Zucchini Lasagna

from Mels Kitchen Cafe

Notes: Tastes great! Apparently I only make veggie lasagnas since being married Daniel informed me. Oops. You can taste the cream cheese in this. Next time want to try using an electric mixer to mix cottage cheese and cream cheese to see if it will help it blend better. Used store bought marinara sauce and was great and would easily do again to save work (used about 3/4 bottle I think). Didn't know if the zucchini would be very seasoned, but it was. Cottage cheese I used wasn't liquidy and didn't drain it and had no problem with too much liquid.

Zucchini Lasagna

Yield: Serves 4-6 depending on how many sides and who's eating :)

If you use cottage cheese instead of ricotta, the lasagna might have a tad bit more liquid while baking. The 10-15 minute rest at the end should help everything firm up (you can lightly drain the cottage cheese before using, if desired). Look for zucchini (or pick them from your garden) that are more small than large - the larger the zucchini, the more seeds and water it will have. Finally, check below the recipe for a concise, step-by-step on cutting the zucchini thinly for this recipe.

Ingredients

Sauce:
• 28 ounces crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Lasagna:
• 8 ounces cream cheese, light or regular, softened to room temperature
• 3 cups part-skim ricotta or cottage cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 4 small to medium zucchini
• 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 12 no-boil lasagna noodles
• 8 ounces part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking dish and set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine all the sauce ingredients. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes.
3. While the sauce is cooking, proceed with prepping the rest of the ingredients. In a medium bowl, stir together the cream cheese, ricotta or cottage cheese, salt and pepper.
4. Trim the knobby ends from each zucchini and cut in half lengthwise (see pictures below) and then slice each half very thinly. The pieces should look like thin, zucchini pasta sheets or noodles. In a medium bowl, toss the zucchini with the garlic and oregano and season with salt and pepper to taste (about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of each).
5. To assemble the lasagna, spread 1/2 cup sauce on the bottom of the pan. It will be a very thin, splotchy layer - that's ok. Spread out a single layer of zucchini so they aren't overlapping but cover most of the pan. A few empty spots are ok as long as it is mostly covered. Layer four no-boil lasagna noodles, slightly overlapping (I use the Barilla brand that calls for overlapping noodles; consult your particular lasagna noodle box to see if you should use 3 or 4 noodles for each layer - some brands say not to overlap; you basically want the noodles to cover the whole area of the baking pan).
6. Dollop 1/3 of the ricotta mixture over the noodles and spread into a somewhat even layer. Spread 3/4 cup of the sauce over the top, one layer of zucchini and sprinkle with 1/3 of the mozzarella. You'll repeat this two more times (4 noodles, 1/3 of the ricotta mixture, 3/4 cup sauce, zucchini layer and mozzarella). On the final layer if you have more than 3/4 cup of sauce, that's fine, just use it all.
7. Cover the lasagna with aluminum foil and bake for 30-35 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 10-15 minutes until golden and bubbly. Remove from the oven and let stand for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Recipe Source: Mel’s Kitchen Cafe
Here’s a little step-by-step on cutting the zucchini for the lasagna:

Low Fat Alfredo Vitamix Sauce

Vitamix p. 138

Notes: The vitamix is awesome when it's super hot and I don't want to heat up my kitchen cooking. This is great for a quick, low fuss meal. For some reason, I love it with peas.

Ingredients:
1/2 lg uncooked fetttuccine
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 T all-purpose flour
2 T fat-free cream cheese
1/2 C grated Parmesan or Romano cheese (had mozarella on hand)
1 1/2 T butter
optional to add when done
cooked meat
broccoli, peas,

Directions:
1. Cook fettuccine in boiling water for 10 min. or until al dente. Drain.

2. Place rest of ingredients into the Vitamix container in the order listed and secure lid.

3. Select Variable 1.

4. Turn machine on and quickly increase speed to Variable 10, then to Hgih.

5. Blend for 5-6 min. Pour over cooked fettucine and toss until coated.

Tortilla Veggie Soup (Vitamix)

Notes: This was good, I kind of fiddled around with everything depending on what I had on hand. Had a veggie twist to your average tortilla soup, maybe because I added double the carrot, celery, onion, pepper, and 1/2 a zucchini (instead of squash). I didn't have cabbage or mushroom on hand. I may have added a little more seasoning. And a little more broth. Also the beans and corn were great in it as well. But I warmed them up in the microwave and then just added them when dishing it up. And had chips on the table.

Vitamix Recipe Book p. 64

Ingredients (yields 5 C):
soup base
3 C (720ml) broth (chicken, beef, or vegetable)
1 Roma tomato, halved
1 carrot, halved 
1 stalk celery, halved
1 thin slice of onion, peeled
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 thin slice of yellow squash
1 thin slice of red bell pepper
1 thin slice of cabbage
1 mushroom
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tsp taco seasoning
dash of cumin
optional
1/2 C cooked chicken, cubed
1/2 fresh jalapeno
1/4 C pitted olives
1/4 C corn
2 oz tortilla chips
kidney beans

Directions:

1. Place all soup base ingredients into the Vitamix container in the order listeda nd secure lid.

2. Select Variable 1.

3. Turn machine on and quickly increase speed to Variable 10, then to High

4. Blend for 5-6 min. or until heavy steam escapes from the vented lid.

5. If adding optional ingredients, reduce speed to Variable 2. Remove lid plug.

6. Drop in chicken, jalapenos, olives, corn and chips through the lid plug opening. Blend for an additional 10 seconds.

Zucchini Brownies

Used to love how moist these stayed as a kid. And how chocolate they were. Wonder how it would be if you tried to blend up the zucchini before adding it? These could easily be made a day ahead. Frosting makes them pretty rich.

from Ball p. 399

Ingredients:
 brownies
2 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 C vegetable oil
1 1/2 C white sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 C shredded zucchini (blended?)
1/2 C chopped walnuts (optional
frosting
6 T unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 C margarine/butter
1/4 C milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan.

2. In a large bowl mix flour, 1/2 c. cocoa, baking soda, and salt; in a separate bowl mix sugar, oil,
    and 2 tsp vanilla until well blended. Then combine both wet and dry mixtures together.

3. Fold in the zucchini and nuts (optional). Spread evenly into the prepared pan.

4. Bake for 25-30 min. in the preheated oven, until brownies spring back when gently touched.
     Allow to cool before frosting.

5. Frosting: melt together the 6 T cocoa and margarine; set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, blend together the powdered sugar, milk, and 1/2 tsp vanilla. Stir in cocoa mixture.

6. Spread over cooled brownies before cutting into squares.

Tomato vinaigrette baked chicken

from Walters/Cami

Notes: Easy, can prepare ahead, Daniel and I both really liked the tomatoes on top.

Ingredients (serves 4):
1 small red onion, thinly sliced (used small yellow and was great)
4 small chicken breast halves
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, drained
1/4 C balsamic vinaigrette dressing
1/4 t garlic powder
1/4 C parmesan cheese (used shredded mozarella and was great)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425.

2. Place onions in bottom of baking dish and then place chicken on top.

3. Combine tomatoes, dressing, and garlic powder then pour over chicken.

4. Sprinkle with cheese and Bake 30 minutes or until chicken is done.

Calories: 200, Fat: 6 g, Fiber 1 g

Sweet Aromatic Chicken

from Fix it p. 185

Notes: Served with rice and steamed broccoli and was a good combo. Reminded me of Rumbi Rice alot. Think I will try using it as an easy go to recipe for chicken rice bowls and veggies next time as had that with the leftovers and was great.)

Ingredients: (4 servings)
1/2 C Coconut milk
1/2 C water
8 chicken thighs, skinned (just used 4 small chicken breasts)
1/2 C brown sugar
2 T soy sauce
1/8 tsp ground cloves
2 garlic cloves, minced

Directions:
1. Combine coconut milk and water. Pour into greased slow cooker.
2. Add remaining ingredients in order listed.
3. Cover. Cook on Low 5-6 hours.

Homemade Maple Syrup

from Mels

Notes:Would omit the honey in the future as had a strong taste and don't think necessary. Halved it and still made 4 1/2 of my small jars worth. Liked it but just started to try making my own syrup. Put it in the fridge to cool more quickly and seemed fine.

  
Homemade Maple Syrup

Yield: Makes about 10 cups (2 1/2 quarts) of syrup

Note: I like to use pure maple extract because the additives are minimal (I think it has caramel coloring in it and that’s it) but if you can’t find it, you can use the artificial Mapleine extract from the store with similar results.

Ingredients

• 8 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 4 cups water
• 2 teaspoons pure maple extract
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a large 5-6 quart pot, combine the sugars, honey and water. Bring the mixture to a boil and reduce the heat to low so the mixture gently simmers. Cover the pot and simmer the mixture for 15 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and let it cool for 20 minutes before stirring in the maple and vanilla extracts. Let the syrup cool in the pot for another 40 minutes, or so, stirring occasionally, before filling jars/containers. Once the containers are filled, let them cool to room temperature uncovered.
2. Store covered in jars or other containers in the refrigerator. It will keep for up to 2 months in the refrigerator. Gently reheat before serving, if desired.