Hey Foodie friends,

I’ve been struggling a bit with which food direction I would like to go. I would like to lose a few extra pounds and achieve my long desired muscle definition goal. Most research says to dump the carbs and “beef” up proteins in order to kick your metabolism into gear. WELL…I grew up in an Italian family and asking me to give up carbs is like asking me to cut off a limb. So, in short I’m making a few tweeks to our diet. I hope you guys enjoy the ride with us and maybe get a bit closer to your fitness goals too.

Our favorite First Grade teacher shared a Low Carb lasagna recipe with us and to say I was excited to make it would be putting it mildly. I made a few changes to the recipe, actually only the sauce. I/we loved this recipe, even Kerri, our favorite seventh grade teacher, who is not a zucchini fan loved it. And I will have to admit, although don’t tell my mom, I didn’t miss the pasta.

Low Carb Zucchini Lasagna

Recipe adapted from: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Low-Carb Meals

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 (15oz.) can tomato sauce (I made a marinara with turkey sausage and ground turkey which can be found HERE)
• 1 clove garlic, minced (I used Chimichurri instead and that can be found HERE)
• 1 tsp. basil
• 2 tsp. rosemary
• 1 ½ c ricotta cheese
• ½ c grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 egg
• 1 ½ lb. zucchini, cut lengthwise into ¼ inch slices
• 4 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
  

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Brown ground beef in a large skillet and drain.
  
• Stir in tomato sauce, garlic, basil and rosemary.
  
• Heat to boiling.
  
• Reduce heat and simmer about 10 minutes.
  
• Mix ricotta, ¼ c Parmesan and egg in small bowl.
• In 9x13 inch greased baking pan, layer zucchini, cheese mixture, meat sauce, and mozzarella. Repeat. Sprinkle ¼ grated Parmesan on top.
• Bake for 45 minutes.
  
• Let stand 20 minutes before serving.
  
• Slice into 8 servings.