WE DID IT...now what?

My Dollies!

The Cookbook is Done!!!!

I first give God all of the glory around this seriously, I do. If it sounds redundant good! Thank you too for all of the support and love! All of you can say  that you were here first when it all started:-)

Ok soooo what's next for the Cookbook? EDITING of course. That is what you do after you finish writing your book. DO NOT try to edit while you write. It will stunt your process. Let your creative juices flow! Please finish writing your books, plays, songs, etc. Dollies, you will feel a sense of accomplishment yes but more importantly, new projects will come more easily and you will inspire others. Ok so we are back for scrumptiousness. I love food I absolutely Doo-BA-lee-Doo!

I also want to welcome Ms. Candice Smith to our blog family! She is a long time friend and she is proprietor of a natural hair salon! Look her up on facebook support, suppport, support each other!

Two things! I have a video that I want to share with you and a recipe.

TONIGHT's Dinner: actually, last night's and today's lunch!

Lasagne w/ a Ricotta Substitute: Cream Cheese

I started to shelf this dish due to my having no ricotta.
I must say the cream cheese held its own.
While ricotta is better, this was a mean pan of lasagne!
I used:

 

2 boxes of cooked lasagne noodles (follow box instructions)

3 lbs. ground beef cooked in a large pan. (no oil should be needed, if so, use a little at a time). Add 1/2 tsp parsely, minced garlic (as much as you want!), onion powder, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp Lawry's (R) seasoned salt and Italian seasoning while cooking continue chopping with spatula until meat until it is course and mealy, set aside.

2 jars spaghetti sauce.

1 1/2 packs of softened cream cheese

6 cups of you favorite shredded cheeses.

Saute:

 2 onions. 1 yellow bell pepper, 1 green bell pepper and 1/2 carton of grape tomatoes halved.

Set aside.

Keep the same seasonings (except Lawry's (R) ) that you used for the meat out to use for the layering:

Drain noodles and rinse then drain again.

Spray a 9"X13" pan (Ohh this is a big portion your about to make!!!)

pour about a 1/4 cup sauce on bottom of pan. Begin Layering noodles the first layer does not need all noodles about 3. Layer in this way throughout

Noodles, Cream Cheese, Meat, Sauteed veggies, then Cheeses or do it anyway you feel suits you better. For the final layer of noodles, I like to spread on the sauce then shredded cheese and seasonings on top! Bake at 350* until your baby is sizzling and the top is just browning! Many people add egg and parsley to the ricotta which is dee-lisheeee-oooooooo-soooooo!

Enjoy!

TIPS:

Place a small round cake rack in the bottom of the pot so that those big beautiful noodles won't stick to the bottom of the pan. Also, use salt and oil in the boiling water to avoid the sticky noodles tearing when you pull them apart!

To cook or not to cook the noodles... that is the question! I have done both. Can't say much about either except that, if you do not cook the noodles, you should use a good amount of sauce that covers the noodles so that all the noodle will be soft. However, as you can see closely in my pic, the ends harden as they bake even if you boil them! Boiling is more work too but I like doing it that way.

Making your own sauce: Yes you will be sooo very pleased if you make your own sauce. A great substitute is slowly cooking your "jarred" sauce until the sauce thickens and darkens. 

My son actually called last night while I was baking to ask about making Veggie Lasagne.

Love you Dollies!
MJ