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This alternative to a classic Italian lasagna is really delicious; different enough to pique interest, but not so alien as to be off-putting. And yes, like Betty Feezor’s wonderful American-style spaghetti sauce, it probably outrages my departed Italian mother, lol.

Not that we’re attending many potlucks these days, but this lasagna is always a hit. I like to let it cool in the fridge, then cut it into servings, wrap each piece in plastic wrap, put them in a Ziploc® freezer bag and toss it in the freezer. You can treat yourself to a nice entrée with only a couple of minutes in the microwave.

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Eugene, that Lasagna recipe sounds delicious!  I would have never thought of the bacon and Colby cheese, but I think it would be an excellent change of pace, and I’ll give this a whirl soon.  Thanks for sharing it.

 

BTW, hope your mouth is getting better after your wisdom tooth extraction.

 

Eddie
 
Eddie- Forgot to mention that although the original recipe calls for a 13” x 9” baking dish, I generally use a slightly smaller pan—about 8.5” x 11”. It’s actually a half-size insert pan for a standard rectangular catering chafer. It encourages the lasagna to remain a little taller while baking. I find that it spreads out a bit when using a larger dish. Or you could use 12 lasagna noodles, 1-1/2 pounds ground beef and an extra 8-oz. can of tomato sauce.

Just realized there’s a typo in the recipe. It should read “2 2.52 oz. boxes of precooked bacon.”

The wisdom tooth extraction couldn’t have gone better. The tooth was erupted (above the surface), so it was really no worse than having any other tooth pulled. Glad I chose to go with local anesthesia rather than sedation. I was impressed with my oral surgeon and the whole process, stitches and all, took under 10 minutes. Very little pain and swelling. My stitches started to come undone yesterday so I called her. She said not to worry as long as there wasn’t much bleeding, which there wasn’t. It was odd chewing on that piece of suture line yesterday. It must have come out over night, because I don’t feel it there this morning.

Bob- I love Mexican lasagna, too. The recipe I use calls for flour tortillas rather than lasagna noodles, but I find the pieces come out a little neater using the noodles.[this post was last edited: 7/1/2020-11:35]
 
Eugene

I’m glad to hear that your wisdom tooth extraction went well.  Thanks for the additional info re: the Lasagna recipe.  I have two of this size Pyrex baking dishes, so it will be no problem making the recipe as originally posted.

 

Keep getting well.

 

Eddie
 
<span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #008000;">Look at Eddie's burger buns. Perfectly baked and probably delicious even without the burger. Notice that's not a fancy $8,000 expensive range in the photo. A simple cooking appliance can turn out professional results when the chef is an expert. I like that lasagna recipe too. Bacon makes everything better especially when you don't have to go the messy chore of frying it. </span>
 
Thanks Joe!  Those burger buns are large, because when I make Cheeseburgers, the one time I really splurge on on meat portion size is then and I use a 1/2 lb of extra lean ground beef of each burger. These buns hold up to the big patty and don’t fall apart.  They taste almost like the buns at Carl’s Jr. on their largest burgers.

 

 Hint, when forming burgers to grill or broil form a 1/2” raised rim around the top perimeter (the center is indented) of the patty and make the patty just slightly larger than the bun.  Broil this side first. Then when you grill or broil the burger they will remain FLAT and make a perfect burger and fit the bun exactly for eating ease!

 

That BOL GE electric range is simply one of the very best stoves I’ve ever used.  It’s all old fashioned analog controls, no clock or timer. I have a great digital large faced timer that has a magnet on the back and I just stick it on the back panel when I use it.  And the chime continues until I turn it off, I never miss the signal to check whats cooking or baking.

 

 The calrod burners are fast and hot and the controls react almost instantly  to any change.  I could afford any expensive range on the market if I wanted one, but this old school appliance is the BEST.  Yes, I have to clean the oven manually, but thats about 30 mins of concentrated effort every 6 to 8 mo.  and I use this oven almost daily and I use the boiler at least twice a week.  And BTW, the boiler is also the best I’ve ever used too!  I can broil with the oven door closed and house doesn’t fill with smoke.  

 

If you are in the market for a new electric stove, get a GE BOL.  Sadly, this model now has the new burners that have temp control regulators, but I believe you can still switch them out with regular old fashioned GE calrod elements, at extra expense, and I think that it would be worth the money.  The 8” burners are 2600 watts and the 6” burners are 1500 watts.  I paid $339.00 for this stove on sale at Lowes in March 2017, and it was worth every penny.

 

Eddie

[this post was last edited: 7/1/2020-13:00]

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Eddie- Sometimes simpler is better! When customers would ask me about the difference between the $900 and $2600 Miele dishwasher, I literally told them, "bells and whistles." The more features and gadgets it has, the more that can go wrong! I mean, who needs lights inside the cabinet of the dishwasher??

(Full disclosure, I have one of these TOL $2600 dishwashers with the landing lights, but only because I bought it out of our local showroom when it closed, where it was installed in their live kitchen, for $100.)

Chuck
 
Chuck

I was raised with this philosophy about all appliances.  Simple is better.  If it gets to job done that's all you need.  All the extra bells and whistles are just more sh*t to break down as my parents always said.

 

Every time I’ve gone against this practice and purchased a higher end appliance I’ve been very disappointed.  After a few mistakes I learned my lesson.  I buy the most simply made appliances now and I’ve always been happy with them.

 

Eddie
 
True that!

Calrods are just as effiecient as gas. Induction the most. but expensive. Choices are nice. I like a gas cooktop, and an electric oven. Those are not made as low end model ranges. I guess one could plan their kitchen with a basic built in oven, and gas drop in cooktop.
 
We made

two versions of "Romano's Macaroni Grill's" Penne Rustica last month. One regular with the heavy cream, and another skinny version using only whole milk. It was just as good. It also has Proschutto, dry marsala, garlic, rosemary, chicken, and shrimp.
We miss that restaurant. Locally, it has closed since 3 years ago. Our kids had their wedding reception there, and they did a great job. We used to go for Mothers day, etc. They also did a great Thanksgiving dinner from what I heard.
 
Penne Rustica

Mike-

I found several versions (Epicurious, Food.com, etc.). Is there a particular one you use and did you do any tweaking (not twerking! LOL!) to it?

Chuck
 
That is the most revolting looking aspic I’ve ever laid eyes on! And that mess took a lot of work to put together too!  It looks like there are oysters in the top layer between the symmetrical rows of green pimento stuffed olives, YUK!

 

And the piping of yellow gunk around the perimeter and in the center looks like deviled egg yolks.

 

Finally, WHY would anyone also include slices of Kiwi with all these other savory ingredients.  This has got to be someones idea of a joke!

 

Eddie 
 
Yum Yum!

Eddie, loved your comments!!!

 

I tried to figure out what all was included - peas, kiwi, ham (spam?) olives, carrots - but wasn't sure about the brown/gray items around the top.  Mushrooms?  Black eye peas?  Oysters?  And the orange ring appears to be Cheese Whiz.  And in the middle.....  is that a dip?  Or just more Cheese Whiz?

 

Are you salivating yet????

 

lawrence
 
Staying At Home Cooking For Your Household

There was a great article in The Washington Post  food section about two weeks ago, where the writer talked about what a great time it is to finally lose the extra weight that over 1/2 half of Americans have wanted to loose for years but just don't succeed at.

 

Because you are now almost completely controlling every thing you buy and eat this has gotten a lot simpler, no more stuffing down huge expensive restaurant meals loaded with fat and salt [ but taste so good ]

 

Apparently this is happening around the Washington area, in the past two weeks I have been in at least 1/2 dozen homes where the owners that I have working for have me that they have lost from 15-30 pounds since this lock-down started, at least three of the customers looked so much better that I commented how good they looked, the others just told me about the weight loss as one of the benefits of staying home and cooking.

 

My self I was worried that I might gain weight doing all this cooking at home, The result so far I am still 150 pounds and 6 feet high, apparently I have shrunk 1/2", LOL

 

I guess there is a silver lining in any situation.

 

John L.
 
Eugene

the Chicken Taco Hotdish recipe looks great!  

 

I make a casserole very similar to this, but I use either tortilla chips or cut up tortillas, either corn or flour.   It’s something I make quite often, I’ll need to try it with the Fritos for a change.  I also like to use the Green Enchilada sauce sometimes instead of the red, and usually throw in some sliced black olives too.

 

Eddie
 
Weight-wise I'm yo-yoing a bit.  At 6'4" I've been down to 168lb (where I'd like to be...) and now at 178.  Been too inactive plus a bit too much baking bread and deserts.  Feeling a bit uncomfortable with the extra weight so it's gotta go.
 
Just an observation

I enjoy looking at all the pictures in this thread, a good stimulation for others to cook more at home I'm sure.

Over and over again I noticed though that in general there is more meat than vegetables on a lot of plates. I guess for most people here meat is still the main part of the meal. Is that what you plan your meals around? I'm used to having more vegetables than meat on a plate. The Dutch food advisory organisation used to set the norm for two pieces of fruit and 200 grams (7 oz) of vegetables per day. Meat should be limited to 500 grams (1lb and 1.6 oz) per week with a limit of 300 grams of red meat per week for a healthy diet. When I started eating according the rules I was amazed how big the amount of vegetables is you need for a healthy diet. And recently they raised the norm to 250 grams (8.8 oz) of vegetables per day.

And then I watched a video on Youtube from a German doctor who advised people with diabetes to eat 500 grams of vegetables per day. That is more than a whole American pound of vegetables every day!

So if you are thinking of changing your diet, a bit less meat and some more veggies would be a good start.
 
Ha.

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">Sixteen servings??  Really?  Man, not in this house. Joe and I would tear that up!!  Having said that I will say we don't eat like that every day but something like that would be a treat for us.  Luckily he's not a big fan of casserole type dishes as I am so that would be a once in awhile thing.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">Also, I would make a healthy version with Low Fat Chicken Broth and Fat Free cream soup.  <span style="font-size: 8pt;">Ralph ducks and runs!!</span></span>
 

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