Lasagna

A Healthier (slightly) Lasagna

That heavy, fattening but oh so delicious dinner. It has the tri-fecta of pasta, cheesy goodness and meat. In essence perfection on a plate. And like most things delicious, its not really all that good for you. So how to make it better without loosing all that makes it so delicious? a few substitutions, a tweak here and there and you can cut calories and fat, but not corners. This lets you feel better about eating it, and maybe even go back for seconds.

Ingredients:

8oz Low Fat Ricotta
1 pkg spinach flavored no cook lasagna noodles
1tbs granulated garlic
1 tbs Italian seasoning








1lb sausage of choice (I used a homemade venison sausage, it is low fat and my father made it so I know there are no weird ingredients.)

1 tbs chicken bullion- low sodium, msg free
1/2 tbs salt
1/2 tbs pepper
1/2 tbs stevia- sugar substitute
2 cups shredded low fat, skim milk Mozzarella
1 eggplant
1 red onion
1/2 cup Low Fat Shredded Parmesan 
Pasta Sauce (I use home made)

And-
8 oz  drained Plain fat free Yogurt 

This is simple to make ahead, has multiple uses (click the link to find out more) and is so much healthier than even the low fat ricotta.

I make my lasagna with half drained yogurt and half ricotta. It keeps the flavor but cuts the fat and calories.


How to-

In a bowl mix together the ricotta, yogurt and seasonings. Once mixed fold in the shredded Parmesan and set aside. Tip- a potato masher is great for mixing without spilling ingredients all over the place.

Slice the eggplant and the onion thinly and set aside.

Pre heat your oven to 300. This is a dish best cooked low and slow.











In a large baking dish layer the noodles, egg plant, sausage, onion, mozzarella and ricotta mixture.

Pour a small amount of pasta sauce onto each layer.

Repeat until you have 4-5 layers.

Reserve remaining mozzarella cheese. Cover the lasagna, bake for 1.5 hours, remove cover and put the remaining cheese on top. Continue baking uncovered for 20 minutes or until cheese is browned. Remove from heat, let sit for 10 minutes and serve with a bit more sauce if desired.

When Life Gives you Lemon’s…get zesty!

When Life Gives you Lemon’s…get zesty!

I think I have mentioned before that I am cheap. I hate paying full price if I can get an item somewhere cheaper. Yes I am one of those people who will travel to 4 different stores to get what I want and save money.  I always start my veggie shopping at the discount rack. You know the one, the place where old bruised tomatoes go to hang out with slightly dented eggplants. These seldom loved, mostly overlooked fruits are aging but far from useless.  Often they are great finds for cooking immediately, canning or dehydrating and at a fraction of the normal cost.

This week I hit the mother load. Lemons! Lots of Lemons…for $2.00.  Why am I happy about slightly aged sour fruits in bulk?... Because zest is expensive. How often does this scenario happen to you? You find that perfect recipe, you pull out the ingredients only to find your last orange, and lemon or other citrus is long gone to dust? Well my friends this does not ever need to happen to you. All you need is a potato peeler and a jar.

I had 2 dozen slightly soft lemons. It turned into a jar of zest, dehydrated slices and some great Lemon, Garlic and Pepper Seasoning.

How To-

Homemade Lemon Zest

 

With a potato peeler, remove the zest from each lemon. Place it in a single layer in a food dehydrator. Or if you do not have a dehydrator you can do this in the oven. Place in a single layer on a pan or cookie sheet and stick in the oven for a few days. (Don’t forget turn it on or you will have cooked lemon zest)

Don’t throw out the rest of the lemons! Slice them and dehydrate them also. I use mine for ice tea, canning, and potpourri. One of my favorite things is to put a pot of water on the stove while I am cleaning, throw in a cinnamon stick, some dehydrated citrus or a bit of vanilla extract and let it simmer away. It makes the house smell good without all the chemicals of sprays.

This time around I decided to turn all of that lemony goodness into Lemon Garlic Pepper Seasoning.

Homemade Lemon Garlic Pepper Seasoning:

 

How to-

Ingredients:

8-12 dehydrated lemons

3 tbs granulated garlic

3 tbs black pepper

¼ cup raw sugar

1 tbs salt

Dig out your handy magic bullet, grinder or food processor and add in the dehydrated lemon slices.  You want it to be ground down finely.

Then grind the raw sugar. The granules I have around the house are a bit too big for a spice mix.  Add the lemon powder and all other ingredients and mix together. Taste a bit of it! Some times it needs a bit more sugar to counter act the bitter. Remember the pith of the lemon I ground in there too and it can be pretty bitter a bit of sugar goes a long way. Not to mention some people prefer more garlic, some more pepper…make sure it is to your taste. Put it into whatever jar or container you have handy. It’s great on fish, chicken, asparagus or anything you can think of.