Vegetable Lasagna

 I decided I was in the mood for some veggie lasagna. This recipe is full of yummy vegetables and it is so delicious that not even the most hardcore carnivore will miss the meat.  I used zucchini, a mixture of mushrooms, onion, garlic, tomatoes, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper.  I sautéed all the veggies then added wine and the tomatoes and let it cook until the sauce reduced and thickened up a little.

For the cheese (because you can't make lasagna without lots and lots of cheese), I used Mozzarella slices and a ricotta/Parmesan mixture.  I used no boil noodles because that's all I could find at the store. I topped it with a little more Parmesan and into the oven it went.  I baked it for about 45 minutes and let it cool for about 15 minutes before serving.  

The servings came out perfectly - no falling apart pieces.  YAY! It turned out beautifully and was so tasty that I couldn't wait to eat it again the next day!  I served it with salad and the sourdough bread that I picked up from my trip to San Francisco.

Roasted Chicken and Butternut Squash Risotto

Since moving in, I've had to buy chicken stock.  I know, terrible!  So, I decided it was time to roast a chicken so I could use the carcass  to make stock.  I seasoned the chicken with salt and pepper and oil on the outside and underneath the breast skin, I put oil, lemon zest, fresh rosemary and chopped garlic.  I then threw the lemon halves inside the chicken for added flavor.  I roasted it at 425 for 10 minutes then reduced to 375 for about 1 hour and 10 minutes.  I let it rest for about 15 minutes and  then carved it up.  It was heavenly! I love roasted chicken!!

To accompany the chicken, I decided to make butternut squash risotto.  I've made plain risotto and mushroom risotto but have been wanting to try it with butternut squash.  It was so, so good!  It went so nicely with the chicken and it looked so pretty on the plate.  I used fresh butternut squash but you could use a bag of frozen if you were in a hurry.  I also baked the squash the day before I made the risotto and then just stored it in the fridge.  I did heat it in the microwave before adding to the risotto so it didn't cool the risotto down and prolong the cooking time.  Other than that, I pretty much followed this recipe.

For veggies, I just reheated the roasted veggies that I made earlier this week.  Dinner was wonderful!  Best of all, I get to make stock now!  WOOHOO!

One sauce=2 entirely different meals

 I made a nice, healthy meal from recipes on SparkPeople for dinner on Monday. It was seared scallops with a mint pea puree, wild rice and roasted vegetables.  It was fantastic and healthy and beautiful!  The vegetables were so a little different because they had a can of pineapple chunks (with juice) and dill weed mixed in it.  I used zucchini instead of potatoes but other than that, followed the recipe as written.  I really liked the veggies and will definitely make them again soon.
I had a ton of the puree left over, so I decided to save it and use it for dinner the following night.  Well, I had very little time to prepare dinner on Tuesday night, so I pulled out the gnocchi that I had frozen from a couple weeks ago, boiled them and tossed them in oil in the morning then left them in the fridge until dinner time.  Then, for dinner, I just had to heat the pea sauce, make and crumble bacon, sauté the gnocchi and dinner was done. I didn't have time to take a picture of the gnocchi but it was delicious with the pea sauce and the bacon garnish!  YUMM!!! For those that don't readily have gnocchi in the freezer, ready to go ;) you could use prepared gnocchi from the grocery store or sub it out for another pasta.

Healthy, pretty popsicles

I got some new popsicle molds and have been trolling the internet looking for a good and healthy recipe to try out.  Well, I found an awesome recipe from Lost Garden for popsicles that even have SPINACH in it!  Don't stop reading yet!  The spinach gives the popsicles a beautiful color and doesn't change the taste at all.  I made mine slightly different than the recipe on Lost Garden but there were minor changes - I used raspberries instead of strawberries and I used plain Greek yogurt and pure vanilla flavoring instead of vanilla yogurt and I added honey for sweetness.  They turned out FANTASTIC!  My daughter loves them (and so do I) and she's getting a bunch of fruit and Greek yogurt and only a little sugar from the honey.  I will be making these often!