Favorite Ingredients Friday! - Updated

Updated to add the casserole:

Lazy Man's Lasagna

1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup minced onion, optional
1 garlic clove, minced, optional
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and pepper, to taste
12 ounces frozen (not thawed) cheese ravioli1
1 (14-ounce jar) spaghetti sauce
8-ounces provolone, sliced
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (about 2 ounces)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Brown the beef with the onion, garlic, herbs, salt and pepper in a large, ovenproof skillet. When the meat is browned, drain off any fat and remove from the pan. Put the still-frozen ravioli into the pan, breaking them up if they are clumped. Spread the ground beef mixture evenly over the ravioli, and ladle the spaghetti sauce evenly over the ground beef mixture. Cook over medium heat, without stirring until the ravioli is heated through and beginning to brown on the bottom, about 10 minutes.

Take the skillet off the heat, lay the provolone slices on top, and sprinkle the whole thing with the Parmesan. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Serve hot.

I goofed! I forgot/missed that we had a theme this week. It's supposed to be a casserole recipe. I have some good ones at home, so I'll add one tonight. In the meantime, enjoy the bonus cake recipe!

I tried this new recipe for Thanksgiving. I made it on Wednesday night. I called it the miracle cake. I ran out of flour and had to substitute some multigrain pancake mix. My apples were getting soft. My baking powder was so old it had hardened into a big block. I had to scrape some loose to measure it out, plus it's baked in a bundt pan. I have never - let me repeat - NEVER been able to get a cake out of that pan in one piece. It's a good cake pan, so I've blamed myself. Add to the fact that I was still suffering occasional waves of nausea and you can see why I call it a miracle cake. It rose, it came out of the pan in one beautiful piece, the multigrain mix blended in fine and the apples were wonderful. This was a great cake. The original recipe (which I found online, but couldn't tell you where) recommended making apple sauce with the leftover apples. I let them cook until they were super soft and just chunked them a bit. Jim really enjoyed them on vanilla ice cream. They were soft enough for him to easily eat after his oral surgery.

Apple Cake

10 small apples, peeled, cored, and cut into small wedges
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup orange juice
4 eggs
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the apples, 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Let sit for one hour.

Combine the remaining ingredients and mix together very well. Be careful not to overmix, but make sure all dry ingredients are incorporated.

Grease and flour a bundt pan. Pour a thin layer of dough into the pan. Follow with a layer of apples. Repeat until the dough is gone, but be sure that your final layer is dough. Drizzle the apple/cinnamon juice from the apple bowl over the top.

Bake for one and a half hours. Let cool, and remove from the pan.

You will most likely have leftover apples. If you don't, make more next time. Pour the remaining apples into a saucepan and cook until soft. You can smash it up for apple sauce or leave it a little chunky for an apple topping. You won't regret it.

Go visit Overwhelmed with Joy for more fantastic recipes!

Past FIF recipes:
Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Jim's Favorite Jelly Cookie
Eye of Round Roast
Mozzarella & Tomato Sandwich
Marcia's Taco Soup
Chicken Parmesan Casserole
Cajun Baked Catfish
Jim's Snickers Pancake
Crawfish Monica
Grilled Meats and Vegetables over Saffron Orzo
Crockpot Red Beans
Better Than Almost Anything Cake
Fruity Sangria
Outrageous Brownies
Enchiladas de Pollo
Lescó
Catalina Chicken
Croissant French Toast
Corned Beef
Sloppy Joe, Mac 'n Cheese Casserole
Shredded Chicken
Baked Bean & Burger Casserole
Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie
Crab Rangoon
Sausage con Queso and Ro-tel Cheese Dip
Blueberry Multigrain Coffeecake
Banana Bread
Bananas Foster
Old-Time Beef Stew
White Chocolate Snack Mix
Gorilla Bread
Ginger Shrimp
Roast Chicken
Tex-Mex Chicken Taco Soup
Shrimp Mold
Pasta Puttanesca
Pork Milanese
Pumpkin Dip
Oven-fried Chicken
Best Bundt Cake Ever
Hot Dog Casserole
Chicken & Rice
Peanut Butter Fudge
Omelets in a Bag
Shrimp Boil
Apple Cheese
Pulled Pork BBQ