Chicken Florentine Lasagna

I've really been in the mood for lasagna, but not for meat sauce, so I decided to go with chicken and spinach.  I put alfredo sauce on the bottom and then a layer of whole wheat lasagna noodles.  Then I topped with my spinach mixture.  The mixture is 1 clove garlic, 1 box frozen spinach, 1c ricotta cheese, 1 egg, 1/4c white wine, salt, pepper, and roasted chicken.  I roasted 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts and then shredded them.  That's what I used with the spinach.  I then topped it with provolone cheese and another layer of alfredo.  I layered this and topped the final layer with alfredo and cheese.  We had it with a ceasar salad - it was a very good dinner!

Spinach Pesto Pasta with Peas and Roasted Red Peppers

We had a great lunch and dinner today!  I made a spinach pesto for lunch and mixed it with whole wheat macaroni, peas, and roasted red peppers.  For the pesto, I put 1 clove of garlic, 2oz pine nuts, 1/4 c basil, 2 big handfuls of spinach, salt and pepper in my food processor.  I pulsed it for a little bit then added 1/4 olive oil and some grated parmesan.  I don't like my pesto to taste like olive oil, so I left mine pretty thick.  It was so creamy and delicious, though!  If you like it runnier, you can add more olive oil.  I made this a little while ago and I think I added feta, which was good.  I didn't have any today, so it was cheeseless, but still good.

Pork Fried Rice

I roasted a pork tenderloin with a ginger-dijon glaze last Friday night and we only ate half of it.  So, I used the leftovers to make Pork Fried Rice on Monday night.  First I boiled a cup of basmati rice in chicken stock according to the directions and then shredded all of the leftover pork.  Had I been thinking ahead, I would have shredded the pork on Friday night when it was still warm. It would have shredded much easier. I sauteed some diced carrots and some celery for a few minutes.  I usually don't use celery in fried rice, but I had 1 stalk sitting in my fridge asking me to use it.  I added peas, minced garlic, and grated ginger.  BE CAREFUL when grating ginger - I grated my finger twice in 4 days grating ginger!!!  I added the shredded pork and about 2 tablespoons of chili-garlic sauce.  I like my fried rice spicy, but you can use less if you like.  After this was all mixed, I transferred it to a bowl.  I added 2 tablespoons of butter to my wok and scrambled an egg.  I added the prepared rice and douced it with low sodium soy sauce.  I added the pork and veggies back in, stirred it up, and we enjoyed!!

Pumpkin Ricotta Pancakes

I was in the mood for pancakes for lunch, but since the 10-month old that I watch is a vegetarian, I had a hard time trying to add protein to this meal.  If she were older, she would eat scrambled eggs with me and my 2 year old, but alas, she's not!  So, I decided to add ricotta to the pancakes to get her some protein.  As it is fall, I thought pumpkin would also be appropriate.  I ate a few bites while I was frying the pancakes and wasn't too impressed.  I didn't think they were very sweet and that the whole wheat flour was just too strong.  When I put syrup on them, though, they were really good.  The kids are so young that they don't really know about things being sweet and that they aren't "supposed" to like whole wheat flour, so they gobbled these up!  My 2 year old ate 3 and the 10-month old ate 2 whole pancakes!  Here's the recipe:

Mix together:
1 cup whole milk ricotta (if making just for adults, I would use part-skim ricotta)
1/2 cup pumpkin
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup oil

Then add:
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1T baking powder
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie seasoning
1 cup whole wheat flour

They tend to look a little dark when you're frying them, but I think that's becase of the whole wheat flour.  They were pretty good, but could probably be improved.  Any suggestions?

Red Beans and Rice

Yesterday for lunch we had Red Beans and Rice.  It is so easy to make and was really good.  I sauteed an onion and a garlic clove.  Then I added 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp oregano and coriander and a can of rinsed and drained red beans.  I also added 1 can diced tomatoes and their juice,  1c jasmine rice, and 2 c vegetable stock.  I brought it to a boil and simmered it for 15 minutes.  If you don't want to make it vegetarian, you can add 1 pound of browned sausage - that's also really good.  If you want a topping, cheddar cheese is delicious!

Margherita Pizza

We had a good lunch today.  I love to buy the whole wheat flatbread and make pizzas.  Today we had my version of a Margherita pizza.  I warmed some olive oil along with a clove of minced garlic.  After the olive oil had been infused with the garlic (you'll know, you can smell it), I very liberally brushed the flatbread with the oil.  With the oil that was left, I wilted about 3 handfuls of spinach and I added a shake or two of dried basil.  The heat really warms up the flavor of the basil.  If I'm making this for myself, I add salt and pepper to the spinach, but I didn't add any for the kids.  Once that is wilted, spread it on the flatbread.  Then top with cheese and slices of roma tomatoes.  I baked it at 350 for about 5-10 minutes - just long enough for the cheese to melt.  Here is a pic of the pizza right after I took it out of the oven.

Vegetable and Chicken Broth

I ran out of stock last week, so I made more over the weekend.  The 10-month old that I babysit for is a vegetarian, so I made some vegetable broth for the first time.  It was really good!  I boiled 2 sweet potatoes, 1 bunch asparagus, 1 leek, celery, carrots, and garlic.  I also roasted some chicken drumsticks and boiled them with onion, leeks, carrots, and celery.  I didn't have enough jars to can everything, so I had to put some in the refrigerator.  I made vegetarian black bean soup for lunch today.  It needs some tweaking, so I will not post the recipe.  I did not think it was the best black bean soup that I've had, but my kids loved it - even the 7 month old!  I use my stock for lots of things, so I'm pretty excited to have some more.

Smoothies

My most recent Parenting magazine had an article on preventing the flu.  There were the usual tips on hand washing, coughing and sneezing into your elbow, and fever remedies.  There were 3 tips, though, on strengthening your immune system.  The first tip was titled "Wake-Up Call" and recommended eating breakfast rich in colorful fruits and veggies along with whole-grain carbohydrates.  The second tip was to "Power up the Probiotics."  A study had shown that preschoolers who were given twice daily probiotics supplements had less coughs and runny noses during the cold and flu season.  Probiotics can be found in breastmilk/formula, yogurts, and supplements.  The third tip was to "Dish up Vitamin D," which helps activate immune cells.  The best source of vitamin D is sunlight, but can also be found inn fortified milk and juices, cheeses, eggs, and salmon.  After reading the article, I thought, well, I can cover all 3 of these tips in a smoothie!  So, for breakfast every morning, we have some kind of smoothie.  I have found that the Stonyfield Organic Low-Fat Vanilla yogurt is not only delicous, but full of probiotics and is fortified with Vitamin D.  This was the only yogurt with Vitamin D at my local Wal-Mart.  So, I use about 1/2 - 3/4c Minute Maid Kids Orange Juice (all kinds of added vitamins), yogurt, and a variety of frozen fruits and blend with my immersion blender to make the best smoothies!  We've had Strawberry Banana, Peach-Mango-Banana, Blueberry Peach, Cherry-Peach.  The possibilities are endless and they are delicious!