Recipe: Vegetarian Lasagna (gluten free)

Before I share this incredible recipe, here is an update on my gout. As I discussed in a previous post, I was diagnosed several weeks ago. I'm happy to report that my recent(first) big flair up in my foot and big toe joint is considerably better. It's still not completely back to normal, but it's getting there. I attribute my healing totally to the considerable changes I've made to my diet. There is a huge long list of foods that I can't eat and because of this I've had to get really creative when it comes to meal time. Fruits, veggies, gluten free, yeast free bread and pasta, sunflower seed butter, rice protein fruit smoothies and non fat dairy products make up what I eat including lots and lots of water. I'm limiting chicken and fish to no more than twice a week and then only 4 oz. once that day. The hardest thing for me to give up has been sugar and chocolate. The first few days was horrible, which made me realize that I was eating WAY too much sugar to feel as if I was detoxing to get off of it! Now I only use sweet leaf stevia sweetener which is the only approved sweetener for gout patients. It is completely natural and you can find it in all the grocery stores now. A brand name you may recognize is "Truvia". My "sugar fix" now consists of the stevia that I put into my smoothies and sprinkle on my rice cereal. The other day I had someone offer me individually wrapped Dove dark chocolates. I thought to myself "too little pieces won't hurt, right?" WRONG! Like when I ate the tomatoes, the next morning my toe joint was flaming red, with the swelling considerably increased again. My body is apparently super sensitive to any and all sugar and chocolate so I guess I'm done eating it. (sad face!) As I said before, I am turning this health problem into an opportunity for myself to get healthier and loose weight. I'm happy to say I have lost 3 pounds per week since I had to change my way of eating to rid myself of the gout attack I've been in to hopefully prevent or lesson future attacks. This almost makes up for the fact that I can no longer eat chocolate!!

I'm really excited to share this recipe with you, which I developed from two recipes I found on line. It turned out absolutely perfect and Kevin, Kyle and I all loved it. I've totally modified it to be completely safe for gout patients,  however you would never know if you tasted it that it is completely gluten free and made with all non fat/low fat dairy products. It is rich, creamy and very satisfying. Of course if you don't have the dietary restrictions that I do, you can certainly replace the gluten free lasagna noodles for regular lasagna noodles and use regular cheese instead of non fat and whole milk instead of 1%. If you are at all concerned about watching your calories however, I say use the non-fat/low-fat dairy products, you will never miss their higher fat counterparts. Because tomatoes are a problem food for me, I made this with a white sauce.

Here is what you will need:

2 c. non fat ricotta cheese
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. dried basil leaves
1/2 t. dried oregano leaves
1/4 t. pepper
6-8 lasagna noodles (regular or gluten free)
1 cup grated low-fat mozzarella cheese
6 cups diced veggies (I used carrots, butternut squash, summer squash, zucchini and broccoli) use the veggies you like!
2 tsp. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, pressed or crushed
1 medium onion, finely chopped (I buy it pre-diced and use a 1/2 c)

There are basically three separate components of lasagna. The noodles, the filling and the sauce. I like to start with:

THE NOODLES
Most all stores carry gluten free noodles now. I found Pasta JOY organic brown rice noodles at Sprouts Market. I've also seen them at Albertsons. In general I've been really pleased with any brand's brown rice pasta. It is almost identical in texture and taste to regular pasta. Following the directions on the side of the box, boil the noodles and drain. With brown rice pasta it is important to rinse the pasta after it is drained to the large amount of starch that accumulates in the water. Inevitably one or two of the noodles will break, which is why I suggest making a few extra. I did not, and ended up piecing together noodles!

 After rinsing the noodles, lay them out on wax paper that has been lightly sprayed with non stick spray. (let them sit there until ready to assemble lasagna)



FILLING
 
The filling consists of a layer of veggies and ricotta cheese. To prepare the cheese layer, mix ricotta cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, basil, oregano and pepper. Set aside.
 

 I was thrilled to find this packaged collection of veggies at Trader Joes. I forgot to take a pic of it before I chopped up the veggies, but here is what the package looks like for your reference below. It came with larger pieces of zucchini, butternut squash, summer squash, and carrots. It even came with 3 whole cloves of garlic. Two of these packages provided about 4 cups of diced veggies. I also cut up approximately 1 cup of brocolli into very small florets.Not pictured is the bag of organic cut up broccoli florets that I also purchased at Trader Joes. Additionally I like to use pre-diced onions (pictured above) I measured out 1/2 cup for this recipe and put the bag in the freezer for future use. Pictured above is 1/2 of the diced veggies.

 Heat oil in a large saucepan. Saute garlic for 1 minute, followed by the onions, and the rest of the veggies. Gently saute on low-medium heat  for 10-13 minutes or until the vegetables are softened.
When veggies are softened (not mushy), remove from heat a set aside.

WHITE SAUCE

This white sauce is not only easy to make, but it is delicious. Here is what you will need to make it:

1/3 c, butter
1/3 c. brown rice flour (or all purpose flour if you are not gluten free)
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
3 c. 1 % milk (or 2% or whole if you wish)

 To prepare the white sauce, heat butter in one quart saucepan over LOW heat, until melted. Whisk in flour, salt and nutmeg.  Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until bubbly; remove from heat.

Whisk in milk, heat until boiling, stirring constantly until bubbly. Boil and stir on minute. Be sure to keep heat on low this entire time to prevent scalding. The sauce should be thickening up. It should be slightly thick, if it gets TOO thick, add in a small amount of milk. Cover and keep warm.

ASSEMBLY

With non stick cooking spray, spray the bottom of a 9x 13 casserole pan.

Place three of the cooled lasagna noodles in the bottom of the pan. If you have broken lasagna noodles, just piece them together like I did above!

Next spread out 1/2 of the ricotta cheese mixture.

Followed by 1/2 of the veggies.

 next, spoon or pour 1/2 of the white sauce over the lasagna, being sure to cover all the veggies.

 Complete layer one with sprinkling 1/2 cup of the mozzarella over top. (add more cheese if you want to!)

 Repeat all the layers, ending with the remainder of the white sauce covering all the veggies and the other 1/2 cup of the cheese sprinkled over top. Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 35-40 minutes or until the cheese is slightly browned and lasagna is bubbling.

Your final result will look something like this!!! This recipe proves to me that comfort food can be gluten free, vegetarian and low fat! I will be making this often.

ENJOY!

Recipe: Shepard's Pie (gluten free)

I'm probably more excited about this recipe than I've been about anything I've made in a long time. I just bought Weight Watcher's newest recipe magazine, Best One Dish Dinners. All the recipes look great and each serving is 6 points or less. This recipe is from this recipe magazine. I can guarantee you however, it DOES NOT taste like like a lower calorie, diet dish. This casserole is DELICIOUS!! As I was preparing it, I kept thinking, "this looks so boring" and "I bet it won't be good enough for me to put on the blog"..how wrong I was. Kevin and Kyle were loving dinner last week the night I served this. In fact they both had seconds. So as you can imagine I'm pretty happy to have this new recipe that is easy, inexpensive AND low calorie to boot. To top it off, for my devoted recipe followers with small kids, this is extremely kid friendly.

Ingrediants
1 t. olive oil
1 small onion diced (I used 1/2 cup frozen chopped onion)
1 pound LEAN ground beef (buy the leanest you can find) or ground turkey
2 cups frozen mixed vegies (I bought a mix with corn, carrots, green beans, lima beans and peas)
3 T. tomato paste
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1 14 oz can lower sodium beef broth (fat free if you can find it)
2 T all-purpose flour (or rice flour, Bob's Red Mill all purpose flour if you are gluten free)
non stick cooking spray
 1 package of dried garlic mashed potatoes (if you can find it use Idahoan roasted garlic..it was so good with this..and they are gfree)

Directions

 Preheat oven to 375

 Heat oil in a large skillet over med-high heat. Add onion;saute 5 min. Add beef,  and cook until beef is browned, stirring to crumble. Drain off liquid/fat. (not pictured, but I sometimes use a potato masher to crumble meat)

 Once drained, add frozen mixed vegies, tomato paste and salt/pepper; cook over medium heat 5 minutes or until vegies are hot, stirring frequently.

 Combine broth and flour in a small bowl or measuring cup, stirring with a whisk. Add broth mixture to beef mixture. Bring to a boil, and cook 3 minutes or until it begins to thicken, stirring constantly.

Spoon beef mixture into an 11x 8 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. (I don't have that, so I used my Pampered Chef deep dish stone baker which is close to that size.) Set aside.

Following the directions on the package, prepare the mashed potatoes.
Drop potatoes in spoon fulls evenly over meat mixture. Then spread evenly, carefully covering all the meat mixture. I used a dinner spoon for this and it worked well.

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes or until mixture in bubbling up around the edges and slightly browned on top.

                                                                           ENJOY!

Recipe: Chicken Divan

Recently I had the opportunity to bring meals to two ladies from church. One is a close friend of mine that had surgery and another is a sweet gal who just had her first baby. As a member of the Meals Ministry team, I have the pleasure of serving my fellow church members when they have a need to have meals delivered for a short period of time. Typically I bring a casserole of some kind along with a salad, bread and a desert. One of my all time favorite casseroles to bring is Chicken Divan. I've seen a few variations of this recipe along the way, but this recipe which happens to be my Moms is a "no fail" casserole that I"ve been eating since I was a child and making for my family since I was a newlywed. I've yet to meet anyone who doesn't love this casserole! The yummy combo of chicken, brocolli and cheese makes it a real kid friendly alternative too. Here's what you will need:

Ingrediants
1 pkg frozen broccoli florets
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/4 c mayonaise (I use light)
1/2 tsp. fresh lemon juice 
1 to 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup plain soft bread crumbs  (if you are gfree, buy gfree bread crumbs at a health food store or make your own buy pulsing gfree bread in your food processor )
2 T.  melted butter   

Directions  

Cook broccoli until tender according to the package directions. Arrange in baking dish sprayed with non stick cooking spray.

*use either a 9 x 13 casserole dish OR in my case I was splitting the recipe in 2. One casserole for the new parents from our church and one for my family of 3. Set aside.

Next, poach the chicken breasts  in boiling water for 20 minutes.

Remove from water after 20 minutes and let cool on a plate.

While chicken is cooling, mix together the sauce for the casserole. In a medium bowl combine the soup, mayo and lemon juice. Set aside.

 Once cooled, using your fingers or a fork shred the chicken. Distribute the pieces of shredded chicken evenly over the top of the brococoli. Then spread the creamy sauce over the top of the chicken.

                                              Sprinkle the shredded cheddar cheese over the top.

Lastly, combine the crumb topping. Combine the bread crumbs and melted butter and sprinkle evenly over the top of the casserole. (not pictured)

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until heated through and bubbling. Enjoy!!

Recipe: Quesadilla Casserole (gluten free)

Here is a new recipe at last! Kyle is back to school and I'm LOVING my free time during the day. I'm going to be trying out several new recipes through the end of the Summer and Fall and I look forward to sharing the "winners" with you. What is a winner in my eyes? When both Kevin AND Kyle say to me "yum", " it's so good", or any expression that says they like it AND they go for seconds that makes a recipe a winner. Of course I have to like it too. I made this casserole and all three of us absolutely loved it. It was easy to make, is healthy and I will definately be making it again. Here is what you will need to get started:

You may recall when I made fajitas using one of the Recipe Inspirations Spice Kits. I have found these at Albertsons for $1.99 in many varieties.  I love these spice kits! They come with pre-measured blister packs of the spices you need, a list of the other items you will need to buy and the recipe. The recipe is on a 3 x 5 card so you can hold on to it for the future. In this case, now that I have the recipe card...the next time I make this I will just use spices from my jars to make it since I have the spices. If I did not have one of the spices, I'd just buy the kit again. A jar of spices can cost anywhere from $3-$7 so this would save me quite a bit of money to buy the kit vs a jar of spices that I may not have on hand. In case you can't find the recipe inspirations kit or already have the spices on hand; here are the measurements for the spices.

1 Quesadilla Casserole Recipe Inspiration Kit which includes:
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 t. oregano leaves
1/2 t. crushed red peppers (optional)

1 lb. ground beef OR turkey
1/2 c. chopped onion
2 cans (8oz each) tomato sauce
1 can  (15 oz)  black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (8 3/4 oz) whole kernel corn, drained
1 can (4 1/2 oz) chopped MILD green chiles, undrained
6 flour OR corn tortillas (I used corn)
2 cups shredded Cheddar Cheese

Directions:

Brown meat and onion in large skillet on medium-high heat; drain. (I use a potato masher to break up the meat into small crumbles)

Rinse and drain the black beans.

Next, add the tomato sauce, beans, corn and green chiles; mix well.

Stir in all the spices (only add the red pepper flakes if you want a medium to spicy casserole..I made it without the red pepper flakes and the result was a perfectly seasoned, MILD casserole that is adult AND kid friendly)

Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes.

Spread 1/3 of the meat mixture on the bottom of  a 9 x 13 casserole dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. (I used my Pampered Chef deep dish baker)

Top with 3 of the tortillas, overlapping as needed.

                                                           Sprinkle with 1/3 of the cheese.

Repeat the layers. 1/3 of the meat mixture, 3 tortillas and 1/3 of the cheese.

Complete the casserole by spreading the last 1/3 of the meat mixture on top and the last 1/3 of the cheese.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or until bubbling. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream if desired.

ENJOY!!

Recipe: King Ranch Chicken Casserole

Here is a kid friendly, crowd friendly all around AWESOME mexican style casserole recipe. Here's what you'll need:

Ingrediants

1/2 c. butter
2. cups reduced sodium chicken broth
2. cups water
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped (I used a 1/2 cup of frozen chopped onion (defrosted)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can 10oz of MILD RO*TEL Diced tomatoes and green chilies (Look for it near the cans of whole tomatoes) If you don't use the mild you will have an EXTREMELY spicy casserole on your hands.
2 cups cubed chooked chicken
12 corn tortillas, cut in strips
2 cups shredded cheddar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350* degrees. In a large sauce pan, boil 2 cups of broth with 2 cups of water. Poach the chicken breasts in the boiling liquid for 15-20 minutes. (check the chicken for doneness at 15 min) Set chicken aside to cool. (poaching in chicken broth gives chicken wonderful flavor) When cool enough to handle, cut into cubes. Cook pepper and onion in melted butter until tender (5 min. approx)  Add soups, RO*TEL and Chicken, stirring until well blended. In a 13x9 casserole dish, spray with non stick cooking spray then, alternately layer tortilla strips, soup mixture and cheese repeating for 2 layers of each ending with cheese on top. Bake for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbling. I like to serve this with a dollop of sour cream on top.