Kitchen Success!!

Good Morning!

How is everyone's morning going so far? Good, I hope! Since I don't have to go back to work until Monday, I wanted to use my extra free time to try out some new recipes! I am always rushing home and trying to cook dinner in a hurry, so a lot of times I just settle for my go to recipes. But not this week! The first recipe I wanted to try was Pasta Roll-Ups. I found this recipe at Cleaneating.com and changed a few things to add more veggies to my rolls and more meat to Eric's. :) The recipe below is for the veggie rolls, but to make them with ground beef simply substitute the meat for the veggie mixture.

Veggie Pasta Roll-Ups (makes 8 roll-ups)

Ingredients:
1 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil

1 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 28-oz can diced tomatoes in juice (I used Italian style)

1 tsp salt

8 sheets dried high-protein or whole-wheat lasagna
1 large yellow squash
1 cup chopped mushrooms

1 10-oz box frozen chopped spinach, thawed

1 15-oz container non-fat ricotta cheese
1 egg
3/4 cup shredded reduced-fat mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. In a medium size sauce pan, stir together diced tomatoes, garlic powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.   Turn on to medium-high heat, and allow to simmer covered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Heat olive oil in a skillet, and saute squash and mushrooms until slightly tender. I added an extra little dash of garlic here too. Set aside.
3. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles according to the directions on the package. Drain, rinse, and allow to cool.
4. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Squeeze all remaining moisture from thawed spinach and place in large bowl. Add ricotta cheese, egg and a 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese to bowl. Stir until combined.
5. Spread 1 cup of cooked tomato sauce into bottom of a 9" x 10" casserole dish.


6. Lay a cooked lasagna noodle flat in front of you. Use your fingers to spread 1/8 of ricotta mixture across the noodle. Then place 1/8 of the veggie mixture on top of the ricotta mixture and roll up. Place the rolled pasta seam side down, into the casserole dish. Repeat with remaining noodles. (the second picture features Eric's roll-ups)
7. Pour remaining tomato sauce over roll-ups.
8. Cover with foil and cook for 20 minutes. Uncover, and top with the rest of the mozzarella. Cook for an additional 5 minutes.
9. Enjoy!

This recipe is fairly easy and very delicious. I promise it will not disappoint. It is a great alternative to traditional lasagna, which can take forever to cook!
Don't forget to "Like" Fun, Fit and Fabulous on Facebook so you can stay up-to-date on everything happening in the world of health, fitness, and healthy eating!

Questions of the day:
What is your go to recipe when you need a quick meal?
Would you say you are adventurous in the kitchen?
 In health,