Quick Whole Wheat Lasagna - is it possible??

I definitely doubted it. How could lasagna ever be quick; especially the kind made with whole wheat noodles? Normally a pan of lasagna takes me at least 45 minutes to prep. When you boil whole wheat noodles, I usually do 3 at a time and each pot takes 8 minutes or to get just soft enough. If there is meat in the lasagna, it needs to be browned. To maximize flavor, I usually saute the vegetables first as well. Needless to say it is a wonderful afternoon in the kitchen if I am in the mood to cook, but is a hassle when I'm crunched for time...until now.

I was reading my monthly Food and Family when I saw a recipe for slow cooker lasagna. I had heard of it before, but had never tried it. Life has been busier than ever lately, so I figured, why not? The results - amazing!! It tastes like something from a restaurant and took a total of 15 minutes to prep the night before! I don't know if I will ever go back to the traditional method!

Slow Cooker Lasagna
From Kraft Food and Family

Ingredients

• 20 ounces ground turkey
• 1 small onion, diced
• 6-8 whole wheat lasagna noodles, broken to fit the crock pot
• 1 jar spaghetti
• 1 cup of water
• Garlic, per your preference
• 1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• Parmesan cheese
• Any vegetables you like!

Directions

1. Brown the ground turkey with the diced onion. Remove from heat.
2. Add the spaghetti sauce, garlic, and one cup of water to the pan (I put the water into the spaghetti jar so that I could get all of the sauce out). Mix well. 
3. Scoop 1 cup of sauce mixture into the 4 qt crock pot. Top with a layer of noodles.
4. Top the noodles with sauce and cheese. Add more noodles and repeat until it is as high as you'd like. Be sure to end with sauce and cheese on top.
5. Refrigerate overnight*. Cook on low 4-6 hours.

*I refrigerated it, but it isn't necessary. The original recipe calls for plain white noodles, so it is possible that if you don't refrigerate it you will need to cook it for longer than you would if you had let it soak overnight.

Gyro Pasta

A few weeks ago we had a wedding reception for my brother, Joey, who got married in May down in Texas. He is in the army and is stationed in El Paso, TX. The family came up to meet our family and it was a wonderful time. My dad rediscovered gyros a few years ago when he found a gyro shop in downtown Appleton, WI called Gyro Kabob. It is a delicious little restaurant with authentic gyros, greasy fries, and cheap prices. Even my mom, who is a little picky when it comes to what she likes to eat, thinks it is amazing. Needless to say Joey's wedding reception was the perfect excuse for my parents to introduce the rest of our family and our new Texan relatives to Gyro Kabob.

The gyros were a hit - so popular we ran out of pita bread! This left us with a few bags of gyro meat. Jason and I were lucky enough to bring some back with us. I recently defrosted some of the meat and made this pasta dish with it. Jason has devoured most all of it in the past few days. Since gyro meat is just shaved and seasoned lamb meat, you could use lamb or beef in this recipe.


Ingredients:
- Spaghetti Noodles
- 3 cups shaved gyro meat
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 cups green beans, chunked
- 2 whole carrots, sliced
- Garlic-herb infused oil*
- Feta cheese, crumbled**

Directions
1. Cook the noodles as directed. Make at least 3 servings per package directions.
2. In a large skillet heat 1 tbsp oil. Add the onion and cook until soft. Add the carrots and green beans and cook until the carrots are bright orange.
3. Add the gyro meat and top with about 1/4 cup oil.*** Add the pasta to the skillet, and stir well. Simmer for 3-5 minutes with the lid on. Serve warm with feta cheese.

*I made this a few months ago with dried garlic, basil, and oregano. Just throw the dried herbs in a sealed container of oil and let sit for a few hours before using. If you don't have this or want to make it, just use regular olive oil and add some garlic, basil, and oregano to the pan.

**Feta cheese usually comes in a chunk or crumbled. While the crumbled appears cheaper at first glance, it is usually twice as expensive when you look at the ounce price. Go for the chunk of feta and crumble it on your own to get more bang for your buck.

***It is not necessary to use this much oil, but I used it in place of sauce. 1/4 cup is 3 TBSP, so together this dish has 1 TBSP oil per serving

Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

This week will be a busy one! Yesterday I spent a few hours in the kitchen making all the meals for the week. I hope to blog some of them soon. There was a Black Bean and Corn Lasagna, Sun-Dried Tomato and Basil Rubbed Steaks with Blistered Red Potatoes, Boneless Pork Ribs with Sauteed Apples, and Carrot Cake. We had the steaks last night and they were delicious! I hope to blog these recipes later this week :)

This is a recipe I made last week Tuesday in a rush so I could have some dinner after class. I prepped it by 2pm and then when I was home at 6pm I threw it in the oven. It turned over quite good. It was a little dry, so I added a little bit of an herb oil I made when I served it and then it was just perfect. 

Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

Ingredients

-Whole Wheat Rotini Pasta

-Broccoli

-2 chicken breasts, diced

-2 tbsp Olive Oil

-1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

- Breadcrumbs

-4 oz part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions

1. Prepare as much pasta as you would like in a medium sauce pan, as directed by the package. When finished, drain and set aside.
2. In a large skillet, heat 1 tbsp oil and add the diced chicken. 
3. Once all sides of the chicken are white, add the remaining oil and broccoli. You can also add the balsamic vinegar. Sadly, the vinegar is acidic so it turns the broccoli and dull green-brown color. If I were cooking for appearance I would omit it all together, but I cook for taste.
4. Cook the mixture until the chicken reaches 165F. 
5. Turn off the heat and add the cooked pasta. Stir to mix well.
6. Heat the oven to 350F and spray a large casserole dish.
7. Put the mixture into the casserole dish. Top with cheese and breadcrumbs.
8. Cook in the oven for 25 minutes, or until the top is golden.

Peanut Chicken

Last night I was out of ideas for dinner. I had a long weekend with work, so my creative juices were not flowing. I decided to cook the chicken I had thawed that day and figured I would go from there. I opened the cupboard and saw peanut butter and this idea came to me. The noodles I made are Ronzoni's Smart Taste. I usually buy 100% whole wheat, but these were on sale AND I had a coupon for them, so I couldn't pass that up!

I will be going home for Christmas soon, so I am not sure how many posts I will be doing in the next week. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and are able spend some time with the people you love the most.


Peanut Chicken

Ingredients
4 chicken breasts
1 handful of spaghetti noodles
1 cup of raw or dry roasted peanuts
2 tbsp oil
1 large onion
2 cups of broccoli
1 tbsp peanut butter (more if you'd like)

Directions

1. Heat a large skillet to medium and add the 4 chicken breasts. Cover with a lid and let cook. Flip periodically (about every 3 minutes). They are done once each breast is at 165F. Once finished, cut into strips and place in a Tupperware container in the microwave to stay warm.
2. While the chicken in cooking, bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the noodles as directed by the package.
3. In a small skillet, heat the oil. Add the peanut and onion and saute for 3 minutes, or until the onions are translucent. Add the broccoli and saute for 3-5 minutes, or until the broccoli is bring green.
4. Add the peanut butter and mix until well blended.
5. Serve the chicken and vegetable mixture over pasta. Enjoy!

A Mexican Twist on Lasagna

The other day I asked Jason what he would like for dinner, because I was out of ideas at the time. He said lasagna and then it came to me; make a lasagna with Mexican-based ingredients. Jason sounded a little skeptical, but went with it, like he usually does. The result - AMAZING! Jason finished off 4 slices easily and wanted t more...he decided to stop since he knew we had delicious chocolate candies from my parents that we would have later for dessert.

This is slightly different than lasagna because it has minimal cheese. Jason and I don't like ricotta and I didn't feel like grating cheese when I prepared this in the morning. The only cheese is on the top, but it still tastes great!


Mexican Lasagna
Ingredients
-8 to 10 whole wheat lasagna noodles (depending on your pan size - you will need enough to make 2 layers)
-20 oz container of ground turkey
-1 large onion
-1 can black beans (if fresh, make sure they are soaked, rinsed, and boiled already)
-1 cup of frozen corn
-Jar of spaghetti sauce
-Jar of Salsa
-Mozzarella cheese
-Mild cheddar cheese

Directions

1. In a large pot, bring about 10-12 cups of salted* water to a boil (if you cover the pot it will boil faster since less heat is escaping). Place 3-4 lasagna noodles in the pot and boil for 4-6 minutes, or until slightly soft. Remove from the pot and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process. Watch out...they are VERY hot! Place on a dish towel to cool. Repeat the process.
2. In a large skillet, brown the ground turkey. Once fully cooked, add the onion. Since ground turkey is lean and there is little fat that come off of it, I like to just cook the onion in the fat that is there instead of going through the extra steps just to swap out a few grams of saturated fat for unsaturated fat (normally you would need to drain and rinse the meat, set in a separate bowl, wipe out the pan, add oil, heat oil, and then add the onion - this saves me 5 minutes!). Cook the onion for 5 minutes and turn off the heat. Leave the skillet on the burner. Add the frozen corn (still frozen). The heat from the pan will thaw the corn. Once thawed. Add the black beans.
3. Spray a 13 X 9" baking pan. Add one layer of noodles to cover the bottom. Top with half of the meat and vegetable mixture. In a back-and-forth motion, top with about 1/3 cup of spaghetti sauce and 1/3 cup of salsa. I didn't measure when I did, so add as much as you think is needed. Top with the rest of the noodles. Top those with the rest of the meat and vegetable mixture. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of spaghetti sauce and work into the meat mixture using a spatula or spoon.
4. At this point you have two options: you can place the lasagna in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours before you bake it, or you can bake it right away.
5. Once you are ready to bake, heat the oven to 400F. Don't add the cheese yet!
6. Bake for 30 minutes in the center rack.
7. Remove from the oven and top the lasagna with your choice of cheese. We used about 1/3 of a block of mozzarella and 1/3 of a block of mild cheddar.
8. Place back in the oven on the center rack and bake for 5-7 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.

*salted water - many people say that you salt water to make it boil faster. This is incorrect. When you add salt to water it raises the boiling point, so the water will take longer to boil, but will boil at a temperature higher than normal. In turn, this makes your food cook faster. Think about this - this is why they use salt on ice outside; it 

lowers the freezing point, causing the ice to melt at 32F and below!

Creamy Pasta Primavera

I always seem to run out of ideas for meals. I usually end up standing in front of an open pantry pondering what in the world I could make. Today I figured I could do something with Pasta, so I just started boiling some, hoping inspiration would come to me. While this recipe is nothing inspiring, it did get eaten up in one sitting (thanks to Jason's ravenous appetite).

Creamy Pasta Primavera
Makes 3 Servings

Ingredients
-1 1/2 cup thick whole wheat noodles (I used Rotini in this dish)
-A bag of your favorite frozen vegetables (I used traditional California Blend) or chop up and saute fresh vegetables of your choice.
-1 cup of skim milk
- tbsp all-purpose flour
-1 tsp Salad Supreme seasoning
-1 tsp Mrs. Dash seasoning
-1/4 to 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
-3 portioned chicken breasts (I like Tyson and Perdue Chicken that is pre-packaged)

Directions

1. Pasta: Cook the noodles as directed on the package.
2. Vegetables: Thaw out the frozen vegetables.
3. Cream Sauce: Add flour to 1/4 cup of milk and stir well. Add the remaining 3/4 cup of milk and stir well. Pour into small skillet. Add the seasonings. Heat the skillet to medium-high. Stir with a spatula, continually scarping the sides to prevent caking. Continue to stir until the sauce begins to boil; stir for 2 more minutes and remove from heat. Add Parmesan cheese and stir completely. Pour into a separate container to cool slightly.
4. Chicken: In a small skillet heat the chicken on medium heat. Cover with a lid and cook form 3-4 minutes on each side. Continue to cover and cook until the temperature reads 165F. Remove from heat and cube.
5. Total Dish: Pour 3/4 cup of pasta into a deep bowl. Top with 1 cup of frozen vegetables, 1/2 of a chicken breast, and a few tablespoons of sauce (a little goes a long way).

Spicy Sausage and Pepper Pasta

One of Jason's favorite meals (with or without pasta...).

One day I was in a hurry to make Jason dinner for work before I had to leave for work. After I finished the pepper and pasta mixture, I told him that it was done and all he had to do was cook some noodles to go with it. I got home from work and looked in the refrigerator to find the entire container of peppers and sausage gone...I had made enough for what I thought would like 3 meals! The next day, I asked Jason about it, and it turned out he didn't remember me saying to make the noodles and thought the entire dish was his dinner (he was watching TV, probably a cubs game, when I told him). The next time I made it, I decided to not take any chances and added the noodles right away). There really isn't a recipe because I just made it up, so you can use as much as you would like to make as many servings as you would like. I will put about how much I used in parentheses.

Ingredients
-Italian Sausages, sliced into circles (2)
-Multiple colored peppers, diced (2)
-Vidalia Onion, diced (1 large)
-Extra virgin olive oil (2-3 TBSP)
-Garlic (2 tsp)
-Parmesan cheese, fresh or from a can...I used the can because I am cheap and that is what I had on hand (1/4 cup)
-Mrs. Dash Table Blend (2 tsp)
-Noodles of your choice (about 3 servings)

Directions

1. Bring a pot of water to boiling and cook noodles as directed. When they are done, drain, rinse, and return to the pan. Add 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, some garlic, and some Parmesan cheese to taste.
2. Heat a large, non-stick skillet to medium-high heat.
3. Add the sliced brats so a side with the largest surface area is on the skillet. Cook for a few minutes and flip. Continue cooking until the internal temp is about 160F (165F is the temp it needs to be, but you will be cooking them some more.
4. Add the diced peppers and onions to the pepper mixture. Add olive oil as needed.
5. Cook for about 5 minutes. Check the internal temp of the meat and make sure it is at 165F. If it is, turn off the heat.
6. In a large bowl, add the noodles and sausage mixture. Add the remaining cheese and seasonings and stir well.
7. Serve with a cold bottle of beer :)

Sautéed Vegetables with Pasta

This is probably my favorite, quick dinner to make. You can use any vegetables, pasta and cheese you have on hand.

Ingredients
◦ Diced vegetables of your choice
◦ 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
◦ Pasta of your choice (try whole grain penne, bow-ties, or spiral noodles)
◦ Grated cheese of your choice.
◦ Italian seasonings (garlic, oregano, a blend, etc…)

Directions
1. In a medium sauce pan, cook noodles.
2. Once finished, drain, rinse, and return to pan.
3. Add 1 tbsp olive oil and some of the desired seasonings to give the noodles some flavor.
4. In a large skillet, heat 1 tbsp oil and add onion (if using).
5. Add firm vegetables (potatoes or carrots) and sauté for 5-10 minutes, or until little resistance remains when cut.
6. Follow with semi-firm vegetables (broccoli, pea pods, peppers, etc…) and cook for 3-5 minutes.
7. Add tender vegetables (zucchini and squash) and cook for 2 minutes.
8. Turn off heat and add tomatoes (if using).
9. Season with garlic and Italian seasoning.
10. Serve vegetables over noodles and top with grated cheese.