Mini Lasagnas- Fast and easy!

My 2 main deterrents* to cooking dinners at home are probably the same as everyone else’s…

1. I always feel like I don’t have enough time. (even though I will spend twice as long driving someplace to eat or get take-out)

2. There’s no ingredients in the house to make anything. (or everything is frozen)

*I’d give an honourable mention to not wanting to have to clean up afterwards.

So when I saw some articles for mini lasagnas I kicked myself for not thinking of it myself. They are so easy, and you really don’t need a recipe at all. It’s a “use what you’ve got” kind of meal, so there are only a couple things you really need and the rest you can just wing it.

These pint sized lasagnas could be called “cute”, but I think “cute” is reserved for puppies and Zooey Deschanel, so lets just call them cool. And the coolest thing about them? You make them in a muffin tin, using wonton wrappers instead of pasta! Genius!

The prep

Here’s the ingredients for what I made:

• wonton wrappers
• cheddar/ mozza mix
• classico four cheese pasta sauce
• spinach
• cooked bacon

I also made some variations such as switching out the bacon for cooked Andouille sausage or cooked meatballs, adding chicken and onions, and I even made one with chicken, brie cheese, chopped pecans, and honey.

To start, line the muffin tins with the wonton wrappers. Some recipes call for spraying the tins, but I didn’t find it necessary.

not too difficult so far, right?

Next, I added my dry ingredients. Chuck in a couple crumbles of bacon, some spinach, sausage, or whatever you want at this point. Don’t go too crazy on the quantity though… you’re going to be building another layer on top of this one.

Time to give it some sauce! I enjoy mine more on the saucy side, so I put about 2 tbsp on and topped with a sprinkle of cheese. Add another wonton wrapper, offset from the other one so the tips look nice, and start building your second layer.

Bacon and spinach tips: brown the bacon well as it will absorb some moisture from the sauce. Also double what you think is good for spinach as it almost vanishes after baking.

Chicken with pecans tip: get creative with the “sauce”. I tried maple syrup, honey, and a sesame ginger dressing. All great.

Again, top with sauce and cheese (a little more cheese on top than in the middle). Slide them into a preheated 375 degree oven for about 15 minutes.

And what you’ll get is this….

Chicken, pecans, and brie

And this….

bacon and spinach

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Santas Anonymous Giveaway- The Sequel

It’s back!

Our Santa’s Anonymous contest was such a success last year, Robyn and I figured we’d give it another go this year.

Last year we just asked you to send us an email letting us know that you donated a toy, and that got you entered to win a fabulous gift of homemade goodies. (retail value approx.* $1,000,000!) The contest generated about 25 toys donated, including a generous donation from our friend Shana all the way from New York. Hopefully we will beat that this year.

*VERY approximate. As in if you read that number with a mirror you’d be pretty close.

This year, just head to your nearest Wal-Mart, Toys-R-Us, or shopping mall to drop off a new, unwrapped toy, and then send us picture – either by email (baconhound@gmail.com or imfojoy@gmail.com), or Tweet it to us (@baconhound and @joyfulfollies ) – of you dropping off your donation to be entered in our giveaway*! You can follow S.A. on twitter to get updates on what they are in need of most. (@santasanonymous)

Robyn dropping in 3 large bags of toys last year

You have until the end of the day on Friday, December 16 to enter.
We will enter your name into the draw (1 for every donation) to receive a treasure trove of the homemade goodness we are making this year – consisting of all the goodies Robyn is detailing this week on her blog, as well as my maple-bacon Chex mix and Bailey’s – and we will randomly select a winner on Saturday, December 17.

*if you are out of town, and are inspired to help, feel free to send a cheque and we will gladly do the legwork for you!

A special thanks to Saylish, Mike, and Nathan at the Next Act Pub for getting the ball rolling this year. A while back you may remember that Robyn’s burger submission was selected to run as a special Cameo burger for a week at the pub. As part of the deal, she received $1 from each sold that week in the form of a gift card usable at the pub. The grand total sold was 137. She recently contacted Saylish, who is one of the owners, and asked if instead of paying out gc’s to her, could they donate that dollar amount to Santa’s Anonymous?

Of course, being good community minded folks they enthusiastically agreed.

So get shopping people, and let’s make sure no kids in Edmonton wake up Christmas morning to disappointment!