Pasta Free-Veggie Lasagna!

I am all for trying new things.....well sometimes. And since I am trying to limit my carbs in attempt to lose some weight, I found another recipe that I thought I would try.

I am not a big Lasanga lover. I will eat it, but only once in awhile. Even then I usually have a Ceasar sald and some garlic bread with it to fill me up! I will only eat one slice of Lasagna if it's served. Tonight I served it with baked boneless, skinless Chicken Breasts.

So when I saw this recipe in The Metabloism Miracle book, I thought I would give it a try. This one I was not as fond of. I think next time I would just use all Zucchini instead of the Eggplant & add more cheese. I found that it didn't set properly and needed something more to make it stick!

Here is the recipe:

Makes 12 Servings.

Count 1 4x4 inch serving as no carb.

Cooking Oil spray

1 large or 2 small eggplants, cut lengthwise into 1/2 incher slices

2 pounds part skim ricotta cheese

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella (reserve 1/2 cup for the top layer)

1 bunch fresh basil, chopped

1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning

Salt & Pepper

1 small onion, chopped

1 medium bell pepper (red, yellow, or orange), seeded and chopped

4 cups sliced mushrooms

1 bunch broccoli, florets only, coarsley chopped (I forgot to put these in)

3 ounces fresh Spinach, chopped

2 cups crushed tomatotes, or your own marinara recipe, made with no added tomato paste or tomato sauce

3 small Zucchini, cut lengthwise into 1/8-inch slices

or

3 small yellow squash, cut lengthwise into 1/8-inch slices

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a baking sheet with cooking oil spray.

Arrange the eggplant slices on the baking sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until flexibe but not completley cooked.

In a mixing bowl, mix the Ricotta with half of the chopped garlic. Stir in the Parmesan and 1 1/2 cups of the mazzarella cheese, chopped basil, Italian seaoning, salt, pepper, and set aside.

Saute the onion, remaining chopped garlic, pepper, mushrooms, and broccoli for about 5 minutes. Add the chopped spinach and remove from the heat. Allow to cool and then add to the ricotta mixure.

To assemble, spread a thin layer of the crushed tomatoes in a large baking dish, such as a 3-quart Pyrex lasagne dish (which I don't have so I just used my larges Pyrex dish), then layer:

Eggplant slices

Ricotta mixture

Zucchini or squash slices

Crushed tomatoes

Eggplant slices

Ricotta mixutre

Zucchini or squash slices

Crushed tomatoes

Ricotta mixture, and so on

Layer until you run out of ingredients. End with a layer of eggplant or zucchini and top with crushed tomatoes or your sauce. Sprinkle with the reserved 1/2 cup of mozzarella.

Bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until hot & bubbly.

adapted from Diane Kress

Metabolism Miracle

Miracle Spaghetti

Ok, so I have been gone for WAY to long. But oh well, things happen; life happens! I haven't been in the mood to blog or cook anything for a long time now anyway.

However, since I recently stepped on the scale I have decided that it is time for me to do something about how it's crepping up there. So, I am going to start cooking fresh, using more and more organic foods; and I am going to follow The Metabloism Miracle. It's a diet similar to Atkins, where it limits your Carb intake. But it seems safer and healthier to me than Atkins. It was designed by Diane Kress, RD, CDE. You can learn more about it here at http://www.themetablosimmiracle.com/ I followed it breifly just before Christmas and lost over 6lbs in less than 2 weeks! I think I am more determined this time to follow it, and stick to it because I am unhappy with how I look and feel, and I don't want to turn 30 feeling/looking this way! So I have 1 month to turn things around!

Today was day 1. Tonight for dinner I chose to make a spaghetti dish from the book called 'Miracle Spaghetti'. IT'S PASTA FREE!!!

Here is the recipe. I added some things and took some things away. It turned out FABULOUS! I will definatley be making this dish again.

Miracle Spaghetti

It says that it serves 4 to 6 people, but I only managed to feed 2 people out of it. It may have to do with the way that I shredded the squash...that or I didn't get a big enough squash.

1 spaghetti Squash

Cooking oil spray

1 pound lean ground turkey or lean ground beef

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 cup of chopped onion

1/2 cup of chopped green bell pepper

2 (14 ounce) cans of crushed tomatoes with basil and herbs (I only used 1 can, and didn't get the kind with the basil and herbs...I added my own..I used garlic salt & powder, onion powder, Mrs. Dash seasoning, Oregano, Basil, Cayenne and some Brown Sugar)

1/2 cup of White Wine (I did not put this in)

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (this I did not use either)

Cut the spaghetti squash in half and remove the seeds.

Place, face down, in a microwave-safe dish with a 1/2 inch depth of water on the bottom.

Cover with plastic wrap. Make a few slits in the plastic wrap for ventilation.

Microwave on high until tender 20 to 30 minutes.

Over medium heat, in a large skillet sprayed with cooking oil spray, brown the ground turkey, garlic, onion, and green pepper for about 10 minutes, unti the meat is cooked.

When the meat is cooked, add the crushed tomatoes and wine, simmer for about 30 minutes.

After the squash is cooked, and has cooled enough to handle, use a fork to pull/shred it into a large bowl. It will actually look like strands of spaghetti.

Divide the spaghetti among four to six plates, top with the meat sause, and sprinkle with Parmesan.

ENJOY!

Adapted from Diane Kress, RD, CDE

The Metabolism Miracle