Zucchini Lasagna

Look's good doesn't it? 

I'm happy to say that this lasagna went way beyond my expectations. I was actually worried that the moisture from the zucchini would turn this dish into a soupy sloppy mess, but it held up quite well - so that's a plus! You really can make so many variations of this recipe. You could always add some ground beef or ground turkey to this, or switch up the veggies to your liking. Change it up by adding cottage cheese instead of ricotta, or adding eggplant instead of the zucchini. The choice is yours. We'll definitely be making this again! 

So that's it...the ginormous zucchini is history. I'm really happy we discovered and tested out these 3 recipes and each one was a hit! Well I'll be completely honest...Landon wasn't the biggest fan of this lasagna. He did more picking and poking than actually eating...but we tried. 

Thanks for following us on this little Zucchini adventure. Ok, that sounds weird. You get what we mean...

Thanks for reading!

Zucchini Lasagna
Sauce:

28 ounces crushed tomatoes

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Lasagna:

8 ounces cream cheese, light or regular, softened to room temperature

3 cups ricotta or cottage cheese

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

4 small to medium zucchini

12 lasagna noodles

8 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking dish and set aside. In a medium saucepan, combine all the sauce ingredients. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes.

2. While the sauce is cooking, proceed with prepping the rest of the ingredients. In a medium bowl, stir together the cream cheese, ricotta or cottage cheese, salt and pepper.

3. Trim the ends from each zucchini and cut in half lengthwise and then slice each half very thinly. The pieces should look like thin, zucchini pasta sheets or noodles. 

4. To assemble the lasagna, spread 1/2 cup sauce on the bottom of the pan. Layer lasagna noodles, slightly overlapping.

5. Spread 3/4 cup of the sauce over the top. Dollop 1/3 of the ricotta mixture over the noodles. You'll repeat this two more times (4 noodles, 1/3 of the ricotta mixture, 3/4 cup sauce, zucchini layer and mozzarella). On the final layer if you have more than 3/4 cup of sauce, that's fine, just use it all.

6. Cover the lasagna with aluminum foil and bake for 30-35 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 10-15 minutes until golden and bubbly. Remove from the oven and let stand for 10-15 minutes before serving.

And Enjoy!

Crispy Onion Baked Chicken

I was debating whether or not to post this on here in the recipe column because I'm not really sure if I'd consider it an actual "recipe". But we found it pretty delicious when we tried it so I thought I'd throw it out there for any of you that are looking for a new flavorful way to enjoy chicken for dinner. I actually just threw these ingredients together one day when I was out of bread crumbs and it turned out amazing. I later realized that there were other recipes online like this one and this one that used pretty much the same method as well.

We eat tons of chicken in this house and love it! So I'm always looking for new ways to make it to keep dinners interesting. This recipe was actually a "lets just try this and see how it turns out" kind of discovery. These french fried onions were the closest thing I had to bread crumbs at the time - so we tried it out - LOVED IT! And have never gone back to just plain old bread crumbs again. Accept for when we make Chicken Parmesan or something...

This chicken has such an intense flavor it's phenomenal. It always turns out super crispy and incredibly juicy. It's a favorite in the Dietz home.

I don't have exact measurements for this but it all depends how much you end up making. I took about 3 cups of crispy fried onions ( we get ours in the big bags from costco) and crushed them up into small chunks. You could also just use a food processor to grind them if you'd prefer them to be more fine.

Line your baking dish with aluminum foil. 

Crush your crispy fried onions. 

On separate plates I put 1 cup of flour, the crispy onions, and whisked 2 eggs with salt and pepper. 

I dredged them into the flour, then the egg, then the onions, and placed them into my baking dish. 

Put them in the oven and bake them on 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.

 (Depending on your oven and the thickness of your chicken breast it could take more or less time - you'll just have to check it.)

Mmm so delicious!

And serve with your favorite sides.

Your kitchen will smell amazing when you make this. I'm always looking for new chicken recipes so if any of you have a favorite way to make it I'd love to know what it is! Maybe it'll be my new favorite too!

Have a great night everyone! 

S

Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken

I know I've said it before but I love my Crock-Pot. It's one of my favorite kitchen appliances! My Kitchen-Aid Mixer is my # 1. My Crock-Pot is my # 2. I absolutely love how effortless making a delicious meal can be. Often times I find myself trying to figure out what I'll be making for dinner that night when it's 9:00 in the morning. Lately I've been trying to get suggestions from my husband for dinner ideas - or my brother-in-law...And I usually get the confused look, the shrugged shoulders, and the same words I hear oh so often. "Whatever you'd like...?"

Pizza Ball Bites

Hey Everyone! 

I have another recipe that I would like to share with all of you! I tried these Pizza Ball Bites last week and I was really happy with how they turned out! They were so simple to do and what I love about them the most is that you can make them however you'd like! My favorite pizza happens to be Canadian - so I put Bacon, Mushrooms, and cheese inside my Pizza Bites. But you can add your favorite toppings and personalize them to suit your fancy! If your favorite pizza is Hawaiian - add some Pineapple, Ham, and cheese to yours! Or how about some sausage, peppers, and cheese? The combination of flavors is really up to you and what you prefer. 

Crock-Pot Chicken Parmesan

It's no secret that one of my favorite gifts that we got for our wedding is my Crock-Pot! I'm sure most of you would agree with me that it is seriously the BEST invention of all time! For those of you who don't have one - You should really get up off your chair right now and go buy one! They are AMAZING! I wake up in the morning, throw in all of my ingredients, turn it on low...and Voila! I'll have a yummy dinner on the table in 6-8 hours and I didn't even have to do any of the work! I love walking through the door after being gone most of the day and the whole house smells Fantastic - like someone has been cooking up a storm in my kitchen.

Beef Wellington

Hey everyone! Hope you are all having a great week so far! I wanted to share a recipe with you guys that I ended up making for my hubby and I last week. Since we have our little one now we don't go out for dinner as often as we use to - which is totally fine because I love our dinner dates at home just as much! 

BLT Spaghetti

I LOVE spaghetti! So when I found this recipe online a few years ago, it has been a personal favorite of mine ever since! The name was obviously the first thing that caught my eye...but after seeing how quick and easy it was to put together and tasting the combination of flavors afterwards - I was hooked! It was definitely hard to keep my fork out of the pan before serving this pasta! Bacon. Leeks. Tomatoes. Fresh Basil. Garlic. Parmesan cheese. Oh yes. This stuff is good! This recipe brings together some of the most enticing ingredients known to man into an easy, irresistible dish. So I just wanted to share it with all of you pasta lovers out there who are looking for a super easy dinner to throw together. So let me show you how its done...

Bacon, Chive and Onion Chicken

This is what we had for dinner tonight and absolutely LOVED it! 

The chicken turned out so tender, moist and flavorful! The creamy chive and onion cream cheese center is the key ingredient to making this dish so mouthwatering. I can't even begin to describe how amazing the smell was coming from my kitchen! I kept opening the oven door just to enjoy the lovely scent of bacon! haha. This is a quick and easy recipe for one of those busy weeknights for sure! So I figured I won't keep this delicious recipe all to myself - I'll share it! :) We enjoyed our chicken with a baked potato and caesar salad...but it would go perfectly with many other sides as well.