Category: Annie DeMoranville

Monday Menu: Harvest Recipes

The tomatoes have been coming in fast this week, so it seemed like a good time to make a nice, fresh sauce with some of them. I also had some ricotta and mozzarella in the freezer. Time to revisit Skillet Lasagna.

counter full of garden ripe tomatoes

Fresh from the garden ingredients elevate this easy weeknight dinner menu.  On the board tonight:

MENU
Skillet Lasagna
Patty Squash Sauté
Italian Bread
Peaches

Skillet Lasagna

  • 6 oz Mafalda (mini-lasagna noodles) or bowtie pasta
  • 1 lb lean ground beef (omit or substitute mushrooms to make vegetarian)
  • ½ onion, chopped
  • ½ green pepper chopped
  • 1 tsp basil, crushed
  • 1 tsp oregano, crushed
  • 1 tsp crushed garlic
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • 1 carrot, diced
  • 15 oz can tomato sauce (or 1 lb fresh tomatoes, chopped or pureed)
  • 6 oz can tomato paste
  • 4 oz ricotta cheese
  • 1 cup fresh spinach leaves, chopped
  • 4 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
  • 2 oz grated parmesan

skillet
saucepan

In the saucepan, cook pasta according to package directions, cooking to al dente (slightly chewy), and drain well.

Meanwhile, in the skillet, brown beef, onion & pepper. Add spices, garlic, carrot, and sauté for 1 minute.  Add sauce and paste, stirring well into the meat mixture.

Add pasta, stirring gently to mix. 

Continue reading Monday Menu: Harvest Recipes

Work Wednesday: One Foot in Front of the Other

Lamppost decorated as Say Anything meme of Lloyd holding up the radio

I love my neighbors. They decorate their lamppost every month. Sure, they do seasonal – Halloween is always spectacular – but their random ones are my favorites. They did two full months of Trans Awareness this spring, including literature (!). During the pandemic, they would do various healthcare workers, all wearing masks, and one time, I think it was a giant vaccine needle. This one is by far my favorite. Just brings me joy to walk by it each day.

I am on overwhelm and not wanting to do anything. But there is much to do: the front door needs to get a third coat of paint; the outside of the house needs to be prepped before the painters arrive in a week; and as always, the dogs need to be walked. And let’s not forget that the gardens need to be weeded.

Oh, yeah and I have a book to rewrite. I’m working on that.

How are you approaching your weeks these days?

Monday Menu: Garden Fresh Recipes

My garden is doing okay this summer, but not spectacular. So, while I have a counter full of tomatoes, not really enough to worry about freezing this year. But I still need to them up. So I made two tomato-heavy recipes this weekend. Salsa and salad.

 

tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and green pepper chopped on a cutting board

I had one lone cucumber in the garden this week, so of course it was time for a summer staple.

Continue reading Monday Menu: Garden Fresh Recipes