Confectionery Canary

What you'll Need:
Yields about 4-6 servings in a 9x9 pan
- About 10 lasagna sheets broken in half (depends on pan size and number of layers)
- 1 cup cooked ground chicken
- 1/4 onion or 2 Tbs finely diced
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 Tbs parsley
- 1 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
- 1 can tomato sauce
- 1 Tbs tomato paste
- 1/4 cup cream
- Italian seasoning, garlic powder, paprika, salt, pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 365.  Combine tomato sauce, paste, a sprinkle of salt and pepper, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, and 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning.  If you have the time, skip the garlic powder and saute some minced garlic and onion with a little olive oil until translucent, then add your tomato sauce etc.  Simmer sauce on low until ready to layer lasagna.  Boil water for noodles.  Brown ground chicken.  Salt boiling pasta water and add in lasagna sheets.  Season cooked chicken with diced onions, salt, pepper, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp paprika, and 1/4 tsp Italian seasoning, leave on heat for a couple more minutes until the onions become translucent.  I don't use nonstick pans, so I get good brown flavor on the bottom of my frying pan from cooking the chicken.  I like to add a couple tablespoons of water to the hot pan to loosen it up and mix that in with the chicken so no flavor gets lost!  Drain pasta sheets at al dente so you can still handle them without them breaking as easily as a fully cooked pasta sheet would.  Remove sauce from heat and add 1/4 cup cream to cut the acidity of the tomatoes and make it richer.  You can also add a little less cream and about a tablespoon of pasta water to make your sauce even smoother if you'd like.  Mix ricotta with egg, a bit of salt, pepper, garlic powder, and the parsley.  Now it's time to layer!  I like to start with a little sauce in the bottom of my greased pan, then put down my first layer of lasagna sheets, followed by 1/3 of the ricotta mixture, a handful of the mozzarella, 1/3 of the cooked chicken, a ladle of sauce, then repeat until you get to the top layer.  I add a final layer of lasagna sheets, a ladle of sauce and tons of mozzarella to the top.  Then place into oven for about 35-45 minutes until it gets golden brown and bubbly.  We like this meal with garlic bread and a salad.

Here's a simple weeknight recipe I threw together the other night when we were in the mood for tacos but something different. Keep in mind this recipe will feed 3 to 4 people tops. Just double the ingredients for a bigger family.

What you'll need:
-1 box Kraft macaroni & cheese
    (or homemade)
-1/3 cup milk
-1 teaspoon butter
-1/4 cup salsa
-1/2 lb ground beef
-1/2 packet taco seasoning
-1/4 cup water
-Tortilla chips or crushed taco shells
-1/2 cup Mexican cheese

Directions:
Boil macaroni noodles until tender. In a medium skillet brown ground beef, add taco seasoning and water. Mix well and let simmer. Drain pasta, add milk, butter, cheese and salsa. Salt and pepper to taste.  Mix well.  Pour macaroni into pan, layer on taco meat, chips or crushed taco shells and cheese.  Bake for 10 minutes and enjoy!  (I used a loaf pan, any smaller sized pan will work for this amount) You can top with more salsa, sour cream, or leave out the chips/shells and serve over tortilla chips and lettuce.