Turkey Lasagna

Ok M, here is your request #2, an easy and delicious lasagna recipe. We also made this one a little healthier by using ground turkey and zucchini instead of beef. Even though it seems like there are a lot of ingredients this is actually a really quick recipe. I hope you enjoy this lasagna as much as we do.

Recipe

1TBS olive oil

1lbs ground turkey

1 small onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, chopped

1 6oz can tomato paste

3 8oz cans tomato sauce

2 cans stewed tomatoes

1 cup shredded zucchini

1tsp garlic powder

1tsp Italian seasoning

salt and pepper

1 8oz carton ricotta cheese

1 egg

4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

lasagna noodles, boiled

(you can always opt in for the ready to bake noodles as well)

Chop the onion and garlic. Heat the olive oil in a sauce pan on med-high heat.

Brown the onions, garlic and turkey in the heated pan.

Add the tomato sauce, paste and stewed tomatoes and mix well. Once the sauce begins to bubble, turn it down to a simmer.

Use a cheese grater to shred the zucchini.

Stir in the zucchini, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning. Add salt and pepper to taste being careful not to over salt it.

In a small bowl mix the ricotta and egg until well blended.

Place a small amount of sauce in the bottom of a casserole dish to keep the lasagna from sticking.

Cover the sauce with a layer of lasagna noodles.

Layer the noodles with half of the sauce and half the ricotta cheese mixture.

Top the layer off with 2 cups of shredded mozzerella cheese.

Repeat another layer with the remaining noodles, sauce, ricotta and mozzarella. Bake the lasagna at 350 degrees for 30min or until it is bubbly.

There is nothing better than a good homemade lasagna. One bite of this and you'll never want another frozen lasagna again! Enjoy!!

Orange Drop Cookies

Sorry M- I know you suggested Dreamsicle Cookies but that suggestion made us crave Orange Drop Cookies. So until we find a good recipe for Dreamsicles hopefully this delicious recipe keeps your tied over! :-)

Recipe:

2/3 C butter, softened

3/4 C sugar
1 egg
1/2 C orange juice
2 TBS grated orange peel  (about 2 large oranges)
2 C flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt 

Orange Butter Cream  Frosting (recipe below)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cream together the butter, sugar and eggs.

Zest the oranges, being careful to not get into the white part of the flesh.

Add the zest and orange juice to the butter mix and blend well.

 Add the flour, soda, powder and salt. Mix well until the dough is not too sticky.

Roll the dough into walnut sized balls and bake for 8-10 min. Remove to a wire rack and allow them to cool completely before frosting.

Orange Butter Cream Frosting

1/2 C butter
3-4 C powdered sugar
2 TBS orange juice (or more as needed)
1 TBS grated orange peel(about 1 large orange)

Cream the butter and 3 cups sugar at high speed. Add the orange juice and peel and beat until creamy. Add more powdered sugar or orange juice as needed to get a smooth spreading consistency.

Top the cookies with a generous dollop of frosting and enjoy. These cookies are even better the second day after the flavor has time to develop, but they are so good its unlikely they will last that long!

** Original recipe found at allrecipes.com

Confession of a pregnant lady

Okay- now that the "cat's out of the bag" (never understood that phrase...) now you all know the real story of why we haven't posted anything on our blog for the past...13 weeks. Haha! First trimester was a time where I wanted to eat pretty much nothing and the look and smell of food left me in a icky state. Now that it's slowly going away, we are truly going to get this blog up and running again. I'm super excited, so keep those recipe ideas coming!!