Lasagna with Cottage Cheese

Like my recipe for stuffed chicken breast, you have the option to use ricotta instead of cottage cheese, however I tend to have cottage cheese more often than ricotta. I don’t make lasagna very often, but it’s a good option for lots of leftovers, and can provide more than one meal for a small family. It would also be very good with some Texas toast, buttered Italian bread, or some cheesy garlic bread.

  1. Preheat oven to 375 F
  2. Brown your ground beef/venison and break into chunks of your desired size. Once cooked, add one jar of pasta sauce and cook till hot.
  3. In a bowl, mix 24 oz of large curd cottage cheese, 6 oz of mozzarella, one egg, and 2 Tbsp of Italian seasoning. Mix till seasoning and egg is evenly distributed.
  4. Spray a 9×11 baking pan with nonstick spray. Place 1/2 a cup of meat sauce in bottom of pan and evenly coat the bottom. On top, layer noodles, 1/2 of cheese mixture, 1 cup of sauce, another layer of noodles, the rest of the cheese mixture, another cup of meat sauce, a top layer of noodles, and topped with remaining meat sauce.
  5. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and top with an additional 1/2 cup of mozzarella. Bake for an additional 5 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Christmas Leftovers: Ham, and Mac and Cheese

Mac & Cheese is another one of my favorite childhood foods. It is cheesy and packed with carbs. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water! My mom made a roux based sauce, that is butter and flour, then we add milk and an entire block (8 oz) of cubed white sharp cheese. The recipe below is enough for pretty much just me and my husband since I love it so much, however there is enough in the recipe to serve another person if it is paired with a protein and a veggie.
Also, some cheese brands don’t melt as evenly as others, so if your cheese tastes a bit gritty once it’s cooked, you should probably use a different brand next time. I usually use Aldi’s brand, cracker barrel brand, or Kraft. We have had Cabot work out sometimes while other times it is gritty, and Helluvagood always comes out gritty.

  1. Cook 1 1/2 cup of macaroni to al dente and drain.
  2. While that is cooking, preheat oven to 375 F. Dice 1 small onion (1/2 cup) and cook in 4 Tbsp of butter until translucent.
  3. Once onions are translucent, add 4 Tbsp of flour stir, then add 2 cups of milk. Heat to a slight simmer.
  4. While that is heating, cube one block of cheese (8 oz) by cutting the block in half the short way, then slicing into slices 1/4 inch thick. Once milk is simmering, remove milk from heat and immediately add cheese and start stirring until all cheese is melted.
  5. Place drained macaroni into a 2 quart size or bigger backing/casserole dish. Then pour the hot cheese over top and carefully stir.
  6. Bake your mac & cheese for 30 minutes until the top has begun to brown and is bubbling hot.
  7. With only 10 minutes left, slice ham and fry in a frying pan with 1 Tbsp butter. Serve together.

Easy Tuna Noodle

Tuna noodle casserole is a staple of depression era cooking. It’s a simple dish that requires very little to feed many people for the night. Though I’m sure there are fancier ways to make tuna noodle, this is the way I grew up with and the way my mom grew up with too. This recipe makes enough to serve 3 adults, but the recipe can easily be stretched by adding more noodles, or doubling/tripling the existing recipe. You can also then stick it in a casserole dish once mixed and add a crisp topping and bake, however I’ve always had it without, and I tend to prefer it quick and easy. Since I don’t do the casserole step, I tend to just call it tuna noodle, since I don’t make it into a casserole.

  • Bring a pot of water to a boil
  • Add 1/2 a bag (8oz) of egg noodles and cook to al dente, and strain.
  • In a dutch oven add one strained can of tuna, one can of cream of mushroom soup, and one can of Milk. Bring to a boil and stir till smooth.
  • Once smooth, add the noodles and cook for 3-5 minutes, and serve. Sauce thickens upon standing. Best serves with buttered bread and sweet peas.

Stroganoff without Sour Cream

Beef stroganoff is one of my favorite dishes. It’s creamy, savory, and makes a meal that will keep you feeling full for hours. I like making stroganoff, but I almost never have sour cream in the house. If we do have sour cream, it’s a small container and is eaten within a few days, usually with baked potatoes.
For this recipe, like other recent recipes, I used sliced venison. I should have made my pieces a bit smaller, because they were definitely larger than bite sized. But, you can also use leftover steak to make this meal and it works really well!

  1. Cube your meat (1/2 lb.) into bite sized pieces/strips and start heating a pot of water for your egg noodles.
  2. Add 1 Tbsp of oil to a dutch oven, place over medium heat, then add and cook your beef/venison.
  3. Chop one small onion (approx. 1/2 cup). Slice 3 large mushrooms/open 1 small can of sliced mushrooms and strain. Add onions and mushrooms to meat.
  4. Cook until onions are translucent and mushrooms are cooked. At this point, start to make beef broth and add half a bag of egg noodles (8 oz) to boiling water.
  5. Add 2 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce and heat. Add 4 cups of beef broth, then bring to a simmer
  6. Strain your noodles, then add them to your broth.
  7. Add 1 cup of milk to your broth, and begin adding flour until it begins to thicken (5-7 Tbsp).
  8. Slowly heat and bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Add more Worcestershire sauce to taste (3-4 Tbsp).
  9. Remove from heat and serve. Makes 3 adult servings.

Thanksgiving: Leftovers – Turkey Noodle Soup

  • 2 cups of Turkey Cubed
  • 8 cups of Turkey Stock (You can also use Chicken Broth)
  • Medium Onion (1 Cup)
  • Sage
  • Thyme
  • 4 cups of Water
  • 1 Chicken bouillon cube
  • About 6 oz of Egg Noodles
  • Salt
  1. Start by Sauteing onion in a little bit of oil/butter in a Dutch Oven until translucent.
  2. Add Turkey Stock and add cooked turkey. Bring to a simmer.
  3. Add desired amount of herbs (I added 2 tsps of ground thyme and dried sage, but you can also add sprigs of herbs tied together, or add none if you already seasoned your stock).
  4. Add about a half a bag of egg noodles, water, and a dissolved Chicken bouillon cube. Heat to a boil and cook covered till noodles are to your liking or about 25 minutes. Before serving, taste your broth and add more herbs and/or salt to taste (I added about 3 Tbsp of salt)

To see the other recipes I cooked this year, head back to my Thanksgiving: Overview post!

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