Mushroom Lasagna

By Sharon



Slice up (I use my food processor because my hands aren’t safe):
1 large onion
2# white mushrooms (mine were from Costco)


Saute in olive oil, salt & pepper to taste.
When lightly done, add
8-12 oz. pkg. of baby spinach. Stir and let it wilt.


Remove from heat and stir in 1 jar light alfredo sauce (I used Ragu), or other variant


In 9x13 dish, spray with oil. Spread 1c. spaghetti sauce.

Add 4 pieces of no-bake lasagna (not hard to find any more in the grocery store).

Layer:
1 cup vegie mixture
½ -1 c. shredded mozzarella
Sprinkle with parmesan or goat cheese crumbles
I added sprinkles of goat cheese because I had it. Feta would be good also.

Repeat. The lasagna noodles will evenly finish the dish. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 1 hour. Uncover and add parmesan, bake 10-15 minutes until GBD. Let sit for at least 10-15 minutes to set before cutting.

Shabu Shabu Sharon Style

You can use premade dashi, but my cookbook (Japanese Hot Pots by Tadashi Ono) doesn’t recommend it for health and taste issues.

Dashi:
8c. water. 2 - 6 inch pieces of kombu seaweed. Soak for 30 min. Bring to a boil on med. When it starts to boil, remove and discard the kombu. Add 2T water and 1 packet or up to 3 c. dried dancing fish (yea, Dani!)(shaved bonito). Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 5 min. Strain. Throw fish bits out. I split the result in half, about 3 cups each, and used one. Refrigerate the other and use soon.

Hot Pot: (Judy uses a Fry Daddy, but a crock pot won’t work because the heat is too low). I bought my hot pot at amazon.com. 4 ½ qt.

3 c. Dashi from above
1 c. water
1 packet (4g.) dashi stock mix (the packets I bought are entirely in Japanese, so that’s all I can tell)
1/3 c. soy sauce (mine is reduced sodium)
¼ c. light brown miso
½ c. mirin
(the recipe called for 1 c. sake, which I didn’t have)
Mix these well, especially to break up the miso.

Bring the pot to a vigorous boil and add your food. Don’t overfill and bring the temp. down. Keep adding foods as needed. Alter the temp. also if it boils too much or too little.

We used:
Broccoli, cauliflower, tofu, carrots, yams, mushrooms, napa cabbage, chicken breast. Cut everything into manageable bite size pieces.

For dipping:
Peanut sauce, sesame dipping sauce (I’m allergic to peanuts so this is a miracle for me), soy sauce, ponzu sauce (I didn’t see much difference from soy sauce, furikaku sprinkles, sweet and sour sauce, and anything you can think might be good.

Alex even used some ketchup and mustard with his sweet and sour sauce.

When you are done with the cooking, use the last of the now flavored liquid to cook noodles to finish the meal. We used buckwheat soba. Udon would also be good. Or you could serve rice in a separate bowl to mix in with servings. For more info on serving shabu shabu, try youtube. My method blends both Chinese hot pot cooking with the Japanese shabu shabu.

Tasty and healthy! A winner.

Mushroom Crusted Quiche

Adapted from the old Sunshine magazine favorite recipes book
I've had this for years, but hadn't made it in a while. It is very rich and filling.

8 oz. chopped mushrooms sauteed in 2 T. butter. Stir in ½ c. cracker crumbs (like saltines, ritz, or healthy ones). Cool and press into a pie pan.

1 bunch of green onions, chopped, and sautéed in some butter. When done to your liking, spread in the bottom of the pie crust.

Top with ½ c. cooked, chopped spinach and
2 c. shredded cheese, jack or swiss are good.

Blend together (I use the food processor to chop the mushrooms, rinse off, then for this part):
1 c. cottage cheese
3 eggs

Pour over the pie. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Check doneness by inserting a knife a little and see if it comes out clean. Cool to set 15 minutes before cutting and serving.

Blueberry or Huckleberry Buckle

Made on the 4th of July. And yummy!
Inspired by Alton Brown of Good Eats, adapted off the internet

Mix together:
2 c. ww or spelt flour
2 t. baking powder
½ t. salt

Cream:
¼ c. softened butter
¾ c. sweetener (I use Splenda and some sugar)
Add:
1 egg

mix in, alternating,
dry bowl
¾ c. milk (I use soy)

If it seems dryer than a cake or muffin mix, add more milk.
Then, stir in gently, 2 cups of the berries of your choice

Place in a 8x8 pan.
Combine topping:
¼ c. softened butter
½ c. sugar (I actually used sugar here)
1/3 c. ww or spelt flour
½ t. cinnamon
We like to mix with our fingers until it resembles bread crumbs.
Sprinkle on the buckle and bake, 375 for about 50 min. to 1 hour. Watch for doneness, like cake or coffee cake done. Nice to serve warm with coffee and the morning paper!

S & M Fathers Day Burgers

Michael had a hankerin' after seeing beef blue cheese burgers for sale at Costco. Since we don't do the cow thang, I researched online, found several recipes, and combined them to my liking. They were sooo good. Hard to keep from sticking to the grill.

Blue Cheese Burgers

1.5 #'s Ground Turkey
4 oz. blue cheese
1 T. Dijon Mustard
1/4 c. lite mayo
1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/2 cup chopped green onions
2 TBSP dried parsley
pepper to taste
mix all and let rest in the fridge for 2 hours.
Make some patties and grill em'. Spray with Pam and when you flip them to help with sticking.

Best Banana Nut Bread

2 c. ww flour (I prefer organic)
1 t. baking soda
½ c. oil (or ¼ c. oil and ¼ c. apple sauce--better for you!)
½ c. honey (or agave syrup)
2 eggs
2 c. banana pulp (don’t worry much about being precise)
½ c. nuts and/or raisins (I prefer pecans and craisins. May be omitted)

In one bowl, mash the bananas and add wet ingredients, mixing after each.

In another bowl, mix the flour and soda.

Add the dry to the wet in parts, mixing in as you go. Add nuts and raisins last. Spray a loaf pan and bake at 350 for 50 minutes, or until toothpick in center comes out dry. Cool a bit before removing from the pan.

S & M Mothers Day Frittata

We get to take credit for this recipe and rename it in our honor! Michael suggested an asparagus and crab omelet. I don’t really care for omelets, and found a quiche recipe online. We tweaked it and the result is below. It was soooo good!

1 c. crab meat (drained if needed)
1 ¾ c. scalded milk
3 eggs, beaten
10 asparagus spears, separated
1 c. cheese (approximately equal parts swiss, parmesan, and Neufchatel cheese)
nutmeg, salt, and cayenne pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375. Place crab in bottom of sprayed pie plate. Cut off tips of asparagus and reserve. Cut the rest into ½ inch slices. Place the slices on top of crab. Cut or shred cheeses as desired and scatter cheeses over asparagus. Beat eggs and milk with seasonings. Pour over. Arrange asparagus tips like spokes on a wheel. Bake until GBD, about 50 minutes. Remove from oven and let set at least 15 minutes. Cut and serve!