Easy Cheesy Chicken Lasagna

wish I would've gotten a better picture before I devoured it

So, I'm having an "afternoon on a hard day's" snack and wondering how come I  never put these chocolate covered cookie dough bites in my ice cream sundae's before?! Yeah, I feel a whole lot better now.  

Playing catch up on the recipes now. Here's one for Cheesy Chicken Lasagna. It's basically my mom's recipe but with chicken subbed for the beef and a few added seasonings. My sister loves it. (And her family even after they initially turned their noses up at the thought one Thanksgiving. But we're not going to go there right now.)
Hopefully you and your family will enjoy it also. 

This is actually a pretty good recipe to use when you have leftover baked chicken, but maybe not quite enough to feed the whole family.  Even if you don't have left over baked chicken when the craving stikes, you can always use your favorite unseasoned shredded chicken breast.

Chicken Lasagna

1 box lasagna noodles
1/2-1 lb chopped or shredded chicken 
1-2 tbsp olive oil, divided
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
tbsp chopped or minced garlic
1/4 of a onion, chopped
onion powder, to taste
garlic powder, to taste
fresh ground black pepper, to taste
thyme, to taste
oregano, to taste
rosemary, to taste
basil, to taste
salt, to taste
4 oz tomato sauce
6 oz tomato paste
4 oz ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese


Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. 
Boil a large pot of water with just a couple drops of olive oil in it.
Preheat a medium deep skillet or pot on medium heat lightly coated with olive oil.

Boil one pack of lasagna noodles to tender.

Chicken :
I use less than a pound of chicken everytime unless less I'm making a huge pan for a gathering.
Saute this with green and red bell peppers, onion, chopped garlic, black pepper, rosemary.
Once light golden brown, add tomato paste and tomato sauce. Season with onion powder, garlic powder, thyme, oregano, basil, salt to your liking. This should be very thick and not at all soupy. Simmer on low for at least 10 minutes.

Coat pan (8X8 or 9X12, whichever size you need) with olive olive. Line the bottom of pan 1 layer of drained noodles. Top that with a layer of the chicken/tomato mixture. Top that with a layer of ricotta. (Helps to slightly swirl it in the sauce. Keep alternating these layers until the pay is almost full or you run out. Top it with lots of mozz! Bake in the over until it's nice and melty and bubbly. Yum!

I strongly suggest you let it cool before you take a bite. :)

Easy, cheesy, warm and a little bit greasy. 

-Until again-

The Last Slice

a sampling of sweet potato desserts like Granny used to make

I know I've been MIA for a little bit. 
I got busy with a few things and then my granny passed away unexpectedly this past Monday. I've been back in my hometown with family for the last week because of this. Now that I'm back home and the silence is louder than usual, I wanted to post a tribute to her. 

I should note, she made it very plain that she was "Granny". If you called her grandma, grandmother, nanna, or anything else she would without hesitation correct you. "I'm GRANNY!"

If you've been following, you know that I posted a recipe a few weeks ago for Granny's Vegetable Soup. However, that doesn't begin to scratch the surface of all the good meals/desserts she'd given us over the years--all made with love.  I think most would agree that two people can follow the exact same same recipe, but the one who painstakingly made it with care-taking pride in the recipe and not rushing for anything and caring for those who'll eat it-- will always taste better.

My first love for making and eating food was birthed right in her kitchen. To this day, random older people that I don't know will come up to me and ask me "Are you the grandchild that would always watch and follow Rosie around the kitchen?" She spoke to a lot of people on the phone all the time, and I guess when I was younger she liked to mention that. Over the years, she's made countless brandy pound cakes, chicken strips, steamed cabbage pots, soul-food dinners (whether the items went to together or not and my family should appreciate that statement), chocolate rolls (to which the recipe she intentionally took to the grave), banana puddings, pinto beans, cornbread, salmon patties with grits (yuck), biscuits, pitchers of that super good sweet tea, vegetable soup, and more. I can still remember being short enough that I was eye-level with the table and she'd have her coffee mug overflowing with coffee spilled onto the saucer. And we'd delight in butter bread and molasses for breakfast. Soppin' it up. Mmm.

She always claimed she didn't like cooking. But I think she did. She just wanted something to complain about. You'd have to have known her to get what I'm saying and maybe not be offended by that statement.

As we were putting away food that so many wonderful friends and family dropped by the house during the week as we grieved, I noticed Granny had mixed some sweet potato custard and frozen it. 

It. was. the. last. one.....ever. 

She used to let me take her frozen batches home so I could enjoy it later. So I asked if we could thaw it and make/finish it before I left to come back home and eat it together as a family. After all, it's the last one. My sister laughed at me at first. Probably because I'd said it with the "fat girl look in my eyes". But we did. 

Now Granny made her "potato custards" and "potato soufflés" in different ways. So that's what Ma and I did with the last batch--a sampling of all the ways Granny made it. We made it into a sweet potato pie as well as a soufflé with the toppings she'd use- coconut, marshmallows, the crunchy sweet topping, and the crunchy sweet topping with pecans. I vaguely remember one random time where she might have used raisins, but we didn't do that. This way everybody could get what they wanted. 

Snow started to fall and the weather station was also calling for rain and possible black ice later in the night, so I was rushed to be on my way. I only tasted my share before packing it up and taking it with me. 

Last night I was exhausted, so I took another taste before putting it in the fridge. I thought about that bite the whole time I was in the shower. And I thought about life. I thought about my time with Granny-good and bad. I was reminded of a conversation my aunt had earlier in the week with the pastor (I think) about mouthfuls of cinnamon and kids eating this on a dare. 
(apparently it's horrible by itself and will seem like it's just about choking you) 
Knowing this dessert contains cinnamon, I began to think about that. I don't know many people who suck down raw eggs and like it. Or anyone who'd willingly drink vanilla extract and think it's wonderful. Mouthful of cinnamon and nutmeg can downright choke you. Yet all these ingredients make a wonderfully sweet dessert. So it is with life. Mix the good with the bad and you really have an extraordinary gift from God when you look at the bigger picture. My family and I have some wonderfully great memories. Also some very hilarious stories to tell. And like most other families, we have bad ones too. But you know what? I wouldn't change that. All those things mixed together  made a great time in life. All adding to the fullness of the pie that is life. And the oven timer went off. (Okay, I may have gone overboard with the analogy but you get what I'm saying.)

Today I'm writing this while I have the last slice. I've got tears in my eyes. I can honestly say that I'm heartbroken and happy at the same time. I'm sad I didn't get a chance to say goodbye face to face. That I was woefully unprepared for this news. Sad that she's gone. However, I'm happy to have good memories and someone who loved me for so much of my life. I never went to a daycare as a child. She was my daycare when my parents were working. She and my D-daddy (grandfather) were my after-school care (which she was to her other grands and great grands until the day she died). She was my school bus and taxi, personal chef and teacher. She was my nurse when I was sick even if it was in the most unconventional ways. She was my entertainment even when she wasn't trying to be.  She was my first PR agent because she bragged about my art. She didn't throw away any art work. She always framed and kept it.  She still had something I made with my dad when I was 3 or 4 hanging in her bedroom. We, my mom and sister, moved in with her when my father died.  A short time after, moved right next door. Because that's what family does. Family looks out for each other even when they don't always agree. She helped in a number of other ways others wouldn't believe solely because they're so quick to judge. But this was my Granny. Her obituary says she was a homemaker and loving grandmother. That's nothing but truth. I'm nothing but "at home" when I'm at Granny's house. This week it wasn't the same there without her. 

child's apron Granny gave me when I was little

She liked to play with me at the door whenever I came and the door was locked. She looked at me through the window, smirking and laughing and playfully waving as if to say she wasn't going to let me in and I was at her mercy. Sometimes she'd stand there and smile and ask me if it was cold out holding her fingers on the locked knob. She would eventually let me in though. We buried her on Valentine's Day. When they closed the casket I pictured her peeping through the door window at me waving and smirking. As if to say she's not going to let me in this time because she's finally spending time with my D-Daddy again.


I don't have anymore grandparents or great grandparents. She was the last. Cherish yours if you still have them.

This is the last slice. 
I have to savor it.

CHOCOLATE DIPPED SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Be forewarned.  

This recipe may be simple. But these yummy little buttery buggers will get you into trouble if you eat too many. And it won't be so simple burning those calories. So stick to eating one or two, and sharing the rest. :)

Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened **no substitutions**

1/4 tsp vanilla

the slightest dash of ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together butter, sugar, vanilla in a medium to large bowl. Add flour little by little to make sure it's well blended. If it's crumbly like old play-do, you need more butter. 

Lightly flour the surface you'll use. Roll out the the dough 1/2 inch thick. You can cut it into any shape you like. The ones pictured about are heart shaped ones I made around Valentine's last year.

Line them on a dry cookie sheet.

Bake for about 18 minutes. Once they've been removed from the oven and  had a chance to cool, you can dip those suckers into some melted milk chocolate. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes to allow the chocolate to set.

Now they're ready to eat....Or bag up nicely to give to someone special.  

Mmmmmmm! Drooling. 

Don't be afraid to get creative and add shaved chocolate or white chocolate or sprinkles or peanut butter cup crumbles or nuts. The possibilities are endless.

~Until again~

Week in Review: Jan28-Feb4

officially in the 4-eyes club

It's been a about a week since I last posted. I've started a few posts. I just haven't finished them yet. As I sip coffee and munch on pound cake, I'm getting my "to-do's" together. I'll be adding a few recipes this week as well as doing an event review. If I'm lucky, I'll even post a project by the end of next weekend. Nothing major happened this last week. 

Oh, I did find out that I am indeed getting older and in need of glasses. So that's new. 

Got to taste some awesome homemade whole-grain bread from a neighbor. 

Made an effort to start wearing high heels on a regular basis again like I used to. Getting way too comfortable with these flats. 

Watched the Super Bowl.... commercials and half-time show. I hate sports.But a good tail-gate is great.

Finally found the perfume I love again. They were apparently bought by another company and they changed the name. Still smells great though. But I must say, Unpredictable Desire -Woman is a much better name than Unpredictable Girl. Whoever did that, change it back-- please.

Other than these uneventful things, the last week has been pretty much, well, uneventful.

But don't worry, we'll get back to your regularly scheduled programming soon. :)

-Until again- (whenever that may be)