Healthier Lasagna

The other day I made Bethenny Frankel's recipe for lasagna. I wanted to try this recipe because it was healthier and didn't call for a lot of cheese. I used ground meat instead of turkey sausage because that's what I already had in my freezer. I also used my homemade sauce because I had some made already.

INGREDIENTS

• 8 ounces whole wheat lasagna noodles
• 1 pound turkey sausage (take it out of the casing)
• 16 ounces any tomato sauce (don’t be a hero--just buy the kind in a jar)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian (flat leaf) parsley
• 2 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
• 15 ounces part–skim ricotta cheese
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 4 ounces shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Cook the noodles according to package directions. Set them aside.
2. Brown the turkey sausage in a nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Stir in the tomato sauce. Set aside.
3. In a bowl, combine the parsley, basil, ricotta cheese, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
4. Spray a baking pan (9x13 inches) with cooking spray. Ladle about 1/3 of the tomato meat mixture into the bottom of the pan. Cover with half the noodles. Spread half the herb-ricotta mixture over the noodles. Repeat with another 1/3 of the sauce, the remaining noodles, the remaining ricotta-herb mixture, then cover the whole thing with the remaining sauce. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese and the Parmesan cheese over the top.
5. Bake for 30 – 45 minutes or until heated through and bubbling.

You should definitely check out Bethenny's website because there are lots of great recipes to try. I'm gonna try the Pumpkin Marble Cheesecake next.

Almost to 200 followers!

I can't believe I'm at 190 followers....only ten more to reach one of my 2010 goals! Thanks to all of you that continue to follow me and are patience with my sporadic posts. And welcome to all my new followers. :)

Favorite Thing #197 - Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion - Sin

I've been using this favorite thing for a while and I'm surprised I haven't blogged about it. Favorite Thing #197 is Urban Decay's Eyeshadow Primer Potion and this amazing product is in my daily make up routine. This primer works either as a stand alone champagne eye shadow or as a base shadow. I love it because it stays on ALL DAY and helps my other shadows stay put. When I apply it, I put some on my lid and then blend it with my finger. It's a nice subtle shimmer and like I said it lasts all day. One bottle should last you a long time...I've had mine since March and I still think I've got a good amount left. It's definitely worth the $18.

Happy Birthday to my niece!

Happy 2nd Birthday to my adorable niece. We celebrated her birthday this weekend by going to the Halloween parade and a My Little Pony party. She is the cutest and I can't believe she is 2 already.

Free Rue La La Credit

One of my favorite online shopping destinations is offering new members $20 in credit just for signing up! Rue La La is a By-Invitation-Only Sample Sale site. Click Here to sign up using my personal invitation link. This link will grant you immediate access to the site after you sign up and give you $20 in credit. The credit is only available till October 25th so sign up now!

Some of the upcoming boutiques that I'm looking forward to are Miss Sixty (great outerwear), Jack Rodgers, special boutique Power Dressing: Own the room from work to play and Puma.

Paula Deen's Crunch Top Apple Pie - YUM!

We have lots of apples at the house from last weekend's apple picking adventure. I decided to make an apple pie per Hubby's request. I tried Paula Deen's Crunch Top Apple Pie and it was DELICIOUS! Pretty easy to make...I used pre-made pie crust which I think helped. The time consuming part was peeling and chopping the apples.

Ingredients

Dough and Filling:

• Dough for a double crust 9-inch pie (homemade, frozen, or refrigerated)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Dash salt
• 3 1/2 cups peeled, chopped cooking apples
• 1 (16-ounce) jar applesauce
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons butter, chopped into small pieces
• 
  

Crunch Topping:

• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• Dash salt
• 1 tablespoon butter, at room temperature

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Line a 9-inch pie pan with half of dough. Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. Stir in apples, applesauce, and lemon juice. Spoon apple mixture into pie pan and dot with butter. Cut remaining crust into strips; arrange in a lattice design over top of pie. For crunch topping, combine flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Using a fork, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over top of crust. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees F and continue to bake for about 45 minutes, or until crust and topping are golden brown.

Halloween Costumes

I'm not a very big fan of dressing up for Halloween. Hubby on the other hand loves it. For the past five Halloweens we've been together I've only had to dress up once. This year will make it twice because our friend is throwing a Halloween party. We are going as a 70s couple. I will be wearing this...


The dress actually is pretty cute. Hubby on the other hand will not be looking so cute. He's going as "Disco Stu" some movie character I've never heard of that has a beer belly, crazy chest hair and tacky clothes. We should be an interesting couple that night.

A Great Target Find

I fell in love with this look (as seen in Lucky Mag) but never could find the dress at Target or online. I was so bummed because this is the perfect outfit for work. The other day when I was at Target I found a very similar version and had to try it on!

The Merona Collection Doubleweave Crepe Emme Dress fit great. I paired it with a black turtleneck underneath and it's super cute. I can't wait for the weather to cool down so I can wear it. The dress retails for $39.99 and fits true to size.

Etsy Find!

I was really disappointed when I found out that the etsy seller that made the wood plaques I bought a while back moved to Germany and wasn't making them anymore. I searched etsy to find a new seller and found StyleMarkDesigns.

She also does wood plaques that are very affordable. They are different from the ones that I've bought previously but I really like them. The seller was very responsive and professional. I was so happy with the quality of service and product that I will definitely be ordering from her again. Check her stuff out.

Boot Debacle

I'm a big fan of Steve Madden Inka boots. I currently have them in black and have been debating on whether or not to get them in brown as well. I've been on the hunt for new flat brown boots for a while and just haven't found any that I like as much as these. What should I do...just get them or still hunt for a different pair? I found these from Urban Outfitters that are cute but I'm not sure about the color and they aren't leather. What's a girl to do??

Weekend Recap

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. Work has been really busy and by the time I get home I just don't have any energy to blog. This weekend was relaxing and laid back. I worked from home on Friday because I needed to get new tires and brakes on my car. I shouldn't complain because in the six years that I've had my Corolla I've never had to put any money into it except routine oil changes. Saturday we spend the day cleaning up the house and finding Halloween costumes (more on that in another post) and then had date night. We went to the movies and saw...


We both really enjoyed the movie. I definitely would recommend seeing it. After the movie, we tried a new cupcake place...

They were good but not a good as Favorite Thing #188 - Georgetown Cupcake. Sunday was a relaxing day spent catching up on some TV, putting together my nieces birthday gift and apple picking with our friends. It was a gorgeous day to be outside and so fun to catch up with friends.