Roasted Veggie Lasagna (meatless and gluten-free)

Oh my. This dish had us fighting over leftovers- even my 9, 6, 3 and 1 year old munchkins were clamoring over my plate for the last bite!
I got an eggplant in my produce basket and a zucchini from my neighbor this week. I do pretty well with either- never at a shortage for zucchini love, but eggplant can be tricky to get kids to eat more than a bite of. It was a rainy evening and this mama needed some comfort food, but as there isn't much pasta to be found in my house these days, and ricotta is almost never in my fridge, so a traditional lasagna was out of the question.
Here is what I came up with. It's time-consuming and a little complicated, but so worth it! You could probably very deliciously substitute extra zucchini if you lack an eggplant. I'm all for wingin' it!

Roasted Veggie Lasagna

Sauce:
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 white or yellow onion, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 large carrot or 5-6 baby carrots, diced or grated
1/2 red pepper, seeded and diced
2-3 large white mushrooms, diced
3-4 large cloves of garlic, minced
1-2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried parsley
Sea salt and black pepper according to preference
1 4 oz can tomato paste
1 cup water
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
2 tbsp neufchatel cheese (or cream cheese)


Heat oil over medium heat in medium large pot. Add onion, celery, carrots, red pepper, mushrooms and garlic. Saute over medium heat until onions start to soften. Turn heat to low, add herbs and salt and pepper. Cover and let simmer until carrots and celery are soft (about 10-15 minutes). Add tomato paste, water, tomato sauce and cream cheese. Combine well, allow to simmer over low heat for 5-10 minutes. Add salt and pepper according to taste. (You could add a big handful or fresh chopped spinach to this- I meant to and forgot, but it would be delicious.)

While your sauce ingredients soften and simmer, you can get to work on your "noodles".

Noodles:
1 large eggplant
1 large or 2 med/small zucchini
Olive oil cooking spray
Sea salt and pepper

Wash zucchini and eggplant well and slice lengthwise in 1/4 inch slices. I used a hot cast iron pan for this "roasting" part, but a grill or grill pan would work well too.
Spray pan lightly with olive oil and heat to medium high heat. Salt and pepper your eggplant and zucchini and lay them out in a flat layer on the pan and cook until browned on either side and softened (as many as will fit- you'll have to rotate them through as they finish cooking until you get them all done). Set aside on a plate as you get them finished.

Creamy part:
No lasagna is complete without the creamy part. I didn't have ricotta or cottage cheese on hand- you could use these if you do happen to have them.
1-1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 large eggs
2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp sea salt
black pepper
Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

Time to bring it together:
You'll need about 3 cups of shredded low-moisture mozzarella cheese to glue this baby together. Oh- and a little extra Parmesan too.

Preheat oven to *400˚F. Spray a 9x13 casserole dish lightly with cooking spray. Spread a few spoonfuls of sauce on the bottom of the pan and lay out a layer of eggplant. Cover with creamy mixture, then red sauce (be generous), then mozzarella. Follow this up with zucchini- lay it out so that the 'noodles' touch and cover the entire surface. Then add creamy stuff, sauce, cheese and more eggplant. Creamy stuff, sauce, cheese, etc. alternating zucchini and eggplant layers until you run out of components or pan space. be sure to finish the top with sauce and cheese. Sprinkle top generously with some extra Parmesan. Bake at 400˚ for 30-35 minutes- until cheese is browned, lasagna is set and sauce is bubbly. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Meatless yet filling, gluten-free yet comforting.

Love on a plate.


*I started this for about 20 minutes at 375 and then bumped it up to 400. But I think 400 the entire time would work great.

Quick and healthy: uncooked oatmeal

This blog is a testament that I went through an uber-healthy phase. The dates of the last few entries are a testament that I've been going through a 'quick and easy by necessity' phase. Now is time to combine the two! I discovered a new fav breakfast the other day: Uncooked oatmeal. I don't love the sugar content of instant oatmeal packets, and because I avoid my microwave if I can, cooking oatmeal, though not terribly time consuming, doesn't always fit into our busy school morning. So when I read an article about oatmeal the other day, my first thought was, "How did I go all this time not knowing I didn't have to cook it??" Second thought: I wonder if it's any good? Answer, yes. (It was pretty easy to figure out.)

I've tried it a few ways and I love them all.
Recipe 1:
1 cup uncooked (non instant) oats
about 1/2 cup- 3/4 cup plain yogurt
about 2 tbsp honey
about 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Mix em together and let sit for about a minute. It's that simple!

Recipe 2:

1 cup uncooked (non instant) oats
about 1/2 cup- 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
about 2 tbsp honey
about 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Same instructions.

You get the idea- fix it how you like. I've tried rice milk, real maple syrup, chopped up fresh fruit- apples, berries, mango...

It's awesome! Try it!!

Seasons

Once upon a time (2 years ago) I was rock hard, awesomely ripped, fit. I did P90X, I ran for miles barefoot, I ate an almost pristinely healthy diet. I was not planning on having another baby. But I did. She is marvelous. Our life is fantastic and crazy all at once. And my not-so-ripped abs are very stretched out. Almost 9 months after her birth and I have lost all but 7 or 8 pounds, I'm back in my jeans (slightly tighter perhaps) and I look pretty good. My diet is healthy, but certainly not perfect. I have found other areas of wellness not known to me before, and I have let some lapse. I don't have time to work out heavily for 2 hours a day. I don't sleep enough to fuel that sort of thing (though I certainly wish so)! So what do I do? For a while I did nothing. But I also didn't heal, didn't feel good, didn't function well. Then I decided every day after dropping my boys off at their 2 different schools, I'd put my 2 year old in the stroller, strap the baby in a wrap and walk to a park- one that wasn't so nearby. Sometimes it was 1 mile, sometimes it was 3. Then I got even busier, and the weather got colder, and I gave up on that and did nothing again. (Nothing except for running around like a mad woman trying to keep all my plates in the air and spinning.) Today, this is my fitness regimen. I have an alarm set on my phone for 10:00. It tells me to do 25 twist lunges NOW! And I do. I picked a time when I would generally be home and doing things that could pause for 3 minutes, and I picked an exercise that was fairly total body and that didn't take any special equipment or clothing. I do 50 alternating lunges- so 25 on each side. I twist my torso in the direction of the forward leg, as far as is comfortable, then switch sides. It takes less than 3 minutes. Sometimes that is all I get in the way of purposeful exercise. Sometimes I hit the floor and do 25 pushups afterward. Sometimes I do ab flexes or belly dance moves or squats while I brush my teeth at night! What counts is doing SOMETHING. I don't have to be an athlete right now. I'll have time for that.... when I have time for that. :P- Someday when I'm not covered in tiny ones that want to either "help" me with everything or eat me alive. For now, I am covered in those mommy-eating helpers. I can't do a lot of organized exercise without driving us all mad. And that's okay. It's just a season.

Failure

Rock me some doTERRA

I swore i would never fall prey to MLM. Yet here I am a doTERRA Independent Product Consultant. Mostly because I can seriously get behind a solid, amazing product like their Essential Oils. I love them so much! Besides that, their business model is solid and no pressure. It can be as little as a Costco-like membership to buy wholesale myself, or as much as I want it to be- teaching classes, advertising, sending out samples and information. It's hard not to share when a product is this good. Hop on over to my Barefoot doTERRA blog for my doTERRA discoveries, recipes, home remedies and more!

Coconut Curry Veggie Noodle Soup

Coconut Curry Veggie Noodle Soup

2 tbsp olive oil (or coconut oil)
1/2 sweet onion, diced
3 tbsp minced garlic
1 1/2 tbsp curry powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
about 2 tsp cinnamon
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
1 15 oz can unsweetened coconut milk
3-4 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock (add a little more if you like it really brothy)
about 3-4 cups kirkland signature frozen stir fry vegetable mix
about 1/2 package thai rice noodles
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in large pot over medium-low heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until soft. Add curry powder, cayenne and cinnamon. Sitr in and cook for about a minute. Add tomatoes, coconut milk, and stock and bump heat up to medium-high until things start to simmer. Add frozen veggies and stir occasionally until soup is almost to a boil. Add rice noodles (stir them in so that they are covered), remove from heat and cover. Let sit for about 10 minutes, stir. Salt and Pepper to taste and serve! So yummy!
I wish I'd had time to make naan to go with it. I can only imagine the culinary bliss!

Homemade Deo!

I am loving my Homemade Laundry Detergent. We've used it for over 2 years now. It is saving us money and I love that my laundry smells like nothing (as long as I don't forget about it and leave it in the washing machine overnight- oops!). And so for my next adventure- Homemade deodorant! I'm excited to try it! I am loving the Little House in The Suburbs Blog. Those ladies crack me up!