Friday, May 27, 2011

May 27, 2011

Ugh...the dishwasher was out of commission for about half the week. Because the appliance was giving me so much trouble, I tried to keep the dishes to a minimum this week, and only made one new recipe. Hamburgers one night, soup one night, slow cooker one night. Sense a pattern? Not many pots or pans to wash, so washing the plates and bowls didn't seem like as big a chore. The soup is one of our favorites; based on the tortellini soup recipe of a friend, we have turned it into spinach and ravioletti soup. The slow cooker meal was the new one for us, and it was a keeper! Slow cooker buffalo chicken lasagna. Not all that easy to serve (lasagna coming out of the oval slow cooker), and a bit messy on the plate, but we all thought it was delicious! The buffalo sauce (we used mild from Buffalo Wild Wings) just gave the whole dish a nice kick, but not too much heat. The baby even loved the chicken and noodles. If you do give this one a try, let me know how it turned out for you!

We did make another batch of Ranger Cookies this week, and I included that here. These are Ryan's absolute favorites, and they are a recipe from his grandmother (now that we have children we call her "GG" for Great-Grandma). You might wince when you see shortening in the list of ingredients, but I just use the Crisco sticks. Ryan is not much of a sweets guy at all, so I just can't bring myself to change his grandmother's cookie recipe. You can try it with butter or margarine, but I just stay true to the recipe since there are very few desserts Ryan loves.

New Recipe
Buffalo Chicken Lasagna

Tried and True Recipe

Ranger Cookies

Buffalo Chicken Lasagna

Ingredients
* uncooked traditional lasagna noodles (not the no-boil kind)
* 3 to 4 cooked chicken breast halves, diced into bite sized pieces
* 1 24oz jar of prepared pasta sauce
* 1 cup buffalo wing sauce
* 3 red, yellow, or orange bell peppers, chopped
* 15 oz tub of ricotta cheese
* 2 cups shredded cheese of your choice (I used cheddar jack)
* water

Directions
1. Get out your crock pot :) Spray with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, combine cut chicken breast, pasta sauce, and buffalo wing sauce.
3. Ladle a big spoonful of the sauce into the bottom of your crockpot. Cover with a layer of uncooked lasagna noodles. You'll have to break them to get a proper fit.
4. Add a smear of ricotta cheese to the top of the noodles.
5. Add a layer of chopped bell pepper onto the ricotta cheese.
6. Sprinkle on a handful of shredded cheese.
7. Repeat layers (chicken and sauce/noodles/ricotta/peppers/shredded cheese) until you run out of ingredients. End with shredded cheese.
8. Fill your empty pasta sauce jar about 1/2 full with water and shake. Pour the liquid over the top of the entire lasagna.
9. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours. When cooking time is complete, unplug and take off the lid of the crock. Let it sit for 20 minutes before cutting into.

Notes

Not the prettiest meal out there, but got big thumbs up from everyone at the table. Ryan and I both had it for lunch the next day, and I thought it was even better the second day.

GG's Ranger Cookies

Ingredients
* 1 cup shortening
* 1 cup white sugar
* 1 cup packed light brown sugar
* 3 eggs
* 2 cups flour
* 1 tsp baking powder
* 1 tsp baking soda
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1 tsp vanilla
* 2 cups quick oats
* 2 cups corn flakes

Ingredients
1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Cream shortening and sugars.
3. Add eggs.
4. Add the dry ingredients (but not the oats or flakes). Mix until well combined.
5. Add the oats and corn flakes the mix.
6. Bake for 8-10 minutes, just set around the edge. These are best still chewy, not crispy.