Whole-Wheat Lasagna

I made this a couple months ago (pre-Liam). It was really good and we actually ended up freezing some of it and it tasted just as good the second and third time around. Downside, it's really time consuming because there are many steps.

Prep and Cook Time: about 2 hours. Notes: You can assemble and chill the lasagna a day ahead, but add 10 to 15 minutes to the baking time. You can also freeze the lasagna, wrapped well in plastic wrap, for up to 1 month and bake it frozen (add 1 1/4 hours to the oven time).

Total: 2 hours
Yield: Makes 8 servings

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 medium red onion, peeled and sliced
• 3 peeled garlic cloves (1 minced, 2 left whole)
• 2 cans (14 oz. each) crushed tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• About 1 tsp. each salt and freshly ground black pepper, divided
• 6 cups (about 2 lbs.) butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2-in. cubes
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 pound Lacinato kale (often sold as dinosaur or Tuscan kale)
• 9 whole-wheat lasagna noodles (about 8 oz.)
• 1 container (15 oz.) part-skim-milk ricotta cheese
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°. Heat 2 tbsp. olive oil in a 2- to 3-qt. pot over medium heat. Add onion and minced garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft and translucent, 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, oregano, and 1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper. Reduce heat and simmer until thick and flavors are combined, about 30 minutes. Set aside.

2. While sauce is cooking, in a 12- by 15-in. baking pan, sprinkle squash with thyme, remaining olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Add garlic cloves and toss squash mixture to coat with oil. Bake until soft, 10 to 15 minutes. Meanwhile, bring 3 qts. salted water to a boil in a large pot.

3. Reduce oven temperature to 350°. Transfer squash and garlic to a food processor and purée until smooth.

4. Tear kale leaves from center ribs and discard ribs. Boil leaves until soft, 5 to 8 minutes. Drain; let cool. Squeeze out as much water as possible and chop finely.

5. In the same pot, bring another 3 qts. salted water to a boil. Add noodles and cook until tender to the bite, about 10 minutes. Drain; rinse with cold water.

6. In a bowl, mix ricotta, nutmeg, 1 cup mozzarella, and remaining 1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper.

7. Coat the bottom of a 9- by 13-in. pan with 1/3 of tomato sauce (about 1 1/2 cups). Lay 3 noodles in a single layer over sauce. Top noodles with squash, spreading evenly. Sprinkle 1/2 of kale evenly over squash. Arrange 3 more noodles on kale and top with ricotta, spreading evenly. Top with remaining kale and noodles. Cover noodles with remaining tomato sauce and sprinkle with remaining 1 cup mozzarella.

8. Bake lasagna until juices are bubbling and cheese is melted, about 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.

Healthy Blueberry Muffins

So I had some blueberries and decided that I wanted to make a healthy blueberry muffin. After searching online, I found this awesome easy recipe. They came out great and I can’t wait to make them again.

For 12 Muffins:

3/4 cups low fat milk

1/2 cup natural applesauce (I didn’t have any so I made some using this simple recipe)

1 egg

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour (I didn’t have this either, so I substituted with Almond Flour. It gave them a nice gritty texture)

1/2 cup sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup fresh blueberries

Preheat oven 400ºF degrees. Spray muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Blend milk, applesauce, egg in a small bowl and set aside.
Stir flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Make a well in the center and pour wet ingredients into the well. Stir with a spoon just until the flour is moistened (batter will be lumpy). Fold in blueberries. Divide batter among muffin cups. Bake until golden brown; regular size muffins bake in 18 to 20 minutes, mini-muffins bake in 10 minutes. Immediately remove from pan.

Almost 2 Months

On Thursday Liam will be 8 weeks old. Woo hoo!! We are excited because this means another week closer to the 12 week mark where they say colic goes away. We aren’t 100% positive that he’s colic, but when we get there we’ll see.

Things have been getting a little better, like we are able to leave our house. Dylan and I actually got to go to the movies TWICE in the last week because Liam’s grandparents came and watched him. Of course he behaved perfectly for them so they don’t believe us when we say he’s fussy. And we are able to enjoy him a lot more when he’s awake because he’s started smiling a lot. But for some reason he’s got on a really bad schedule where he will miss his naps and just eat constantly and be fussy for hours. Last night he was awake for about 5 hours and ate 3 different times, but so far today he’s been perfect (knock on wood).

Every day we rely on the strength and patience of God to get through the day. Liam is very high maintenance and requires all hands on deck. But what I have learned is to celebrate every victory, no matter how big or small. Doing that reminds me that it’s not all bad and that God is with us through it all. I’ve been slowly reading John Piper’s book Future Grace, and it has helped me really trust that God will provide the grace to get through the day because he has done it in the past. I am clinging to the promise, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Banana Bread Overload

I haven’t made too many things since Liam’s been born because all my free time is gone, but I was craving chocolate chip banana bread one night and decided that I wanted to make some. I’ve never made it before but I found a recipe online and after 3 days of trying to start and being interrupted, I finally got my bread. I think it was gone within 24 hours, so a couple days later I made another one with blueberries and then this week I made two. I’ve gotten so familiar with the recipe that I don’t even look at it anymore. So here’s the recipe, it’s super easy and I made a few modifications to it because other people had suggested it.

Prep Time: 20 Minutes

Cook Time: 1 Hour 10 Minutes

Ready In: 1 Hour 30 Minutes

Servings: 24 (Two 9x5 loaf pans)

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 cup butter or margarine

2 cups white sugar

2 cups mashed overripe bananas

4 eggs, beaten

1 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9x5 inch loaf pans.

2. Sift the flour, salt and baking soda into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the butter or margarine and sugar until smooth. Stir in the bananas, eggs, and walnuts until well blended. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry mixture, and stir just until blended. Divide the batter evenly between the two loaf pans.

3. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted into the crown of the loaf comes out clean. Let the loaves cool in the pans for at least 5 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack, and cool completely. Wrap in aluminum foil to keep in the moisture. Ideally, refrigerate the loaves for 2 hours or more before serving.