Gourmet Lasagna with #RedGold

Today's dish of Classic Lasagna is brought to you by RedGold and Laura's Lean Beef. To kick off 2015, Red Gold is hosting a promotion that began January 13 during which twice a week they are giving away a Le Creuset Lasagna Pan, a Simple Gourmet Lasagna Kit, Red Gold spatula, Garfield Toy, coupons and an apron. Just go to this link to enter!

Perfect for any healthier eating resolutions in the New Year, Red Gold is hosting this promotion along with Laura's Lean Beef, and developed a delicious Skinny Lasagna recipe. And of course you can add all kinds of things to it to make it your own gourmet lasagna- but it might not be as skinny!

Now I am not very creative on lasagna and I think I have only made it twice in the almost ten years we have been married. Lasagna honestly scares me because of the calories, and prep time. And instead of making the complete low fat version, since I am the ONLY one in my family who will eat cottage cheese, I had to make their classic recipe using the low fat ricotta. I will tell you one secret that I did differently- mix your layer of ricotta, mozzarella, and sauce together. It spreads so much easier on top of those noodles. I highlighted this in the recipe below.

Classic Lasagna

Ingredients:

1/2 cup water

1 (28 ounce) can Red Gold® Crushed Tomatoes, or 2 (15 ounce) cans Red Gold Crushed Tomatoes

2 (14.5 ounce) cans Red Gold® Diced Tomatoes with Basil, Garlic & Oregano

Salt to taste

1 pound Laura's 92% Lean Ground Beef, or any ground beef or Italian sausage, cooked and drained

1 (16 ounce) box traditional lasagna noodles, uncooked

1 (15 ounce) carton low fat ricotta cheese

3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° F. In large mixing bowl combine water, crushed tomatoes and diced tomatoes,

salt and ground beef, stir to combine ingredients.

Cover the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking pan with 1½ cups of sauce mixture. Arrange 1/3 of noodles

on top of sauce, slightly overlapped. Top with ½ of ricotta cheese, 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and 1

cup of sauce. (this is where I mix the layer of ricotta, mozzarella, and sauce together)

Repeat layers and top with last 1/3 of noodles and the remaining sauce.

Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.

Cover tightly with foil and bake for 1 to 1½ hours; until noodles are cooked.

Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

The recipe makes 12 servings, but you could divide the recipe into two 9x9 inch baking dishes and

freeze one for a wintry night supper.

  

I of course made only the one pan. We will see if there are any leftovers....

Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising): Many thanks to Red Gold and Laura's Lean Beef for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a samples of the product in exchange for this review and post.

A Souper Recipe and PINK Hair!

Hi y'all! Yes, it's been a while since I wrote here, but no worries, I am still around. Be sure you are following me on all my other social media sites (click on the icons to the right folks) to see the snippets of what is going on in and around my nest. It's CRAZY, I tell ya. Today I have a boy with pink hair.

YES, I said PINK!!! But before I get into that story, I'm sending you all over to Oklahoma Women Bloggers. Today I am posting the following recipe. Everyone needs to make this recipe this weekend. It's Souper Comfort Food for the rainy, chilly Fall weekend we have ahead of us. Yay for Fall!!!

Now the Pink hair story.

It's #PinkOut day here in Broken Arrow. His middle school is going all out. I even heard that his National Junior Honor Society was doing some kind of contest. This is just plain awesome to raise awareness for breast cancer and any type of cancer for that matter.

I am so proud of this boy. He always has had such a fighting and supportive spirit toward any type of cancer. Today he wears a medal that he received in a 5K for a recent loved one who passed away from esophageal cancer, he even stepped out of his comfort zone and dyed his hair pink. I never thought my son would raid my closet for all of my pink gear. He did it for 5 family members in 5 years, one being his own grandfather. At 13, he gets it.

Do you Pink Out where you live? 

Fall Harvest Time with a Slow Cooker Red Gold Tomatoes Recipe from Me, Plus a Giveaway

I think I forgot how hectic Fall is, and we are still FIVE days away from the official calendar date. Anyone who knows me knows that my crockpot aka slow cooker is one of my favorite meal makers. I own three.

"The company, Red Gold-- is focused on slow cooking this Fall, and encouraging families to have a hot meal waiting after a busy school/work day.  Getting back into the Fall schedule is always busy, and slow cookers make mealtimes easier. What's more, in most families there's usually some delicious leftovers to freeze and reheat on another busy night! Using tomatoes in soups, stews and casseroles may also offer more nutrition: when tomatoes are heated, the antioxidant lycopene (linked to several health benefits) is released. Red Gold also will be hosting a promotion on its Facebook fan page starting today, September 17 during which they will give away two slow cookers a day for three weeks — that's 44 Crock-Pots. Just go to this link to fill out an entry form."

Red Gold recently sent me a variety-pack of tomatoes plus an apron, wooden spoon, and recipes. The kit contained 2 cans of crushed tomatoes, 1 can of diced tomatoes, 1 can of diced w/ green chiles, 1 can of diced with lime juice and cilantro and 1 can of diced with garlic and olive oil. The recipes are absolute must tries, Pulled Pork Sliders, Sausage & Sweet Potato Chili and Slow Cooker Mac & Cheese. Yummy! You can find all of Red Gold's slow cook recipes here.

I actually used the can of diced with garlic and olive oil and another I had in the pantry last week in my slow cooker. Have you ever had Macaroni Grill's Pasta Milano? Well, this recipe is like that, only its not. It has the chicken, tomatoes, and bowtie pasta, not the butter, the heavy cream sauce and a few other things. My family says it's a MAKE AGAIN!!

Let me know what you think!

Now, which one of my readers would like to receive their very own Red Gold Tomato Kit? All you have to do is enter on the easy Rafflecopter entry form below. Bonus entries are available!

Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising): Many thanks to Red Gold for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.

Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification. This Giveaway is open to U.S. only. a Rafflecopter giveaway

Chocolate Chocolate Banana Muffins Recipe

I like bananas. I don't like buying bananas at 54¢ per pound. I try to competitive ad shop them as much as possible if I can't get to Aldi- the cheapest place I have found to buy bananas. I bought these bananas on Wednesday at 44¢ per pound. 

They were green. Because that is the way I eat them. Firm. Now don't get me wrong. I have tried everything I can to preserve bananas. Separate them. Aluminum foil/Saran Wrap. And I even freeze. But today, I was just sick of it. I decided I needed to bake. BAKE? In the middle of Summer. Oh yes I did. Banana bread? Maybe. But I wanted something a little different.Something with chocolate.  Something that maybe I could make with school coming up, something that the kids could grab as a quick breakfast in place of a Poptart. So I went to Pinterest. There are lots of recipes. So I looked at a few and came up with this one. Modified from a bread recipe. I wasn't quite sure how it would turn out or how many it would make. I was happy with my results. 

Of course I let the kids lick the beaters. My Moma always let me....

Take a look at the inside of this muffin. Yummy. The kids loved them. Let's see if the Honey does when he gets home from work. Let me know if you try them. 

Ranch Style Pretzels Recipe

Today I walked into my kitchen and found this.

A split down the middle, opened bag of broken pretzels. Further down in my snack bucket I found some of its cousins in a ziploc bag- poor forgotten pretzel sticks.

For the love of snacks. For the love of my grocery bill this summer. Can we please quit wasting food? I mentioned in a post earlier this week that one of my favorite things to pack when we go to ball games is pretzels. So I decided to go ahead and prepare a fun twist on this snack for this weekend's games. 

Ranch Style Pretzels.

I bet they don't last past today, it's rainy.  It just takes 4 simple ingredients. 

I didn't have a full bag of pretzels, so I added popcorn to mine after I baked. Also, I ALWAYS mess up and grab the wrong Ranch mix. This one tastes just fine. Enjoy!

Today's Post: Foodie Friday at OkWB, Summer Salads

Today at Oklahoma Women Bloggers,  I am sharing a few of our nest's favorite Summer Salads. When the temperature starts climbing and activities start increasing I begin looking for quick and cold go to recipes. Be sure to head over to the post and leave a comment.

How Do You Aioli? And A Facebook Contest from Red Gold. #EasyAioli #RedGoldRecipes

First of all, what is aioli?

Aioli is a creamy mayo-like sauce that is used as a sandwich topping, dip or spread. It is usually made with mayo, tomatoes and other herbs and spices to give it a signature taste. It can be used on a variety of foods and adds a delightful taste to crab cakes, tacos, breads and more.

Red Gold Tomatoes sent me a 5-pack kit of different types of tomatoes, a red apron, a spreading knife and TEN of their new aioli recipes, as they are hoping to introduce more home cooks to aioli, and though many know and love such flavorful spreads, many are also unaware of how to make or use aioli.

The 5 cans included: 2 cans of diced tomatoes with Garlic/Olive Oil, 1 can of diced tomatoes with Lime & Cilantro, 1 can of diced tomatoes with Green Chilies, and 1 can of petite diced tomatoes. The recipes they sent me can be found here. They include: Best Year Round BLT, Flatbread Veggie Pizza, Fish Tacos. YUMMY! I have even included the recipe for the Best Year Round BLT below, because I know there are a lot of bacon lovers out there, right? 

The other night, I just wanted some dip. I opened the Lime & Cilantro and mixed it with 1/2 cup of light mayo and used tortilla chips. The kids loved it!!

BEST YEAR ROUND BLT with TOMATO AIOLI

MAKES 4 SERVINGS PREPARATION TIME: 20 MINUTES

1⁄2 cup light mayonnaise
1 (14.5 ounce) can RED GOLD® PETITE DICED TOMATOES 8 slices bread, variety of choice
4 large lettuce leaves
12 slices bacon, cooked and drained

Ground black pepper to taste
Combine mayonnaise and RED GOLD® PETITE DICED TOMATOES to make the Tomato Aioli.

Place lettuce on 4 slices of bread and then add three strips of bacon and top with Tomato Aioli and black pepper. Place slice of bread on top. Cut in half and serve.

NUTRITIONAL FACTS PER SERVING
Calories 320Fat 15g, Trans Fat 0g, Cholesterol 30mg, Sodium 740mg, Carbohydrate 30g, Fiber 4g, Protein 15g, Vitamin A 4%, Vitamin C 4%, Calcium 25%, Iron 10%

Which aioli are you? Red Gold is hosting a Facebook campaign from May 7-27th, where fans can win aprons or even a $250 prize pack that includes a Cuisinart Panini Grill and other great prizes. Just go to https://www.facebook.com/RedGold and select which aioli you think you are most like to enter.

Disclosure: Red Gold sent me product to review and write an honest post. No other compensation was received.

Happy Pi Day!

Happy Pi Day!

3.14

It's an unofficial holiday that celebrates the mathematical constant in the month and day that the numbers coincide with. Cool huh! 

Any reason to celebrate the day.

I think I will make a Strawberry Pie today. Do you have my recipe? Oh. You like the above pie plate. I made it last year for an auction. I love etching glass. Too fun. 

Enjoy!

Campbell's Heart Healthy: Recipes & Coupons

Heart Healthy.

Health is foremost on people’s minds, keeping your family in tip top shape can be a challenge in these busy times. I know for my own family it is a major challenge. 

Our children get plenty of exercise, but their parents do not. As students in school, they participate in programs such as the American Heart Association's Jump for Heart and we always wear our Red in February to promote awareness of heart disease in women. These are certainly acts to create awareness and steps but I know I must do more. 

Campbell’s Soup wants me and you to “Address Your Heart” with Heart Healthy Tips, recipes and more!

Visit AddressYourHeart.com to get heart-healthy tips, including 21 Campbell’s recipes that are certified by the AHA and product coupons, as well as Facebook.com/campbellskitchen for the latest Campbell’s recipes and offers.

I like to cook, but I don't always cook the "best for us" recipes. I try to make sure we have fresh fruits and vegetables, but sometimes that proves to be a challenge. I have included a few recipes from the AddressYourHeart.com site that I will be trying out soon in my kitchen. Don't these look wonderful? Quick and easy too! And as a bonus, Campbell's is giving me a link to share coupons with you. Love it!! Let me know if you try out these recipes. 

Tilapia & Vegetable Casserole



Louisiana-Style Chicken, Sausage & Shrimp Skillet

Broccoli Cheddar Rice

Grilled Bruschetta Chicken

Turkey Meatloaf





**This post is sponsored by Campbell Soup Company

A Very Pinteresting Christmas Day 11: Cinnamon Cream Cheese Taquitos

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My family NEVER eats an entire loaf of bread. Does yours? I usually feed the birds our old bread. But now I have found a way to feed the CROWS the bread before it gets old. 

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Taquitos.

Just the name sounds yummy right. I found this pin, and had to try it. 

Ingredients:

8 ounces cream cheese (one package) softened a little

1 cup white granulated sugar

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup white granulated sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon 

1 loaf white bread

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine cream cheese and 1 cup sugar, set aside.

In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon, pour onto small plate, set aside.

Melt butter in a small bowl, set aside.

Using a rolling pin or glass, roll  bread completely flat. Try to get them as flat as you can. Try not to tear. 

Place about one tablespoon cream cheese filling on bread and roll it up like a taquito. I spread mine with a butter knife. Carefully dip wrap in butter and roll in cinnamon mixture on the plate. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, and bake for 18-20 minutes or until a little crispy on the outside. 

I get about a dozen out of this recipe. I did mine slightly different than the original pin. I use my bread crust and she uses a different type of bread.

My kids loved this recipe! 

Be sure to tune in each day this week as I bring you "A Very Pinteresting Christmas" Linkup and if you have any Pinterest inspired activities throughout the week, be sure to grab the above button and linkup your ideas! "A Very Pinteresting Christmas" will be 15 days of Pinterest inspired food, fun, crafty days of linkups that all can be used during this wonderful season of joy. It will run from December 2-20 here at The 4-Crow's. I hope you will join in on the fun!

A Very Pinteresting Christmas Day 6: The Party

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I kicked off  "A Very Pinteresting Christmas" with a IRL Pinterest Party in my home Friday night. I invited a few of my closest friends for a night of food and fun crafting- yes those are a few of my favorite things this time of year!

Six friends-a teacher, a graphic artist, a cardiac nurse, neighbors all coming together for a night of Pinterest fun!

First of all, I took the easy road out and just sent a Facebook invite for the invitation. Yes, I could have got all crafty with that, but decided to save the surprises for the big night.

Here were the stipulations for the guests:

• Bring a Pinterest inspired dessert or horderve.
• This year we will be doing ONE craft! I am asking that everyone pitches in $5 to cover the cost of the supplies. I will need everyone to RSVP by 11/22 so I can prepare the projects. 
• Optional: Bring a Pinterest inspired gift project that you will be making this year and share it with everyone. 

If I covered the entire party in this post it would be looong and very overwhelming so I am going to give you pieces of it throughout this week.

Monday:  Drinks
Tuesday:  Project
Wednesday: Food

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 *Note, I use ONE frozen lemonade concentrate. 

This recipe is from one of the the girls I used to write with at The RHOK.

I used my stemware instead of plastic. Yeah, I like getting fancy when I entertain. Did you know that one way to mark your stems is by using a Chalk Marker? It stays on and washes right off! And is so pretty! 

I love Chalk Markers!

Be sure to tune in each day this week as I bring you "A Very Pinteresting Christmas" Linkup and if you have any Pinterest inspired activities throughout the week, be sure to grab the above button and linkup your ideas! "A Very Pinteresting Christmas" will be 15 days of Pinterest inspired food, fun, crafty days of linkups that all can be used during this wonderful season of joy. It will run from December 2-20 here at The 4-Crow's. I hope you will join in on the fun!

Today's Post: Foodie Friday, Snow Ice Cream

Today I am talking SNOW at OkWB! We saved this post for a snowy day and guess what....it happened. Oklahoma is snowed under. I share with you a few old wives tales, predictions and a special recipe that will be needed today. Oh, and I think today's snow is okay, considering it followed lots of sleet. The atmosphere should have been CLEAN.

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