Healthier, heartier, and still tasty lasagna!

I love love LOVE to cook. 

       Southern Italian is the only ethnic dish I could cook without a recipe. I cook by taste and smell. So I do eat quite healthy due to high blood pressure and IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Oh my, I just said that out publicly. I should be nervous. Nahhh. I am a frequent buyer of Metamucil and plums. Not just for old people folks.

       HehnnnyWAysssss,
This post is my version and recipe of a healthier and heartier lasagna. Not for excessive cheese fanatics...hmm but this may be a recipe which could help you ween off of excessive cheese by trying a lighter recipe. Taste for yourself, the goodness of cheese could still be had in a smaller, skim or fat free, portion. Crazy? Trust. I know. I KNOW. *hands up* Calm down. Just calm de fk down and hear me out. I hear yeah. You could taste the difference between "real" cheese and "fake" cheese. I get it. I for one am a cheese fanatic. It takes time. Yet just give this recipe a shot. It has taken me time to learn to appreciate smaller portions of cheese and lower my crack cheese addiction.

Now for the recipe:
Sad news is I cannot tell you exactly what to measure out for the spices. As a cook, you have to take the time and smell and taste your cooking in progress. I can at least tell you the guidelines and you'll have something here to work off of.

Ingredients:

(More than a tsp for each)
Dried Thyme
Dried Oregano
Dried Rosemary
Fennel Seed
Dried Basil ( You'll need about 2 tablespoons. Best to work with fresh if possible, and slowly add in throughout the cooking process.)
Red Pepper Flakes
FRESH ground black pepper
Garlic Powder (at least a tablespoon or more)

*Note: with spices, add about a tsp or 2 to start, then add 1 tsp of each 15 mins before you're done simmering the sauce for a strong flavor.
*Doublllleeee Note: Add spices throughout simmer process. Keep tasting your pasta ever so often and make it how you like it.

1lb turkey (could use lean ground as ultimate healthy option, but I used mild Turkey sausage for more flavor.)
20 oz fresh spinach
1.5 lb snow white button mushrooms (a VERY good option is to use cremini. Omgosh cremini...they're pricier though :/ )
1 red bell pepper
1 carrot (about a foot long)
 5 tomatoes diced
30 oz canned tomato sauce, lowest sodium as possible
16 oz canned tomato paste, lowest sodium as possible
1 cup water
Fresh Parsley
1/2 cup Chianti Red Wine
1/4 cup dry sherry wine
1 tblsp brown sugar
1 egg
Fat Free Ricotta Cheese( I was hesitant to try it. Result? HELLA GOOD.)
1 cup low fat or skim or fat free mozarella
1 cup low fat or skim or fat free Parmesan
 1 box lasagna pasta. Wheat is best. Bad Ass Husband said, "Hell No," publicly in the store when i picked up the box up. I hunched over. I felt like a kid wanting the cereal box, only because there was a free toy inside and my mom just scolded me. He's already sacrificing his cheese in this recipe...so I said fine...refined pasta it is...I compromised.

Last but not least: a baking dish bigger than the standard 9x13, hahaha, there's gotta be one! Well, you'll have definitely 2 cups of left over filling. Save it! You could just toss it with spaghetti or make a meatball sandwich. Endless possibilities.

Directions:
Lasagna noodles: Cook until al dente.

Mushrooms: Chop mushrooms in thick slices, about 1/8", then cut those slices in half. Put mushrooms in a separate pan with the dry sherry wine. Let simmer for 20 minutes? Make the mushrooms shrink half their size as their water content evaporates.

Spinach: chop spinach and put in separate pan, setting burner on medium to low. When the spinach has shrunk. Place about 5 sheets of paper towels on a plate. Pour spinach over paper towels. Place an additional 5 paper towels on top and press down with a wooden spoon. Make sure to absorb as much water from the spinach as possible. Don't cut corners! Very important or else you risk your pasta sauce being diluted and bitter.

Bell Pepper: Chop in small small dices. Bell peppers are somewhat acidic, but "sneaking" bell pepper into the pasta helps add more fiber, in addition to the spinach. Fiber is what helps make you fuller faster. So make sure to chop that bell pepper as tiny as possible!

Carrot: Chop as small as possible. Put it in a food processor if you must. We're just sneaking in a vegetable. Whole lotta good stuff.

Turn oven on to 425 degrees.

Ok now, putting it all together:

In a huge skillet, remove sausage from casings (or cook ground turkey) and cook until fully done. Then mix everything in the skillet but the mushrooms, Spinach... egg, ricotta, oh and the lasagna noodles ;).

Simmer for an hour or hour and a half for best results while mixing periodically to prevent burning the bottom of the skillet.

Mix in mushrooms the last 15 minutes of simmering.

Remove skillet from heat and mix cooked and drained spinach in sauce.

In a separate mixing bowl, mix ricotta and 1 egg and about 1/4 cup of finely chopped fresh parsley.

Next up, layers:

Pour a very thin layer of pasta filling on the bottom of your baking dish. Then lay lasagna noodles evenly. Then half the ricotta mixture, topped with a little bit of mozarella and parmesean. Then lay down pasta filling. Continue layering. The amount you put in each layer is up to you. Go easy on the cheese. The whole point was to cut back. Trust. You'll taste the good ol cheese in this dish.

The last layer, make sure you end with the filling on top and not the noodles. Then sprinkle a little bit of parmesean and mozarella. I diiiiiid however get gready on my top layer. I did 1/4 cup of parmesean on top. Hey. HEY. before you judge. I only put about two tablespoons or less of Parmesan in each layer. So there!

 Cover dish with foil and put baking dish on top of a baking flat sheet to catch the drippings. Bake with foil for 25 minutes. Uncover, then bake again for an additional 25 minutes.

Enjoy Epic Heartier Healthier and Tasty Lasagna!

Hey.

Did you notice?

No salt added. Tastes damn good huh? :D

Please please comment below if you tried this recipe, and or your version! I would love to hear your input. Even if you didn't like it. I'd like to know why. Helps me make adjustments if necessary.
 

*~* Bear Hugs *~*
-Yogi

The moment had arose for me to express my feelings to a friend of mine named Chris S. "S" for scumbag.Wednesday, blog day? Do I dare try and keep to this regimen? Either way, it's midnight, Wednesday morning, and I would like to share an excerpt from my life.

          Let me explain.

I had planned a month in advance for a 2 days and 2 nights mountain bike camping trip for my husbands birthday at Hurkey Creek Park which is near Idyllwild, CA. I invited our closest friends from back in the day and fresh company who have become honest friends of ours throughout the years. They came from Nevada, L.A, and the rest from San Diego...except one. Except one who came the day after everyone had packed up, and left separate ways.

Chris S's personality, remember "S" is for scumbag, is random, wait's last minute, and is quite lovingly weird if I might say. I can't help but laugh at times at how weird and sporadic his personality is which comes out naturally. In our crew, we do tend to pull on each others chain and maybe throw in a little tit for tat here and there. This time, Chris S's sporadic action was my moment to say something.

Location: Strava Cycling
What: A map of Chris S's cycling route at Hurkey Creek which was  documented a day after we had already left. There is a box below this map where viewers could push a button that says "Kudos" or comment on the event. The "kudos" button is similiar to the "like" button on facebook. The crew decides to comment. This is the transcript as follows. Some information has been deleted to protect the identity of others.

Scott: wtf?
Yogi: Scumbag Chris strikes again *badum doosh* <--that be my drum solo right there.
Kevin: LAME
Eric: can I give negative kudos?
Yogi: I relayed the story of epic scumbaggery to the developer team at Strava in hopes they would create an HTML code to develop a "Boo-dos" button. Their letters flowed in to console me on the matter. How did I ever cross paths with a young man who possessed a heart made of ice and seasoned by the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion pepper? I was befuddled and just left the issue on the screen of my laptop where the map of Hurkey Creek burned through. A cycling Strava map documented the day after everyone else had left camp. I got in my car quickly to pick up groceries. I was hoping my chore would help suppress the repulsion toward my "friend" that was beginning to build up. The first item I always pick up are bananas. I made my way to the kiosk, pushing my rickety cart across the linoleum floor. I am caught off guard by the sight afoot and stopped in my tracks with a firm grip on my cart that the skin on my palm filled the crevices of the store's engraved name on the plastic push bar. The cart groaned under my care. In front of me was the banana kiosk. Its black recycled paper and molded pulp of escalating stairs, were bare except for the lonesome, huddled bruised banana. Sadness enveloped me once again. I couldn't help but reflect on life. As humans, we are somewhat similar to the banana. When they're just starting out, their exteriors are smooth and taut. As we age, just like an expired banana, we wrinkle and adorn flecks of brown spots all over our body. For a second, as I stood there, face getting warm, eyes beginning to water, I was worried about aging. But then... a small smile crept on my face. The vision of Eric by my side, smiling his corner smile, set my mind at ease. The idea of aging is not frightening, the idea of being alone is. So I did the only best thing I could do at that moment. I grabbed a green apple in the next kiosk and gently placed it next to the cowering banana. I could almost sense the sigh of relief from the banana as he had a friend to be with him in his last hours. So you see dear Chris, karma is just waiting around the corner to tap you on the shoulder...I'm not so sure I will be there at your last hours if you keep being a schizoid. Good day sir. Good. Day.

Hello, my name is Yogi, and welcome to my blogger page where I will be keeping a journal of my innermost random thoughts...


I suppose to start this blog, if you're familiar to my YouTube.com/user/LuckyYogi, then you would recognize my slogan emblazoned at the top of my journal, and quite possibly, be able to decipher my reasoning behind those words. Those words which mean so much to me. I have never given an explanation to them. Oh. Wait. I lied to you before I have even met you in person. There is a video. Two perhaps? Which when put together, you should be able to obtain the important meaning behind those words. So, I'll stop the fast flexes and swift motions of my flanges over the plastic keys of my keyboard. I invite you to take a moment to head on over to my channel and take a stroll with the others I consider my LY family. I promise they're good people who are supportive, positive critics, and just great friends from all over the world. I document what I do in hopes to inspire others regardless of the cards you or I were dealt with. Pisshh! Forget the setbacks. I make videos, write, take pictures, etc., in hopes to inspire others to just get up, and go outside. Live life while you have the chance because the view will be different once you've lost something...someone...and the moment has passed and you're filled with regret. You'll just regret not taking the time to do something.Don't just sit and dwell. Get up and live.

Live life for all it's worth...Hellz Yeah.

*~*Bear Hugs*~*