Luscious Lasagna Bake

Carnivale Adventures

Lasagna originated in Naples, and is traditionally eaten on Carnivale/Mardi Gras/Shrove Tuesday as a final indulgence before Lent (the literal translation of Carnivale is "Farewell to Meat").  Here is my version, based on a very popular recipe from Sandy's Kitchen. 

The marinara recipe is based on the one in the Buca di Beppo cookbook.  Do not omit the fresh basil or use dried.  You can find pre-chopped basil in tubes in the produce area of most supermarkets.  Buca's marinara is my favorite tomato sauce, and it is super-simple to make at home.  While the marinara is cooking, brown the meats for the filling and prepare the cheese topping.  Or, to save time, I cook the entire 3-lb package of ground beef and use the rest for other recipes.

Beppo's Skinny Sister's Marinara

2 cans petite diced tomatoes (7 greens)
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic (1 1/2 condiments)
1 1/2 tsp onion powder (3 condiments)
3 tbsp fresh basil (3/32 condiment)

Combine tomatoes with garlic and onion powder in saucepan and cook over low heat for at least 30 minutes, stirring often, until sauce thickens.  After the tomatoes cook down and soften, you may mash with a potato masher or puree in food processor if you like a smoother texture.  Remove from heat and add basil.

Meat Filling

5 oz lean ground beef, cooked - about 1/2 lb raw (1 lean)
2 links Jennie-O hot Italian turkey sausage, removed from casings and cooked (1 lean)
1 cup raw spinach (1 green)

Add beef, sausage, and spinach to marinara and cook until spinach is wilted.

Cheese Topping

1/2 cup part-skim ricotta (1/2 lean)
3/4 cup reduced fat mozzarella cheese, shredded (3/4 lean)
4 tbsp parmesan cheese (4 condiments)
2 tbsp EggBeaters (1/8 lean)
1 tsp Italian seasoning (2 condiments)
1/2 tsp garlic powder (1 condiment)

Combine cheese topping ingredients in a mixing bowl.

Additional Ingredients

3/4 cups reduced fat mozzarella cheese, shredded (3/4 lean)

Instructions

Put meat filling in bottom of 8 by 8 baking dish.  Cover with cheese topping.  Top with additional mozzarella.  Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.  Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 4
Per serving, 1 lean, 2 greens, 3 condiments
377 calories, 17.2 g fat, 13.5 g carbohydrates, 2.7 g fiber, 41.3 g protein, 831 mg sodium

Making Better Medifast Pancakes

Breakfast Adventures

I love, love, love my sandwich maker.  Various folks have come up with ways to use it for alternate preparations of Medifast products, such as this grilled cheese sandwich out of the Medifast cream of tomato soup.  I have a Cuisinart sandwich maker.  You can get one at Bed, Bath and Beyond for about $20 and if you sign up for their email list, they will give you a coupon for 20% off. 

At first I was disappointed with the Medifast pancakes, because they were so thin and difficult to flip.  I found a recipe for making a muffin out of the pancake mix by adding a little baking powder and then microwaving.  This was convenient to prepare and gave the pancake more volume, but it lacked texture.  So I decided to try making the pancakes in the sandwich maker.  Fabulous! 

Here's how to do it

Add 1/8 tsp of baking powder (1/4 condiment) to the pancake mix

 

Mix it well to combine the baking powder and get all the lumps out of the pancake mix.  Once you add the water, you want to stir the pancake batter as little as possible.

 

 

 

Add water as directed on the package and mix until just combined.  The pancake batter will be bubbly.  You can do this while waiting for the sandwich maker to preheat.



 

 

Pour into one side of the preheated sandwich maker.

 

 

Close the sandwich maker and bake pancakes for about 3 minutes.  Check the pancakes for doneness after a couple of minutes.  Don't rely on the sandwich maker's indicator light.  On my sandwich maker, it turns green well before the pancakes are done.

 

 

Keep in mind that the pancakes will get browned more on the bottom than the top.  Remove from the sandwich maker when they are cooked through.  Use a silicon spatula so you don't scratch the non-stick finish.

 

 

I found that spreading a thin layer of cream cheese on the pancakes takes away the soy aftertaste.  I used about 1 tsp (1/3 condiment).  Here they are, with a drizzle of Walden Farms syrup.

 

 

Here they are, fluffy pancakes with nice, crispy edges, ready to enjoy!