Lightened Up Lasagna

Lasagna is one of my tried and true favorite foods. If it is my birthday and my mom wants to know what she can make me I say lasagna, followed by more lasagna.  You really cannot go wrong with a lasagna, it is cheese, sauce, vegetables, meat, you name it and it all tastes good to me.  From scratch homemade lasagna (noodles homemade too) was the meal that a loving family friend cooked for my bridal shower, and I am pretty sure I could eat it every single day.  Well, that is if I want to gain back every single pound and probably more I would eat it every single day.  However in the name of my health I rarely make lasagna and if I do it is a huge treat and I savor every last bite.  So when I found a recipe from Food Network that was a lightened up version I hesitated, because I thought lasagna should be kept as is, high in fat and calories and high in making me happy.  But my determination that there must be a healthier way took over and I found myself in the kitchen on a glorious Saturday afternoon creating what I hoped would be a delicious lasagna.

The key to the recipe was that it combined cottage cheese and ricotta, a combination that when put in a food processor and combined with some other ingredients makes a really delicious layer to a lasagna.  It also uses a small amount of turkey (or chicken) sausage to keep the calories lower.

Sausage Lasagna

adapted from a Food Network Recipe

9 No Boil Lasagna Noodles (Or if you are like me you get home and realize you bought the boil ones and spend the next half hour boiling those)

8 Sweet or Hot Italian Turkey or Chicken Sausage

1/2 cup Onion

1-16oz. container of low fat 1% Cottage Cheese

1-15oz. container of part skim ricotta cheese

2-3 cups of fresh spinach

1/4 cup fresh chopped basil

2 scallions chopped

S&P to taste

1.5 – 2 cups of part skim shredded mozzarella cheese

Begin by removing the casings from 8 oz of hot or sweet Italian Turkey or Chicken Sauasge. In a medium pan over med-high heat coat with cooking spray and saute 1.2 cup onion and sausage until it is cooked through, crumbling the sausage up while it cooks.

In a food processor process 1-16 oz. container of low-fat 1% Cottage Cheese.  Process until it is nice and smooth.  Add in 1-15oz. container of part skim ricotta, 2-3 cups fresh spinach, 2 scallions chopped, 1/4 cup chopped basil, and season with s&p.  Process until ingredients are combined.

For the Sauce:  I used THIS recipe, my favorite Marinara but the Food Network recipe also has a recipe for the sauce, I prefer my own though 🙂

To assemble:

Coat a 13×9 pan with cooking spray and 1/2 cup of sauce spread over the bottom.

Add 3 noodles and about 1/4-1/2 cup of the ricotta mixture.  *The original recipe called for half the mixture but I felt this was too much and I ended up only using about half in total and froze the rest.

Layer with half the sausage and 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese.  Repeat with another layer of sauce, noodles, ricotta, last of the sausage and cheese.  For the final layer add noodles, sauce and cover with cheese.

Cover with Foil at bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, then remove foil and bake an additional 15 minutes until cheese is bubbling.

Now this is the part where I may lose some of you…You will need to resist every urge inside of you to cut a piece that is well, half of the pan.  Instead cut yourself a piece that is about the size of your fist and serve along with a salad with dark leafy greens!

 

Spring Exercise

I love this time of year, where the days reach 75 degrees and I am comfortable in a tank top!  I also love it because it means perfect weather for exercising outside.  Yesterday we went for a hike and it was beautiful.

Even if hiking is not an option for you there are plenty of ways to bask in the beautiful Spring weather while moving your body.  Gardening, spring cleaning or just simple strolls after meals are great ways to burn a few calories and get your Vitamin D!