Busy Mom's Lasagna

Raise your hand if you are a busy mom looking for quick and tasty meal ideas for those days when slaving over a hot oven just isn't feasible?

(If you're not raising your hand, you must not be a mom.)

BlogHer and Chef Boyardee have given me...AND YOU!! (more on that in a sec) the opportunity to create a recipe for a quick meal using their tasty products!

I'm all about finding new recipes and meal ideas I can throw together quickly on those days I'm rushing home from work, tossing food at my kids and rushing out the door to hockey, dance, wrestling, etc.

Some of my kids (Hambone, The Pal) are picky eaters,reluctant to try anything new that hasn't already been declared and proven delicious (and nothing that has anything "weird" in it), so I knew I had to be "careful" about what I chose to make them.

Lately, I've found that if I let my kids help with meal making, they (especially Hambone) are much more willing to try the "something new" I've made for supper. Although, sometimes that backfires on me when they see what I actually put into some meals.

"Ewwwww!! Why are you putting THAT in there?!"

And then I promptly kick them out of the kitchen.

What cracks me up though about Hambone (he's notorious for this) is when I place a new meal on the table and he promptly proclaims, "Oh, gross! I hate that. I'm not hungry."

And then, as was the case with my new recipe, he proceeds to eat all of his food and asks for seconds declaring, "I LOVE this!"

Of course, why would I expect anything less when I was using the kid approved deliciousness that is Chef Boyardee?!

Chef Boyardee has been pleasing generations of kids with its yummy, preservative-free, quick and easy products. They are hosting a recipe contest in which YOU could win free groceries for a year as well as one of ten $500 weekly prizes! You've gotta check it out.

Just whip up a quick recipe using Chef Boyardee as an ingredient, submit it, then watch for voting to start on Facebook and recruit your peeps to vote for you! (My recipe is not eligible, FYI.)

And now, for the piece de resistance...MY RECIPE!

The line up:

Busy Mom's Lasagna

1/3 c. milk

1 egg

1/4 c. sour cream

1/4 c. shredded Parmesan cheese

1/2 T. dried oregano

1/2 T. dried parsley

1 clove garlic (or one frozen cube like I have!)

1 t. basil (or one frozen cube, again!)

4 cans Whole Grain Chef Boyardee Lasagna

1 package garlic croutons, crushed

Extra Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top of croutons

Combine 1st seven ingredients, whisking until well combined. Empty contents of two cans of Whole Wheat Chef Boyardee Lasagna into bottom of 9x13 pan.

Pour milk/sour cream mixture over the lasagna, then top with the contents of the remaining two cans.

Bake at 350° for 15 minutes, top with crushed croutons and cheese and return to oven for 10 minutes.

Serve with Caesar salad and garlic bread for a complete, delicious meal!

In a "thumbs up/thumbs down" contest, "Busy Mom's Lasagna" got 5 out of 6 (The Pal wasn't around to vote) thumbs up...I declare a winner!

Oh, and it was gone really quickly, too:

Enter Chef Boyardee’s Make It Boyardeelicious Recipe Contest from December 29, 2011 through March 11, 2012 for your chance to win free groceries for a year as well as one of ten $500 weekly cash prizes. Then visit Chef Boyardee’s Facebook page from March 26, 2012 through April 8, 2012 to vote for your favorite recipes from the “Make It Boyardeelicious Recipe Contest.” Each day, one voter will be selected to win a $100 cash prize.

Be sure to visit the Chef Boyardee Roundup page on BlogHer.com to check out other bloggers’ recipes!

Enjoy!