Spinach Cheese Manicotti

recipe adapted from this!
I made some out of egg roll wrappers and some out of crepes- both were good

INGREDIENTS: (makes about 15 rolls)
6 crepes
9 egg roll wrappers (or use 15 egg roll wrappers if you skip the crepes)
1 big jar pasta sauce
filling:
1 pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed/drained
15oz ricotta
1 egg
8oz shredded mozzarella, save some extra for topping
4oz shredded italian/provel cheese
4oz cream cheese/neufchatel, softened
4oz grated parmesan
dash of dried parsley
dash of garlic powder

DIRECTIONS: (I filled a 9x13" and an 8x8" baking dish)
Preheat oven to 375F.
Mix filling ingredients in a bowl.
(Optional) make crepes.
Spread some pasta sauce in bottom of pan(s).
Spread spinach mixture at the end of each crepe/egg roll, and roll up tightly.
Lay each roll in dish, then top with remaining pasta sauce, then sprinkle with shredded cheese.
Bake, covered with foil for 20min. (slightly longer if refrigerated beforehand).

We served these with grilled Guinness brats, and chicken breast filets that I marinated in a mixture of:  McCormick garlic&herb marinade packet, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, ranch dressing, honey, maple syrup, brown sugar, minced garlic.
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Crepes

Use crepes for entrees or dessert! Durr!

INGREDIENTS: (makes 6)
1 c flour
1 c milk
1 egg, beaten and mixed with 1 t salt

DIRECTIONS:
Heat up 6 or 8" nonstick skillet over med-med/hi heat.
Mix everything in a bowl.
Pour 1/4 c of batter into skillet, tilt around till it spreads out.
Cook 30-35 sec, then use spatula to flip the crepe over and cook the other side for about 10 sec.
Repeat, using 1/4c for each crepe.

Use crepes to make blintzs or manicotti etc

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Crescent Chicken Rollups

Recipe adapted from this

INGREDIENTS:

2 cans refrigerated crescent rolls
filling:
4 chicken breasts, cooked/shredded (I cooked in slow cooker with a can of cream of mushroom soup/seasonings the day before)
8oz cream cheese (or neufchatel), softened
4T butter, softened
8oz lite sour cream
1/4 c milk
few dashes of garlic powder
few dashes of onion flakes
8oz shredded provel
salt/pepper to taste

8oz mozzarella cheese (leave out of mixture)

sauce:
2 cans cream of chicken (low sodium)
8oz shredded cheddar, plus more for topping

coating:
2 eggs, beaten
1c crushed up cheezits

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350F.
Mix together the filling ingredients in a bowl.
Mix sauce ingredients in saucepan over low heat. Spread sauce in a greased 9x13" baking dish.
Unroll the crescent rolls, spread some of the extra mozzarella in each one, fill with big heap of the chicken mixture, and wrap the things up.
In one small bowl put the 2 beaten eggs, and put the cheezits in another bowl.
Dip each crescent chicken roll monstrosity in egg then cover with cheezits. Place in the baking dish.
Sprinkle any leftover shredded cheddar over everything.
Bake ~30min.

*When I made these, I poured the chicken soup/cheese mixture on top of everything before baking. It came out kinda sloppy, they were a lot easier to serve after they cooled. I'm def going to put the sauce on the bottom next time.

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Parmesan Crusted Grilled Steak

Recipe adapted from this recipe! Skirt steak is really stringy/fatty so I used a shoulder cut instead!

INGREDIENTS:
2-3 lb steak for grilling (I used 1 strip cut lengthwise and 4 medallion shoulder cut)
marinade: (I guesstimated on the measurements)
1/2 c olive oil
1/2 c ranch
3T Worcestershire
3T minced garlic
dash of pepper
few dashes of fav steak seasoning

topping:
1/2 c bread crumbs
1/3 c shredded parmesan
dash garlic salt
2t melted butter

DIRECTIONS:
Combine marinade ingredients in a big ziplock bag and put the steak in with it. Marinade 2+ hours in fridge (I marinated it overnight).
Fire up grill and cook steak till desired doneness.
While steak is cooking mix together the topping and preheat oven broiler.
Transfer steak to a baking rack / pan. Top each steak with the topping.
Heat under broiler till cheese is melted, like 2-3min.

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Biscuits & Gravy Casserole

I combined this recipe with this recipe to get this:

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb sausage, cooked/crumbled
1 tube Grands (or Grands Jr) biscuits
6 eggs
2 packets of sausage gravy mix
1/4 c water
1 c milk
garlic powder/salt/pepper (to taste)
8oz shredded cheddar
8oz shredded mozzarella (or whatever other cheese)

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350F.
Cook sausage. Drain.
In a medium bowl beat the eggs, then mix in 1 gravy mix packet, milk, water, half the cheese, seasonings.
Tear up biscuit dough and place in bottom of a greased 8x8" or 9x9" pan. Sprinkle half the remaining cheese over it.
Layer the sausage on top of the biscuits. Then top with the rest of the cheese.
Pour the egg mixture over everything.
Cover with foil & bake 35-45min, till cheese is melted and eggs are set. (I raised temp to 375 cuz it was taking too long)
Prepare the other packet of gravy mix according to package directions, serve over the casserole.

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Beer Cheezit Muffins

recipe adapted from this holy crap these are good!!

INGREDIENTS: (makes about 38 mini-muffins)
12oz beer (I used good ol Busch)
2 large eggs
dash onion powder
dash garlic powder
4c "all purpose" baking mix
8oz shredded lite sharp cheddar
1c crushed up Cheezits

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 400F.
In a bowl stir together everything except the cheezits. Fill greased mini-muffin tins with the batter.
Top each muffin with crushed up cheezits.
Bake 13-15 min.

Tasted awesome served with cheese-garlic spread

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Lasagna

Recipe adapted/modified from this!!

 INGREDIENTS: (makes a 10x14" -ish pan size)
1 lb ground sweet Italian sausage
1 lb lean ground beef
12-14 oz sausage, sliced (I used Aidells brand, "roasted garlic & gruyere" flavor)
5 t minced garlic

1/2 an onion (or a small onion), minced
(optional) 8oz canned sliced mushrooms

12 oz tomato paste
15oz crushed tomatoes
14.5oz diced tomatoes
~15oz  alfredo sauce
~15oz  pasta sauce
pinch of sugar
(I guesstimated for these seasonings):
2t basil
2t Italian seasoning

dash of pepper
6t fresh parsley, chopped

lasagna noodles (I used a combo of around 10 lasagna noodles and around 8 "no boil" flat rolled type noodles). I bought a box of each and used the flat noodles on the bottom layer, and the other type for the top 2 layers.
16oz ricotta cheese
1 egg
dash of salt
16oz (drained wt canned sliced mushrooms)
8oz deli mozzarella ball
8oz shredded mozzarella
8oz shredded parmesan
8oz grated parmesan


DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375F.
Fill a pot with hot water and soak (or boil) the noodles that require pre-cooking, till they are pliable/al-dente. After they are done rinse with cool water, dry off, and set aside.
Make the sauce:
       In a big skillet cook the ground sausage, ground beef, onion, and minced garlic over med heat till
       browned.
       Add in all the tomato/sauces and seasonings, and half the parsley. Remove from heat.
Make ricotta mixture:
       In a medium bowl combine the ricotta, egg, dash of salt, and other half of parsley.
Assemble in a big greased baking pan:
   Bottom layer: spread some of the meat sauce, then a layer of the flat-rolled noodles, half of the ricotta mixture, shredded parmesan.
Continue layering sauce, noodles, cheeses, (add a layer of mushrooms and sliced sausage in there somewhere). After you have 3 noodle layers, finish off the top with shredded cheese topped with sliced pieces of the deli mozzarella ball.
Spray underside of a piece of foil with cooking spray, and bake the lasagna 25 min foil-covered, and then 25min uncovered.

note: I have made this omitting ground beef, and using smoked turkey sausage instead of the Aidells kind.

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