Lasagna Soup

Lasagna Soup

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

for the soup:
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 1-1/2 lbs. Italian sausage
• 3 c. chopped onions
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 T. tomato paste
• 1 28-oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 c. chicken stock
• 8 oz. mafalda or fusilli pasta
• 1/2 c. finely chopped fresh basil leaves
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
for the cheesy yum:
• 8 oz. ricotta
• 1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• pinch of freshly ground pepper
additional cheesy yum:
• 2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Preparation

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add sausage, breaking up into bite sized pieces, and brown for about 5 minutes. Add onions and cook until softened, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Cook for 1 minute. Add tomato paste and stir well to incorporate. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the tomato paste turns a rusty brown color.

Add diced tomatoes, bay leaves, and chicken stock. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add uncooked pasta and cook until al dente. Do not over cook or let soup simmer for a long period of time at this point, as the pasta will get mushy and absorb all the soup broth. You may even want to consider cooking the noodles separately, and then adding some to individual bowls before ladling the soup over them. This would be an especially smart move if you are anticipating any leftovers. Right before serving, stir in the basil and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

While the pasta is cooking, prepare the cheesy yum. In a small bowl, combine the ricotta, Parmesan, salt, and pepper.

To serve, place a dollop of the cheesy yum in each soup bowl, sprinkle some of the mozzarella on top and ladle the hot soup over the cheese.

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Pad Thai

2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Water
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons Peanut Butter
2 Tablespoons Rice Vinegar
2 teaspoons Shiracha
8 ounces Rice Noodles
Olive Oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger (I also use ginger powder)
2 chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces
1 package firm tofu cut into cubes
2 eggs

Garnish:
Bean Sprouts
Cilantro
Lime wedges

1.  Whisk together soy sauce, water, brown sugar, peanut butter, rice vinegar, and chile paste.  Set aside.
2.  Place raw rice noodles into abowl, cover with very hot water. Soak for 15 minutes and then drain.
3.  Heat olive oil in pan with garlic and ginger, cook chicken and tofu.  Set aside when done.
4.  In same pan as you cooked the chicken/tofu, cook the eggs, when eggs are done add noodles and mix. 
5. Add sauce and chicken/tofu cook until peanut butter in sauce is smooth.
6.  Serve with garnish's.

Skinny Maragrita

1 shot Tequila
1/2 shot Triple Sec
1/2 to 3/4 shot Lime Juice
2 1/2 shots Club Soda

Garnish with a lime wedge

Granola

Makes 1 Gallon

1/2 box of large (42 oz) box Quaker Oats or 21oz (Old Fashioned Oats)
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup coconut
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 to 1 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 to 1 cup sesame seeds

1) Mix all together in a large bowl

2) Blend and add:
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup oil
1 1/2 T vanilla
3/4 tsp salt

3) Gradually add 3/4 cup whole wheat flour

4) Spread in shallow pan, bake at 250 degrees 1 1/2 to 2 hours, STIRRING EVERY 15 to 20 minutes

5) Add Cashews, raisin, dates, craisin, etc if desired

Baked "Fried" Okra

What you’ll need:
-bag of frozen cut okra
-Italian style bread crumbs
-paprika
-2 egg whites
-salt & pepper
:: In a bowl, toss together bread crumbs, a few healthy shakes of paprika, and salt & pepper.
:: In a separate bowl, toss a handful of your cut okra in the egg whites until they are nicely coated.
:: Take each piece of okra and cover with your bread crumb mixture. I usually push each side into the bread crumbs so they stick to the egg whites.

:: Line your baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the okra on the baking sheet and make sure they aren’t touching one another.
:: Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes, turning your okra halfway.
:: Crunch & enjoy!

Barbacoa crockpot

2/3 cup apple cider vinegar

 8 teaspoons minced garlic cloves

 8 teaspoons cumin 4 teaspoons oregano 

2 teaspoons ground black pepper 

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

4 tablespoons olive oil 

1 1/2 cups chicken broth 

6 bay leaves 

6 tablespoons fresh lime juice

 6 -8 chipotle chiles in adobo

 8 -10 lbs chuck roast

1 To make the adobo sauce combine vinegar, limejuice, chipotles, garlic, cumin, oregano, black pepper, salt and cloves in a blender or processor on high speed until smooth. 

2 Remove most of the fat from the roast and then cut into large chunks (approximately 6). 3 Pour oil into a frying pan and sear all sides of roast on medium-high heat until browned. 4 Place meat into Crockpot and pour adobo sauce over meat. 5 Pour in the chicken broth and add bay leaves. 6 Cook on high heat 6 hours or on low all day. 7 While still in the Crockpot, shred the meat with two forks and turn the heat to warm. Serve with hard or soft tortilla shells when ready.

Light Tomato Cream Sauce

1 lb Italian Sausage
1/4 cup diced onions
2 cloves of minced garlic
3/4 cup tomatoes diced
1/2 cup table cream
Basil
Pasta

Brown Italian Sausage in pan
Add onions and minced garlic to pan and sauté until softened
Add tomatoes (fresh or drained canned) and optional spinach to pan and sauté
Then add 1/2 cup table cream to pan along with some Parmesan cheese, simmer until thickened about 10 minutes, add either fresh or dried basil
Serve over pasta

Baked Tomato Casserole

Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced small
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes
4 cups left over Three Cheese Macaroni
3 tablespoons sour cream
4 teaspoons chopped fresh basil leaves
Coarse salt
1/4 cup fresh breadcrumbs

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium. Add onion and cook until softened, about 8 minutes. Stir in tomatoes with juice and cook until tomatoes are heated through, 2 minutes. Add macaroni and cheese, gently stirring to combine. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream and basil; season with salt. Transfer to a 2-quart baking dish, top with breadcrumbs, and drizzle with 1 tablespoon oil. Bake until sauce is bubbling at edges and breadcrumbs are golden, 20 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

I have made without Breadcrumbs and with Italian Sausage and it is great!

Sausage and Spinach Alfredo

Ingredients
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium red onion, halved and thinly sliced
1/2 pound sweet Italian sausages, casings removed
1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
4 cups reserved Three Cheese Macaroni
2 tablespoons heavy cream
5 ounces baby spinach (about 5 cups), washed
Shredded Parmesan, for serving

Directions
In a large nonstick skillet, heat olive oil over medium. Add red onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 8 minutes. Add sausages and red-pepper flakes and cook, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, until browned and cooked through, 8 minutes. Add reserved macaroni and cheese to skillet, gently stirring to combine. Stir in heavy cream and spinach, and cook until spinach begins to wilt, 4 minutes. To serve, sprinkle with Parmesan.

I prefer with Spicy Italian Sausage

Three Cheese Macaroni

Ingredients
Salt
1 pound elbow macaroni
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cups whole milk, room temperature
3/4 teaspoon ground mustard
1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
8 ounces extra sharp Vermont white cheddar, shredded (3 cups)
4 ounces Monterey Jack, shredded (1 1/2 cups)
1/2 ounce Parmesan, grated (1/4 cup)

Directions
In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook macaroni according to package instructions. Drain.

In pot, melt 4 tablespoons butter over medium. Whisk in flour and cook, stirring frequently, until mixture is pale golden and has a nutty aroma, about 4 minutes.

Whisking constantly, slowly add milk. Cook, whisking along bottom of pot, until boiling, about 7 minutes.

Reduce heat and gently simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thickened, 10 to 12 minutes.

Remove from heat and add 1 tablespoon butter, mustard, Old Bay, and cheeses.

Stir until cheeses are melted and sauce is smooth; season with salt.

Add macaroni to sauce and stir to combine.



This freezes well. I usually make Baked Tomato Casserole or Sausage and Spinach Alfredo out of some of the leftovers.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

1/4 cup vegetable oil or olive oil

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs, lightly beaten

3 bananas,mashed

1 cup chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 350*

Whisk flour, salt, sugar, and baking soda. Mix in the oil, bananas and eggs. Stir in chocolate chips. Do not over mix.

Bake about 60 minutes

Lisa and josh spin dip

We like ours with a little bit of spice to it. If you prefer to not have the spice just leave out cayenne pepper and jalapeno juice. Hope you like it!

Sautee in small amount of oil 1 finely diced shallot and 3 medium cloves of garlic. ( i use my zester for the garlic so there are no large chunks)
Add 4 tbsp pickled jalapeno juice
Add one package frozen spinach and 1 can large artichokes (not marinated) cut into bite size pieces.
Once spinach and artichokes are warm add 2 packages cream cheese (8oz each) 1/4 cup milk, 1/4 parm cheese, pepper and salt to taste and about 1 tspn cayenne pepper. Melt all the cheese and season to taste. Top with diced tomatoes.

Depending on how much your making you may need to add more spinach and artichokes. Just depends on your taste. Let me now if you like it.