Maci's Marvelous Munchables

Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie

noreply@blogger.com (Lori) — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 14:06:17 PDT

Creamy peanut buttery, rich, deliciousness...

Hi Everyone! Maci is back! After a long hot busy summer. She's been wanting to get back to cooking.

We whipped up this pie today for a Labor Day BBQ with friends. We hope they like it!

Here's what you need:

Graham Cracker Crust: (this step is optional, can use storebought crust)

1 sleeve graham crackers, crushed (about 1.2 cups)

1/4 cup granulated sugar

3 TBS unsalted butter, melted

Crush graham crackers in food processor as with rolling pin (as pictured), add sugar and melted butter, mix until it resembled wet sand. Press into a pie plate (9 inch is better, but we used 8 inch). Bake 375 degrees F for 8 minutes, let cool completely before filling (about 20 minutes).

Crush 1 sleeve of graham crackers

We put them in a ziplock

and used a rolling pin

Mix graham crackers

Sugar

(use microwave instead, ours is broke so we did it the old fashioned way)

and melted butter until it resembles wet sand

Press into the pie plate as evenly as possible

Bake 375 degrees for 7-9 minutes

Cool completely before filling, about 20 minutes.

Fudge Sauce: (This step is optional, can use ice cream topping instead)

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup half and half'

In a double broiler, add half and half and chocolate chips, melt til smooth. Carefully not to get water into the mix.

In a sauce pan, add chocolate chips

Half and half

Put over a double broiler

stir often until smooth

Turn off heat, but keep on the burner and go make the filling for your pie

Pie Filling:

1 - 8 ounce package cream cheese (room temp)

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1/3 cup milk

1 container (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed, divided in half.

1 package (3.3 oz) white chocolate instant pudding and pie filling

Optional Toppings:

1/4 cup peanuts (chopped), salted

12 Mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

In a bowl, add cream cheese

Peanut butter

Mix on low til smooth

Add milk

Mix again til smooth

Add 1/2 container of the whipped topping

Pudding mix

Mix til smooth

Set aside, now it's time to assemble your pie!

unwrap the reese's pb cups (chilling beforehand helps keep things nice and neat)

In your pie crust add your pie filling, carefully.

Add the fudge sauce

Add the rest of the whipped topping

Add some chopped nuts

Add some Reese's cups

Chill for several hours before serving.

Don't forget to share!

The first piece is never pretty, but oh so good!

May Madness!

noreply@blogger.com (Lori) — Wed, 04 May 2011 06:35:48 PDT

Hello Everyone. Just wanted to let you know we are still blogging. Maci has been really busy in school and we are moving. It's the end of the school year May 27th so things have been crazy! But we will be back with tons of recipes very soon! Stay tuned!

Basic Deviled Eggs

noreply@blogger.com (Lori) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 09:33:06 PDT

Ingredients:

12 hardboiled eggs
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Carefully peel eggs.
Cut eggs in half lengthwise
Scoop out yolks into bowl
Add mayo, mustard, paprika, salt and pepper.
Smush the yolks and mix well with ingredients.
Fill the whites with the yolk mixture. You can either use a spoon or get a baker's star tip and put the yolk mixture into a bag and pipe it in.
Top with paprika, if desired.
These can be made up to a day ahead of time, keep chilled until served.

Here's what you need:

Peel hardboiled eggs carefully, slice in half lengthwise, scoop out yolk into bowl.

Smush yolks

Add mayonnaise

mustard

salt and pepper

paprika

mix til smooth

Use a ziplock and star tip for fancier eggs or scoop with a spoon. Didn't get pictures of this for some reason, sorry about that!

More paprika

EAT

Simple Pasta Salad

noreply@blogger.com (Lori) — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 14:59:24 PDT

We love the boxed Suddenly Salad, there's nothing wrong with it and it's easy to make, everyone loves it. However at the store it was $3.99 a box (Fry's) and we needed 2 boxes for a book club meeting. So we came up with a copycat recipe. We made it our own and it turned out pretty darn good! You can add what you want to yours, but here is a simple recipe to get you started. BTW, I since found Suddenly Salad at Walmart for $1.69 a box, much better, not sure why it was so high at Fry's... We will make this recipe lots because it's super simple and economical and great side dish for BBQ's, potlucks, etc.

BTW, everyone at the book club (ages 6-12) ate it up, we had no leftovers!

Simple Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

1 box pasta (14-16 oz) (we used tri-colored rotini)
1/2 cup mayonnaise (we used regular but you might get away with lowfat)
1 packet of Good Seasons Italian recipe mix (located by the salad dressings at the store)
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1/4 cup bacon bits
1 tsp salt (we like kosher)
1 cup cheddar cheese (we like it cubed, but you can use shredded if desired)

Cook pasta according to directions. In a mixing bowl, add the mayo, the seasoning mix, the bell pepper. Mix well. Once the pasta is done, add it to the mayo mix, add the bell pepper, mix well. Let cool completely before adding the cheese otherwise it will melt (we made this mistake). It was still very tasty though.

Here's what you need:

Boil some water for the pasta

Boil according to package instructions

In a mixing large bowl, add mayo

Seasoning packet

red bell pepper

bacon bits or real bacon

After mixing well, drain the pasta and add to the mayo mix

Mix well and once it's cooled add the cheese

Store in fridge til ready to serve!

The Best Way to Hard Boil Eggs

noreply@blogger.com (Lori) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 09:13:21 PDT

Keep it simple.

Start with a large saucepan.
Fill with cold water, enough so there's at least an inch above the eggs.
Add eggs, not too many, make sure there's room so they don't bump into each other too much.
Bring just to a boil, not a rolling boil, just a few bubbles is all.
Turn off the burner, place a lid on the pan.
Set a timer for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes is up, add the eggs a bowl filled with cold water (this stops the cooking process and I believe makes them easier to peel).

If you don't peel right away, put in the fridge, before peeling, run the egg under cold water, I think the cold water helps you peel the egg easier once again.

New Aprons!

noreply@blogger.com (Lori) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 18:26:34 PDT

Thank you Garrett Girl Creations for these fabulous aprons! Wow, she whipped these up quick! Fast, friendly service and great quality! Maci will be wearing these in upcoming tutorials. Thanks so much Mary!

The Best Lemon Bars

noreply@blogger.com (Lori) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 12:55:19 PDT

Ingredients:

Crust:

1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)
1/4 cup white sugar
1 cup all purpose flour

Topping:

2 eggs
3/4 cup white sugar
1/8 cup all purpose flour
1 lemon, juiced
powdered sugar, if desired for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, blend together softened butter, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 cup flour. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 8 x 8 inch pan.

Bake for 15-20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm and golden.

In another bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup sugar and 1/8 cup flour. Whisk in the eggs and lemon juice. Pour over the baked crust.

Bake an additional 20 minutes in the preheated oven. The bars will firm up as they cool. Top with powdered sugar if desired.

Here's what you need:

In a bowl, add the butter

flour and sugar

Mix until crumbly

Press evenly into an 8 x 8 inch pan

bake for 15-20 minutes in a 350 degree oven

In another bowl, whisk together remaining flour and sugar

In a separate bowl, add eggs

Squeeze the juice out of one lemon, strain the seeds out

whisk the eggs and lemon juice

Add to the flour, whisk together

Pour on top of prebaked crust

Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, top with powdered sugar if desired

EAT!

Easy Packet Potatoes

noreply@blogger.com (Lori) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 12:29:29 PDT

We served these with Turkey Meatloaf. These are sometimes called Hobo potatoes, you can also cook these on the grill or campfire. Just keep out of direct line of fire. We prepared them before the meatloaf and threw them in the oven and cooked about an hour, so these paired up perfectly with the meatloaf, cooked in the same oven and were done at the same time.

Ingredients:

Russet or Red Potatoes - 1 per person
Onion (sliced thin)
1/2-1 TBS Olive Oil - approximately per potato
Salt and Pepper
Foil

Clean and dry potatoes well, cut in slices, about 6 mm thick, add onion slices, olive oil, salt and pepper, mix until potatoes and onions are well coated with oil, fold into a piece of foil. Put on a cookie sheet and bake 350 degrees for 1 hour. Or put on the grill for approximately 1 hour on medium heat.

Here's what you need:

Cut the potatoes into 5-6 mm slices

Add onion (if desired)

Olive oil, salt and pepper

Make sure the potato and onion is well coated in oil

Fold into the foil, nice and securely

Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour

Turkey Meatloaf with Cheese

noreply@blogger.com (Lori) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 18:22:00 PDT

This is absolutely delicious! You can make it your own, by using different cheeses or seasonings. We served this with the packet potatoes (cooked in the same oven with the meatloaf) and some green beans. Then we had lemon bars for dessert!

Ingredients:

1 pound ground turkey
1/2 cup milk
1 cup bread crumbs (we used panko)
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup onion (grated)
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
1 cup colby cheese
1/4 cup ketchup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, mix the turkey, milk, bread crumbs, and eggs by hand. Add salt, pepper, worcestershire, garlic and onion (instead of cutting the onion, try using a cheese grater, it adds a great flavor without the chunks of onion. Mix well with hands.

Place half the meat mixture in a loaf pan, press evenly. Spread the cheese along the middle. Add the other half of meat mixture on top, press lightly to form the loaf. Spread the ketchup on top. Bake approximately 45-60 minutes until done.

Here's what you need:

In a bowl, add the turkey, grated onion

eggs

garlic

worcestershire sauce

salt and pepper

bread crumbs

milk (not pictured)

Mix by hand, don't be afraid to get your hands dirty

When it's all mixed, spread half into a loaf pan

add the cheese

Top with remaining meat mixture, then spread the ketchup on top

Bake at 350 degrees F for 45-60 minutes

Yogurt, Fruit and Granola Parfaits

noreply@blogger.com (Lori) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 12:57:49 PDT

Please excuse the background messes! We'd rather blog than finish the laundry and dishes. Each person can make their own. You could have a parfait bar or make these up ahead of time.

Ingredients:

Plain Yogurt
Honey
Fruit - strawberries, blueberries, banana, etc
Granola

Layer, fruit, yogurt, honey, and granola. Layer the ingredients any way you like!

Here's what you need:

Layer the ingredients

We started with fruit

Then some yogurt

a drizzle of honey

Granola

Time to eat!

Easy Granola

noreply@blogger.com (Lori) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 10:00:05 PDT

This granola recipe is easy, when you don't have a ton of ingredients on hand. It's great with yogurt or in a parfait, great with milk or as an ice cream topping. So much better and cheaper than store bought!

Ingredients:

5 cups old fashioned oats (don't use quick oats)
1 cup raw almonds (chopped)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons warm water
1/2 teaspoon salt
Optional ingredients - raisins, dried apricot bits, chopped walnuts, coconut, sunflower seeds, raw pumpkin seeds (really anything you like!) 1-2 cups of one or more.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Lightly grease cookie sheet with sides (I lined cookie sheet with foil for easy cleanup)

In a large bowl, toss together the oats, brown sugar, almonds, (walnuts, coconut, etc). In a separate bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, oil, water and salt. Pour the liquid over the oat and nut mixture, and stir until evenly coated. Spread out on the prepared cookie sheet.

Bake 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes in the preheated oven, stirring occasionally until evenly toasted. I would stir every 20 minutes or so. Cool, and store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Note: If adding raisins or other dried fruit, add after it's cooked and cooled already.

Here's what you need:

In a large bowl, add the oats

Almonds

Brown Sugar

Mix well

In a separate bowl, add syrup

oil

salt and water

Whisk until well blended

Pour liquids over the oat mixture

Mix well

Spread evenly on a cookie sheet

I had enough for 2 batches so two cookie sheets, depends on the size of cookie sheet

Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes, stir every 20 minutes or so. It's done when it's golden brown. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Blueberry Strawberrilicious Smoothie

noreply@blogger.com (Lori) — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 06:37:47 PDT

Ingredients:

2 cups frozen blueberries
1 cup frozen strawberries
2 cups apple juice
3/4 cup plain non fat yogurt

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend! Serves 4.

Here's What You Need:

Put all the ingredients in a blender

apple juice

Yogurt

Strawberries

blueberries

Blend

Serve!

Yummy!

Chicken Nugget Wrap with Honey Mustard Dressing

noreply@blogger.com (Lori) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 16:22:46 PDT

Ingredients:

Flour Tortilla (burrito size)

Chicken Nuggets (4 per wrap)

Shredded lettuce

Tomato

Honey Mustard Dip

What you need:

Cook Chicken Nuggets according to package instructions

Smear some honey mustard dip on tortilla (about 1 tbs)

Add Lettuce and Tomato

Add Chicken Nuggets

Wrap it up!

EAT!

Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Lori) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 16:24:12 PDT

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Mayonnaise

2 Tablespoons Prepared Yellow Mustard

1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard

2 Tablespoons Honey

1/2 Tablespoon Lemon Juice

Mix all ingredients in a bowl until smooth. Serve with chicken nuggets, french fries, or use as a dressing for wraps or sandwiches.

Here's what you need:

In a bowl, add mayo

Yellow Mustard

Dijon Mustard

Honey

Lemon Juice

Stir until smooth

Bugs on a Banana

noreply@blogger.com (Lori) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 16:04:38 PDT

This is an awesome afternoon snack or breakfast. Great before a workout too. Very nutritious and filling.

Ingredients:

Banana, sliced lengthwise
Peanut butter (we prefer smooth)
Raisins, Chocolate Chips, Craisins

Slice banana lengthwise, a butter knife will work for the kids. Smear each side of the banana with peanut butter, sprinkle with raisins, chocolate chips, etc.

Here's what you need:

Cut banana lengthwise

Smear with peanut butter

Sprinkle with raisins or chocolate chips

EAT

Chocolate Covered Fruit

noreply@blogger.com (Lori) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 17:48:09 PDT

2 cups Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
2 TBS of Vegetable Shortening
Fruit (strawberries, bananas, grapes, apples, apricots)
Walnuts or Almonds, crushed or chopped (optional)

Wash and dry the fruit very well. Cut up apples and bananas. In a double broiler melt the vegetable shortening, add the chocolate chips. Stir until melted over low-medium heat. Bring off the heat. Dip fruit and set on wax paper to dry. Chocolate will cool down within about 10-15 minutes, so you need to work fast. You can reheat on the double broiler if needed.

Here's what you need:

Wash fruit and dry very well

Cut up bananas and apples, set aside

chop or crush walnuts or almonds

Make a double boiler, using two saucepans, fill the larger one with 1-2 inches of water, heat over low to medium heat. Add 2 TBS of shortening.

Once the shortening is melted add the chocolate chips

Stir until melted

Remove from heat, wipe excess water off the bottom of pan, set on trivet or wooden cutting board.

Start dipping and place fruit on waxed paper

Add some crushed nuts if desired, they are especially good on the apples and bananas

Clean up the mess while you wait for the fruit to dry

Eat!

Store leftovers in the fridge or freeze. Don't freeze the apples, but the bananas and grapes freeze nicely and make a great after school snack!

Jello Glazed Popcorn

noreply@blogger.com (Lori) — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 16:20:41 PDT

8 cups popped popcorn (2 microwave bags has 10 cups)
1 cup salted peanuts or cashews
1/4 cup butter
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 cup granulated sugar or light brown sugar
1 package (4 serving size) Jello, any flavor

Heat oven to 300 degrees F. Line a 15 x 10 x 1 pan or two smaller ones with parchment or wax paper or foil. Place popcorn and nuts in large bowl.

Heat butter and syrup in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir in sugar and gelatin; bring to a boil on medium heat. Reduce heat to low and gently simmer for 5 minutes. Immediately pour syrup on popcorn, tossing to coat well.

Spread popcorn in prepared pan, using two forks to spread evenly. Bake 10 minutes. Cool. Remove from pan and break into small pieces.

Makes about 9 cups.

Notes: Careful, caramel syrup gets very hot, adult supervision needed.

Here's what you need:

Pop the corn, you could do air popped too

Pour the nuts into the popcorn in a large bowl

In a small saucepan, add butter and corn syrup

Add the sugar and jello

Stir on medium heat until it comes to a boil

After simmering on low heat for 5 minutes, pour over popcorn

Mix it until well coated

Spread onto prepared pans

Bake for 10 minutes

Let cool and then break into smaller pieces

EAT!

Going Nutty for Banana Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Lori) — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 16:51:30 PDT

What You Need:

1 cup granulated sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
2-3 ripe bananas
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspooon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

Preheat Oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a loaf pan - 9 x 5 x 3".

Cream the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a small bowl, mash the bananas. Mix in the yogurt and cinnamon and vanilla.

In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add the banana mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until flour disappears.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake approximately 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove bread from pan, invert onto rack and cool completely before slicing.

Gather the ingredients

Peel the bananas

Mash the bananas

and set aside

In another bowl, cream sugar and butter

Add Eggs to creamed mixture, one at a time, mix well and set aside

To the banana mixture, add yogurt, cinnamon and vanilla and mix well

Add the banana mixture to the creamed sugar/butter/egg mixture and stir til combined

Mix by hand til well combined

Measure dry ingedients and mix well

Mix well all dry ingredients

Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture

Once it's all mixed, add the walnuts

Stir til combined

Put into a greased loaf pan, bake 325 degrees F for approximately 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

For an extra yummy factor, top with softened butter. Yummy!

Fruity Patooti Smoothie

noreply@blogger.com (Lori) — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 06:06:04 PDT

This is a healthy, yummy, smoothie. It is great for breakfast or an after school snack. Make in the summer and freeze in popsicle molds!

What You Need:

2 cups orange juice (more or less to get the consistency right)
1/2 cup frozen strawberries
1/2 cup frozen mango
1 frozen banana
3/4 cup plain nonfat yogurt

Measure out the ingredients, add to the blender and blend in the blender, it's that easy! Be sure to have an adult supervising the blender part.

Note: I freeze bananas when they are starting to get too ripe, they are great for smoothies and banana bread/muffins! I put them in a ziplock, peeled and take them out as needed.

Enjoy!

French Bread Pizza

noreply@blogger.com (Lori) — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 13:50:07 PDT

What you need:

1 loaf French bread (split lengthwise)
olive oil
8 oz can of tomato sauce
8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese or Italian cheese of choice
oregano
salt
black pepper
garlic powder

1 loaf French bread (split lengthwise)
olive oil
8 oz can of tomato sauce
8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese or Italian cheese of choice
oregano
salt
black pepper
garlic powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

Line a cookie sheet with foil for easy clean up. Split a loaf of French or Italian bread lengthwise, drizzle a little olive oil on top, add the tomato sauce (we used the entire can), spread the cheese, we used a mix of Italian cheeses and mozzarella, sprinkle with salt, coarse black pepper, garlic powder, and oregano. We use oregano generously here. Drizzle with a little more olive oil. Bake 350 degrees for about 10-15 minutes and then broil for a few minutes until golden and the cheese is bubbly.

We had ice cream in a bag for dessert.

Note: These pictures were taken when Maci was 5 I think. That's her sister Marissa. We probably just got done swimming. :)

Ice Cream in a Bag

noreply@blogger.com (Lori) — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 10:05:19 PDT

This is a great activity for childen of all ages and adults too! Easy to put together, with uncomplicated ingredients and results in a fresh homemade soft serve vanilla ice cream. For kids it's just fun and sort of scientific as well.

RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup half and half
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup salt (The bigger the granules, the better. Kosher or rock salt works best, but table salt is fine.)
Ice cubes (enough to fill each gallon-size bag about half full)
1 pint-size ziplock bag
1 gallon-size ziplock bag

1. Combine the sugar, half and half, and vanilla extract in the pint-size bag and seal it tightly.

2. Place the salt and ice in the gallon-size bag, then place the sealed smaller bag inside as well. Seal the larger bag. Now shake the bags until the mixture hardens (about 5 minutes). Feel the small bag to determine when it's done.

3. Take the smaller bag out of the larger one, add mix-ins, and eat the ice cream right out of the bag. Easy cleanup too! Serves 1.

Koolaid Playdough

noreply@blogger.com (Lori) — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 13:47:43 PDT

What you'll need:

1 cup flour
1/4 cup salt
2 Tbsp cream of tartar
1 envelope unsweetened Koolaid - 2 packets for more scent.
1 cup water
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
a few drops food coloring can also be added for more vivid colors.

1. Mix flour, salt, cream of tartar, Koolaid and water in medium saucepan. Stir in oil.

2. Mix over medium heat for 3-5 minutes until mixture forms a ball in the center of pan. Dough will start darkening in color.

3. Remove from pan {caution: will be HOT}. Knead until soft. Use a little flour to prevent sticking.

4. Store in airtight container or ziploc bag.

Not recommend for eating as it probably tastes gross.

We chose blue, red (cherry) and lemonade, as our "flavors". Primary colors so they could mix and make other colors with them. I think cherry turned out the best. The lemonade one was too light so we ended up adding a few drops of yellow food coloring. This makes a really nice soft dough. It doesn't leave a salty residue on the table or your hands after playing with it, it doesn't dye your hands either. It was sticky at first so does require some kneading with some flour to get the sticky out, but once you do that it's perfect. This was a wonderful activity. I think we spent about 20-30 minutes making the 3 colors and then they played with it for about an hour after that. It was messy and there was flour on the floor but it only took me about 10 minutes to clean it all up. When they were done with it, I put the dough in ziplock baggies and put it in the fridge. I don't think keeping it in the fridge is required, but thought it might be nice to play with "cold" dough on a hot summer day.

Cheesy Baked Pasta

noreply@blogger.com (Lori) — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 09:58:25 PDT

Meet Maci. She wants to be a chef/baker when she grows up. She is making an easy baked pasta dish.

Here's the recipe:

Cheesy Baked Pasta

1 lb of ground beef
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder or fresh garlic clove (2 cloves)
1 jar of spaghetti sauce

2 cups cottage cheese or ricotta
1 egg
1/2 cup parmesan cheese (grated or freshly grated)
1 tsp italian seasoning or oregano
1 tsp garlic powder

8 oz. Mozzarella Cheese, slices or shredded

1 pound of pasta, cooked, drained.

Brown the meat, add salt, pepper, garlic powder.
Add the spaghetti sauce, simmer on low for 10-20 minutes.

Mix the cottage cheese, egg, parmesan cheese, italian seasoning and garlic powder, set aside.

Cook pasta, drain and rinse.

Use a 9 x 13 pan, ungreased, layer sauce, noodles, cheese mixture, keep layering until it's done, top with mozzarella cheese. Bake 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Serve with steamed brocoli and garlic toast.

Picture tutorial:

Gather all the ingredients

Brown the hamburger

Add the spices

Continue browning the hamburger

Add the spaghetti sauce to the browned meat, continue simmering about 20 minutes or so.

In a bowl, add cottage cheese

grate the parmesan

about 1/2 cup

one egg

spices

combine cottage cheese and parmesan

Add spices

Add egg

stir

until well combined, set aside

cook up some pasta

drain and rinse pasta

Start by layering some sauce, then add noodles, about 1/3 of each.

Add 1/3 of the cheese mixture

spread the cheese mixture evenly

Another layer and then another

Top with mozzarella cheese, slices or shredded

Cover the entire top

Bake 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. I wish you had smellavision, it smells so good in here!