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Archive for June, 2011

It’s all about lasagna today on Savvy Entertaining!This lasagna recipe is so easy and simple not to mention quite tasty. For a lazy slug like me, it is the perfect combination in making it look like I went to a lot of work when actually I didn’t.

A few other things to note about this lasagna – I make it in bread pans. Hubby and I eat one and freeze the other (because it makes two) but you could make it in a regular lasagna or casserole pan. This recipe also contains no tomatoes or tomato sauce.

I am about to share a little known fact, so hold on to your hats… I am allergic to processed tomatoes. A lot allergic. So that means no tomato sauce, paste, canned tomatoes, cooked tomatoes. Zip. Zilch. Nada.

There are many, many things I love to eat that involve processed tomatoes. So I have learned over the years to adjust my recipes and use alternate ingredients. It has been an interesting adventure in trial and error, for sure! But this recipe is one I’ve made many times and is always good.

So enjoy!

Ingredients for Easy Lasagna

Brown hamburger and sausage.

Stir up the cheese mix.

Pour Alfredo sauce into the bottom of a pan. I spray mine with non-stick cooking spray first.

Start your layers with a noodle. I use the kind you do not have to cook because they go straight from the box into the pan.

Mix your cooked meat with the cheese and layer over noodles.

Continue layering sauce, noodles, meat mix and shredded cheese.

Finish with a final layer of cheese and bake at 375 degrees for about 50 minutes.

The edges will be golden brown and bubbly when cooked.

Piping hot, sprinkled with more cheese and ready to be devoured. Yum!

Easy Alfredo Lasagna

1 box of lasagna noodles (the kind you do not have to boil first)

16 ounce container of ricotta cheese

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan

2 eggs

1 pound ground beef

1 package of ground sausage

salt

seasonings

1 jar Alfredo sauce

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine ground beef and sausage with your choice of seasoning and cook over medium heat until brown.  While it is cooking, mix together ricotta and Parmesan with eggs. Stir until blended, set aside.

When the meat is browned, drain as much grease as possible from it before stirring into egg and cheese mixture.

Spray a bread pan (or casserole if you want to make one big pan instead of two smaller pans) with non-stick cooking spray. Pour in enough sauce to cover the bottom of the pan, layer in a noodle. In the bread pan, one noodle fills the bottom and makes layering a snap.

Next, layer on meat mixture and top with shredded mozzarella. Repeat layering process with sauce, noodle, meat and cheese. Pour a final layer of sauce and then top off with cheese. Cover with foil and bake about 35 minutes, until mixture is bubbly, then remove foil and bake another 10-15 minutes until cheese is melted and edges are brown.

Remove from oven, let cool a few minutes before plating. Serve with warm, crusty bread and a green salad for a lovely and simple meal!

She Who Can’t Eat Cooked Tomatoes

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I posted a while back that a strange cat appeared on our back patio. Strange as in she didn’t belong to us and hadn’t seen her before. Although, giving it some thought, you could also call her strange as in weird, different, slightly odd. She’d have to be to deliberately choose to hang out at our house.

 

Drooley (aka) The Heinous Cat

Her presence sent the Heinous Cat into a full-fledged hissy fit. He didn’t like her one bit. Wasn’t going to tolerate her. He was king of the backyard and no one was messing with it.

Since then, she has adopted us full time. We named her Maizy. She purrs and blinks at me with her lovely little peepers. She rubs all over my kitchen window creating smeary messes that somehow make me smile. And she has the ability to open the patio screen door – which could be a huge problem once the weather finally warms up, but I’ll deal with that later.

For now, this dog-lover is finding that she kind of likes this particular sweet little cat. Maizy is everything the Heinous Cat isn’t – like friendly, loveable,  cute, loveable, eager to please, loveable… I think you get the idea.

She even managed to charm him – or as much as he can be charmed. I caught them playing together in the backyard the other day and had to do a double-take. I’m pretty sure Drooley had no idea anyone was home witness his frolicking with the enemy.

Seriously, how could you not be charmed by this face, especially with yellow highlighter on her nose (did I mention she has a little curiosity problem?).

She Who Digs this Cat

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Happy June 1st everyone!

With summer hopefully just around the corner, start planning now to have your best summer yet. Will you spend time with friends? Enjoy the great outdoors? Attend concerts or shop at a Farmer’s Market?

Here is a list of a few ideas of fun things to do this summer. If you have ideas to add, please post them in the comments!

1. Gather up a few friends and have a picnic in your backyard.

2. Go on a walk and take pictures of trees, flowers, animals, clouds, sunsets.

3. Watch the sun set then stay outside to gaze at the stars.

4. Give your house a summer beachy-feel with breezy curtains, white slipcovers and ocean blue accents.

5. Make ice cream.

6. Take one of your parents to lunch.

7. Bake cupcakes and deliver them to people who are extra special to you.

8. Play childhood games like “Sorry”, “Uno,” or “Clue.”

9. Make a root beer float.

10. E-mail a friend you haven’t spoken to in awhile.

11.  Make popsicles in your freezer.

12. Stroll down memory lane by looking through old family scrapbooks, photo books, and yearbooks.

13. Eat last night’s leftovers for breakfast.

14. Go to the movies and make sure you eat some buttery popcorn.

15. Go window-shopping with a friend.

16. Write a poem, the sillier – the better.

17. Make fresh, homemade juice or lemonade. The scent of freshly squeezed lemons is magnificent.

18. Take a bubble bath.

19. Make dinner for a neighborhood family.

20. Baby-sit for a neighbor with the agreement that she will babysit for you in return.

21. Go for a spa day with a friend – or create your own at home.

22. Plan a vacation you want to take next summer.

23. Plant flowers in your yard.

24. Go for a drive in the mountains and breathe in that fresh pine-scented air.

25. Run around in the sprinklers.

26. Invite friends over and have a tea party in your yard.

27. Order a pizza – and get all the toppings you like.

28. Splash around in a plastic kiddy pool.

29. Swing on the swings at the park.

30. Write in a journal. Don’t know where to start? Stand outside and record everything you can see in front of you in descriptive detail.

She Who Needs to Get Busy on Her Own  List!

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