Lazy Girl Stove-top Lasagna

Posted on October 21, 2014 by lazygirldinners

Lazy Girl Stove Top Lasagna

These last few weeks have been a whirlwind, I have been burning both ends of the candle wick for some time now, and it finally caught up with me. But even when mom is sick, our kiddies still need to eat! I normally use all of these ingredients to make my lasagna, but I make the meat sauce on the stove, then transfer the sauce to a bake pan and layer it over the noodles, top with cheese and finish this in the oven. However, because I was sick, I thought why not just try this on the stove top. Surprisingly it worked! This lasagna is the ultimate in lazy cooking, but it yielded the best lasagna that I’ve ever made, and the easiest!

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Prep time: 2 minutes

Cook time: 25-30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 lb of grass fed ground beef

1 small brown onion (chopped)

3 cloves of garlic (chopped)

1 teaspoon of dried basil

15 ounces of organic tomato sauce

1 cup of organic mozzarella cheese

5 tablespoons of organic whole fat cottage cheese

2 lasagna noodles I used brown rice lasagna noodles

1 tablespoon of olive oil

sea salt to taste

Directions: Heat olive oil in a saute pan, add in onion and garlic and cook until onion turns translucent.

Add in ground meat, season generously with sea salt and cook until brown. Drain any excess fat.

Add basil, cottage cheese and half of the tomato sauce,. stir until all ingredients are combined,

Top with the lasagna noodles–I broke them and spread them out over the the entire pan–

Top with the remaining sauce, making sure that all the noodles are completely covered and submerged in the sauce. Cook on medium low heat until the noodles are cooked through.

Once noodle are done, top with cheese, cover and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes, and the cheese has melted.

Serve and enjoy!

D.I.Y. Taco Seasoning

Posted on October 15, 2014 by lazygirldinners

Taco Seasoning

I used to be the queen of packaged seasoning, if they made it I tried it. It never really occurred to me that I could just as easily make most of these seasoning with spices that I already had in my pantry. It wasn’t until I was in the middle of browning some ground meat to make tacos that I realized I was missing one key ingredient–the taco seasoning–and I was forced to make due with what I had. That was a fateful day indeed. Enlightening and freeing! I no longer buy pre-made seasonings. I just make my own. This taco seasoning is equally as good as the prepackaged mix that I used to buy, except it doesn’t have any cornstarch or any of the other fillers that packaged seasonings tend to have.

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Prep time: 5 minutes

Servings: 1/4 cup or one package of taco seasoning

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon Cumin

1 teaspoon coriander

1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika

1 teaspoon of onion powder

1 teaspoon of garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon of chili powder (optional)

Directions: Mix all the ingredients in a small bowl until well combined. Add the entire contents to browned ground meat, or try it out in my recipe for Makeover Chicken Taco’s

Like this seasoning? Then you make like my Dry Ranch Seasoning or my Spicy Dry rub seasoning

Pear Fruit Roll-Ups-How to make fruit roll-ups at home

Posted on October 14, 2014 by lazygirldinners

Pear Fruit Roll-Ups

One of my favorite ways to use ripe fruit is by making fruit roll-ups. In my opinion it’s the best way to use fully ripe fruit, because the fruit is ripe, it’s very sweet, and that means that you don’t have to add sugar to make these fruit roll-ups great. Additionally fruit roll-ups are so super easy to make and a great way to reinvent a fruit that you have an abundance of. I have dehydrator, but these can be done in an oven. Just set your oven to 150 or the lowest possible setting. If you don’t own a dehydrator yet, I suggest that you get one, they are really inexpensive around $40-$50 on the lower end–these work fine, and $299 on the higher end. But they are so useful! At the least you’ll be able to make some of my favorite fruit roll-up recipes like: Tropical punch fruit roll-ups, pineapple fruit roll-up, Strawberry-apple fruit roll-ups or strawberry fruit roll-ups.

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Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 4-6 hours

Ingredients:

5 ripe pears

Directions: Quarter the pairs and remove the core. Add cored pears to a blender,

Blend until smooth.

Pour the pear puree out onto a piece of parchment paper or a silpat, and smooth out into a thin layer.

Place in a dehydrator on 134F for 4-6 hours.

Alternatively you can place the parchment paper or silpat on a cookie sheet and place in the oven on the lowest setting for 4-6 hours.

Roasted Garlic Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes!

Posted on September 3, 2014 by lazygirldinners

Roasted Garlic Cauliflower Mash

From time to time, I crave a meal with a deep rich wine sauce. When that happens I turn to Julia Child’s beef bourguignon recipe, or my version of it. If you have ever made beef bourguignon, then you know the sauce that accompanies the beef is everything for that particular dish! The beef, as succulent as it is, is nothing without that sauce, and that sauce was made to adorn a potato mash! The year that I had Page I decided rather than running from house to house to celebrate Thanksgiving with friends and family, it would be easier on her, and my husband and I, if we just stayed home and made dinner ourselves. My best friend agreed and we divided the dinner duties. Instead of a massive turkey, I roasted a chicken, she made a few sides, and I baked a cake. One of the sides she made was a potato and cauliflower mash. It was delicious, and Page loved it! It was hearty and everything you’d expect when eating mash potatoes and at the same time it had the added bonus of cauliflower. When I was making my beef bourguignon, and anticipating the yumminess of the sauce, I knew that this cauliflower mash would go perfectly with the sauce. If you’re on a low carb diet, you can omit the potatoes, and whip the cauliflower in a blender. For this recipe, I opted to not whip the mash, I wanted the hearty texture, so I used a potato masher instead. If you want a more creamy texture, just throw all the ingredients in a blender after cooking them.

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Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 10-15 minutes

Total time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1 small head of cauliflower (about 5 cups)

2 medium potatoes (2 cups cubed)

4 tablespoons of grassfed butter

2 tablespoons of half and half (optional)

1 head of roasted garlic

sea salt and black pepper to taste

Directions: Add the cauliflower and potatoes to a pot and fill with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, and cook until potatoes and cauliflower are fork tender. Immediately drain the water from the cauliflower and potatoes, then add in, butter, half and half, roasted garlic, sea salt and pepper.

Mash with a potato masher until well incorporated, or add all the ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth, then enjoy!

Lemony Chicken Orzo Soup–It’s gluten free!

Posted on July 30, 2014 by lazygirldinners

Lemon Orzo Chicken Soup

Last week I was out with my husband running errands and we were trying to decide on lunch. He wanted something filling, and I wanted a really great salad. As easy as salads are to make and obtain, very few match the salads that I make myself. I knew it would not be easy to find a place to eat in which we would both leave happy. After verbally running through a list of eateries, my husband saying no to some, me saying no to others, we both compromised and settled on Panera. I ordered my salad, and after some time mulling over the menu, my husband ordered a bowl of lemon orzo soup. The ceasar salad I ordered, was not as great as the Ceasar salad I make at home, but I was expecting that. However, my husband really enjoyed his soup. I didn’t taste the soup, but it looked really good, and since he enjoyed it, I decided I would try to make it at home for him. He is such a big fan of soups in general. When I make soup, which is not often, he rants and raves, because to him, soups are a big treat. The key to any great soup is the broth. I made some broth with the leftover carcass of a roast chicken that we had for dinner. I will share that recipe and two other ways to make chicken broth with you later. For this soup use the best organic chicken broth that you can find. I used a gluten free orzo for this, you can leave it outfor a paleo version of this soup, or use a regular pasta orzo for an authentic Lemon chicken orzo soup.

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Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 45 minutes

Ingredients: 1lb boneless skinless chicken thighs or 4 cups of pre-cooked chicken cubed

1 cup of diced carrots (3 medium carrots)

1 cup of diced celery (4 celery stalks)

1 large onion diced

2 large cloves of garlic (finely chopped)

1 cup of spinach finely chopped

2-3 tablespoons of finely chopped cilantro

3-4 Tablespoons of Lemon juice less or more depending on your taste

6 cups of organic chicken broth

1/2 cup of orzo gluten free brand

Sea salt and black pepper to taste

2 tablespoon of olive oil

Directions: Season chicken with sea salt and black pepper and set aside. In a stock pot heat oil, add onion, carrot, celery and garlic. Saute until onions turn translucent, add chicken stock, and chicken. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 15-20 minutes. Add in orzo and cook until orzo is al dente (10 minutes), then stir in spinach, cilantro and lemon juice, turn off fire, serve and enjoy!

Orange Creamsicles

How to make Homemade Orange Creamsicles–How to make Half and Half bars

Watch my How to Video above, there is a cameo appearance by my daughter Page

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Another favorite frozen treat of mine when I was a little girl was orange creamsicles. We used to call them half and half bars, because that’s exactly what they were, half juice pop and half cream center. Whatever you call them, I think we can all agree that they are super delicious. Unfortunately creamsicles are not made the way they used to be made, they have a ton of ingredients in the boxed versions in the store, none of which contain real juice or cream. This recipe takes care of that. I used freshly squeezed orange juice for these, but if you can find some fresh juice in the store that does not have added sugar and preservatives, then go for it. If you decide to squeeze the juice yourself, just make sure that the oranges that you’re using are very sweet, that way you don’t have to add sugar to sweeten the juice. If heavy cream isn’t your thing (my vegan friends) don’t fret, I’ve done these with coconut cream, and they are just as yummy if not more. Lastly, I purchased the Zoku Quick Pop Maker to make these, it’s the only way to get a true half and half bar, with that creamy center filling, but if you don’t want to spend the $25 (for a single), $38( for the duo), or $50 (for the triple) pop maker, you can still make these, but you’ll have to blend the mixture, or just pour half juice and half cream into regular molds, ( I used Zoku Classic pop molds), you’ll get a verticle half and half bar–still delicious.

Prep time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup of freshly squeezed organic orange juice

1 cup of heavy cream or coconut cream

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

2 tablespoons of maple syrup

Directions: Add the cream, vanilla extract and maple syrup to a cup, mix well and set aside. If using classic pop molds, place all ingredients in a blender and blend until well combined. Divide mixture evenly among molds and freeze for 6-8 hours or until frozen solid.

If you are using the Quick pop maker, Pour the orange juice into the molds and allow to set for 2-3 minutes. At the 3 minute mark siphon out the remaining unfrozen juice with a straw or a unused infant aspirator–I purchased one just for this. Zoku sells a tool kit for $20 which includes a siphon tool, but the aspirator is $3 and does the job equally as well. After you have removed all of the juice, pour cream into the molds, and allow to set for another 4-5 minutes, then follow the directions for removing the pops.

Orange Creamsicle

If you aren’t going to eat the pops right away, you can store them in sandwich size zip lock bags and place them in the freezer until you’re ready to eat them. These never last longer than a few hours in our house, so I can’t say how long you could store them that way. These are the Orange and Coconut Creamsicles that I made using the classic Zoku popsicle molds:

Fudgesicles

Posted on July 22, 2014 by lazygirldinners

Coconut Fudgesicle

One of my favorite treats as a kid was a fudge pop. Back then they were sold as the low-fat, low-calorie version of ice cream. Not that any of that mattered to me , I was 7! I just really enjoyed the creamy chocolate treat! Back then fudgesicles contained 3 or 4 key ingredients, Milk, chocolate, and cream. That is a far cry from the ingredient list we see today on a fudgepop box. When formulating this recipe, I wanted to stick to what made fudgesicles great when I was little, a few ingredients and not much else. I switched out the milk for coconut milk, and added some coconut cream for richness, the result—-Heaven–creamy fudge heaven! I didn’t add any extra sugar to this, for my palate it didn’t need it. My daughter and husband both loved these without any added sugar as well. However, if you like fudgesicles on the sweeter side, add 2 tablespoons of maple syrup to the mix before freezing. Although I used coconut milk and cream as a base for these, you can use milk and cream, or just use milk. You can also use my recipe for Chocolate Tofu Pudding just freeze and enjoy!

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Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 5 minutes

Freeze time: 4-6 hours

Makes 4-6 pops

Ingredients: 2 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chopped

1 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 cup of coconut milk

3/4 cup of coconut cream

Special equipment: Popsicle molds

Directions: Add the milk, cream and cocoa powder to a sauce pan over medium heat, and whisk until well combined and mixture is just below a simmer–DO NOT BOIL!!! Remove from heat. Add in chopped chocolate, and whisk until all the chocolate is melted, stir in the vanilla extract. Divide the mixture evenly among the popsicle molds Freeze for 4-6 hours or until solidly frozen. Follow your popsicle molds instructions for removing pops from molds and enjoy!

Grilled Cumin Spiced Chicken Kabobs

Posted on July 16, 2014 by lazygirldinners

Grilled Cumin Spiced Chicken Kabobs

I made these chicken kabobs over the fourth of July weekend, and everyone loved them. They were super easy to make and didn’t require a lot of time or effort to marinate. They’re a perfect quick fix dinner item, so I’m giving you the recipe. My husband is still raving about these. It just goes to show that a great meal doesn’t require a lot of time or ingredients.

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Prep time:10 minutes

Cook time:15 minutes

Total time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

1lb of boneless skinless organic chicken thighs–cubed

1 teaspoon of cumin

1 teaspoon of paprika

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 cup of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

Sea salt to taste

Directions: In a large bowl mix the ingredients for the chicken kabobs together,

then place the chicken on skewers.

Grill chicken on a hot grill until cooked through, about 10-15 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!

Chicken Enchilada’s with Salsa Verde

Posted on July 15, 2014 by lazygirldinners

Chicken Enchiladas with Salsa Verde

Chicken enchilada’s are so easy to make. You can throw almost anything in enchiladas and not mess them up and they’re done in less than 30 minutes. A friend gave me some homemade salsa verde, and the moment I tasted it, I knew that it would make these enchiladas sing! For the chicken in these I just threw a chopped onion and 1 pound of chicken thighs in my pressure cooker with enough water to cover, and cooked the chicken for 20 minutes–easy peasy. But if you have leftover chicken you can use that.

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Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 15-20 minutes

Total time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 lb of cooked chicken (shredded)

2 cups of cheddar cheese (grated)

2 cups of salsa verde

1/2 cup of black olives, sliced

10-12 corn tortilla’s

Directions: Pre-heat the oven to 375F. Lightly greese a 9×11 baking dish, then line the bottom of the baking dish with corn tortillas. Top the tortillas with the shredded chicken, top the chicken with salsa verde, top the salsa verde with cheese, and finally add a layer of black olives. Cover the olives with one more layer of corn tortillas, add a layer of salsa verde, a layer of cheese and the last of the olives. Place in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese has melted, remove from the oven, serve and enjoy!

Marinated Mushroom Steaks

Posted on July 8, 2014 by lazygirldinners

Marinated Mushroom Steaks

I make an entire meatless meal at least once a week. Going vegetarian, or vegan, even once a week is great for your health, excellent for your pocket book, and a very environmentally friendly thing to do. One of my favorite and I mean FAVORITE vegetarian meals is faux steak, with beans, rice, salsa, and plantains. It’s simple–yes! But so delicious, and it reminds me of the delicious dinners I had while in Puerto Rico. I switch out the steaks for marinated, grilled mushrooms, and the result is perfection!

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Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 7-10 minutes

Ingredients:

2 large Portabello mushrooms, undersides and stem removed

1/2 teaspoon of worcestershire sauce (optional)

1 large garlic clove sliced thinly

1 tablespoons of olive oil

1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar

sea salt and black pepper to taste

Directions: Mix together all the ingredients for the marinade in a small bowl. Pour over Mushrooms and let marinade for 30 minutes.

Grill on a hot grill for 3-4 minutes on each side, remove from grill and serve!

Marinated Mushroom Steaks

Lazy Girl Dinners

A Lazy Girls guide to quick, healthy, and easy recipes!

Tag Archives: gluten free

Lazy Girl Stove-top Lasagna

D.I.Y. Taco Seasoning

Pear Fruit Roll-Ups-How to make fruit roll-ups at home

Roasted Garlic Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes!

Lemony Chicken Orzo Soup–It’s gluten free!

Orange Creamsicles

Fudgesicles

Grilled Cumin Spiced Chicken Kabobs

Chicken Enchilada’s with Salsa Verde

Marinated Mushroom Steaks