PWYF Moment: Angela's Italian Melt Casserole

PWYF. Play with your food. It’s our philosophy. And many of you have whole-heartedly embraced the challenge of looking at a recipe, then figuring out how to change it so that it works for YOUR weight-loss surgery lifestyle, preferences and tastes.

I love it. And I especially love it when you share the results with me.

Today we celebrate Angela’s PWYF moment.

Angela saw my taco casserole recipe and thought to herself (this is complete fabrication of what I THINK she thought to herself): “Self? I’d love to have an Italian version of this casserole. In fact, I will have an Italian version of this casserole. I WILL PLAY WITH MY FOOD!!!!”

(Then trumpets sounded, fireworks went off, there was “hair wind”…it was quite the spectacle…you should have seen it!)

S'anyway. I "helped" with this recipe as Angela put a little of this, a little of that in her recipe. From what she relayed to me, here's what I've got for you! (Angela, chime in if I got any of this wrong! I also took a little bit of creative license...)

Angela’s Italian Melt Casserole

Ingredients:
(Ingredients Nik added have an *)

• 1 Vidalia onion, chopped
• 1 bag baby spinach
• 1 clove garlic, minced*
• Optional: sliced mushrooms
• 1 lb. ground turkey (Angela's recipe called for 1.5 lbs. ground turkey but I like the ground turkey/Italian sausage combo. Go with what YOU feel!)
• 1/2 lb. turkey or regular Italian sausage* (I put Italian sausage in everything!)
• 1 (10 oz.) can of Italian-style diced tomatoes
• 1 (12 oz.) can of cannelini beans, drained and rinsed of canning liquids
• 2 c. Italian-blend shredded cheese

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees then spray a skillet with nonstick cooking spray and set it over medium heat on your stove and allow it to get hot. 

Add onion and sautee until slightly soft. Add spinach and sautee until wilted. If you choose to add mushrooms, do so now and cook until soft. Finally, add garlic.

Add meat to pan and brown, mixing vegetables into the meat mixture. When the meat is completely browned, add in your tomatoes and beans and stir through.

Transfer to a 13x9 casserole dish, cover with cheese and bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until cheese is bubbly. I personally would let it go another 5-7 minutes until the cheese is browned!

Thank you, Angela, for sharing this recipe! I actually think I'm gonna make it later on this week. I'll report back on my results.

Until then, keep playing with your food!

Oh..and look for yet another PWYF post tomorrow. It's fun with cauliflower!

Amanda's Faux Lasagna Meatball Bake

Yeah, I MAY have just licked my screen and...it MAY have tasted just a wee bit nasty. BUT this food looks delicious!

So this is me admittedly putting the cart before the horse a little bit.

I think I am the only healthy eating blog that does not feature a no-noodle lasagna recipe. Mexican lasagna? Yes. No-noodle (which subs zucchini generally for noodles), no. And it was precisely because it was in so many other places that I did not put it here.

But a Foodie said something to me the other day that made me think. She said, "I only really check your blog for recipes, so if I can't find it there I figure it's not worth finding." Firstly, what a SWEET thing to say! Secondly, she reminded me I have a responsibility not to hold back any yumminess from the Foodie Nation. My apologies!

I just so happen to be making no-noodle lasagna for my lunches this week, so stay tuned for my version of it complete with pics of the biggest damn zucchini I ever did see.

But for now, please accept Amanda's recipe remix. I love remixes! It shows how you can play with your food and get something fun and tasty.

Amanda's Faux-Lasagna Meatball Bake


1/2 lb. ground beef
1/4 cup TVP (if you're going "Wuzzat?" click here.)
1/4 water
1/2 jar spaghetti sauce ( reserve 3/4 cup)
3 zucchini sliced length wise and grilled
3 yellow squash sliced length wise and grilled
8 oz. light goat cheese (softened)
2 tsp pesto
1 pkg Trader Joe Turkey Meatballs (unless you can find some with less than 4g of fat)
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup shredded Romano cheese

Preheat oven to 350.  


In a small bowl mix TVP and water and set aside. 


Brown ground beef mix in TVP and spaghetti sauce.  I always add extra seasoning and garlic to my sauce to give it more flavor.  Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with olive oil spray.  


Spread meat, TVP sauce mixture in the bottom.  In a separate bowl, mix together goat cheese and pesto.  Drop by the spoonful on top of sauce mixture.  


Layer the grilled squash and zucchini on top of the goat cheese.  Evenly space the meatballs across the top and spoon the reserved 3/4 cup spaghetti sauce over them.  


Sprinkle mozzarella and Romano cheeses on top and bake 30-45 minutes until hot and bubbly.

For the zucchini and squash, I had grilled it off a couple of days ahead and had it  with grilled chicken.  Slice in 1/4 inch slices length-wise, then coat with olive oil and no salt seasoning blend.

I served it with Nik's WLS-friendly Mozzarella Sticks, salad, and steamed green beans.  I'm only 4 months 3 weeks out so of course I didn't eat it all, but even my non-WLS hubby said it was good.