meatless zucchini lasagna recipe

ya'll

i was in for a rude awakening this morning

last night i completed level 1 of the 30 day shred and this morning began level 2

my ass was kicked

jillian would be disappointed because i phoned part of it in

i found myself longing for the side lunge/lateral raise move of yester-yore

while i was in plank position doing a plank/jumping jack combination

even my favorite part - the abs - were spent trying to keep up and catch my breathe

you win this time jillian.

i know i promised to hop back on here last night and share a recipe

and i didn't

sorry about that

but if you have a garden full of summer squash

i found the perfect recipe!

inspired by this one

mine was a few steps easier

ingredients:
1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce
6 no-boil lasagna noodles (barilla flat noodles are the ones i used - which is important if you care about the calories, as these were better than the kroger wavy noodles)
15 oz part-skim ricotta cheese
1 egg
2 cups mozzarella cheese
1 super large zucchini (or 3 small)
salt+pepper+italian herbs

preheat oven to 375

1. wash and thinly slice zucchini - if you have a huge homegrown zucchini you may want to slice in half first and scrape out the larger seeds.  they don't really bother me, so i just ignore them
2. place zucchini slices in pot and cover with about 1/2" water - bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes.  drain 
3. while zucchini is simmering - mix ricotta with egg and season with salt + pepper +herbs (the originally recipe doesn't season the ricotta mixture at all, but it will greatly amp up the flavor - eyeball the amounts)
4. spread 1/2 Cup of marinara sauce of the bottom of a 13*9 casserole
5. cover with 3 lasagna noodles, half of the ricotta mixture, and half of the zucchini.  cover with 3/4 Cup of marinara sauce and 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese
6. repeat layers
7. cover and bake for 25 minutes
8. remove foil and bake an additional 10-15 minutes until cheese is starting to brown

let sit for about 10 minutes so the lasagna cuts and plates better - otherwise you may have slip-n-slide noodles

i entered the recipe into myfitnesspal and calculated 8 servings at ~240 calories each.  bill and i enjoyed 2 servings each - and it was super tasty!

alternatively, you could use yellow squash or pretty much any vegetable you like.  i was thinking some steamed broccoli, and my coworker mentioned mushrooms (yuck).

it reheated well and made a yummy lunch the following day!

today's lunch is...bleh

i'm trying to become a fan of kale

but this curly variety raw is not doing it for me (mixed with lemon juice, a touch of olive oil, orange juice, pineapple, apple, green pepper and sunflower seeds)

i promised myself to try a less pungent variety before writing off kale all together

or banning it to my juicer

yep!

i finally said what the hell and got one.  i had some money left over from my work anniversary gift - so it was practically free (save for the 5 long years i've put in at this office)

this one is the breville fountain juicer JE98XL 

bill and i were of course inspired by the documentary fat, sick, and nearly dead

i'm not trying to go on a juice fast

but i figured a juice a day couldn't hurt

 our first experiment was 2 carrots and 1 apple

down the hatch!

we both agreed it was good - earthy and good. 

i needed mine poured over ice.  i don't do room temperature beverages

which i guess means i wouldn't make it so well in other countries.

i had good intentions to make the mean green juice from the movie last night but i was tired

anyone have a favorite juice recipe?