50 NEW Recipes In 2010- #2 Stuffed Chicken Breast

I must be really craving ricotta cheese this week because I tried a SECOND recipe this week that had ricotta cheese as one of its main ingredients. This one did NOT take as long as the lasagna recipe from Monday night. The only thing that baffled me with this one was creating the "pockets" for the ricotta, sun-dried tomatoe, basil, and garlic stuffing. It was really quite a simple little recipe.

I know Amber and Michelle, my sister-in-law, appreciated the lower calorie dish. Scout liked it, and my three boys were unsure. Of course, Logan doused his in Italian dressing (Ketchup was not an option this time for him.)

This recipe also came from the February 2010 Family Circle magazine. I will do this one again also. I just need to get my paring knife skills down.

50 NEW Recipes 2010- #1 Homemade Lasagna

On Monday night, I decided to make my first batch of lasagna from a recipe (this link omits that the meat can be a mix of veal, pork, and ground beef) in the February 2010 issue of Family Circle. I failed to look at how the recipe laid out how much time ACTUALLY is needed to prep and cook (Hey, I'm a guy. What do you expect?). Normally, my kids and I eat at 5:00/5:30 p.m. at the latest. By the time I spent three plus hours prepping, cooking, and baking, it was nearly 7:00 p.m., and my kids' bedtime is at 7:30 p.m.

Well, it was definitely worth the wait. Thanks to the aid of my brother, Joe, I was able to move things along in the kitchen. It was very yummy lasagna. While it had a great deal of meat, using more italian sausage (I used Bob Evans) than ground beef made it not "quite" as heavy. The sauce is made from a combination of tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, sauteed onions and garlic, and fresh basil. I served this with a fresh spinach and cherry tomatoe salad.

I will definitely make this again.