Pinterest Fail Equals Creative Success...Zucchini Lasagna

Focusing on eating a cleaner diet has been a priority for me. Roughly 21 days ago I began the 21 Day Fix through Beachbody in an attempt to clean up my diet, gain control of my portions, and get back into exercising. This meal plan has led me to look for clean recipes for dinner.

While meal planning yesterday (as this is the thing to do when trying to eat a cleaner menu) I found a recipe for zucchini ravioli. (Found here http://lasvegasphotographercindylarkin.blogspot.com/2013/10/spinach-zucchini-ravioli.html) Gluten free and clean eating...I thought it would be a different dinner item to try, but when I saw the four strips of zucchini thinly sliced and neatly wrapped around the meat mixture inside I knew it may be a bit challenging...I was correct.

I made the ground turkey, onion, spinach, and garlic mixture, but added quinoa and mozzarella cheese (hoping my 3 year old would eat it (fail!)) to it. Everything was coming together smoothly and then the wrapping began. First, I followed the method from the recipe and that didn't hold together. Then I decided to try to basket weave it together. That failed as well. Maybe my zucchini wasn't long enough?

In a last ditch attempt to save my dinner from flopping completely, I decided to lay zucchini across the bottom of the 9x11 casserole dish I was using. Then I put the meat mixture on top of the zucchini. I topped the meat mixture with another layer of zucchini and finished the dish off by topping the zucchini with marina sauce. I covered it with aluminum foil and backed it at 350 for 45 minutes (taking the foil off for the last 12 minutes).

I'm always fearful of how my new creations will taste, but this one was a crowd pleaser (other than my 3 year old!) and will definitely be returning to dinner again soon!

Slicing the zucchini. Unfortunately, the zucchini would not fit into the safety hold, which put my fingers at risk of being sliced off

Ground turkey, 2 cups spinach chopped, 1/2 red onion, 2 garlic cloves, salt, pepper and olive oil reading for cooking.

Everything cooked with quinoa (I cooked 1 cup of quinoa and added half) and mozzarella cheese (about 1.5 cups shredded) added.

Finished product (sorry I missed the assembly  pictures...I was a bit frazzled by the failure of my ravioli creation.)



***Portion control with the 21 Day Fix was a challenge on this dinner. For one, it was very tasty, but not overwhelming filling due to the zucchini layers, which led me to eat a wee bit more than I should have. The dinner does have quinoa (yellow container), mozzarella cheese (blue container), ground turkey (red container), spinach, onion, and zucchini (green container) in it.***

Food, Food, FOOD!

Planning a celebration? What's on the menu?

Staff meeting this month? Whose responsible for the snack and what are they bringing?

Lose a loved one? Have you been eating?

Dieting? Can you think of anything other than the next morsel of food that will go in your mouth?

_______ Appreciation Day? Who wouldn't love a baked goody?

Name a life event and it will somehow include food. Something you may not notice until the food being served has been nixed from your diet for life. Three summers ago I received my gluten free life sentence. Three summers ago I began to realize how much of our lives revolve around food.

I am an elementary school teacher. Teacher Appreciation Day is in May. Every year parents show their appreciation by overwhelming the teachers with food. Each year I say, "Hey, I don't need the extra calories anyway!" But I can't help but feel slightly less appreciated while everyone else is in the teachers' room enjoying the feast.

I attended a series of 6 workshops that had lunch provided at each one. Each month, even after being reminded, the people running the workshop forgot to ask for a gluten free option.

I now pack lunches for every training I attend that has lunch provided knowing that outside of some fresh fruit, there will be nothing there for me. I make sure I keep snacks in the car for road trips (or my husband reminds me too), and I try to meal plan weekly.

I am thankful that there are many more options for gluten free now than there was even a decade ago when my grandfather found out he was gluten free. I am thankful for Amazon.com for allowing some pantry variety. I am thankful for Pinterest and the community of people who share their gluten free recipes. I am thankful that I find so much joy in creating delicious food that everyone in my family finds edible.

Tonight for dinner I made almond crusted chicken tenders...

I used this recipe http://www.skinnyminniemoves.com/almond-crusted-chicken-tenders/
but changed it a bit. Instead of buying a chicken breast and slicing it (I hate cutting raw chicken) I bought chicken tenders. After putting the almonds through the food processor, I added just a bit of garlic powder, onion powder, sea salt and pepper. I did not use olive oil spray. I kept the tenders in a gallon sized baggie and sprinkled them with olive oil. I then placed the tenders in the almond mix.

This recipe was delicious and easy. I didn't make it home until 4:15 and dinner was completely made by 5:00. I don't see myself buying store bought chicken tenders or nuggets again for a long time!