Oh Snap!

That is my daughter’s newest expression. I am sure she learned it from her older brother, who probably learned it from that song on the radio. I am not even sure who sings (or raps) that song as I write this. Anyway, Hannah must have said this 4 times today when I was around. I was literally laughing out loud everytime I heard her. Hearing that out of my 6 year old’s mouth is just too funny!

I can use that phrase, “Oh Snap”, to describe my latest baking semi-flop. I set out to make pumpkin muffins today to use up some open pumpkin that I had in the fridge. I used a recipe that I modified, apparently not well enough, and they just didn’t work. They didn’t really set in the middle. Maybe another 5-10 minutes in the oven?? Not sure if they would have been burnt on the top by then, but my suspicion is that they would have been close. Also, I had intended to add in my extra spices (cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg) and just plain didn’t. LOL! So, they look really, really pretty, but, they need some work. I am going to show you them, but I am not going to share the recipe until I get it right and tasting the way it should have tasted today. Fortunatly it only made 7 muffins and I hadn’t doubled the recipe. I did freeze the rest of them. I will either eat them (maybe toasting them will finish up the inside) or use them for something like stuffing or who knows!

Pumpkin Flop Muffins

Onto dinner. Dinner was not a flop. Dinner was glorious! I don’t know the last time I used “glorious” to describe my food, but it just seems to fit. I made homemade lasagna (gluten-free, of course), green beans, spinach salad and Chebe Foccacia bread. The kids inhaled their food. I honestly don’t think I have ever seen Hannah eat that fast! She even said something about my giving her too much lasagna when she sat down; next thing I know it was gone!

Nice, warm, yummy, gooey, italian mess!!

My Plate, with cabernet, of course:

Gluten-Free Lasagna

1 package Tinkyada Lasagna Noodles
1 – 1.5 pounds ground beef or turkey or pork or sausage
2.5 – 3 jars of Prego 3 Cheese Sauce
3 large cloves of garlic
Oregano
Basil
2 small containers of Ricotta Cheese (I used low-fat; you could use cottage cheese)
6 cups of mozzerella/italian cheese (I used 2% low-fat cheese)
Parmesan Cheese (I used a block, so I just kept shredding more when I needed it, I didn’t measure)

1. Brown ground meat; add chopped garlic and saute until meat is done. Add your sauce jars. Add 1-2 tsps basil and oregano. Cook on med-low for 30-40 minutes or so.
3. Cook your lasagna noodles.
4. Mix ricotta cheese with 1 tsp each basil & oregano; add in 1/4 cup parmesan cheese.
5. Preheat oven to 350 – 375 (I baked mine on 350 for the first 30 – 40 minutes, then cranked up the oven to 375 for the remaining time).
6. Layer your sauce, noodles, ricotta, mozzerella and parmesan cheese. Repeat once more. Then add just another layer of sauce, noodles, sauce and cheese on top.
7. Cover and bake for 30-40 minutes. Check after that time. If the lasagna isn’t bubbly, turn up the heat to 375 and cook for another 10 – 20 minutes. Uncover for the last 10 minutes to brown up the top.
8. Let lasagna sit for 10 minutes or so before slicing. Enjoy!

***You need to use 2 small pans or 1 large lasagna pan (I used this). This made 12 good size pieces, probably close to 3 inches by 2.5 or 3 inches. I purposely made this much so that I could freeze half of the casserole in individual servings.