Mary’s Basket II

This is the second basket of the five commissioned. The stitching on the lower sides of the basket is the Wheat Stitch. On the upper part is the Fern Stitch. The lid also contains the Wheat and the Fern Stitch as well.  The base of the basket is made from Cherry wood.

I found this recipe in Well Being Magazine. I’ve made it 3 times, and it gets better and better each time. However, I have modified it to suit my taste. After carefully looking at the photo, I saw corn, but there is no corn in the ingredients below. So I added the corn and also some black beans as well. Instead of using the green stuff on top, I added sour cream. This recipe tastes even better the day after.

Southwestern Lasagna

Ingredients

1 pound 95% lean ground sirloin (ground turkey is better)

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 (16-ounce) jar salsa (I only added 1/3 since the salsa was medium hot)

1 1/4 cups enchilada sauce

Salt and pepper to taste (optional) (the enchilada sauce was salty enough)

1 cup fat-free cottage cheese

1 large egg white, beaten

6 (6-inch) flour tortillas, cut into thirds

1 cup shredded reduced-fat Monterey Jack cheese

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 2. In large nonstick skillet coated with nonstick cooking spray, brown beef and garlic over medium heat about 8 minutes or until meat is done. Drain excess fat. Add salsa, enchilada sauce, and salt and pepper (if using). Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. 3. In small bowl, combine the cottage cheese and egg white. Coat a13x9x2-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. 4. Spread thin layer of meat sauce in the dish. Layer with half the tortillas, all of the cottage cheese mixture, half the remaining meat mixture, and half the cheese. Repeat layers, omitting the cottage cheese layer and ending with the meat sauce. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and bake for 25–30 minutes or until bubbly. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting.

Ruth’s Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cook the ground turkey and garlic till done. Add salsa and enchilada sauce.
Bring to a boil. Cook 5 minutes.

Combine cottage cheese and egg white in a bowl.

In a glass baking dish, spread some of the meat sauce on the bottom. Put some of the cut flour tortillas down next. Then spread some of the cottage cheese on top. More tortillas, more meat sauce, more cottage cheese. On the final layer spread the rest of the meat sauce. Cover with cheese.

Bake 25-30 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting.