Cozying Up With Lasagna: Day 12 of Self Quarantine

First, I am not going crazy.

But I feel super sorry for anyone who is going crazy or being driven absolutely bonkers or frantic over this whole stay home/social distancing mandate because we like normal!!!

NORMAL ROCKS.

Sometimes.

And sometimes normal is watching someone we love struggle, or die, or have a baby, or face divorce or injury, or... okay, you get it. Normal isn't always "normal" because we tend to live in "our" normal. When we're suddenly faced with someone else's normal-- or a new normal-- or have a different normal foisted on us, we rebel.

At least until we get used to it.

Case in point. I figured okay, we're all stuck at home, the weather is not conducive to fun in any way, shape or form, let's paint the dining room.

From the top down.

Mind you when you're quarantined during a pandemic, you cannot SHOP FOR PAINT. Because you can't go into a store because you're (duh, right????) quarantined.

So your son and daughter meet at Lowe's and pick the colors for you.  Creamy yellow and rose or salmon.  Because you're using the same colors you already had.

And then your realize their idea of creamy yellow and yours aren't exactly the same, and so you cut in one wall and do the borders and then you walk away, sure you're going to hate it. But that's the thing about new normal. At first, it's startling. Almost repugnant. (Get that??? S.A.T. word!!!) And it's jarring.... But I've learned to not jump to conclusions, because our eyes, our visuals, our senses are accustomed to one thing and when we mess that up, those senses rebel.

So the dining room in this 165 year-old house is big. Like 24' x 16' big with a staircase down one wall...

Four big windows with lots of little panes....

One glass door.

Two doorways. Wait, three, the front door enters into this room.

And a painted floor, a real nod toward old-time country looks.

Ceiling (lots of cutting in there because they framed the ceiling with 8" borders, so you have to paint the crown molding, and cut in along the edge of the crown molding, then along both edges of the 8" border....)

Walls.

Floor to ceiling bookcases. (I haven't even started them yet, going to finish ceiling and walls first. The bookcases and shelves have another gazillion spots to cut in.... I am not exaggerating nor kidding. Mostly)

Baseboard hot water heat runs.

And then the floor, painted white to complete the vintage look.

But I know myself. And that's why I refused to panic over the pandemic, or the changes, or the sudden disruption not just of my life, but of 90% of the country and maybe the world's lives.

If I give myself time, i adjust. I get used to things. And sometimes I grow to love them. And I absolutely love this new shade of yellow now (it just took a day or two, and I'll show you pics when more is done... it's pretty messy right now!) And the rose-toned trim will be beautiful, I wanted it spring-like all year and that's exactly what it will be, but it also dresses up nice for a real county Christmas look. Perfect!!!

It's downright tough when change is thrust on us, and when it's to this degree that I have to figure out where I can park my car and wait while a friend has a procedure on Friday because you can't walk into our hospitals any more, you can't wait in the waiting room, you can't cross the threshold because there is security at every door...

And you can't even go sit in a coffee shop and work because everything here is on lock-down. I can order a coffee and sit in the car...

And that's what I'll do, except that since I was so sick two weeks ago, coffee tastes terrible. My daughter said it's a Covid 19 symptom, so I looked it up.  She was right.

SIGH.

But I'm also laughing, because honestly, you've got to laugh.... at least a little. Although I miss having coffee. I miss the taste of good coffee, because it doesn't taste like that anymore and doctors don't know if you will recover that taste and/or sense of smell... Which may be why when I'm working with the paint, I don't smell it. Isn't that weird?

But I can smell food, so that's good!

We'll get through this.

We always do. And I will not rip apart any government official because I cannot imagine being in their shoes and having to make decisions that either ruin people's mental and financial health and cause mental breakdowns or send a growing percentage of people to the ICU and only a small percentage of them get wheeled out in a chair.

I'm glad I'm better, no matter what I had. Flu or Covid 19. I survived. I'm here to tell about it.

I'm thrilled that my husband is now looking better, too. It's been 18 days since he came down sick, and for a man who liked to brag about never taking a day off work, 18 days of can't get off the couch illness was a real kick in the head.

BUT WE'RE BETTER!

And there's a world around us that needs us now that we're better, and when they come up with an antibody test we'll take it because if we've already had the virus, then our antibodies will help keep us from having it badly the next time Covid 19 comes to call... Like in October.

I made lasagna today.  My son cooked the ground round with onions while I cut in another wall of paint...

And then we walked two miles in the village...

And then we came home and I made sauce...


Cooke the noodles about 7 minutes, you don't want them mushy. You want them slightly firm. I used 16 lasagna noodles so I'd do 4 layers of 4 noodles.

CHEESE FILLING

 Mix in medium sized bowl:

1 1/2 cup Ricotta cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup (plus or minus) diced mozzarella cheese
1 egg
2 TBSP sugar
1 teaspoon basil

Ground beef layer:

1 lb. ground beef (hey, finding this up here is like finding GOLD!!!!)
1/4 cup chopped sweet onion
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp. granulated garlic

Sauce: You can use jarred sauce but the world has depleted the supply of spaghetti/pasta sauce, so I made a small pot of sauce, so easy. In fact when I realized that there was no prepared sauce on grocery shelves last week, I ordered three 12-packs of tomato paste... because it's easy to make great sauce like my boss at Basel's restaurant used to make. This makes a "smooth" sauce, so if you like a marinara texture, use crushed tomatoes as part of your tomato base.

SAUCE:

4 6 oz. cans tomato paste
2 quarts hot water
1 1/4 cup ketchup (not kidding)
Salt
Pepper
Basil
Granulated garlic
Parsley
2 bay leaves

Blend tomato paste, water and ketchup. Put over medium low heat. Sprinkle top with salt and pepper. Mix in. Then sprinkle basil lightly over top. Mix in. Do the same with garlic... mix in. Then repeat with the parsley. Mix in. Then toss in the bay leaves, heat and simmer for about 30 minutes.

DONE.

No measuring, just eyeballing the "sprinkle top with garlic, etc."

You just lightly cover the top of the sauce with each ingredient... and it works. Every time. :)

Put about 2 cups sauce in bottom of 13" x 9" pan.

4 Lasagna noodles

Half the cheese mixture spread or dotted on the noodles.

4 more noodles

Cooked meat layer

Cover with about 2 cups +/- sauce.

4 more noodles

Top with 2nd half of cheese mix

Top with last four noodles. Cover with sauce, sprinkle liberally with Parmesan cheese, bake in 350 degree oven for about 45-50 minutes.

PERFECTION.

And in this time of trouble, fear, worry, concern, it's nice to have something come out perfect, isn't it?  Because normal will return. It might be different by a lot or a little, but it will come back.

And in the meantime, we take care of one another the best we can.

USA Today Bestselling author Ruth Logan Herne is tucked in a secluded corner of her big old farmhouse and penning great stories while the world pushes the pause button on so many things. She loves to hear from folks and you can email her at loganherne@gmail.com, visit her website at ruthloganherne.com, friend her on Facebook or follow her on Twitter, although she finds a lot of Twitter to be unspeakably rude... and Ruthy doesn't like rudeness. She likes it when people are just plain nice to one another!

Crock Pot Lasagna

Do you love homemade lasagna but hate all the fuss of making it? Well, have I got a recipe for you. This has all the deliciousness of homemade lasagna, without the hassle. You don't even have to boil the noodles.

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 - 1 1/2 lbs sweet Italian sausage (I use turkey, but  you can use pork, if you prefer)
• 28 oz of your favorite spaghetti or pasta sauce (I use a garlic herb variety)
• 1/3 cup water
• 8 lasagna noodles
• 1 4 oz jar/can mushrooms (optional)
• 1 15 oz container part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 2 1/2 cups part-skim mozzarella cheese, grated

Brown sweet Italian sausage in skillet and drain.

Set aside.

Mix spaghetti/pasta sauce and water.

Set aside.

If you want to make cleanup super easy, line 5 qt or larger Crock Pot with Crock Pot liner. Spray liner or bottom of crock lightly with cooking spray. Then line the bottom with 4 lasagna noodles. 

Since slow cookers are typically oval or round, you'll need to break a couple of the noodles and layer them creatively.

Top noodles with half of the Italian sausage.

 Half of the sauce mixture goes over that.

Half of your mushrooms, if using.

And 1 cup of the mozzarella.

Add Italian seasoning to the ricotta cheese.

 And stir until blended.

Spoon mixture over mozzarella.

Spread with back of spoon, trying not to disturb lower layers.

Add remaining noodles.

 Sausage.

Sauce and mushrooms.

And 1 cup of mozzarella.

Cover and cook on High for 1 hour, then reduce to Low and cook for an additional 5 hours.

Cheese will brown, beginning at the outer edges. So, 30 minutes to an hour before cooking is done, sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup cheese over that and finish cooking.

This is the easiest homemade lasagna ever. And, except for browning the sausage, it's a one-pot wonder. The noodles are tender, but not overcooked and the sweet Italian sausage really elevates the flavor. Throw in a salad, maybe some garlic bread, and dinner is served. 

Well, can you believe that October is here? Before you know it, we'll be heading straight into the holiday season. But not before pausing to enjoy the sights, scents and flavors of fall. Even though it feels a little more like spring here on the coastal plains of Texas. As I'm typing, a thunderstorm is rumbling in the distance. And since temps are in the 80s instead of the 90s, that's just fine by me.

What's happening in your neck of the woods?

Three-time Carol Award finalist, Mindy Obenhaus lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband, the youngest of her five children and two dogs. She's passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. When she’s not writing, she enjoys cooking and spending time with her grandchildren. Learn more at www.MindyObenhaus.com 

Welcome Dana Lynn to the Cafe

 Happy Wednesday everyone. I'm excited to welcome my "Killer Voice" sister, Dana Lynn, to the Cafe today. Dana sold to LIS with me back in 2014 when the editors ran their Search for a Killer Voice contest. Her 2nd book for LIS is out this month.

Please join me in giving a Yankee Belle welcome to Dana.

Thank Goodness for Teenagers and 4WD

 

Dana R Lynn here. I'm so happy that Cate Nolan invited me to be on Yankee Belle Cafe today.  I had a post all planned out, but then God got my attention. So, I'm going to focus on gratitude.

Like many of us, I live a busy life. I have three kids involved in various activities, a husband with a very demanding job, and I work full time.  Oh,  yeah,  and I have this writing thing.  I just accepted a three book contract with Love Inspired Suspense,  so I have deadlines.  (Yay!) Sometimes,  things get hectic.  Just a bit. And sometimes I forget to count my blessings.

Until yesterday.

Let me explain.  My hubby, wise man that he is, insisted I needed a vehicle with 4WD, so he bought an old pick-up truck.  It's not the most attractive thing,  and I have trouble getting in it (I'm only 4'10"). And for most of the winter, it has sat in our driveway. This past month we have been hammered with a couple of snow storms.  And now I love my old,  ugly,  plows-through-snow-like-butter truck. Then yesterday, we had the worst storm yet. My kids got a snow day.  Me?  I work in a different district and had to go to work.  That's when God showed me how blessed I was. My 16 year old (my nurturer) got up to make me a bagel and fix my lunch. Leftover lasagne, which I will tell you about in a bit. My varsity wrestler went out and started and cleaned off my car. And my 12 year old took care of the pets. Then they all said a prayer for my safe travel. I am so blessed!

So now to the lasagne. ..I am grateful for the ability to provide for and nourish my family. And I'm grateful that it's so easy to do. I love food that's easy and this recipe doubles well, so I can freeze half. Plus, it uses oven-ready noodles, so I don't have to pre-boil them.

Here's the recipe:

1 lb. Ground beef or sausage, cooked and drained

 

1 pint ricotta cheese

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

2 cups  mozzarella cheese

Oven-ready noodles (12)

2 eggs

28 oz of spaghetti sauce

1 tsp Italian seasoning

 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Mix ricotta,  1 cup of mozzarella,  1/4 cup of Parmesan, eggs and spice together.

Mix sauce and meat. Put 1/3 of the sauce on the bottom of a 9×13 pan.  Top . With 4 noodles.  Top with half of cheeses mixture. Repeat process. Cover cheese with last 4 noodles. Cover with remaining sauce and then sprinkle with the rest of the mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. 

Cover with double layer of aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour.  Yummy.

Oh...wait. I'm supposed say something about my book.  INTERRUPTED LULLABY is now on shelves.  I love this cover.  My sweet and silly hubby calls it Swingset Adventures.  Lol.

This is what it's about:

Maggie Slade's been on the run since witnessing her husband's murder, hiding from a killer who wants evidence he believes she has. A killer who was dressed as a LaMar Pond policeman.  And she'd better run fast,  because it's not just her life on the line -Maggie now had year - old twin babies. But then she's attacked again,  and rescued. .. by a LaMar Pond cop. Trusting Lieutenant Dan Willis is frightening.  Letting him take get back to LaMar Pond to find her husband's killer is terrifying.  But to protect her babies, she'll risk anything.  Even her life.  And as she draws closer to Dan and learns to trust again...she may even risk her heart.

I loved writing this story. And I'm again reminded of gratitude.  For even in the midst of danger, God provided for Maggie, giving her a worthy protector. Just like he used my children and husband to provide for me and show His awesome love.

I can't help but say God is good...all the time!

Cate here - I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm suddenly craving lasagna!

 

Ten Minute Delicious Lasagna from Mary Connealy

Mary Connealy made this for our recent writers' retreat. It was wonderful, a crowd pleaser!

Now I didn't use Prego because I had two quarts of sauce and about a dozen big meatballs left from making sauce earlier in the week. A big pot of sauce is about 3 quick (yes, high carb!!!) meals, but every now and again a girl needs pasta! I used my strawberry masher and mashed up the meatballs into the sauce... and then added the cottage cheese. I was short on cottage cheese (only 1.5 containers) so I added a cup of ricotta to the mix.

It was marvelous!  And the BIG JOY OF THIS is that you can use regular pasta lasagna noodles (I used Barilla), and they cook all by themselves. No pre-cooking the pasta! It was PERFECT.

We had a crowd for Sunday supper and this got thumbs up from everyone. So here you go, Mary's recipe (and if we're really lucky/fortunate/blessed we might get Connealy to STOP IN!!!!!) 

Anyway, back to Connealy!

Lasagna recipe

The only real time used here is frying the hamburger:

10-15 minute assembly 

1 hour cooking time

You can make it and let it sit overnight

In a skillet I brown 1 lb of hamburger

Added one jar of Prego Spaghetti Sauce

Added one large carton of cottage cheese

Heat through

Layers

Uncooked lasagna in bottom of 9 x 13 pan. Not the special NO COOK lasagna, just regular, then top with a layer of hamburger/sauce.

Layer of mozza cheese (note how casually she writes the recipe for me??? Like she's a GENIUS!)

Repeat layers. I do two layers but doubled this recipe and did three layers for the extremely hungry looking Seeker group.

Parmesan cheese on top only, not on other layers.

Bake one hour.

Ruthy now:

Amazing and good! How fun to not have to crazy-slave for hours for a delicious lasagna!

And Mary Connealy's got a wonderful book out right now, a new bestseller "Now and Forever"!  And she's going to GIVE ONE AWAY!!!!! So leave a comment below and we'll put your name in Ruthy's cat dish (freshly washed after the kitties ate lasagna, ala "Garfield") 

CLICK HERE FOR AMAZON PAGE!

Connealy, thanks so much for sharing with us! Got nothin' but love for ya'!

Ruthy Logan Herne loves to pen stories that resonate with the human heart... with the occasional smack upside the head, as needed! She loves God, her family, chocolate, coffee, cute kids and babies and thinks dogs rock!

Find her on facebook or check out Ruthy's website HERE

Lasagna for a Busy (or Lazy) Day

My family loves lasagna. Cheesy, gooey, tomatoey lasagna with multiple layers.

This is a recipe I've made for years. It looks nothing like the original recipe someone gave me almost thirty years ago, but a good recipe grows and changes with time and use.

A gratuitous view of the Badlands from Mt. Rushmore never gets old :)

One thing I love about this recipe is that you don't have to pre-cook the lasagna noodles! And this recipe is from back in the days before no-cook lasagna noodles were invented :)

Another thing I love about it is that you can put it together and bake it right away, or you can refrigerate it or freeze it until you're ready to bake it. Perfect for Seekerville's upcoming Speedbo (their own version of NaNoWriMo - you can read about it here) or for any time when there's too much to do in a day.

You can even split it into two, put half the recipe in each of two 9 x 9 baking dishes, freeze one and have the other one tonight.

And if you don't have the right ingredients on hand? Use what you have! Once you have the basics - lasagna noodles, cheese, tomato sauce - you're good to go.

Lazy Day Lasagna

ingredients:

Layer one:
1 pound mild or sweet Italian sausage, browned and drained
36 oz. (give or take) jarred spaghetti sauce (about 1 1/2 - 24 oz. jars)

Layer two:
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups cottage cheese - not low fat
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese - not the powdered stuff
1/3 c. chopped parsley or 3 tablespoons dried parsley flakes
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
2 teaspoons dried minced onion

Layer three:
16 oz. block mozzarella cheese, sliced

Layer four:
12 uncooked lasagna noodles

Final touch:
1/4 cup water

For the first layer, reserve 1/3 cup sauce, and then mix the cooked sausage and the rest of the spaghetti sauce in a medium bowl. Set it aside.

For the second layer, lightly beat 2 eggs, then mix in the rest of the layer two ingredients.

Set that one aside, too.

Your cheese is sliced and your box of lasagna noodles is open, right? We're ready to assemble the lasagna.

First, spread the 1/3 cup reserved sauce on the bottom of a greased 9" x 13" baking dish.

Layer three uncooked lasagna noodles, then 1/4 of the meat sauce, then 1/4 of the cheese mixture, then 1/2 of the sliced cheese.

Repeat these four layers - noodles, meat sauce, cheese mixture, sliced cheese.

Add another layer of noodles and cheese mixture, then noodles and meat mixture. Top with an additional 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.

Pour the final touch - 1/4 cup water - around the edges of the baking dish.

Cover tightly with foil.

At this point, you can refrigerate or freeze the lasagna, or you can bake it right away.

Bake, covered, at 375° for one hour. Remove the foil and bake an additional 20 minutes, or until the top is starting to brown. Remove the lasagna from the oven and let it rest at least 10 minutes - while you make a salad and toast some garlic bread.

Alas, I don't have a picture after it came out of the oven. We had a carry-in dinner at church last night, and the lasagna disappeared before I remembered to snap a picture.

This time of year, when the snow and cold linger and spring seems far away, comfort food like lasagna seems to be a necessity. What is your favorite comfort food?

A House Divided: Mushroom Edition

I love mushrooms. I love them raw, sliced into spinach salads. I love making homemade mushroom soup to use in casseroles. I love them on pizza. ManO does not. And that "does not" is more than on his pizza.

Oh no! There is a mushroom on ManO's ham side of the pizza. Much bemoaning occurred!

Now pizza is an easy thing to compromise on. Each person gets their half to do with what they will. But other recipes are far more difficult.

I invited my friend Cathy over to celebrate her birthday and be a part of The Great Dining Room experiment. You know you have a good friend when you make her sit in the middle of a room torn apart. Nope, you can't see the chaos. I'm smart that way. But we haven't used the room in ten years and something had to be done. That's what this experiment got me. More on that next week.

 In ManO's childhood kitchen, the table's almost an antique.

Cathy also loves mushrooms. You might think I could fix something mushroom related no stress but I also planned serving ManO the same dish for dinner. I knew I wanted to fix zucchini lasagna You can find the DIY here.  But I really wanted to hide, I mean, layer the lasagna with mushrooms. But ManO is too smart for that.

That's when it hit me. Steak houses, at least the good ones, serve a sauteed mushroom side dish so customers can spoon the mushrooms over the steak. Why not do the same with lasagna?

Oh my goodness! Delish! Instructions below.

Thanks to Jan Drexler's quick cheesecake dessert , I revisited my gluten free cheesecake recipe  and experimented with both the crust and putting it in custard cups. I used my berry-sauce topped baked cheesecake because of the added protein. But if you want to make it no bake simply use organic confectioners sugar, cream cheese and whipped cream to thin and chill.  I could have easily done the crust with gluten-free chocolate cookies and corn syrup free homemade chocolate sauce and peanuts or pecans as a base with cane sugar caramel sauce.

The bottom line is we had a great lunch and I didn't have to cook ManO an entirely new dinner!

Easy Sauteed Mushrooms

1 pint washed and sliced mushrooms
1 or 2 tablespoons butter
1 or 2 tablespoons olive oil
minced garlic to taste (optional)

Melt butter with olive oil over medium heat.
Add minced garlic and stir. 
Saute until cooked but NOT limp.
Serve over veggies, meat or as a side.

So, what about you? Do you have a love or hate affair with mushrooms? Is there something you've given up because no one else in the house loves a particular food or ingredient?