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Empty Nesters!
I hope all of you have had a fantastic week!
In my last newsletter, I mentioned that our son had moved into his college dorm. Well, we’re still getting used to not having him with us.
We call him once a week to check in.
He never calls us.
Looks like he’s doing fine in college & doesn’t miss us.
He’s still marching with the band. Last week, Towson played against University of Maryland College Park (my alma mater). Towson lost.
University of Maryland is a few miles away from my house, but we opted not to go to the game. My husband had to work overtime that day and I had too much homework to do.
Lasagna for 2
Speaking of living in an empty nest, our grocery bill has decreased since our son has been gone. While here, he ate a lot of food. Now, we find that our leftovers last us a long time.
Since autumn is coming, in the mornings, there’s been a nip in the air. I wanted something warm and comforting for dinner.
I decided to make a pan of lasagna, but Chris suggested cutting the recipe in half.
Great suggestion!
I don’t use jarred sauce for my lasagna.
I take fresh tomatoes, garlic, onions, sugar, salt, pepper, fresh basil, fresh oregano, & red wine and cook it slowly for hours. I use this as the sauce for my lasagna.
It was so good! So rich and comforting!
I was too tired to make a salad – so we had sweet purple grapes with our meal.
In Rocky Road Dreams, Kyle is struggling with his life. An alcoholic, he’d learned to cope with his addiction by learning to cook. He loves making homemade lasagna and serving it with a nice bundle of sweet grapes on the side. Cooking brings him joy – and it was an untapped passion that was not discovered until he’d gone through therapy.
𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐊𝐲𝐥𝐞’𝐬 𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲!
Email me if you would like to purchase an autographed paperback of Rocky Road Dreams!
𝐒𝐨, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝?
Lasagna for 2 Recipe
1 or 2 pounds of ground beef
1/2 box of uncoooked lasagna noodles
1/2 container of ricotta cheese
1 egg
fresh oregano and basil
1/4 teaspoon salt (more to taste)
1 large bag of shredded mozzarella cheese
Sauce:
6-7 roma tomatoes
a few splashes of red wine
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 bunch of fresh basil, chopped (I cut mine with scissors)
A few sprigs of fresh oregano, chopped (Again, I use scissors)
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1 tablespoon of sugar (may use more or less, depending on your preference)
1 small can of tomato paste
1-4 hot peppers, chopped, with seeds (optional). I used fresh jalapenos from my garden. If you don’t like spice, you can leave this out.
Dump all ingredients, except ground beef, into a large pot or dutch oven. Turn on the heat to high and stir the ingredients together. When the tomatoes start to sizzle, add more wine, put the lid on the pot, and turn the heat to low.
Let this cook for several hours. I believe mine cooked for four or five hours. You may sample while cooking, adding extra salt, pepper, etc. depending on what you like.
This sauce takes awhile, but it is so worth it! It tastes so much better than the jarred sauce.
You can also use this sauce for spaghetti, if you wish.
Once the sauce is done, brown the ground beef. Add the beef to the sauce.
Chop more fresh oregano & basil. Add oregano, basil, egg, and salt to ricotta cheese. Mix well.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Spray an 8×8 square pan with non-stick cooking spray.
Spread some sauce at the bottom of the pan.
Layer uncooked noodles on top of the sauce.
Layer ricotta cheese mixture on top of the noodles.
Layer mozzarella on top of the ricotta cheese mixture.
Repeat these layers.
The final layer might be noodles, sauce, then mozzarella cheese.
It’s okay if the layers are not exactly as stated above, just do what’s comfortable for you. It’s sometimes hard to get layers exact when using a small pan.
Cover with aluminum foil.
Cook at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.
Sauce may bubble over into the stove!
After 45 minutes, remove foil and leave in the oven for an extra 10 minutes so that the cheese on the top layer can get brown.
Let the lasagna cool before serving.
Enjoy!
