Change in Christmas Plans Now An Amped Up Lasagna For Dinner

Change in Christmas Plans Now An Amped Up Lasagna For Dinner

Change of plans for Christmas or should I say my plans are canceled. 

I am not someone that gets upset with change. I try to make the best of whatever the change is and deal with the hand I am dealt.

This year I will be alone. That OK I will make the most of Christmas Eve and Day. There will be church which is easy its right across the street from where I live. The main changes will be  in venue and what I will have for dinner.

 Christmas Eve with be a simple salad and maybe a piece of fish. I don’t want to eat to much because I will be unable to enjoy all my treats on Christmas Day if I do.

I have work to do on Christmas Eve day  but in-between working I will get started on homemade Spaghetti sauce for my Lasagna that was going to be for Christmas Eve. Now it’s going to be amped up with homemade sauce that will have wine, fennel, ground beef, Italian sausage, and pork. 

More Sicilian than Corsican. I have decided.

I will still make the eight cheese lasagna as planned but now there will be a homemade meat sauce instead of marinara sauce. 

During the day I will also make the chipped beef in a bread bowl as a treat to enjoy on Christmas Day. 

When Christmas I arrives I intend on talking to my extended family in Texas. They  promised some pictures of the family opening their Christmas gifts. It will be so nice to be able to share these moments if only in photos this year.  Then I will call my friends who had to cancel because of illness and see how they are doing.

The rest of the day will be mine and I plan to hang out all day in my PJs, no makeup, and my hair in a pony tail. I will nibble on goodies while I will read a Christmas book and watch Christmas movies.  I like the sounds of my plans and think  it sounds like a nice day that I will able to enjoy every moment of it.

So feel sorry for myself? No way life is to be enjoyed and that’s exactly what I intend to do!

Here are the recipes:

8 Cheese Lasagna:

    1 bag of Sargento chef blend shredded six cheese Italian cheese

1       16 container of  Ricotta

1 egg

1 teaspoon of garlic salt

¼ cup red wine

1 teaspoon fennel

1 box of Lasagna noodles.

4 oz of cream cheese

1 Can of spinach

Homemade spaghetti sauce

1 container of grated Parmesan cheese.

Directions:

 Preheat oven to 375F

Spaghetti Sauce

3/4 lb ground beef, 1/2 to 1-inch cubes

1/2 lb pork, 1/2 to 1-inch cubes mine is from two ribs

2 Italian Sausages

1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 can of  tomatoes

1 (6 oz) can tomato paste

1 tbsp of dried parsley

1/2 tsp. oregano

1/2 tsp. basil

1 large onion, sliced

1 pepper, cored and chopped

2 tbsp of fennel

1 garlic bulb

1/4 cup red wine (like Marsala)

Sauté beef and pork chunks in olive oil with sliced onions and green  until well browned. Add chopped and baked garlic during last few minutes of browning.

Add the tomatoes  then remainder of ingredients

*** Just a funny little side note. When I was learning to make sauce or what my neighbors called gravy they told me if you had to add sugar you did something wrong!

Now its time to assemble the Lasagna.

Layer cheese and sauce.

First a little sauce on the bottom of the pan.
Noodles
Cheese
Noodles
Sauce
Noodles
Cheese with spinach
Noddle
Sauce
Noodles
 Cheese
Last layer of noodles topped with sauce, mozzarella and grated Parmesan  cheese
Its not ready to bake

In the middle take one cup of the cheese and mix with well drained and dried spinach.

That takes care of the dinner for me and  I made add a salad or some broccoli but then again maybe not. Remember to enjoy the people in your life and do things that make you happy.

Merry Christmas to all!