Zucchini Lasagna and Homemade Clean Marinara Sauce

I'm a slacker!  I made this recipe like a week ago and am just finally getting it up on my blog.  I don't know why it is so hard for me to sit down a write on the blog.  Maybe because I have squirrel brain and am very easily disstracted?  Like I have 50 million things going on in my head and at least 10 projects going on at a time distracted.  Anyway, the recipe.....

You are going to want to start by making your own clean marinara sauce.  Trust me on this!!  It isn't hard and taste like 1000 times better than any jar junk.

2 - 24oz cans of organic petite diced tomatoes

1 can organic tomato paste

1/3 cup olive oil

1 whole onion

6 gloves garlic

Fresh basil and parsley

salt and pepper to taste

Start by chopping onion and sauteing in 1/3 cup olive oil until translucent.  Then add the garlic and continue to saute until you are drooling from all the smell goodness:)

Add the 2 cans of tomatoes, about 1/2 can of tomato paste, chopped basil and parsley.  Use fresh herbs if you can.  There is nothing compared and they are really easy to grow on a pot on your porch!

Let the sauce simmer for about 30 minutes.

While that is simmering you can get the other ingredients together.

2 large zucchinis sliced lengthwise on a mandolin about 1/8 thick

1 tbl olive oil

1 1/2 cups 2% cottage cheese

2 cups spinach (cook in microwave and then squeeze out water) chop

1/2 cup shredded part skim mozzarella

1/4 fresh grated parmesan cheese

1 egg

salt and pepper

2 cups(ish) of clean marinara

Cut the zucchini and sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder.  Saute in olive oil until just tender.  Set aside on plate with paper towel to cool.  In a bowl combine cottage cheese, spinach, mozzarella, parmesan, egg, salt and peper.  Mix well.  In a 8x8 pan ladle some of the marinara on bottom of pan.  Then layer cooled zucchini overlapping.  The next layer is some of the cottage cheese mixture.  Again add a zucchini layer.  And again a thin layer of sauce.  Continue layering again and ending with the sauce layer.  I then like to sprinkle a little more mozzarella and parmesan on top.  Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.  Remove foil and let set out for about 15 minutes.  This is important because zucchini has so much water in it this allows the lasagna to set back up a little.  

This dish is absolutely delish!  Gives you the comfort of lasagna but much better for you:)

Apple- Cinnamon Granola

One of my favorite breakfast eats is non-fat vanilla greek yogurt, fresh berries and granola!  It is simple to throw together and pretty dang good for you.  However, finding a good for you granola on the shelf can pose a problem.  Some are FILLED with sugar and preservatives.  Not good for you!  And have you seen the price of granola?  So what's a cheap, wannabe health nut to do?  Make my own duh!!  And that's what I did.  And I am sssssooo happy with how it turned out!!

Here is what you'll need to make your own goodness:

2 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats (NOT quick cooking)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup raisins

Combine all these ingredients together in a bowl EXCEPT the raisins.  They will be added after baking otherwise they will burn.

1/4 cup local honey
1/2 cup organic unsweetened applesauce
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar free maple syrup ( I LOVE Walden Farms)

Mix all these wet ingredients together and then pour on top of the oat mixture.

Mix it well and then spread on a cookie sheet.  Bake at 325 degrees for about 45 minutes.  Make sure you stir it every 10 minutes and keep a close, CLOSE eye on it so it doesn't burn!  When it is golden and crunchy take it out and add your raisins.  Once it is cool add to an airtight container and enjoy!

I hope you all enjoy this simple delicious recipe and would appreciate if you would share the love by sharing my blog on Facebook or Pinning this post!

Workout Wednesday (on thursday)

Can you see a theme here?  My posts are always a day late and a dolla short.  Whatever....  It's a lot of work keeping up with a blog.

Monday I did a killer leg workout and Tuesday I ran 2.62 miles.  Ya know, cause it totally makes sense to run the next day after a you toast your legs with a workout (insert confused emoticon).  Since I could no longer feel my legs come Wednesday it made sense to hit the gym and look for some guns!  Here is what happened....

Please ignore that it says May 23.  I promise it happened yesterday on Wednesday.  You can know this for certain because there is no way in hell this chick would be at the gym at 7:46 am!!

It was killer....it felt great...I now can't feel my arms or legs!

I am participating in Skinny Meg’s Workout Wednesday link-up today. Click on over to her blog to look around and find some great workout options!

Just Keep Running.....

So...i'm not a runner!  I want to be a runner..oh how I want to be runner but alas, I am not.  I do try hard though.  And yesterday after lying on the couch for several hours I got my fat butt up and hit the pavement.  So here's the thing.  Ya know how you are running and running and your talking yourself the entire way, motivating your ass to keep running and finish?  Shut up...yes you do!!  And once you see the end you think, damn, I just did amazing and swear you must have run like 10 miles?  Ya, cause that's how I felt yesterday!  Like a frikin super hero.  I got back to my house and was all "ya, you killed that bitch!"  And then.....I looked at my phone and saw that ^^^ crap!  Sigh.  Seriously, I was pretty sure I had ran 10 miles!!  But no.  Only 2.62.  And at a 11:49 pace.  Ya, ya I know I didn't "run" the entire time so what did I excpect.  I had to stop and fast walk a couple times to catch my breath but damn!!  And I know some of you are like, shut up, that's almost 3 miles!  And yes, I am proud of that.  After all, I am lapping everyone sitting on the couch.  And there was a time when running 200 meters would have made me want to vomit.  But like I said....ima wannabe runner!  And frikin crap my legs are killin me today!  Ok, enough pity party.  All I can do is keep hitting it and improving right?  I got this!  So this is me yesterday after my run thanking the A/C gods for putting vents in my floor so I can just lay on them!

That's ugly runner face!  HA!  Oh, and see that super cute headband i'm wearing?  I made it!  Oh yes I did!  I had seen them around on quit a few blogs I stalk read and anyone who knows me KNOWS if I can make it myself it is happening.  And let me tell you!!!  That sucka didn't budge!!  Not even a little bit.  Where it is on my head in that cute picture ^^ is where it was after I ran my marathon 2.62 miles.  So I may or may not have a huge ribbon hoarding problem and may or may not be making up a bunch of them soon.  Hopefully I can add them to my etsy store for everyone to enjoy.  They are seriously the best thing since sliced bread!  (which of course we would NEVER eat!)

Mmmmmmm....carbs.

DIY Custom Drawer Organizer

Yep, that is my utensil drawer.  Pretty isn't it?  And really safe with all those knives just thrown in there!  We have big drawers in this house which is wonderful but you have to have some sort of drawer organizer to corral the chaos!  Case in point is the picture above.  I know I could go out and buy drawer organizers but just didn't want the plastic or metal type.  And they can be up to $15.  And they still probably wouldn't fit as nice and tight in my drawer as I would like.  I want to utilize every square inch of my drawer.  I love, love the expanding bamboo ones like this.....

But really refuse to pay $30 for it!  It's wood for goodness sake.  So of course I headed to my guilty pleasure Pinterest and did a little drawer organizer search and discovered I could make this......

AAAAHHHH....perfect!  It was easy to make, fits my drawer just the way I want and cost me....wait for it....wait for it.....under $8!!

It is made with balsa wood that I picked up from Joann's.  And I used a 50% off coupon so got 5 pieces at $1.50 each.  Measure your drawer and figure out how you want your compartments to be.  Then I simply used a cheap miter box and saw to cut the pieces.

This is my absolute favorite wood glue!  It's very strong and dries fairly quickly.  You can find it at craft stores, home improvement stores and even Walmart.  

One piece at a time take a piece of the cut wood and run some glue along the edge and simply start putting your drawer organizer together like a jigsaw puzzle.  Let it dry completely and place in your drawer.  That's whats also great about this drawer organizer.  It looks like it is built in but it's not.  You can easily remove it to clean the bottom of your drawers.  I'm so happy with how it turned out!  Now only like 10 more drawers to go.

March Birchbox

I just love getting my monthly boxes full of goodies to try!  I belong to a few of these "boxed sample" clubs but the one I received today is Birchbox.  For $10 a month you get to sample new grooming, beauty and lifestyle products from high end brands!  I love trying new things and this lets me do just that.  If you find a product you love you can then order the full size at a discounted price just for being a member.  And with these sample clubs you have control.  If you don't want to receive the box that month you simply log onto your account and put a hold on your account for that month.  Easy peasy!  Here is what was included in my box this month......

1. Serge Normant Meta Revive Dry Shampoo

2. Madewell Nail Emery Board

3. Skin & Co. Bagnodoccia Body Gel

4. MAKE Silk Cream Lipstick

5. MAKE Dual-Phase Eye Makeup Remover

If you are interested in trying this great boxed sample club you can go HERE and sign up!

Quinoa Chicken Fried Rice

I had a craving for Chinese food today.  More specifically chicken fried rice!  However, it is nasty out today.  I'm talking freezing cold, raining ice kinda nasty.  No way am I leaving this house.  And unfortunately chicken fried is NOT on my healthier eating plan.  So I got busy in the kitchen and came up with this delicious version using quinoa (pronounced KEEN-WAH).  Have you ever tried this amazing stuff?  Run, go get some NOW!!  Quinoa is usually considered a whole grain but is actually a seed.  It is prepared like you would other whole grains like rice and barley using a 2:1 ratio.  That's 2 parts liquid to 1 part quinoa.  It has all 9 essential amino acids making it a perfect protein.  It is also a gluten free and cholesterol free.  It doesn't have a real strong flavor so basically you can mix it with anything and everything!  Basically using it as a substitute to rice.  So here's the recipe:

Quinoa Chicken Fried Rice

(Printable Link)

2 Cups Quinoa

Coconut Oil

2 Eggs

1/4 Cup Scallions

1/2 Cup Diced Carrots

3-4 chicken tenderloins

1 Cup Peas

2 Tsp Garlic

Salt/Pepper

Start by preparing you quinoa.  Use 2 parts of liquid (I use chicken broth for extra flavor) to 1 parts quinoa.  You will need enough for 2 cups of cooked quinoa.  Next, scramble your eggs in a skillet with a little oil.  I use coconut oil when cooking.  Put to the side.  Saute the carrots and scallions until tender.  Add them to eggs and put aside.  I then chop up the chicken tenderloins into little bite sized pieces.  Add them to the skillet with a little oil and saute until cooked through.  Add garlic and saute slightly.  Add 2 cups of quinoa to the chicken in the skillet and also add the egg, carrots, scallions and steamed peas.  I use the Steamfresh frozen peas you just pop in the microwave.  Mix it all together and add salt and pepper to taste.

If you are a soy sauce user but are on a gluten free diet, try using Tamari sauce.  It is only made from soy beans where as soy sauce can include wheat and it is 37% higher in protein.  And it tastes very similar to soy sauce.

Make this and I promise you won't miss the traditional chicken fried rice.  It is so good and my kiddos loved it!!  And I could feel good eating it.