HAPPY EASTER TO ALL

I hope that everyone had a great Easter holiday. My family and I had a great time with family especially since my brother was home from the Navy and my son Kyle is here for spring break. We had the traditional Easter lunch with all of our favs including Grandmama's hen and dressing, green beans and corn. I brought roasted veggies, squash casserole, broccoli salad, spinach deviled eggs, oreo cheesecake, kiwi lime cups and chocolate covered strawberries. My mother brought a layered salad, a strawberry pretzel salad and a carrot cake. My aunt brought ham and chicken. My sister brought mac and cheese. One cousin brought mashed potatoes and another cousin brought rolls and drinks. Everything was sooo delicious. Our family is so spoiled! I am so happy and blessed that we are able to get together and have such a nice time. I think we're up in the 30's now! WoW!! My grandparents are so brave to have all of us come to their house!

I just ran across a few recipes I wanted to share. I think we will be having at least one of these this week. Yummy!

White Cheese Chicken Lasagna

9 lasagna noodles 1t dried basil
1 onion, chopped 1t dried oregano
1 clove garlic, minced 1/2 t ground black pepper
1/2 c all purpose flour 2C ricotta cheese
1 t salt 2C cubed cooked chicken
2C chicken broth 2 (10oz) pkgs chopped spinach, thawed &
1-1/2 C milk drained
4C shredded mozzarella cheese, divided 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1C grated parmesan cheese, divided 1/4C grated parmesan for topping

Preheat oven to 350. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8-10 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook the onion and garlic in the butter until tender, stirring frequently. Stir in the flour and salt, and simmer until bubbly. Mix in the broth and the milk, and boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Stir in 2 cups of mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup parmesan cheese. Season with basil, oregano, and ground black pepper. Remove from heat and set aside.
Spread 1/3 of the sauce mixture in the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish. Layer with 1/3 of the noodles, the ricotta and the chicken. Arrange 1/3 of the noodles over the chicken, and layer with 1/3 of the sauce mixture, spinach and the remaining 2 c mozzarella cheese and 1/2 c parmesan cheese. Arrange remaining noodles over cheese, and spread remaining sauce evenly over noodles. Sprinkle with parsley and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese.
Bake 35-40 minutes in the preheated oven.

Sloppy Joes

3lbs ground beef or turkey, browned
1 onion, finely chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 (8oz) cans tomato sauce
3/4 cup ketchup
1T worchestershire sauce
1t chili powder
1/4 t pepper
1/4 t garlic powder
sandwich rolls.

Combine all. Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours in crock pot or on high 3-4 hours. Serve on top of sandwich rolls.



Carraba's Chicken Marsala

4T of butter
4 boneless, skinless chicken breas halves
4 shallots, chopped fine
1/2 lb of mushrooms, sliced
1/4c dry marsala
1/2c heavy cream
1t lemon juice

Pound chicken breasts to even out thickness and lightly salt and pepper.
In a large skillet, saute chicken in 2T of melted butter until lightly browned, about 2 minutes per side.
Remove from pan and set aside.
Melt remaining butter in a pan and add shallots and mushrooms; cook until lightly browned.
Add Marsala and bring to a boil, scraping browned bits from bottom of pan. Add cream and lemon juice and return to a boil.
Season with salt and pepper.
Return chicken to pan for about 3 minutes to reheat and finish cooking.
Serve with buttered fettucini.