Chicken Vegetable Lasagna

This was a really good twist on good ol lasagna! Mike even suggested next time I make it without the chicken. What?! I agree though, it really doesn't even need it. The vegetables are just yummy. I halved this recipe and baked it in a a smaller dish.

12 lasagna noodles
6 c. chicken broth
1/2 c flour
2 t. italian seasoning
2 T olive oil
2 T butter
3 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cubed
1 med. onion chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2 c shredded carrot
2 med. tomatoes, chopped
2 c. chopped, frozen spinach
3 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Place lasagna noodles in 9x13 pan. Fill pan with hot hot water and drizzle with olive oil and let noodles soak while preparing other ingredients. (omit this step if using oven-ready lasagna noodles). In a large sauce-pan, whisk together chicken broth, flour, half of italian seasoning. Bring to boil over med-high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and allow sauce to simmer and thicken while preparing chicken and vegetables. Heat olive oil in large skillet over med-high heat. Add cubed chicke, and the rest of italian seasoning. Add salt and pepper to taste. Saute until chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate. In the same skillet, melt butter, then add onion, garlic and carrots. Cook and stir until tender. Add chopped tomatoes and frozen spinach and cook until heated through. Return chicken to skillet with veggies.

Spread a scant cup of sauce in bottom of pan. Top with noodles and layer veggies and cheese and noodles and sauce. Top with parm. cheese.

Bake, uncovered for 45 mintues, until lasagna is bubbly and cheese is golden brown. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

My Favorite Smoothies

I got on a smoothie kick a few months back, my friend Michelle introduced me to her whole foods shake, which actually can taste pretty good-and I feel sooo good every time I eat one. Using a bosch blender you can mix up pretty much anything! Whole apples, tons of spinach, grapes, peaches, anything you have on hand. Add a slice of citrus with the peel included and you have a pretty tasty way to get your 5 servings of fruits and veggies in one blast! I do this sometimes, but sometimes I just need a really tasty jamba-like smoothie. It changes depending on what fruit I have. I frequently buy the frozen fruit at wal-mart. Here are some of my favorite fruit to use:
Always bananas, frozen or not.It adds creaminess, and its a great way to use up those extra-ripe ones, you can't tell in the smoothie.
mangos and peaches
mixed berries
strawberries
raspberries
And my secret ingredient: doles frozen fruit juice concentrate! I find these on sale at broulims often, and stock up. Any frozen juice concentrate would work though. I add a couple tablespoons of this in and it sweetens it perfectly.
About 1/2-1 cup water depending how thick you like it, I like mine THick.
A tablespoon or two of pwd. dry milk. It adds calcium and makes it nice and creamy, like ice cream. mmmm.
A splash of vanilla
A pinch of salt.

Mix it all up, then once its smooth turn it on full blast and let it go for 30 seconds. This whips some air into it and makes it yummier!

Try it with toast for a delish breakfast!