Cozy Comfort Casserole and Lazy Lasagna

Wow—what a week! It seems as if each month I keep getting busier and busier! I have definitely been improving my time management skills. I usually just leave my daily planner stuffed somewhere and keep track of everything mentally, but I recently dusted it off and started writing stuff down which has been really helpful. How do you stay organized when life gets hectic?

I taught my first cooking class through the Community Education programs this past Thursday. It was beyond fun to share some tropical recipes with the class! I also had a few fun little food quizzes with tropical gifts like hint of lime chips, tropical salsa, pina colada drink mix, and some tropical mixed jelly beans. The menu, some pictures, recipes, etc. will all be up by next week on a new tab I am making called “Cooking with CaSaundra”, so you’ll be able to access that right underneath my cookbook on the right hand side—so stay tuned for that!

Anyway, like I said weeks like the past one make me really appreciate a 48 hour weekend of r&r, and although I don’t mind being in the kitchen “relaxing”, I do tend to lazy it up a bit if I’m not in the mood to whip up something extravagant, so in this case I will probably be making one of my go-to lazy/comfort one pan meals. Less fuss & less mess!

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Lazy Lasagna

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 1/4  cups  marinara sauce

1  20-oz. package refrigerated cheese ravioli OR 20 oz frozen ravioli which is cheaper, just be sure to thaw it out prior to using it.

1  10-oz. box frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry OR 5 oz fresh spinach (I am not fond of frozen spinach so I used fresh)

8  ounces  shredded part-skim mozzarella

1/4  cup  grated Parmesan

Feel free to add in mushrooms, onions, or anything else you’d like!

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease an 8-inch-square baking dish. Spoon 1/4 cup marinara sauce over bottom of dish. Cover with half of ravioli. Spread half of remaining sauce over ravioli. Sprinkle on spinach and then half of mozzarella. Repeat with remaining ravioli, marinara and mozzarella. Sprinkle top with Parmesan.
• Cover dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake until bubbling, about 10 minutes longer. Let cool for about 5 minutes before slicing.

Italian Bisquick Bake

Recipe by me

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 2 medium potatoes, thinly sliced
• 1-8oz can tomato sauce
• 1 small zucchini,sliced
• 1/4 diced red onion
• 1/2 c sliced button mushrooms
• 1 c fresh spinach
• 1 chicken sausage (I used these)
• 1/3 c Heart Smart Bisquick 
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 c milk
• 1/2 c sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/2 c parmesan reggiano cheese

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 F. Slice potatoes horizontally into thin pieces. Meanwhile, take a skillet with cooking spray and sauté potatoes until tender—remove, but keep heat on. Add onion and sausage and cook until tender (5-8 minutes).
• Mix Bisquick, milk and eggs thoroughly in separate bowl.
• Layer potatoes evenly in the bottom of the pan. Top
  with sausage and veggies. Then evenly spread can of tomato sauce followed by the cheese and topped with the Bisquick mixture.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.

 

Enjoy the Super Bowl if your watching!!! :-)