Spinach Lasagna Rolls Ups Part 2 of Calzone ingredients

I had A LOT of meat sauce and veggie filling left over from the calzones from Friday. Early the next week I made Spinach Lasagna roll ups. There are a bit more labor intensive than things I typically make however because I already had the fillings ready to go it wasn't too bad.

Ingredients: Veggie Filling & Meat Sauce from Part 1

One box of Whole Wheat Lasagna

You want to prepare the assembling station.. Veggie Filling, meat sauce and empty casserole dish to the right.

Add about 1 cup or 2 of the meat sauce to the bottom of your empty casserole dish .

Next, boil your lasagna about 5 pieces at a time. This helps with the timing when assembling. I add plenty of salt to my boiling water and drop in my lasagna.. You want a really deep pot bc it makes it easier and the lasagna pasta doesn't curl up. If you don't have one, just do less pasta at a time.

Boil pasta for about 7 mins then gently remove with tongs onto a plate lined with a paper towel to absorb excess water. Add about 2-3 tablespoons of veggie filling and spread over cooked pasta.

Gently roll up, not to tight or else you will break the pasta. It doesn't have to be perfect. Then place upright into casserole dish... It looks so fancy and fabulous

The minute I take all the pasta out I drop another 5 pieces into the pot and begin to assemble the cooked pasta pieces.

Do this again...

And again...like a factory line..

Now pour your meat sauce ALLLLL over this yummyness. In between the rolls etc..

Bake on 425 for about 30 mins.

Then EAT!!! I had to add both pictures because  I couldn't decide which one looked more delicious.

Friday night Calzones Part 1

We invited our friends over for a 'calm' little evening of calzones and jenga (not kidding.) The calzones were delicious however this posts' pictures will get progressively worse as I consumed more and more red wine throughout the night, BUT this was a realllly good meal and will actually has a part 2 to follow using the same two calzone fillings  in a completely different way.  So don't judge by the final picture, because the picture sucks.

I made two fillings, a veggie filling, and a meat filling with a side of mushrooms and had everyone make their own calzones. Keep in mind these measurements are meant for two meals, so you would want to half this recipe if you truly plan on making the calzones.

1 tube Pillsbury pizza crust (this makes four large calzones)

2 cups mushrooms (optional)

Veggie filling
8 cups fresh spinach (turns into about 4 cups once its chopped)
1/2 cup feta cheese
1 cup Greek yogurt
2 garlic cloves crushed
1 cup thawed broccoli
salt and pepper to taste

Meat Filling/Sauce
10 Hot Italian sausages
5 Jars Pasta sauce (I used one jar of plain marinara then added crushed tomatoes and made my own sauce but you could just use all jars)
1 large onion
3 cloves garlic

Cook the water out of the mushrooms. To do this, add the mushrooms to the pan, and cook on medium high for about 7 mins, stirring occasionally.

In your pan add the garlic/onion and saute until tender, then add the sausages. (remove from the casing)

Mix and chop the sausage cooking the sausage about 1/2 through.

 Then add the sauce directly into the same pan with the meat. If making your own, add basil, oregano, salt and pepper.

I had stopped by my parents house after work so my mom sent me home with one of her last batches of her garden tomatoes so I added all of them to the sauce as well.

Cover and simmer on low for about 15-20 mins stirring occasionally.

While the meat sauce was cooking, I made the veggie filling.

To your mixing bowl add 8 cups of spinach (you may want to chop this up in batches.. if your bowl is too small)

Chop up your spinach, add in your feta, Greek yogurt, garlic and mix together thoroughly. Do not add your broccoli in yet. (its gets too smooshy if you add it in too soon)

Once the veggie filling is mixed well add your broccoli and gently fold it in. Mix Nicely.

Now this is where the pictures get terrible/non existent.

Unroll the pizza crust and cut into four rectangles. Pour filling on half of the calzone. If using the meat sauce be sure to use a slotted spoon to strain out the extra liquid.  You can mix and match. For my calzone I did veggie with a very little bit of meat sauce. For the boys it was heavy with meat sauce. Add in mushrooms if you want.

That was the last of the assembling pictures, so you'll have to use your imagination. Fold over the remaining dough and bake at 375 for about 20 mins or until golden brown, lets be serious I really don't remember how long.  This is the final product. Again really bad picture, but really good food.

See look how happy and full they look!

Pumpkin Pancakes

Its officially fall and at my last trip to Trader Joes I got a can of Organic Pumpkin and put it in the cart. At the time my mom asked me what I was going to do with it and I responded that I had no clue. Well this morning (yes friday morning before work) I wanted to kick-off Alex's bday weekend bc I am the bomb.com girlfriend I made pumpkin pancakes.

3/4 can of Organic Pumpkin (not the pie filling with tons of sugar/additives)
2 cups Pancake batter
1 1/3 Cup water
1 Tbsp sweet cinnamon sprinkle

I always use the fiber one pancake mix bc the only other ingredient I need is water and I always have that. Plus it says Fiber one on the box so the marketing works on me. I follow the directions on the box for 7-12 pancakes (these are small pancakes) and just basically add pumpkin in. Next time I would prob even add the entire can of pumpkin.

So add the pumpkin as you deem necessary and just taste the batter to make sure it is what you want. I also added 1 tbsp of a cinnamon/sugar blend that I have from pampered chef.  You could do your own mix of cinnamon and sugar if you don't have this. This adds a hint of sweetness that is just enough even if you don't want to add syrup when they are done.

The trick to get the perfect pancake is to only flip the pancakes once there are air bubbles..

Then do this over and over again, and Serve warm with some berries/bananas whatever you have.

Yes, I am the best GF. Thank you. goodbye.



Hot & Cold, Sweet & Spicy

I was craving Chinese food sans the MSG and I have had a cold the past few days so I really wanted something to clear up my sinus congestion, so I knew I needed something spicy.

For the Hot & Spicy

1 Chicken breast
1 onion
4 carrots
2 cups green beans (ends cut off)
3 cups broccoli (I thawed frozen broccoli)
1/2 bag shelled edamame (frozen veggie section)
Stir fry or Teryiaki sauce
Sriracha sauce (hot sauce)

For the Sweet & Cold

Sobu buckwheat noodles (used them in this post)

Dressing ingredients:
Rice vinegar
1/4 tsp Ground or fresh ginger
2 tsp Sugar
Soy Sauce
Vegetable oil
1 clove garlic-crushed

First you want to get together your 'cold' part of the meal. Boil your buckwheat noodles according to the directions, typically 5-7 minutes, Strain in a colander  and pour cold water over the pasta in the colander to cool it down, set aside while you make the dressing.  One of my first pampered chef products was a gift from our close family friend Carrie. I would always tell her how much I loved her dressings and apparently this contraption held all her dressing secrets in one place :)  I was in love. As a housewarming present she got this for me. There is an Asian dressing on there that is better than any Asian dressing I've bought/tried etc.  Anyway..... Per the directions on the container I made the dressing...

There are very few actual measurements written on the container so I have a hard time translating the liquids in the recipe if you don't have one of these bad boys. I highly recommend one, the Caesar dressing is the bomb.com which I'll be making Friday night!

Measure

Mix



Pour

 Add the noodles to your serving dish, then Pour the dressing over the noodles, Mix well. And place in the fridge.




Once this is in the fridge I was onto the stir-fry.







Chop up you veggies however you like.

I really wanted crinkle carrots so I brought out the mandolin.

Shelled Edamame:

Once all the veggies are in the pan, Top with your Stir fry and sriracha sauce and cook and medium high for about 7mins.

Once the veggies are semi-cooked add in your diced chicken breast

Cook the chicken till it is fully cooked, about 12 mins on medium high heat.  Once the stir fry is done your noodles should be chillin out in the fridge. Serve noodles with stir fry on top. I also added some dressing to lettuce for a side asian salad as well.