Healthier Chicken Lasagna

I use this recipe when I want a break from regular beef lasagna. It's a nice change of pace. It's a good way to sneak a few vegetables into your family too. Using the "no boil" lasagna noodles saves time and a dirty pan.

Healthier Chicken Lasagna

Ingredients:

½ cup chopped onion
2 carrots-peeled and diced
1 tablespoon butter
1 rotisserie chicken, remove skin and cut into bite-size pieces
1-10.75 ounce can 98% fat free cream of chicken soup
½ cup low fat or skim milk
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 -10 ounce box frozen, chopped spinach-thawed and squeezed dry
12 ounces low fat cottage cheese
1 cup shredded 2% sharp cheddar cheese
8 no-boil lasagna noodles

 Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Saute the onion and carrots in the butter in a medium saucepan until tender. Stir in the soup, milk and basil. Heat thoroughly.  Pour half of the sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Place four of the lasagna noodles on top of the sauce. Spread the chicken pieces evenly on top of the noodles.
 

In a medium bowl, combine the spinach, cheddar cheese, and cottage cheese.  Evenly spread the spinach/cheese mixture on top of the chicken. Top with the remaining four lasagna noodles and then add the remaining soup/milk sauce as the final layer.  Cover the pan with foil. Bake for 45 minutes.

 

Serves 4-6

Rice-a-Roni Meatballs

This is SUCH an easy recipe for meatballs. I thought I had posted this recipe in June. Ooops! Doesn't look like it worked. Rice-A-Roni meatballs are nice for the beginning of Fall. It's hardly any work at all  :D

Rice-a-Roni Meatballs

Ingredients:

1 (7 ounce) package beef Rice-A-Roni

1 lb ground beef, prefer 85/15

1 egg, beaten

2 1/2 cups boiling water

2 tablespoons cornstarch in 3 tablespoons cold water

 Directions:
Set seasoning mix aside.
 Combine the rice mix and the egg in a large bowl.
 Add the raw beef to rice/egg mixture and combine with your hands.
 Roll into meatballs (about an inch and a half).
 In a large skillet, brown the meatballs on all sides.
 Meanwhile, mix the seasoning packet and boiling water.
 Pour over the meatballs and simmer for 30 minutes.
 Pour the cornstarch/water mixture into the skillet and simmer for 2 minutes.

  

Pillsbury Pretzel Pups - should have been a contender

This is the recipe I submitted to this year's Pillsbury Bake-Off. I went to the mall and tasted one of those pretzel-wrapped hot dogs, but they cost almost $5 apiece. Outrageous!  I used Pillsbury Crusty French Loaf for the pretzel dough component. You can make all 8 hot dogs for around $10. I'm still sad that it wasn't a contender  :(     I hope you enjoy having these at home. They're perfect for dinner or watching football on TV.

Pillsbury Pretzel Pups

Pretzel Pup Ingredients:
1-11 ounce can Pillsbury Crusty French Loaf
1-16  ounce package jumbo hot dogs
1-8 ounce block Pepper Jack cheese (can substitute cheddar, etc)
1 egg white
3 tablespoons hot water
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt or kosher salt
cooking spray

Pretzel Pup Honey Mustard:
1/2 cup mayo or light mayo
3 tablespoons yellow mustard
1 teaspoon dry mustard
2 tablespoons honey

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, combine the hot water and baking soda. Set bowl aside to allow it to come to room temperature.

Place the opened Crusty French dough on a large cutting board. Look for the seam on the dough. Unroll the Crusty French dough horizontally. Cut into eight equal length strips.
Spray a large baking sheet with the cooking spray. Butterfly the hot dogs. Cut the Pepper Jack cheese into 8 equal length strips. Place a cheese stick in the opened hot dog. Wrap a single strip of the Crusty French dough around the hot dog containing cheese in a spiral fashion. Place the wrapped hot dog on the baking sheet. Repeat the process for the remaining seven hot dogs, spacing them evenly on the baking sheet.

Add the egg white to the cooled water/baking soda mixture and mix well. Using a pastry brush, coat the top of each wrapped hot dog with the egg white mixture. Sprinkle an equal amount of coarse salt on each pretzel wrapped hot dog.

Bake the Pretzel Pups for 14-17 minutes until browned. While the Pretzel Pups are baking, mix the 4 ingredients for the honey mustard. Cover and refrigerate the honey mustard until serving time.

Makes 8 pretzel-wrapped hot dogs.