Veggie Lazagna

I posted this recently on my family blog, so my apologies if it's a repeat for some of you, but I thought maybe the others would like it, and I already had the pictures and recipe on my blog so it was easy to move it over!

This has become one of my favorite things to cook and serve. I made it up myself... and I've tried and tested it several times now and every time it comes out tasting delicious! You can add sausage if you don't like to go all vegetarian. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Fresh Veggies: squash, zucchini, onions, red and green bell pepper, fresh or jarred garlic. spinach Fresh or canned tomatoes... *important: if you don't have garden tomatoes use canned... don't try store bought, they are just nasty. They don't even taste like real tomatoes and you won't like it.* 1 can any spaghetti or marinara sauce, 1 small container of ricotta cheese or cottage cheese (I have used both, they both taste good. I always use the low fat variety.) Fresh grated Parmesan cheese, mozzarella or Italian blend shredded cheese, whole wheat lasagna noodles boiled, al dente.


Method:
Chop all veggies.

Start cooking, garlic and onions first, add squash, zucchini,pepper,etc. season with salt and pepper and a little dash of Mrs Dash original blend. I always start with just a tiny bit of olive oil and then pour a little bit of chicken stock to steam the veggies so they don't get all crispy and burned. They cook faster this way and it adds flavor.

When the veggies are still a bit firm, but mostly cooked (not soggy!) add spaghetti sauce.

Next I prepare the pan and the noodles. Starting with one layer of noodles, ricotta cheese on top, thin layer of spinach leaves, then sauce and a small amount of cheese. Reapeat. Top with spinach leaves and mozzarella and parmesan cheese.

Bake it at about 350 until it looks and smells done! Sorry, I'm so terrible with cooking times, it's really about 30 minutes. Cover it with foil for the first half of cooking so the cheese doesn't brown too early and burn. Let stand for a few minutes, serve and enjoy! Eat your veggies! :)

Fuss-Free Fiesta Chicken

This is a recipe from Kenzie Richardson that most of us should have. I thought I would add it on this site for those that haven't tried it yet. It's a crock pot dish. I LOVE the crock pot and only wish I had more recipes so I could use it more often. It's so nice to be able to throw things together in the morning and not have to think about dinner the rest of the day. The hardest part is remembering to make it in the morning so there is enough time before dinner.
This is a yummy dish that makes a ton! Be prepared for leftovers.
Here are all the ingredients ready to cook.

And this is after 8 hours and after I shredded the chicken and added the refried beans.
Thanks to all of your suggestions, we tried those amazing uncooked tortillas. YUM!! Marty was in pure heaven. They reminded him of the tortillas he ate so much in Mexico on his mission. He told me I should buy these kind from now on. :)

Here is the recipe for the chicken:

3 chicken breasts (frozen or thawed)
1 can black beans with juice
1 can corn with 2/3 of juice
1 can mild green chilies with juices
1 cup salsa
1 packet taco seasoning
1 can refried beans

In crockpot combine first 5 ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. Carefully remove chicken breasts and shred with 2 forks. Return shredded chicken to crockpot. Add refried beans and mix thoroughly. Serve immediately.

I also had purchased some avocados so we made some Guacamole and used Heidi Cole's recipe. BTW, thanks Heidi for sharing this recipe. We love it!! Brooklyn could drink the stuff.
Guacamole

2 avocados
2 Tbsp salsa
1-2 Tbsp fat free sour cream
dash garlic salt

Scrape out inside of avocados and smash up. Add salsa, sour cream, and garlic salt (to taste). Add more sour cream if you like it creamier.

THANK YOU!

I just had to say thanks to all of you for making this blog such a rockin' success so far. I love it when I open my blog and see a new post here at Valley Ridge Recipes! Thanks so much. I haven't been posting because I've been too busy making everyone else's recipes. Yum!!!! Keep it up!

Sticky Chicken and Spinach Salad

I was watching Good Things Utah and they had this recipe on. It looked so yummy and so easy so I thought I would try it.

Sticky Chicken

3-4 chicken breasts
1 cup apricot jam
1 cup BBQ sauce
1 packet onion soup mix

Cut chicken breasts into strips. Pour a small amount of olive oil in a skillet and begin browning the chicken. Mix together the remaining ingredients and then pour over the chicken. Let simmer until chicken is fully cooked and sauce is thick and bubbly. Serve over rice.

The chicken was so yummy! A nice sweet and sour twist to the classic chicken and rice. I paired it with my favorite spinach salad. No real recipe just ingredients.

Spinach Salad

Fresh spinach
hard boiled eggs
bacon
cucumbers
Good Seasonings Italian Dressing mixed according to package directions.

Sorry no pictures because my camera is MIA. I'll make it again soon at the request of my family and post pictures then.

Baked Ziti

This is Bailee's FAVORITE meal. She always asks me to make it. I made it last night and thought I'd share. It's another recipe with no meat, but I'm sure you could add some ground beef, chicken, pork, or whatever, to add a little more protein. I'm not a vegetarian by any means!!

8-12 oz package ziti noodles (also called Mostaccioli)
1 small container cottage cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup parmessan cheese
1 Tbsp Parsley
1-2 tsp garlic salt
Mozzarella Cheese (shredded)
1 Can of Hunts Spaghetti Sauce (26.5 oz, I use traditional)
1 Can of Tomato Sauce (8 oz)

While noodles are cooking, mix together cottage cheese, eggs, parmessan cheese, parsley, and garlic salt. (Can also use fresh pressed garlic).
Layer in baking dish: sauce, noodles, cheese mixture, and mozarella. (two layers of each). Top with extra sauce, mozzarella, and parmessan. Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 35 minutes or until all cheese on top is melted.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

This was another recipe submitted to Recipe Swap by SuAnn McFadden, but I changed it up a bit.

3-4 cups cooked and shredded chicken

1/4 onion chopped

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup chicken broth

1 can green chilies

12 corn tortillas (I used 8 big flour tortillas for the one in the picture)

1 1/2 cup shredded cheese divided

Cook onion in pan with a little oil until transluscent. Mix with chicken, soup, broth, sour cream and chilies.

Cut tortillas into pieces.

At the bottom of 9x13 or other casserole dish place half of the tortillas on the bottom. Top with half the chicken mix and top with 1/2 the cheese. Repeat.

Bake at 350 for 30 min.

I add salsa and a dallop of sour cream to the top of mine. The kids add crunched up tortilla chips.

Yummy Snack

This time of year we have an abundance of apples. I get kind of sick of just eating plain apples or in slices so with the cold weather we have been eating a lot of cooked apples.

Peel and slice the apples.

Put in a microwave bowl, add a little water, sprinkle on cinnamon/sugar and cook at 5 min. After they get out, sprinkle a tad of brown sugar on top. Plus, it makes your house smell delectable.
SO EASY!

Take it one step further and if you want applesauce pour the whole cooked bowlful into the blender and blend up until you have the texture you want.