Last night I made a yummy new lasagna-White Chicken Lasagna to be exact. My husband loved it! I loved it too-but I didn't love the mess it made in my oven.

Try this recipe because it is really good-but bake it with a cookie sheet under your baking dish. Otherwise you will get to clean a fun mess like I did and your house will smell kind of yucky.

My poor oven:(

White Chicken Lasagna

another day in paradise

2-3 cups cooked chicken, diced

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can cream of broccoli soup

4 cups chicken broth, small amount reserved

1 cup sour cream

1/2 lb cottage cheese

1/2 container ricotta cheese

1 lb mozzarella cheese

1 tsp basil

1 pkg oven ready lasagna noodles

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350*. Combine everything but the chicken, noodles and small amount of chicken broth. Mix in chicken. Pour reserved broth in the bottom of a greased 9x13 baking dish, making sure it covers bottom. Layer uncooked noodles and sauce until mix is gone or pan is full-ending with sauce.

Bake covered for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 35-40 minutes until bubbly and golden. Let stand 5-10 minutes before serving. The longer is sits, the more it sets up. It will be fairly soupy when you pull it out of the oven, so make sure you let it sit!!

Serves 6-8

Earth Day Pancakes

After a brief discussion on earth day with my 3 year old this morning, breakfast was created. I will hopefully have these perfected by next year, but I thought it was a fun idea.

Baked Ziti

I have made ziti before and really not been happy with it-most of the recipes I have tried have just been too dry. I got this recipe from a fellow food blogger and we loved it!! It feeds a good amount of people-we've been eating leftovers for 3 days, but no one has complained! This takes a little more time to put together and bake, so plan ahead. Enjoy!Baked Ziti

a bountiful kitchen

1 lb cottage cheese (1%)

2 lg eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/2 cups grated parmesan cheese

salt

1 lb ziti

2 tbsp olive oil

5 med garlic cloves, minced

1 (28oz) can tomato sauce

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil

1 tsp sugar

black pepper

3/4 tsp cornstarch

1 cup heavy cream

1 1/2 cups (8oz) mozzarella cheese cut into 1/4 inch chunks

Heat oven to 350*. Whisk cottage cheese, eggs and 1 cup parmesan together in a medium bowl; set aside. Boil and salt water. Add pasta and cook until soft, but not cooked through-about 5 minutes. Drain pasta, rinse and leave in colander.

Meanwhile, heat oil in skillet with garlic until fragrant but not browned. Stir in tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and oregano; simmer until thick, about 20 minutes. Turn off heat, stir in 1/2 cup basil and sugar and season with salt and pepper.

Stir cornstarch into heavy cream in a small bowl. Transfer to small saucepan set over med heat. Bring to simmer and cook until thickened, 3-4 minutes. Remove pot from heat and add cottage cheese mixture, 1 cup of the tomato sauce mixture and 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese. Stir to combine. Add pasta and stir to coat thoroughly with sauce.

Transfer pasta mixture to a greased 9x13 baking dish and spread remaining tomato sauce mixture evenly over pasta. Sprinkle remaining 3/4 cup mozzarella and remaining parmesan over top. Cover baking dish tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove foil and continue to cook until cheese is bubbly and beginning to brown, about 30 minutes longer. Cool for 10-20 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining basil and serve.

Serves 8+

Taco Pasta

I am out of the habit of taking pictures before we eat. I am usually throwing dinner on the table on my way out the door. Sorry about the picture-it's my leftovers for lunch. This meal is awesome because it tastes just like a taco-except instead of using tortillas, it has pasta. I would rather eat the pasta so this had my name written all over it!! My husband loved it too and said it was a definite keeper!!

Taco Pasta

adapted from Rachael Ray

1 lb whole grain penne pasta

1 lb ground turkey

1 lg onion, chopped and divided

1 lg jalapeno, halved, seeded and thinly chopped

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 tbsp chili powder

1 tbsp coriander

1 1/2 tbsp cumin

1/4 cup tomato paste

2 cups chicken stock

2 cups shredded cheddar or monterey jack cheese

2 tomatoes, chopped

1/4 head iceberg lettuce, chopped

sour cream

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Salt the water and cook pasta to al dente.

While pasta is cooking, in a skillet cook meat until no longer pink. Add 3/4 of the onion, the jalapeno, garlic, chili powder, coriander, cumin, and salt and pepper. Cook until onion is soft. Stir in the tomato paste, cook for 1 minute and then stir in the stock.

Add the sauce to the pasta and toss. Spoon into serving dish and top with cheese and tent with foil to melt the cheese. Top with remaining onion, tomatoes and lettuce. Serve with a dollop of sour cream.

Serves 4-6

April Fool's Day

Nothing special or exciting-just a fun idea