Today is Paige’s Birthday! Yeah! I find it hard to believe that my baby girl is 11 years old! Where did time go?

In the picture, Paige is posing with her early birthday present – a “new” bike! She has really been wanting a new bike that fit her since she had grown too tall for the other bikes. She was ecstatic to get this one!

For her birthday supper, she has chosen lasagna, garlic bread and cake. I am posting the recipes here because these are all simple recipes that make for a delicious birthday supper!

Simply Lasagna

This recipe is so easy! My favorite thing about this recipe is not having to cook the noodles! Woo hoo!!! The recipe is from Kraft Foods. It is a forgiving recipe if you would like to make changes to the ingredients. This recipe will serve 12.

1 lb. ground beef
1 egg, beaten
2.5 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1 container (15 oz.) ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 jar (26 oz.) spaghetti sauce
1 cup water
12 lasagna noodles, uncooked

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Brown meat in large skillet on medium-high heat. Meanwhile, mix egg, 1.25 cups of mozzarella cheese, the ricotta cheese, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese and the parsley until well blended; set aside.

Drain meat; return to skillet. Stir in spaghetti sauce. Add water to empty sauce jar; cover with lid and shake well. Add to meat mixture; stir until well blended. Spread 1 cup of the sauce onto bottom of 13×9-inch baking dish; top with layers of 3 lasagna noodles; one-third of the ricotta cheese mixture and 1 cup of the sauce. Repeat layers twice. Top with remaining 3 noodles and the remaining meat sauce. Sprinkle with remaining 1.25 cups mozzarella cheese and remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Cover with greased foil.

Bake 45 minutes. Remove foil; bake an additional 15 minutes or until heated through. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting to serve. Excellent with a green salad and garlic bread!

Pudding Cake

This recipe is a favorite at my house. Very simple and very good! This recipe also came from my mom.

Prepare 1 package of cake mix as package directs or make a cake from scratch. Use 13×9-inch pan. Chill cooked cake for 2-3 hours before preparing pudding. Prepare pudding according to directions. Using a wooden spoon, punch holes in the cake every inch or so. Pour pudding over cake. Refrigerate an hour or so. Spread with whipped topping over top. Serve.

To make this a birthday cake, we add sprinkles, colored sugars, decorations and/or candles! If you make the chocolate version, you can use chopped candy bars or M&Ms.

Combinations:

Puddings                                     Cake
chocolate, chocolate fudge          chocolate, devil’s food
vanilla, french vanilla                    yellow, white, banana
lemon                                          yellow, white, lemon (This is what we did today!)
banana cream                              yellow, chocolate, banana
pistachio, butterscotch                 yellow, white

We shall be stuffed full tonight, but the celebration of another year for another child is always worth the price!

Have a great day and thanks for reading!

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