Texas Style Lasagna

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef
• 2 cups (16oz) small-curd cottage cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1 1-oz packet taco seasoning mix
• 1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 15oz can tomato sauce
• 1 4oz can chopped green chilies
• 5 flour tortillas cut into 1 inch strips
• 4 cups (16oz) shredded Monterey Jack cheese

In a large skillet, brown the meat.

Combine the cottage cheese & eggs in a small bowl.

Drain the browned meat of excess fat & add taco seasoning, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and chilies; mix well. Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes.

In a 13x9x2-in baking dish treated with non-stick cooking spray, layer half of the meat sauce, half the tortillas, half of the cottage cheese mixture, and half of the Monterey Jack cheese, in that order.

Repeat the layers with remaining portions.

To Serve:
Bake uncovered, in preheated 350°F oven for 40 minutes, or until bubbly. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

To Freeze:
Cover with heavy duty aluminum foil, label, and freeze. I like to use my pans that have lids so that after putting the aluminum foil I just place the lid and then can stack other dishes on top of it, in the freezer.

Chicken & Dumplings

Ingredients:

• 1 roasted (rotisserie) chicken, deboned and shredded
• 1 T vegetable oil
• 1 T butter
• 1½ cups chopped carrots
• 1½ cups chopped celery
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 4 cups water
• 1 32-oz carton chicken broth
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 12-oz jar turkey gravy
• ¼ cup frozen peas
• 1 12-oz tube refrigerated buttermilk biscuits

To Freeze:
Mix all the ingredients, except the biscuits, in a large bowl. Pour into a 1-gallon labeled freezer bag & freeze. Store biscuits in the fridge.

To Serve:
Place all of the ingredients, except the biscuits, into a large sauce or stew pan, with a lid.

Warm over medium heat until hot and bubbling.

While the chicken mixture is heating, unroll the biscuits and cut each biscuit into four pieces.

Push the biscuit pieces into the hot bubbling liquid with a wooden spoon, a few at a time, until they are all in.

Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

Serves 6 - 10

Beef Pot Roast

Ingredients:

• 3lbs beef chuck roast
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• 1 ½ tsp chopped Garlic
• 3 T Balsamic Vinegar
• ¼ cup Soy Sauce
• 2 T Worcestershire sauce
• ¼ cup Dijon mustard

Poke holes in the roast and rub it with salt, pepper, and garlic.

In a small bowl stir together the balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and Dijon mustard.

To freeze:
Place the roast in a labeled 1-gallon freezer bag, pour the marinade over it, and freeze.

To Serve:
Thaw the roast, if frozen, or allow to marinate overnight if not frozen. Place the roast and marinade in a slow cooker. Cook on high 4-5 hours or on low for 8-10 hours.

Serves 6-8

Banana bread

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (115 grams) walnuts or pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped (optional)

• 1 3/4 cups (230 grams) all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar
• 1 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 3 ripe large bananas (approximately 1 pound or 454 grams), mashed well (about 1-1/2 cups)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place oven rack to middle position. Butter and flour(or spray with a non stick vegetable/flour spray) the bottom and sides of a 9 x 5 x 3 inch (23 x 13 x 8 cm) loaf pan. Set aside.

Place the nuts on a baking sheet and bake for about 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly toasted. Let cool and then chop coarsely.

In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nuts. Set aside.

In a medium-sized bowl combine the mashed bananas, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla.

With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, lightly the wet ingredients (banana mixture) into the dry ingredients just until combined and the batter is thick and chunky. (The important thing is not to over mix the batter. You do not want it smooth. Over mixing the batter will yield tough, rubbery bread.)

Scrape batter into prepared pan.

Bake until bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 to 60 minutes.

Place on a wire rack to cool and then remove the bread from the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.

This bread can be frozen.

Makes 1 - 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf.

Upside-Down Fettucini Bake

Ingredients:

• 1/2lb Italian sausage
• 1/4 chopped onion
• 8oz fettucini
• 1 - 14.5oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 cup (2oz) shredded mozzerella cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 3 slightly beaten eggs
• 2 T melted butter
• 2 T parsley flakes
• 1/2 tsp chopped garlic

Brown the sausage in a medium skillet. Add the onion during the last few minutes. Drain off excess fat.

Meanwhile cook the fettucini according to package directions.

Add tomatoes and their liquid to the sausage mixture. Add the oregano, bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese over the tomato mixture.

Mix the eggs, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, butter, parsley and garlic together in a medium bowl. Toss the noodles with the mixture.

Spread the noodle mixture in a 10-in quiche dish or cake pan. Pour the sausage mixture on top.

To serve:

Bake uncovered in a preheated 350°F over for about 25 minutes or until bubbly. Cut and serve.

To freeze:

Cover with heavy duty aluminum foil, label, and freeze.

Serves: 6

Macaroni & Cheese with Ham

Ingredients:

• 1 8oz package of elbow macaroni
• 2 cups (8oz) shredded mild cheddar cheese
• 2 cups (16oz) small curd cottage cheese
• 1/3 lb diced ham
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup (8oz) sour cream
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 2T butter, melted

Cook the macaroni according to package directions until al dente. Drain well and set aside. In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients expect the breadcrumbs, paprika, and butter.

To serve: Melt 2T butter. Toss the breadcrumbs with the paprika and mix with the butter. Pour the macaroni into an 11x7x2-inch baking dish treated with non-stick spray, and spread breadcrumb mixture on the top. Bake, uncovered, in a preheated 350°F oven for 40-50 minutes, or until the topping is golden.

Garnish with sliced cherry tomatoes & chopped fresh parsley.

To freeze: Pour the macaroni into a labeled 1-gallon freezer bag. Thaw when ready to use.

Serves: 6-10

Four Seasons Pizza

This is an 'interesting' pizza to say the least. We'll be eating it here in a few minutes, so I'll let you know what the review is here at the Bonds Estate...

Ingredients:

• 1 - 13.8oz tube refrigerated pizza dough
• 1 - 6oz can pizza sauce
• 1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
• 3 thin slices prosciutto, torn in strips (ask persons in the deli area to slice it or point it out to you, if they even have it)
• 3 marinated artichoke heart halves, cut in half
• 3 thinly sliced mushrooms
  
• 3 thinly sliced basil leaves

Preheat oven to 425°F. Spread the dough out on a pizza pan and coat with pizza sauce, to 1-inch of the edge.

Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the cheese.

Top with prosciutto, artichokes, mushrooms, and basil.

Sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake for 8 minutes. Do not over bake.

Serve.

OR Cool, then cover with heavy-duty aluminum foil, label, and freeze. To serve remove the pizza from the freezer. Preheat oven to 425°F. Bake the pizza for 5 minutes.

The final review:
Brian, who loathes mushrooms, loved it. Mikaila ate it piece by piece. Mikeal picked off the artichoke hearts and kinda ate it. I thought it was great! We followed it up with a dessert of a bowl of cottage cheese topped with fresh frozen peaches from my many jars I filled a few weeks ago. YUM!!!

Chicken Scampi

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup chopped green onions
• 3 teaspoons chopped garlic
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 4lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1-inch strips
• 2 tablespoons dried parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 16oz package fettuccini
• 1 chopped tomato

In a large skillet, sauté the green onions and garlic in the butter and oil. Add the lemon juice, chicken, parsley, and pepper. Cook the chicken, stirring occasionally, for 12-15 minutes.

Cook the fettuccini according to package directions as the chicken is cooking.

Serve the chicken over the fettucini, garnish with some chopped tomatoes. Serve with a Caesar salad.

Serves 6-8.

OR

Skip cooking the fettucini. Cool the chicken mixture. Pour into a labeled 1-gallon freezer bag and freeze until ready to use.

When ready to use:
Thaw chicken mixture. Then cook the fettucini, heat chicken in a large skillet until heated through. Serve as directed.

Hamburgers Teriyaki

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef
• 3 T Teriyaki sauce
• 1 T honey
• 1 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp chopped garlic

Combine the ground beef, teriyaki sauce, honey, salt, ginger, & garlic.

Shape into 4 patties.

To Serve:

Grill or skillet grill until no longer pink in the middle. Best way to assure this is to allow the burgers to start turning brown on the top edges before flipping over.

Serve with lettuce, tomato, onion, on buns.

To freeze:
Wrap each patty in wax paper, then place in labeled 1-gallon freezer bag.