Sunday Dinner: Gluten Free Veggie Filled Lasagna Roll-ups

I know,  I know it's Monday but I was so busy cooking yesterday writing everything down seemed, well, daunting :) I like to cook a big meal on Sunday since my husband is home and I have a little extra time in the kitchen. My favorite part about this..... leftovers to send for lunch or to have for dinner another night! Win :) I've been on a long journey the past few years from processed foods to the more natural variety, switching to whole wheat everything was a feat, I mean one of my favorite dishes was a double serving of angle hair pasta with salt and butter! But now that I'm on the  whole wheat train, it's not so bad in fact I'm a bit of a junkie when it comes to health food. The one simple reason, it makes me feel good, like running on a more efficient gasoline. That being said recently I have had a bit of a tummy ache when I eat too much pasta so I picked up these bad boys at whole foods yesterday, they'll set you back about 5 bucks but it works just as well as wheat pasta I think and it makes a whole casserole dish. I did learn 3 important things about this pasta though:

1. It does not puff up at all, what you see is what you get on the plus side though you can boil them all at once.
2. Since we're going to be molding & baking these only cook them for 8 minutes, set a timer! If they get mushy it's game over.
3. Rinse with cold water after draining and let them sit for a moment. Not rinsing will leave you with a starchy residue, nobody wants that!

 For the pasta filling:
2 small green bell peppers
1 stalk celery
1/4 sweet onion
6 carrot
garlic, basil, oregano and red pepper flakes to taste
Pulse everything (I did it one vegetable at a time) until you have small, almost minced chunks
saute on medium heat with a little olive oil until mostly soft (remember it will cook more later)

Spread a small layer onto each lasagna noodle and sprinkle with an Italian cheese if you want to use cheese. I used an asiago/parmesan blend.

                                                                         
                                                                             roll it up!

 Place in a 9x13 baking dish over a layer of marinara sauce. For my sauce I browned 90/10 local organic ground beef, drained the fat and poured a jar of organic pasta sauce over it and let it simmer while I made the veg. mix. You could easily leave out the meat and make this Veg. Head friendly :)

 Cover with sauce and a sprinkle of cheese if using and bake @ 375 for about 30 minutes covered, remove cover and bake for about 10 more minutes.  I would highly advise letting cool at least 15-20 minutes before serving (especially if you have kids!) the insides can be a bit molten. This dish is a commitment but it's totally worth it, and with a little self restraint you can have it later in the week for another meal :)

Super Food Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love eating clean whole foods, that being said, I also enjoy a treat every now and again. Recently I walked through the cookie aisle at whole foods and realized there was one vital thing missing....a damn good chocolate chip cookie without refined sugar. I thought to myself "how is this even possible?!" even if you use chocolate chips with a high cocoa content, there's still that pesky bit of sugar. Don't get me wrong, sugar is delicious but I don't like the way I feel when I eat it, sometimes even in small doses. Then it occurred to me, I would just go straight to the source, cocoa nibs! Then I figured I might as well continue with the super food trend and came up with these little diddies, if you're not committed fully to the idea of a "healthy cookie" I hear ya, try using the "I'm on the fence" suggestions :) For everyone else, I truly hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

• 1C sprouted organic whole wheat flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon finely ground sea salt
• 1 cup extra virgin organic coconut oil
• 3/4 cup organic grade B maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 large organic egg
• 1 C raw organic cocoa nibs 

On the fence?
Try using whole wheat white flour or half white flour and half whole wheat. Coconut oil is delicious (and good for you!) and doesn't taste like coconuts once it's baked but a stick of butter would work as well or you can use a mix of these as well. 

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl.

Lovingly mix coconut oil, maple syrup & vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Whisk the egg and work it into the oil/syrup blend.

Gradually fold in flour mixture. Stir in raw cocoa nib (I like to sing during this part :) Drop by rounded tablespoon onto a parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake for 9-11 minutes and cool on a cooling rack (if you can wait that long!)