Monday, November 12, 2012

Use It Up Days 11-13: Lasagna Rolls

Do you like how it took me a week to progress one day in my series?  It's ok - it's been a full week.  We chose a name for our new baby girl.  Coming Soon: Naomi Kate!  We started painting the playroom upstairs (so we can set it up, so we can clear out some stuff from Malachi's room, so we can redecorate and reorganize Malachi's room to accommodate a baby sister, so we can paint, so we can....I'm exhausted).  Jeremy and I had a for-real, awesome date.  Mom, Malachi, and I spent a day visiting my grandmother and shopping and eating.  And on the downside, we've been sick in this house (still) and it's been pretty yucky. People in town have had this same sickness for weeks and even **gulp** months on end.  I refuse to even consider that I might still feel like this 2 or 3 weeks from now.

Back when I made lasagna two years ago, I ended up with something like 4 leftover noodles.  They sat in my cabinet forever and simultaneously took up space and got on my nerves.  They even moved with me when we moved to our new house.  Seriously?  But I didn't want to waste them.  When I made lasagna this year, I ended up with 12 or so leftover lasagna noodles, and absolutely no desire to make lasagna again for a long time.  So I was excited to find a way to use up the noodles during my little experiment.  Sadly, I didn't use them all up, but I did end up with a recipe that I like and a way to use them up the next time we want a repeat of this meal.  That's been a cool part of this project - not actually using things up, but at least knowing what I am going to do with the leftovers in the future.  It's nice to have that kind of confidence and to feel like my leftovers have a higher purpose in life than growing freezer burn.


I also think I've become a little more creative about how to use up leftovers, or maybe just more intentional about doing it.  I don't like leftovers much - honestly, I am not big on eating the same thing more than once in a week.  But I have gotten a little more creative, and that's been a cool thing to see develop.  I feel like I haven't thrown as much away, and I also haven't cooked quite as much because we've been trying to have leftovers for dinner more often when things are close to the end of their shelf life.

I'm still catching you up on my last week of "Use it Up," but I am actually currently planning my shopping trip for my first real trip to the store since we started.  Yay!  I'm pretty excited.

Day 11 was lasagna rolls (below).  Day 12 was leftovers.  Day 13 I made chicken noodle soup because I was desperate.  

Lasagna Rolls
Inspired by this recipe.

  • 9 uncooked lasagna noodles
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 2 cups ricotta cheese
  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 3/8 cup Parmesan cheese (and yes, you can just round it up to 1/2 a cup if you want to)
  • 1 package frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 2 cups tomato sauce (I used leftover of this)
Cook lasagna noodles until al dente according to package directions.  Drain and pat dry.  Stir together eggs, cheese, spinach, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.  Spread about 2 tablespoons-ish cheese mixture over each noodle.  Carefully roll them up.  


Coat the bottom of a baking pan with sauce.  Place the roll-ups seam-side down over the sauce, and top with remaining sauce.  Bake at 375 (uncovered) for 25 minutes.  Top with some extra mozzarella cheese if desired, then bake another 5 minutes.


1 comment:

  1. This looks very nice! I love how you presented it by photo! Looks very appetizing! Thanks again for sharing! I bet Naomi Kate loved it! Hoping she will love all kinds of foods you fix!
    Love, Mom Dilly

    ReplyDelete