New Year’s resolutions here I come! The story of my life right! It’s not like I don’t want to eat healthy, because I do… Its just that when I cook something healthy I really want it to taste like fried chicken! Too much to ask?!?!?!
We are all trying to lead healthy more active lives this year as one of our family goals. We are off to a good start as we have our first Rad Run Race in a week and a half. I am teetering on whether or not to let my 5 year old run it with us. It is 3 miles so I am a bit worried it would be too much for him this time. What do you think? My 7 year old is all ready for it. He has been practicing for months now and is so excited about his first race!
So here is a yummy lasagna recipe I made for the family this week. I was so excited to find it on skinnytaste.com. This recipe uses strips of zucchini instead of lasagna noodles! So yummy, and saves you hundreds of calories! My sister made a pan of regular lasagna and I made this zucchini lasagna the same night. I wasn’t sure what we could get the kids to eat. So guess which one was gone first??? Mine of course!
I used fresh tomatoes from the garden! They grow in the winter in Florida!
Fresh basil from my garden went in as well! Yippee for living in Florida!
Not from my garden, but still yummy!
ZUCCHINI LASAGNA
1 lb lean ground beef (I used 93% lean)
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 onion
1 Tb olive oil
salt and pepper
28oz can of crushed tomatoes
2 Tb chopped fresh basil
4 medium zucchini, sliced 1/8inch thick
15oz part skim ricotta cheese
16oz part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 egg
***Brown the meat and season with salt. Drain the meat in strainer or colander to get all the excess grease out. There wont be much if you use the extra lean beef. Heat oil then saute onions and garlic for a couple minutes. Add the beef, tomatoes, basil, and salt and pepper. Simmer on low for 30 minutes. The trick is to get your sauce thick and not watery.
I actually added tomato paste to mine since I also used fresh tomatoes from my garden (lightly blended) instead of canned. Really you could use any recipe you wanted for the sauce. I wanted to add green peppers, but the one in the fridge wasn’t fresh enough. Sliced carrots would be a great addition to the sauce as well!
Salt your sliced zucchini and let it sit for 10 minutes or so. Then use a paper towel to dab all the excess water from the zucchini. Zucchini adds a lot of water when cooked and salting it helps take some of it out. Now, grill the zucchini on a grill or grill pan.
I admit, my grill is out of gas and the grill pan is still in storage while the house is being built so I just baked mine in the oven at 35o for 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375.
Mix the ricotta, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, and egg together in a small bowl.
In a 9 x 12 casserole dish spread the tomato sauce down on the bottom. Then layer with strips of sliced zucchini. Spread the ricotta mixture next, then the mozzarella cheese. Now repeat until you are out of zucchini. End with zucchini, sauce, and mozzarella cheese. I also sprinkled the left over shredded parmesan cheese on with the mozzarella. I might have cut my zucchini a little too thick because I had only enough to fill a smaller 9 x 9 pan.
Cover dish and bake for 45 minutes, then uncovered for 15 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. I actually did 30 minutes covered and 15 minutes uncovered and hardly waited at all to cut into it… we were hungry and impatient! Ha! It didn’t matter though it was perfectly delish!
You will love this low carb dish! So good!
Here are some other LOW CARB options:
Meatza
The Best Chicken Tortilla Soup
Steak and Cheese Stuffed Peppers
No Potato Salad
Butter Chicken- Paleo Style
Healthy Avocado and Tomato Salad
Crock pot Mexican Style Lettuce Wraps
Avocado Hummus
About Jamie Hinckley
I am a mom of three crazy boys! We love life, play hard, and ALWAYS get messy! Life is busy and full of fun, jumping, crashing, skinned knees, rough housing, torn jeans, scratches, but most of all LOVE. Yes, life is crazy. Actually its completely nuts, but I wouldn't change a thing! We love life and can't wait for our next adventure... and one day, possibly a little girl! Haha!