White Lasagna with Chicken and Spinach

I had a hankering for lasagna and figured I’d whip up a new one. White! Lasagna is actually one of my favorites to make at home. I don’t eat beef so I rarely can order it out. I love the pasta/meat/cheese/sauce combinations. It is so compact, almost efficient (though that’s a terrible way to describe food).

I’m cooking for 2 and we like leftovers for lunches, but this will make 1 very large (13×9) or 2 smaller (9×9) lasagnas. I always make 2. Note: no-cook lasagna noodles work best when using a square/rectangular pan. I learned that the hard way when I used an oval baking dish once. Result: jigsaw puzzle!

When I make two, we eat one now (with leftovers) and freeze one for a-“dinner’s ready!”-surprise some busy night. Lasagna seems like kind of a lot of work for only a few servings if you were to half the recipe.
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Ingredients:

1 pound lasagna noodles
1 pound ground chicken
¾ pound ground pork/sausage/ground beef/ground turkey
6 oz fresh baby spinach, chopped
12 oz ricotta
1 egg
3 tbs Parmesan, grated or shredded
2 tbs Italian seasoning
2 tbs garlic, chopped
8 oz shredded mozzarella
8 oz shredded white cheddar
16 oz light alfredo sauce
1 cup milk
salt & pepper

Directions:

Undercook lasagna noodles according to package (boil for 10 minutes if package says 12 minutes, or don’t cook if using bake-ready/no-cook pasta).
While water is boiling, cook pork and chicken until cooked through, draining any excess grease off. Cook separately to avoid over-cooking the chicken.
While meat is cooking, mix ricotta, Parmesan, egg, garlic, and Italian seasoning together.
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Mix alfredo, milk, salt, and pepper together.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray baking dish(es) with non-stick spray.
Set up an assembly line of the lasagna layers: cooked pasta; meats mixed together; ricotta; spinach; and shredded cheeses; with everything in reach.
Assemble lasagna(s). Tip: if making 2 make both at the same time to gauge quantities of each ingredient. Ladle a tiny amount of white sauce onto the bottom then layer with noodles.
Top with meat mixture. Ladle on about ⅓ cup of white sauce on top of the meat, before topping with about ⅓ cup of mixed cheeses.
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Layer on more noodles, then top with ricotta mixture.
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Layer on more noodles, then top with spinach, then top with about ⅓ cup of white sauce.
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Repeat until out of any of the layers.
Bake covered for 30 minutes.
If freezing one, remove that one from the oven, allow to cool, label & freeze.
If eating one immediately, uncover and bake another 20 minutes. Top with cheese for the last 5 minutes.
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Let stand 5 minutes before cutting.
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I loved this one. It feels really different, but actually isn’t much different at all. It would be easy enough to make 2 at once, and use white sauce on 1 and red sauce on the other. The white sauce vs. red sauce also might be a good way to differentiate meat versus vegetarian lasagna.

Lasagna is a somewhat labor intensive dish but it is super easy to serve and generally crowd pleasing. It is a great one to prep in advance and only have to bake when serving. You can also “cheat” by skipping the pasta & ricotta layers and using ravioli instead.

Want more lasagna themes? I wholeheartedly recommend butternut squash lasagna or traditional lasagna. What a fun taste-off for your next family gathering or potluck?!

Here are some of my lasagna tips and I thought of a new one: in addition to making 2 at once, I suggest using all the pasta. Sometimes I’m cutting it down to fit my pan and I’m left with scraps. Save ‘em! Getting to the last layer to discover you’re out of pasta is the worst. I save a few full length for the top and piece some of the under layers. What they can’t see, won’t hurt, right?

Each of mine ended with a different top layer. I’m not going into mass production, so it is totally fine! Use it up!
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Mocha Nut Smoothie

I made a really amazing Friday-worthy smoothie the other day that I hadddd to share. By Friday I mean like the good old days of TGIF, but also that I appreciate Fridays at this time of year more than ever before.

Are you ready for this? It is gonna rock. your. world.

Ingredients:

boston cream pie yogurt
1 frozen banana
3 tbs mocha cappuccino hazelnut spread
2 tsp creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup coffee
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Directions:

Slice & freeze the banana in advance, to make it blend thicker (optional)
Assemble
Blend & enjoy!

The Mocha Cappuccino spread was an impulse buy and is amazing. The yogurt is only 90-calories and is my favorite flavor of non-greek yogurt. This smoothie has more calories than some of my others, but  hazelnut cappuccino spread is delectable and delicious. I figure that if this is my entire breakfast then I can make up for throughout the day. Also, it is Friday, and you deserve it.

This tastes like an ice creamy frappe/milkshake.

Ahhhhmazing. It is everything I want, every Friday morning.

Greek Veggie Pizza

I always wonder if I’ll ever run out of pizza toppings ideas. So far so good! I came up with this Greek pizzas as a meatless dinner idea. It was a hit!
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Ingredients:

2 zucchini
1 cup artichokes
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tsp dried oregano
pizza dough
⅓ cup pizza sauce
8 oz shredded mozzarella
1 tomato, sliced
¾ cup feta, crumbled
2 cups spinach, chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400-degrees (also preheat pizza stone if using one)
Saute zucchini, artichokes, and garlic over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until zucchini is softened, but not squishy.
Add salt, pepper, and oregano.
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Pre-bake the pizza dough for 5-10 minutes until it starts to puff, and begins to cook around the edges.
Top with pizza/marinara sauce and mozzarella
Spread tomato slices across the base.
Sprinkle the zucchini/artichoke mixture on the top.
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Finally top with feta before baking the pizza.
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Bake 10 minutes in the preheated 400-degree oven.
After baking for the first round, top with spinach to bake for another 10 minutes (or until golden brown).
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I loved the freshness of the veggies, and the textures of the 2 cheeses. The feta gives the perfect salty component.

There’s very little sauce on this pizza, but the tomatoes provide some moisture too. There are so many veggies on here but I think the quantities were just right. They make it feel filling. The spinach was gently wilted but still had life to it. I was afraid of being “too much” but Mr. J said he’d like even more artichokes.
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Birthday Roundup

I looooove birthdays! This was the first time in forever I didn’t have a big themed party. It did make me sad, but I just had to put on my big-girl-pants and deal. It just wasn’t in the cards this year. Next year will be a big one so hopefully that’ll work out. Mr. J made me feel special and loved and my family celebration was just perfect. This round up of my birthday wonderfulness is hot of the press. My birthday was just yesterday!

Work is crazyyy right now but the office took time out on a busy Friday, while prepping for an event, to throw an afternoon snack for me. Just wait for the theme. Are you ready? Boston gangster: Whitey Bulger. I’m fascinated by Boston gangster and mobster history and super curious about the trial (which should have been today).
bday_office_creampuff_590_390It was such a fun theme and I loved it. Well done ladies.

Mr. J had such an awesome birthday extravaganza day for me on my birthday-eve. I prefer to celebrate for days on end. We went to dinner at the it-spot in our town, Isabella. This place is so renowned that when we went the first time on a weeknight, there was a 2 hour wait. We had a gift certificate and a groupon so we went. to. town. I started with crab cakes. Mr. J started with steak and cheese eggrolls. Then I had duck breast, on duck confit, on pumpkin ravioli with some cherries. Wow is right. Mr. J had the pork chop with sweet potato puree and apple/sausage stuffed zucchini. It was amazing, but not photo-quality light. It was the best meal I’ve had in a very long time, maybe ever.
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Then we went to the movies and saw Identity Theft (jk, Thief. I messed that up all weekend so I wanted to keep it going for Mr. J). It was very funny and going to a late-night movie felt very special.

On the morning of my actual birthday, there were flowers and a card just waiting for me even after our late night out. That is love.
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We went to brunch with a very beloved couple. I love brunch and I was just so touched that they wanted to make a plan happen even when my party plans hadn’t worked out. I love seeing my old roommates so much and I’m thankful that the spouses know how connected we’ll be forever.

The fam dinner party was great. Mum made a really amazing dinner. Crepes! I loved them and am obsessed with planning a trip to Paris…stay tuned. We had chicken and spinach crepes in an decadent creamy sauce with just a few delightfully crisp edges. There were stuffed mushrooms, carrots and fruit.
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Of course we had the cake. THE cake. Chocolate ring of coconut fudge. This is no other cake for our family birthdays. It was the gooey-est that it has ever been. YUM.
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Peanut Butter & Jelly Smoothie

It is almost my birthday and I’ve been trying to eat sensibly in preparation, or in general I guess. Calories don’t count on birthdays. Also since I have to get up uber early on Saturday for a work event, I forsee a dunks bfast sandwich in my future. Weekend wake-ups shouldn’t start with a 6, but then again the actual work event days start with a 3, which is just gross, so this 6 am is peanuts.

Something delicious to start the day is necessary, but healthy to start the day is the norm. I’m still riding out my smoothie obsession for breakfast and getting ready while sipping a smoothie is just somehow relaxing. I liked the banana peanut butter  and nutella smoothie I made, but this time I was thinking PB&J!

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Ingredients:

6 oz vanilla Greek yogurt (or blueberry yogurt would be good too)
1 cup frozen blueberries
2 tbs reduced fat peanut butter
splash of milk (optional)

Directions:

Assemble & blend!

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I like the berries/fruit to be frozen, or semi-frozen so that the smoothie is thicker. Fresh berries would work too, but frozen are also easier to have on hand.

I prefer the taste of reduced fat peanut butter, and why not shave a few calories where you can? I go for chunky but I mooch from Mr. J’s creamy reduced fat pb when making smoothies (shhh!)

This one was good and very flavorful. I don’t know if it was my favorite so far, but a good change up from my normal yogurt-fruit-only smoothies.