Salt And Pepper | Dolly Domestic

This was a shopping day for me, and an eating out day for Mike. He bought lunch for himself and a friend who was helping with the workshop. Fair trade. Their lunch (at Wendy’s) cost about $16 (no receipt since he didn’t realize the contest was still in effect).

My shopping took me to Sam’s Club and a quick stop at Harris Teeter on the way home. Sam’s was to pick up sandwich rolls, sliced ham, cream, milk and a big bag of pre-cut salad (2.77 for 3 lbs). I spent $19.05 there. At Harris Teeter I stopped to pick up some Pepsi for my husband’s helper and splurged on a few pounds of cherries (on sale for 1.77/lb) for a total of $7.76.

Before I left to go shopping, I threw the ingredients for a loaf of bread into my bread maker. I use an easy potato bread recipe, and in this case, shaped it into a large, oblong loaf. I love the added body the potatoes create.

For dinner I made a no-boil lasagna recipe, using some homemade Italian sausage for the meat. I think sausage, instead of hamburger, makes all the difference in lasagna. With the lasagna we had a tossed green salad, fresh homemade bread, and green beans straight out of the garden. Yum!

Virginia’s Easy Lasagna

1 lb Italian Sausage
2 Eggs
1/2 tsp Salt
3 cups Spaghetti Sauce (large can)
1-1/2 cups Water
15 oz Ricotta
8 oz Mozzarella Cheese — shredded, DIVIDED
1/2 cup Grated Parmesan
1/4 cup Parsley — chopped
1/4 tsp Ground Black Pepper
8 oz Lasagna Noodles — 9 pieces, uncooked

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large sauce pan, brown meat; drain. Add spaghetti sauce and water; simmer about 10 minutes.

In medium bowl, stir together ricotta, one-half mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, eggs, parsley, salt and pepper.

Pour about 1 cup sauce on bottom of 13 x 9 inch baking dish (spray with Pam for easy clean up). Arrange 3 UNCOOKED pasta pieces lengthwise over sauce; cover with about 1 cup sauce. Spread one-half cheese filling over sauce. Repeat layers of lasagna, sauce and cheese filling. Top with layer of lasagna and remaining sauce; sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese.

Cover with foil and bake 45 minutes. Remove foil; bake additional 15 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

Easy Potato Bread

3 oz water
6 oz milk
1/4 cup instant potato flakes
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp salt
1-1/2 tbsp sugar
3 cups bread flour
2 tsp Yeast, Active Dry

Put ingredients in bread machine in order listed. Set machine for 1-1/2 lb, dough setting. Start.

When the dough is ready, take it out of the machine and set it on a floured counter to rest for a few minutes.

Shape into an oblong loaf.

Let rise for 35 minutes in a warm place.

Bake for 20 minutes in a pre-heated 375° oven.

For dinner tonight we had BBQ pork sandwiches on my very own recipe for Super Sandwich Rolls. Since I’d heard several times lately that coleslaw was great on BBQ sandwiches, I used up the last of my cabbage and whipped some up to go with the dinner.

No shopping today. Lots of “grazing” on our existing stockpiles.

I’m anxiously awaiting more tomatoes from my garden and my tomatillos (never grew those before!). I’ve had ONE tomato so far. These plants went into the ground in April, so I don’t know what’s going on.

Quick & Simple Coleslaw

1/2 head of cabbage, shredded
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 T cider vinegar
1 T sugar (or splenda)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Mix everything together except the cabbage with a whisk. Toss dressing with cabbage. Done!

If you’re not going to serve the coleslaw immediately, you should really bleed the cabbage by sprinkling the shredded cabbage generously with salt in a large bowl, then cover it with a plate to weight it down and let it sit for an hour or 2 in the fridge. That will draw the extra water out of it. Drain it and RINSE WELL. Use a salad spinner to get the water out, if need be. Then mix with your dressing and you won’t have watery coleslaw.