"Healthified" Lasagna

Okay, let's face it, lasagna comes packed with calories, fat, and carbs -- proving it fatal for just about any diet. Which makes life pretty difficult if your favorite food is lasagna (that'd be me). So I went about making a healthier version, so you can still enjoy the goodness without breaking your diet or feeling overly guilty. The whole idea is to switch things out for better options. Since you might choose different things depending on your kind of diet, and since you might also be cooking for a picky husband who doesn't want to eat things that are "too healthy", I've decided to list the main components of the lasagna and the different options you can use.

Noodles:
So I happened to have a box of Barilla lasagna noodles in my cupboard. I figure you would use about 12 of these noodles, which would give you 1080 calories, 6 g of fat, and 210 net carbs for the whole lasagna. No matter what kind of diet you're on, this is a huge YIKES! So here is an alternative that I found works great: roasted strips of eggplant and/or zucchini. The eggplant is harder to cut (which makes it harder to serve and eat the lasagna) but I really like the flavor it adds. Zucchini has fewer calories, fat, and carbs. Depending on their size, I'd say you would need about 2.5 of these veggies. (I used 1 eggplant and 1.5 zucchinis, and it was just the right amount.) Preheat the oven to 425, and line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil; spray with olive oil cooking spray. Cut the veggies lengthwise into strips 1/4"-3/8" thick. Lay in single layer, drizzle with olive oil, and season. (I used oregano and garlic powder on the eggplant, and garlic salt and black pepper on the zucchini -- but to be quite honest the flavors just blend in with the rest of the lasagna.) Cook for 25 minutes. It took me two full cookie sheets to prepare all of the veggies. There is low-carb pasta, but I've never tried it, and I think it would still have a lot of calories.

Sauce:
They have low-carb pasta sauce out there, but I've never tried them. Also, they have more calories and fat. If you make your own pasta sauce, it will also have fewer carbs, since it won't have all those terrible sugars. Or if you're lazy like me, you can just cut your losses and use regular old pasta sauce. Another low-carb option is to use alfredo sauce instead -- this lends itself well to a chicken alfredo lasagna (chicken has no carbs and is lower in calories than the beef or sausage you might use with tomato sauce). But alfredo sauce has a lot more calories and fat, so it depends on what kind of diet you're following.

Meat:
If you absolutely need to put meat in it (really, it's totally delicious without it) you can use lean ground beef (or chicken with the alfredo sauce). Sausage is really delicious, but has a lot more calories and fat. (I only used it in the one I made because we're moving in a month and need to use up all the meat in our freezer)

Cheeses:
Mozzarella is a staple. I use 1 lb of low-moisture, part-skim mozzarella which still has quite a bit of calories and fat, but nonfat mozzarella (besides sounding kind of gross) trades in fat for carbs, so it's up to you. The next cheese you need to worry about is ricotta. I have had lasagna that used cottage cheese instead of ricotta, and I thought it was just as good. Cottage cheese has fewer calories, fat, and carbs (silly me, I bought ricotta without checking, so I kinda had to use it this time). Nonfat cottage cheese is a better low-calorie option, but it has more carbs. A good compromise is lowfat cottage cheese -- it has less calories and fat than ricotta, and fewer carbs than nonfat cottage cheese. I put parmesan on top because we really like cheese. I only used 1/4 cup, so it only added 110 calories, 8 g fat, and 1 carb to the entire lasagna. To me, it's worth the few extra calories for that added flavor, but you can leave it out if you want.

Now that you've made your choices, here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
2.5 eggplants and/or zucchini
olive oil
oregano
garlic salt
ground black pepper
1 pound meat (optional)
1 (26 oz) jar pasta sauce
15-16 oz ricotta or cottage cheese
16 oz mozzarella, grated
1/4 cup grated parmesan (optional)


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425F. Line cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray (I recommend the olive oil one, because it's one of the healthier ones). Cut eggplant/zucchini in long strips 1/4"-3/8" thick. Lay out half of the veggie slices in a single layer on the foil; drizzle olive oil over top and season with oregano, garlic salt, ground black pepper, or any spices you like. Bake for 25 minutes. Repeat for remaining veggie slices.
2. Meanwhile, if using meat, cook completely in skillet. Drain grease.
3. Divide vegetables in 3 equal parts; divide mozzarella into 3 equal parts.
4. Reduce oven temperature to 350F. Assemble lasagna in 9"x13" baking dish: sauce (just enough to cover the bottom of dish), [1 portion of veggie slices, 1/2 of ricotta/cottage cheese, 1/2 of meat (if using), 1/3 or less of remaining sauce (enough to spread across entire lasagna), 1 portion of mozzarella] twice, remaining veggie slices, remaining sauce, remaining mozzarella, parmesan (if using). Bake for 45 minutes.

Nutrition:
These are approximate values, since they will vary between brands. Also, these values are for the entire lasagna, so divide by 8 or 9 to get the amount per serving (I like 8 because it's easier for me to cut accurately).

Lasagna noodles                  1080 cal      6 g fat         210 NC (net carbs)
2.5 eggplants                       275 cal        2.5 g fat      27.5 NC
2.5 zucchinis                        50 cal         0.5 g fat      7.5 NC

1 lb. sausage                       1000 cal      83 g fat       0 NC
1 lb. beef (90%lean)            720 cal       40 g fat        0 NC
1 lb. chicken breast              480 cal       6 g fat         0 NC

26oz tomato sauce               240 cal       15 g fat        66 NC
26oz low carb tomato sauce  420 cal      30 g fat        24 NC
26oz alfredo sauce              1200 cal      108 g fat      36 NC

15oz ricotta cheese              630 cal       42 g fat        28 NC
16oz cottage cheese--4%     480 cal       20 g fat        16 NC
16oz cottage cheese--2%     410 cal       9 g fat          16 NC
16oz cottage cheese--1%     325 cal       5 g fat          12 NC
16oz nonfat cottage cheese  320 cal       0 g fat          24 NC

16oz LMPS mozzarella         1280 cal    96 g fat        12.8 NC
16oz nonfat mozzarella         720 cal      0 g fat          32 NC

1/4cup parmesan                  110 cal      8 g fat          1 NC

Comparisons:
Traditional lasagna (just for comparison) with noodles, sausage, tomato sauce, ricotta, low-moisture part-skim mozzarella (yes there is whole milk mozzarella out there, but nobody buys that for lasagna), and parmesan: 4340 cal/250 g fat/318 NC (1/8th lasagna: 542.5 cal/31 g fat/40 NC)


Fewest calories and lowest fat with zucchini, no meat, tomato sauce, no meat, nonfat cottage cheese, and nonfat mozzarella: 1330 cal/31 g fat/129.5 NC (1/8th lasagna: 166 cal/4 g fat/16 NC)


Fewest net carbs with zucchini, no meat (you could add meat because it wouldn't add carbs, but you'd have to figure out the calories/fat by yourself), low carb tomato sauce, low fat (1%) cottage cheese, and low-moisture part-skim mozzarella: 2075 cal/131.5 g fat/56 NC (1/8th lasagna: 259 cal/16.5 g fat/7 NC)

Apricot Glazed Chicken

 This is one of my favorite recipes because it is so easy and so delicious. Best parts: I don't have to thaw the chicken (I really don't like handling raw meat); it takes less than 5 minutes of prep time and cooks in the crock pot; you don't really have to measure anything, just eyeball it; the sweetness of the preserves makes this dish good enough to be dinner and dessert.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup apricot preserves (I use apricot pineapple)
• 1/3 cup bottled Russian dressing
• 1/2 envelope onion soup mix
• 6 frozen chicken breasts (not thawed)

Preparation:

In small bowl, mix the first 3 ingredients together. Place chicken in slow cooker and cover with apricot mixture. Cook on low 5 to 6 hours. (I like to top the chicken with another spoonful of preserves when I serve it, but that's because I have a sweet tooth.)

Baby Converse Shoes

 I'm so excited about how cute these turned out! (Sorry for the random piece of paper. I needed a lighter background for the black part of the shoes and it was the first thing I found.) So I started with this adorable pattern for baby rain boot booties.

I made rounds 1-3 of the sole, and round 1 of the side as directed. Then I tweaked rounds 2-5 to add the white toe.

Round 2: With MC (main color) sc in same stitch; sc in the back loop only of next 14 st; attach CC (contrasting color), sc in back loop only of next 12 st; attach MC, sc in back loop only of next 5 st; sl st to join (32sc)
Round 3: ch 1, sc in same stitch; sc in next 14 st; attach CC, sc in next 12 st; attach MC, sc in next 5 st; sl st to join (32sc)
Round 4: ch 1, sc in same stitch; sc in next 14 st; attach CC, *hdc2tog, hdc*, repeat * to * three more times; attach MC, sc in next 5 st; sl st to join (28 st)
Round 5: ch 1, sc in same stitch; sc in next 14 st; attach CC, hdc2tog, hdc, hdc2tog, hdc, hdc2tog; attach MC, sc in next 5 st; sl st to join (25 st)


At this point I was done with the CC. I followed rounds 6-10 as directed, using the MC. Then I added the final edge, and the tongue of the shoe.

Round 11: sl st through next 12 st; sc, hdc, dc in next 3 st, hdc, sc; sl st to join; FO.

I used a G hook, and Caron Simply Soft yarn, and I'd say these shoes are 3-6M size (they're just a tad too small for Bekka, but she has long, skinny feet, so they could probably work for some babies past 6 months).

I'm thinking about making these to sell, so if you could leave me a comment telling me what range you would be willing to pay for something like this, that would be super helpful!

Crustless Veggie Quiche (Low Carb)

So this looks kinda gross in the picture, but it is so delicious and a great way to get your kids (or husband, in my case) to eat their veggies! I got the recipe from the Atkins website, and made a few changes. (**Note: Use 1 cup milk if you want fewer calories; use 1/2 cup heavy cream + 1/2 cup water if you want fewer net carbs)

Ingredients:
4 large eggs
1 cup milk (or cream/water mixture)
1 cup shredded cheddar, divided
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 cup broccoli, cut into florets
1 cup zucchini, cubed
1 cup shredded spinach


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. Lightly beat eggs and dairy beverage. Whisk in 1/2 cup cheese, water, thyme, oregano, salt, pepper and rosemary to blend.
3. Cover bottom of pie plate with veggies. Pour egg mixture over it and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese.
4. Bake until a knife inserted in middle comes out clean and quiche is golden brown, 50–60 minutes.

Carbs:
The entire quiche has about 9.5 net carbs if you use cream and water, and 18 net carbs if you use milk.If you divide it into 4 servings, each would have about 2.4 (with cream) or 4.5 (with milk).

Calories:
4 eggs - 288
1 cup cheddar - 455
1 cup broccoli - 31
1 cup zucchini - 20
1 cup spinach - 7
1 cup skim milk - 91
1/2 cup heavy cream - 411
So the total calorie count with cream is about 1200, and with milk about 900. If you divide the pie into 4 servings, each would have 300 (with cream) or 225 (with milk).

Double Up:
The second time I made this (the time I took the picture), I doubled the recipe and put it in a 9"x13" baking dish. I baked it exactly the same, and it turned out perfect. I divided it into 8, so the net carbs and calories per serving would be the same.

Puff Stitch Beret

 I made these matching berets for Bekka and me. The pattern is for an adult hat. To make Bekka, I just stopped increasing after round 6, and only did three rounds between increasing and decreasing. I didn't put a bow on mine, just on Bekka's.

No Bake Cookies

Not the most visually appealing treat, but these little treasures are so simple to make and are incredibly delicious!



Ingredients:
2 C sugar
4 T cocoa
1 stick butter
1/2 C milk
1 C peanut butter
1 T vanilla
3 C oatmeal (I used old-fashioned, not instant)

Directions:
In a heavy saucepan bring to a boil, the sugar, cocoa, butter and milk. Let boil for 1 minute then add peanut butter, vanilla and oatmeal. On a sheet of waxed paper, drop mixture by the teaspoonfuls, until cooled and hardened.

Cinnamon-Sugar Peanut Butter Sandwich

So, this idea is something I came up with when I was a kid and had to make my own snacks. Now that I'm all grown up (and on a diet) I decided to make a slightly healthier (and diet-friendly) version. So I used a slice of whole wheat bread and 1 tablespoon of natural peanut butter (nothing but peanuts in there!). Then I sprinkled a packet of Alike (Western Family's version of Equal) and some cinnamon on top.

This delightful little treat had a total of 205 calories, 24 g of carbs, 10 g of (good!) fats, 3 g of fiber (to help balance out the carbs) and 10 g of protein. I actually had one of these for lunch and found it to be quite filling and satisfying. Who knew you could have delicious on a diet?

Lemon Cake Truffles

There are a lot of recipes out there for these little goodies (under the names of cake truffles, cake balls, cake bon-bons, cake bites). I followed Bakerella's recipe, using lemon cake box mix and homemade cream cheese frosting.

Things You'll Need:
2 cookie sheets
wax paper
toothpicks
small Ziploc bag (optional)

Ingredients:
1 box lemon cake mix (cook as directed on box for 9x13 cake)
8 oz cold cream cheese
5 T butter, softened
2 t vanilla
2 C powdered sugar
white chocolate candy melts
sprinkles (optional)
lemon frosting (optional)

Directions:
1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble in pan.

2. In large bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until combined.

3. Gradually add powdered sugar to cream cheese mixture until desired consistency and sweetness is reached.

4. Add cake crumbs to cream cheese mixture and mix thoroughly (I don't think a handheld mixer is strong enough for this. I used a Kitchenaid, and Bakerella suggests using your fingers, though it will be messy that way).

5. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on wax paper on cookie sheet.

6. Put in freezer for 15 minutes, then move to refrigerator for another 30 minutes.

7. Melt chocolate in microwave per directions on package (I like to do just a handful of chocolate at a time, that way it doesn't start to cool and harden. I usually microwave it for 30 seconds, stir, then another 30 seconds in the microwave).

8. Leaving cookie sheet in refrigerator, pick up a cake ball with a toothpick and coat in chocolate (using a decorator's spatula or the flat side of a butter knife to help spread the chocolate).

9. Lay on wax paper on table/counter to set. If you are going to use sprinkles, now is the time to add them.

10. Repeat 8-9 about 4 times (until batch of chocolate runs out).

11. While next batch of chocolate is in the microwave, move truffles to wax paper on second cookie sheet, placing them in nice even rows. Remove toothpicks, wipe clean, and reuse for next batch.

12. Repeat until all cake balls have been coated. If you are going to pipe on frosting, do so now, while the chocolate is soft set. (You can use extra melted chocolate, but I used lemon frosting from a can.) Cut very small corner off bottom of Ziploc bag and add a spoonful of frosting to the bag. Gently squeeze the frosting through the hole and pipe patterns on to truffles (I just did a basic drizzle pattern on top).

13. Put entire cookie sheet in refrigerator and chill for 30 minutes, until chocolate (and frosting) are completely set.

14. Share and enjoy!

Flourless (Gluten-Free) Chocolate Cupcakes

I needed to make a gluten-free treat for my visiting teachee and stumbled across this delightfully simple recipe. I forgot to take a picture, but I made these in small heart-shaped pans. To serve them, I drizzled homemade caramel sauce over a plate, then put the chocolate cake on top. They turned out both gorgeous and delicious. (**Note: This recipe is for a full batch of caramel sauce, which is much more than you need for these cakes. I also use this sauce on apple crisp and brown sugar cake -- and of course it's great on ice cream, too!)

You Will Need:

• large microwave safe mixing bowl
• wire whisk, spoon, or spatula
• muffin tins and paper liners (or other small baking pans)
• spoon or small scoop 
• 2-quart saucepan

Ingredients:

• 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
• 1/2 cup butter (one stick)
• 3/4 cup granulated (white) sugar 
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 
• 3 large eggs
•  1 cup butter
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
•  1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F  Break up chocolate into medium/small chunks and place in bowl with 1/2 cup butter Microwave for 45 seconds, stir, and microwave an additional 30 seconds Add the granulated sugar and cocoa powder and stir until combined Add the eggs and stir Place cupcake papers in the muffin tins Fill about a half of the way full of batter Bake approximately 14 minutes or until bubbly and slightly set-up Allow to cool about 10 minutes  Meanwhile, in saucepan, heat 1 cup butter, brown sugar, milk and corn syrup to boiling over medium heat, stirring constantly; boil and stir 2 minutes. Remove from heat; cool to room temperature. Stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Serve warm sauce with cake.

Infant Ballcap

 This pattern was for a newborn size, but I wanted  something that would fit Bekka. I overcompensated and it turned out a little too big, but she'll grow into it. I just made up the Y based on the BYU logo and stitched it onto the finished hat.

Feminine Baby Beanie

 I found this pattern for a beautiful and feminine baby beanie It's kind of heard to see the details in this picture, but it came out really pretty.

Instead of making a crochet flower, I attached a silk flower with an alligator clip. I think if you click on the second picture you can see more of the detail.