Lasagna Soup

Wanna know something funny? I actually use my own blog when making my meal plan each week and writing up my grocery list! So YES...this is really how we eat all the time!! I hadn't even really noticed I do this until Jay caught me the other day...we both had a good laugh over it.

On that note...remember the challenge I put out there back in January to eat better...plan better...and save a few bucks each month? How are you doing at that? I know in our house it's made a huge difference! I now shop intentionally for groceries by planning all meals, and only buying at the store what is on my list. I've found we can sometimes even go 8 or 9 days with out stopping in at the store again. And by making the list, I don't forget anything! Those quick stops to pick up the one thing I was missing...like eggs or cilantro, two or three times a week...would quickly add up to an additional $10 or $20 a stop because I would be swayed by things on sale, or easy snacks that looked tasty! I've for sure saved about $20-$30 a WEEK this year by planning our meals.

I still often feel that it's pricey to feed our family of four. We were talking about it on the weekend though and decided to break it down per person, per day. We buy everything organic or all-natural, we value that. For our family, it came to about $6-$7 per person, per DAY. That's NOT bad if you saw how amazing we eat!! Not bad when you consider that's the price of a daily venti fancy Starbucks, which we don't buy...the price of a husband grabbing a quick sandwich to-go for lunch, which Jay doesn't do...the price of a magazine at the til in the grocery store (for the record I would LOVE to always buy a food/cooking magazine at the til, but am too cheap to pay the price)! So, we've cut out some luxuries so our kids will grow healthy and strong...worth every penny:)

Alright...on to the soup! This one is SOOO yummy...our boys love it too! Ripped this recipe out of a magazine once...I believe it was Rachael Ray?...and pulled it out of my recipe stash one day to try...I've made it many times since. Pretty quick to whip together...about 30 minutes. This batch makes enough for two meals for us...and actually tastes better the second time around:) ENJOY!




Lasagna Soup

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb ground beef - we use grass-fed
Salt and pepper
1 onion, finely chopped
4 carrots, finely chopped or grated
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 or 5 handfuls of fresh spinach, finely chopped
4 cups chicken broth
One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 lb lasagna noodles, broken into jagged pieces - I use brown rice lasagna
1 cup basil leaves, torn
1 cup ricotta

Directions

In a soup pot, heat the olive over medium heat. Add the beef, season with pepper and cook until browned, 3 to 4 minutes.

Stir in the onion, carrots and garlic and cook until softened, about 7 minutes. Add the spinach and let cook-down for a minute or two with the lid on.

Stir in 2 cups water, the chicken broth and tomatoes...cover and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 15 minutes. Stir in the basil and season with salt and pepper.

Serve the soup in bowls with a spoonful of ricotta on top.

*We love to sprinkle ours with fresh parmesan too!

Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

I found myself craving some comfort fall food today...but it was hard to think in those terms when it was so sunny and warm! So...I took inventory of our garden, and the stock in our fridge from Saturday's market...and thought up this lovely dish! The term 'roasted' often scares me away from recipes, because I know it involves an extra step, and I often think that I just don't have time for that. Today however, I proved myself wrong. I learned that 'roasting' does involve an extra step, but it's really not all that much extra work! The flavour is the reward...and flavour is always worth the time!

Now, although this is a vegetarian dish, you could certainly add ground beef or turkey to the sauce. You could also easily make this a vegan dish...I just love my cheese though:) This is however a 'light on cheese' recipe compared to some. We find that a bit of ricotta in the layers...and then some fresh parmesan on top does the trick for us! LOTS of flavour....you won't even miss all the melted goop that you usually find inbetween!

So while our boys were napping, I gathered all the vegetables, washed them up, and sliced them so they were ready to go. I used carrots, beets, zucchini, vidalia onion, red pepper and garlic. This was just what we had on hand...I can definitely think of some others that would make a wonderful addition!




Then I realized that I might as well roast them already too, and get that step out of the way! I simply tossed them lightly in olive oil, sprinkled pepper on top...and roasted them at 425 for about 30 minutes. It was actually kind of nice to have them done and cooled ahead of time...made them easier to work with.



Don't they look amazing? Look at all that yummy goodness! I was so tempted to just grab a fork and dig in! See those fingers in the top corner? That's Noah..gotta love that a 2 1/2 year old finds sneaking roasted beets to be a real treat!

While they were roasting, I remembered that I had frozen some homemade pasta sauce (tomatoes from the garden, chopped and simmered with basil and garlic..simple enough!) last week...so I pulled out a bag to use for the lasagna.



Then it was time to assemble. I always use brown rice lasagna noodles....they can be tricky to find, but they taste awesome and they cook up so well...you'd never notice the difference!



Started layering...sauce, noodles, ricotta, roasted veggies,



fresh spinach,



sauce, noodles,



etc until the pan was filled to the top.



Now bake in the oven at 425 for about an hour...keep checking the noodles for 'doneness'...rice noodles aren't so yummy if they are over-cooked:)



Need this meal in a hurry? Use good quality jarred tomato sauce, and jarred roasted peppers.

ENJOY...we sure did! Pair this with a nice Okanagan red wine...and you've got a gourmet dinner on your hands!

I got "two thumbs up" tonight over this dinner...now I think I'll go pull a couple of those Chocolate Zucchini Muffins out of the freezer for dessert!