Lasagna with Meat Sauce

Lasagna. Either you love it or you hate it. I love it but hate to make it. And why make it when you can buy Stouffers frozen lasagna and it just as good or even better than homemade. But being as I have been living on my own for more than 25 years, I figured it was time to make my own. This Homestyle Lasagna seemed simple enough so I thought I would give it a go. Or at least try...

Modifications Made: Meat Sauce
Meats called for 1 lb of sweet Italian sausage and 1 lb of hamburger but I used 1 lb of both to make life easy. Both the garlic and the onion were doubled in quantity and the sugar was omitted all together. Per many suggestions, fresh basil was used instead of dried and parsley was as always left out.

Modifications Made: Cheese Mixture
Wanting to ensure the cheese mixture was not too runny causing the layers to fall apart when cut, shredded mozzarella was substituted for slices. 12 oz of mozzarella was then mixed with the ricotta, egg, and fresh basil to taste were mixed together to form a thick, creamy base.

Modifications Made: Assembly
Instructions say to use 12 noodles in two layers. Never have I had a two layer lasagna. Never. Using a slightly larger than 9x13 pan, I used four noodles per layer for a total of three layers cramming as much meat sauce and ricotta cheese mixture as possible ending with a final layer of sauce and then topped with shredded mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.

Scaled for Likability: Good
Many of the recipes reported being a lot of work but worth the effort. I did not find the work to be too much. Once you brown the meat and onions, all the other ingredients are tossed together and time on the stove does the rest. Assembling the layers took less than minutes and then again time in the oven does the rest. What I found to be more time consuming was the amount of dishes created. Not a very photogenic dinner, the meal was less than exciting. It was just standard run of the mill lasagna. Or maybe it could be lasagna is just a dinner I enjoy after all.

Better Than Campbell's Old Fashion Vegetable Soup

Went to the store with the hopes of gathering fresh produce for soup. With more than 45 people in line for two packages of any meat product and the produce section containing only avocado, orange, and most randomly, strawberries, I settled upon canned soup. Well not canned soup since that section was still void of food, too. Instead soup made from canned goods as the canned vegetable section had been mostly restocked. Soups like this 15 Minute Vegetable Soup are ideal in dire food situations such as current times. Modifications Made: Plain petite diced tomatoes for flavored tomatoes, frozen carrots instead of canned, green beans and corn undrained, peas omitted (gross, nasty little pods), one can tomato sauce, two low sodium chicken and two pollo de tomate bouillon cubes, six cups water. Once onions were softened, carrots, juice of green beans and corn, sauce, bouillon cubes, water were added and allowed to simmer until carrots almost tender. Green beans and corn tossed in, heat t

Way Too Rich, Extra Heavy Cheesecake

Pictures are deceptive. What this picture of this recipe does not show is how old and faded the print out paper is, how many stains are smudged across various spots, and the numerous notes written in the top right corner with the first one dating back to college days in 2001. Yikes, twenty years ago makes this paper print out old, no wait, that makes me old. Eek. Sadly, my current living quarters do not allow for cooking of this cheesecake. In fact the last time this recipe has been made have been close to six or seven years. That is just too long. Too long. Luckily, we are spending Spring Break at family with a real oven. A family who will help eat this oh so rich, very decadent, supremely yummy cheesecake. Modifications Made: There are four keys to a successful cheesecake. ONE: all ingredients must be room temperature. If your house is ice chest cold, then warm the ingredients on the stovetop. TWO: do not over mix. Excessive mixing creates air pockets resulting in split mi

Layered Lemon Curd Loaf

Good grief us heat loving Texans have made it. What a week it has been. Winter is over and Texas winter is back. Last night to celebrate the end of The Great Freeze 2021 with heating pads, electric blankets, and space heaters we indulgently ate ice cream. Yes, it was 32 degrees outside but directly in front of the space heater it was bliss.. Tonight it was back to everything lemon with The Best Lemon Curd Loaf Cake using this Lemon Curd recipe. Modifications Made: For the bread, sugar was reduced by a quarter cup, greek yogurt was used instead of sour cream, lemon extract instead of lemon zest, and glaze was omitted. Scaled for Likability: Good Love this lemon curd. Have made several versions and this is by far the easiest. Bread was not excessively sweet, had a moist, crumby inside, and a crunchy top layer. Layers of bread to curd was good but the addition of a sweetened cream cheese would have been better. Bread was served cold and would have been great with a drizzle of lemon

Eating Waffles

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