Monday, August 3, 2009

Menu Plan Monday

Ok, this is the 2nd week of my menu planning and the first where I plan to link to I’m an Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday. Oh wait, she's not hosting this week, change of plans. Gotta link to The Happy Housewife instead for this edition of Menu Plan Monday as she is the guest host for the week. I think I got it straight now!

I'm kind of asking myself why I picked this week as the first to link to Menu Plan Monday, because I leave for vacation on Wednesday afternoon and so will only really be planning for today (Monday) and Tuesday. The reasoning behind it? I'm going to [try to] be a sweetheart and plan out some extras for Buppy and the kids for when I'm gone. He'll be home alone with them on Wed., Thurs. and Fri. night, so if I can get some things ahead for him/them, it'll make everyone's life a little easier. Plus, I'm just a sweetheart when it comes to taking care of my Buppy!

Monday: *free night* Ham sandwich, canned pineapple, Sunchips
Tuesday: *free night* Homemade lasagna, garlic bread
Wednesday: Buppy can feed himself and the kids leftover lasagna; I'm making it on Tuesday especially because he's been hungry for it and it freezes well and is good leftover.
Thursday: Campbell's 2-step creamy chicken & pasta; I'll just make sure we have all the stuff in the fridge so he can throw this together. Looks quick, haven't made it myself yet.
Friday: I'll get Buppy all the stuff to make pizza so all he'll have to do is throw it together after he gets home with the kids.

*Free nights for me are nights when Buppy is at work, the kids are with their mom and I'm left on my own for dinner.

Saturday and Sunday Buppy will be back at work, but I figure the 3 things I'm getting ready for him to make Wed.-Fri. will yield plenty of leftovers for him to take into work for the weekend. I will, of course, have to run this plan by him to see how he feels about the meals I've come up with but I'm guessing he'll be good with them all. And bonus: a lot of the ingredients we already have on hand so I won't have to do too much grocery shopping before I leave.

The lasagna recipe I use is a variation on the recipe on the box of Barilla No-Boil lasagna noodles. Let me just throw this out there now: no-boil lasagna noodles are awesome! I like to add lots of onion, mushrooms and more spices than the original recipe calls for. To be honest, I eyeball all my spices but tried to guesstimate quantity for this recipe.

Super Duper Fantastic Lasagna
Adapted from the Barilla No-Boil Lasagna Recipe

1 (9 oz) box of lasagna noodles (no boil)
2 (26 oz.) jars spaghetti/marinara sauce
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 (8 oz) package mushrooms, sliced
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. Italian Seasoning
1 lb. Italian sausage
1 (15 oz) container ricotta cheese
4 cups (16 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese
3/4 cup (3 oz) grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375F. Spray a 9x13x3 pan with non-stick cooking spray. To make the cheese mixture, beat eggs, stir in the ricotta, 2 cups of mozzarella and ½ cup of parmesan. To make the sauce mixture, pour sauce into a large bowl and add onion, mushrooms, garlic and Italian seasoning. Stir to combine well. Then begin layering: 1 c. sauce topped with 4 noodles, 1/3 cheese mixture, 1/3 meat, 1 c. of mozzarella and 1 c. sauce. Layer 4 noodles, 1/3 cheese mixture, 1/3 meat, 1 ½ c. sauce. Layer 4 noodles, remaining cheese mixture, remaining meat and 1 c. sauce. Layer 4 noodles, last of sauce and top with remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hr. Put a piece of aluminum foil underneath the pan as sauce likes to boil out occasionally. Uncover pan and bake another 10-15 minutes or so, until the cheese on top is nicely melted. Remove from oven and let stand 15 minutes before cutting. Makes 12 servings.

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for the lasagna recipe - I'm always ready to try a new one. I agree no-boil noodles are great:)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree with you about the no-boil noodles! I don't understand why they still make the other kind. So much easier and less work.

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