Teach your kids to cook

Fake Lasagne

This recipe only requires 10 minutes of preparation and then into the oven it goes for 50 minutes. This gives you lots of time to get settled at home after work, help the kids with homework or just put your feet up and wait for the timer to announce that dinner is ready. I usually serve this with a salad or bread.

This is also one of the first recipes my teen-agers learned to cook as it is easy and the results are very impressive. Don’t forget to teach your kids to cook and get comfortable in the kitchen. Turning groceries into a meal is a very important life lesson.

Cost of this meal is about $12 and there is plenty for 5 people (cost of fast food for a family of 5 - $38)

675g lean ground beef
1 small onion
1 can chopped green chilies
1 can cheddar cheese soup
1 cup salsa
½ cup each of grated cheddar cheese and grated mozzarella cheese
12 pieces of oven ready lasagne noodles
2/3 cup of water
More cheese as topping

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Brown meat in a tablespoon of Canola oil at medium heat and add the chopped onion. Brown for a few minutes until meat is no longer pink. Add the can of chilies, the soup, salsa and cheeses and stir until well blended.

Layer in a rectangular lasagne pan in this order, 1/3 lasagne noodles and 1/3 sauce. Do this 2 more times. Drizzle water all over and top with more grated cheese if you wish.

Cover tightly with foil and bake in hot oven. Set timer for 50 minutes. When done, take it out of the oven and let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

You can contact me at ullameredith@gmail.com if you have any comments or questions.

Buying Canadian made when possible

It takes awhile to get used to asking the question “is this made in Canada”? and I forgot several times and only thought of it after I had left the store.

I was sitting at the Quick Lube in Okotoks when I remembered my Canada First commitment and asked the guy if this was a Canadian or an American franchise. To my surprise it was not only a Canadian owned business but not a franchise. The oil filter was made in Mexico and the attendant didn’t know where the oil came from but I certainly hope that it is local! How much of the oil from the Fort McMurray area stays in Canada and how much is exported? I don’t know anything about engine oil but considering how many vehicles are on the roads there must be a lot of oil changes happening every day. Is there an engine oil on the market with local oil and how would I know? Maybe we should develop a brand of engine oil called “Canada First Lube” so there will be no guessing where it is from.

A lot of my groceries are already fairly local but wanted to check out some of the other items we use on a regular basis. I found we have two kinds of tooth paste in the house, one made in Canada and one made in the US. The same goes for deodorant and shampoo, Canadian made products are easy to find you just have to get used to pick up an item and look at the label to see where it is made. I didn’t experience any problems with quality so I will continue to choose Canadian made when I can.

Would it hurt our economy if we all started to buy Canadian when possible? Do we sell a lot more to the United States than we import? Considering the difference in the size of our countries I guess it would be logical to assume that we sell more than we import but is that true?

I also purchased four new tires last week but I don’t think they are made in Canada but I bought them at Canadian Tire – does that count?

If you have answers to my questions, please e-mail me at ullameredith@gmail.com