Spinach Lasagna

When I was growing up, spinach was one of those veggies that made me gag, along with mixed veggies, green beans and peas. Even as an adult, my gag reflex kicked in whenever I saw spinach or thought of eating it. Maybe if Popeye had been a girl, I might have been more inclined to eat it. Naw, probably not.

Anyway, my son, who is here visiting me (happy happy joy joy), had asked me for years to make some spinach lasagna instead of our regular artery-clogging, meat-filled one. Nope, never, not gonna happen was my response.

Well, imagine his surprise when I suggested we make some this week. Eyes bugging out, shaking his head in disbelief, he said "YOU eat spinach lasagna now???" Yep. I do.

Why the change of heart?  I don't remember exactly why or when I first made spinach lasagna.  Probably a few years after my son moved out and we started trying to eat "healthier."  But really, whatever/whenever, I no longer have the gag-me-with-some-spinach reflex.  I put it in lasagna, soup, and even with a salad.  Shocking to those who know me.  There, I confessed it and I feel better!!

Anywho, we purchased our ingredients and today I set out to make some delicious Spinach Lasagna, from a recipe I found at cooks.com.  

Per usual, I made some substitutions.  *did I just say per?  Who says that anymore?  LOL*   

I used fresh, organic baby spinach instead of canned.  I forgot fresh parsley, so I just used about 1 1/2 tsp. of dried.  I used fat-free ricotta cheese as well.

Here's the finished product.  It turned out pretty well if I do say so myself.  Oh, my son did as well. :o)

To go along with this, I made some Italian Herb Bread in my bread maker.  Delicious!!

A nice hot slice with a little butter was a nice accompaniment to the lasagna. 

When it was just the two of us (I raised my son alone until he was 15 yrs old) I didn't cook that often.  He was a very picky eater, so cooking for one was not that much fun.  When he got into his teens, his taste in food had expanded but he was on the go all the time, so was rarely home for meals.  Now that he is here, I want to give him some of his favorites.   So, off to make him the fudge he didn't get this Christmas and probably some mint chocolate chip ice cream.  Yummmy!!

Chicken Penne Casserole

After the success of my Tortilla Lasagna from the Taste of Home recipe magazine my step-MIL gave to me when she was visiting, I decided to make Chicken-Penne-Casserole tonight.

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Tortilla Lasagna

While my husband's step-mom was here last week, she bought me a Taste Of Home recipe book.  Lots of delicious looking dishes in there.  I need more hours in the day and more people to feed to try them all out!!  I should get a job at a diner or something.

Anyway, tonight I decided to make the Tortilla Lasagna.  The recipe is pretty simple, really, like you are making a taco salad but instead of using taco chips or a baked tortilla shell, you use flour tortillas and line a pan with them, then layer salsa, meet, onions, sour cream and cheese, and bake for 45 minutes. 

I made a few revisions to the original recipe.  I used ground turkey instead of ground beef, my homemade salsa instead of store bought, fat-free sour cream instead of regular, and multi-grain tortillas instead of plain. 

Oh, the delicious smell as this was cooking.  We had a late lunch and weren't even very hungry but after smelling this cooking, my husband and I decided to have a serving.  Well, it was so very good.....that we each had a 2nd helping!!  I wish the tortillas were a bit crispier all over instead of just the edges.  Other than that, a very delicious and satisfying meal.

Got Milk?

... and some cream, sugar and vanilla?  If so, you have the makings for some homemade vanilla ice-cream.  In my continued quest to eat more organic, natural, chemical-free, non-modified, healthier foods, I ordered the Cuisinart ICE-20 Series Automatic Frozen Yogurt-Ice Cream & Sorbet Maker (FYICSM **my acronym*)  It arrived on Monday.  :o)

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Do you like to cook/bake?

I really love to do both.  Over the years, I've tried so many different things:  woodworking, sewing, web design, to name a few but have never found anything that I enjoyed as much as I enjoy cooking and baking.  I enjoy everything about it: finding recipes, buying the ingredients, making the food, cleaning up the mess, except for cleaning up the mess. 

I'm lucky to have a husband who will eat anything. Anything.  He is like Mikey, for those of you who might remember the popular Life Cereal commercials.  I jokingly tell him that he WOULD eat anything because before we got married, his meals consisted mostly of frozen dinners, so the bar is not set very high. LOL

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