the latest eats...

i may have the best living partner in the world. he is one who loves ALL food---especially the non-fat "at least its good for you" food. bless his little heart, and really! it will be blessed from all the low fat things i let it consume:) lucky for me, my dear husband is not picky in the slightest....in fact he would probably eat cardboard if i put a fork next to it. however i knew this was a REAL keeper when he said, "even normal people would like this!" ha ha

my healthy dishes i love sometimes don't always go well with the general public. On behalf of health, i like to experiment with special diets and brady is the recipient:)  brady says he has developed a specific healthy tastebud for healthy things ha ha-and i like anything that is claimed 'healthy'. anyway, so this lasagna is not only healthy but its GOOD!! it might even pass with the public.

my latest greatest find------SQUASH LASAGNA

(these are our new plates...anthropologie thanksgiving deal of the year! the best part is the cute giraffe on the back...too bad its not the front.)

SQUASH LASAGNA


1 butternut squash 
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 32 oz container Fat free ricotta cheese
3/4 bundle of fresh spinach leaves (washed well)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
handful of brown sugar
1 box rice lasagna noodles (may not use the whole box)
2 cups mozzarella cheese


1. preheat oven to 350. cut squash in half, place cut side down on baking sheet and cook for 40 min or until really soft. Scrape into a bowl and mix with nutmeg and brown sugar.
2. in a new bowl, combine ricotta cheese, spinach and salt and pepper.
3. in a baking dish of your choosing (i used one smaller than 9 x 13...you could use a 9 x 13, your lasagna would just not be very layered)...ok so once you have chosen the perfect dish, layer squash, noodles, spinach, repeat. End with spinach.
4. bake for 35 min or until it is bubbly and the noodles are soft.


yum yum. 
 

vegetarian??

I love to find deals at the grocery store. I don't mean to brag, but sometimes I have even been known to save more than I spend at our local Ralph's (sister company to Smith's). 


Some of my fav deals: Cereal that is 1.98 each when you buy four. Or that deal when everything is like 1/3 rd off when you buy 10 of the items that they suggest. Or canned vegetables at $ 0.69 if you buy 10 of the same item...So many great deals and so little meals in a day!!! 


Well, my latest deal I spotted was a whole chicken for $0.59 per pound! Yes, you fellow shoppers understand what a great find that was. So i jumped on it. That meant a whole chicken for $3.09! Who cares that there is only brady and I who eat. We can eat the rest of it for the next week if we want. Still a good deal. I got home and immediately found this great recipe http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/whole-roasted-chicken-infused-with-tangerines-and-rosemary-with-a-tangerine-glaze-recipe/index.html for a whole chicken. I thought, sure...looks easy. 


The recipe starts out by telling you to stick your hand down "it" and rub the spices on and in. However, if you have never cooked a chicken, you may not know where "it" is located? Because a grown hand definitely doesn't fit down the neck, (only 2 of my midget fingers), the only other option is the rear end. (Problem #1). 


Problem #2. What the recipe leaves out...conveniently, is that the chef must reach into the dark cavity and feel around the slimminess to locate the gizzards and the guts. Once you find them you must then yank them out! My own phobia of reaching into unknown dark places like down sides of seats and into dark purses is bad enough. I was NOT about to reach my bare hand down the rear of a chicken to pull out slimy who knows what! Especially because I was all alone and it was raining. So I called some people who could help. First my husband-the seller of kitchen things. No answer. Then I called the best chef I know who is very good at sticking her hands down dark sides of seats and into dirty crevices and cavities. She coached me through it. Barely. I almost lost the dinner I hadn't eaten yet. Somehow I managed. 


I'm a nurse in an Emergency room. That should give me something good like a tough stomach. I guess chicken guts don't qualify. By the time it cooked and Brady was home, I couldn't do it. I couldn't this meal. What is wrong with me??! Weak sauce.  Brady and his stomach had to eat the whole chicken.  


Welcome to Vegetarian diet. 


So my first vegetarian meal happened to also be gluten free. But it was very very good!


I would recommend it to all who have ever had a bad experience with chicken- or meat

Mediterranean Stuffed Peppers 


2 large yellow/red/green bell peppers
3/4 cup pomegranate juice
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 1/2 Cups cooked wild rice 
1 cup diced yellow squash (partially cooked)
1/2 cup nonfat feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (they give me kankers so I dont eat them)


1. Preheat oven 400 degrees
2. Cut off tops and save for lids
3. Combine pomegranate juice + cranberries in saucepan and cook for 7-10 min until juice becomes syrupy. 
5. Remove from heat, stir in rice + squash + feta cheese
6. Fill peppers
7. Top peppers with lids
8. Add 1/2 inch water to 13 X 9 pan and bake 30-40 min. 

Wonderful meal. Anyone will like it. I also served it with cooked apples. Yum.