Category: Budget Friendly

A Healthier Skillet Lasagna

A Healthier Skillet Lasagna

I adapted this skillet lasagna recipe from Cooking Light magazine to turn it into a healthier version of this great comfort food. Don’t let the tofu scare you, it’s the texture that counts and the creaminess of it more than makes up for the lack of ricotta cheese. It takes on the flavor of the sauce so well your kids may not even notice (one can always hope anyway)!

Photo of skillet lasagna with pickle

Yes that is a pickle. When I was growing up we always had pickles with our Eye-talian spaghetti. I can’t shake it. I also need to learn how to take better pictures at night. 🙂

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Quick Sautéed Kale and Carrots

Posted on by Lisa P

This is the easiest way (IMO) to sauté kale so it’s not completely boring. Since kale can be somewhat bitter we add sweet veggies like carrots and onions to balance the flavors. Feel free to swap the carrots with parsnips, yellow or red bell peppers, or even red cabbage if you like.

Serves: 2 people with a bit left over
Hand on time: 10 minutes
Total time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 tsp olive or coconut oil
  • 1 bunch kale
  • 1 medium to large carrot
  • 1/4 C chopped onion (optional)
  • salt and pepper

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Thai Chickpea Stew Over Brown Rice (Vegan)

Posted on by Lisa P

One night I was making Dirty Rice and was suddenly inspired to make it into a complete meatless meal by adding chickpeas.  I also changed the cooking method and added a packet of thai curry paste.  Oh wow thank you to the divine being that inspired me because this was the best meal I’ve manifested in a while.

It’s wonderful as a main course for a vegan diet.  If you’re not vegan I recommend sprinkling with some crumbled feta cheese (see condiments). If you like meat you can add a cup or so of cubed chicken with the garlic in step 4 and saute for 2 minutes instead of 30 seconds.

Ingredients

1 Tbsp coconut oil
1 large carrot
1 medium yellow onion
1 stalk celery (optional)
3/4 C chopped red cabbage
1-14 oz can chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans), drained
2 C fresh broccoli Continue reading “Thai Chickpea Stew Over Brown Rice (Vegan)” →

Skillet Lasagna

Posted on by Lisa P

I adapted this skillet lasagna recipe from Cooking Light magazine.  I like it because it’s comfort food but isn’t packed with calories.  You can also use try the suggested substitutions for some of the cheeses shown in the ingredients list.

Serves: 4 (or 2 with leftovers)
Hands on time: 20 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes Continue reading “Skillet Lasagna” →

Turkey Cobb Salad

Turkey Cobb Salad

Posted on by Lisa P

This Cobb Salad recipe was adapted from NY Times recipe at https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018890-cobb-salad.  It uses turkey instead of chicken and takes advantage of pre-cooked ingredients to save time in the kitchen. It’s also been cut in half to feed 2 people instead of 4-6.  Photo credit NY Times Recipes.

Ingredients

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Dirty Quinoa

Posted on by Lisa P

Serves: 3-4 people
Hands-on time: 15-20 min
Total time: 30 min

This recipe for “dirty” quinoa is adapted from the dirty rice I used to make all the time when I was single and cooking was a low priority.  I also used to chop up hotdogs and throw them in to make a meal, but um I don’t do that anymore. Now it’s just clean, whole, unprocessed food for me.  I sure wish they made a natural hotdog flavor I could add to a dish to get my hotdog fix.  Anyway, enough about hot dogs, let’s make some dirty quinoa!

Ingredients

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