Baked Ziti with Spinach and Sausage

With the increased pace of life now that my kids are getting older, I'm finding that more and more my recipe blogging has slipped to the back burner.  I was wondering if I'd ever regain my motivation to do it again, until one day I was making a recipe for the fourth or fifth time and I couldn't find the slip of paper that it was written down on.  That's when it struck me, I need to keep blogging if for nothing else to keep track of my favorite recipes.   I may not blog as often or with as many pictures as I usually do, but I am pleased to say that I will still at least occasionally share some of my favorite new discoveries along the way!  

This dish was a HUGE hit at our house and there was no way I was going to lose this recipe.  It was a tad time consuming to put together (about 1 hour for the prep and the baking) for a weekday night, but it was worth every bit of the effort.  Last time I made it, I made a double batch so I could freeze one for another night.  This dish is as good as the sausage you choose, so I recommend choosing a good quality Italian sausage (I used the sliceable kind [Niman Ranch spicy Italian chicken sausage is my favorite brand], but you could also use a good ground sausage if you preferred.  Just don't buy the cheap stuff in a tube.)

Click here for printable recipe. 

Posted by Lara.

The ingredients:

3 cups uncooked ziti or penne pasta (about 10-oz)

2 Tbs. olive oil

3/4 lb. spicy Italian sausage, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 cans (14.5-oz each) diced tomatos

1/4 cup pesto    

3/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

8 cups fresh spinach, chopped (about 8-oz)

1-1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Directions:

Cook pasta as directed on package.  Drain and set aside.  Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.  Saute onion and garlic just until soft  (about 5 minutes).  Add sausage slices and cook until browned (about 5 minutes).  Add tomatoes with juices to pan. Simmer until sauce thickens slightly, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.  Stir in pesto.  Add salt and pepper.  Lightly oil 9x13-inch baking dish.  Combine cooked pasta, chopped spinach, mozzarella cheese, and 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese. Pour into baking dish.  

Pour pasta sauce over top and stir together.  Sprinkle remaining 2/3 cup Parmesan cheese over the top.  Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes.  

Serves 6.   Enjoy!  

Recipe Source:  an old church cookbook 

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Easy Cheesy Beef and Spinach Pasta

When our evening schedule gets really jam-packed like it is right now, cooking healthy meals for my family gets difficult .  I find myself falling more and more to either convenience foods or to a few quick and easy recipes that I can throw together with ingredients I have in the house (this, this, and this being among our family's favorites).  However, lately we have gotten a little tired of the same round robin of quick recipes and I have been on the hunt to add some more into the rotation.   This one was one that was a smashing success at our house.  It took about 5 minutes to chop the spinach and garlic and the rest of it came together in about 15 minutes!  Only 20 minutes of effort and it made a meal that the whole family loved.  The combination of cheese, tomato sauce, and pasta proved to be a winning combination and I will definitely be making this again soon!

Click here for printable recipe.

Posted by Lara.


The ingredients:
2 cups uncooked penne pasta
1 lb. ground beef (I used ground turkey)
1 tsp. minced garlic (could use garlic powder)
1 can (15-oz.) tomato sauce ( I used pizza sauce)
1-3/4 cup beef or chicken broth
1-1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning (I used 3/4 tsp. basil, 3/4 tsp. oregano)
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 cups fresh spinach, chopped
2 cups grated mozzarella cheese

Directions: 
Cook pasta as directed on package.  Drain and set aside. 


Brown the ground beef or turkey.  Drain fat, then add minced garlic, tomato sauce (or pizza sauce), broth, Italian seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. 

Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 12-15 minutes or until slightly thickened.   Add chopped spinach and stir. 

Add cooked, drained pasta and stir.  Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the top and stir.   Makes 4-5 servings. 

Serve hot. 

Enjoy! 

Recipe adapted slightly from Joyful Homemaking. 

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Spinach Gorgonzola Salad with Raspberry Dressing

A hearty, flavorful salad with a light main dish is one of my favorite ways to eat healthier and this autumn we have been trying a bunch of new salad recipes.  This is one that rose above the rest and got high marks from the pickiest in our family.  We were especially in love with the raspberry dressing and will keep that on our list to try with other salads as well! 

Making this salad is simple as can be.

Just chop the veggies....

Toast the walnuts...

Mix together the dressing (with only a couple of ingredients).  The dressing is actually my favorite part of this salad---it's not too sweet and not too vinegary. 

Throw some Craisins and gorgonzola cheese (or blue cheese) on top...

Mix it all together...

 and put a little drizzle of dressing over the top...

Enjoy a deliciously flavorful salad! 

                                         Click here for printable recipe.

posted by Lara

The ingredients:

SALAD:
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1 bag (5-ounces) spinach (I used a bag and a half)
1/2 cup dried cranberries (Craisins)
1/2 cup gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and diced
1/3 red onion, thinly sliced

DRESSING:
2 Tbs. red raspberry jam
2 Tbs. red wine vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Arrange walnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet;  toast in oven for 5 minutes, or until nuts are browned.  In a large bowl, toss spinach, Craisins, gorgonzola, tomatoes, avocado, and red onion.  In a small bowl, whisk jam, vinegar, oil, pepper, and salt.  Divide salad amongst 6 plates.  Drizzle with dressing and top with roasted walnuts and additional gorgonzola cheese, if desired.


Makes 6 servings. 

Enjoy!

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Spinach and Zucchini Soup

 Every recipe I've ever made of Mirien's has been fabulous, so when she bragged that this healthy soup was one of their family's favorite meals, I knew I needed to give it a try.   A couple of my kids were a little nervous about the greenness of it, but the fresh flavor of it was surprisingly delicious and I definitely envision this soup being a regular part of our winter menu.    Now, in the interest of full disclosure,  if you don't like cilantro, you probably won't enjoy this soup, because the cilantro flavor was pronounced.   However if you love cilantro, like everyone in my family does, I think that you will absolutely love this.  You don't want to skip the little squeeze of lemon at the end, because we all agreed that it really complemented the flavors perfectly.  Serve it up with some fresh, hot homemade bread, the squeeze of lemon, a swirl of sour cream, and a sprinkle of crumbled bacon.  Enjoy! 

Recipe Source:  Mirien's Kitchen

 Click here for printable recipe .

The ingredients:

3 Tbs. olive oil
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. salt
3 potatoes, peeled & cubed
2 medium zucchini, diced
4 cups chicken broth
4 cups fresh spinach leaves (I used a 5-ounce bag)
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1 lemon (don't skip)
Desired toppings:  sour cream, croutons, crumbled bacon, shredded cheese

Directions:  Heat oil in large pot and saute onions and garlic until soft. Add salt, potatoes, zucchini, and broth and simmer until vegetables are tender (10-15 min.)

Add spinach and cilantro and stir until just wilted. Puree in blender until smooth, then return to pot to keep warm. Serve with lemon wedges and squeeze juice into the soup.

Serve topped with sour cream, bacon, cheese, croutons, etc. and hot bread on the side. 

Enjoy!


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Creamy Spinach Lasagne Rolls

Lasagne is a great comfort food. What's not to like with all that cheesy goodness?! I once saw a recipe for rolled up lasagne years ago and instantly got a creative thought in my head. Why not do spinach lasagne rolls with an Alfredo sauce instead of a red sauce? Thus my spinach lasagne rolls were born. I love the cuteness of the individual lasagne rolls. These not only taste great but are healthy as well.

Click here for printable recipe. 

The Ingredients:

For the white sauce:
1/4 c butter
1/4 c flour
2 c milk
garlic powder to taste
dash of nutmeg

For the lasagne roll-ups:
1 box (16-oz.) lasagne noodles
1 box (10-oz.) frozen spinach (thawed and drained)
2 cartons (15-oz. each) Ricotta cheese
2 c shredded mozzarella cheese
2/3 c Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
3 tsp Italian seasoning
salt/pepper to taste
dash nutmeg

(This will make about 2 dozen lasagne rolls. Cut it in half if needed)

The Directions:
Prepare pot to boil water for the lasagne noodles. Add oil so as to prevent the noodles from sticking. Cook the noodles just to the point where they are bendable. Do not cook too long or they will fall apart when you try to get them out of the pan. When the noodles are done cooking, arrange in a row on parchment paper.

While water is boiling and noodles are cooking, make the white sauce. Melt butter in non stick skillet and then sprinkle on flour. Whisk to make a smooth paste. Add 1 cup of milk and whisk until smooth. Gradually add more milk until you have reached the desired thickness. Add garlic and nutmeg and stir. Keep warm until needed stirring occasionally.
For more in depth tutorial of how to make a white sauce go here.


Spray the bottom of a 9x13 pan with butter spray and spread a thin layer of the white sauce on the bottom.
Mix together the ricotta, 1 1/2 c of mozzarella, and Parmesan cheese. Mix in eggs and seasonings. This is what you could use if you were to make cheese filled jumbo shells or cheese cannelloni or the cheese mixture for regular lasagne. OK. Moving on...
Mix the drained spinach with the cheese mixture.
Spoon spinach and cheese mixture onto cooked lasagne noodles. Spread it down the middle of the noodle, but not too thick. Go about 3/4 the way down the noodle.Roll up the noodles starting from the top trying to keep as much mixture inside the roll. Place rolled up lasagne noodle, seam side down, in the pan on top of the sauce.
Cover with Alfredo sauce and sprinkle remaining cheese on top.Cover with foil and bake in 350 degree oven for 1/2 hour. Remove foil and bake another 15 minutes or until cheese on top is completely melted.

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Adam's Tropical Mango-Spinach Smoothie

Summertime is smoothie time in our house and we love experimenting with new blends of flavors.  This tropical smoothie is one my 8-year-old son and I have been working on for months and I do say that it is finally perfect-o!  The coconut oil was the final ingredient that made it into what we were looking for and although it is good without it, if you like coconut at all I highly recommend finding some  at your store.      With or without the coconut oil though, the tropical flavor is fabulous and the health level is high!  Enjoy!

Click here for printable recipe. 

Tropical Mango-Spinach Smoothie
by Lara at the Recipe Shoebox. 

The ingredients:


4 cups frozen mango chunks (slightly thawed)
1 can (8-ounces) pineapple, undrained (it doesn't matter how the pineapple is cut, since it'll be blended anyway)
1 cup (6-ounces) low-fat yogurt (I prefer vanilla or strawberry, but any flavor would do)
2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
2 Tbs. coconut oil (optional)
1-1/3 cups orange juice
up to 2 cups of washed spinach leaves (optional)


Directions:  In the order listed, add mango chunks, pineapple, yogurt, lemon juice, coconut oil (if using), and orange juice to a blender jar.  Blend until smooth, stirring if necessary.  When smoothie is completely blended, add the washed spinach leaves** (if using) and blend until the spinach is barely incorporated (you don't want to see chunks of spinach, but you don't want to over-blend it either).   Serve immediately.   Serves 5-6.  Enjoy! 

*NOTE:  Coconut oil can be easily found in many larger grocery stores or for sure in a health food store (I got mine at Whole Foods).  I recommend buying an organic brand, to maximize the numerous health benefits coconut oil is purported to have.  I'm not really sure if all the hype about coconut oil is all that it's cracked up to be, but health benefits or not, the coconut oil adds an awesome coconut flavor to this smoothie

**NOTE:  I have found that adding the spinach after the rest of the smoothie has been thoroughly blended,  makes the green color the spinach adds slightly less offensive to my kids and it also seems to disguise the spinach  flavor more.

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