Lasagna without Pasta??

Yep, that’s right: lasagna WITHOUT pasta. No pasta of any kind.  I made it with this:

Yep, this officially marks my first (and more than likely not last) time I have ever used spaghetti squash. I’ve seen it a lot on food blogs that I read and on SparkPeople, so I finally decided to try it out with this recipe:

Zucchini and Spaghetti Squash “Lasagna”

(adapted from GreenLiteBites)

Ingredients:

• 1 spaghetti squash (about 2 pounds)
• 1 medium zucchini
• 1/2 cup reduced fat shredded mozzarella
• 1/2 cup fat free ricotta
• 14 oz can crushed Italian style tomatoes
• Italian seasoning
• Parsley
• Black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Poke holes in the rind of the squash and microwave for about 10 minutes (4-5 minutes for every pound).  Allow the squash to cool for a few minutes and then cut it in half (long ways) and scoop out the seeds/pulp.  Be careful not to scoop out the squash flesh!
3. Using a fork, remove the squash flesh.  It really does look a lot like spaghetti noodles! (see above picture)
4. Slice the zucchini as thin as you can.
5. Using an 8 1/2″ x 11″ pan, put a little bit of the crushed tomato sauce on the bottom (to keep the zucchini from sticking)
6. Layer the zucchini, squash, sauce, and cheese until you run out.  Sprinkle a little Italian seasoning on top of each layer of sauce (optional). Top with crushed black pepper and parsley.
7. Bake in the 350F oven uncovered for 45 minutes.  Because there is no pasta to soak up the water, you will want to use a turkey baster to remove the water every 10 minutes or so.


This was DELICIOUS! I will totally make it again.  Hubby thinks maybe a little more sauce next time, but it might be okay as is.  We may use actually sauce instead of crushed tomatoes next time; we just used what was on had this time! I’m actually really excited to try more recipes with spaghetti squash! It was SO much easier to work with than I expected!

Pumpkin Pie Cinnamon Rolls

At my new job, we have a breakfast tradition that I have swiftly been incorporated into.  We rotate through the admin staff (alphabetically) and each person brings in a Monday morning breakfast.  Well, it’s my turn!  Not one to ever take the easy route (apparently) I decided weeks ago that I was going to make cinnamon rolls…from scratch.  My original plan was to make some from my Betty Crocker cookbook using the sweet roll dough that I made rolls from not too long ago for Christmas. However, in my endless blog surfing, I came across a recipe that I simply couldn’t resist trying. So, without further ado, here it is!

I got this recipe from OnSheGlows, a food website that has mostly vegan recipes.  I adapted it to use non-vegan ingredients (e.g. regular skim milk and butter), but other than that, I pretty much followed the recipe exactly.  It’s pretty complicated, so I’m not going to reproduce it all here.  Definitely check out the link! She has a ton of good looking stuff that I’m planning on trying in the (near) future!
I made her sweet dough to a “T” with three minor exceptions. I substituted skim milk for the almond milk, regular unsalted butter for the Earth Balance, and instead of using Egg Replacer, I used 1 TBSP cornstarch and 2 TBSP water.  Well, actually, those were the only things I really changed basically throughout the recipe.  Whenever she used almond milk, I used skim milk and vegan butter was always just regular butter (with the exception of the frosting….because I was out of butter!)
Also, I totally cheated with the cream cheese icing.  She has you mixing it by hand.  I gave it a go…and gave up.  I got it to the right consistency, but I couldn’t get all the butter lumps out….so I busted out my hand mixer.  Whatever. I’m lazy, so sue me! This cream cheese frosting is DELICIOUS.  I’m totally going to use it again to frost cupcakes or something because YUM.  (Oh, and I suppose I should mention that I didn’t use the vegan cream cheese…just the regular stuff from a tub…light).

Butternut Squash and Blue Cheese Casserole

It was my week to cook, again, and this time I remembered to take pictures! Woohoo! (Also, the last thing I made was NOT very…photogenic, to say the least.) Anyways, without further ado…DINNER!

Butternut Squash & Blue Cheese Casserole
Ingerdients:

• 3 cups butternut squash, peeled and cubed
• 1 medium onion, cut into strips
• 1 TBSP olive oil
• 1 TBSP sugar
• 1 pkg Buddig Honey Roasted Turkey (could totally be left out to make vegetarian, or you might substitute a flavorful, but delicatly smokey bacon, which might complement the blue cheese nicely)
• 1/4 cup + 2 TBSP crumbled blue cheese (Maytag or Gorgonzola…or whatever floats your boat)
• 2 TBSP dry white wine
• Nonstick cooking spray

1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
2. Put the squash in a single layer on a baking sheet and mist with olive oil (or brush each piece). Put in the oven to roast for about 30 minutes, until the squash is tender
3. While the squash is cooking, caramelize the onions.  Saute them in a saucepan/skillet with the 1 TBSP olive oil and 1 TBSP sugar. Cook them until they are brown and sticky. Set aside.
4. Cut up the turkey into small pieces.
5. Prepare a small baking dish (loaf pan size works well) by spraying with nonstick spray.
6. When the squash is done roasting, remove from the oven and turn the temperature down to 350F.
7. Put the squash in the prepared baking dish. Add the turkey, 1/4 cup blue cheese, onions, and wine . Mix well. Top with the extra blue cheese and put back in the oven. Bake for about 20 minutes. Then, turn on the broiler and bake another 5 minutes to brown the cheese on top.
8. Serve warm!

And, we definitely suggest serving it with this:

Walnut-Cranberry Couscous
Ingerdients:

• 2/3 cup couscous
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 4 TBSP walnuts, chopped
• 1 tsp olive oil
• Cinnamon

1. Cook the couscous according to package directions.
2. Add oil, cranberries, and walnuts; mix. Top each serving with a sprinkle of cinnamon

(*This is how I cooked it this time, but I would definitely recommend LESS couscous. I adapted from an internet recipe and I was using dry measurement, but I think the original must have meant cooked. Oh well, live and learn.)
**Both of these recipes came from Healthy Girl Cooking.

Blizzard Baking, 2011!

For some reason, being snowed in and off of school/work for two days gave me the urge to bake. Like, seriously bake. Actually, it took about an hour of being snowed in for the desire to hit, but a day and a half to decide what to make and to act on it. As anyone who followed on Facebook knows, I faced a serious baking dilemma: no eggs. Yep, none. No egg substitute, liquid or powdered. Nada. Hmmm…how bad did I REALLY want to bake? Well, apparently bad enough. I decided to experiment and go for it…with a1956 Betty Crocker cake recipe. So, with no further ado, here it is:

Betty Crocker’s Burnt Sugar Cake (with Burnt Sugar Frosting)
Cake Recipe:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup boiling water + extra
• 2 1/4 Cups Softasilk floud
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 shortening, softened
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla (optional)

Grease and flour 2-8″ or 9″ pans (or one 9″x13″ pan). Preheat the oven to 350F.
Caramelize the 1/2 cup sugar, melting over low heat until medium brown (shaking pan to keep from burning). Remove from heat. Slowly add 1/2 cup boiling water (be careful – will splatter!). Return to head and stir until all lumps are dissolved. Remove from heat and measure; add enough water for a total of 1 cup of carmel-water mixture.
Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the shortening and 2/3 cup of the cooled carmel-water mixture. Beat 2 minutes. Add the rest of the caramel-water mixture, eggs, and optional vanilla. Beat 2 more minutes. Pour into prepared pans and place in hot oven. Cook the cakes for 25-35 minutes, depending on the size of your pan.
Frosting Recipe:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup boiling water
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 2 1/2 TBSP Softasilk flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 cups confectioner’s sugar
• +/- 3 TBSP water
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Caramelize the sugar (same as cake) and add 1/4 cup boiling water, stirring vigorously. Set aside. (Heat further if you need to dissolve any lumps)
Melt 1/2 cup shortening in saucepan. Add 2 1/2 TBSP Softasilk flour and 1/4 tsp salt; stir. Slowly stir carmel-water mixture into shortening mixture. Return to heat and boil. Boil for one minute and remove from heat. Stir in (alternately) 3 cups confectioner’s sugar and about 3 TBSP water. Put in bowl of cold water and continue beating until spreadable consistency. Stir in vanilla.

How I Changed It Up:

• First off, I halved the cake recipe. We didn’t need that much cake for just the two of us, not really (we would have eaten it…but the fact remains that we didn’t need it!) Quite the adventure in math (1/6 Cup = how much? (2 TBSP + 2 tsp, in case you’re curious))
• Second, as previously mentioned, NO EGGS! I did some research online and came across a lot of different options. I ended up going with a cornstarch water combo to make up for my lack of eggs. (1 TSBP cornstarch + 3 TBSP water)
• Third, since I halved the recipe, I used two 6″ round cake pans. These are my new favorite! I pretty much never need to make full-size cakes so I finally made the investment in these. I used them earlier on the strawberry birthday cake as well.
• Fourth, I added a LOT more water to the frosting recipe. It was WAY too difficult to spread. Actually, it was practically to thick to beat with my electric hand mixer, let alone spread with a knife.

Overall, it tasted pretty good. I actually quite enjoyed the cake. The frosting was a bit…strong for me. It complimented the cake well, but it tasted just a tad too…burnt. I had some difficulty with the caramelization of the sugar (I burned it a bit too much). Woops. If it was just a little more mild, I probably would have thoroughly enjoyed it. The hubby enjoyed it, but also agreed that the frosting was a bit much. I am glad that I opted not to frost the sides of the cake.