Creamy Chive Mashed Potatoes

I'm getting really exctied to have company this Thanksgiving. I've been trying a few new things and I really like this, mostly because I love mashed potatoes and chives. It's a nice twist.

5 medium potatoes, peeled
1 1/2 salt, divided
4 oz cream cheese, softened
2 Tbs. butter, softened
2 Tbs. chives
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4-1/2 cup buttermilk or sour milk

Boil potatoes with 1 teaspoon salt. Drain.

Mash potatoes until smooth. Add cream cheese, butter, chives, pepper and remaining salt; gradually beat in buttermilk. Yield 4-5 servings.

I only used half the cream cheese it asked for and still made it really creamy. I never have buttermilk or sour milk so I measure out milk and put a little lemon juice in it, let it sit for 5 minutes and it will sour.

Pizza Braid

Here's what I made for Kaitlyn's birthday party. (This is not my picture, but this is the way I made it)

Ingredients:

1 can of refridgerated pizza dough (or your homemade dough)

sauce

cheese

favorite pizza toppings

1. Open the can of dough and roll it out to a rectangle.

2.Make a line of sauce in the middle and cover with your favorite pizza toppings.

3. Using a pizza cutter, cut strips in the dough on both sides of the rectangle. Fold the strips of dough over each other. Seal the edges.

4. Bake in oven according to dough package directions.

5. Enjoy!!

Yummy 15 Bean Soup

Disclaimer: This is not my recipe I just use the recipe off of the package of "Hurst's Ham Beens 15 Bean Soup Cajun flavor." It's a bag of dry beans that is usually around $1.00. It makes a ton of really good soup. It's awesome food storage. We have a lot of these dry bean soup packages in our pantry. Anyway, here's the recipe. If you can't read it, click on the picture and it will take you to the website. Oh, and there's alot more flavors than just "Cajun" That's just our favorite.
The package is just a bag of 15 different kinds of dry beans with a flavor packet in it. You don't have to use the flavor packet. You can add any flavors you like.

Bean Soup

Does anyone have a good recipe for bean soup...nine bean soup etc? With fall coming I'm wanting to try some new soups. Thanks

Ben's version of "World's Best Lasagna"

So, I got this recipe from allrecipes.com but tweaked it quite a bit with some help from commentors. It's a bit time consuming, but not really, the longest part is letting the sauce simmer....but the best red sauces always have to simmer for quite a while in my book.

Red Sauce
1 lb sweet italian sausage
1 lb lean ground beef
1 onion, minced
3-4 garlic cloves, crushed (trust me)
2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes
2 (6 oz) cans tomato paste
2 (6.5 oz) cans tomato sauce
1/2 C water
1 teaspoon sugar (if any, og. called for 2T)
1/2 - 2/3 C fresh chopped basil (fresh is best)
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
NO SALT (og. called for 1T!!, does NOT need it)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Cheese Mixture
32 oz. Ricotta Cheese
1 egg
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsely
1/2 teaspoon salt

Other Ingredients
lasagna noodles (12 or so)
Mozzarella cheese, sliced (1 -2 lbs.)
Parmesan cheese, grated (not the powder kind) about 1 1/2 C

1. In a large sauce pan, sautee onion and garlic with a small amount of olive oil or butter, then add and cook sausage and ground beef until well browned. Drain the fat ( the sausage produces a lot, it took me quite a while to get all the fat out). Stir in diced tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, italian seasoning, pepper, and 2T parsley. Simmer covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. (As long as you can, the longer the better)

2. Don't boil the lasagna noodles, soak about 12 noodles in a pan ( I used the 9 x 13 dish) of hot tap water for 20 - 30 minutes. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, 2 T parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

3. To assemble, spread a layer of meat sauce on the bottom of baking dish (at least 9 x 13). Arrange noodles over meat sauce.(I used 4 to 5 noodles, breaking some to fit everywhere). Spread a layer of ricotta cheese mixture over noodles. Top with a layer of sliced mozzarella cheese (I used about 6 or 7 slices). Spoon another layer of meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Repeat layers ending with sliced mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Cover with foil (to prevent sticking, spray the foil with cooking spray).

4. Cook in preheated 375 degree oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving (this helps it to set up nicely).

I actually made a 9x13 pan and a smaller half size one with this amount (so I used about 15 noodles total)

So there you have it, Luigi's Love Nest 2009 version, main entree.

White chocolate PB sandwhich treats

Ingredients:

Ritz Crackers

Peanut Butter

Melted white chocolate (I like to use vanilla flavored CandiQuik)

Make a PB sandwhich out of the crackers and peanut butter. Dip in the melted chocolate, set on wax paper to dry.

Yummy!!

(There are also a few apple peices on the side that we dipped in the white chocolate)

Fun Apple Snack

Ok, we'll there's no real name to this, but it's a favorite at our house.

Ingredients:

Apple

Peanut butter

Chocolate chips

Slice the apple into slices. Spread with peanut butter. Let your kids decorate the peanut butter with chocolate chips. Enjoy!