I know I've said this before..but I honestly DO menu plan every week. (and love
Orgjunkie.com's link up...great ideas!) I just don't always think to blog it. To be perfectly honest I haven't had time to do much besides the absolute necessities these past few weeks. Who knew that the month of May could be SO busy?! The older the kids get the more we have going on at the end of the school year. Between talent shows and awards and graduations I can hardly breathe! I still do menu plan, but we rely pretty heavily on cheap and easy these last few weeks of the school year because I'm simply not home to actually cook. Sad, but true. Here's our menu plan anyway....
- Monday~Memorial Day leftovers! We had a cookout yesterday and we have SO much food leftover....it's "your on your own" today.
- Tuesday~Chicken Alfredo, broccoli, salad, garlic bread
- Wednesday~Last Day of School Celebration! We're taking the kids out for something super fun and then having Snappy Tomato's pizza buffet...it's their favorite, and we don't do it very often. (and it's kids eat free, win/win!)
- Thursday-My Mom's Lasagna, salad, broccoli, garlic bread. It really is my mom's recipe..I'll share below...delicious! And the leftovers freeze really well.
- Friday-Baked BBQ chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes, biscuits. This meal ends up feeding us for lunch/dinner the next day as well....the potatoes become soup and I like the baked chicken on salad.
- Saturday~Burrito Skillet, Mexican rice and all the fixings. I shared this The Morris Tribe recipe here.
- Sunday~super cheap and easy....tomato soup and grilled cheese. Now that I have found the trick to super good, crispy grilled cheese the boys love having this, and it's fast and no fuss...perfect for a lazy summer Sunday.
Now for My Mom's Lasagna. I grew up with this recipe, it's delicious (though decidedly NOT low fat although you can easily substitute). I don't make it very often, so it serves as a bit of a celebratory dinner...in this case, the first day of summer vacation!
My Mom's Lasagna
Sauce:
1 lb sausage or ground beef (my mother always used sausage..regular or Italian)
3/4 cup chopped onion
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 can crushed or diced tomatoes (I always use crushed)
12 oz. tomato paste
2 cups water
1 tbsp. dried parsley
2 tsp. salt (I cut this in half, as a rule, to make it lower sodium)
1 tsp. sugar (I sometimes use brown sugar too)
1 tsp. garlic powder
.5 tsp. black pepper
.5 tsp. oregano
1 package lasagna noodles (not the no boil kind)
Cheese mix:
3 cups ricotta or cottage cheese
.5 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp. dried parsley
2 eggs beaten
2 tsp. salt (again, I cut this or omit entirely)
.5 tsp. black pepper
1 lb. deli mozzarella cheese, sliced very thin
Preheat oven to 375
For Sauce:
Brown sausage/beef and onions in olive oil in a large skillet or dutch oven until sausage is brown and onions are translucent. Add all other ingredients except lasagna noodles (cook them according to package directions while making sauce), to meat/onion mixture and simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
For cheese mixture:
mix all cheese mix ingredients together, except sliced mozzarella, until well blended.
To assemble:
Layer ingredients in lasagna pan (grease bottom and sides of pan before beginning)~lasagna noodles first, cheese mix, sliced mozzarella, sauce..continue layering, approx. 3 layers, finishing with a layer of sauce. You may top with shredded mozzarella or Parmesan if desired before baking. Bake for 30 minutes, or until top is slightly browned and bubbling. Enjoy!!
I hope that those of you enduring your last few days of school get through them fast and easy and enjoy your first days of summer!
By the way, I'm on the lookout for healthy, delicious recipes that store well in the fridge for light lunches and quick side dishes....pasta salads, pilafs, you name it! If you have a summer recipe that it just wouldn't be summer vacation without please share!!!
Have a great week!
