Lasagna Rolls

I have adapted this recipe from Giada De Laurentiis of the Food Network. Find her original recipe here.

Lasagna:
1 15 oz. container whole milk ricotta cheese
1 10 oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry
1 C. plus 2 tbs. grated parmesan
3 oz. thinly sliced prosciutto, chopped
1 lg. egg, beaten
3/4 tsp. salt plus more for boiling water
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1 to 2 tbs. olive oil
12 uncooked lasagna noodles
2 to 3 C. marinara sauce
1 C. shredded mozzarella @ 4 oz.

Whisk the ricotta, chopped spinach, 1 C. parmesan, prosciutto, beaten egg, salt and pepper in bowl to blend.

Add olive oil to large pot of boiling salted water. Boil the noodles until just tender but still firm to the bite. Drain. Arrange the noodles in a single layer on a baking sheet to prevent them from sticking.

Butter a 9 x 13 inch glass baking dish. Pour some of the sauce over the bottom of the prepared dish. Spread about 3 tbs. of the ricotta mixture evenly over each noodle. Sprinkle a little mozzarella on each noodle as well. Starting at one end, roll each noodle like a jelly roll. Lay the lasagna rolls seam side down, without touching atop the sauce in the dish. Spoon the remaining marinara sauce over the rolls. Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella and parmesan over the rolls. Cover tightly with foil. Bake at 375 until heated through, about 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until the cheese on top becomes golden, about 20 minutes longer. Let stand for 10 minutes. Any remaining marinara sauce can be heated and served on the side.

Notes: I do not suggest substituting cottage cheese for the ricotta, gross. Ricotta is much tastier and much more smooth. However, if prosciutto is out of your budget, you can use cubed ham. Just make sure to chop it to smithereens before you add it to the ricotta mixture. As far as the baking time, I generally watch to see the sauce inside get bubbly and then take off the foil for the last 15 - 20 min. Just fyi, the pic is of the assembled rolls, pre-baked.

Pumpkin or Banana Muffins

I know, I know, there are like a thousand versions of this, but I have been trying to pack in as many healthy recipes as I can to my stash. With a husband who is borderline on his blood pressure, and now blood sugar (and no, he is not ginorm, he bikes to work daily and really is quite healthy) we are really conscious of what we eat. Here is an uber healthy version that my kids still enjoy (I think it's because we add the chocolate chips for a little fun). I love serving them at breakfast because they keep my kids feeling so full!

2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup ground flax (this is optional but we add it to everything now. I buy whole seeds and grind what I need in the blender. The whole seed has a shelf life of two years. I even sprinkle the ground flax on my kids' peanut butter sandwiches and in their fruit smoothies)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 heaping tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/8 tsp. ginger (for banana) or nutmeg (for pumpkin)
1/4 tsp. salt

Put above ingredients in bowl and stir with whisk.

In blender or mixer combine:
3 ripe bananas or 15 oz can pumpkin +1/4 cup water
2 eggs
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup honey (or agave or sugar)
1 tsp. vanilla

Combine wet and dry ingredients and add 1/2 - 1 cup chocolate chips
Cook at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. I use a mini muffin tin. These little guys are super filling!
Makes about 40 mini muffins and they freeze beautifully!

Camping Food: Kielbasa Tin Foil Dinner

3/4 pound fresh green beans, trimmed and halved
1/2 pound red potatoes, quartered
1 large onion, sliced
1 pound smoked sausage, cut into 1-inch pieces (we used turkey kielbasa)
1 t. salt
1 t. pepper
2 t. butter, melted
1/3 c. water

Put everything on a sheet of foil and seal tightly with many layers of foil, leaving only a small opening. Pour water into the opening and seal. If prepping at home, don't add water until just before cooking so it doesn't spill out everywhere while in transit. Cook 20 to 30 minutes in hot coals, turning once.

Camping Food: Orange Cinnamon Biscuits

orange
pre-made cinnamon roll

Take a large orange and slice it in half along its equator. Scoop out the halves of the orange, keeping the skin intact. Place a pre-made cinnamon roll (the ones in the tube) into one of the orange halves. Replace the other half of the orange skin and wrap the whole thing in foil (or a couple of pieces of foil). Place the foil balls into hot coals for 10 minutes, turning once during cooking. The cinnamon roll will cook, picking up the flavor of the orange.

Note: the scooping of the orange may be easier to do at home.

Camping Food: Baked Apples

apples
brown sugar
cinnamon

Fill each core of an apple with 1 tablespoon brown sugar and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon. Wrap each apple in a large piece of heavy foil (or a couple of pieces, just to be sure not to burn them). Place the apple in the coals of a campfire or barbecue grill and let cook for 5 - 10 minutes (we found 8 worked well). Remove and unwrap, being careful of the hot sugar.

I'm sure this would work in an oven as well.