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?


 

skinny broccoli slaw

i  love mayonnaise

it's one of those foods that just brings a dish together

i also want nothing more in the summer than a big juicy tomato sammich

with mayo slathered on the bread

well, that's partially true - i also want nothing more than my granny's slaw

slaw, to me, is more mayo than vinegar

those of you who like a vinegar based slaw are dead to me.

not really

but i probably don't want to go to any of your bbq's

because what goes better with a big ol' pulled pork sandwich

than a pile of cole slaw - preferably sandwiched together with the pork.

but i know, you're like rachel. you can't be eating mayo based slaw on your diet

and i want to cry and tell you, i know...it's been hard

there are easily close to 300 calories in a 1 cup serving of my granny's cole slaw

but because i love you

and because i want a nice waistline

i managed to create a recipe - one where you can eat THE WHOLE BAG of slaw - dressing and all for 300 calories.

i don't know how many cups that equals 4? 6?

but i do know i was easily able to eat half of the recipe with dinner the first night i made this

half a bag of slaw...for 150 calories.

AND it tasted like my granny's slaw.

how was i able to cut out all the calories and fat?

a little help from some plain greek yogurt

and also i replaced the use of sugar with liquid stevia

and skinny broccoli slaw was created

 

 

feel free to use cabbage if you prefer, but i really like the crunch and texture of the broccoli mix!

skinny broccoli slaw recipe

ingredients (can be doubled for a cookout) serves 2 hungry dieters or 4-6 smaller portions

broccoli slaw (1 bag)

1/ 2 small red onion, chopped

2T plain greek yogurt

2T mayo (hellman's or duke's - use the full fatty kind, you deserve it)

5-8 drops of liquid stevia (feel free to use your preferred sweeter but know it will alter the calorie content - start with 2t and add more sweetener to taste)

2t white vinegar (apple cider works too)

1/2 t sea salt

chop onion and toss with broccoli slaw 

in separate bowl mix remaining ingredients.  start with exact measurements and taste - the dressing might taste a little sweet, and maybe a little bitter at first, add a few extra shakes of salt until desired result - the salt really helps marry all the flavors.

pour dressing over the broccoli slaw mixture and toss well

store in fridge covered until ready to serve and toss again before serving

optional - add a sprinkle of sunflower seeds for an extra crunch

note - the dressing is really thinned down from traditional mayo based slaw - but has all the same flavor you're used to.  for comparison's sake i believe my granny's slaw calls for 1 cup of mayo compared to 2T -that's 1/8th of the original!

 

island tofu recipe + workout

good morning

i've got 2 things on my agenda today

1.  island tofu recipe

and

2.  this morning's workout

let's get the workout over with - i completed 30 minutes of rolling hills on the elliptical and i want to pretend that my pants feel looser in the thighs today.  i mean i think they do, it could be all in my head, but i'll take it.

and i also completed half of bob harper's 20 minute workout(videos of each move included!)

the workout is a circuit you complete 4 times - hopefully next time i can figure out my watch and not waste so much time and be able to do it all the way through

it is TOUGH on your thighs and butt - i did it once last week and was sore for a couple of days

i tried it again today and modified the jump 180 move - i actually didn't even turn at all - i just squatted and jumped straight in the air - still pretty difficult

also completed 3 sets of 45 second bicep curls and dumbbell shoulder press

ok, so i guess this isn't really anything new since i mentioned it before - but i thought it would be nice to include the link today - and also



i love bob harper and just want to sit on a mountain top and do yoga with him and then eat a bowl of oatmeal with him and have him hug me

and then maybe we'd go get a tattoo together, maybe some froyo too

one last look


ok, moving on

so i made up a recipe last night - it's weird calling it a recipe, since it's pretty similar to most things i make

rice + tofu + veggies+ sauce

but this one tasted extra good, and took a few extra steps (like marinating the tofu) so i deemed it "recipe worthy"

a couple of quick notes:

not sure if kroger sells something similar, but i have seen something at world market that looked identical to this

it's basically soy sauce, pineapple juice, garlic, ginger, and sesame seeds

and oh look - i found a homemade version

also, i realize tofu isn't everyone's jam -but i'm pretty sure if i got bill to actually love it and request it - i can get you too, as well

but if you have a couple of chicken breasts on hand - you can marinate those and substitute them

bill even thought tempeh would be good too because of the texture - but i'm not sure how well it will absorb the marinade

and finally

this is sweet red chili sauce - i've been buying it for awhile now and it makes all my rice + tofu dishes come together - this recipe will certainly taste great without it if you don't have it on hand and hate buying one time use ingredients

recipe below

i realize tofu scramble doesn't photograph very well, but i promise this was yummy!

happy hump day!

 

turkey day eve and pizza

happy turkey day eve!

anyone else goofing off at work today?

i'm biding my time until i can go home and get on my sweats running clothes - i need to get a couple of miles in before tomorrow's turkey trot.

it's crazy how just a couple of months ago i was running 16 miles on the weekend and 30+ miles in one week.

but now

6 miles seems like labor.

per tradition i've ran the 6 miler, but i just haven't prepared to do that.  and i really don't want to walk 6 miles.

so i dropped down to the 2 miler - which means i can bring woodford with me!  he's going to need to get his ya-ya's out anyways since we'll be traveling and not home all day.

in other news

i made pizza again last night.

i didn't get to try any of my veggie pizza last weekend - it was gone when i sat down to eat, so i just had a mozzarella and tomato mini pizza i had made.

oh my goodness.

 this is some of the best pizza i've ever had.

seriously.

if you're a fan of papa murphey's then you have to make this - it's so easy and tastes even better than papa murphey's

if you would like to recreate this for when you're tired of turkey this week

make some dough

followed exactly - except i don't have the dough enhancer :( - my birthday is coming up....

even though the dough enhancer probably does make an even more delicious crust - it really isn't necessary.  also - i used 3 cups all purpose flour.

the dough says it will keep in the fridge for 3 days - and it's best to make this at least a day in advance anyways since the flavor will enhance as it sits in the fridge.

ok.  so the day after you make some dough...or maybe 6 hours after you make some dough.

deflate and divide into 2 balls.  (if you want really thick crust just leave as one ball - but half of the dough in a cake pan will rise and still make a "hand tossed" style crust)

since i am limited on pans - i made one thin crust and one hand tossed - if you have a fancy pizza stone you could use that as well.  i don't have a pizza stone.  but my birthday and christmas are right around the corner...

knead and press your dough into a 9*13 pan and gently stretch and toss your other dough ball into a circle-ish shape.  we're not going for perfection here.  just try and pinch any holes closed and do your best to form...a shape.

now preheat your oven to 450.  this will let your dough rest and rise some more while your oven heats up.

ideally you want your thicker crust to rise 30-60 minutes while your thinner crust only needs to rest 15-30 minutes..

if you forget this step - it's ok - everything will still turn out fine.

now.  i pop my thin crust in the oven to bake first so my thick crust can rise some more.

bake for 6-8 minutes and then remove.

add your toppings:

about a cup or so of good spaghetti sauce.  <-this is key.  you can beef up your own tomato sauce or buy pizza sauce - but i think buying the "fancy" flavored spaghetti sauce (preggo, newman's own, kroger private select)  is what made my pizza taste great

sprinkle a healthy dose of shredded mozzarella

top with diced green peppers and thin red onion strips.

you could of course create your own flavor combinations - but i'm pretty simple

then - this is also key

top with another healthy dose of mozzarella or a combination of mozz and cheddar

*while you're adding toppings to the first pizza, you could be baking the other one for 6-8 minutes and then switch them out when the time is up and add toppings to the second

now pop your 1st topped pizza back in the oven for an additional 8-12 minutes - until the cheese is bubbly and browning slightly.  your crust will get somewhat golden but not overly - unless you brush it with butter or olive oil.

repeat with the thick crust

and serve!  i dare you not to eat a whole pizza.

i hope you have a happy thanksgiving tomorrow!

please travel safely and not get in too big of a hurry on the interstate - we'll all get there when we get there!

granny's bean chili made vegan

first off

i've added a page to the blog filled with info on the lovelaughwag home

so check it out :)

and now - i wanted to share my favorite chili recipe

i don't like cincinnati chili - cocoa in my chili?  uhm no, that's not how we do it in kentucky.  keep that north of the state line.

i don't want noodles in my chili either.  i mean at that point it's like spicy spaghetti.

the recipe - if you can even call it that - is the same one my mom and granny have used for years.

the recipe - which, let's be real, is just a dump of lots of yummy things into a big pot to make one big yummy thing -is quite easy.

i've omitted the meat from this recipe to make it vegan - and still 100% awesome.

this chili is full of folate, fiber and iron.

and if you have a new soup mug - i highly recommend making this to break it in

ingredients
1 large or 2 small yellow onions ($1.29 lb - roughly 1lb of onion)
drizzle of olive oil -stock
3 15oz cans black beans (88 cents ea)
3 15 oz cans kidney beans (88 cents ea)
1 large can of tomato juice (2.50 (estimated)
2 packets of mccormick's chili spice mix - i use 1 mild and 1 hot - adjust to your personal preference (low sodium options are available too) (kroger brand were 70 cents each)

roughly chop onion and saute with olive oil for 5 minutes in a large dutch oven or soup pot
while onions are sauteing rinse and drain beans
add tomato juice, spice packets, and beans to pot

bring to a boil and then simmer on low for 10 minutes until everything is heated through.

serve with cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips - or keep it vegan and top with avocado slices and daiya cheese.

*total cost $10.47
*total cost per serving - i'm going with a generous 10 servings (even though i think you could easily get 12-15 servings)  $1.05  

 *note, you can easily make your own chili spice mix - but when making a big pot of chili i hate using all my EXPENSIVE spices to flavor it- the spice packets are much more affordable - mccormick's is what my granny always uses - but kroger mirror's their product and at 70 cents a packet the overall cost of this meal is so affordable per serving.

*if you want to make it like my grandma does - leave out the black beans and add cooked and drained ground beef (about 1-1.5 lbs)