Seafood lasagna

Jason LOVES seafood, which inspired trying this recipe... myself?  not so much.. However, both Jason and my nieghbor, Keith, loved it enough to eat 2 pieces each and wanted leftovers for work! 

Recipe from Pampered Chef.  (Recipe says you can assemble the night before too...)

Lasagna noodles
1 can condensed cream of shrimp or cream of celery soup.
1/4 cup milk
1 (15 ounce) container ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/4 cup (1 ounce) fresh Parmesan cheese, grated
5 tablespoons fresh parsley or 2 tablespoons dried
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 cups green onions with tops, sliced
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 teaspoon olive oil
4 garlic cloves, pressed
12 ounces frozen, cooked medium shrimp, thawed
1 (8 ounce) package flake or chunk style imitation crabmeat
3 cups (12 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese

Cook the pasta according to directions.

Mix soup and milk in a small bowl and set aside.

Mix ricotta and egg, add parmesan, parsley and pepper. Mix well and set aside.

Heat oil (or not), then add the onions, bell pepper, and garlic for 2 to 3 minutes until veggies are soft, then take off heat.

Cut each shrimp in half crosswise (if using small shrimp, omit this step) Coarsely flake crab. Add seafood to vegetable mixture and stir.

To assemble: Spread 1/4 cup of the soup mixture over the bottom of the dish. Top with 3 noodles. Spread half of the ricotta cheese mixture over noodles. Sprinkle with half of the vegetable-cheese mixture and 1 cup of mozzarella.

Repeat layers of noodles, ricotta mixture, vegetable-seafood mixture and mozzarella.

Top with remaining 3 noodles; spread with the soup mixture. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Cover the dish. Bake for 35 minutes at 350 degrees.

Remove cover, then bake for another 10 to 15 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Remove from oven. Let stand for 5 to 15 minutes before serving.

Yield: 12 servings

The things I do for love! Collard Greens...

Jason has been mentioning he misses collard greens from when his family lived in Kentucky and would have family get togethers.  So today, I decided to whip some up... serving them with lazy foods (Fried Chicken, mashed potatoes, mac & cheese and some of the homemade corn bread I posted last week.. made fresh today :)

Recipe from SouthernGirl3 at allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 1 bunch collard greens - rinsed, trimmed and chopped (This means cutting out the center stem from each leaf and rolling what's left and trimming into 1 inch strips.)
• 2 smoked ham hocks
• 2 (10.5 ounce) cans condensed chicken broth (I just used 3 cans of Swanson chicken broth in place of both this condensed broth and water.)
• 21 fluid ounces water
• 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Place the collard greens and ham hocks in a large pot. Mix in the chicken broth, water, and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer 2 hours.

Quick Crockpot Chicken Teriyaki

INGREDIENTS

1lb boneless skinless chicken
16oz bag frozen stir fry vegetables
1/2 c chicken broth
1/2 c. teriyaki sauce, divided
1/2 bag baby carrots, cut in half
2 head broccoli, crowns only
2T cornstarch
Instant rice

Cut up chicken into bite size pieces.  Add chicken, veggies, broth, 6Tbsp of the teriyaki sauce, and carrots into crockpot.   Stir well.  Cook on high 2 1/2 hours or low for 6.  (During the last hour of cooking, add broccoli to the crockpot and stir in).  **15 minutes before serving, mix the remaining 2Tbsp teriyaki sauce with the 2 Tbsp Cornstarch.  Slowly stir into the crockpot.  Cook another 15 minutes before serving.

Serve over rice with soy sauce.

White Chicken Chili

Another easy recipe from Pampered Chef.  Great to make after making the Roast Chicken & Garlic.

White Lightning Chicken Chili Recipe

3 cups cooked chicken, shredded (or 3. leftovers from Roast Chicken & Garlic)
6 cloves roasted garlic (or 6 garlic cloves pulled from juices in Roast Chicken & Garlic recipe)
1 cup onion, chopped
1/3 cup fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
3 cans (15 oz ea) Great Northern beans, drained, rinsed and divided (or 2 cups dry beans, soaked & cooked)
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
3 can (14 1/2 ounces each) chicken broth
2 Tablespoons Pantry Southwestern Seasoning Mix
1/4 cup lime juice
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1 Tablespoon cold water
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, snipped

1. Chop onion and jalapeno peppers using Food Chopper.

2. Drain 1 can of beans. Transfer to Bowl. Gently squeeze garlic from papery skins into beans in bowl; mash using potato Masher. Drain remaining 2 cans of beans and set aside.   (If using cooked dry beans, just estimate 1/3 of them to mash with the garlic)

3. Heat oil in Generation II 6-Qt. Dutch Oven over medium heat. Add onion and jalapeno peppers; cook 4-5 minutes or until onion is tender. Add chicken, mashed bean-garlic mixture, whole beans, chicken broth, Seasoning Mix and lime juice. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 25 minutes.

4. Combine cornstarch and water, stirring until smooth. Add cornstarch mixture to chili and continue cooking 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

5. Snip cilantro; stir into chili just before serving. Ladle chili into soup bowls using Nylon Ladle.

Yeild: 8 servings

Also good with sour cream and/or Jack cheese AND the cornbread previously posted.

Corn Bread like you have never had!

We were watching the Cooking Channel and Jason saw this recipe and asked me to try it.  It is really good and super easy, but time consuming.  Jason says it has a much different texture than most cornbread.

Recipe from Chuck's Day Off TV Show

1 1/2 cups warm water, about 110 to 115 degrees F

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more for dusting

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

2 cups flour

1 cup corn flour (This is NOT the same as cornmeal!)

Vegetable oil, for coating the bowl

Egg Wash

Combine the water, sugar, and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and mix on low speed until well combined. Increase the speed to medium and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Cook's Note: Kneading the dough can also be done by hand.  (**Personal note:  I made two batches.. one with my kitchen aid mixer, and one by hand.  The one by hand turned out better!)

Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
 
Knock the air out for 30 seconds by punching it down. You can now shape the dough into a ball, then place it onto a flour-dusted baking tray lined with parchment paper. Brush the top of the cornbread with egg wash, sprinkle the top with flour and coarse salt. Let it sit in a warm spot for 1 hour.
 
Preheat the oven at 400 degrees F.
Bake the cornbread for approximately 30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

Cook's Note: You can tell if it's cooked by tapping its bottom. If it sounds hollow it's done, if it doesn't then pop it back in for a little longer. Once cooked, place the bread on a rack and allow it to cool for about 1 1/2 hours.

The bad...

Attempted a homemade mac and cheese recipe tonight.. had all the making of being great.. but it was not.  No recipe posting for that... ugh!

Cheesy Smashed Potatoes

Recipe from an old Kraft Food & Family Magazine.. really easy!

1lb red potatoes
1 cup cauliflower cut into bite sized pieces
1/4 cup sour cream
1 cup cheddar cheese

Put potatoes and cauliflower in a pot.  Cover with water.  Bring to a boil, cook about 20 minutes.
Drain.  Put potatoes and cauliflower back into pot.  Mash with a potato masher.  Add sour cream and cheddar cheese.  Mix until smooth and creamy.