Turkey Lasagna!

One of my favorite things to make (and eat) is lasagna. However, every time, I make it I come to the realization of two things:

        1. This is definitely not going to be the healthiest thing I eat all week.
        2. Why did I decide to make lasagna? It takes FOREVER!!

Well one of those things still holds true. Lasagna takes forever to make, but it's a labor of love, because its deliciousness is well worth the effort. Lasagna doesn't, however, have to be that unhealthy. Matter of fact, it can almost be kinda healthy. Imagine that? The trick is to use all clean or mostly clean ingredients, and stuff as many veggies as you can into it!

I was inspired by a friend who has a lasagna recipe using thinly sliced zucchini as lasagna noodles  for a low carb rendition of this tasty meal. However, I knew I couldn't use just zucchini as the pasta. My family would disown me. Therefore, I decided to alternate between the zucchini "pasta" and Bionaturae organic lasagna noodles.

My favorite marinara sauce!

It only has 7 ingredients and they're all natural, which I love!

Lower Carb Turkey (and veggie!) Lasagna


2 large zucchini, sliced lengthwise 1/4" thick (like a thick flat ribbon of zucchini)

1 rib of celery, diced

3/4 C diced bell pepper
1 C chopped mushrooms
1 medium carrot, grated
1 medium onion, chopped
4 gloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs olive oil

1 lb ground turkey

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

2 tsp italian seasoning

1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce or 25 to 28 oz of homemade sauce

1/4 C parsley, chopped

1/2 C frozen peas

Salt & Pepper

1 egg

1 3/4 C ricotta cheese

1/2 tsp dried basil

6 lasagna noodles (or as many as you need for 2 layers in your baking dish)

4 C mozzarella, shredded, and reserve 2 C for top of lasagna

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Heat olive oil in pan over medium high heat. Add all vegetables, and saute until veggies start to let out moisture (Approx. 5-7 minutes). Stir frequently to avoid browning or sticking to pan.

3. Add ground turkey, red pepper flakes, and italian seasoning. Let cook for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly to incorporate turkey into vegetables and to reduce clumping.

4. Stir in tomato sauce, parsley, and frozen peas. Cover and reduce to low flame. Let simmer for as long as you'd like up to 45 min (I let mine simmer for about 30 minutes). Be sure to check on it and stir frequently to ensure turkey is well broken up, and nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add salt and pepper to taste.

5. While sauce is simmering, place thinly sliced zucchini strips on baking pan (or pans. You may have to use more than one) in a single layer. Let bake for 10-15 minutes until soft. Let cool.

Before baking

6. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water until JUST BEFORE al dente (approx 6-7 minutes). If you're using no-boil noodles, then just sit on your pretty little ass for 6 to 7 minutes and take a few sips of that coffee you made to get you through this laborious task.

7. In a bowl, mix together egg, ricotta, and basil until well combined. 

LASAGNA ASSEMBLY AT LAST! I don't have measurements for this, as I tend to eyeball it, so here's the basics.

In your baking dish, spoon 1 cup of meat/veggie mixture and spread into an even layer.

1. Add a layer of lasagna noodles.

2. Ricotta mixture

3. Meat/veggie sauce

4. Mozzarella

5. Zucchini strips

6. Ricotta mixture

7. Meat/veggie sauce

8. Mozzarella

Nobody said this would be pretty

One cup of Mozzarella 

Repeat as many times as you have to. Make sure to press each layer down a bit with a spatula. 

Use 1 cup of your reserved mozzarella to top lasagna. Put into oven to bake for 30 minutes. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella, and bake for another 15 - 20 minutes.

I usually like the middle a little more brown, but we were in a rush and hungry. Still delish though! 

I have a tendency to not let my lasagna cool enough before cutting it, and it ends up being a blob of gooey deliciousness instead of a tower of deliciousness. If you want your lasagna to actually stay in layers, let it cool for at least 10 min. I didn't know this until a week ago. LOL! 

Bon apetite! 

I eat avocado with everything

Food Facts and the Horror of Fire-roasted tomatoes

Ok maybe the title is just a tad dramatic, but hear me out. Tonight, for dinner, I was in the mood for something Mexican-y. I was thinking enchiladas, but after having 2 slices of pizza for lunch--so much for being conscientious, huh?--I decided to roll with the chicken tortilla soup, since it's always a favorite of mine. This recipe called for fire-roasted tomatoes. Now, I'm not really a fan of canned vegetables, but tomatoes couldn't be so bad, could they?

My local grocery store was having a "can-can" sale, and most canned items were crazy cheap! So I'm thinking, "perfect, I'll buy the things for the soup, and save money in the process, yaayyy!". I Googled one of the canned tomato brands that was on sale, and found this splendiferous (I still can't believe that's a real word. I thought I made it up) website called Foodfacts.com . What this wonderful site does is rate groceries by their ingredients, nutritional content, and it also highlights ingredients if they are controversial. Also, if you click on any ingredient listed under a certain item, foodfacts.com will give you the information on it!

Herein lies the horror.

No. Brand. Of. Fire. Roasted. Tomatoes. Received. An. "A". Rating. Shocking, right? Neither did any chicken stock/broth brands. That, to me, is disheartening that we can't get an A rating on foods we all trust so easily. One of the ingredients found in several of the brands of fire-roasted tomatoes was called "calcium chloride". Sounds harmless, right? While it may be safe for human consumption, let's hear what my new friend Foodfacts.com says about calcium chloride.

"The anhydrous compound is commonly used as a drying agent, absorbing water until it dissolves into a liquid. This characteristic makes it effective in settling road dust. When spread in the form of a powder or flakes, it absorbs more than its own weight of water, forming a liquid that keeps the road wet. It also is used as a food preservative, treating aquarium water, and for de-icing roads."

Um...What? De-icing roads? Canned tomatoes? Nah, bro. I'm good on that. This has brought me to a whole 'nother level of awareness of how crappy the food industry really is. So I made my own fire-roasted tomatoes. Sans the road de-icer. Super easy. Here's how.

I bought 3 pints of grape tomatoes because they were on sale, but any tomatoes will do. I used two pints to make 16 oz of fire-roasted tomatoes. 

Pay no attention to the fact that only 1 1/4 pints of tomatoes are here. Use 2 pints. 

1. Slice tomatoes in half lengthwise and squeeze all the seeds out. (I later poured the seeds into my composting bin.)

2. Turn on broiler. 

3. Place tomatoes cut side down on cooking apparatus. If you're using large tomatoes, you can use the broiler rack. I don't have a broiler rack, because my oven is ridiculously old. I think it was used to make the meal at The Last Supper, but I digress. I just used a baking sheet/cookie sheet to place the tomatoes on, and made sure the oven rack was at least 9 inches away from the broiler flame.

4. Leave in the oven for 5-7 minutes, until skin is nice and roasted, and tomatoes are soft.

5. Let cool, remove from pan. Place on cutting board and roughly chop.

6. Add salt if desired.

Dassit!

And this was DELICIOUS! The only downside is you that these tomatoes can't defrost your car's windows.

I'll take this as a lesson to continue to make as much of my own food as possible, and continue to eliminate prepared foods from my diet unless they are "clean". It doesn't feel good to know that we put this kind of stuff in our bodies unknowingly. Lesson. Learned.