Ground Turkey Lasagna Roll-ups

I've seen a lot of recipes for lasagna roll ups around, and honestly this one isn't going to be hugely different. However, most of them lack a key ingredient that has to be included if my husband is going to be enthusiastic about dinner - meat. So without sacrificing the healthy integrity of this meal, I decided that some lean ground turkey would be a smart addition.

Ingredients:

9 Lasagna noodles
15 oz of Ricotta cheese
Spinach (I used about half a container of organic spinach)
1 jar of tomato sauce (we use Ragu because we like to be fancy :)
3/4 of a block of Mozzarella cheese shredded
1 egg
1/2 cup of parmesan cheese
1 lb of ground turkey
1 tsp of minced garlic
1 tsp of Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp of steak sauce
1 tsp of garlic powder
salt and pepper


To get started I got out a pan to brown the turkey, added minced garlic, Worcestershire sauce, steak sauce, garlic powder, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning (I do this to help the turkey have a more beefy flavor since the palate is used to having beef not turkey with lasagna). While that browns I am also boiling the lasagna noodles in one pot and cooking the spinach in another. That's multitasking! But the spinach and noodles are pretty low maintenance, so it wasn't that big of a deal. Noodles on my stove take about 9-10 minutes to get the texture I like them; you likely know how to make your own noodles though and so I suggest you cook them the way you like.

When the noodles are done, drain them and drape them around the container to dry somewhat (they'll be easier to handle that way), drain the spinach and chop it up, and take the browned turkey off the heat and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the container of ricotta cheese, egg and parmesan cheese. Add ground turkey and spinach and stir well. On a piece of parchment paper, lay your noodles flat and line them with the ricotta turkey mixture. Be careful not to overfill them, lest when you roll them up the mixture falls out. Roll up your lasagna noodle and place them into a greased 9x13 baking dish. Pour over the tomato sauce evenly then top with shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake for 40 minutes on 350.

As always, I hope that you will enjoy this recipe.

Have a blessed day!

Healthy Garlic Parmesan Chicken

So this week I am reembarking on a quest to be healthier and make healthier choices at meal times. But I also know that my sweet husband will never go for lighter fare unless it's plenty flavorful and plenty filling. So when I cook healthy, I've got a big challenge ahead of me - especially when he is begging for something like crispy cheddar chicken, and I am wanting something that isn't bad for us! I made this a little nervously, knowing that if we didn't like it, we'd be eating sandwiches for dinner. Yet, when we sat down, said grace, and dug in, my response that it was good wasn't only one of relief, but it was also paired with a resounding "Mmmm!" from the both of us.

Because there is only two of us, I try to stretch out meat as far as it will go at dinner times. It's expensive! So for us I usually only cook two chicken breasts for dinner, but you could easily use this recipe with four. I used 1 large pan and a pair of tongs (I just think they're easier to use than spatulas), a gallon zip-lock bag, and a rolling pin (or some other stress relieving device).

Sorry about the blurry picture. I didn't realize it was blurry until I had thoroughly enjoyed my meal, so it was much too late to retake the photo! I'll try to get a better picture the next time I make this, because I am sure I'm going to end up making this a weekly staple!



Healthy Garlic Parmesan Chicken

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts (butterflied* and flattened), salt and peppered and cut in half
1/4 cup of flour
3 T of light butter
1 T of minced garlic 
1 T of lemon (or more depending on how much you like lemon)
1 T of parmesan cheese
1 tsp sage
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 shake parsley
1 shake cilantro

*When I say butterflied, it's because I don't know what else to call it. With meat scissors, I cut through the chicken breast without cutting in it half, then over left and right. Essentially cutting the chicken breast like a shrimp. My goal is to aid the endeavor of flattening the chicken breasts.

On your stove-top, spray a large pan with cooking spray and set it on medium heat. In a gallon zip-lock bag place the chicken and zip it up, releasing all the air from the bag (you don't want to pop the bag when you flatten the chicken). Put flour in a plate.  Take a rolling pin and flatten the chicken until they're 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Cut each breast in half. Salt and pepper the chicken breast and coat them lightly in flour. Place them in the warmed pan, alternate cooking them on each side for four minutes until chicken is fully cooked (I'm a stickler about meat temperatures, and so I always use a meat thermometer. Chicken is fully cooked at 168 degrees, but I like to get it to at least 171 before I'm satisfied that it's done).

When chicken is fully cooked, remove from pan and set aside. In the same pan melt the butter. Add minced garlic (I used the kind from a jar), and saute with sage, poultry seasoning, parsley and cilantro for about thirty seconds. Add lemon and saute 30 more seconds. Using the tongs, place the chicken breasts one at a time back into the pan and coat them on both sides with the butter mixture. Once out of the pan sprinkle parmesan cheese over both sides of the chicken.

This chicken was so savory and delicious. The husband has a this tick where he thinks he needs to put either hot sauce or ranch dressing on everything. I'm pleased to say that he thinks that this needs neither. It stands all on it's own. This dish would be delicious also with some sauteed mushrooms and would be good with vegetables or pasta. Since we're trying to be healthy, we're going to stick with veggies. Thanks for reading!

Hope you enjoy and God bless!