For Mon. 3/30: Easy Cheesy Ravioli Casserole

I used this recipe, almost as written...

I skipped the wine, doubled the tomato sauce. (After the last wine fiasco, well, wasn't messing with it again!) I didn't cook up onions and garlic. I wasn't feeling well. Instead I just mixed dried onions in with the sauce mixture. I did use Italian seasoning.

I made my layers like this:

sauce (a bit less than 1/3)
ravioli
mozarella (a bit more than 1/3)
sauce (a bit more than 1/3)
ravioli
mozzarella(a bit more than 1/3)
sauce (the rest)
mozzarella (the rest)
parmesan (fresh grated, not canned; about 1/4 cup)

It will cook 6 or so hours on Low and be served with garlic bread.

Review of Spaghetti

Well, the spaghetti went over well!

So well, in fact, that I did not get to taste much! Only about 1 bite came back, and only because I scraped it down from the sides with much effort! LOL!

The taste was great. Any blandness complained about by reviewers was taken care of by the sausage-- and browning them together, those boys didn't even suspect there was turkey in there! LOL! I think the V8 may also have contributed to the niceness of the sauce.

The texture was actually perfect. I think if it had not been whole wheat it would have been a little too gummy and overcooked but with whole wheat pasta it came out perfect.

I wonder if you could do this with penne as well...

For Fri. 3/27: Crock Pot Spaghetti!

I started with this recipe. I doubled, of course. I made as written except:

-used half hot Italian sausage and half ground turkey for the meat
-used V8 instead of plain tomato juice for the liquid
-omitted the garlic powder, used fresh garlic
-omitted mushrooms
-used whole wheat spaghetti (and a whole 12 oz., not just 8. That just doesn't seem like enough!)

The spaghetti I broke up and put in a bag; Jeff's only job is, after cooking on Low for 8 hours, to stir, add spaghetti, stir again, and cook for 1 hour on High.

Garlic bread to go with. They love that garlic bread.

Review of black beans and rice

Black Beans and Rice with Cumin

Well, my husband liked them. His co-workers ate some of it. I needn't have doubled, waaay too much came back. And I didn't even like it. :( I'm not sure why. I think it was the texture of the rice that got me. I'm not a big fan of brown rice in general and instant seems to be worse. My husband, like I said, liked it, saved leftovers and everything, but I just am not into them. I won't repeat it unless he specifically asks for it.

For Thur. 3/26: Black Beans and Rice with Cumin

I started with this recipe, doubled. I made the following alterations (to the doubled recipe):

I quick-soaked the beans (boiled with some water-- and baking soda, our water is hard-- and as soon as they were boiled, put the lid on and let it sit for an hour with the heat off.)

I used 1 1/2 cups of dried onions (I'm sick and didn't feel like chopping onions after I did a whole head of garlic.)

Instead of fresh jalapenos, I used a can of green chiles (drained) and a few Tbsp. of ground chipotle (which is smoked dried jalepenos.) I was going to use one can of green chiles and one of jalapenos, but Emma lost the can of jalapenos. Good job, Ems. ;) So I improvised; I figure the slight smoky flavor might make this a little more like Moros y Christianes, the classic Cuban dish, which I am fond of. I decided that was not a bad thing.

Toward that end (and also because it would not all fit) I reduced the water to 6 cups. I want it more like beans and rice and less like beans and rice soup.

Oh, and I omitted the pepper, because I'm sick and lazy tonight.

It will cook for 6 hours on Low (the beans were already pretty soft, I think I may have overdone the quick soak...) and then go to High for 15 minutes after Jeff removes the bay leaves and stirs in the instant brown rice (which Uncle Bens makes, if you were wondering-- and one box is a perfect size for this recipe, well, two if you double it, because one box is 2 cups.)

So yeah, less the soup it started out as, and more like Moros. Not a bad thing, IMO. Now, hopefully it works... So I'm classifying this as "Cuban" though it might not be so much really, because the flavors remind me of Cuban flavors. :) (Though I could throw a bit of cloves in there and make it even more Cuban-tasting, yummy.)

Review of Chicken, Chickpea, and Apricot Tagine

This one was a good one.

I really would probably not change a thing next time, except remembering the tomato paste. The flavor was excellent, though. I loved it. Well, I might cut back the ginger a bit, because it kind of overwhelmed some of the other spices, but not by too much. It was "warmer" than I anticipated, but most of the "heat" was ginger heat-- not hard on your tummy, ginger heat. It reminded me more of a curry than I expected.

It was very good and probably will get made again. :)

The guys all liked it too. The mortgage guy says, "This one has the mortgage department's seal of approval!" LOL!

For Tue. 3/24: Beef Stew

Beef stew is a crockpot classic. I don't really use a recipe; I kind of make it the way my dad always did, modified for the crockpot. I split of a little less than 1/3 for our dinner tomorrow. Here's what I used (total, between the 2 crockpots):

-Trim the fat from and cut up a 4 1/3 lb. beef shoulder roast (pot roast meat is a lot cheaper than pre-cut stew meat, and cooks the same, and is often better quality. Look for something marked "pot roast.") You want about 1 1/2 inch chunks.

-In a Ziplock style bag (gallon size), toss about 1/2 cup flour with about 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 Tbsp. pepper (or to taste; can also use seasoned salt.)

-Toss beef chunks in flour. Then brown in a small amount of hot oil, just until the beef is beginning to take on some color. (Reserve the extra flour in the bag!)

-In the crockpot(s), toss 2 onions, diced, 6 large or 10 small potatoes, peeled and diced, about 45 baby carrots, halved, 3 stems celery, sliced, 2 medium-ish turnips, peeled and diced, 4-5 cloves garlic, minced, and about 3 Tbsp. rosemary, crushed between your fingers. (You want your dices pretty large, almost the size of the beef chunks, except the onions a little smaller.)

-Add the browned beef.

-In the bag with the flour, add 2 14 oz. cans beef broth, 2-3 Tbsp. gravy browning (this is important! Don't skip it, it gives a stew that "certain something") and about 1 tsp. Worchestershire sauce. Close bag and shake (and mush if necessary) until flour is all mixed in. Pour over stew ingredients. (If you're doing this on the stove you'd add some water, too.)

-Cover and cook low and slow until done-- about 8-10 hours on Low, usually.

I made biscuits to go with. Mmmmm. Stew and biscuits. I'm drooling already.