Acceptable Lasagna

Mark reminds me often of the things I can't make as well as his mother or grandmother or aunt...whatever. It doesn't really bother me but I do attempt to make things he likes since he's my only audience these days. One of these items is lasagna. He likes DRY lasagna. Here's what I did which produced a product that he announced 'very good.'


Box of no-boil noodles
Leftover homemade sauce with spicy sausage
32 ounces of whole milk ricotta
Parmesan - the powder stuff
4 cups of shredded mzzerella
2 eggs
Garlic powder
Dried basil
Dried Italian seasoning


I basically followed the directions on the noodle box. Except the ricotta mixture. I mixed the ricotta with the two eggs and seasonings, a handful of mozzerella and a handful of parmesan. This doubles the cheese mixture. Bake as directed.


Wished (now) that I had taken a picture of a slice of lasagna. It really held together well and was quite pretty!

Chicken Pot Pie

Everytime I make chicken pot pie, Mark says 'it doesn't look like a pie.' Ok...here is your pie! And it was so good.

I got the recipe from http://www.allrecipes.com/.

Chicken Pot Pie

Refrigerated Pie Shells

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
3 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
3 tablespoons butter
3 cups cooked chicken, chopped
2 carrot, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 potatoes, peeled and cubed (I didn't use potato but I added a handful of frozen peas)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C.)
In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Blend in flour, salt, pepper and onion. Gradually stir in chicken broth. Cook, stirring constantly until smooth and thickened. In a separate pan, saute mushrooms in 3 tablespoons of butter, then stir into saucepan. Stir in chicken, carrot, celery and potatoes. Mix well and pour into bottom pie crust. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.
Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown, and filling is bubbly.

Ok....here's the thing. I don't unless I absolutely have to use multiple pans. I sauteed the vegetables first, added the 1/2 cup of butter and flour to make a roux. Then the chicken broth. I also added a glog of cream for some richness. I made sure that the mixture was very thick. I even let it set to cool a bit before baking to set up some more.

Look how it stayed together!