Basic Lasagna

INGREDIENTS

• 4 cups of tomato or meat sauce, your choice
• 1 - 1 1/2 pounds lasagna noodles
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
• 32 oz. ricotta cheese
• 2 1/2 lb. Mozzarella cheese
• A pinch of dried oregano, thyme, and basil
• salt & pepper, to taste
• Olive oil to coat the pans

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and if you are using standard lasagna noodles, bring a pot of water to boil to cook them.
2. in a large bowl, mix together the eggs, parmesan cheese, and ricotta cheese and season with salt, pepper, and spices.
3. Lightly coat the bottom of each pan with oil ( I like to use spray olive oil for this job) and then add a little sauce to coat the bottoms. This is especially important if you are using the no-boil noodles because the sauce will help them cook
4. There are no hard and fast rules about the order you add ingredients, but it's basically adding a layer of pasta, some of the ricotta cheese mixture, more sauce, another layer of pasta, some mozzarella cheese, some more ricotta cheese mixture, more sauce and so on until you run out of ingredients.
5. The ingredients will settle a little bit when you bake the lasagna so build right to the top. Make sure you finish with sauce and if you have any left over, save it for when you are serving.
6. Cover each pan with some aluminum foil and bake for about 35 to 45 minutes until the center of the lasagna is hot, the cheese is melted, the edges are crisp, and your kitchen smells heavenly.
7. If you decide to eat the lasagna that day, make sure to let it sit for a least 15 minutes to let the flavors meld. Enjoy!

Pasta with Tuna and Sun-Dried Tomato

INGREDIENTS

• 1 large onion
• 4 carrots
• 1/4 cup of oil packed sun-dried tomatoes
• 1 cup (tightly packed) fresh parsley
• 1 lb. pasta, elbow, penne, or fusilli
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 small fillets of Ahi tuna
• 10-14 calamata olives
• 1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
• Salt & Pepper to taste

PREP WORK

• Peel and thinly slice the onion.
• Peel and cut the carrots into 1/4 inch slices.
• Drain and cut the sun-dried tomatoes julienne style.
• Mince the parsley
• Cut the tuna into bite size pieces
• Pit & chop the olives

HOW TO COOK

1. Start by bringing a large pot of water to boil for cooking the pasta. (see my tips on cooking pasta here)
2. Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat and sauté the onion and carrots for about 5 minutes.
3. Add the sun-dried tomatoes, cover, lower heat and simmer until the carrots and onions are tender. Approximately 5 -8 more minutes.
4. Add the pepper flakes and chopped olives, turn up the heat to medium high again and add the tuna.
5. Cook for a few minutes until the tuna is cooked to the way you like it. Note: some people like their tuna cooked through, some like it rare in the middle. Up to you. Remove the pan from heat.
6. Add the parsley to the sauce and season with salt and pepper.
7. When the pasta is al dente, drain it and reserve.

To serve, warm up your serving bowls in the oven or microwave, add some pasta, and top with sauce. If you have any extra chopped parsley, you can sprinkle a little on top for appearances.

Super Healthy Pancake Recipe

INGREDIENTS

• 1 egg, or substitute
• 2 1/2 cup rice milk, or skim milk
• 2 tbsp. Sucanat, or brown sugar
• 1 T. honey
• 1 1/4 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 2 tbsp. canola oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3/4 cup rolled oats
• 1 apple, shredded
• 1/4 cup raisins (or 1/2 cup blueberries)
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 2 tbsp. natural sesame seeds
• 2 tbsp. wheat germ
• 1/4 cup bran

METHODS

In large bowl, combine milk, egg, fruit sugar, oil and vanilla. Add flour, baking powder and mix well. Add the rest of the ingredients. Refrigerate overnight.

Pancake mixture will be ready for breakfast. Top the pancakes with maple syrup or molasses.

Fetucine ala Danio

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 shallots, chopped
• 2 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/2 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
• 1/2 pound spicy or hot Italian sausage, casings removed
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 2 14.5-ounce cans diced tomatoes in juice
• 1 Tbsp dried sage
• 3/4 pound fettuccine
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Method

1 Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add shallots and garlic and sauté until beginning to soften, about 3 minutes. Add sausages and sauté until no longer pink, breaking up the sausages a bit, about 5 minutes. Add cream; simmer 5 minutes. Add tomatoes with juices. Add sage. Simmer until sauce thickens, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.

2 Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid.

3 Return pasta to same pot; add sauce. Toss over medium heat until sauce coats pasta, adding reserved cooking liquid by 1/4 cupfuls if mixture is dry. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to bowl; sprinkle with cheese and serve.

Serves 6.

Hamburger and Macaroni

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 yellow onion, chopped (or mixed chopped green onion greens and yellow onion)
• Olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon Vegesal or other seasoned salt
• Dash crushed red pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
• 1 large can (28 oz) of diced tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 2 cups uncooked macaroni (use rice pasta for wheat-free version)

1 Get a large pot of hot water heating and begin cooking the macaroni as per the directions on the macaroni package.

2 In a skillet, brown the ground beef in a tablespoon of olive oil on high heat. Stir only infrequently so that the ground beef has an opportunity to brown.

3 In a large skillet, sauté chopped onion with a tablespoon of olive oil on medium high heat. Add the ground beef and lower the heat to medium. Add a dash of crushed red pepper. Add Vegesal or other seasoned salt. Add celery seed. Add canned tomatoes. Add Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a simmer and let simmer for 5 minutes. Mix in the drained and cooked macaroni and parsley. Simmer for another 5 minutes.

Serves 4.