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Mock Philly Cheese Steak

As a busy mom of a 7 year old boy and a 5 year old girl there is a lot of balance that has to work its way into life on a daily basis. So, when planning what to bring to a Cub Scout planning committee meeting and feeding my family, I decided to just double up! One sandwich for dinner around the table and one to travel. And the best part was, it took relatively the same amount of time. For under $12, I had dinner and a fun treat for a meeting done. Plus, there was enough left over for my husband to bring in to work the next day!

I developed this recipe a few years ago when I happened to have a pound of ground beef in the fridge and a left over loaf of Italian bread. So, today when I placed my grocery pickup order (which by the way if you have not tried grocery pickup, you really don’t know what you are missing!) I simply doubled up on my ground beef and Italian bread and I was ready to go.

Although the real Philly Cheese Steak is a thing to behold, I take a bit of a Mom-cut with this version and it is a family favorite for a quick weeknight meal. It’s also great to bring to a gathering of friends planning out a year’s worth of Cub Scout events or for game day! Not to mention this hot toasted sandwich is a really solid meal to make ahead and keep in the fridge for later in the week or even pop in the freezer for whenever. (Just be sure to cool the ground beef before refrigerating to be safe) Make fresh each time or get a family pack of meat and make 3 or 4 at a time and pull out of the freezer as needed.

Pre-heat oven while prepping.
Start with an onion.





  • Slice onion in one direction and then turn 90 degrees to dice.

A medium dice is nice here.
Add extra virgin olive oil to a large skillet.
Sautee onions until slightly translucent.
  • Add kosher salt.
Grab a couple of garlic cloves.
Finely dice or put through a garlic press.
Once onions have had time to sautee some, add garlic to pan for another minute or so. Careful not to burn the garlic.
One pound of ground beef. This one is 80/20. Use which ever percentage you are comfortable with.
Salt the meat while it is raw before it goes into the pan.
Once onions become golden brown, it’s time to push them to one end of the pan to add in the ground beef. If you choose to, you could remove them from the pan and add in later. But. like I said, this is a Mom-cut version.
Break up your ground beef and start browning.
I was finding my onions were cooking a bit too much so I angled my pan to have the onions off the flame and focus more of the ground beef on top of the flame.
At this point, add in the dried oregano. Adding now helps to develop the flavor of the oregano.
Drain the fat out of the pan and incorporate the onions with the beef.
Turn off heat. Salt and pepper as desired. Let mixture cool slightly.
Lay out a large piece of foil. You want enough that you have a couple extra inches on each side of your loaf.
This is just an Italian loaf I got from Walmart for a buck.
Cut the bread, but not all the way through. The bread should look like it’s on a hinge.
Bread should be nice and soft on the inside. If you choose to, you could hollow out some of the loaf. I prefer to have the bread in tact.
Use an even layer of real mayo.
Spread it out for coverage.
Spoon on your cooked ground beef.
This is hand shredded mozzarella cheese. I always prefer hand shredded, but I wont hold it against you if you get the prepackaged stuff 🙂
You want an even coverage of both meat and cheese on top of the mayo layered bread.
Carefully close it up without breaking the hinging part of the bread.
Hold for stability. There is a lot going on here.
My foil was not extra wide or anything, so I needed to place a second sheet on top of the sandwich.
Then pinch it all closed. I like to fold it together all the way around and then pinch.
I roll up and again pinch to seal the ends.
Place on a baking sheet or pizza stone as seen here and 25 minutes later, you’ll be done.
This is best eaten hot, but it’s hard to hold hot. So, grab a clean kitchen towel to guard against the heat. And then using a serrated knife, cut into 1-1.5 inch wedges.
When it’s hot, the cheese gets all oozy, yum!

Mock Philly Cheese Steak Recipe

  • 1 lb. ground beef
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 T. olive oil
  • 1 t. dry oregano
  • 1 t. kosher salt
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 loaf Italian bread, parted
  • 1 C. Mozzarella Cheese
  • 2 T. real mayonnaise

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and add olive oil. Sautee onions until translucent, add a pinch of salt. Add in garlic, sautee another minute. Move onions and garlic over to one side of pan. Add in ground beef to other side of pan and brown. Carefully drain fat from pan. Add oregano and salt and pepper to taste. Mix onions and garlic in with ground beef. Remove from heat and set aside.

For the sandwich: On a large strip of aluminum foil place bread and split leaving a “hinge” at back of loaf. Spread mayonnaise on bottom half of bread. Spread meat mixture over mayo. Liberally place cheese over meat. Close top of bread over top. Wrap tightly with an additional layer of foil, sealing all the way around bread. Place on baking sheet and then in the oven for 25 mins. Slice and serve hot. Enjoy!

Local Business Spotlight with Jennifer DaPonte

I met with a good friend of mine, Jennifer DaPonte of South Coast Home Sales, to shoot a video about my various business interests. The Portuguese American Mom, StacyCakes and SC Events. (If you look up at the top of your screen on your PC you will see a tab for StacyCakes and if you are on a mobile device you can just scroll to the last part of the menu button for an easy way to get there.) Jen is a wonderful realtor. She sold my last house and has sold many homes of people I have referred over to her, but one of her specialties is working with buyers. Jen has a special way of connecting with people and sensing what it is exactly that they are looking for in a property and then guiding them through the whole process. She knows the market in Southeastern MA and RI inside and out, so if you are looking to buy or sell, a full time realtor like Jen is the way to go for sure! If you would like to find out more about her and what she does, please contact her here –> SouthCoast Home Sales with Jennifer DaPonte

In this video we talk about my business interests and Jen did a fast forward video of me decorating this Salted Caramel Drip Cake. Drip cakes are all the rage in cake decorating today and I had a lot of fun with this one adding on caramel pop corn, pretzels and cookies! Check it out!

If you are in the local Southeastern MA and RI area, check out one of my events at Adagio Restaurant and Lounge in Fall River, MA.
StacyCakes and SC Events

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dinner-with-chase-and-marshall-tickets-56012069608?aff=efbeventtix&fbclid=IwAR1cl6_gJlSd-N8iDwWU07dLQXWKEc2lI0FJZXeyES3cumLHyDxXo21GAUA

Buy tix through Eventbrite or right at Adagio Restaurant in Fall River, MA

Bacon Crack

This recipe may be the absolute easiest recipe in my repertoire and is by far one of my most requested. It is simple, straight forward, different and delicious! Once you place the sweet, savory, salty, chewy, crunchy goodness in your mouth, the name will not be lost on you. Each time this little morsel of goodness is bitten into, it inevitably leads to another and another! It is something of an addiction. I recently brought a tray to a PTO fundraiser for my volunteers and by the end of the day I had been dubbed the PTO crack dealer!

Start with cold bacon out of the fridge and cut it in half. I like to cut right through the package. This makes life a little easier than fighting with raw slippery bacon. Note: Do not use thick cut bacon.

Even though I am using a non-stick sheet pan, I am covering it with parchment paper. Do not skip this step! Hot molten brown sugar is like glue. You don’t want to fight with your pan when it is time to serve up these little treats, but more over, you probably really don’t want to struggle when clean up comes along!

Now, lay out each half piece of bacon individually and lay one club cracker on top if each, salt side down.

Next, pack a teaspoon with light brown sugar.

Place each spoonful of brown sugar on top if each club cracker.

Now fold bacon over top and bottom.

It should look like you have a little bed of sugar with a bacon blanket.

Once you have gone through your entire package of bacon, you’ve come to the end of what you need to do.

Place tray in a pre-heated 225 degree F oven for 2 1/2 hrs. Che k to be sure they look nice and crispy and cooked through. The sugar should be molten and the entire little morsel will have become one.

Bacon Crack

Ingredients:

1 16 oz. Pkg regular cut bacon (not thick cut), cut in half

1 cup light brown sugar

2 small sleeves Club crackers

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 225°F. Place separated bacon slices on parchment lined sheet pan. Place one Club cracker on each piece if bacon. Add 1 tsp. Packed brown sugar to each cracker. Wrap each cracker and sugar with the bacon. Place sheet pan in oven and check at 2 1/2 hours. When bacon looks crisp and cooked through, recipe is done. (If not done, bake an additional 15-30 mins.) Allow to cool, carefully remove from pan and serve. Enjoy!

Corned Beef and Cabbage

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You might think it’s kind of funny that a blog called ‘The Portuguese American Mom’ has a recipe for the very Irish Corned Beef & Cabbage.  But, it’s something I have always cooked and it’s something we grew up eating each year in my Portuguese household.  I suspect, that has something to do with the similarity between the Irish dish and a traditional Portuguese Cozido.  Either way, at this stage in my life, my husband is part Irish and therefore my children are as well, so I think it’s nice to keep the tradition going.  Besides, we always add in a nice link of chouriço for that Portuguese flare!

When I was 17 we went to St. Michael, Azores as a family and on the “To Buy” list my mother had, was an old-fashioned stove top pressure cooker.  A pressure cooker is meant to drastically cut down the cooking time of just about anything using the power of trapped steam.  The craftsmen in Portugal made them in such a way that was impossible to find in this country with some sort of fortified heavy-duty steal.  And so when she came back she used it for EVERYTHING.  However, those stove top pressure cookers can tend to be quite dangerous and anyway, over the years it got lost in the shuffle.  So, I was super excited to get this ultra safe electric model for Christmas from my mom. This machine takes meals that otherwise take 3-4 even 5 hours and has them ready to serve in 30 minutes or less!  No way you say?  How is that possible you ask?  Well… let me tell you, this is my first attempt and it surely did work!

If you don’t have a pressure cooker you can surely make this on your stove top or even leave it in your slow cooker on your way to work in the morning.  The ingredients are basically the same, but for stove top, you need to triple the liquid (for the slow cooker, the liquid measurements stay the same).

This is an 8 qt. electric pressure cooker. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, this can absolutely be done the old-fashioned way in a big stock pot. It just takes about 3-4 hours of cooking time and about triple the liquid.

Add one can of lite beer. I know you may be tempted to use an Irish beer here, but if it’s a dark ale, please don’t. All the flavors will get very concentrated and that is not the way to go here. So, if you have a lite one, that’s fine, but please no dark.

This is what most people buy when buying a corned beef. You can either by the point end or a flat piece, it’s all personal preference and will likely cost you the same.

See that fat slab? Place that face down.

Now the fleshy side is face up and waiting for all the ingredients you will pile up on top.

Start by cutting a fresh piece of cabbage. I use about 1/2 a head. If you prefer more, then use more.

I am using Yukon Gold potatoes. I actually put double what I think we will eat with the meal because I like to have left over for hash the next morning.

Peel a couple of medium onions. Makes no difference what kind of onion you use really although a red onion might look a little funny.

Wash and cut up a couple of carrots. I leave the skin in tact here as there are lots of great nutrients in there. Plus the skin helps it stay in tact a little better so you don’t end up with carrot mush.

All of these get strew atop the beef.

I also put a good size sweet potato in there just because it’s yummy.

Careful not to throw out this little bundle of flavor that will likely be tucked into the packaging of your meat.

This is a mixture of whole pickling spices such as allspice, coriander, mustard seed, pepper, fennel seed, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and dill seed.

Fill that empty beer can you just used with water and add it in.

Top with a link of hot chouriço that has slits cut along the bendy side.

This is everything. Set the pressure cooker for 30 minutes.

Be sure to depressurize your machine fully before attempting to open.

My machine will now keep this warm until dinner.

Remove all contents to a nice size platter and serve!

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Corned Beef & Cabbage

Serves 4-6[/yield

Ingredients:

2-4 lb. Corned Beef, rinsed

6-8 potatoes, with slit cut in

4 carrots, cut into 3″ links

2 onions, peeled

1/2 head cabbage

1 large sweet potato

1/2 lb. hot chouriço link, with 4-5 slits cut into skin

spice packet

1 lite beer

12 oz. water

Pressure cooker directions:

Add everything into pressure cooker, set for 30 minutes, press start.  When done, release the pressure using the pressure release valve, open and serve hot.

Stove top directions:

Add everything into pot plus 36 oz more water.  Boil for 4 hours until meat is fully cooked and tender. Serve hot.

Slow cooker directions:

Add everything to pot and set to cook for 8 hours. Serve hot. 

*** Gluten-free if using a gluten-free beer or omiting the beer altogether.

Witches Fingers Almond Cookies

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Halloween is nearly here! But, the week and weekend before are always filled with lots of spooky events! How fun would it be to show up at your next Halloween party with a tray of Witches Fingers?  And these almond treats are yummy too!

To start off, you’ll need to measure out some shortening… I put these pics in a little gallery for you because I am using the Pampered Chef Measure All cup, which in my opinion is the only way to measure anything creamy. Take a look.

Just slide the cylinder up to the measurement amount.
Fill.
Place over your bowl.
Then depress the cylinder.
And scrape the small remainder off the flat surface.

Measure out your sugar… I am using a regular Pampered Chef Measuring cup here.

Beat the shortening and the sugar together in the mixer with the paddle attachment.

Add in egg and extract to the shortening and sugar mixture.

Mix until egg is fully incorporated.

Now for the dry ingredients:

In a separate bowl, add in flour.

Baking powder.

Salt.

And wisk together… This is the Pampered Chef Stainless Steal Whisk

Now add the flour mixture into the mixer:

You should have a clay like texture.

Now for the almonds.  I don’t have ground almonds so I used one of my new favorite products, the Pampered Chef Manual Food Processor to achieve what I need… take a look:

Add your ground almonds into your mixture… you will need to do this with clean hands.

Once it is all incorporated dump it out onto a clean work surface… I am using my Pampered Chef Pastry Mat.

Divide in half. Set half aside for coloring and work with the non-colored dough first.

Divide in half.
Next divide in half again.
Now divide each of those chunks again into six pieces.

Now you should have 24 small pieces of dough (and the other half of your dough which will make another 24 pieces is still set aside)

Shape each piece of dough into a nobby finger… I put a little bump right in the middle so it looks like a knuckle.

Place on your parchment lined baking sheet. And set aside while you prepare your almonds.

You will need blanched almonds to make your “finger nails”.  You can buy blanched almonds, but I didn’t I just took a few minutes to blanch my own.

Bring water to a boil.
Count out 50 whole almonds. (I put in two extra to bar against breakage)
Add almonds into the boiling water.
Allow to boil for one minute.
Remove from the boiling water and place almonds immediately into very cold water.
The skins of the almonds will now peel right off.
And now you have blanched almonds.

Press one almond to the end of each of the “fingers” you have on the cookie sheet.

Place these in an oven that has been pre-heated to 350°F.

Now with your remaining dough, you will want to color them green!

Add in your best food coloring… I like a gel for this.

Be sure to add it in gradually so you don’t over do it.

You’ll want to achieve about this color.

You will also need to color your remaining almonds… I used a hot pink color.

Mix in and set aside so they have a few minutes to dry.

Now go through the same exact process with the green dough.

When they come out of the oven, be sure to let sit on the cookie sheet for a couple of minutes before removing. Then place all the “fingers” gently on a drying rack… This is the Pampered Chef Cookie Cooling Rack… I like it because of the small openings rather than others I have that are not in a cross hatch.

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Witches Fingers Almond Cookies

Makes 48 cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup Vegetable Shortening

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp. almond extract

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup ground almonds

48-50 blanched almonds (see tutorial above)

1/4 tsp. green food coloring

4-5 drops red food coloring (or hot pink)

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350°F.

Cream shortening and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.  Add egg and extract.  Beat until incorporated.

In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt.  Add to shortening mixture in 2 additions.  Mix well after each addition until smooth and clay like.

Add ground almonds.  Knead until incorporated.  Divide dough in 2 and set half aside.  Divide the remaining dough into 4 parts, then take each of those 4 parts and divide into 6 parts.  Shape into roughly a 3″ “finger”.  Press a blanched almond into one end of each “finger”.

To the remaining dough, add in green coloring and knead until incorporated.  Also, add in red or hot pink coloring to the remaining almonds.  Divide dough in 2 and set half aside.  Divide the remaining dough into 4 parts, then take each of those 4 parts and divide into 6 parts.  Shape into roughly a 3″ “finger”.  Press a blanched almond into one end of each “finger”.

Bak on a parchment lined baking sheet for 10-13 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cookies sit for a few minutes before placing on a cookie drying rack.

Enjoy!

Saving Money with a Home Energy Assessment

If you are a fan of my blog, you already know what a big fan I am on Farmer’s Markets.  Well I was walking along at my local Farmer’s Market a few weeks back and stopped at a booth that looked like it had nothing to do with produce, instead there were a bunch of light bulbs all around.  So, I stopped and asked the gentleman what his booth was all about.  He told me he was working for the city on a project to help save home owners money and help the environment at the same time.  This sparked my interest so I asked some questions.

He explained the Mass Save program to me.  Mass Save is an initiative funded by the utility companies geared at making the average home more energy-efficient.  Why would utility companies be working to save us energy you might ask?  Well, I did ask… Let’s use the electric company for example.  If the electric company succeeds in making your home more energy-efficient, it reduces the overall strain on the electric grid.  This helps them by leading to less building of electic stations and less building of electric stations leads to less maintenance of said electric stations which leads to less repair and eventual replacement of those electric stations.  In every single point of that last sentence, the electric company saves money.  But, in order to save them money, they need to make your home and thousands of other homes more efficient by helping you to utilize the power that comes into your home in a more efficient manner.  This then leads to the consumer saving money.

Some of the things they will help you with to reduce your electric intake is checking on your appliances and providing information on available rebates if you need to replace them with energy star label appliances.  They replace existing light bulbs with energy-efficient bulbs and they may even leave you with a power strip that will reduce the amount of plug-in non-use energy that you are paying for just for having things plugged in even if they aren’t currently in use! But, it’s not just the electricity that they help you out with.  An energy assessment on your home also looks at your heating costs and the efficiency of the heat that you are bringing into your home.  They do this mainly by looking at the outside insulation of your home and the efficiency of your furnace, they will also supply you with a no cost programmable thermostat. One of the biggest things they provide you with is a 75% instant rebate (that is a rebate you don’t need to pay and then get reimbursed for, this rebate is more like a coupon to use at time of purchase) on the installation of insulation on the outer perimeter of your home. They look at your water intake and can replace shower heads and add-on faucet spouts to reduce the water you use.

So, I all this made me curious… I decided to book an assessment and try it out on a rental unit we own.  And they were very accommodating… It took a couple of weeks to find a date and time that worked with everyone’s schedule, but we set it and they called with a reminder the day before.

On the day of the assessment a nice and very knowledgeable young man named Nate showed up ready to work.  I’ll take you through what he did…

Nate goes into the closet where the cable company has run wires to check to see if there is insulation in the outer walls of the home.

Here he he unscrewing the outlet plate to try and get a peek in the wall.

Since the wall is covered with a decorative paneling, he is checking to see if there is a layer of plaster beneath it. If there is, then insulation can be blown in. If not, then the paneling would not support the inulation and the walls could buckle... in this case, it's all set.

Since the wall is covered with a decorative paneling, he is checking to see if there is a layer of plaster beneath it. If there is, then insulation can be blown in. If not, then the paneling would not support the insulation and the walls could buckle… in this case, it’s all set.

Nate checks under the siding of the house to see if there is an outside layer of insulation under the siding.

He also looks at your thermostat. If it’s not programmable, he leaves a programmable one behind for ya.

He looks at all the light fixtures in the home in search of non-energy efficient bulbs so that he might swap them out for more energy efficient ones.

Even the plug in lamps get a new upgrade.

Nate brought along a whole box of replacement bulbs.

This is one style of energy efficient bulb.

This is a more modern style of energy-efficient bulb.

Nate does the swapping out for the resident.

But, he also leaves behind all the old bulbs.

Nate checks the refrigerator to see if it is one of the more energy-efficient models. If is was an older model that did not have an Energy Star status, there are rebates available.

This is the bag Nate brought in with him to do all the various tests.

Here Nate is checking for the Carbon Monoxide levels in the furnace.

Here Nate is checking for the air flow and efficiency of the furnace.

These are the two measurement units that test the quality of the air inside the furnace and the air flow.

Nate had to drill a small hole in the vent shaft, which is o.k. but he also used metal tape to cover the hole.

So, that’s everything… The whole visit took about 45 minutes or so.  He explained that he would be checking over all his numbers and making recommendations and sending me out all of that along with a cost analysis of how much everything would be should we choose to follow any of the recommendations along with information on any rebates available to us to defray the cost.  Even if we decide not to go with any of the upgrades right now, we still have all the light bulbs (that can be pretty pricey), the new programmable thermostat, a new top of the line energy-saving power strip and a new faucet nozzle to install.  Overall, I would say it was well worth my 45 minutes!

I think I’ll have an assessment of my own home done next!

If you or someone you know is looking to have an energy assessment done for your home or business and you live in Massachusetts, just contact Mass Save at the highlighted link.  If you live outside of Massachusetts, contact your local utility company and ask if they have a similar program available, most states do!

I would like to thank Lori Medeiros, Senior Loan Officer for RMS for sponsoring today’s post!

 

Stacy’s Meat Lasagna

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One of the first truly big meals I learned to make as a kid was lasagna.  My dad just loved the stuff… so he asked me to make it once a week… kind of a funny request for a Portuguese man… but I have always loved making my Daddy happy so weekly lasagna it was!  Over time, I started learing to tweak things here and there. I developed my own methods and preferences.  It was really one of those repetitive recipes that unknowingly taught me how to cook… After all, I wasn’t following a recipe, I would do it week after week and almost each week something would change, some times I kept the change and sometimes not so much.  What better cooking lesson could there be?

Through all this trial and error I learned that meat lasagna is the way to go. Although this recipe has taken me just about 25 years to perfect, it is pretty basic and pretty classic, but has an unbelievable flavor that is both simple and complex at the same time. Homemade meat sauce, hand mixed cheese and mozzarella along with thin flat pasta noodles are what makes up this delicious dinner.

This recipe is a rather large recipe, but you have options.  If you have a big family, you can get 12-16 generous portions here, so great… If you would like to use it for a party, even better!  But, if you just don’t need a huge lasagna, it’s still worth making and splitting half into a pan for the freezer!  You are doing the same work, might as well get two or even three meals out of it!

Here’s how I do it…  There will be 4 layers in all.

Let’s start with the sauce…

I start by mincing an onion.

Place onions in a pan with some heated olive oil over medium heat.

Here are the flavors that you will need to layout head of time… this method will make for a less stressful cooking experience.

Once the onions are starting to caramelize, add in the dry spices… crushed red pepper flakes and italian seasoning. This will allow their flavor to really bloom. Also, add in your minced garlic at this point so it doesn’t really get a chance to burn. Sautée for a minute or two with the onions.

Add in browned ground beef. I happened to have some that I browned up earlier in the week. If you don’t then be sure to brown and drain separately from the onions as draining the fat will take a lot of the flavor of the onions and spices away with it and won’t allow you to get the desired effect with the caramelization.

Add in a few swigs of Worcestershire sauce. This gives you an amazing background flavor you can’t get from much else.

Add in two extra large cans of tomato puree.

This ingredient is indispensable. Add in one full can of tomato paste.

This is what your can looks like when you are through adding in the puree, that won’t do.

Add some white wine into each and swish it around so you can get the remainder of that puree! I hate wasting. You could use red wine here, but I find it to be a bit too strong for a lasagna, so I use white.

Now this is a little more acceptable.

Mix it all together over med/low heat. Be careful! It starts to sputter at this point!

Strip the thyme leaves off the stiffer little branches.

Chop or rip up your basil.

Chop or rip up your basil.

Add in your fresh herbs now.

Cover up your skillet… as you can see, before I even got to my camera, the sputtering has continued.

Now let’s start on the cheese mixture.

You are putting so much work into this recipe… please use a real block of parmesan cheese (the best you can afford) and shred the cheese yourself, it makes a huge difference here.

This is the left over parmesan rind from the block of parmesan I used for the cheese, don’t throw that out! As a matter of fact, if you ever end up with a rind for another recipe and feel the urge to throw it out, avoid that urge and just freeze it for times when you are making sauce!

Toss that in the sauce.

Shred up your cheese and divide a handful of it out to reserve for later.

For this large lasagna, you are going to need a large container of whole milk ricotta cheese.

For this large lasagna, you are going to need a large container of whole milk ricotta cheese.

Dump that into your mixing bowl. You’ll want a medium to large mixing bowl.

Add in your parmesan along with about 3/4 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese. (You can cheat with the mozzarella if you choose to get the pre-shredded stuff or you can shred your own.

To the cheese add in a bunch of fresh cracked black pepper.

Then add in a good pinch of italian seasoning mix.

Add in two eggs.

Add a good pinch of salt.

MIx together.

This is what you should have when all mixed.

Now we just need to gather two more ingredients and we are ready to build our masterpiece!

The first is the pasta… I use this oven-ready pasta for three reasons 1. the big step of pre-cooking pasta before hand gets eliminated 2. the noodles are flat with no ripples and 3. they are thin… all things that make for a great lasagna!

And the next is the mozzarella … This is the cheese that I discovered as a kid and it really makes a big difference in the body of the lasagna.

Now we build!

This is an extra-large lasagna pan… this recipe won’t go all the way up the sides of this really big pan, but if you use a 9″x13″ pan, it certainly will.

Start off by ladling some sauce into the bottom of the pan… this serves a couple of purposes… 1st I always like to sauce the bottom and 2nd the pasta won’t stick to the bottom.

Place the pasta on top of the sauce.

Because we are using oven ready pasta, I like to put a sort of skim coat of sauce on top of the noodles.

Add on the cheese mixture.

Spread the cheese mixture as evenly as you can.

Add the mozzarella slices on top of the cheese mixture.

Now start on the next layer by ladling on more sauce.

when you start a new pasta layer on top of another layer of sauce, you always want to make sure you are laying them out in a different pattern so that when you cut into it, it’s got pasta running from the top of the slice to the bottom.

Finish off the top with a good coating of sauce.

Add some shredded mozzarella to the top.

Grab the little pile of parmesan we set aside earlier and sprinkle right on top.

At this point, bake for 45 mins to 1 hr until the cheese on top is thoroughly melty, but not burned.

When it comes out of the oven, let it set for a good 10-15 minutes before cutting.

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Stacy’s Meat Lasagna

Serves 12-16

For the sauce:

2 28oz. cans of tomato puree

1 6-8oz.can tomato paste

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef, browned and drained

1 cup dry white wine

1 cup hot water

1 med. onion, minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 Tbs. olive oil

1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce

1 Tbs. fresh basil

1/2 tsp. fresh thyme

1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 tsp. dry Italian seasoning

1 tsp. kosher salt

Parmesan rind

Directions:

In a large skillet or shallow pot, sautée onion in olive oil over medium heat.  When caramelized, add in red pepper flakes, Italian seasoning and garlic, sautée for a couple minutes.  Add in ground beef, continue to sautée. Add Worcestershire sauce, continue to sautée.

Next, add in tomato sauce and paste.  Rinse tomato cans with white wine and add in to sauce.  Add in parmesan rind and cook over low heat for 30 mins.  When done add in 1 cup of hot water to loosen if needed.

Check for salt at this point.

For the Cheese Mixture:

1 large container of Whole Milk Ricotta Cheese

1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

2 eggs

1/4 tsp. Italian seasoning

1 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. fresh cracked black pepper

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together.

Build your lasagna:

Ingredients:

1 box oven-ready lasagna noodles

2 packages sliced mozzarella cheese

meat sauce, prepared

cheese mixture, prepared

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

1/4 cup parmesan cheese, shredded

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350°F.  In a large lasagna pan, start by adding sauce to the bottom of the pan.  Next, layer on the noodles.  Skim coat the noodles with a bit more sauce.  Next, add on a layer of the cheese mixture.  Next, add on the mozzarella slices.  Repeat until you reach the end of your ingredients. Be sure to think about how large your pan is and how to divvy up the layers.  End by covering in sauce and adding on the shredded mozzarella and shredded parmesan.

Bake for 45 minutes or until all the cheese on top has melted and started browning nicely.  Enjoy!

Classic Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

2 Comments

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My son started pre-school last week. I can hardly believe that children are starting school as little as 3 years old! So we picked out his cool Superman back pack with matching Superman lunch box with a cute little cape.  But, I couldn’t let my little super man go in to school without something extra special from Mommy.  So, inside that little lunch box was a little pack of homemade Classic Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.

There are lots of varieties of oatmeal cookies.  Some people add chocolate chips, some nuts, some nothing extra at all… but there can only really be one Classic Oatmeal Raisin Cookie.  A hearty mixture of rolled oats and sweet raisins, this cookie is filling and delicious all at the same time. The Classic Oatmeal Raisin Cookie is time-tested and adored by generation after generation.  My children are part of that next generation that have fallen in love with this wholesome treat.

Let me show you how I made these…

You'll need two sticks of softened butter. (If you have cold butter right out of the fridge with no time to let it come to room temperature, you can do one of two things 1. dice the butter and wait about 20 minutes or my preferred method 2. pop both sticks in the microwave for 30 seconds, stopping to flip every 6-7 seconds until all 4 sides have been exposed to the microwaves face up)

You’ll need two sticks of softened butter. (If you have cold butter right out of the fridge with no time to let it come to room temperature, you can do one of two things 1. dice the butter and wait about 20 minutes or my preferred method 2. pop both sticks in the microwave for 30 seconds, stopping to flip every 6-7 seconds until all 4 sides have been exposed to the microwaves face up)

Add your butter into the bowl of an electric mixer… Notice how nice and soft it is.

Add light brown sugar to the butter.

Beat on medium/high for a minute or two until it’s looking a bit fluffy.

Always crack egg into a small bowl before adding in to a batter.

Add in egg. Beat thoroughly.

One more thing before mixing in your dry ingredients, add in your vanilla. Beat for 10 seconds.

Now start on combining your dry ingredients.

In a medium bowl, add flour.

Add in a shallow teaspoon of baking soda.

Add in your salt… Traditionally people like using table salt or a fine salt in cookies, but in these, I prefer a slightly more coarse kosher salt. I like the little bite of salt here and there. So, I will leave that up to you.

Wisk your dry ingredients together.

Into the bowl you used to measure out your dry ingredients, add your oatmeal… A lot of people like to use quick oats in their cookies, I however, am partial to old-fashioned rolled oats. I like how they don’t break down as much and hold their shape and bite a bit better. If you prefer a softer more smooth cookie, then use the quick oats.

Add in your raisins to the oats. Then add this to your dough and beat for 5-7 seconds until combined. Don’t go crazy here, you could even fold them in by hand.

Here is what your result should look like.

 

Using a 1 teaspoon cookie scoop, scoop out your dough. But, first be sure to have scraped down the sides of your bowl and incorporate fully.

Plop each scoop out onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.

be sure to leave about an inch and a half between balls of dough.

Bake at 340°F for 10 minutes until you see the edges start to turn golden.

Allow the cookies to start cooling on the cookie sheet for about 2-3 minutes.

Transfer to a wired rack for cooling completely.

done3

Recipe for Classic Oatmeal Raisin Cookies:

(yields 4 dozen)

2 sticks butter, softened

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 egg, cracked into a small bowl

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

1 cup raisins

1 tsp baking soda, shallow

1/4 tsp kosher salt

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 340°F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together butter, sugar and egg. Once done, add in vanilla.

In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients and wisk together.  Add into the creamed butter mixture.  Beat until combined.  Do not over beat at this stage as you will make the cookie tough.

In the same medium bowl measure out your oats and raisins.  Add in to the mixture. Beat for 5-7 seconds.

Using a 1 tsp. cookie scoop, measure out each cookie dough ball and keep them 1 1/2 inches apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes.

Allow to cool on cookie sheet for a few minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to completely cool.

Enjoy!