Gluten Free Cheesy Meat Organic Lasagna

I had some frozen grassfed ground beef in the freezer and wanted to make something super yummy with it! I purchased some Gluten Free Lasagna noodles (which I didn't realize you didn't have to pre-boil which is NICE) so I wanted to use those too. I searched online for a lasagna recipe and found one written by Dianne Smith on the Suite 101 dinner ideas web site.
I took pictures of the process the whole way through! I am a very visual person so for those out there like me, hopefully this will help!
First off, here is the recipe I used:


Meat and Cheese Lasagna Ingredients

•1 pound lean ground hamburger meat (I used grassfed ground beef)
•3 cloves garlic, minced (I added 4--you can never have too much garlic!)
•1 tbsp whole basil (I added quite a bit more fresh basil!)
•1 1/2 tsp salt
•28 oz (1 lb 12 oz) canned diced tomatoes (the non-diced can can be substituted and then simply diced. Use the liquid in the can, too)--I had one 14.5 oz. can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes (which gave it a little kick) and one 14.5 oz. can of plain diced tomatoes
•2 6-oz. cans tomato paste
•1/2 to 3/4 cup water, to taste, depending on the lack of dryness desired
•10 ounces lasagna noodles (I used Gluten-Free noodles)
•2 eggs
•4 cups cream style small curd cottage cheese
•1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
•2 tbsp. parsley flakes
•1 tsp salt
•1/2 tsp. pepper
•1 pound mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced or grated

All of the ingredients I had on hand were organic except for the GF lasagna noodles and the parmesan cheese which I grated fresh.

Meat Lasagna Recipe Preparation
1.Boil the noodles till tender according to the package directions in boiling, salted water; drain and then rinse. (I didn't need to pre-boil the GF noodles)

2.Meanwhile, brown the ground meat slowly in a large frying pan; spoon off the excess fat or drain it into a container to be thrown away afterward.
3.Add the next five ingredients to the meat and the water.
4.Cover and simmer the meat mixture for 15 minutes, stirring often.

5.Beat the eggs in a medium size bowl; then add the rest of the ingredients except the mozzarella.
6.Layer half the noodles in a 15 x 10 x 2" baking dish (glass Pyrex works great); spread with half the cottage cheese filling; add the next layer of half the mozzarella cheese; add the next layer of half the meat sauce. (I used a 13" x 9" pan)

First , Second, and Third Layers!

7.Repeat the exact same layers.

Ready to bake!

8.Bake at 375* for 30 minutes (or assemble early and refrigerate; bake 45 minutes).
9.Let stand covered tightly for 15 to 30 minutes. (I added some more mozzarella cheese on top before covering it.) Tin foil can be used but be careful to not let the tin foil touch the lasagna as it can adhere to it. Plastic wrap can be used first, then covered with the tin foil to prevent this problem. Serves about 10.

Here is the finished product! 















And...here is my dinner!  We have a LOT of leftovers!!!

Lasagna does take a little bit of prep. time, but the great thing is that it makes such a large amount of food that you are sure to have leftovers!

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Enjoy!
=o)
Jen

Flax Chocolate Chip Cookies (gluten-free)!

I wanted to bake some cookies today--I have been so enjoying cooking lately! I thought making chocolate chip cookies sounded yummy and have heard of baking with flax seed. Today I found this great recipe for Flax Chocolate Chip Cookies on a web site called Ellie's Whole Grains. I didn't have the 2 cups of chocolate chips it asked for, but instead used about 1 1/2 cups, and they still came out great! Also, instead of using flour, I used Arrowhead Mills Gluten-Free All Purpose Baking Mix.
I took pictures of some of the organic ingredients that I used. I really like using the Fair Trade-Organic Wholesome Sweeteners brand of Sugar (and Agave as was in a previous post). Click on this link to learn more about what Fair Trade Certified means. I also have some Organic Brown Sugar that I purchased at Trader Joe's, and some Spectrum Organic Ground Flaxseed which I purchased at Earth Fare. I try to use flaxseed whenever I can, including sprinkling it on salads! I've even sprinkled some on grilled cheese sandwiches before the cheese melts, and the kids never even knew it was there! So needless to say, I was thrilled to be adding 1/2 cup of it to this recipe! Another tip--they say it is best to store flaxseed in an opaque container/bag and to store it in the refrigerator.

Anyway, here is the recipe I used! It says it makes 5 dozen. I used a 1 Tablespoon scoop (like the recipe calls for) and ended up with 45 cookies.

Classic Chocolate Chip Flaxseed Cookies Recipe

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Cream together:
1/2 c butter (1 stick)
3/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c granulated sugar

Add to the creamed mixture:
2 eggs
1 ½ t vanilla

Mix in another bowl:
1 and 1/4 c flour (I substitued gluten-free baking mix)
1/2 c flaxseed
1 t baking powder
1/2 t soda
1 t salt

Blend together the dry and wet ingredients and add 2 c of your favorite kind of Chocolate Chips.

Optional: add grated coconut and/or nuts.

Beat together butter, sugar and brown sugar. Mix in eggs and vanilla until creamed.
In a separate bowl mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt -be sure that there are no lumps of baking powder or soda! Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and chocolate chips. Mix until well blended.
Using a tablespoon, scoop batter separated ~2 inches apart on a cookie sheet.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown around edges depending on your oven! Cool on the pan for about 3 mins and then scoop off onto plate to finish cooling. Store in a airtight container. Makes about 5 dozen cookies (depending on the size you make them! :)

Enjoy! We did!

=o)
Jen

Apple Banana Muffins! Yum!

So although I didn't have a lot of energy to put toward dinner tonight, I did want to whip up a dessert! I found this really fun web site, Weelicious, that is full of great and simple kid-friendly recipes. I had all the ingredients to make Apple Banana Muffins, so I gave it a go!

Instead of using all purpose flour, I decided to use Arrowhead Mills gluten-free all purpose baking mix (73% organic). All of the ingredients I used were organic except for the baking powder and baking soda--not sure if there is an organic version of these or not? The recipe calls for Agave as the sweetener which is supposed to be healthier than sugar and have a lower glycemic index. I purchased the Agave at Costco, and it was relatively inexpensive. This is the first time I was able to bake with it!

Anyway, the recipe says it makes 24-28 mini muffins, however I ended up making 48 mini muffins and still had a little batter left!

They were delicious and a super big hit!

Oh, and before I forget--here is the recipe!

Apple Banana Muffins

1 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Old Fashioned Oats
2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Cinnamon
3 Tbsp Vegetable or Canola Oil
1/2 Cup Agave OR Honey
1 Egg
1/2 Cup Milk
2 Bananas, mashed
1 Medium Apple, peeled and grated (Gala, Pink Lady, Fuji or Golden Delicious are good choices)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine the first 6 ingredients in a bowl and mix.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the remaining ingredients together.
4. Slowly add the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.
5. Grease a muffin tin or line it with muffin cups and fill each cup 3/4 full with the batter.
6. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
7. Serve.

Enjoy!

=o)
Jen