Bow-Tie Lasagna

Each week I share with my best friend Phyllis what I'll be making for the weekend.  I emailed her the recipe I would be cooking on Saturday and she fell in love with it.  She went to the store that evening and bought all the stuff to make it.  I hope by reading my blog you too will be just as excited as she was to make it.
This recipe put a new wonderful twist on a lasagna.  This is so quick to put together.

This blog will probably be the shortest blog I've done so far.

Start by getting a pot of water boiling to cook the pasta.  In the meantime get your hamburger meat frying.

Once that's done drain out the grease...eww grease.  YUCK!
By this time your pasta should be done...test it to make sure. :)  Everyone knows how I love to test my food. 
Drain your pasta and place back into the pot you cooked them in.  Drizzle your 2 tbsp of olive oil onto the pasta.  This will help it to not stick together.

Mix together well and then add in your favorite sauce.  I used my famous homemade spaghetti sauce; which was left over from when we had spaghetti earlier in the week, so it worked out great.

                                       

Make sure to put enough to coat each piece of pasta.  Now let's add in the rest of the stuff; salt, garlic powder, italian seasonings, sour cream, and shredded mozzarella cheese.

Mix together well and warm everything up together till the cheese is melted.

Then DIG IN!!!

Here's the link to the recipe:

Click here for the recipe.

Tiramisu Brownie Trifle





Is your mouth watering yet?  Don't mind that dirty dish in the back ground.....the prettyness of the dessert is the main focus here.  You probably didn't even see that dirty dish  until I said something, huh?

What is needed for this...

1 pkg (18-21oz) fudge brownie mix (plus the ingredients to make the brownies..usually water, oil, eggs)

1 container (16 oz.) frozen whipped topping, thawed

2 bars (1.45oz each) dark chocolate candy

1/2 - 1 cup coffee liqueur

1/2 cup water

3 tbsp. instant coffee granuals

2 pks (8oz each) cream cheese, softened

1 pkg (3.3 oz) vanilla instant pudding and pie filling

Let's get down to business now.

For all the people that make fun of me this picture is for you...preheat your oven to: 375

Line a 15 1/2 x 10 x 1 sheet pan with a 20 inch piece of parchment paper....here you go another picture for those people who make fun of me.

ha ha ha....had to make sure it was the right size.  You don't want your parchment paper the same size as your pan.
Prepare your brownie mix according to the package directions.  Pour batter into the pan and bake 20-22 minutes or until tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Remove the brownies from the pan (just grab the ends of the parchment paper and lift) and place on a cooling rack.

While that is cooling attach the open star tip to the end of a pastry bag...or you could just put it on the corner of a baggie if you don't have a pastry bag.

Fill it with 3/4 cup of the whipped topping and set aside. 
Now it's time to get your dark chocolate candy chopped up.  Chop about 1 1/2 of the chocolate bars and set aside.

Onto the filling part of the wonderful dessert.
If you are unable to find coffee liqueur here's a substitution for it.
Combine 3/4 cup water, 3/4 cup sugar, 2 tbsp. instant coffee granuals and 1 tsp rum extract.  You can place it in a pot on the stove or in a microwavable dish and heat until sigar is dissolved.  Chill before using.
Back to the filling part.
Combine 1/2 cup coffee liqueur (or the substituation I was just talking about), 1/2 cup of water, and 3 tbsp of instant coffee granuals.  Stir with the whisk until dissolved.

In another bowl whisk the cream cheese until smooth.  Gradually add in the coffee mixture to the cream cheese mixture.

Whisk again until smooth; you will now be getting a big ol whiff of coffee.  Wake up and smell the coffee :)

Let's add in our vanilla pudding mix to the cream cheese mixture.



Whisk until the mixture begins to thicken.  Fold in the remaining whipped topping and chopped chocolate. 

Make sure to combine everything well.  Set aside

Back to the brownies....cut the brownies into 1 inch cubes using a pizza cutter.

You don't have to do this next step; but I brushed the brownie pieces with more of the coffee liqueur. 

Let's get this thing assembled now.  Place 1/3 of the brownie cubes into a trifle bowl.  Well I used a glass cake container and turned the top upside down...hope that makes sense.  Then place 1/3 of the filling evenly over the brownies.

Repeat that process two more times.  Pipe whipped topping in rows about 1/2 inch apart over the top filling layer.  Grate the remaining chocolate bar over the whipped topping.  Then the top will look like this..

ENJOY!!!!!!!