Menu Plan Monday/Lasagna Recipe

Photo from Doctoroz.com

Monday-Whatever...we had a very late lunch



Tuesday-Hearty Meatball Lasagna (recipe below), garlic bread and salad



Wednesday- Shake and bake chicken breasts, mashed potatoes, green beans

Thursday-Turkey chili or leftovers for the Pickies

Friday- Crunchy baked haddock, oven fries, rye bread, and salad

Saturday-Leftovers or out for supper

Courtesy of Doctor Oz
Hearty Meatball Lasagna


Ingredients
1 box whole wheat lasagna sheets, cooked
3/4 lb chopped portobello mushroom caps (about 5) or white button mushrooms
1 10 oz. bag baby Swiss chard or baby greens (can also use frozen chopped spinach as a substitute, thawed and well drained)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb part skim ricotta cheese
1 egg
Pinch grated nutmeg
1 lb part skim mozzarella, thinly sliced or grated
1/4 cup grated Italian cheese
8 meatballs
Your favorite high-quality jar tomato sauce (no meat in it)

Directions
Preheat oven to 375.
Toss mushrooms with 1.5 tbsp olive oil on a baking sheet. Roast mushrooms until tender and cooked through, about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer into a medium bowl and mash 8 meatballs into mixture. In a large saucepan, sauté chard in remaining olive oil and garlic over medium heat until wilted. In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, cooked chard and egg. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.Add sauce to the bottom of an 11x14 pan, add a layer of cooked lasagna noodles over, then spoon the ricotta mixture over the top. Then add some meatball and mushroom mixture on top of that. Then place a few very small pieces of mozzarella (spread out) and more sauce to cover layer. Repeat 3 or 4 times. Top last sauce layer with remaining mozzarella (this should be most of it) and sprinkle with grated cheese and fresh cracked pepper. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes, remove foil and cook additional 15 minutes.




I am going to omit the Swiss chard and substitute fat-free cottage cheese for ricotta. I am also going to make this tomorrow during the day and not cook the noodles. I hope you enjoy because the picture is making me hungry!



Check out OrgJunkie for more menu plans.

Half-Baked Chicken Fried Chicken

Half-baked chicken fried chicken. Do I really need to say anything more? The chicken stays moist and is a really great treat if you like fried chicken. I love the crunchy coating and hopefully others checking out the Recipe Swap will too!




Let's get started! For this you will need a few items. There are very few measurements and it's more so keep each item on hand if you need to add more...you'll get the idea.



Boneless skinless chicken breasts
flour (1 cup)
beaten egg(s) (2)
saltine crackers, crushed (1 sleeve)
seasoning or chicken coating mix (opt)
olive or canola oil
butter

I usually use a 2.5 to 3 pound bag of breasts which is about 5-6 breasts. My ingredients amounts will be based off this. But it is easy to add more if you need more, just remember that so you don't start off with too much.

Assemble 3 bowls/containers large enough to lay a breast in for dipping. Put the flour, beaten egg, and cracker crumbs (with/without seasoning or coating mix) in their own separate bowls. Heat 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan over medium high heat. Preheat oven as well to 400 degrees. Have a baking dish ready to transfer chicken into. I use a 9x13.

Take a chicken breast and coat it with flour on both sides. Shaking off the excess and then dip into beaten egg, covering both sides. Remove from egg to the cracker crumb mixture. Make sure to coat entire surface of chicken. Carefully put into frying pan with butter and oil. Fry for about 3 minutes on each side. You want a golden color on each side.

I have to do atleast two batches. You don't want to overcrowd the frying pan. Three is the most I can fit in their. I also add more butter and oil if it needed which it will be needed. Transfer to a baking dish.

I bake mine at 400 degree until a meat thermometer reads 170 degrees. Probably about 30 minutes or so. I use my trusty thermometer. Let the chicken rest for 5 to 10 minutes before cutting in. Enjoy your half-baked chicken fried chicken!

28 Day Organizing Challenge

OrgJunkie is doing a 28 day Organizing Challenge. I am up for a challenge and I definetly have a room for the challenge. Meet our office.

Our very disfunctional,

very cluttered,

very unorganized mess, I mean office.

Farm stuff, tools, Mac's school stuff, bull stud catalogs...

The list is endless! Check back at the end of the month for photos on the progress and see if I completed the challenge!

One of the Best Christmas Presents Ever

Men are funny. If you casually mention while walking in a store that a certain item interests you and you would like to be a future owner of said item, and you are with your husband they will do one of two things. Ignore you or buy it for you. I casually mentioned that "someday" and I meant someday not Christmas I wouldn't mind having one of those to Kurt. One of those was a large rectangular griddle and those were my exact words to him. For Christmas I got one, and for Valentines day a huge food processor. I'm not one of those women that gets mad if he buys me something for the kitchen because I actually like this kind of stuff. But at the time, we were not married and I lived in an apartment. I did not use either item for a good couple of months because I was not too sure where they fit into my life at that point. Silly I know.

Of course there was one particular small kitchen appliance Kurt would not buy me. I almost forgot to mention this was the guy who surprised me with a small chest freezer for my birthday that same year (farming must been good). But for some reason the butthead wouldn't get me what I truly longed for, especially if I was going to be married to him for the rest of eternity. I would tell him all my friends are getting these and he said that is something more for a 10-year wedding anniversary. I was not waiting 10 years for a mixer.

See my husband loves cookies. Chocolate chip cookies and the dough. He's a farmer and farmer's love cookies. My husband told me if I am ever wondering what food I need to have around the house for him cookies are at the top of the list. That's the only thing I remember on the list...maybe Pepsi or Sundrop was the other....caffeine and sugar. What is, what a farmer runs on! Anyway...when I make cookies for him I cream the butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla with my hand mixer, yes a hand mixer. To combine the dry and wet ingredients I usually used a spatula. I broke atleast two spatulas doing this because I always make a double batch. If not a quadruple batch in two bowls because my husband is serious about his cookies.

I don't know if he took pity on me but we had a little extra money at the end of this year. 2009 was a rotten year and I was not expecting anything for Christmas. Early in December Kurt told me if I wanted I could go get myself one. So I did and I use it not like the other gifts that were barely used at first. It came with a dough hook, whisk, and a mixing attachment. It was a great gift and its versatile. Unlike my hand mixer I am not afraid that it is going to blow a gasket because this baby was made to mix dough. If you make items that require an electric mixer a lot, I highly recomment investing in a KitchenAid mixer. I plan on using mine until the end of eternity or until Kurt is sick of cookies which ever comes first : )

This is linked to WFMW

Menu Plan Monday

To view other menu ideas check out OrgJunkie. I took an inventory of my freezer to get some ideas this week. I am all out of roasts which to me are so simple and easy to throw in the cockpot frozen. If it's a pork roast I dump a bag of frozen saurkraut over the top. YUM. Or leave it plan add some seasoning and water. My beef roast recipe I use is just as simple(link below). Or I use water and seasoning and add my potatoes and carrots so they cook right along-very yummy. I need to do some grocery shopping either later this week or early next week. Before I go further I have to admit I am always paranoid about forgetting something while I'm shopping which makes me feel unprepared each time even though I have a list. Ugh. There I feel much better.

Monday-Crockpot beef roast (its a rump this week), potatoes, and carrots

Tuesday-Spaghetti casserole (from the freezer), garlic bread, and salad

Wednesday-Pancakes, bacon, and fruit

Thursday-Hamburgers, tator tots, and green beans

Friday-My dad's birthday the big 6-4 : ) I'm hoping for a perch supper courtesy of the birthday boy.

Saturday-Easy Chicken and Rice bake, broccoli, and cream corn. Going to Disney on Ice during the day so I'll have this ready to go in the oven when I get home.

Sunday-Tenderloin tips with noodles, salad, and corn (Kurt's favorite meal)

One of Those Days

Maybe it is one of those weeks. Not terribly busy but plenty to do. Monday was my day "off." I only had to due my normal chores in the morning, come to milk in the afternoon, feed my calves and heifers in the barn around 6pm, and go out at night for the third milking. Tuesday we test which means there is a technician here who takes a sample from each cow that is milking. Because we milk 3X and have a registered herd of cattle, we have to test two of the three milkings so our herd production records are official with the Holstein Association. I like our tester she is fun girl who likes to talk and that makes milking go quicker. Maclayne had a small project due on Wednesday. When she got home, Kurt asked when we were going to work on it. I told him I wanted her to get it done tonight. Well duh! She had to have it done tonight because tomorrow was Wednesday. Oops.


Wednesday I had to go have my blood pressure rechecked and blood drawn for some tests. My blood pressure was down to 114/84 and two weeks ago it was 132/92. I'm happy it came down but now I need to get it down to a healthier level. Especially the bottom number. My appointment was in the morning since you need to fast 12 hours before the blood draw. When I got home at 10:30, Kurt was on the couch half asleep. I figured I could either go on the computer and catch up with my stuff on here or take advantage of the quiet and hop into bed. I hopped into bed. I woke up 45 minutes later to the phone ringing and I had not been sleep too well. Ran to pick up the phone and it was no one I knew on the ID and Kurt was sitting at the table eating a banana. I went back to bed for another hour but this time pulled the extra flannel comforter over me. That felt good. Nice and warm this time.


Maclayne took cold lunch to school today because she does not like it when they have breakfast for lunch. She claims she gets syrup all over herself and then she's sticky for the rest of the day. When I opened the fridge for breakfast there was her sandwhich. The rest of her lunch was packed and in her bag. So I ran down to school a little bit ago because I'm nice and I would hope my mom would do that for me if I had forgotten my sandwhich. Then again my mom worked away from home and wouldn't have noticed it but anway!


I'm also job searching. Oh how fun. If I could find something working from home and be hired, that would be just awesome. I have my husband reading Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace. Awhile ago he ordered a book off of an infomercial called Debt Cures, but the funny thing is he used a credit card to pay for it. I think Dave Ramsey's book is making more sense. I am so sick of credit card debt. If you are familiar with the snowball method, I have trying to do that for years. This time I am going to be successful. I have five credit cards and if I have had a job I could easily pay off four of the five in a short time. Ahhh financial freedom, atleast on my end here I come! I hope, but I really do not want leave home to work. My daughter would be sad and is sad when I have to go to work. I really hate that part and working in the summer would just be awful. So I have been trying to be resourceful and think of alternatives to making money and paying down debt.

Menu Plan Monday

It is still Monday for 14 more minutes. Hey, I made it thanks to milking cows three-times-a-day which means I am still awake. : ) Only 5 hours until I need to get up. SMILE : )

Monday-Mexican hamburger and rice (AKA Hamburger Helper Cheesy Enchilada), corn, and cornbread

Tuesday-Personal sized pizzas with salad

Wednesday-Chicken Fried Halfway Chicken (recipe to follow), baked potato, green beans

Thursday-Hot ham sandwhiches, sugar-free Jello, chips, and pickles

Friday-Poorman's lobster (recipe to follow if it tastes good, cross your fingers), baked french fries, and salad

Saturday-We are going to my friend Loree's wedding and her reception is at a country club which open to the public to rent so I'm curious to see what it looks like probably no big deal and probably the only time I will ever be in one.

For more menu plans check out OrgJunkie