially not sure about the beans. It was the perfect meal to serve on our busiest weeknight. It made great leftovers, too! Definitely a keeper. 

1 pound lean ground meat (beef, pork or turkey, or a mix) 

1 onion, finely chopped 

4 cloves garlic, chopped 

1 can (16 ounces) refried beans 

1 jar (16 ounces) salsa 

1 cup shredded cheddar 

 12 small tortillas 

garnishes: whatever you typically like on your tacos (sour cream, shredded cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, olives, onions, jalapenos, etc) 

 In a large skillet over medium-high heat, stir beef and onion until brown and cooked through, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, stirring frequently, 1 minute. Drain excess oils and transfer to a slow cooker. Stir in beans, salsa, and cheddar. Cover and let simmer until mixture is cooked through and bubbling, 3 to 4 hours on high, or 5 to 6 hours on low. Stir and serve over warmed tortillas; top with your choice of fixings.

Taco Skillet

Found on a low carb recipe site. Everyone loved this! The kids ate some in tortillas and some plain, and pronounced it good both ways. No one asked what the cabbage was. I suppose you could chop it really small if your kids will give you problems over it. You could not taste it but it did add some nice texture. Our kids are adventurous so we don't have to hide things from them - knock on wood!

Taco Skillet

2 pounds ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 batches of Taco seasoning

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained *

16 oz. package coleslaw mix, or equivalent shredded cabbage

salt and pepper to taste

4 oz. shredded cheddar cheese

Optional garnishes: sour cream, cilantro, diced black olives, extra cheese

* I used a can and a half of Rotel tomatoes.

Brown the meat with the onion and garlic in a large skillet; drain. Add the seasoning and tomatoes. Simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes. Add the cabbage and cook, uncovered for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle the cheese on top, cover and cook for 2 minutes more until the cheese melts. Stir the cheese in slightly before serving. Add the garnishes if desired.

Italian Sausage

One of my favorite things is Italian Sausage. Since we've been low-carbing I've wanted to cook some, but I am also an avid label-reader these days and what I founf there surprised me! I found that Italian sausage has a bunch of crap in it like sugar (???????????? ) and artificial ingredients (If you NEED sausage and are buying it, bratwurst seems to have the least offensive ingredients - be sure you read as brands may vary). I was really sad because I love Italian sausage. Coincidentally that same night Alton Brown made some on Good Eats. Yay! I made it myself and it was EASY and YUMMY.

Well, his recipe was a tad more complicated. It had you grinding your own pork and stuffing into casings. If you want to do all that, just Google for "Alton Brown Italian Sausage" like I did. Here is my dumbed down / equipment challenged / (almost) immediate gratification version.

But did I say OMG YUM??!??!??!?!? I will NEVER buy Italian sausage premade again. Just saying.

Ingredients

1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seed
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
2 pounds ground pork

Directions

Crush the fennel seeds: in a blender, coffee grinder, or just put in a baggie and hit it with a hammer.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Refrigerate for at least one hour.

Form into patties or meatballs.

Cook as you would regular patties or meatballs.

ENJOY! I know I will!

Meatloaf

This is my favorite meatloaf recipe ever. :)

1 lb. ground chuck
1/4 lb. ground sausage
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 egg, beaten
1/2 bread crumbs
1/2 can chopped water chestnuts
2 ribs celery, chopped fine

Mix all ingredients and place in a loaf pan. Cover with sauce (below) and bake for 1 hour at 350 F.

Sauce:

1/2 cup ketchup
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp vinegar

Whisk together and pour over meat.