3.10.2011

Thankful Thursdays


Today, I am thankful for:
1) this blog. It's given me a great outlet and something to help define my days.

2) my husband. He's turning 30 soon! When we first met, he was a just young buck.

 Holy cow, we were young. And we looked good!

3) LASAGNA. I made two lasagnas yesterday. It was really just one big one, but I did it in 2 8x8s instead of a 9x13 and made one for dinner last night and one to freeze for later. A perfect dinner.
Here's the recipe, it's from my grandmother from First Place but I couldn't find it anywhere online.

1 1 lb box lasagna noodles
2 15 oz cans diced tomatoes
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
2 12 oz cans V8
8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese (original recipe calls for reduced fat, but I use regular)
1 1/2 c cottage cheese
1 lb ground beef
2 pkgs dry spaghetti sauce mix

Brown ground beef in large saucepan. (I do it in a big pot so I can use the same one for the next step. I spoon out any fat from the beef.) Add diced tomatoes, V8, tomato sauce, and dry spaghetti mixes. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Let simmer 15 minutes.

Spray a 9x13 (or 2 8x8s) glass baking dish with cooking spray. Spread small amount of sauce in bottom of pan. Add one layer dry lasagna noodles, then begin layering cottage cheese, mozzarella cheese, sauce, noodles. Finish with a layer of noodles, then final layer of sauce. Be sure to get plenty of sauce around edges. (I have screwed up the layering more times than you can imagine. How, I don't know. So yesterday, I did-- little sauce, noodle, sauce, noodle, cottage cheese, noodle, mozzarella, sauce-- getting crazy by skipping noodle!, noodle, and sauce.)

Cover tightly with foil and bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees. Put a baking sheet under your baking dish as it can bubble over. Let stand at least 30 minutes. Serves 12. 
(I assembled at noon yesterday and refrigerated until I put it in the oven. Still only required 1 hour. For the frozen one, I'll let it thaw in the fridge overnight and then bake.)

Not a culinary feat, but I'll take any recipe that my family will eat and that requires minimal preparation on my part. Bonus points for a recipe that I can make hours or even days before and then bake.

4) Silk Vanilla soy milk and Cookies 'N Cream Delight Luna bars. My breakfast every day. A little sweet, but better for me than a bowl of ice cream.

(Yes, I love food.)

5) Netflix. We haven't had cable for almost 3 years and Netflix has really helped. And we haven't been able to go to the movies much since we've had Goose.

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What are you thankful for today?

2 comments:

  1. I always put my coffee remote on my grateful list : )

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm thankful for Finn finding his fist to suck! I'm loving that pic of you and Jason...I do remember those days!

    ReplyDelete