Veggie Lasagna Rolls

Lasagna Rolls

They are as easy as 1, 2, 3... At least I thought so. Pretty simple and easy to make. These are so good... I forgot to get a picture of them when they were fully baked. They went fast!

Ingredients:

1 box Lasagna noodles*

2 zucchini, sliced thin

6 roma tomato's, sliced thin

1 small ricotta cheese container

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

2 Tbsp pesto

2 cups mozzarella cheese

1 jar alfredo sauce

1 jar spaghetti sauce

2 eggs

4 Tbsp italian seasoning, plus some to taste

Directions:

Boil water and cook Lasagna noodles until Al Dente, rinse with cold water and set aside. While noodles are cooking.... In a medium bowl combine the ricotta cheese, egg, pesto, parmesan cheese, and 1/2 of the Italian seasoning... stir until combined. Set aside. Cut/slice the zucchini and place in a bowl. I used my kitchen-aid slicing attachment to slice my zucchini. Next, slice the Roma tomato's, thinly. A mandolin slicer would work well to slice thin, I just didn't have one. 

Prepare 13X9 baking pan by pouring about 1/3 of the spaghetti sauce in the bottom of the pan. Set aside.

Preheat oven 375F.

Once the noodles are cooked, cooled and drained, and all ingredients are sliced and/or mixed... it's time for assembly. Take a tablespoon and spread a spoonful of the ricotta mixture on the lasagna noodle. Then layer zucchini on top of the ricotta mixture and finally add the thinly sliced roma tomato's. Roll from one end over the other until makes a sort of "ball"(using word loosely, see pic above).  Repeat until pan is full.

Once pan is full pour remaining spaghetti sauce over the lasagna rolls, and then pour the alfredo sauce over the spaghetti sauce. Top with Mozzarella cheese. Cover with Foil.

Can be frozen and baked later or baked right away.

Bake 375F for 30 minutes, then remove foil and bake an additional 20 min. 

* Can be Gluten-Free if you use Gluten-Free lasagna noodles.

Serve with salad, and garlic bread. 

Garlic Bread...

Take sliced bread and 2 sticks of melted butter. mix in to the butter about 3 tbsp italian seasoning and 2 Tbsp garlic powder. Spread butter mixture over bread with a pastry brush and bake or broil. Bake for 7 min until brown, or broil until slightly brown on top. 

Bruschetta

This beautiful bruschetta has loads of good things for you. Nothing is artificial. Isn't the color just beautiful!

Ingredients:
15-25 cherry tomatoes - sliced in half length wise
1 whole yellow bell pepper, diced
1 whole red bell pepper, diced
1 handful of fresh spinach, chopped
1/4 large white onion, diced
1 bunch of basil, minced
1/2 tsp minced garlic

Add all ingredients to a bowl, mix together. For added zip, add a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.
Add to chicken, pork, seafood, or bread.
Eat and enjoy!

For this particular bruschetta I added it to chicken. It was very tasty and full of flavor.

Zucchini Spinach Lasagna (gluten-free)

Gluten-Free Zucchini Spinach Lasagna

The picture may not look very appetizing but it is so delicious! Tonights dinner was a throw together. I had gotten a LARGE zucchini from a neighbor and I had a bag of spinach I got discounted from the grocery store last week that needed to be used up. I didn't want to worry about boiling noodles and I wanted to get dinner on the table quickly. This is a great recipe for quick, easy and delicious. This recipe was so easy. I didn't have ricotta cheese or cottage cheese for a typical lasagna dish. So I didn't worry about it. It was a little piece of inspiration. I thought as I was making it that I should take pictures along the way, but since I didn't know if it would be any good, I decided against it. I totally should have taken pictures! I will be making this again.

Ingredients:

1 lb bulk sausage (I used a homemade Tuscan sausage)
1 LARGE zucchini (sliced thin on a mandolin)
1 bag spinach (fresh)
1 26oz spaghetti sauce (prepackaged - I used Hunts 4 cheese)
2.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup parmesan cheese
4 Tbsp Italian seasoning

Directions:

Preheat oven 350F

Brown the bulk sausage in a pan. While it's browning slice the zucchini into thin slices.  Once the sausage is browned, drain fat, then add the spaghetti sauce. Stir to combine. In a 13X9X2 baking dish, layer first the sausage mixture, about 1/2 of the mixture. Evenly distribute on the bottom. then add a layer of zucchini sliced just like you would pasta. Next add a layer of spinach about 1/2 the bag (remember this will shrink as it cooks). Then sprinkle 1/2 a cup of parmesan cheese, 1 cup cheddar cheese and 2 Tbsp italian seasoning on top. Then repeat. The final layer will be the cheese on top of the spinach. Cover with foil, and bake for 30 min. Then remove foil and bake another 6 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool about 5 minutes before slicing.

***Verdict - I LOVED IT! This was so delicious. I can hardly believe I've never tried this kind of thing before. My oldest loved it, the other younger two were a little put off with the spinach/zucchini, but not for taste, just for looks. They said it tasted good. My husband ate his all gone and said he liked it. I only have two pieces left. I had two helpings! (I didn't even feel guilty eating two helpings!) This was an easy delicious, gluten free meal.

Orange Chicken Slow Cooker

Orange Chicken Slow Cooker with Homemade Fried Rice

I don't know if you remember but I love to use my slow cooker. Especially when it's hot outside, or I've got a busy day, or even when it's cold outside. So pretty much anytime. Today is no exception. I have finals this week and so I'm trying to make my life pretty simple. That includes making things in the slow cooker for dinner. I have a hankerin'  (yes - I am Texan) for some orange chicken. Since we are saving every last penny for our trip to the beach next week, I can't very well go out and get some chinese take-out. So, my lucky stand by... check my favorite slow cooker websites such as crockpot365 to see if they've made any chinese food in their crock pots that will help me with my craving... She didn't let me down... She had made orange chicken in the slow cooker... Her's is gluten-free... mine can be made gluten-free. I followed her recipe pretty much to the "T" but I was making for three growing boys who are constantly hungry, so I doubled her recipe, then accidentally added some extra stuff... partly by accident. I was reading the wrong line, but I like it so it works. :) Here's my mishap delicious orange chicken. :)

Ingredients:
3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs cut into pieces/chunks (bite size)
1 cup Bisquick mix (can use gluten-free Bisquick mix)
2 Tbsp olive oil (for browning chicken)
1 tsp kosher salt (course ground)
16 oz orange juice concentrate, thawed (I prefer no pulp, but I didn't have any)
6 Tbsp brown sugar
3 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar
3 Tbsp ketchup
1 Tbsp chili sauce

Directions:
Use 4 qt slow cooker for best results -

Dredge chicken pieces in baking mix - shake off excess. Throw away remaining flour. Heat olive oil in a large skillet on stove & brown chicken on all sides (you may need to do this in batches to evenly brown).  No need to fully cook, just enough to sear the flour and make it stick to the chicken for a nice coating.

Plop chicken pieces into slow cooker.

In a small mixing bowl, combine orange juice concentrate, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, salt,  chili sauce and ketchup. mix well, taste, if you need it a little sweeter add an extra Tbsp of brown sugar. For added heat add some extra chili sauce to taste.

Pour sauce over chicken and generously toss coat chicken with the orange mixture. Cook on high 3-4 hours 6-8 hours on low.

Serve with homemade fried rice, white rice, or brown rice.

Verdict:
I had Bryen (my eldest) try the sauce and he says it's better than take-out! Not a bad compliment if I do say so my self. It tastes pretty good. Waiting will be the hard part. But I'm excited about the prospects of chinese at home.