Lasagna Baked Ziti

You know what, after making this pasta dish I may never make traditional spaghetti or lasagna again. There have been a few variations of this recipe floating around Pinterest lately so I've been fiddling and "healthatizing" it over the past few weeks until I was happy, and boy am I happy!  I love that there are so many vegetables mixed right into this dish (hmm...a red pepper might be a nice addition too - maybe I'm not entirely done fiddling after all) and my husband was thrilled with the addition of mushrooms.  My fiddling and additions did expand the recipe so that it has trouble fitting in a standard 13x9 casserole dish anymore, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing.  In fact, it can be viewed as a good thing because it means that you can actually make two meals out of this one recipe by just freezing half.

Lasagna Baked Ziti

Ingredients:

• 1 box Barilla PLUS Multigrain penne
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 8 ounce container fresh sliced mushrooms
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• Italian seasonings to taste
• 1 29 ounce can tomato sauce
• 2 14.5 ounce cans stewed tomatoes, drained and roughly chopped
• 1 bag spinach
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cook the pasta according to package directions.
3. While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet or dutch oven. Saute the onion and mushrooms until soft (about 4-5 minutes), then add the garlic and cook about 1 minute more. 
4. Add the beef and brown, breaking up the meat, until it is cooked through.  Drain any liquids and add your choice of Italian seasonings to taste.
5. Add the sauce, stewed tomatoes, and spinach to the meat and stir until well mixed.
6. Once the pasta is cooked, drain the water and pour the pasta back into the pot.  Stir the ricotta and 1/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese into the pasta until well coated, then mix in the sauce mixture. 
7. Divide the pasta evenly between 2 8x8 or 9x9 casserole dishes. Sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese and remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. 
8. Place one casserole dish in the oven and bake until the pasta is hot all the way through and cheese is melted, about 15 minutes.
9. Cover the second casserole dish tightly with foil, label it with the name and baking instructions, and place in the freezer for another night.  (Be sure to pull it out of the freezer the night before you want to cook it so it has time to thaw.)

Berry Breakfast Smoothie

My husband's company has been trying to promote wellness and healthy living among employees lately so at their last quarterly meeting they invited Dr. Ann Kulze to speak.  (You might have heard of her Eat Right For Life book series.)  Everyone knows you're supposed to eat healthy foods and avoid junk food, but Dr. Ann actually explained the science behind why things like white flour and processed sugars are bad for you.  This approach got Jirah's attention so we are in the process of trading in our unhealthy eating habits for better ones.  We've cut sodas and started buying things like brown rice and quinoa.  It's going to take time to adjust to this new lifestyle, but I'm excited about it, especially considering that we're having a baby next month and this means she'll learn healthy eating habits right from the start.

The first and easiest change we've made is breakfast.  Everyone knows that nutritionists say breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but in the rush of trying to get out the door to go to work or get the kids to school breakfast is often solved with unhealthy options or forgotten about entirely.  It doesn't have to be.  This Berry Breakfast Smoothie is packed full of everything you need to start the day off right and only takes about 10 minutes to make. 

Note: I'm looking forward to adapting this recipe to make healthy, homemade popsicles for the kids once they're old enough!

Berry Breakfast Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup frozen berries of choice (mixed, blueberries, strawberries, or blackberries)
• 1 banana
• additional fresh or frozen fruits of choice (optional)
• 1 packed handful baby spinach
• 1 small container (about 3/4 cup) low-fat plain or vanilla Greek-style yogurt
• 1 tablespoon toasted wheat germ
• a splash of any 100% juice

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Let's take a moment to talk blenders.  We bought a Ninja about a year ago when Jirah was going through a less health-conscious fruit smoothie phase and we love it.  It's a bit more expensive than a traditional blender, but having large blades at three levels instead small blades just at the bottom makes a huge difference when you're trying to puree large pieces of frozen fruit.

Mexican Corn Salad

With Cinco de Mayo only days away it seems appropriate for me to share one of my favorite Mexican recipes with you this week.  Since I've already done guacamole and taquitos and you can find recipes for carnitas and fajitas all over the internet, let's take a look at something you might not have tried: Mexican street corn.  Street vendors in Mexico and Hispanic neighborhoods here in the States often sell grilled corn on the cob that is smothered with mayonnaise and topped with shredded cotija cheese and chili powder.  I've never had the opportunity to try the real thing, but I love corn so when I found this recipe on Skinny Taste I couldn't wait to try it.  Using precut corn certainly makes preparing and serving this recipe fast and easy, but you can also spread the mixture over grilled corn on the cob if you prefer.

Note: Cotija cheese can be hard to find so feel free to use feta or parmesan in its place.

Mexican Corn Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 12 ounce bag frozen corn
• 2 tablespoons mayo
• 2 tablespoons Greek yogurt
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 tablespoon cilantro, minced
• 2 tablespoons green onions, minced
• 1/2 cup cotija cheese, grated

Directions:

1. Cook the corn as directed on the bag.
2. In a large bowl combine the mayo, yogurt, chili powder, and lime juice and mix well. 
3. Add the corn, cilantro, green onions, and cheese and stir until evenly coated.
4. Serve warm.

Taking a Week Off

This week has been incredibly hectic at work and (combined with the fact that I am 32 weeks pregnant) has left me too exhausted to even think about cooking dinner when I get home in the evenings, much less writing a blog post.  Normal posts should resume next week. 

Lemon Cream Cheese Pie

My husband's birthday was this week so my original plan was to share the Banana Coconut Upside-Down cake I made for him with you today.  Unfortunately, the bananas stuck to the bottom of the pan instead of the cake so while it still tasted great, it really wasn't picture worthy.  Oh well, I guess that just means I have to make it again sometime.  In the meantime, this pie makes a delicious substitute.  

We first had Lemon Cream Cheese Pie (a.k.a. Lemon Delight) at my dear friend Robin's house.  It's a family recipe, but she was kind enough to share.  You can make this pie with any flavor of pudding, but I strongly recommend the lemon because there is something magical that happens when lemon and cream cheese combine.  Like Chocolate Eclair Pudding, this is a very easy dessert to make and quite popular with the masses.  

Lemon Cream Cheese Pie

Ingredients:

• 1 graham cracker pie crust
• 1 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 3.4 oz package of instant lemon pudding
• 1 3/4 cups milk
• 1-2 cups whipped cream

Directions:

1. Beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar together, then spread in an even layer on the bottom of the pie crust.
2. Whisk together the pudding and milk until it starts to thicken, then pour on top of the cream cheese in the pie crust.
3. Refrigerate the pie for at least an hour.
4. Spread the whipped cream on top of the pudding just before serving.