Lasagna Alfredo Roll Ups

This is from allrecipes.com. I found it when I was looking for something to make to take to a friend that doesn't like to eat meat. It is YUMMY. You can also do it traditional lasagna style.

8 lasagna noodles
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach
or 1 to 2 bags fresh spinach and then cook in pan till lightly wilted
2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onion
1 pint part-skim ricotta cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
21 ounces Alfredo-style pasta sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add lasagna and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente. Rinse in cold water and drain well.

2. Meanwhile, in a large sauce pan over medium heat add oil and cook spinach and green onions until tender, stirring frequently. (I also like to add some pressed garlic.) Remove pan from heat and stir in ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, salt and egg.

3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees

4. Place noodles in a single layer on a sheet of waxed paper. Evenly spread some of the cheese mixture on each noodle. Roll up each noodle from the short end, jelly-roll style.

5. In a 8 x 12 baking dish, spoon about 3/4 of the Alfredo sauce on the bottom and spread evenly. Arrange the rolled noodles, seam side down, in the dish. Top with mozzarella cheese and remaining sauce. Cover loosely with foil and bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly and the cheese is melted. Serve.

Simple Chicken Cordon Bleu

I found this recipe on cooks.com and we LOVE it. To make it even easier we use bottled alfredo sauce.

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast
4 slices Swiss or Provolone cheese
4 thin sliced smoked ham
1/4 cup flour
1 egg beaten
1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
4 tablespoons butter
for sauce:
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 cup whipping cream

Place one chicken breast in between plastic wrap and pound to 1/4-inch thickness. Repeat with each breast. (Don't use the spiky side of your pounder, use the flat side or your chicken will fall apart.) Sprinkle each piece on both sides with salt and pepper. Place 1 cheese slice and 1 ham slice on each breast. Roll up each breast using toothpicks to secure if necessary. Dredge each in flour, shake off excess, then in egg and finally in bread crumbs. (You can use plain bread crumbs and then just add some Italian seasoning mix.) Place seam side down in baking dish that has been sprayed with Pam. Place 1 tablespoon butter on each piece of chicken.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes until juices run clear. When done, place chicken on plate and pour sauce over the top.

If you are making the sauce: In a saucepan, combine broth and whipping cream; season to taste (salt, pepper, garlic, oregano). Simmer on low stirring until thickened.

Apple Toffee Salad

I created this recipe one day when I had some apples and cool whip that needed to be used.

Apples cut into bite size pieces (I use 2 per person. I also first cut them with my apple cutter and then cut them down to smaller size.)
Cool whip
Toffee bits (You buy these in the small place in the grocery store as the chocolate chips)

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Serve.

This salad does not keep overnight, so only make as much as will get eaten that day. This is never much of a concern in my family, cause we all love it so much!

Coconut Macaroons

1 (14 oz) bag of coconut
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp. vanilla
melted white chocolate (or I guess you can do regular chocolate if you really want to)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix coconut, condensed milk, and vanilla together. Scoop cookies onto a well greased cookie sheet. ( I press mine down a little bit.)

Bake for 10-15 minutes. Cookies will be golden brown on the bottom. Remove cookies from pan promptly, as they will stick to the pan if you don't! The bottoms usually spread out a bit and so as I take them off the pan I push the cookies back together to make them look nicer. (Which only matters if you are taking them somewhere.)

Once cool, drizzle the melted white chocolate over the tops of the cookies.

Oven Baked Chimichangas

These are yummy and easy! A couple hints: use thinner tortillas, they roll better. Place the filling off center and start rolling from that side, that way when you finish rolling the seam will be in the right place to keep it from unrolling. And I usually at least double the batch.

2/3 cup salsa
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 oregano
1 1/2 cup shredded chicken
1 cup grated cheese
6 flour tortillas
1 Tablespoon melted butter

Mix first five ingredients. Put 1/2 cup of mix on tortilla, fold sides in then roll from bottom. Place seam side down on cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Brush with melted butter. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes. They will be a light golden brown and nice and crispy. Enjoy!!

As Long Ago Promised......

My recipe for my homemade granola bars! The original idea was from Rachel Ray, but I've tweaked the recipe and everyone loves them. I am constantly getting requests for the recipe and so I'm now finally posting! If you have questions, ask! And ENJOY!!!

Alicia's Homemade Granola Bars

2 Cups rolled oats
1 Cup Honey Nut Chex
1 Cup Rice Chex
1 Cup Corn Chex
1 Cup dried fruit bits (I use a 7 fruit blend from Sam's Club)
1/2 Cup white chocolate chips

Add the above ingredients to a large bowl and mix up. Then in a sauce pan over medium-high heat add the following:

1 stick butter/margarine
1/3 cup Honey (if you spray your measuring cup with pam first then the honey comes right out)
1 Cup brown sugar

Stir mixture and continue cooking until it starts bubbling. Then continue stirring and cooking for about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and pour over mixture in large bowl. Stir to completely cover mixture. Spread into a 9 x 13 greased pan and gently push down into pan. Put pan into fridge to cool until set. Cut into squares and enjoy! Store in air tight container.

I always have little pieces that have fallen off into the container. I save them and have them for breakfast with some milk, like granola.

August?!

It's August already!? It feels like summer just started and yet on the other hand I am really ready for the boys to go back to school. The days of sleeping in will come to an end and we will have to get back on a routine. No more staying up late and watching cartoons till noon. I'll be glad for the boys to get back to seeing friends, without having them come to our house. I have a hard time planning play dates with my fibro and never knowing when a good/bad day will come. No more trying to decide what to have for lunch! School lunch makes my life easier!! The boys are excited for their new teachers and to be 3rd and 4th graders! It will be a little weird for Kaleb and I not be going back to school as well, but will be ooohhh soooo nice!!! And maybe with the boys back in school I'll get my turn on the desktop computer that has all the pictures on it and I can blog about all the fun things we did this summer!!!