Saturday, August 30, 2008

new recipes to keep

This week I made 2 new recipes that we liked. (We did NOT like the Baked Oatmeal.)

First of all, I got this Crockpot Lasagna recipe a year ago from Missy at Sweet Funky Vintage. She posted this on her blog, and I meant to try it before now. I made it yesterday and have leftovers to eat and some to freeze for later. Here is the recipe:

Crockpot Lasagna

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 jar spaghetti sauce (26 oz)
1 can tomato paste (6 oz)
1 c water
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp salt
1 package no boil lasagna noodles
1 1/2 c ricotta (or cottage cheese if you prefer)
4 c shredded mozzarella
1/2 c shredded parmesan

In skillet, brown ground beef with onion and garlic. Drain. Add spaghetti sauce, tomato paste, water, oregano and salt.

(Note from Marianna: The size of your crockpot will determine how many layers you get. My oval 6 quart fit 3 layers, so I basically split the mixtures into 3 parts. It was a little awkward arranging the noodles. I broke them up for the edges. That didn't affect the taste one bit. The ricotta cheese was hard to spread, so I washed my hands well and used my fingers.)


In crockpot, place 1/4 of the meat sauce mixture (for me it was 1/3). Place one layer of noodles. Place one layer of ricotta, sprinkle layer of mozzarella and parmesan. Continue layering.

Cook on low 4-5 hours!


Next, I decided to make some homemade pancakes. I don't know who posted this recipe. It was in the comment section of the frugal breakfast recipes. Jeremy, Samuel, and I ate these pancakes. Samuel doesn't seem to like pancakes, but Jeremy and I enjoyed them. For those of you who can't imagine why I would make them from scratch, I can assure you that it took about 5 minutes to make the batter. I'm not kidding. Just 5 minutes... I use buttermilk from the baking aisle. It's in a small paper container, and you just add water to it. Once you open it you have to remember to refrigerate it, but if you're like me, it would be a huge waste of money to buy regular buttermilk. You could also use the vinegar idea in the recipe.

Pancakes from Scratch

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 beaten egg

1 cup buttermilk or sour milk (add 1 tablespoon vinegar to 1 cup of milk and let sit 5 minutes)

2 tablespoons cooking oil

Mix everything together. Pour 1/4 cup onto hot, lightly greased griddle. Turn over when top is bubbly and edges are slightly dry. Makes 8 pancakes.

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