Denise's Lasagna and Spaghetti Sauce

Spaghetti sauce used for Spahetti with pasta or Lasagna Sauce....

1.5 lb. ground beef
1.0 lb ground sausage (Jimmy Dean Sage flavor works best) brown all meat till no longer pink.

Add:
1 can tomato soup
1 can stewed tomatoes
Tomato sauce (2 cans of large Hunts, or 2 bottles of Prego, Ragu,etc.)
Add frozen spinach leaves (1 bag or 1 box)
Add 1 cup sliced mushrooms
Simmer for an hour.

If making Lasagna, slice 1 zucchini and add to the layers of lasagna with ricotta cheese or cottage cheese and Mozzarela cheese, sauce and pasta noodles) You can freeze till ready to bake, defrost then bake for 45min to 1 hour at 350*.

Cannoli

You can buy the shells at AJ's or make them yourself if you have the forms. But once you have shells, here is a great filling for them. The recipe comes from Maggiano's in Scottsdale. Thank you to Carolyn Denham for being the brave one to make and bring them to the club meeting.

1 cup Ricotta Cheese

½ cup sugar or honey

1 TBS of fresh squeezed orange juice

1 Tsp of orange zest

¼ cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Mix by hand, rather than a machine, to keep the texture thicker. Also, you can eliminate the fresh squeezed orange juice and add 1 tsp of orange flavoring (or another kind if you prefer)

You may also want to melt some additional chocolate chips and dip the ends of your cannoli shells in it. Use any leftover chocolate to drizzle on the filled shells.

Olive Garden Italian Salad Dressing

Olive Garden Salad Dressing

Contributed by Connie P.

½ cup mayonnaise

1/3 cup white vinegar

1 tsp. vegetable oil

2 T. corn syrup or sugar

2 T. parmesan cheese

2 T. Romano cheese (or just use more parmesan cheese)

¼ tsp. garlic salt

½ tsp. Italian seasoning

½ tsp. parsley flakes

1 T. lemon juice

Mix all ingredients in a blender until well mixed. If this is a little tart add a little extra sugar.

Add this dressing to your Olive Garden salad which has sliced red onions, tomatoes, peperoncini, sliced olives, parmesan cheese, Croutons, and iceberg salad mix with a added romaine lettuce.

Connie's Spinach Manicotti

1 carton (15 ounces) low fat ricotta cheese

2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided

1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

½ cup reduced-fat sour cream

¼ cup dry bread crumbs

1 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. onion powder

1 large jar or can of spaghetti sauce

In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, 1-1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, spinach, sour cream, bread crumbs, Italian seasoning, garlic powder and onion powder. Mix well and stuff into the uncooked manicotti.

Pour 1 cup of sauce into the bottom of a 9 by 13 inch pan. Then, arrange manicotti on top of the sauce. Pour remaining sauce over manicotti. Cover and bake at *350 for 55 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake 15 minute longer or until noodles are tender. Yields: 7 servings.

Nutrition facts:

2 stuffed manicotti equals: 345 calories

8 g fat (5g saturated fat)

34mg cholesterol

782 mg sodium

45 g carbohydrate

4 g fiber

22 g protein