Skillet lasagna

I love lasagna but it's a messy process, one pot to boil the noodles, another to brown the ground beef, a pan to bake it in. So I thought I would try this Kraft recipe I had cut out of a Spring 2009 issue of Food & Family. It wasn't bad if you need a quickie dinner, not as good as the old fashioned way of course, but okay.

Skillet Lasagna

1 lb. lean ground beef
2 green peppers (I only used about 1/2 of one) chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 jar (26 oz) spaghetti sauce
1 2/3 c. water
1/4 c. kraft zesty italian dressing (I omitted)
12 oven ready lasagna noodles, broken into quarters
1 c. kraft shredded low-moisture part skim mozzarella cheese

Brown meat in a large saucepan; drain.

Stir in peppers, garlic, spaghetti sauce, water and dressing; bring to a boil. Add noodles: stir. Cover

Cook on medium-low heat 10 to 15 minutes, or until noodles are tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Sprinkle with cheese; cover. Let stand 5 min, or until cheese is melted.

Substitute: Substitute 12 regular lasagna noodles, broken into small pieces and increase water to 2 cups and cook 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Sorry my picture doesn't look cheesy I forgot the picture until I was putting up the leftovers.

Please support me on my walk for alzheimer's. Today, 5.4 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease – 5.2 million aged 65 and over; 200,000 with younger-onset Alzheimer’s. By 2050, as many as 16 million Americans will have the disease.

Sloppy Joes and Homemade Hamburger Buns

The other night I made this recipe for sloppy joes and hamburger buns. The buns weren't bad but they turned out more like giant dinner rolls then hamburger buns. I altered the sloppy joe recipe a bit because I was using less meat  so I'll post the revised recipe. I took pictures of the buns but I completely forgot the meat mixture, that's okay I guess most everyone know what they look like anyway.

Sloppy Joes - revised from A Bountiful Kitchen

1 lb ground beef

1/2 onion, chopped (if you are planning leftovers, might want to use less, taste was stronger next day)

1/2 green pepper, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced or 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (optional)

1 6 oz can tomato paste

1 8 oz can tomato sauce

3 tbs Worcestershire

1/4 cup brown sugar (was way to much, should try halving)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground pepper

water 1/4 to 1/2 cup to thin sauce, if needed

Brown ground beef in skillet. Drain off any grease. Add chopped onion, green pepper and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Saute until onion is softened. Add tomato paste, sauce, Worcestershire and brown sugar. Cook over medium heat. If mixture is too thick, thin with 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water. Serve with hamburger buns, top with cheese, if desired. 

 
I'm walking to end alzheimer's on Sept 17. If anyone can spare a little bit of money to donate to a good cause, I would really appreciate it.

Paula's pajama party onion burgers

I completely forgot to take pictures of this one, but it wasn't liked enough in my family to matter. It wasn't bad but it wasn't fantastic either. It was similar to SOS except extremely oniony, maybe too oniony. The filling stayed in better on toast than hamburger buns. I made the sandwich the way Paula suggested with mayo and mustard and topped with onions, I didn't think the mayo flavor came through so you could skip that and save on fat.

If you want to try it the recipe is at the Food Network site.

S.O.S

No, I'm not sending out a distress call! SOS stands for sh*t on a shingle, the names unappetizing but it actually does taste really good. It's a military recipe that's been handed down from my great grandfather who learned to cook in the army. He was born in 1914 and I think he lied about his age and joined when he was 16 so he would have been in the army in 1930 but I'm not sure how long he served for.



I've seen several variation for this recipe but never exactly like this so I'm not sure if this is how they made it or if he changed it over the years but my mom watched him make it one day and wrote down exactly what he did and this is how we've been making it ever since.

SOS

Brown 1 lb. hamburger in a skillet. Drain grease. Add salt and pepper and half a stick of butter (or margarine). Add 2 glasses of water (the glass we use holds 2 cups of water so you'll use 4 c. total) . Cook on high heat and skim off foam. Let cook about 15 minutes. Put 3 tbs. of flour (it doesn't have to be a level spoonful and we've always used self-rising but I don't think it would matter) in a glass. Add almost a glass of hot water. Stir. Pour in a little at a time while stirring (until it get's the thickness you want). Serve on toast.