Menu Plan Monday!!!

I know I'm a day late, but I really wanted to participate.

Been having some muscle pains lately and haven't been on the computer much, that is the reason for this late addition to Laura's "Menu Plan Monday".

I will post the recipes as I make them.

Ravioli Lasagna!!!

A couple of you asked for the recipe, so I'm going to share it with you.

What I love about this dish is that it's just like lasagna but instead of using the lasagna noodles AND cheese, you already have that in the Cheese Ravioli...cuts down on time and prep, which when you're a mom you KNOW is a precious thing.

I serve this meal with some Garlic Cheese Bread and a simple salad.

RAVIOLI LASAGNA

Ingredients:

2 cups light chunck style spaghetti sauce
1 ( 9oz) pkg. refrigerated meat or cheese filled ravioli
1 beaten egg
1 ( 15 oz) carton ricotta cheese
1/4 cup romanot or parmesan cheese
1 ( 10 oz) pkg. froz. chopped spinach, thawed and drained

Directions:

I 10 inch skillet combine spaghetti sauce and 1/3 cup water, bring to boiling. Stir in ravioli, cover, cook over medium heat about 5 min or till ravioli are nearly tender, stirring once.

Stir together the egg, ricotta cheese, and romano or parmesan cheese. Dot ravioli with spinach. Spon ricotta mixture atop. Cover and cook over low heat about 10 min more. or till ricotta layer is set and pasta is just tender.

Fettuccine alla Carbonara!!!

One meal that I make quite often is this one. A few years ago when money was really tight, it was one of those dishes that I could throw together with the ingredients I had on hand.

This recipe that I'm sharing is from the Better Homes and Garden "New Cookbook Special Edition" and slightly different than my version.

6 slices bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
6 ounces dried fettuccine or linguine
1 beaten egg
1 cup half and half, light cream or milk
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
1/4 cup snipped fresh parsley
Coarsely ground black pepper

Cook bacon until crisp. Drain.

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain; keep warm. Meanwhile, for sauce, in a saucepan combine egg, half and half, and butter.

Cook and stir over medium heat until egg mixture just coats a metal spoon (about 6 minutes); do not boil. Immediately pour sauce over pasta; stir gently to coat.

Add cooked bacon, Parmesan cheese and parsley; stir gently to combine. Season with with pepper. Serve immediately.

FROSTING AND ICING!!!

Mother Dearest from the great blog "Home Sweet Home" asked me if I had a recipe for homemade frosting.

Well I have a few, and actually growing up I remember any kind of frosting was made from scratch, there were no such things as frosting in a tub, and quite frankly to me it's a bit too sweet. So here are some great frosting recipes:

Buttercream Icing

6 tablespoons butter, softened (no substitutions)
3 tablespoons whipping cream, unwhipped (35%)
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups icing sugar

1. In a bowl, beat together the butter, whipping cream and vanilla until smooth (about 3 minutes).

2. Add in icing sugar; beat very well until smooth, adding more if necessary to achieve desired consistency.

3. Note: In order for the icing to have a creamy texture, only whipping cream must be used.

The Perfect Buttercream Icing

1/2 cup Crisco Shortening
1/4 stick butter (2 tablespoons), slightly soft not mushy
1 TBSP to 2 TBSPS (1/8 cup) heavy whipping cream
1/2 tsp. clear vanilla
1/2 pound (2 cups) powdered sugar, sifted (measure than sift)

In your mixer bowl, beat the shortening until it's smooth, add the butter and beat together until smooth and light and fluffy. Add smaller amount of the heavy cream indicated in the recipe and the vanilla and mix well. Add half the powdered sugar and mix for 5 minutes on low-med. speed. Add remaining sugar and mix well. Add more cream or powdered sugar if necessary to adjust the consistency.

One Bowl Buttercream Frosting

* 6 tablespoons butter, softened
* 2 2/3 cups confectioners' sugar
* 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1/3 cup milk
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In medium bowl, beat butter. Add confectioners' sugar and cocoa alternately with milk, beating to spreading consistency (additional milk may be needed). Stir in vanilla.

Thick Vanilla Frosting

1 cup shortening 2 teaspoons vanilla 4 cups powdered sugar (sifted) 4 tablespoons milk

Beat together shortening and vanilla for 30 seconds medium speed with an electric mixer. Add 2 cups of powdered sugar a bit at a time while beating. Then add 2 tablespoons milk. Slowly add in the rest of the powdered sugar and the rest of the milk until you get the right thickness for your frosting.

Those are just a few of the recipes I've used before, and when I want to make a chocolate frosting I just add cocoa to the ingredients. Enjoy!!!

Menu Plan Monday!

Morning ladies, it's monday and you know that means it's time to take out our menus and then go share them over at Laura's Blog.

Even if you don't have a menu to share, I encourage you to go over and take a look at all the wonderful meals being made across blogland, who knows, you might be inspired to use one of the meals for your own menus this week.

As always, I will share the recipes on the same day that I'm making them.

BEEF AND ONIONS

12 oz. lean ground beef
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
2 medium onions, cut into thin wedges
1/2 tsp. bottled mince garlic
1 12-oz. jar beef gravy
2/3 cup dairy sour cream
1 TBSP. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. snipped fresh thyme or sage or 1/4 tsp. dried thyme or sage, crushed
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
2 cups hot cooked rice or noodles
2 TBPS. snipped fresh parsley

In a large skillet cook ground meat, mushrooms, onion, and garlic until meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain off fat.

In a medium bowl stir together beef gravy, sour cream, Worcestershire sauce, thyme and pepper. Stir sour cream mixture into meat mixture. Cook and stir until heated through.

Serve the meat mixture over hot cooked rice. Sprinkle with parsley.

Yield: 4 servings