Good lord. Who in the hell pressed fast forward on October?? Lack of blogs is due to my job and school. Boooo. Anyways, my apologies, and hopefully this makes up for the lack of good reading material.
This first recipe comes from People Magazine. It's Julianne Moore's recipe for vegetarian lasagna and it is very good. If the word "vegetarian" scares you, brown ground turkey or ground beef and add that in with the sauce.
Vegetarian Lasagna
12 pasta sheets from 1 box of oven ready lasagna It is very important that these lasagna noodles are oven ready.
6 cups of marinara sauce (Or 1.5 giant cans of the cheap-o spaghetti sauce)
4 tbsp. olive oil
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 bunch asparagus, sliced thin on bias
2 large zucchini, diced
Salt and pepper
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 container (15 oz.) ricotta cheese
1 egg
2 cups shredded mozzarella
1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and saute until golden (about 1 minute).
3. Add vegetables and saute for 4 minutes, or until golden brown. Season with salt and black pepper.
4. Combine ricotta cheese, ¼ cup Parmesan cheese and an egg in a large bowl. Mix well.
5. Spray a 13 × 9-in. baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
6. Spread 1 cup marinara sauce on bottom of the pan.
7. Add a layer of 3 uncooked lasagna sheets.
8. Spread 1/3 of the ricotta cheese mixture on top.
9. Add 1/3 of the vegetable mixture and top with 1 cup of marinara sauce.
10. Layer 3 more sheets of lasagna
11. 1/3 of the ricotta.
12. 1½ cups marinara sauce.
13. Layer 3 more lasagna sheets, the rest of the ricotta mixture and vegetables and 1 cup sauce.
14. Finish with 3 lasagna sheets, remaining sauce, and top with mozzarella and the rest of Parmesan cheese.
15. Bake covered for 50-60 minutes.
16. Uncover and bake until cheese melts, about 5 minutes.
17. Let stand 15 minutes.
Enjoy!
To add some zing to this, I would rip up basil leaves and add to the sauce. You can never go wrong with basil.
I apologize for not adding a picture for this. I am a firm believer that you eat with your eyes first, then your mouth.
As you readers know, I am not perfect. I mess up on recipes and choose ones that are just...eh. That would be the case with the "healthy" cheesecake I attempted from a mass e-mail of a viral health blogger. Let me tell you, after a handful of "eh" results from her recipes, I will no longer be wasting my time. I know what tastes subpar, and that cheesecake was subpar. I'll try to keep tweaking it.
A blogger that I absolutely love is Gina from SkinnyTaste.com. All of her recipes besides one that I've tried are delicious. They don't taste like health food, which is great when you live with roommates who aren't on a diet. For these cookies, I didn't make the chocolate glaze because I don't like pumpkin and chocolate together. But these are a cakey consistency, and not too sweet.
Pumpkin Cookies
Ingredients:
4 oz 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened
2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup 1% buttermilk (I poured 1 tsp. lemon juice in a measuring cup and filled it to 1/4 c. with almond milk. You can do this with regular milk, as well)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp pumpkin spice
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
For the chocolate glaze:
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tbsp 1% milk
1/8 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line baking sheet with wax paper.
2. In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, butter and sugars together until light and fluffy.
3. Add egg; beat well.
4. Mix in pumpkin, buttermilk and vanilla.
5. In another bowl combine flour, spice, baking soda, salt and baking powder; gradually add to pumpkin mixture; mix well.
6. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls, 2 inches apart onto silicone lined baking sheets.
7. Bake 12 - 14 minutes or until golden. Remove to wire rack to cool.
For the glaze: Whisk the confectioners' sugar, cocoa powder, milk, vanilla and salt in a bowl. Place in a piping bag or a zip lock bag with the point cut off and drizzle onto the cookies.
These are nummmmmy and approximately 2 points apiece.
I work with an authentic Texan. She told me this recipe, and it was fantastic. I invited my friend over for lunch to have this, and turns out, it's a great hangover cure. Tidbit!
1 can of Dr. Pepper (I used Diet Dr. Pepper and it still tasted delicious)
3 pound pork loin (According to WeightWatchers, it's a lean cut of the pig)
1 bottle of BBQ sauce (As you all know, I love Jack Daniels)
1. Pour Dr. Pepper in a slow cooker.
2. Add pork loin.
3. Let sit for at least 10 hours on low.
4. Remove pork and shred with forks.
5. Stir in BBQ sauce.
6. Add to bread, buns, or just enjoy by itself.
Easy, and delicious!
Any comments, questions, or requests? Leave a comment and I'll get back to you!
Until next time,
Cuisinier eLLe
No comments:
Post a Comment