Marie Callender's Meat Lasagna

Lasagna is one thing in particular I prefer to make at home because it's just kind of fun to do, layering all that cheesy meaty saucy goodness together and watching it bubble up in the oven.

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

Careful there might be a Lasagna loving cat around. ;)

My mom made home made lasagna once, it was good.

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

Well, THIS cat sure loved the lasagna last night!
It was delicious. And I have plenty left over for a few more replays.
Just gotta nuke it up to temp and voila.
Also have some fresh shredded mozzarella cheese to sprinkle on before I reheat it.
Garfield's got nothing on this cat.

Meow!

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

Speaking of bananas, how much per pound are they where you live? They used to be 29 cents a pound for a long time here, but my most recent purchase was 49 cents/pound.

On a recent store receipt it says I paid 46 cents a pound - "was 68 cents" a pound. To tell the truth, I
really don't pay much attention to the price of bananas. But I don't recall them ever actually being
68 cents a pound. I'll pay closer attention from now on.

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~Sue~

I saw a thing online about wrapping the banana stems with plastic wrap to
keep the bananas from ripening too fast. I tried it and couldn't get the
plastic wrap to actually "seal" around the stems, so I tried aluminum foil.
That actually works. (Although I seem to be the only person I know who
thinks so.)

I like bananas when they're still a little firm and green. Once they get soft
and mushy they go into the freezer to be thrown out at some future date
to make banana bread.

Edit: The mushy ones are good in fruit smoothies, too.

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~Sue~

Rally's(Checkers in some parts of the country) has a delicious banana milkshake!

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

I've been having a devil of a time finding coffee ice cream in the grocery lately.

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

I've been having a devil of a time finding coffee ice cream in the grocery lately.

I like Rum Raisin. The Mayan Chocolate was good to with a cinnamon flavor and chunks of chocolate.

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I've been having a devil of a time finding coffee ice cream in the grocery lately.

I like Rum Raisin. The Mayan Chocolate was good to with a cinnamon flavor and chunks of chocolate.

Gosh, I haven't seen Rum Raisin in ages! The Mayan Chocolate sounds good. I don't know what happened to plain old coffee. I even called Kroger and they said they'd put in a request for me. (I'm such a troublemaker)

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

I've been having a devil of a time finding coffee ice cream in the grocery lately.

I like Rum Raisin. The Mayan Chocolate was good to with a cinnamon flavor and chunks of chocolate.

Gosh, I haven't seen Rum Raisin in ages! The Mayan Chocolate sounds good. I don't know what happened to plain old coffee. I even called Kroger and they said they'd put in a request for me. (I'm such a troublemaker)

I think Wednesday Addams would say something about "Mayan Chocolate", like: "Is Mayan Chocolate, made w/real Mayans?" Talk about something dark, and I was a kid then.

Note: I go to a Kroger subsidiary, I asked if "Food4Less" could carry something, instead of Me going to a competitor to buy what I wanted, He said they just send US what they think We should sell, so I asked If He could suggest it, He said He'd try, but no guarantee they'd be able to carry it.

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

I've been having a devil of a time finding coffee ice cream in the grocery lately.

I like Rum Raisin. The Mayan Chocolate was good to with a cinnamon flavor and chunks of chocolate.

Gosh, I haven't seen Rum Raisin in ages! The Mayan Chocolate sounds good. I don't know what happened to plain old coffee. I even called Kroger and they said they'd put in a request for me. (I'm such a troublemaker)

Try Wal-Mart. There selection is really getting slim ATM. Other ice creams are crowding it out.

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Kentucky Fried Chicken needs to get their act together. I'm having some friends over, and went out to get a 12 piece chicken bucket. I asked for 4 breasts, and the rest thighs. After paying, while waiting for my bucket, I see on my receipt I was up-charged 99 cents for an extra breast. I inquired about this, and was told they only allow 3 breasts per 12 piece bucket, otherwise they charge extra. Well, that's fine, but tell the customer this before you ring it up! Once I got back in my car, I looked inside and it was Original Recipe. I ordered Extra Crispy. No problem - I go back in and they apologized and assembled the Extra Crispy for me. Now that I'm home, I took the pieces out and there are only 10! Ridiculous comedy of errors.

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

Just got off the phone with the restaurant, and they asked for my name. They said they've added me to "the Book", and said I'm in there now for a replacement meal the next time I come in. The fact that they even have such a "book" is kind of weird. They must be making mistakes all over the place, lol.

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

You're lucky, here the Barstow KFC either went out of business or was just closed down by Corporate.

On the other hand, Yermo is getting a new LARGE gas station, no idea what company is behind it all, it's at Calico Rd and Calico Blvd.

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

The closest KFC to me closed several years ago, turned into a Caribou Coffee, and is now Peet's Coffee. The next closest one closed and is now an independent burger/beef/gyros joint. The next closest one is now a Starbucks (or something like that). The next one ripped me off on a screwed up order like Gordon's and has since closed. The next closest one smelled disgusting the last time I went in, plus a friend said not to go there, so I won't. And anyway, I just don't like it as much as I used to.

Last night, I found out my go-to Chinese carry-out is closed and apparently has been at least since December. There is a sticker on the door that does NOT say it was closed by the Board of Health, but does say no one can serve food there without BoH permission. There's one about a half mile closer to me, but I don't like it. The one a couple miles closer is okay, but you have to climb up a flight of stairs to get to it. I should see if they deliver (but I don't like to pay delivery fees).

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

Last night, I found out my go-to Chinese carry-out is closed and apparently has been at least since December. There is a sticker on the door that does NOT say it was closed by the Board of Health, but does say no one can serve food there without BoH permission. There's one about a half mile closer to me, but I don't like it. The one a couple miles closer is okay, but you have to climb up a flight of stairs to get to it. I should see if they deliver (but I don't like to pay delivery fees).

There's a Chinese place close to me that I wish was good, but it just isn't. In fact, I don't even understand how it stays open. There's never any customers, and I've been by there many different times and days of the week. The building itself is kind of ramshackle, but they have an "A" grade and "100%" posting from the health dept. in their window. It's a very bizarre place; like it's a front for something.

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

This is a coincidence. I am having KFC tonight.

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Me I'm having what is in My freezer tonight, fish and veggies.

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

Last year, I started working part time for a local university. Ah, the glamorous life of teaching... 30 hours of actual work for every 10 hours of pay. While I actually LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my new job, our dinners suffer a bit on the days I am scheduled to work. A typical dinner for us on one of my work days is crackers and cheese, or pita and hummus. I round out these "desperation dinners" with crudite, olives, fresh or dried fruit etc. Eric never- ever complains (especially if there is wine), but every once in a while I have to remind Ol Pookers that I actually can cook. Tonight is one of those evenings. I picked up a small pork roast that I will serve with sauteed snap peas and a potato dish. Eric is from the midwest, so he never met a meat and potatoes combination he didn't like. The vegetables are for my benefit. Being a California native, I like lots of green on my plate.

Anyway, if you cook this potato dish, I promise you that your family will devour it, and look around for more.

Potato Mushroom Scallop

4-6 large Yukon Gold potatoes
3 Tbsps butter
10 ounces button mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
a sprinkle of salt
3 Tbsps flour
1.5 cups half and half
1/2 tsp salt
ground black pepper to taste
a generous dash of nutmeg
a generous dash of cayenne pepper
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tsps dry sherry
2-3 sliced scallions
1/4 cup dry breadcrumbs
2 Tbsps grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (or any other grated hard, dry cheese)
1-2 Tbsps melted butter
1-2 Tbsps chopped fresh parsley

1. Boil the potatoes in their jackets until tender, about 50-60 minutes; remove potatoes from water and let cool a bit, then slice to potatoes - skins and all
2. Saute the mushrooms in the 3 Tbsps. of butter, with a sprinkling of salt to help draw out their moisture
3. When the mushrooms are nearly done, sprinkle in the 3 Tbsps of flour and toast the flour to get rid of the raw taste
4. Stir in the half and half, 1/2 tsps of salt, the ground black pepper, the nutmeg and the cayenne pepper - stir the flour in well. The mixture will look a bit thin, but bring it to a boil and cook 1 minute. It will thicken right up.
5. Remove from heat, let cool a bit, then stir in the sour cream, sherry and scallions
6. Gently fold in the sliced potatoes
7. Place the potato mixture in a flat, buttered baking pan (No high sides, you want the topping to brown)
8. Mix breadcrumbs, cheese, melted butter and fresh parsley together, and sprinkle crumb topping over potatoes
9. At this point you can pop the whole dish into the fridge for a day or two, or bake it off right away
10. Bake uncovered, at 325 degrees, until hot through, and top is crispy (this may take anywhere from 30 to 50 minutes, depending how chilled the whole dish is.
11. Remove from oven and let sit 5-10 minutes before serving.

Serves 6-8, depending on how much your family likes potatoes and mushrooms. The left-overs keep fine in the fridge and can be microwaved.

Caution, this is not a "diet dish", but it is worth every ridiculous calorie.

Enjoy!

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