Menu Plan Monday 6/28 - 7/4

Wow! This week's sped right by so quickly I'm feeling a little dizzy! Looking forward to the next seven days, there's no respite in sight. We're a month away from school starting, so that means eye exams, hearing exams, shopping for clothes (one in uniforms, the other not), attending Sneak Peek days at two schools (one in elementary school and the other starting middle school), hair cuts, orthodontist visits, grandparent visits, and family fun days galore! Plus, this weekend it's Independence Day -- a favorite holiday of mine.

If you're new here, why not look around? You might just find something you like. I'm in the middle of a week of bare bones, but healthy, recipes, complete with pictures and money-saving tips.

Here's what I hope to make this week:

Monday:
Breakfast: toast with jam & yogurt
Lunch: leftovers
Dinner: Bean Burritos on homemade tortillas

Tuesday:
Breakfast: toast with gravy & oranges
Lunch: egg salad sandwiches & corn puffs
Dinner: Chicken Burgers & lots of veggies

Wednesday:
breakfast & lunch unknown - shopping day, so I will plan as I go
Dinner: Crock Pot Corn Chowder

Thursday:
Breakfast: Peanut Butter & Jelly French Toast
Lunch: unknown, hair appointment
Dinner: Chicken Pizza

Friday:
Breakfast: Baked Donuts & Juice
Lunch: Fried Egg Sandwiches
Dinner: Meatball Sandwiches with Cole Slaw and Beans

Saturday:
Breakfast: whatever's leftover
Lunch & Dinner @ our 4th of July celebration (for some reason, held on the 3rd!)

Sunday:
Breakfast: Strawberry & Blueberry Pancakes
Lunch: Bacon & Blue Cheese Burgers, Grilled Potato Skins, & Fruit Salad
Dinner: Appetizer Spread & Desserts

As for my garden, it's doing well. Look at what we harvested last week:

For more menu plans, visit orgjunkie.com today.

Menu Plan Monday 6/14 - 6/20

Last week went well. I managed to pretty much stay on plan for my menu. Here are a couple of the things we enjoyed:

Cornell Bread

Soy Milk

S'Mores -- Homemade Marshmallows AND graham crackers!

This week's menu plan includes lots of fresh veggies. I haven't listed what my husband's eating (He's on Atkins) because we just play it by ear each day based on his appetite.

Monday:

Breakfast: Hand-held Omelets (recipe follows) & Orange Segments
Lunch: (Kids eat lunch @ school summer program) Lunch for me: Jaime Oliver's Cheesy Corn
Dinner: Burrito Packets, Seasoned Potato Wedges, and Fresh Veggies

Tuesday:

Breakfast: Toast with Blackberry Jam, Boiled Eggs, Orange Segments
Lunch: (Kids eat lunch @ school summer program) Lunch for me:  Vegetable Fried Rice
Dinner: Pinto Beans, Flour Tortillas, Rice, and Veggies

Wednesday:

Breakfast: Biscuits with Gravy, Orange Segments
Lunch: (Kids eat lunch @ school summer program) Lunch for me: Vegetable Fried Rice
Dinner: Beef Stroganoff & salad

Thursday:

Breakfast: Peanut Butter & Jelly French Toast & a big glass of milk
Lunch: (Kids eat lunch @ school summer program) Lunch for me: Veggie-Pasta Stir-Fry
Dinner: Veggie Scramble with Popovers

Friday:

Breakfast: Huevos Not Quite Rancheros
Lunch: (Kids eat lunch @ school summer program) Lunch for me: Vegetable Strudel
Dinner: Orange Chicken with Rice & Fortune Cookies

Saturday:

Breakfast: Bagels with Fresh Farmer's Cheese
Lunch: A Picnic at the Park!
Dinner: Some sort of baked chicken breast dish, Potato Salad, and Glazed Carrots (Possibly some dinner rolls)

Sunday:

Breakfast: Muffins & Juice
Lunch: Quinoa Garden Salad & Italian Bread sticks
Dinner: An Italian Feast!

Hand-held Omelets
Serves 6

Note: I am not known far and wide for my pie crusts, so feel free to use your own recipe. The one I've provided worked really well for this recipe, and tasted fabulous, but I'm well aware that my methods would elicit deep, dramatic gasps from true pastry chefs.

What You Need:

• 9 eggs
• a splash of milk
• salt and peppers to taste
• cheese, meats, and veggies as desired
• 1 2/3 cups flour
• 10 Tbsp butter, cut into cubes
• a dash of salt
• 3 to 4 Tbsp ice water

How it's Done:

• If you're using veggies or meats, cook them as desired. I only used egg and cheese in mine. I recommend cooking your veggies in a little butter in the skillet right before you add the eggs.
• Beat your eggs with milk, salt, and pepper. Add to hot, buttered skillet. Cook and stir until the eggs are firm and set. 
• Remove from heat. Let cool slightly while you prepare your pie crust dough.
• In a food processor (cue gasping here), pour flour and salt and butter cubes. Pulse 15 times or so, until butter is pea-sized. Turn the food processor on (more gasping...someone get that woman an oxygen mask!), and slowly add the water until the dough forms a ball. Turn off the food processor. 
• Move the dough onto a floured surface and roll out to 1/4" thickness. Using a 4" round cookie cutter, cut into 12 rounds. 
• Line a large cookie sheet with parchment, silpat, or nothing at all (I don't use Teflon and don't advise it) if you're brave. Move half of the rounds onto the cookie sheet.
• Mound the filling, about 3 Tbsp or so, onto each round. Cover the filling with the remaining rounds. 
• Press the edges together to seal completely. Using a fork, prick holes in the surface to vent.
• Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or so, until slightly browned. 

Oh, and my garden? Thriving. We're producing more than we can eat and I'm going to start freezing and drying some of what we're harvesting. Here are a few pictures of some of this week's progress:

Watermelon! I think that out of all of our garden, this is the thing I'm most excited about. We have somewhere between 15 and 20 melons growing on our plants.

Our big tomatoes -- the red ones

Our bell peppers are doing well!

One lone Mr. Stripey tomato growing on the vine

I post recipes daily, so please do come back throughout the week to see what's heatin' up my kitchen (or not, as the case may be!) Like what you see? Click Follow! :) For more menu plans, visit Org Junkie today.

Menu Plan 6/7 - 6/13

It's seriously summertime here in western Georgia. This weekend, I spent too much time in the sun without drinking enough water and made myself feel unwell. So I want to remind you to drink enough water this summer! If you don't like the flavor of plain water, why not mix it up a little? Adding lemon slices, lime slices, fresh mint, slices of ginger, or slices of cucumber can help freshen up your water, and maybe help you increase your water intake.

Here are a few of the things we enjoyed last week:

Taco Potatoes

Quinoa Breakfast Cereal

Peach Sorbet

Sweet Potato Pancakes

Healthier Double Chocolate Cookies

Our weekly menu includes all three meals to keep me on track now that the kids are out of school for the summer. I don't stick to my plan all week, but it gives me a good guideline so that I don't run out of ingredients.

Monday 6/7

Breakfast: Overnight Oatmeal (For my husband: Boiled Eggs)
Lunch: Noodle Soup and Grilled Cheese on Rye (Tuna Salad for my husband)
Dinner: Black Bean & Sweet Potato Enchiladas with Salad (For my husband: Bunless Burgers with Fresh Veggies)


Tuesday 6/8

Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs with Cheese
Lunch: Lentils & Rice served on salad (For my husband: Tuna Salad)
Dinner: Whole Wheat Penne with Garden Fresh Tomato Sauce; Breadsticks; Peas (For my husband: Grilled Chicken Salad)


Wednesday 6/9

Breakfast: Breakfast Pizza (Eggs for husband)
Lunch: Happy Little Bentos (Chicken Salad for my husband)
Dinner: Vegetarian Taco Potatoes; Corn on the Cob; Tomato-Onion Salad (For my husband: Peanut Butter Chicken & Green Beans)

Thursday 6/10

Breakfast: "Soaked" Pancakes with real maple syrup (Eggs for husband)
Lunch: Oat Burgers on Sweet Potato Rolls (Bunless Bugers for husband)
Dinner: Mini Pot Pies & Salad (Taco salad for husband)

Friday 6/11

Breakfast: Peanut Butter Breakfast Cookies (Eggs and Nuts for husband)
Lunch: Fried Rice (Chicken & Veg stir-fry for husband)
Dinner: Pizza (Pizza Burger for husband)

Saturday 6/12

Brunch: Quiche made from whatever needs to be used up; fresh fruit (Eggs for husband)
Dinner: Burrito Pockets & Creamed Corn (Taco Salad for husband)
Dessert: S'mores

Sunday 6/13

Breakfast: Baked Donuts (Eggs for husband)
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Loaded Nachos (Hot Wings for husband)
Dessert: No Bake Cookies

How's your garden doing this week?

Ours is doing very well! We figured out what was eating our pepper and tomato plants and have been working to fix the problem. This week, ladybugs, dragonflies, and spiders have all come to live and dine in our garden, and we couldn't be happier about it. Our peppers are thriving now. Take a look!

Some cayenne peppers

Jalapeno peppers

Serrano peppers

Sweet Banana Peppers. We are producing so many of these that we can't eat them fast enough. While I could freeze them for later use, I opted, instead, to share the bounty with a neighbor, who was very appreciative. I was able to snip almost a dozen peppers to share with her yesterday!

Tomatoes! This is the red variety. Our Mr. Stripey plant is finally producing and will hopefully have photo-worthy fruit next week.

Okra :) We planted this just for fun. We only have one okra plant so we won't be feasting on okra this summer, but it's been fun to watch it grow!

Our one broccoli plant has finally begun to flower. Our one cucumber plant is spreading out. Our onions are doing very well. And our kiddie pool watermelon? Well...

...it's growing nicely and producing lots of blossoms. I can't take a clear enough picture of it, but we have several itty bitty baby watermelons among all those leaves!

For more menu plans to inspire your cooking this week, visit Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Oh! While you're here, why not stop by and enter my giveaway? And don't forget to drink your water!

What's on your menu plan this week? How do you remind yourself to drink water?

Menu Plan Monday 5/24 - 5/30 AND Garden Update

Weeks ago, I shared with you my letter to Carrino's Restaurant. I hadn't heard back from them, so I wrote to them again, telling them that I'd shared my disappointment with you, my readers, and had received comments that others had experienced similar treatment. I finger-wagged them in my second letter, pretty harshly, but calmly. Almost instantly, the manager of my local Carrino's was on the phone with me.

She apologized over and over again, and told me she wanted to make this right. She said she was putting a "Be Our Guest" card in the mail worth $60 for us to come enjoy a meal on the house. I haven't received it yet, but I will let you know when I do, and how my visit goes.

On to menu planning: Last week went well, but I have one complaint: I'm sick of cooking hunks of meat for my husband who's following Atkins as a means to lose weight. Hunks of meat are boring. Hunks of meat hold little appeal for me. So I talked it over with him and he doesn't mind eating things several days in a row. Therefore, I'm going to start batch cooking for his meals. I'm making him strips of steak he can add to salads, meatballs, and more, all in one big cooking batch. Then, his meals are ready and I can focus on creating meals for us girls, heavy on the plants and light on the meat.

Here are some of the things we enjoyed this week:

Vanilla Scones

Chocolate Cake (in a parfait with peanut butter frosting)

Chicken Spread with Cheese Crackers

And here is a garden update for this week!

This is one of my bell pepper plants. Can anyone tell me why it drops all its leaves but the very top ones and drops baby peppers every time they pop up? What can I do?

My Serrano peppers are doing well. We just don't know when to pick them. They don't seem to be growing much anymore so I assume they're ready. I'm going to give them until tomorrow to see if they do anymore growing. If not, I'll pick them.

That's Picky Eater picking one of our first ripe cherry tomatoes. It could have done with a couple more days on the vine, but it was ready enough.

She was very excited...and nervous...about trying her first vine-fresh cherry tomato. But she was set on trying the second tomato (her sister got the first one). She's never liked tomatoes, but I encouraged her to try it because backyard fresh is so much different than supermarket purchased.

So, she tried it. And didn't like it. But at least she tried. :)

Here's my menu plan for the week. Please stop back by throughout the week for tasty recipes and photos. And for more menu plan inspiration, hop on over to orgjunkie. Happy cooking!

Breakfasts:

• Cranberry-Orange Granola with Homemade Yogurt and Honey
• Vanilla Scones & grapefruit halves
• Garlic Cheddar Biscuits with Scrambled Egg
• Breakfast Enchiladas
• Blueberry Pancakes
• Rice pudding & grapefruit halves
• leftover breakfast items
• eggs all week for husband

Lunches at home and school:

• egg salad with wheat crackers (on lettuce for husband); carrots with ranch to dip; butterscotch pudding
• oat burgers on buns with cheese and onion (leftovers for husband)
• popcorn soup (leftovers for husband)
• pasta salad with tuna and beans (tuna and beans on lettuce for husband); carrots; a cookie
• leftovers other days

Dinners:

• bean & cheese stuffed shells (husband: steak and cabbage); cabbage, and corn
• taco potatoes (taco salad for husband); oven-roasted broccoli; creamed corn (for kids and me)
• low-carb meatloaf; lemon pepper green beans; mashed potatoes (for kids & me)
• meatballs (low-carb); dipping sauce; green beans; rice
• black-eyed peas, veggies, and bread
• steak & potato burritos (no potato and no tortilla for husband) with lettuce and vine-ripened tomatoes
• clean out the fridge night

Snacks and Baking:

• baked potato wedges
• homemade toaster pastries
• focaccia rounds
• blondies
• pinwheels
• wheat crackers
• flax crackers

Grocery Shopping: May Edition

We did our monthly grocery shopping over the past couple of days and ended up with some great bargains. We bought some processed foods, which we are very much trying to get away from. However, in the end, the budget wins out and we make compromises. I came in under budget this month, which I needed to do in order to spend more on our garden (future grocery investment!), dentists, orthodontists, and car upkeep expenses. Here's what I have to work with in May, keeping in mind a mid-month trip which will add $40 to $60 more to my total for the month.

First trip: We found a meat market in town with really low prices when you buy their bulk packages. Here's what I got and what it cost me:

• Large loaf of bread = $1.39
• Cheapy white hot dog buns, 16 count = $1.39
• 18 count eggs = $1.99
• cookie dough, shrimp, corn, bread dough, and corn = $19.99 (big bags)
• 5 lb roasted peanuts = $3.99
• 10 lb potatoes = $3.99
• Veggie special (5 lb each lima beans, blackeyed peas, snap beans, cut green beans, corn on the cob, creamed corn, broccoli) = $39.99
• Super Special (6 large T Bones, 6 large Ribeyes, 5 lb center cut pork chops, 5 lb ground beef, 5 lb hamburger patties (all beef), 4 lb curly fries (junk, I know), 5 lb rind-on bacon, 5 lb chicken breast, 5 lb chicken wings, 5 lb smoked sausage, 4 lb chicken drumsticks) = $124.99
• 3 lb collard greens = 3.99

Total spent at the meat market = $201.71

They have more meat packages that I'm thrilled about finding. Next month I'm going to expand my purchases there. If I buy several meat oackages, I'll have a greater variety and a few months' worth of meat in one trip.

Next trip was my post's commissary. I found a lot of clearance rack bargains today. Here's what I bought:

• butter $1.29
• sour cream $.95
• cheddar and mozzarella, $2.50 each
• hot dogs (junky ones) $.89
• baking soda $.59
• yeast = $1.29
• toaster pastries by Fiber One (2 boxes) $3.00
• unflavored gelatin, 2 boxes $2.10
• shortening = $1.84
• frozen coconut = $.89
• confectioner's sugar = $1.59
• granulated sugar = $2.38
• all-purpose flour, 10 lb = $3.98
• frozen blueberries = $1.79
• strawberries, 2 baskets = $4.00
• spinach = $1.65
• 6 lemons = $2.34
• cucumbuer = $.39
• gren onions = $.44
• flour tortillas = $1.09
• 2 gallons of 1% milk = $5.00
• 3 lb yellow onions = $2.99
• vegetable oil = $2.79
• coconut oil = $5.79
• bottled water (ick) = $3.50

from the clearance rack (damaged packaging or discontinued items):

• Honey Bunches of Oats cereal
• diced tomatoes
• chicken broth
• cookies
• cheese puffs (organic)
• Spaghetti-Os
• Excedrin
• 2 cans of black beans
• coconut milk

Total spent = $75.72 (includes surcharge)

Total spent on groceries for the month of May = $277.43 Not bad at all! I forgot cocoa powder and bananas, so I will need to return to the store for those some time during the week. In all, I'm pleased with my spending.

On our garden, we spent about $200 total for the season. I'm confident that we'll make that back. I already have 12 cherry tomatoes on my plant (they're all green still), my strawberries are blooming, my peppers are blooming, and my potatoes are going very well. Here's a list of what we've planted this year:

• 1 cucumber plant
• 1 broccoli plant
• 4 bell pepper plants
• 8 sweet banana pepper plants
• 5 crookneck squash plants
• a bunch of potatoes
• 9 sweet potato plants
• about 30 onion plants
• 4 watermelon plants
• 2 strawberry plants
• 1 husky cherry red tomato plant
• 1 Mr. Stripey tomato plant
• 1 Taladega tomato plant
• dill
• basil
• chives
• thyme
• parsley
• rosemary
• mint

Two questions for you readers: First, how do my local grocery prices compare to yours? And second, how are your gardens going?

My Thumb's Not Black After All!

Day 108.

This morning, as I was doing my gardening chores, I noticed tiny green orbs on my tomato plant. That's right! I have my first soon-to-be tomatoes! And then, The Hubs found tiny peppers gropwing on our bell, cayenne, and chili pepper plants! This is very exciting to me because this is the first time I've ever grown anything at all successfully. A few years ago, I tried to grow a bunch of things in the ground and none of them survived. I tilled and fertilized and planted and watered and they rotted and died. A few months ago, I tried growing herbs in one of those precious kitchen herb garden kits. They grew! And then they prompty turned brown and died.

My baby cherry tomatoes!

I decided that growing from seeds is too difficult for a beginner like me, so this year I opted to use seedlings instead. I'm so glad I did! We're already enjoying the sweetness of homegrown strawberries, and soon will be feasting on tomatoes and peppers, too. Hopefully, my squash won't be far behind that, followed by okra and potatoes.

Little bitty peppers!

What are you growing this year?

Home-grown strawberries would be so yummy paired with homemade granola. In fact, strawberries and granola are on the breakfast menu for tomorrow. So I'm making granola today. There are many fancy granola recipes that use tons of ingredients, but I'm staying pretty plain, using only oats, almonds, and sesame seeds for my crunchiness. You could add puffed rice, puffed wheat, wheat germ, more nuts, sunflower seeds, fruits, and more. The sweetener I chose to use was a combination of honey, maple syrup, and brown sugar. You could use anything: white sugar, agave nectar, apple juice concentrate, just to name a few. I used coconut oil in my recipe. You could use vegetable oil or butter. I added chopped chocolate to mine. You could add raisins, dried pineapple, dried blueberries, yogurt-covered raisins, or white chocolate chips, if you wanted.

Michelle's Chocolate Chip Cookie Granola

What You Need:

• 2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• 2 Tbsp sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/8 cup maple syrup
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1/3 cup melted coconut oil, plus more for greasing pan
• 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, ground into a lumpy powder

How it's Done:

1. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees. Grease a baking sheet with raised sides.
2. Combine oats, almonds, seeds, honey, maple syrup, and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl, stirring to coat all pieces evenly.
3. Drizzle coconut oil over top, then stir again to coat all pieces. Pour ganola onto the baking sheet.
4. Bake 30 minutes, turning over halfway through. Remove from oven and allow the granola to cool completely. It will harden as it cools.
5. Once cool, mix in chocolate "powder." Store in covered containers or storage bags.

Mid-Month Grocery List, Dehydration of Fruits and Humans, Gardening, and Messy Lasagna!

Day 104.

There are several things on my mind today, so I'll get right to them.

But first, Diego says hi. Or hola, as it were.

In all the chaos surrounding my in-laws' visit, I never did do a real grocery shop for the month of April. Rather, it was a couple weeks of shopping as need be. Thankfully, we didn't spend too much money on those trips. Here is what my mid-month trip list looks like. I'll update with prices tomorrow night:

Produce:

• apples (several pounds)
• bananas
• green onions
• sweet potatoes
• 5 bell peppers
• onions
• spinach
• zucchini
• cucumbers
• tomatoes
• potatoes
• strawberries
• lettuce

Dairy:

• mozzarella
• butter (2 pounds)
• eggs (2- 18 packs)
• milk
• cheddar
• greek yogurt
• heavy cream

Baking:

• yeast
• flour
• confectioner's sugar
• granulated sugar

Frozen:

• peas
• broccoli
• cauliflower

Grocery:

• canned tomatoes (4 cans)
• quinoa
• almond milk
• black beans (4 cans)

That ought to do it until May.

Next I'd like to talk to you about dehydration. I decided to make some granola this week. I was going to pick up some dried fruits for the granola, but I thought it would be nice to dry them myself, instead. Since I have no food dehydrator at my disposal, I'll be using my oven set at the lowest temperature I can get it. All the instructions online that I can find recommend a temperature of about 140 degrees. My oven doesn't go that low, but I'm still going to give it a go at 170 degrees. I'm hoping it works out. If it doesn't, I've only invested 8 strawberries which I purchased on sale.

 

But wait! Didn't I mentions something about dehydration of humans in that subject line? Why, yes! Yes, I did! There's a bit of a clash of the wills going on within my mind right now. You see, I am determined to get my family living a healthier, more natural exisitence. And yet, at the same time, I fill my own tank daily with Diet Coke. Now, could I get any more processed than that? Plus, Diet Coke helps dehydrate me! I know I should give it up. I know I should. There are better alternatives. Coffee is a better choice. Tea is even better. Water, well, let's not push it yet.

I really am addicted to my Diet Coke. It's going to be really hard. But I think I'm ready to give it up. Not only will I feel better without that junk in my body, I'll also save my family even more money. Keep me in your thoughts as I kick this habit. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Now that that's off my chest, can I share with you my total excitement over my little patio garden? I'm so thrilled about it. We're already getting sweet, bright red strawberries from our hanging container, and I'm already using my herbs. But here's what I have to look forward to in about two months:

• sweet bell peppers (red, green, yellow)
• sweet banana peppers
• chili peppers
• jalapeno peppers
• cayenne peppers
• cherry tomatoes
• crookneck squash
• broccoli
• cucumbers

• okra

I can't wait to start cooking with them and eating them! I took my Picky Eater-turned-Possible Vegetarian out back and asked her what she thought we should make with our veggies, and she wants to make lots of soup. Squash soup. Pepper soup. Cucumber soup. All possible, sure, but I am going to try to work on some alternate recipes with her in the near future.

Any ideas on all-natural pest control to get the buggies to stop eating my leaves?

And now, what you're here for...a recipe! Messy lasagna. I love lasagna. It's the ultimate in comfort food. But don't you hate it when you burn your fingertips on the hot, cooked noodles? And don't you have better things to do than to neatly and evenly spread the ricotta filling over the slippery noddles? And don't those pesky torn noodles just bug you? They bug me! Not to worry! This dish has all the flavors of lasagna with none of the hassle!

Messy Lasagna

What You Need:

• 1/2 lb pasta (any variety will do, but I used mini wagon wheels today)
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 15 oz can diced tomatoes (do not drain)
• 15 oz can tomato sauce

• **SPICES AS DESIRED** If you skip this, your dish will be very, very bland. Spice it as you normally spice lasagna. I used fresh basil, fresh thyme, fresh parsley, fresh rosemary (not normally in lasagna, but it's fresh and I couldn't resist!), salt, and pepper
• a sprinkling of sugar
• 1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese, divided
• 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, divided

How it's Done:

1. Cook pasta al dente according to pacakge directions. Drain and reserve. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Meanwhile, brown ground beef with onion until no longer pink. Add tomatoes, sauce, garlic, sugar, and spices. Simmer 15 minutes.

3. Combine sauce with pasta. In a separate bowl, mix ricotta, 1 cup mozzarella, and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. 

4. Pour half of the pasta and sauce into a 9x11" baking dish.  Dot with mounds of the ricotta mixture. Don't try to be neat or even. It's messy lasagna. Cover with remaining pasta and sauce. Sprinkle the rest of the cheeses over top.
5. Bake for 30 minutes.