TRULY VEGGIE LASAGNA

The other day I was craving lasagna...I mean craving it. The thing was that we had had pasta the night before and the thought of pasta again was just not cutting it. I know, lasagna is the epitome of pasta and how can you crave it and not want pasta?

Here's how!

"You're not kidding" VEGGIE LASAGNA

What you need:
- 2 medium or medium-large size zucchini, sliced thinly length-wise
(think lasagna noodles)
- about a cup and a half brown mushrooms, chopped
- a large handful spinach, chopped
- whatever other veggie you'd like (I used some broccoli)
- 1/2 cup organic riccota cheese
- one clove garlic
- one can whole tomatoes
- about 1/2 cup basil, slivered
- parmesan cheese

In a pan - saute the garlic in olive oil until just fragrant and then add the mushrooms. Cook on medium heat until they start to brown. Then add broccoli (or whatever you are using) and then spinach. Let veggies cook until spinach is wilted.

Then build your lasagna. Cover the bottom of a shallow casserole dish with sliced zucchini. Try and cover the entire bottom. I used an oval dish, which worked well.



Then top that layer with the veggie mixture. Top veggie layer with ricotta cheese and then cover that with the rest of the zucchini. Pour tomatoes over this top layer and make sure the juice from the can is evenly poured over the top and on the sides. I used all the juice but only 3/4 of the tomatoes. Sprinkle the top with basil and parmesan cheese.



I wish the interweb was scratch and sniff cuz, I'm telling you...it smells rad!

Bake at 350 for about 20-minutes or until cheese bubbles. Cut it like you would a lasagna but you will notice that the zucchini lets out a lot of water, so use a slotted flipper so you don't pick up the unwanted water.


Take care,
THE NUTRITIONISTA

Drink it, it's good for you

My apologies to anyone who has been checking the blog and getting nothing new. Thank you for your devotion and I promise to keep it up this summer, with lots of new recipes and fun food facts. Promise promise!

There is always talk about "super foods" and everyone and their mother is trying to sell you their version of the food that will change your life. I am not selling you anything but I do believe there is a food that is "super", it's blue green algae.


SPIRULINA is commonly refered to as "The World's Healthiest Food". It is a simple, one-celled form of algae that grows in warm, alkaline fresh-water bodies.

So what's the deal? This "food of the future" has an amazing ability to synthesize high-quality concentrated food more efficiently than any other algae. What does that mean? It's not like scum, it's an algae unlike no other that can grow at a rapd rate and still maintain it's high nutrient quality.

It is a complete plant protein and it 60% protein, which is a huge amount considering that beef is only 22%. It is also one of the few easy to absorb plant sources of B12. It also contains all your other B-vitamins, beta carotene, iron, and GLA (an essential fatty acid found in breast milk). It is a vegetarian's dream come true.

It all sounds great right? Most people hear about spirulina or see it and have no idea what to do with it. There are many ways to incorporate it into your diet. It comes in either a powder or a pill form. I like the powder since I can use it in many things. I am one of those people that is bad at taking pills, so drinking my supplements justs works best. I like organika and a large container costs about $40.

I recommend starting with 2 teaspoons per day. I have a small-ish screw top glass container that I fill with 1/3 with water, 1/3 with some sort of juice, whatever I have (I like Black River Organic Apple and Strawberry) and then add 2 tsp of spirulina. The jar allows me to shake it up since nothing is worse than gulping down a large undissolved mass of powder. I guarantee doing this once a day will give you more energy (with all those B-vitamins) and help eliminate toxins.


here's the gang, ready for their daily duty

Try it.

Take care,
The Nutritionista

Visiting With Mom = MUFFINS!

So I spent the last few days in The Soo, visiting my parents. If there's one thing I have learned from my mom, it's how to cook. She has always been able to experiment in the kitchen and make it work. Baking is something she does really well and is something that I will always just be able to do "ok".

She kept telling me about these dairy, sugar and oil free muffins that she created. She made them while I was there and they are FANTASTIC!! So great that I had to share them.


MMMMMOM's MMMMMUFFINS!



What you will need:
- 2 cups dates, chopped (soaked overnight in 2 1/2 cups water - keep soaking water)
- 1 cup prunes, chopped (soaked overnight in 2 1/2 cups water - keep soaking water)
- 1 1/2 cups bran (we didn't have bran, so we used some granola)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 1 cup ground flaxseed put 1 tbsp of this ground flaxseed in 3 tbsp water to make a "slurry"
- 1/2 cup of nuts (sunflower, pumpkin etc)
- 1 large banana, mashed
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 3 tsp baking soda
- 4 tsp cinnamon
- 4 tsp pure vanilla
- 1 3/4 whole wheat flour (or I would assume you could use 2 cups spelt)

Take soaking water from prunes and dates and add 1cup of it to bran or granola to soften.
In a large bowl add the slurry of flax seed (this is your egg substitute). Then add mashed banana, dates and prunes, the softened bran, vanilla and applesauce. Mis together and then add mixture to another bowl with the rest of the ground flax seed, nuts, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and mix until just blended and nothing dry is showing.

Fill lightly greased muffin tins until 3/4 full and bake at 350 for 20-25 min. Or 375 for 12 min and then reduce to 350 for 12 min.

YUM!!!

Take care,
THE NUTRITIONISTA