Carrot - Squash Casserole

 

As you can see, I forgot to snap my photo until after I'd sampled this!  

This is an old recipe shared by a friend back when our boys were in Cub Scouts.  My husband wasn't a fan of casseroles of any kind, so I didn't make it often.

I take shortcuts; use canned, drained carrots and the microwave to cook the squash and onions to speed up and simplify making this.

The original recipe calls for zucchini but I always use yellow crookneck squash.  I think it would really be delicious if you used calabaza squash.

 

An entire stick of butter is too much so I used about 1/4 stick and it still turns out nice and crispy, brown on top.

This might just be a good way to incorporate some extra vegetables on your kid's plates.

 

Carrot – Squash Casserole

 

1 ½ cups cooked, sliced carrots

1 ½ lbs. squash, sliced and cooked

1 onion, diced

1 package cornbread stuffing mix

1 can Cream of Chicken soup

1 – 8 oz. carton sour cream

½ cup milk

1 stick butter, melted

 

Combine the soup, sour cream and milk in a small bowl.  Set aside.

In a greased 2 quart casserole, layer ½ of the carrots, squash and onion.

Top with about ½ of the stuffing mix.

Pour ½ of the soup mixture over this layer.

Repeat layer again, reserving a little of the stuffing mix.

Top with remaining stuffing mix and drizzle with melted butter.

Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.

 

Poppy Seed Chicken

The cream cheese and sour cream makes this a rich, filling dish.  The recipe calls for only 1/4 tsp. of poultry seasoning, which isn't much at all for the volume of the other ingredients so I added more.

I did not have any light cream so I used milk and added an extra tablespoon of butter. 

POPPY SEED CHICKEN

3 cups cooked, shredded chicken

1 ½ T. poppy seeds

1 onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

¼ tsp. poultry seasoning ( I added quite a bit more)

3 T. butter

3 T flour

1 cup chicken broth

¾ cup light cream  (I used milk)

4 oz. cream cheese

1/3 cup sour cream

½ cup crushed Ritz crackers

3 T. melted butter

Preheat oven to 375°.

Cook onion, garlic, poultry seasoning in butter until tender.  Add flour, stir well and cook 1-2 minutes.  Gradually add broth and cream.  Stir in cream cheese and sour cream and cook until melted and smooth

Combine chicken and poppy seeds and add to sauce.

Put in a grease 8” square pan.

Top with crushed crackers and butter.

Bake 20-25 minutes.

Serve over pasta or rice.

Gnome Carad

A few months ago I saw this cute gnome paper online and ordered a pack and the matching stamps.  I haven't bought any card making supplies in over a year!  The paper is called Tulla and Norbert by Photo Play.

This card was totally cased from one seen on Pinterest.

I've been making cards to send to Cards for Soldiers.
 
 

Thank You Card

Sitka text font was used for the "thanks".

Banana Birthday Card

Black and White Birthday Card

Zig Zag Birthday Card

This is the first card I've made in over a year.  It took me a while to get my Silhouette reconnected to my computer and brush up on using Make The Cut software!

Cook's Country Lasagna

I have never liked lasagna.  Every recipe I've ever eaten has had sweet sauce combined with the meat.  Today, on Cook's Country they demonstrated this recipe.  The sauce has zero added sugar and a single spice, oregano. 

This neither a low calorie recipe or an inexpensive one to make!  Their recipe used Pecarino Romano cheese, which I can't find locally, so I substituted Kraft Italian 5 cheese blend.

The recipe takes about an hour to assemble and another hour to bake.  It makes a 13" x 9" pan full and would serve 10-12 people with a side salad and some good bread.

You'll want to put the 13" x 9" pan on a rimmed baking sheet since it may bubble over in the oven.

LASAGNA – COOK’S COUNTRY RECIPE

1 ½ lbs. 90% lean ground beef

2 slices white sandwich bread

¼ c. milk

Salt and pepper

1 T. olive oil

1 onion, diced

6 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 tsp. ground oregano

¼ tsp. red pepper flakes

28 oz. can crushed tomatoes

1 c. cottage cheese

8 oz. Kraft Italian 5 cheese blend, divided

1 c. heavy cream

2 tsp. minced garlic

1 tsp. cornstarch

8 oz. grated mozzarella cheese

16 lasagna noodles

Shred bread into small pieces.  Pour milk over shredded bread.  Combine into a panade. Add panade, salt and pepper with meat and thoroughly combine.  Set aside.

Combine olive oil and onion in a dutch oven.  Cook and stir onion until tender.

Add the finely minced garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Cook about 1 minute to bloom spices.

Add meat mixture and cook just until meat is no longer pink.

Stir in the crushed tomatoes, simmer 5 minutes.

In a separate bowl, combine cottage cheese, 4 oz. of the Italian cheese blend, heavy cream, minced garlic and 1 tsp. cornstarch.

Cook 15 lasagna noodles in 4 quarts of boiling, salted water until just al dente. Drain noodles and place on a baking sheet that’s coated in vegetable oil, separating noodles. Allow to cool.

In a greased 13 x 9 pan, place a layer of cooked noodles, top with 1/3 of the meat mixture.

Spoon ¼ of the cottage cheese mixture over the meat.  Sprinkle 1 cup of grated mozzarella cheese over cottage cheese mixture.

Repeat layers ending with noodles.  You should have 4 layers of noodles.  Top with remaining cottage cheese mixture. Sprinkle the remaining Italian cheese blend on top of cottage cheese layer.

Bake, covered with foil that you have sprayed with Pam, in a 375° oven for 30 minutes on a rimmed baking sheet. Remove foil and bake an additional 30 minutes.

Let stand 30 minutes before serving.