Delicious Lasagna

This blog isn't just about exercise and what I've done to lose all my weight and my races, etc. I haven't been very good about posting about food, etc. And I feel bad.

But, the other day I found a vegetable lasagna recipe that sounded good, so I made it on Saturday for dinner and it was SOOOOO good!!! It's really healthy too. There's only 380 calories a serving. So...I thought I'd share it with ya. (P.S. I found the recipe on allrecipes.com)

Cheesy Vegetable Lasagna

12 lasagna noodles (If you get the "oven ready" noodles, you can skip the step about boiling the noodles)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 heads fresh broccoli, chopped
2 carrots, thinly sliced
1 large onion, chopped
2 green bell peppers, chopped
2 small zucchini, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups milk
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 (8 ounce) container small curd cottage cheese
24 ounces ricotta cheese
2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add lasagna noodles and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.

Heat oil in a large caste iron skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot add broccoli, carrots, onions, bell peppers, zucchini and garlic. Saute for 7 minutes; set aside.

Place flour in a medium saucepan and gradually whisk in milk until well blended. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook 5 minutes, or until thick, stirring constantly. Stir in 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper; cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in spinach. Reserve 1/2 cup spinach mixture. In a small bowl combine cottage and ricotta cheeses; stir well.

Spread about 1/2 cup of spinach mixture in the bottom of the prepared pan. Layer noodles, ricotta mixture, vegetables, spinach mixture and 2 cups mozzarella cheese, ending with noodles. Top with reserved spinach mixture, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.

Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until lightly browned on top. Cool for approximately 10 minutes before serving.

Low Cal Olive Garden

I was treated to Olive Garden for lunch on Monday. I was excited, yet super nervous at the same time, because the first thing I think of when I hear Olive Garden is pasta/calories/delicious! Lol.

I pulled up their menu in hopes to find something low cal, and lo and behold, they had something besides pasta and it was DIVINE!!! It was Apricot Chicken. It was a chicken breast in an apricot sauce with broccoli, asparagus and tomato's. It was only 380 calories!!!

I'm sure Olive Garden has other low calorie stuff...I know their chicken caesar salad minus the croutons is 580 calories.

Some time, on one of my cheat days, I'm so gonna go to Olive Garden though and thoroughly enjoy their Chicken Fettucini Alfredo (my favorite)!