Win-Win Lasagna - Tracy Style

This recipe really is win-win for lasagna!  I mean it's lasagna!  So there's the first win.  The 2nd win goes to the low carb half!

Yummy goodness!

Lasagna was planned for the weekend, but I never got around to making it.  So here we are Monday at 5pm, just walked in the door from my lovely commute, and started supper.

Have you ever noticed that when you are cooking something that needs some serious multi tasking, that the phone rings?  It was my brother!  I rarely get to talk to him and I wanted to but I had 2 strikes against me.  1st strike: my battery on the cell phone was at 2%, so it was a waste to try to answer.  2nd strike:  I was right at that crucial moment of the lasagna assembly.  The crucial moment where you grate the side of your hand along with your mozzarella.  OWIE!!

Well, I guess I needed something to give me a 2nd wind.. Nothing like pain to do it.

I must note, that I really don't know how to assemble lasagna, so I guessed.  I also didn't have the time to google a "how to", so here's to winging it.  It was "delicious" as honey said.

Win-Win Lasagna
Ingredients
1 lb ground meat (I used organic ground chicken) crmbled and cooked - seasoned with Italian seasoning, one garlic clove, and about 1/2 cup of marinara sauce
3 cooked lasagna noodles
1 zucchini (organic zucchini is amazing... just sayin') sliced
1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
1 egg (beaten)
grated parmesan and romano cheese
block of mozzarella cheese to shred (maybe 2 cups?)
1/2 red onion coarsely chopped
1 jar of marinara sauce (I used Walmart's Wild Oats organic)
Italian seasoning
1 large garlic clove

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Assembly:
Put about 3/4 cup of the marinara on the bottom of a glass baking dish to keep the pasta from sticking.
Cut cooked lasagna noodles in half horizontally.  Then cut one of the noodle halves in half lengthwise.  Place 2 of the halved lasagna noodles on the sauce and then 1 of the lengthwise cuts next to them.  On the other side, put half of your zucchini to sub for noodles.  See below.

Top with meat crumbles and 1/4 of the chopped red onion.

Top that with the ricotta blend (1 1/2 cups ricotta, 1 egg (beaten) and italian seasoning blend.

Top with a bit of sauce and some shredded mozzarella.

Do another layer of pasta and zucchini

Top with meat crumbles and the rest of the chopped red onion

Sprinkle some grated parmesan and romano cheese and sauce.

Final topping is the rest of the shredded mozzarella cheese!

Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove foil and brown cheese for 10 minutes.

Let stand for 10 minutes or so...

Low carb half

Enjoy the yummy goodness!

Any recipe requests?

Sausage Casserole Recipe

Sausage Casserole Recipe

This recipe is another one of my mother's staples from our childhood.  I am not sure if this was a southern living recipe or something handed down.  My grandmother did not make this though, that I am aware of.  I note that it could be a southern living recipe only because my mother was obsessed with southern living cookbooks.  Sadly, I had to give a ton of her cookbooks away, but as I inherited her obsession with cookbooks, I am not limited to just southern living.  Wait... where was I going with that?? (My sister read this and let me know that it may have been our "Aunt" Bev's recipe.  Aunt Bev was our mom's Bff since we were littles.)

Anyway, we had this like every week or every other week... a lot!  My guess is because it was fairly inexpensive, easy to make, and pretty darn good.  

My version is made half and half.  Half for honey with mashed potatoes and half for me made with fauxtatoes.  I also use turkey sausage instead of mild sausage to save on fat content and I do like the taste of turkey sausage.  

Sausage Casserole Recipe:

Ingredients:

Jenni-O mild turkey breakfast sausage (entire package) or mild sausage of choice

Potatoes (4 - 5 servings)

Raw cauliflower (almost 2 cups)

EVOO 1 tbsp 

Half and half (I use Horizon organic) 3 tbsp or so

Salt (I use pink Himalayan) a few shakes

Black Pepper a few shakes

Canned sauerkraut (1 can) or 1/2 Jar (not Bavarian style)

Grated Parmesan (a few shakes)

Okay.. we all know that I'm horrible at remembering to measure.  My goal this year is to get better at that for my 20 readers.  =)

Cut up your potatoes into small pieces.  Place in a medium size pan and cover with water.  Shake a bit of salt on the water and boil until soft for mashing.

While your potatoes are boiling, steam your cauliflower and brown your sausage.

When your potatoes are done, drain them and add 1 tbsp of butter, about 2 tbsps half and half and a few shakes of salt and pepper and start mashing.

Now mash your cauliflower with about 1 tbsp of butter and maybe 1 tbsp of half and half.  Also add a little salt and pepper to taste

When the sausage is finished, drain any water or fat.  I hardly ever have to drain turkey sausage.

Now you are ready to assemble...

In your larger casserole dish, add your cooked sausage.  If you have minced onions, go ahead and sprinkle those on top of the sausage.  I didn't have any so I sprinkled Parmesan cheese.  

Next, add your sauerkraut.  I did drain mine by pushing the fork against the sauerkraut and draining the in the sink.  I pulled the sauerkraut out with the fork and spread it all over the sausage.

next, I added the mashed potatoes to one half of the casserole and the mashed cauliflower to the other half of the casserole.  This made a normal carb and a low carb dinner.  =)

Mashed potatoes on left

mashed cauliflower on right

Sprinkle a little more parm on top and then  bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.  

Yummy out of the oven

Normal carb mashed potatoes serving

Low carb mashed cauliflower serving

Delish!

Enjoy!

Please let me know if you make any of these recipes and how you liked them.  I'd love to hear from you.