Chicken Lasagna Rolls

Here is a delicious recipe I'd like to share. It supposedly came in it's original form from a cardiologist who won a heart-healthy recipe contest with it, though I have not been able to find any documentation of that. I promise that the only difference between how I make it and the original recipe as far as the ingredients go is noted. As far as the method of preparation, I go into a lot more detail. But trust me, this is really easy, and when you serve it to your family or guests it will look very elegant. Enjoy!

CHICKEN LASAGNA ROLLS

14 strips lasagna noodles

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, poached and cooled, and cut into cubes

8 oz. container of low-fat small curd cottage cheese (original calls for "Lite & Lively" brand)

8 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed (or use chopped fresh, it's easier)

2 eggs (original calls for 1/2 cup thawed egg substitute)

1 cup fresh sliced mushrooms

1 - 26 oz. jar spaghetti sauce (original calls for 2 cups Ragu)

1 - 1/2 cups low fat shredded mozzerella cheese (original calls for only 1/3 cup)

1 Tbsp. dried sweet basil, crushed between your hands (original calls for 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning)

Method:

Poach chicken by boiling a pot of water, then dropping in chicken breasts. As soon as pot starts to boil again, turn the heat off and cover...let it sit for 10 minutes till chicken is white all the way through. Remove chicken from water and allow to cool, then cut into cubes.

Bring a clean pot of water to boil and cook lasagna noodles. Do not overcook because they tear easily. They will finish cooking in the oven; just get them to where they are flexible enough to roll.

While noodles are cooking combine all the remaining ingredients EXCEPT spaghetti sauce and reserve 1 cup of the mozzerella cheese for topping.

When noodles are cooked, rinse under cold water and drain. Lay them out one at a time on waxed paper and spread the filling on them. Carefully roll up the filled noodles jelly-roll style and place in large casserole dish that has half the jar of sauce on the bottom, nesting them against each other. When the casserole dish is full cover with remaining sauce and remaining one cup of the mozzerella cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees uncovered for about 35-40 minutes.

She's an old-fashioned quilter...

One of the first quilts Mom Stager made for us years ago...

My mother-in-law, Olena Stager, is a quilter...the old fashioned kind, doing it all by hand. It usually takes her about six months to do a full/queen size quilt in her spare time. Mom Stager started quilting in 1982 when she retired. At 83 years old, she is still going strong. She says quilting is how she relaxes. To date, she has made about 50 quilts, almost all of which she has given away. All of these quilts have names, or I should say the designs have names. Most of the quilts she does are made up of thousands of pieces hand stitched together into a "top" and then stitched onto the "bottom" with batting in-between. A recent quilt that she completed had 4500 pieces for example.

My hubby and I are going to be the recipients of the quilt she is working on right now. It is different in that it is embroidered, but it will still be quilted. The design is called Evening Rose. It will be 108" by 108". I figure we have about 3 more months to redo our bedroom in time for the new quilt. I'm really excited. Here's what it will look like:

This one pictured she recently completed to be raffled at our next family reunion (my side of the family). I must have been afraid I wouldn't win it, so that's why she is making one just like it for us, only a little larger. I think this is the only time she has done two the same.

This is a quilt she made for us 14 years ago when we moved into our new home. The pattern is called Texas Lone Star. (All of these are being displayed in our spare room for the purpose of picture taking, so that's why the colors don't match the walls!)

Here's another quilt she made us a few years ago. It is a family quilt that we have hanging on our wall in the upstairs hallway. It has the names and birth dates (and death dates where applicable) of my husband and I, our children and their wives, our parents and grandparents on both sides. Actually of those who were still living at the time she made this one, she embroidered their actual signatures. Very creative wouldn't you say? She designed this one herself.

My mother-in-law is really talented with her quilting, obviously. Over the years I've tried to get her to enter some into shows, but she won't have any part of it. She also doesn't want to sell them because she says it will take the joy out of her hobby if it became a business.

I'm grateful that she has this wonderful hobby, and that she has good eyesight at her age that allows her to keep doing it. I think that totally hand-stitched quilts are a dying art...except perhaps in the Amish communities. But oh you should see their prices!

Meet my grandchildren...

Elylah is our first grandchild, the only girl so far, and what a buddy she is to me. Not yet four years old, she loves to cook, bake, do crafts, paint, water flowers, dust furniture and wash windows! She has taught ME how to say the names of the planets in order from the sun. She has a beautiful singing voice and delights in twirling around in dresses. She likes me to pitch her PINK wiffel ball to her that she hits with her PINK bat. Yep, she's ALL GIRL!

Deacon is two months to the day younger than Elylah. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture of him! He looks so much like his dad did at this age that it is scary. He is also multi-talented, and can play the guitar and drums, and sing as well. His early claim to fame is that he can sing the alphabet backwards (His Z to A song) and he is also working on memorizing the Westminster Confession of Faith.

Owen will be two in a couple of months. He is Deacon's little brother. He is busy. All the time...very busy. He is determined to keep up with everything and everybody. His mommy caught him sleeping in a drawer recently. He has the biggest blue eyes I've every seen!

Ethan is not yet one. Little brother to Elylah, he too is very busy. Especially now that he has learned he gets a lot of attention when he goes for the steps. Ethan is the first child I've ever known who doesn't nap, unless he is being held or riding in the car. Being the youngest, I guess he doesn't want to miss anything!

***

Living to see your children's children has from ancient times been seen as a blessing from God. I don't think we really understand it until we get there, though. Grandchildren bring a new spark of joy to our lives that is quite indescribable. We get to see new life up close and personal once again, though this time from the vantage point of a little more experience and wisdom, and without the heavy weight of responsibility. Just at a time when we may be starting to experience some of the downsides of getting older, such as aging or dying parents, the realities of our own aging process in terms of our energy level or our usefulness in the workplace, etc., these precious little ones enter our lives and give the word "perspective" a whole new meaning. An added blessing, too, is seeing our own children in their new roles as parents. Though it seems like "yesterday" that they were babes in our arms, they've grown and matured and made us so proud.

"Children's children are a crown to the aged..." Proverbs 17:6

Some of my thoughts about "letting go" of my children can be read here:

http://lifebetweenthebuns.blogspot.com/2009/03/life-transitions-letting-go-of-your.html

Ellie's roast beef

Referencing back to yesterday's post, this is one of the standard meals I like to take to people. Everyone loves it, and it is very easy to prepare. I call it "Ellie's roast beef" since my daughter-in-law got me started on this, though like most recipes, I played with it a little. She does it in the crockpot. Here's how I do it:

Take a frozen chuck (or English cut) roast, several pounds, and place it in a large (disposable) baking pan. Surround the frozen meat with peeled and quartered potatoes and peeled and sliced carrots, and some cut up celery. On top of the meat, empty one package of dry onion soup, one 10 oz. can of low fat, low sodium cream of chicken soup, along with about a cup of water. Cover tightly with foil, and roast in the oven at a 325 degree temperature for about four hours. When it is done, the meat should separate easily with a fork, and it will have made it's own gravy.

What I like about this recipe is starting with the frozen meat. I can prepare it and put it in my oven on time-bake, and even if it doesn't start baking for a couple of hours, the meat stays cold. I can get it ready in the morning, set the oven for when I want it to start and stop, and go running errands if I need to and my dish is still ready to deliver by suppertime. And everything is in one baking dish. I might also add a nice loaf of bread, a tossed salad (in a plastic ziplock bag) and some kind of simple dessert like cookies or brownies.

This is a nice meal for a family. You would be amazed at how welcome it is to folks who are receiving several meals in their time of need, because so many people bring chicken, pasta, or casseroles. So it is something a little different. Let me know if you try it. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

meals ministry...

One of the things I am involved with through my church is the Meals Ministry. I do love to cook anyway, and I'm fairly good at it, and it is something I can do at home while I'm babysitting my grandchildren, so it's a good fit for me. Here's how it works:

The point person who is in charge of the meals coordination sends an email out to the list of ladies who are part of the ministry team when she is notified of a need. There is absolutely no pressure to accept every opportunity and no one needs to feel guilty for saying "no" if the timing isn't right. I usually am able to say "yes" one or two times a month. Then I will be given a date and a name and phone number. I usually call the person the day before to let them know I'll be bringing their supper over, and we set up a mutually agreeable time. The conversation is usually very short because afterall, I rarely know the people (our church is very large) and they are usually recovering from a surgery or going through some other personal circumstance.

The fact that I don't know the people that I am serving is really a major blessing. How many times do we get to do something really meaningful for someone without any pretense of expecting anything in return? After I deliver a meal, most of the time I never see the person again.

One practical thing to remember when delivering a meal to someone (or a family) is to use disposable pans. The last thing you want to do is create work for someone who just had surgery or whose loved one died, so take the meal in something you don't care to have returned.

I almost always deliver a hot meal. I always ask the people what time they like to eat dinner, and so when the meal arrives all they have to do is sit down and eat it. Usually I make plenty of whatever it is for the people to have some leftovers. I have about five recipes that I use over and over for this ministry, so I usually have items I would need in my pantry or freezer for when I need to do a meal. And speaking of the freezer, you can always just make a couple meals up ahead of time and store them there so they are ready to bake when your call comes.

When delivering your meal, make your visit brief. If people have been ill or otherwise occupied, they might feel uncomfortable if you even go inside the house because they haven't been able to keep up with things as they normally would. So most often, I just hand over the stuff at the front door.

On the occasions when someone does ask me to come in, I try to make an assessment if they really would like to visit, or if they are just being courteous. One time when I was delivering a meal to a long time cancer patient who was terminal, she wanted me to come in and chat a while. So I did. And I'm so glad I did, as she passed away within about a week thereafter.

On rare occasions I even have felt free to ask if I could pray for the person while I was there. Again, this takes sensitivity and discernment. Most often just offering encouraging words is sufficient and is what most people are comfortable with.

If you are a stay-at-home mom or grandma, this might be just the kind of ministry for you. You can be doing God's work and very much remain "in the background" and anonymous for the most part. If your church doesn't have something like this already in place, why not think of setting it up? Someone in the church office would know of families in need, and those names can be passed on to a coordinator. Then find a core group of volunteers who agree to be contacted by phone or email. It's not difficult to get going at all.

If you have ever been on the receiving end (I have) you know how very much help it is to have a meal delivered to your family in a time of need. I think I will post some of my recipes soon that I use for this ministry.

God bless you as you consider if this might be an area where you can serve Christ and your church.

Yes, it's another blog!

Welcome to "Mistress of My Domain". This is a place to talk about all things domestic and is dedicated to all woman who long to be more and more of who they were created to be. It's a place to talk about being confident and effective within our spheres of influence. My heart's desire is to serve God every day, whether I am working in my laundry room or helping a friend or a stranger in need. So grab a cup of coffee and come visit, won't you? I'm anxious to hear your stories of how you are doing on the home-front. Whether you are young, in the last stages of being young, or early stages of being old, or just plain old, my guess is that we can have some great exchanges of information and thoughts. Looking forward to meeting you here...