Thursday, July 23, 2020

Summertime Meals


I eat a lot of salads for lunch in the summer. There are so many fresh ingredients available and I always add grilled meats left over from our dinners and all kinds of extra veggies and cheese. But I think I've shown the salads before, so I'll jump to the BLT we made this week. We grill our bacon! You have to watch it carefully because it doesn't take long on the grill but it comes out crispy and smokey. There's a side salad on the plate too!


And this might not seem like a summer meal but we made lasagna this week. We made a BIG pan of it, enough to share some with Aunt Helen and freeze several meals too.


Here's the way we made it...

Lasagna

Spaghetti Sauce
2 cups of Ricotta cheese
1 package lasagna pasta
1/2 cup parmesan cheese (or a little more)
1 1/2 packages of mozzarella cheese

Cook your favorite spaghetti sauce. Hubby cooked ours with ground meat, onion and garlic and lots of Italian seasonings, tomato sauce, 1/2 can of petite tomatoes and a can of tomato paste. You can use a jar of sauce as a start and add tomato paste to make it thicker. 

Cook the lasagna noodles.

And now layer it all in a big rectangular pan.

1st layer Spaghetti sauce with Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top
2nd layer Lasagna noodles
3rd layer Ricotta cheese
4th layer Mozzarella cheese
Then again...
Spaghetti sauce with Parm on top,  lasagna noodles, ricotta, mozzarella cheese and then top it with Spaghetti sauce and Parmesan on top. 

Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes (I turned it down to 350 for the last 15 minutes)

I know we all have our favorite recipes for our favorite dishes. My hubby and I put this one together and it was delicious!


Have you cooked something special this week? 


It's so hot here now, we might as well stay inside and eat!

I’m joining Thankful Thursdays and

I like Thursdays HERE too!



34 comments:

Tom said...

...I wish that my green tomatoes would hurry up and ripen!

SImple and Serene Living said...

Hopefully I will get some tomatoes out of my garden his year. I think you have inspired me to have a big salad today. xo Laura

eileeninmd said...

Hello,

Two of my favorites are BLT's and lasagna. This week I have made a Sausage& Pepper Risotto and a blueberry bread yesterday, it is delicious. Take care, have a happy day!

MadSnapper said...

I would love great bacon cooked on the grill but how do you keep it from falling through the cracks do you lay it directly on the grill or do you put it on a pan. I love the sunflower teapot! I have a much easier recipe for lasagna than yours it's called Stouffer's family size. I bake it from Frozen and then do just what you do with it we eat on it for a while and free some

Creations By Cindy said...

I too love salads. I love soups all year round too. Yep, most people don't but I find soup very comforting to me no matter the weather. Bacon...oh Marty can eat his weight in bacon. LOL! I love bacon that is crisp too. Now I am wanting a big old salad with some bacon in it! LOL! Maybe this weekend that will be on the agenda. Hugs and blessings to you dear lady.
Cindy

Edna B said...

I love BLT's and I LOVE lasagna. I just may have to make some now. You have a wonderful day, hugs, Edna B.

Kathy said...

That lagsana sounds so easy and good. I can't eat it because I'm allergic to all dairy products. But I know some people that would love it. Thanks for the recipe. Grilling the bacon, huh? I am going to have to try that for my next BLT/

LA Paylor said...

stop! you're making me drool!
it is hot here too, and sitting outside in heat is not as much fun as one might think! Pretty teapot!

Red Rose Alley said...

These meals look delicious, Diane. Your lasagna looks so good, and the salads are always a healthy side dish. I am a pea lover also. ; ) The tea pot photo is cool. I hope you are enjoying these warm Summer days.

~Sheri

Martha said...

Yummy! Tons of salads here in the summer, I do lots of main dish salads for dinners too. It's just too hot to eat big heavy meals. The lasagna looks delish :)

Pamela M. Steiner said...

Love your salad, and lazagna is so good. We had some a couple of weeks ago just because we wanted it. I do try to eat a salad almost every day for lunch. Right now I am out of lettuce and I had to eat tuna salad. I miss my lettuce. LOL. But that was the next best thing. Thanks for your ideas.

Beside a babbling brook... said...

We really need Summer meal ideas!

But I need cool ones.

Since we don't use our A/C, all the time. Only when I really have to close up and turn it on.

So we don't want to turn on the stove! Have a Crock Pot meal, on right now! No oven heat.

Stay cool...

Mary in Peoria Handmade said...

Love salads in the summer too. Your lasagna looks real good.
Enjoy!
Mary

Home Sewn By Us said...

Grilled bacon!! I can honestly say I've never thought of doing it but why not??!! It sure looks delicious and how easy. Your lasagna looks so good, too. ~smile~ Roseanne

Linda said...

Hahahaha! I love Sandra's comment about her recipe Stouffer's!!!
We had oatmeal this morning which is something we normally eat in cold weather. But Louis Dean is working hard and I thought this would stick to his ribs longer than cereal and fruit!
I wish I grilled. I used to. All I have is a small ceramic grill.
Today I thawed some chicken thighs. Not sure what I'm going to do with them yet but it will be easy whatever I do.

I dearly love lasagna and your recipe sounds winderful. The photo proves it!!

Ann Thompson said...

I could go for a BLT that sounds really good but then so does lasagna

Terri D said...

I have not cooked much at all this week but your lasagna looks delicious! I made bacon in the oven a couple of weeks ago, for the first time. It turned out great!

Crafty in the Med said...

Brilliant!! I love lasagna but I don't make it very often because Sr P isn't keen. I make my own sauce for pasta and in fact have just recently made some up. I really detest the artificial factory taste of shop bought sauces!! I like the sound of this recipe so I think I am going to try it out. Thanks for sharing. Definitely agree with you where salads are concerned ....my favourite spring & summer dish. I also enjoy mixing a salad with lots of different ingredients. I imagine it is as hot there as it is here...31ºC today! Andalusia 42ºC much too hot.... better to stay in and wallow in the pool all day...I wish :-)
Keep well Amanda :-)

Julie's Creative Lifestyle said...

The BLT looks so good and we've had them too this summer. I love lasagna any time of the year. Your lasagna looks so good that I'd love some right now. LOL. Take care Diane and stay safe.

happyone said...

Oh I love a good salad with lots of different things in it!!

grammajudyb said...

I’m really craving BLTs, and now lasagna. I’m a great believer in cook once and eat twice or more! Thanks for sharing!

Barbara said...

So hot that we may as well stay inside and eat -- you are so right! What a great philosophy!

We love lasagna! Yours looks really good!

Stay cool. Here we are in the depths of summer, for sure!

Sandi Magle said...

Lasagna is always a favorite here. I did make some pesto today...but the oven won't be on until this heatwave subsides. Hugs, and have a great week! Sandi

Teresa said...

Buena comida. Yo preparando conservas de tomate frito. Besos.

Vee said...

Definitely salad weather. Bacon on the grill sounds yummy. I returned to frying bacon in my iron skillet on top of the stove...faster and easier than the oven method I was using. The lasagna looks yummy!

PaintedThread said...

Mmmm... bacon. You're still having (too much) fun with that 3D software! :-D

Su-sieee! Mac said...

I can just taste the BLT. Droooooool. I baked banana bread this afternoon. A couple days ago I cooked a big pot of pinto beans with onions, garlic, celery, and linguisa. I poured in leftover enchilada sauce, which I think made the difference in us nearly finishing what I'd planned to freeze.

Jean said...

Your lasagna sounds delicious! Too tired, then too hot to cook much here. We've been keeping it super simple with chicken and salad, then a tiny bit of steak and salad. I did make cherry compote for dessert on Sunday, so I guess I did cook something kind of special after all. Happy Thursday!

Coloring Outside the Lines said...

We love lasagna here also, but I use zucchini instead of noodles for the low carb diet. But my all time favorite in the summer is anything I don't have to cook! :)

Lowcarb team member said...

Salads in the summer are delicious.
Thanks for sharing your lasagne recipe.

Have a lovely weekend.

All the best Jan

Carla from The River said...

Grilled bacon.. yum. We have not tried grilling bacon.
We grilled pineapple and pork chops for dinner. :-)
Stay well my friend,
Carla

Lorrie said...

I love salads, too, and the bacon looks like a tasty addition. I also love lasagna! And now it's time to think about what's for dinner!

BeachGypsy said...

I love salads too! I love a big huge bowl of salad for the whole meal and then add a little meat (left-overs work great don't they!?) like chicken breast or even a hamburger patty, piece of fish or anything really. Where it goes "bad" is all the salad dressing I LOVE TO POUR ON GENEROUSLY, ha ha LOL!--that and the cheese. I love croutons too. Now I LOVE TO CHOP and dice and make a big salad but I have to BE IN THE MOOD for it or I'm not doing it, LOL. Mr. Front Porch has been craving one of my big salads, so maybe I'll do one up this weekend. Y'all got plans for this weekend? We are just "winging it" as they say, but we kinda want to maybe take a drive somewhere. Not sure of the weather forecast yet. I love lasagna too...I have a crock pot recipe for it and that's usually how I make it now. Hugs!

Jeanie said...

It all looks delish but that sunflower teapot instantly caught all my attention!