Lazy Lasagna or "Busy Mom's Lasagna"

Our family loves lasagna but I don’t make very often because I’ve always felt like it was so time consuming.  Well, I found this recipe last week on Pinterest and it’s my type of recipe.  It’s FAST, QUICK AND EASY and the boys all LOVED it.  I served it to their friends and it was a hit with them all too.  So, it’s a keeper for sure around here.  I added meat to mine as the original recipe didn’t call for any meat.

• 1- 24 oz. jar Spaghetti sauce
• 1/2 Pound Cooked Ground Pork or Beef
• 1- 25 oz. bag Frozen Ravioli (I use the cheese stuffed kind)
• 2 Cups Mozzarella Cheese
• 1/3 Cup Parmesan Cheese (optional)
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease a 9x13 baking dish.

Cook the ground meat.  Spread about 3/4 cup of your marinara sauce into the bottom of your baking dish. Then spread the cooked meat over the sauce.
Arrange half of the frozen ravioli in a single layer over the sauce.  Top with remaining sauce and half of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat the layers starting with what's left of the frozen ravioli.  Finish by topping with the remainder of the sauce and mozzarella. Sprinkle with Parmesan if you’d like.

Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove the foil and continue baking for about 15 more minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and starting to brown.

Let it cook for 5-10 minutes, and then serve alone or with garlic bread, salad, or veggies.  ENJOY!!!

Chester’s Puff Corn (aka Sin Crunch)

This stuff is so dangerous left around our home!  LOL! I can not stay out of it!  It’s so addicting!  It is incredibly delicious! The recipe is from the Holdeman Mennonite Cookbook (Prairie Range” that was submitted by Renee Schmidt.  

2 Bags Chester’s Puff Corn
1 Cup Butter
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Light Corn Syrup
1 Tsp. Baking Soda
1 Pkg. Almond Bark

Combine butter, brown sugar, and syrup in pan.  Bring to boil.  Reduce temperature and stir for 7 minutes.  Stir in baking soda.  Put puff corn in a large stainless steel bowl or roaster and pour mixture over, stirring to coat.  Bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour stirring every 15 minutes.  Lay out flat on wax paper.  Melt almond bark and drizzle over puff corn with slotted spoon.  Let harden and then put in closed container and keep sealed for freshness.

Coffee Punch

This punch has become a New Year’s Eve tradition for our family.  It is so yummy and has enough caffeine in it to keep us all awake playing games until Midnight to watch the New Year come in.  LOL! 

1 Quart Triple Strength Coffee Brewed (Approximately 3 cups water and 2 heaping tablespoons coffee)
1/2 Cup sugar
Stir to dissolve and chill.
1/2 Pint Heavy Cream
1 1/2 T. Vanilla Extract
1/2 Gallon Chocolate Ice Cream
1/2 Gallon Vanilla Ice Cream

Combine everything but the ice cream and refrigerate until ready to make the punch. 

When ready to serve or just 30 minutes before hand, add the ice cream to a punch bowl and pour the coffee mixture over it and mix or mash with potato masher and leave a little lumpy.  Sometimes you will need more liquid and you can add milk or more brewed coffee.  We also like to drizzle chocolate syrup on top too.

You can freeze the leftovers and thaw an hour or so before serving time again.  Delicious!  Like my Mom says, It tastes like STARBUCKS!

New Year’s Cookies

When I was growing up, Mom would make these each day on New Year’s Day.  They were also a big treat when we’d attend the Annual MCC Sale that was held here at Fairview.  About 3 years ago I was craving them so bad and Mom hadn’t been able to make them for several years due to her health so I decided to try and make them myself. for the first time.  I’ve always been leery about trying anything with yeast in it but decided to give it a try. They turned out surprisingly really good and my family loved them as much as I did and have requested them since then every year.  We now make a double batch each New Years' Day and deliver them to all our neighbors too to wish them a Happy New Year!  It’s become a fun tasty tradition! 

I’ve tried a couple different recipes I’ve found but my Mom uses the one from Lillian Nickel in the MB Church Cookbook and I’ve used that one too and it seems to always turn out the best.
 
2 1/2 T. dry granular yeast
1/2 c. warm water
2 c. milk, scalded
3 eggs (beaten)
1/3 c. cooking oil
2/3 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg (optional)
About 5 c. flour (maybe a little more if needed)
2-3 cups raisins

Mix the yeast in the warm water and let it soften while you beat the eggs and measure out the rest of the ingredients.  Then mix all ingredients into the yeast mixture, using enough flour to make it a very soft, spoonable dough.  Let rise until double in bulk, then fry by spoonfuls in hot oil or shortening until as brown as desired and cooked through.  Drain (I put mine on paper towels to soak up the grease) and then roll in granulated sugar.  They are so YUMMY and best eaten warm. 

Avalanche Cookies

I first made these over a year ago for the concession stand of one of Hunter’s Football Games.  They are so easy and quick to make and were a big hit.  My boys have asked for them several times since then and they are gluten free too, which is a plus in our family.

1 Pkg. White Almond Bark
2 Cups Rice Krispies Cereal
3/4 Cup Peanut Butter
1 Cup Mini Chocolate Chips
1 Cup Mini-Marshmallows

First put your mini-chocolate chips in the freezer, while you prepare the rest.  Melt the Almond Bark in microwave.  Stir in the peanut butter and the rice Krispy cereal.  Stir in the marshmallows too and lastly put the chocolate chips from the freezer in.  Note:  Make sure the mixture isn’t too warm or the chocolate chips will all melt, which is still good but doesn’t look as pretty.  Take a cookie scoop and drop by spoonfuls on wax paper.  Wait about 30 minutes to an hour before they set up .  Enjoy!