Month: February 2011

Here is the recipe for the granola bars I made today. You could totally use other toppings, this is just what I had in my pantry.

One stick of butter
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup chopped almonds
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
3 cups granola
3 cups multi grain cheerios

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place 1/2 stick of butter in 2 11×7 inch baking dishes. Melt in oven, then move around to coat all sides.

Mix together granola and cheerios. Spread an even layer in baking pans. Bake for 15 minutes.

Mix together chocolate, raisins, and nuts, and spread over top of bars. Cover with sweetened condensed milk, and bake for 20 minutes.

Let cool to firm up before cutting into bars.

So, I definitely need to work on taking a picture of the food I make before it is all gone.  The recipes below are for food that will disappear quite quickly.  Hope you enjoy.

For this first recipe, just learning to make the sauce is worth it, since it’s easy and delicious. When I made it I ran out of milk, and had to finish the 3 cups with I believe 1/2 cup of half and half.  I’m sure it’s great with just plain milk too 🙂

Green and White Lasagna

Basil-Cream Sauce:

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

3 cups milk

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon salt

Filling:

1/3 cup pine nuts (I used pine nuts, but I think if you substituted another nut you had handy that would be fine, it’s mostly a texture thing)

Two 10 oz packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

One 2 lb container of Ricotta cheese

2 cups shredded mozzarella, divided

1 1/2 cups shredded Fontina cheese (I couldn’t find this, so I just used Italian blend cheese that I had on hand)

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 egg, beaten

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

Also: Lasagna Noodles

1. For basil-cream sauce, in a 2 quart saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.  Mix in the four, then add milk.  Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil and has thickened.  Remove from heat and stir in basil, 1/2 cup Parmesan, garlic, and salt.  Cover surface with plastic wrap and set aside.

2. Toast pine nuts in a dry skillet until all are at least partially browned.  Remove from heat and chop with knife, or pulsing in a food processor.

3. In a bowl mix together pine nuts, spinach, ricotta, 1/2 cup mozzarella, fontina, 3/4 cup Parmesan, egg, and pepper.

4. Cook noodles according to package directions, drain.

5. Preheat over to 375 degrees F.

6. Thinly spread 1 cup of basil-cream sauce in bottom of 9X13 inch baking dish.  Line bottom of pan with noodles.

7. Spread half of the ricotta filling over the noodles.  Spread 1/2 of the remaining basil-cream sauce over the cheese mixture.

8. Top with another layer of noodles.  Spread with remaining ricotta filling.

9. Top with remaining noodles.  Spread over remaining sauce.

10. Bake 30 minutes.  Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup mozzarella, and continue baking for 20 minutes.  Remove and let stand 15 minutes before cutting into.

Variation: You can also use a marinara sauce in place of the basil-cream for another delicious lasagna.

 

This next recipe I found when I was looking for a quick and easy way to use up the excess cream cheese that I had bought on sale.  Turned out to be a real winner.  Super gooey and delicious!

Cheesecake Brownies

1 box brownie mix (I used gharadelli’s mix with the chocolate chips, which turned out great)

One 8 oz package cream cheese

1 egg

1/3 cup white sugar

1. Prepare brownie mix as directed on box.  Preheat oven to temperature directed on box.  Grease 9×13 inch baking pan.

2. Spread brownie batter evenly into pan. Beat together cream cheese, egg, and sugar until smooth.  Dollop the cream cheese mixture onto brownie batter.  Swirl together using a knife.

3. Bake according to box directions.  Brownies will be done when toothpick comes out clean.