Mini Lasagna

Mini Lasagna 

1 (16 ounce) box lasagna noodles
1 pound ground beef
1 (28 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce, divided
1 (16 ounce) package shredded mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup ricotta cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare lasagna noodles according to package direction.  Drain.  Set aside.

In large skillet, brown ground beef over medium high heat.  Drain grease from pan.  Add 1 1/2 cups spaghetti sauce to the ground beef.  Mix well.

Cut the curly edges off of the lasagna noodles.

Cut lasagna noodles in half.

 

Spray muffin pan with cooking spray.  Spoon 1 tablespoon spaghetti sauce in bottom of muffin cup.

Arrange 2 lasagna noodle pieces in muffin cup forming an X.

Spoon 2 tablespoons of meat mixture in center of crossed noodles.

Spoon 1 teaspoon ricotta cheese over meat mixture.

Sprinkle 2 tablespoons mozzarella cheese over ricotta cheese.

Fold the ends of the lasagna noodles over each other.  

Flip the lasagna noodle packet over, so the seams are on the bottom.

Spoon 1 tablespoon of spaghetti sauce over top of Mini Lasagna.

Sprinkle 1 tablespoon shredded mozzarella cheese over top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until golden brown.  Makes 18 Mini Lasagnas.

I have seen recipes for personal sizes lasagna on several blogs.  The recipes all contained ingredients that my husband would not like in his lasagna, so I decided to make up my own version.  This recipe has all of the traditional lasagna flavors wrapped up in a cute little package.  My husband loved the Mini Lasagnas, and as my official taste tester, he says the recipe is a keeper.

Stop back by on Tuesday, for my 

Tuesday's Tips & Tricks post!

Don't forget to leave a comment on the

Tate's Bake Shop Giveaway post for your chance to win

Tate's Cookbook & Cookies!

Visit my friends blogs!

You will love Bo and his blog,  Bo's Bowl.  Not only does he host great giveaways,  his recipes are incredible!  One visit to his blog and you will see why I faithfully follow it.

Also visit my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,  for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!

Tuesday Tip: Keep Your Pumpkins from Getting Mushy

(My niece Calli)

It is time to carve pumpkins at our house.  The pumpkin always starts out looking great.  Well, if not great, at least the kids like them.

After a couple of days, they start to get soft and mushy.  That happens when air comes in contact with the cleaned out, inside flesh of the pumpkin, allowing bacteria to grow.  To slow that process down, I spray the inside of my hallowed out pumpkins with first aid antiseptic spray.

The spray keeps my pumpkin looking fresh for several extra days.  

Don't eat your pumpkin after it has been treated with the antiseptic spray

On Friday, I will be posting my,

 Mini Lasagna recipe!

Don't forget to leave a comment on the

Tate's Bake Shop Giveaway post for your chance to win

Tate's Cookbook & Cookies!

My friend Pam, made the Lemon Pound Cake recipe from the cookbook and she says it is the best pound cake recipe ever! 

Visit my friends blogs!

You will love Bo and his blog,  Bo's Bowl.  Not only does he host great giveaways,  his recipes are incredible!  One visit to his blog and you will see why I faithfully follow it.

Also visit my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,  for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!

 

Heartwarming Oat Biscuits

Heartwarming Oat Biscuits

1 1/2 self-raising flour
1/3 cup oatmeal
1/3 cup sugar
6 tablespoons  butter
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 large egg

Topping

1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 tablespoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In medium bowl, combine flour, oats, and sugar.  Mix well.

Add buttermilk, butter, and egg.  Mix until just combined.  Do not over mix.  

Drop mixture by tablespoons onto an ungreased baking sheet 2 inches apart.  

I like to use a cookie scoop to drop the biscuit dough onto the baking sheet.

Form the dough into the shape of a biscuit.  In small bowl, combine topping ingredients.  Mix well.  Brush butter mixture on top of biscuits.

 Bake 16 to 18 minutes.  Makes 14 biscuits. 

This biscuit recipe is a family favorite.  We often have it for breakfast with a nice cup of hot tea or coffee.  It is slightly sweet, with a hearty oat flavor that reminds me of an oatmeal cookie, but without the guilt that comes from actually eating a cookie for breakfast.  It is perfect for those cool mornings that are now upon us.  It not only warms the kitchen, it also fills it with the comforting aroma of fresh baked goodness.

Stop back by on Tuesday, for my 

Tuesday's Tips & Tricks post!

  
Don't forget to leave a comment on the
Tate's Bake Shop Giveaway post for your chance to win
Tate's Cookbook & Cookies!

Visit my friends blogs!

You will love Bo and his blog,  Bo's Bowl.  Not only does he host great giveaways,  his recipes are incredible!  One visit to his blog and you will see why I faithfully follow it.

Also visit my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,  for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!

Biscuit Tips

With the weather turning cooler, my oven is coming back into use.  We love biscuits, but always seem to have leftovers, so I use tip number five a lot.

Biscuit Tips:

1. To create a rich golden brown color when you make biscuits or rolls, add a teaspoon of sugar to the dry ingredients.  It helps the crust caramelize.

2. Dip your biscuit cutter in flour, before you use it to cut biscuits from the dough.  This will keep the cutter from  sticking to the dough.

3. When you cut the biscuits out, don't twist the cutter.  If you twist the cutter, it will seal the edges of the biscuits, keeping them from rising high.

4. Don't over stir your dough, it will make the biscuits tough.

5. To reheat biscuits or rolls, sprinkle them lightly with water and wrap them in aluminum foil.  Place them in a preheated 350 degree oven for 5 minutes. 

On Friday, I will be posting my,

Heartwarming Oat Biscuits.

Don't forget to leave a comment on the

Tate's Bake Shop Giveaway post for your chance to win

Tate's Cookbook & Cookies!

Visit my friends blogs!

You will love Bo and his blog,  Bo's Bowl.  Not only does he host great giveaways,  his recipes are incredible!  One visit to his blog and you will see why I faithfully follow it.

Also visit my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,  for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!

Lynn's Rockin' Roast

Lynn's Rockin' Roast

3 1/2 to 4 1/2 pound roast
1 (10 3/4 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
1 (1 ounce) packet dry onion soup mix
1 1/2 cups (12 ounce can) cherry cola or regular cola
1 onion, sliced thick

Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray.  Place roast in slow cooker.  In medium bowl, combine mushroom soup, onion soup mix, and cherry cola.  Mix well.

Pour soup mixture over roast.  Pepper to taste.  

Arrange onion over top.  Cover with lid.  

Cook on low 8 to 10 hours. 

This recipe came from a listener of my "Fast Food Friday" show on the Passion Radio Network.  Lynn, email me 9 delicious recipes.  My husband loves roast, so I picked her "Lynn's Rockin' Roast" to prepare first.  All of Lynn's delectable recipes are posted under the "Share Your Recipes" tab. 

Lynn said, she always uses Cherry Coke when she makes this recipe, so that is what I did.  Not only was this roast super easy to prepare, but the Cherry Coke added an interesting twist.  It was a huge hit at my house!  The cola made the roast so tender you could cut it with a fork and the onion gravy was a savory delight.

Lynn, my husband Stan says, "Your roast really is rockin'!"  And he wants to know what can you do with a chicken?

Stop back by on Tuesday, for my 

Tuesday's Tips & Tricks post!

 Don't forget to leave a comment on the
Tate's Bake Shop Giveaway post for your chance to win
Tate's Cookbook & Cookies!

Visit my friends blogs!

You will love Bo and his blog,  Bo's Bowl.  Not only does he host great giveaways,  his recipes are incredible!  One visit to his blog and you will see why I faithfully follow it.

Also visit my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,  for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!

Tate's Bake Shop Giveaway!

Tate's Bake Shop is giving away three packages of their Tate's Bake Shop award winning Whole Wheat Dark Chocolate Cookies and a Tate's Bake Shop Cookbook autographed by Kathleen King!

The Whole Wheat Dark Chocolate Cookies won GOLD in the Cookie Category in the 2011 sofi Awards, presented at the Fancy Food Show (known as the Oscars for the specialty food industry) in Washington, DC. 

The cookies are crisp and buttery, rich but not overwhelming, they simpley melt in your mouth.  And just one is never enough!  

The cookbook has 125 of their very best recipes from the Southampton's favorite bakeshop.  There are incredible cookies, cakes, pies, muffins, and bread recipes.  It's a cookbook you can't put down.  You will have a hard time trying to decide which tasty recipe to make first. 

 

There are several ways to enter the Tate's Bake Shop Giveaway.  I recommend using all of them, for more chances to win. 

1. Leave me a comment telling me that you follow my blog, through Google Friend Connect (there is a box on my sidebar that says, Followers). 

2. Become a Fan of My Kind of Cooking Facebook page ( there is a box on my sidebar), and leave a comment telling me you "Like" the My Kind of Cooking facebook page. 

3. Become a fan of Tate's Bake Shop Facebook Fan page, and leave me a separate comment telling me you have done that. 

4. Follow Tate's Bake Shop on Twitter, and leave a separate comment telling me you have done that.

 You have until midnight, MST, on October 29th, to enter the Giveaway.  The winner will be picked by random.org and announced on October 30th.

Tate's is offering the readers of, "My Kind of Cooking," 15% off of any order placed during the month of October.  

Go to their website: www.tatesbakeshop.com

Enter the discount code: COOKIE  

Last Christmas I ordered cookies from the Tate's Bake Shop website.  It not only made Christmas shopping easier for me, but everyone who received the cookies were thrilled with their gift!  This year, I already have 3 cookbooks and 2 gift packs on my list. 

 

On Friday, I will be posting a 

Rockin' Roast slow cooker recipe.

Visit my friends blogs!

You will love Bo and his blog,  Bo's Bowl.  Not only does he host great giveaways,  his recipes are incredible!  One visit to his blog and you will see why I faithfully follow it.

Also visit my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,  for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!

Cottage Cheese Cake

Cottage Cheese Cake

1 (18 1/4 ounce) package yellow cake mix, plus ingredients to prepare
4 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 pounds cottage cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In large bowl, prepare cake mix according to package directions.  Pour batter into a greased and floured 9x13 inch baking pan.

 In a medium bowl, combine eggs, sugar, and vanilla.  Mix well.  

Add cottage cheese.  Mix well.  

Spoon cottage cheese mixture over cake batter.  Do not mix.  Bake 1 hour.

Cool before serving.  

Dust with powdered sugar if desired. 

Refrigerate cake until time to serve. 

This cake is a delicious combination of custard and cake.  Don't let the cottage cheese scare you.  It adds a wonderful taste and texture to the dessert.   It is not an overly sweet cake; which is why it is one of my husband Stan's favorite desserts.

Custard is one of those things you either love it or hate it.  We fell in love with custard on our first trip to South Africa.  Everyday of our stay, we had tea and a custard like dessert called, Milk Tart.

My husband had mentioned that he loved Milk Tart, so everywhere we went friends had a Milk Tart waiting for him.  We ate so much of it that I am surprised we still love it.

Don't forget to leave a comment on Tuesday's post for your chance to 

Win a $20 Amazon Voucher!

Stop back by on Tuesday, for my 

Tuesday's Tips & Tricks post!

Visit my friends blogs!

You will love Bo and his blog,  Bo's Bowl.  Not only does he host great giveaways,  his recipes are incredible!  One visit to his blog and you will see why I faithfully follow it.

Also visit my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,  for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!