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Weeknight Meals

Spinach Lasagna: An Easy Meal for a Return to Busy Nights

August 22, 2021 By Anna Lutz 2 Comments

The quarantines of the pandemic have led to many people appreciating more simplified schedules. For me, it’s seemed to have the opposite affect. I’ve come to appreciate more the activities that my children are involved in and have missed them over the last year. I’m excited about this fall’s prospect of busier weeks and the kids benefiting from sports and other after school activities. 

Making a Loose Plan Can Decrease Stress

As my children return to school and activities, and I add my youngest to the bunch as she enters Kindergarten, we are suddenly doing a lot of schedule juggling. I’ve found over the years, if I have a busy week of afternoon and evening activities, it helps my overall stress level to have a loose plan for dinners. I typically will look at the week’s calendar and plan 3-4 dinners for the week that I can pull from, depending on how each day is going.  Meal planning doesn’t need to be rigid and looks different for different people and families. Check out one of our first podcast episodes, where Elizabeth and I discuss our approach to meal planning.

This past week was my kids’ first week of fall sports. Suddenly, we had evenings with sports games and practices. I honestly had not done as much meal planning over the past year, because of the monotony of the pandemic, I believe. Looking at the week ahead, I knew I needed some kind of a plan, or I’d be scrambling each night. As I made a dinner plan for the week, a tried-and-true recipe came to mind, spinach lasagna. I hadn’t made this recipe since probably the beginning of 2020. It’s a favorite dish of the house, but I think about it as a “go-to” meal when I need something we can pull out of the fridge and heat up during a busy week. That hasn’t been a scenario over the last year. I suppose that is why I haven’t made it in so long. 

A Great Recipe to Prepare Ahead of Time

I typically will put the lasagna together on the weekend or after dinner one night to be eaten later in the week.  It can be cooked right before eating or cooked ahead of time. I think it tastes even better heated up a day later! There is usually enough for 2 dinners for my family of 5. I typically will pair it with a bagged salad kit, fruit, or microwave in the bag green beans. Also, the kids love the lasagna cut into small pieces and put in a thermos for lunch. Sometimes, I will make one recipe split between 2 square pans and freeze one of the pans for a future busy week. This is a great recipe to get the kids to help with! And a great way to expose more selective eaters to spinach. 

I grew up eating this recipe and always loved it! My mother says the original recipe is from the Irregardless Cookbook, a restaurant in Raleigh, NC. As she made it over the years, she made it more and more simple and the recipe has transformed to what it is today.

Simple Assembly

To assemble, add lasagna noodles to boiling water. We use whole wheat lasagna noodles, as they hold up well reheated and add fiber to the meal. Regular lasagna noodles are great, too!

As the noodles cook, combine defrosted (in the microwave) frozen spinach, ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese and eggs. Preheat your oven to 350 F. 

Pour a small amount of jarred spaghetti sauce to the bottom of a 9″ x 13” pan. 

Place 3 lasagna noodles on top. (This photo is from layer number 2, that is why the cheese is showing!)

Scoop ⅓ of the spinach mixture on top of the noodles. 

Pour about ⅓ of the spaghetti sauce on top of the spinach mixture. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese. 

Repeat the layers 2 more times. Cover with aluminum foil. Cook at 350 degrees for 45 min, remove foil, and cook for another 15 minutes. 

Let sit for 10 min before serving.  Or, let cool and keep in the fridge to be reheated the next day. 

What’s on your “go-to” meal list?

For more of our “go-to” meals click the links below:

  • “Go-to Meals” – Your Plan B
  • Garlic Shrimp with Feta – A New “Go-To” Meal
  • “Go-To” Meals – Part 2
  • “Go-To” Summertime Meals

 

 

 

 

Print

Spinach Lasagna

Print Recipe

Simple vegetarian lasagna. Great reheated!

  • Author: Anna Lutz
  • Prep Time: 20 mins.
  • Cook Time: 60 mins.
  • Total Time: 80 mins.

Ingredients

1 package of frozen spinach

2 eggs

3/4 c ricotta cheese

1 5-6 oz. package of shredded parmesan cheese

1 8 oz. package of shredded mozzarella cheese

9 lasagna noodles

1.5 24-ounce jars (36 ounces total) of spaghetti sauce (I use Classico brand)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven 350 degrees.
  2. Cook 9 lasagna noodles according to package.
  3. Combine thawed spinach, ricotta, eggs, 1/2 parmesan in a bowl.
  4. Coat bottom of pan with sauce.
  5. Place 3 lasagna noodles in bottom of pan.
  6. Spread 1/3 of spinach/ricotta mixture on noodles.
  7. Pour 1/3 of sauce on top of spinach mixture.
  8. Sprinkle mixture with parmesan and mozzarella cheese (about 1/3 of what is remaining)
  9. Repeat layers 2 more times.
  10. Cover with foil.
  11. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil. Bake 15 minutes more.

 

Did you make this recipe?

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Filed Under: Dinner, Family Feeding, Lunch, Recipes, Vegetarian, Weeknight Meals

Pasta with Zucchini, Corn and Cilantro

September 25, 2020 By Elizabeth Davenport Leave a Comment

Pasta with zucchini, corn and cilantro

If you follow us on Instagram and/or Facebook, you may have seen the poll asking if you’d like me to post this recipe for pasta with zucchini, corn and cilantro. The majority voted YES, so I’ve written up the recipe below!

I made this delicious pasta with zucchini, corn and cilantro all summer long. It’s also a nice dish for fall. There’s still time to make it before fresh corn is gone for the season. If you’re looking for a quick pasta dish that’s hearty enough for a main dish and also works well as a side, you’ll want to give this recipe a try. It’s adapted from Alice Waters, Chez Panisse Vegetables.

Pasta with zucchini, corn and cilantro

Kids and teens can be unpredictable

We get it! Kids and teens can be unpredictable about the foods they’ll eat. The first time I made this zucchini recipe over the summer, my 16 year old loved it! She also likes the zucchini cakes (in my previous post) when I coat them in bread crumbs before cooking. There have been other times she hasn’t eaten the zucchini cakes. And my 13 year old hasn’t tried them yet.

One reason I love this recipe is because it offers me another quick and easy way to cook zucchini and the kids another opportunity to try zucchini. It’s also great because selective eaters can easily eat around the zucchini. The most recent time I made this dish, my 16 year old did just that. She said she just wasn’t in the mood for zucchini. My 13 year old only eats the pasta. Of course, that could change at any moment!

Making back-to-school lunches

first day of school picture
First day of VIRTUAL school: 8th and 11th grades

Yet another reason to make this pasta is it reheats well. Since school is back in session, I’m back to planning lunches more strategically. And anything that reheats well is considered a win! This summer, my kids fixed lunch on their own fairly often. With the start of (virtual) school, I feel like I need to bring back some of the structure that comes from having me (the parent) plan and make meals for them. Since they have asynchronous learning on Mondays, I’m going to experiment with them making their own lunches on Mondays and I’ll take care of lunches the rest of the week.

I initially thought I might actually pack their lunches even though school is virtual. I haven’t done that yet, but we’re only just into the third week of school. There’s time to adapt if needed!

If you’re looking for simple lunch ideas and tips to make planning and making lunches easier, you can purchase our Lunch E-Book by clicking here. We also have some previous posts with simple lunch packing tips and ideas:

  • Lunch Packing With Tweens and Teens
  • Make These Easy Baked Beans to Simplify Your Lunch Packing Routine
  • What’s For Lunch?
  • 3 Favorite Back-To-School Lunches

Print

Pasta with Zucchini, Corn and Cilantro

Print Recipe

A simple pasta with zucchini, corn and cilantro that hearty enough for a vegetarian main dish and also make an quick side dish. The recipe is adapted from Vegetables by Alice Waters.

  • Author: Elizabeth Davenport

Ingredients

4 small or 2 medium zucchini 

3 Tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves garlic, chopped

Pinch of red pepper flake (optional)

4 ears of corn, blanched and cut off the cob

3 Tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup water from blanching the corn

¼ cup chopped cilantro (more or less depending on your taste)

½ a lemon

Salt and pepper to taste

1 lb fettuccine

Instructions

  • Shuck the corn. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Once the water comes to a boil, cook 3-5 minutes. Remove corn from the water. Leave the pot of water on the stove, because you can cook your pasta in it. You’ll also need 1 cup of the water reserved for the sauce.
  • Once the corn cobs are cool enough to handle, cut the corn off the cobs and set the corn aside until it’s time to add it to the pan.
  • Dice the zucchini. (It also works to shred it if you prefer). Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large saute pan over medium high heat. Add the diced zucchini and cook for about 5 minutes or until some of it begins to brown. While the zucchini is cooking, peel and chop 2 cloves of garlic.
  • Bring the large pot of reserved water from cooking the corn back to a boil and add the fettuccine. Cook according to package directions. 
  • Add the pinch of red pepper flake, the garlic and the corn to the pan and cook on medium to medium high heat for about another 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  • Chop the cilantro.
  • After 5 minutes, add 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter, the chopped cilantro and the 1 cup of the water you used to cook the corn.  
  • Once the fettuccine is cooked, drain it and add it to the pan of zucchini and corn sauce. Toss with the sauce. Squeeze the half lemon and add to the pan. Taste the sauce to see if it needs more salt, pepper or lemon.
  • Serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Notes

Using fresh pasta (I buy it from a local Italian store) takes this dish to the next level.

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @sunnysideupnutritionists on Instagram

Filed Under: Dinner, Family Feeding, Recipes, Weeknight Meals

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