Greetings! March is here. I can't say I love March...it's my birthday month. Unfortunately, that means I'm a year older:( But...I do love spring and the first day of spring is March 20th this year.
March is also; Peanut Month, Frozen Food Month, International Hamburger and Pickle Month, Noodle Month, Cataract Awareness Month and Nutrition Month.
The first week of March is TV turn off week, and the fourth week is Egg Salad Week.
March also has some delicious food days, including; Banana Cream Pie Day, Crabmeat Day, National Potato Chip Day, Lobster Newburg Day, Tater Day, and MUCH more! Just paste the link below to find get more yummy recipes... Visit: http://www.therecipefinder.com/page/page/1542172.htm
For our Featured Holiday page we did Easter and St. Patrick's Day. To learn about how these holidays started and to obtain several relevant recipes... Visit: http://www.therecipefinder.com/Holidays.html
I am so excited about all of the new features we have this month. I have listed them and a link below each so that you can pick what topics interest you:
Cooking School - article - "Dutch Oven Basics" http://www.therecipefinder.com/cookingschool.html
Featured Food: PEANUTS - If you think you know everything there is to know about peanuts...think again. Or maybe your just interested in a few peanut recipes. http://www.therecipefinder.com/featuredfood.html
Cooking Tips: New tips every month. http://www.therecipefinder.com/Tips.html
Next month I will be updating our seasons page from winter to spring. If you would like to have a look at winter before I update: http://www.therecipefinder.com/Seasons.html
I am currently working on a couple of new ideas for The Recipe Finder. I'll be sharing more soon...
The Recipe Finder is kicking off spring with our first ever recipe contest. Our April issue will have all of the yummy details. So, stay tuned...
Ok - Now for our monthly joke:
Dining Out
The restaurant where I took my two sons for a meal was crowded with fans watching a sporting event on television.
The harried waitress took our order, but more than half an hour passed with no sign of her return.
I was trying to keep my kids from becoming restless when suddenly shouts of victory came from the bar.
"Hey," commented my 11-year-old, "it sounds as if someone just got his food."
Pretty cute...huh? If you or your kids (if you have them) have any food related jokes feel free to email me with them. I'll feature them ASAP.
CONGRATULATIONS!! To our monthly prize drawing winner:
RHONDA WILLIAMS
In honor of Noodle Month I have included a couple of great pasta dishes at the bottom of the Newsletter. There are also several more pasta recipes on our "March" page.
Well, that's all for now. Thank you all for reading my rambling thoughts. Feel free to offer any suggestions on how we can improve The Recipe Finder. Have very safe and happy month!
-Lara :) Email Me: RecipeFinderMail@aol.com
NOODLE MONTH RECIPES:
Noodle Kugel
Servings: 12 Ingredients:
18 oz medium broad egg noodles 4 oz sweet butter, softened 6 lrg eggs, separated 9 oz creamed cottage cheese 9 oz sour cream 1/2 cup sugar 1 tsp cinnamon 2 tsp vanilla 1 Tbsp orange peel, grated 18 oz apples, peeled, cored, sliced thinly
4 Tbsp sugar 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
Cook noodles in boiling, salted water until just tender, about 10 minutes. Drain well and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add butter and mix until the butter is melted. Set aside.
In another mixing bowl, combine egg yolks, cottage cheese, sour cream, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, orange peel, apples and raisin. Add this mixture to the noodles and mix thoroughly.
Quickly beat egg whites until stiff. Fold the whites into the noodle mixture thoroughly.Pour the noodle mixture into a greased 2 1/4 liter (2 1/2 quart) casserole, suitable for the table. Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar mixture evenly over the top.
Bake in a preheated 400F oven for 45 minutes.
Serve from the casserole, either hot or at room temperature. The kugel can be rewarmed in a 350F oven for 15 minutes.
Spinach Lasagna
Servings: 6 Ingredients: 12 lasagna noodles 2 bunches spinach, washed and drained 2 Tbsp olive oil 1 med onion, chopped 2 garlic cloves, minced 8 oz tomato sauce 6 oz tomato paste 1 cup water (or vegetable or chicken broth) 1 tsp honey 3/4 tsp dried basil, crumbled 3/4 tsp dried oregano, crumbled salt and pepper, to taste 2 cups Ricotta cheese 1 cups Mozzarella cheese, grated 1 cups Parmesan cheese, grated
Cook lasagna noodles in boiling salted water until just tender but still firm. Drain and set aside. Place spinach in steamer over medium heat and cook briefly to lessen volume. Drain well and set aside.
Preheat oven to 350F. Heat oil in medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute until softened. Add garlic and saute a few minutes more. Stir in tomato sauce and paste, water, honey, basil, oregano and salt and pepper. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Lay 6 noodles on the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish. Spread all of spinach, ricotta and mozzarella evenly over noodles. Top with half of the sauce mixture. Cover with remaining noodles and rest of sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, then cover and bake until heated through and cheeses are melted, 20 to 25 minutes (more if you add zucchini and fresh tomatoes).
Note: I would add about 1 medium zucchini, peeled and thinly sliced, to the pan after the onions but before the garlic. I would also peel two or three fresh tomatoes, slice them thickly, season them with a bit of salt, freshly ground black pepper, and garlic powder and place over ricotta before mozzarella. I also think the dish would be more attractive if the onion was sliced rather than chopped.
