Easy Breezy Meaty Lasagna

Raise your hand if you've heard of The Pioneer Woman? I've been a long time follower of her blog. She is a mother of four, ranch owner, homeschooler, photographer and author. Mostly though, she loves cooking simple, delicious meals (not necessarily low fat!) which are relatively easy to throw together. Check her out: thepioneerwoman.com

This week I made her lasagna found here.

The ingredients are basic and it comes together pretty quickly. I made three lasagnas in about 40 minutes from start to finish and figure I spent under $20.00. I used the Trader Joe's no bake lasagna noodles (and bit my fingernails hoping they would work and not be chewy or uncooked) and they were fabulous. Who doesn't like a meaty, cheesy lasagna?

So, gather your ingredients and make a few. Throw them in the freezer unbaked and save them for a rainy day.

Enjoy!

Sunburst Avocado Salad

INGREDIENTS
4 whole wheat tortillas (10-inch), warmed
1/2 pound chicken, cut into cubes
1/2 cup of my mom's vinaigrette dressing (see below)
1 1/2 tablespoons cocktail sauce
2 blood oranges (or 1 grapefruit), peeled and sectioned
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced
1/8 cup chopped toasted pecans
1 bag (about 8 ounces) salad greens

DIRECTIONS
Heat the oven to 400°F. Line 4 (7-inch) oven-safe bowls with 1 tortilla each. Place the bowls onto a baking sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes or until the tortillas are golden brown and crisp. Let the tortillas cool in the bowls on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove the tortillas from the bowls and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Stir the chicken, half the dressing and the cocktail sauce in a medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Stir in the blood oranges, avocado and pecans.

Divide the greens among the tortillas. Top with the chicken mixture. Drizzle with the remaining dressing.

Mom's Vinaigrette
2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup orange muscat champagne vinegar (tj's)
1 cup oil

Glazed Salmon with Rice and Asparagus

We don't eat a whole lot of fish in the Ferenc household, not because we don't love the taste, but because Mama doesn't like/know how to prep fish. This week's Sprouts ad came in the mail and I noticed they had Alaskan wild caught Sockeye salmon on sale. I decided to take the plunge and find a simple salmon recipe and hope for the best. I purchased the salmon with the skin on and placed the large filet in a simple marinade of:

• ⅓ cups Brown Sugar
• ⅓ cups Water
• ⅓ cups Soy Sauce
• ¼ cups Vegetable Oil
• juice from one fresh lemon
• ginger, pepper, garlic and any other fresh herbs you like

I left the salmon to marinate overnight, or longer then simply drained out the marinade into a saucepan and baked the salmon at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes. While the salmon was cooking I simmered the marinade on low heat so we could pour over the salmon later. Cook up some rice, we had wild rice and place the salmon (with skin removed after cooking) on top of the rice and generously pour over the sauce.... it’s YUMMY. Serve with a side of fresh asparagus. The best way to cook asparagus is to heat up a skillet with some olive oil. Toss the asparagus in the skillet and season with garlic, salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes until the asparagus turns a pretty green. Immediately douse with fresh lemon juice and cook 1 minute more. Remove the asparagus and you should have some perfectly cooked, fresh and non-soggy asparagus.

I wasn't sure how the kids would respond to the salmon. I was prepared to put up a food fight and not give them any other dinner option and GUESS WHAT??? They gobbled this up, asked for more and loved it! They never cease to surprise me.

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Prepping! This week's contents include: 1 bag of chicken mixture. 1 head of lettuce. 1 bag of frozen gyoza from Japanese market. Dipping sauce for gyoza (can also be used as extra sauce in wraps).

Ingredients
1 teriyaki-flavored rotisserie chicken
1/4 cup red pepper, diced small
1/4 cup water chestnuts, diced small
1/4 cup bamboo shoots, diced small
2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onion
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic - minced
12 lettuce leaves

Directions
1. Remove meat only from rotisserie chicken and dice small. This should give you about 2 cups of diced chicken.
2. Heat the oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken and remaining ingredients.
3. Cook until heated through -- about 5 minutes.
4. Serve with lettuce leaves for wrapping.
(recipe credit here)

CHANGES? Next time instead of rotisserie, I would marinate chicken breasts in teriyaki sauce, cook and cube. The rotisserie shredded too thin and I didn't love the texture.

Side dish: Gyoza (instead of that asian salad)!