Nestie Recipe Swap : Italian

When I found out that this weeks Recipe Swap was for Italian, I was thrilled!

My.  Favorite.  Food.  Ever.

My recipe was from Melissa (mtrometer) from Fried Ice and Donut Holes, for Vegetable Lasagna with red sauce.  I spruced up the sauce a little bit in order to use up some of the things in my fridge and to add garlic, my favorite addition in the world. 

Vegetable Lasagna with Red Sauce

You'll Need:

• 10-12 Lasagna Noodles  ( I used Ronzoni Healthy Harvest wheat lasagna noodles and they worked GREAT!)
• Pasta Sauce (I used a 24oz jar...probably could have used more)
• 1 Red Bell Pepper
• 1 Yellow Bell Pepper
• 1 package Sliced Mushrooms (I used baby bellas)
• 1 medium onion - chopped (I added)
• 3 cloves garlic - minced  (I added)
• Baby Spinach  (I used just a bag of baby spinach leaves that I had left from salads earlier in the week...prob about 1/2 the bag)
• 2 cups Shredded Mozzerella Cheese (I used fat free) 
• 1 cup part skim ricotta cheese (I added)
• Handful Shredded Parmesan Cheese (I omitted because I added ricotta to the layering) 
• 1/4 cup parsley leaves - chopped  (added by me)
• 1 tsp EVOO (I added for the sauce I made)

Sauce

I added the EVOO to a nonstick skillet and cooked the onion until soft.  Added the minced garlic and was careful not to burn. Added a 24oz jar of pasta sauce to the pan and let simmer while noodles cooked.  I recommend maybe using more sauce if you like your lasagna "saucy" so to speak because mine prob could have used a bit more!

Onward to the layering!

Boil the noodles (unless you use no boil sheets). 

In a sprayed 9x13 pan, spread a ladleful of pasta sauce. Put a layer of pasta, spinach leaves, mushrooms, and both kinds of peppers. Sprinkle a little cheese and top with another ladleful of pasta sauce, spread to cover the ingredients. Add another layer of pasta and repeat the rest of the ingredients. Before adding the pasta sauce in each layer, I spread 1/2 cup ricotta on top of the noodles just to add a little more cheese and to use up some I had in the house!

  

When all of the pasta and vegetables have been used, top the lasagna with more sauce and some cheese. To the top, add the handful of parmesan. (I made 2 layers of ingredients, 3 layers of noodles). Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Allow lasagna to cool beore cutting into squares and serving.

Here is a pic of before I cooked it out on my patio since I've heard you can get better pics that way...too bad it was already dark outside by the time it came out of the oven.  Boo :(

This one is definitely a keeper!  FI usually stays away from things if they don't have some type of chicken or turkey in them because he is convinced it won't fill him up, but even he loved this!  It was quick, easy and delicious!  Thanks, Melissa for a great recipe!

What I had in the house Pasta

I learned at a very young age that pasta was one of my favorite foods.  We could be having Birthday Cake or Happy Meals or Pizza or anything under the sun and I always always always asked for Mac & Cheese.  I don't know if it was my obsession with putting the powdered cheese on top or what!

Well...this obsession stuck with me (unfortunately for my thighs)  and I am still madly in love with anything that has to do with noodles.  Heck, I even made sure to search for a stir-fry recipe the other day that had noodles in it instead of rice.  One of my favorite Italian Restaurants has this Penne with Ricotta Marinara sauce dish that I love love love.  I had some ricotta in the fridge, so I decided I'd attempt to make it!

I learned from looking at recipes the last few weeks that most of the time, pasta ends up just being what is in the house + noodles + sauce of some sort.  Here is my attempt at Ricotta Marinara!


Ingredients

• 1 box pasta (I used some tricolored easter themed pasta I had gotten as a gift a few months back. Don't judge! I told you it was what I had in the house!)
• 1 jar traditional Marinara Sauce
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2-3 cups button mushrooms (I ended up only using barely a cup because it was what I had left over from earlier in the week...def would add some more!)
• 1 cup shallot-diced
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese (I used part skim and added a bit more as I went along)
• 2 cloves garlic-minced (optional, but I love me some garlic)
• Salt (to taste)
• Fresh Ground Pepper (to taste)
• Grated Parmesan to top

1. Boil one large pot of water for pasta.  Prepare pasta according to directions.
2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add shallots and garlic and saute  (this took me about 10 minutes).
3. Add mushrooms and cook for 3-4 minutes.  Season with salt & pepper to taste.
4. Add Marinara Sauce and ricotta cheese to skillet; mix well and simmer for 4 minutes. Ricotta will become quite creamy.
5. Pour on top of pasta and top with grated Parmesan.  

YUM! 

Nestie Recipe Swap : Summer Veggies

Another round of the recipe swap has concluded and this time around it was for Summer Veggies and the recipe I got was from Jaida @ Sweet Beginnings.

To be honest, at first I was a little nervous.  I am new to this cooking thing and the word "bread" intimidated me!  I always remember my mom busting out her big bread maker and playing with yeast and getting upset when it didn't rise.  Needless to say, I was convinced I was going to mess this up one way or another.  To my surprise, I didn't!  With a few changes, I successfully made my first bread type food without burning the heck out of it :)

Zucchini-Cranberry Bread

Adapted from Food Network Magazine

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/zucchini-bread-with-dried-cranberries-and-vanilla-bean-glaze-recipe/index.html

Ingredients

• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled (or 1/2 cup vegetable oil), plus more for the pan
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup walnuts  (I omitted...not a big nuts person)
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt or sour cream (I used FF plain yogurt)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest(I omitted because I didn't have any...and to tell you the truth have NO idea what it is haha)
• 1 cup shredded zucchini, squeezed dry

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter one 9-by-5-inch loaf pan or three 6-by-3-inch mini pans (I actually used cupcake tins and made muffins because I didn't have a loaf pan!  They came out so cute!)
2. Whisk the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl. Add the dried cranberries and walnuts.
3. Whisk the eggs, melted butter, yogurt, vanilla and orange zest (if using) in a medium bowl. Stir in the shredded zucchini. Fold the zucchini mixture into the flour mixture until just combined.
4. Spread the batter in the prepared pan(s). Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 55 minutes for a standard loaf or 35 to 40 minutes for mini loaves. Cool 30 minutes in the pan(s) on a rack, then turn out onto the rack to cool completely.
   

Thanks for an awesome recipe, Jaida and for popping my bread making cherry!

First stab at stir-frying...not to shabby!

Chicken Noodle Stir-Fry

adapted from Chicken Noodle Stir-fry from allrecipes.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

• 1 (3 ounce) package chicken flavored ramen noodles (I used two)
• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 cup broccoli florets
• 1 cup cauliflowerets
• 1 cup sliced celery (I omitted...none in the house)
• 1 cup coarsely chopped cabbage (I omitted...cabbage isn't my thing!)
• 2 medium carrots, thinly sliced
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup fresh or canned bean sprouts (sadly omitted because Target didn't have any :(  I love sprouts!)
• 1/2 cup teriyaki or soy sauce (I used teriyaki)
• 2 eggs-scrambled (I added this in myself)
• 1 clove minced garlic (Another Ellie addition)

Directions

1. Set aside seasoning packet from noodles. Cook noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet or wok, stir-fry chicken in oil for 5-6 minutes or until no longer pink. Add vegetables; stir-fry for 3-4 minutes or until crisp-tender.
2. Drain noodles; add to the pan with contents of seasoning packet (I only used the seasoning from one package of ramen to cut down on the sodium) and the teriyaki sauce (I also added the scrambled eggs here so not to burn them with the other veggies). Stir well. Serve immediately.

It went over well with FI!  He is a big stir fry fan, which is why I bought the pan to begin with (I've never really been a fan).  I surprisingly really liked it as well!