I Call It Portobello Mushroom Lasagna

Hello creative people.

Today I have something different to show you.

I feel that cooking is a creative process and today I 

decided to create something different for dinner.

I call it Portobello Mushroom Lasagna.

I cleaned out the portobello mushrooms and placed them in

oven safe dishes, with a little bit of olive oil in the bottom.
Did you know cleaning out the mushrooms is much easier

when you use a plastic spoon?  I learned this from my 

daughter in law.

I slices up some zucchini and added some slices to the mushrooms

then some sauce (I used some of my daughter in law's sauce) then 

a mixture of ricotta and spices.  (oregano, S&P, Italian seasoning, garlic and 

Parmesan cheese)

Then topped that with some sliced onion.

Next I added more sauce.

To top it all off with some spinach and mozzerella cheese.

Then I popped those babies into a 350* oven for 

about 1/2 hr.

And they were ready to eat!  Well, too hot to eat right away,

but after a little wait they were ready.

I used a roll to make us some cheesy garlic bread.

And our yummy, melty, saucy 
Portobello Mushroom Lasagna

was ready.

It was so good, we both at the whole thing.
I will definitely be making this kind of dish again

in the future and put whatever veggies I have available into

it.

Thanks for stopping in today, I hope you have been inspired

in some way to get creative in the kitchen.

 Come again soon,

until then,

happy cooking and creating!

 

Zucchini Lasagna

Hello blog friends!

Sometimes I say

"You never know what you'll find on Kristie Kreates"

This is one of those times.

 I don't know if you all know that

I recently had weight loss surgery.  If you are interested

you can click on the link at the top of my home page for

"My Weight Loss Journey"

where I have chronicled my experience very openly.

Today I decided to make something a little different for dinner.

I can't have pasta so I decided to make zucchini lasagna,

replacing the noodles with zucchini strips.

I got this idea from my friend Sue when she posted on facebook

that she was trying it.

I was just okay'd to have some of these veggies that I hadn't

been allowed to have since my surgery.

So follow along below and see how I made it.

Here are the ingredients that I used, except that I did 

put some parmesan cheese in too, but forgot it for the picture.

I don't have a recipe and that's how I cook most of the time.

I just put in what I like and we'll see how it turns out.

I started by putting some of the sauce in the bottom of

the baking dish.  Then I laid down the strips of zucchini,

covered it with spinach, mushrooms and sauteed onions.

I added some sauce on top of the veggies, then another layer

of zucchini strips.

Next I mixed the ricotta with garlic powder, salt, pepper,

oregano and basil and spread that over the zucchini layer.

I cooked up hamburger and drained it, then put that over the

ricotta.

Over that I added shredded mozzarella and 

parmesan cheese. Then covered it with sauce and more

zucchini.

I added a bit more cheese,

covered it with sauce and a little more of both cheeses

and popped it into the oven at 350* for about an hour.

It smelled so good while it was cooking!

It looked so good when it came out of the oven

that it was hard not to dig right in, but I was good

and let it sit for a bit.

You know how hard that first piece is to get out.

It didn't stay together perfectly, but not too bad.

It was pretty liquid-y, you can barely see where I took my 

piece out of the pan. I'm betting once it cools some more it

won't be quite so runny.

How was it?

This dish definitely gets a thumbs up from me.

The flavor was wonderful,

the zucchini was a little al dante and that was perfect for me,

it gave a little crunch and I liked that.

If you don't like the crunch, you could cook it longer to let 

the zucchini get softer.

All in all it tasted pretty much like the lasagna I usually make.

It was DELICIOUS!

Now here's the problem, I don't know how to cook small.

There is a LOT of lasagna left.

Once it cools I think I might just put it into containers and freeze 

some of it.  I'll just have to remember to make some very small

portions, since that is what I eat now.

Here are some of the amounts I used:

zucchini  -  3 medium sized - about 2 lbs.

ricotta  -  one container - 15 oz.

mozzerella  -  about 8 oz.

hamburger  -  about 8 oz.

mushrooms - 4-5 sliced

spinach  -  about 2-3 oz. fresh

sauce  -  one jar - 24 oz.

Thanks for stopping in today.

I hope you'll give this a try or maybe something

else that you eliminate one ingredient and use another.

Changing up the pasta for zucchini worked great,

who knows what else might work.

Until next time,

think outside the box!

Come again soon, like I said:

You never know what you'll find on 

Kristie Kreates!

Zucchini

Hello everyone!

How is your weather where you are?

Ours has been very hot and sunny these past few days.

We've broken some records in our area with temps

in the 90s and I'm loving this summer weather.

Today I'm going to show you what I did for zucchini 

for my little farm.

I really wanted to grow some zucchini as we just love it.

I did a little research on the net and found that they 

can be grown in pots.
When I was a kid my Dad always grew them, but he

let them get huge.  I just loved having fried zucchini or

zucchini parmesan for dinner,

I will not be growing them that big since I just don't have

the room for it.

I went to The Dollar Store and picked up 4 of these

plastic containers.

I used my Crop-A-Dile to put 2 holes in opposite

sides of the containers.

I poked some holes in the bottom for drainage.

If you do this, be careful as you can crack the 

bottom of the container, don't ask how I know.

I used 3 strands of twine and ran them though the hole

on one side of the container and tied it securely.

I realized with the 2nd one that it would be more secure 

if I brought the ends up and tied it to the 3 strands

above the lip of the container.

I then braided the 3 strands and threaded the ends through the other

side of the container.  Of course as I went

I learned more and made the loose ends longer,

so I could bury them along the inside of the container in 

the soil.

I planted my zucchini plants in my containers and

they now hang on the fence in my little 

farm corner of the yard.

I'm glad you stopped by today,

keep coming back, I'll be updating on my 

farm as it grows.

Next post I'll show you what I did with a few

flowers to brighten up the yard.

See you soon!