Vegetable Lasagna

3 points per slice, serves 12

OMG can I say that this is one of the best things ever. Not just in the category of food, but in the category of everything. I'm dead serious.

OK, so my mom is in town for the week and she brought her recipe from Weight Watchers for vegetable lasagna. They call it Easy Cheese Lasagna and they indicate that it makes 6 servings for 6 points each. But, we cut ours into 12 servings and called each serving 3 points. Even with 12 servings, each serving was pretty big. Here is how we made it:


Ingredients

• 1 cute mom wearing a cute polka dot dress she made herself
• 1 28oz jar of spaghetti sauce (We used 3 1/2 cups of my homemade pasta putanesca sauce)
• 6 uncooked lasagna noodles
• 1 15oz container fat-free ricotta cheese
• 2 cups of fresh spinach
• 1/4 onion, sliced
• 1 small zucchini, sliced
  
• 1 small yellow squash, sliced
  
• 1 small green bell pepper, sliced
  
• 8oz low-fat mozzarella cheese
  

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375. Spray 9x13 casserole dish with Pam
• Spread 1/3 of the sauce on bottom of dish
• Arrange 3 noodles in a single layer over sauce
• Top with another 1/3 of the sauce, all of the ricotta cheese, vegetables, and 1/2 of the mozzarella cheese
• Arrange 3 more noodles in a single layer, spread evenly with remaining sauce
• Cover dish with foil, bake for 55 minutes
• Sprinkle remaining mozzarella cheese and bake uncovered for 5 more minutes
• Let stand about 15-30 minutes before cutting. (With all of the vegetables, this will be very watery. By letting it stand, the water will go back into the vegetables and you won't have a soupy mess!)

Banana Nut and Raisin Bread
Need to figure out points!!

I "Hollyfied" a recipe from the old school red and white checkered Better Homes and Gardens cookbook - "America's #1 Cookbook Since 1930." I made this for my friends Lori and Momo for breakfast Sunday morning, during their visit.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white flour
• 1 cup ground oatmeal*
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice*
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 3 large)
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 1/4 olive oil
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup raisins

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350
• Spray 9x9 casserole dish with Pam (You really should use a loaf pan, but I don't have any!)
  
• Combine all ingredients just until moist (using stand mixer). If not using stand mixer, combine dry ingredients (except nuts) and make a well in the center, then combine the moist ingredients and add to flour mixture, stir just until moistened then fold in nuts.
• Bake for about 45 minutes (if using loaf pan, bake for 55 to 60 minutes)
• The BHG cookbook says to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely on a wire rack. Then, wrap and store overnight before slicing. Ummm, OK. Who would pass up the chance to eat warm banana nut bread?!? Not me. I let it cool for a few minutes (maybe 10?), then I sliced it up!
  

*Here is how I "Hollyfied" it: The recipe called for 2 cups of white flour. I ground up 1 cup of oatmeal in my food processor and replaced one cup of white flour with that. I also used 1/2 the amount of oil (original recipe called for 1/2 cup) and 3/4 of the amount of sugar (original recipe called for a full cup). I didn't have any nutmeg, so I used pumpkin pie spice in place of the cinnamon and nutmeg called for in the recipe. I added raisins, which were not called for in the recipe at all.

A short rant on Mahatma brown rice

A short rant on Mahatma brown rice

OK, in my red beans and rice post, I made a note on the instructions on my new package of Mahatma brown rice. The microwave directions on my old package of Mahatma brown rice said to:

• Cook 1 cup of dry rice with 2 1/2 cups of water for 5 minutes in high in the microwave.
• Then, cook for 40 minutes on 50% power

I have done this before (using rice from an old package) and the rice came out perfectly.

Then, the package of rice I bought last week said to use 3 1/2 cups of water. That's the only part of the directions I looked at when I made RB&R. (I didn't have quite enough rice from my old package, so I used a little from the new.)

So, yesterday, when making my rice crust quiche, I made 1/2 cup (dry) of rice. In my previous recipes, I had been making 1 full cup. I just halved the amount of water and cooked in the microwave as previously mentioned. Sounds right, huh?? So, after 45 minutes of rice cookin', I opened the microwave to find a ton of water atop some still somewhat-hard rice. What?!? I was on a time crunch... I had people coming and had just wasted 45 minutes and 1/2 a cup of rice!! So, I look again at the microwave directions. The directions are different than on my old package. The new ones say to cook for 35 minutes at high power. If that is the case, then it probably makes sense to use 3 1/2 cups of water. Ugh! Maybe they are now using a different kind of brown rice now?? Who knows. But, this wasn't the time to experiment, so I just cooked it the good old fashioned way, on the stove top.

So, I guess next time, I'll try the new directions if I have the time. I'll keep you posted... I know you will be diligently checking in until I get this rice thing figured out. I MEAN, IT'S RICE...THE MOST BASIC OF FOODS. HOW FREAKING HARD IS IT TO FIGURE OUT, HOLLY??

Oops, did I say this was going to be a short rant??

OK, rant over. :D

PS: yes I am aware that I'm a complete dork.

Quiche with Rice Crust
Need to figure out the points, but should be pretty low, I'm GUESSING 2-3 points for 1/8 of a quiche

I got this recipe from www.cooks.com. I only slightly "Hollyfied" it and I thought it was OK but not great. I made it for my friends Lori and Momo, who visited us this weekend. They claimed to have liked it! :) I need to tweak it next time... I think I'll add some garlic and just a LITTLE nutmeg.

Sorry, I didn't take a whole lot of pics... Lori and Momo were already at my house and they were hungry from their long road travels, so I was in a hurry!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup dry brown rice
• 3 eggs, beaten
  
• 1 Tbs shredded cheese
• 1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen chopped spinach (only use half)
• Dash ground pepper
• Juice from 1 lemon
  
• 1/2 med. onion, chopped
• 1 c. skim milk
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese
  

Directions

• Cook rice according to package directions
• Preheat oven to 425
  
• Mix rice, 1 egg and 1 Tbs cheese
• Press into pie dish to form a crust
• Bake for 3 minutes
• Cook spinach according to package directions, remove excess water with paper towels
• Mix 1/2 of the spinach, lemon juice, pepper, onion, milk, cheese and 2 remaining eggs
• Pour spinach mixture over rice crust
• Bake 10 minutes at 425
• Lower oven temp to 350 and bake 30 more minutes

Pasta Putanesca
3 points (without cheese, 4 points with cheese)
My mom and I made this one day last week, so I lied in my previous post that said we didn't make anything "blog worthy"! I had some left over sauce in the freezer, so last night I used that, added some more crushed tomatoes, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes and heated through for a quick sauce. Note that *real* Pasta Putanesca has anchovies in it. I don't think it has carrots in it; I came up with that.

Sauce
Ingredients

• 1 tsp olive oil
  
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 1 handful of baby carrots, minced
  
• 1 Tbs Italian Seasoning (more or less to taste)
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes (more or less to taste)
• 1/2 small jar of capers
• 1 28oz can of crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 bunch parsley, finely chopped

Directions

• In large skillet, heat olive oil
• Add onion, garlic, carrots, Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes and saute a few minutes, until onion starts to look clear.
• At this point, you can deglaze the bottom of the skillet with a splash of red wine, if you have some. This obviously adds a little flavor, and will help you get some of the yummy stuff unstuck from the bottom of the skillet.
• Add crushed tomatoes and capers and stir through.
  
• Usually, I add more Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes now. Stir through.
• About 10 minutes before you're ready to eat (about the time you put your pasta in the boiling water), add the parsley.

Pasta
I use whole grain pasta. I usually make a 1/2 pound of spaghetti and 1/2 pound rotini (corkscrews) at the same time. Jeff likes diversity in his pasta. We usually have about 2 srevings of leftover pasta (and more servings of sauce, which can be frozen for future use for pasta or pizza). Just follow the directions on the pasta box you buy.

To serve, scoop 4 oz of cooked pasta and 1/4 cup of sauce into a bowl or plate.

I usually add about a point worth of shredded cheese, because this meal lacks protein. I have added garbanzo beans (smashed a little with a fork) a couple of times, for protein. Add probably another point per serving if you do that.

I really want to start making my own noodles. Once I do that successfully, I'll post here!!

Cajun Red Beans and Rice
4 points a bowl


I made this for dinner last night. It was good, but I thought it needed something more, so I sprinkled red pepper flakes on mine. It still was missing something. Jeff thought it was WAY yummy. Maybe my friend JP who lives in N'awlins can help!!

Beans

Ingredients

• 1 pound dry small red beans
• 1/2 onion, minced
• 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
  
• 1 tsp garlic powder
  
• 2 tsp thyme
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
  
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 2 cups of crushed tomatoes
  

Directions

• Rinse and sort beans. ("Sort" means to remove and discard any odd looking beans. Anything off color, cracked, wrinkley or just weird looking).
• In large pot, add beans and 6 cups of water. Remove and discard any beans that float.
• Cover and bring to a boil for 2 minutes.
• Remove from heat and let beans soak for 1 hour - keep pot covered. (This is the "quick soak" method).
  
• Drain and rinse beans and add them back to the pot
• Add onion, spices and crushed tomatoes
• Add 4 cups of water and stir through
• Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 1 1/2 - 2 hours

Rice Ingredients

• 1 cup of brown rice
• 1 vegetable boullion cube (optional)*
• 1 tbs garlic powder*
• 1 tbs paprika*
• 2 1/2 cups of water**

Directions

• Dissolve the boullion cube in the 2 1/2 cups of water
  
• Combine all ingredents in microwave safe bowl with a lid
• Microwave in high power for 5 minutes
• Decrease power to 50% and microwave for 40 minutes

To serve: Scoop a half cup of rice into a bowl, then a half cup of beans over the rice. This is 4 points worth!

*Note: I used the boullion cube, garlic powder and paprika just as an experiment. It didn't make that much of a taste difference, so next time I will just make the rice with water. Plus, the boullion cube has a lot of unnecessary sodium in it.

**Note on the water: My old package of Mahatma brown rice said to use 2 1/2 cups of water for microwave cooking, which makes for perfect rice. My new package said to use 3 1/2 cups. I'm not sure if its a type-o or if they think runny rice is a good thing. Anyway, just a warning if you use Mahatma brown rice... use 2 1/2 cups!!***

***Note on the "Note on the water": I am about to post a rant on the Mahatma brown rice directions. Please read it before making Mahatma brown rice. :)

Sorry I haven't updated this for a while... my mom was in town last week and we didn't make anything "blog-worthy". We were stuck without a car and couldn't go grocery shopping!! We did make black bean enchiladas one night, but I've already posted that one.

I'm making Cajun Red Beans and Rice tonight and will post that as soon as I can!