Skillet Lasagna

This lasagna recipe is even EASIER than my lazy lasagna recipe.  And it is sooo good!  Here is the original recipe that serves 6.

1 lb ground beef
small onion, chopped
garlic, 3 cloves
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 1/4 cup water
8 oz tomato sauce
1 TBS parsley
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oreganol
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups broken lasagna noodles
1 cup cottage cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 egg
shredded mozzarella

In a skillet (with a lid) brown the beef with the onions and garlic.  Add tomatoes, water, tomato sauce, spices and pasta.  Bring to a boil stirring occasionally.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer 20 minutes til pasta is tender.
Combine cottage cheese, parmasan cheese and egg.  Drop on pasta by spoonfuls.  Cover and cook 5 more minutes.  Sprinkle with cheese til it melts.

I generally just adapt recipes to my way of cooking, like not measuring spices and putting in what I like to cook with.  Tonight I made this for the missionaries and this is how I adapted it, and it was my best batch of it yet!

2 lbs ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 or 2 tsp minced garlic
1 can chopped tomatoes, undrained
1 large can of spaghetti sauce
2-3 cups water (I just made sure the noodles were covered)
broken lasagna noodles....I didn't measure, just put them in til it looked good to me.  You could use other kinds of pasta.  I am thinking of trying spaghetti noodles sometime.
So, I got the beef and onions sauted and browned and then added the rest of the ingredients up to this point and got it boiling good then reduced the heat and simmered it 20 min til pasta was tender.
Then I spread a good layer of grated cheese on that and dolloped the cottage cheese mixture which was the same as the original recipe only I doubled it.  And then sprinkled a bunch more grated cheese over the top of that and let it cook 5-10 min. with the lid and then another 5-10 min. without the lid to let it thicken up good.  It turned out amazing!!
I served it with Susie's French bread and a green salad.

Special Ingredient Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cubes butter, softened
1 cup oil (I used canola)
1 1/2 cups sugar (I reduced this to 1 cup)
2 cups brown sugar (I reduced this to 1 1/4 cup)
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
5 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 lb chocolate chips

Cream butter, oil and sugars. Add eggs, vanilla and almond extract. Add dry ingredients. Then stir in chocolate chips. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Best when underdone and cooled completely.

Ranger Cookies!!

I've been making this good ole' Betty Crocker recipe for years! The reason I love this recipe is because it has so many good and nutritious stuff in it, like Wheaties, coconut, and oatmeal. I always add chocolate chips, which is not in the original recipe. This is for a double batch.

1 cup shortening (can also use butter, which makes a richer cookie. I personally like the shortening)
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar (I always reduce the sugar by half for my tastes)
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups quick-cooking oats
2 cups whole wheat flakes (I use bran flakes. You can use Wheaties, or Total or even corn flakes)
1 cup shredded coconut
1 to 2 cups chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375°. Mix thoroughly shortening, sugars, eggs and vanilla. Stir in remaining ingredients.

Drop by rounded spoonful two inches apart onto ungreased baking sheet. (my sheets have silicone mats on them) Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until set, but not hard. Cool about 3 minutes or baking sheet.

Hearty Six-Hour Stew

This is the best stew ever! When I first saw the recipe and the tomato sauce in it, I thought that was bonkers! But you can't taste a hint of tomato. This is so super easy to make and tastes great! The only problem I ever had was overloading the pot and then it would boil over in my stove! But I've made this many times. Serves 4-6.

1 pound beef stew cubes
4 carrots, sliced (I just throw in a bag of baby carrots!)
4 medium potatoes, cut in large chunks
1 bay leaf
1 (1-oz) package dry onion soup mix
2 (10 3/4-oz) cans cream of mushroom soup
1 (8-oz) can tomato sauce
1 (10-oz) package frozen green peas

Grease Dutch oven or heavy pan. Place beef cubes on the bottom. Layer carrots, then potatoes, lacing bay leaf on top. In a separate bowl mix remaining ingredients and pour over beef and vegetables. Cover with a tight-fitting lid. Bake at 250° for 6 hours (or up to 8 hours). You can also bake this in your slow-cooker on low for up to 12 hours.

For Halloween or a fall or harvest dinner you could serve it in a hollowed-out pumpkin shell.

Lazy Lasagna

I call this lazy because I didn't want to bother cooking the noodles.  It works fine if you are using home canned tomatoes cause they have lots of juice. Make this in a large 9x13 casserole dish.

Layer #1
1 quart jar of home canned tomatoes, or 2 cans store bought whole or chopped tomatoes with all the juice.
Lasagna noodles layered on top of the tomatoes to make a single layer.  (cook them if you want but I never do)
Layer #2
Ground beef, browned (a pound or so)
Onions chopped and cooked with the meat (if you like them)
Layer #3
Cottage Cheese (maybe about a 16 oz container)
Grated cheese (any kind you have or a variety--mozarella is good though)
Parmesan cheese (I often sprinkled this on with the cheeses)
Layer #4
Lasagna noodles
Topping
2 or 3 15oz cans of tomato sauce.  Sprinkle the top of this with seasonings like basil, oregano, parsley, garlic salt.
Cover tightly with aluminum foil.
Bake at 350° for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  You could even do 3 hours at 325°.  Longer is good. Take the foil off for about the last 15 to 20 min. to allow some of the moisture to evaporate. Take out of the oven and add more grated cheese to the top if you want and let sit for about 15 min. before cutting and serving.

Stroganoff

After cooking for a long time you eventually start cooking without recipes.  At least that was my favorite way to cook as it was much quicker.  I have things I like doing way better than cooking.  But my version of cooking usually came from an original recipe and was adapted to my tastes or that of my family.  This is my version of Stroganoff.

Ground beef, browned.  (maybe a pound or so)
Chopped onions, if you like them
1 or 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup (depending on how much you want to make)
half a can of water for each can
sour cream (I just dollop several big spoonfuls in til it looks good and creamy)
Worchestershire Sauce (guessing about a tablespoon or two...I usually just shake it in from the bottle)
Seasonings if you want any, it's not necessary, but sometimes I put garlic salt in.

While you make the sauce cook some rice or noodles to put it on.  We usually always had rice, cause that's my favorite!

Betty Crocker's Peanut Butter Frosting

The most used cookbook I have is a Betty Crocker orange cookbook published in 1977 that I probably purchased about 1978.  This morning Emily called for one of her favorites out of that book, the peanut butter frosting.  That is our family's favorite frosting to go on a chocolate cake!  Super easy and inexpensive.

1/3 cup peanut butter (we always use creamy)
3 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 to 1/3 cup milk  (this will depend on the spreading consistency you want)

Blend the peanut butter and sugar til creamy.  Stir in the vanilla and milk and then beat til smooth and of spreading consistency.