Meal Madness: One-Skillet Mama Mia Lasagna

 

I wouldn't call this "lasagna", it is more a pasta dish as you used penne pasta rather than the flat lasagna noodles.  Again, this was a very delicious meal.  Of course, we love our pasta.  I used 99% ground turkey and gluten-free penne rigata. 

Meal Prep Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs 85% lean ground beef
• 1 1/2 tsp Garlic Garlic Seasoning
• 24 oz can no salt added tomato sauce
• 2 Tbsp Mama Mia  Marinara Sauce Mix
• 1 c shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 c penne pasta
• 2 c water

Equipment Needed:

•  can opener
• measuring cups/spoons
• 4 (1 quart) resealable freezer bags
• 1 (1 gallon) resealable freezer bag
• scissors, marker

Meal Prep

1. Place 1 1/2 lbs ground beef and 1 1/2 teaspoons Garlic Garlic Seasoning in a quart freezer bag.  It is ok if seasoning is not completely incorporated into meat because we will add to skillet when making.  Seal well. Set aside.
   
2. Place 24 ounces of tomato sauce and 2 tablespoons Mama Mia Marinara Sauce Mix in a quart freezer bag.  Seal well. Set aside.
3. Place 1 c shredded mozzarella cheese in a quart freezer bag.  Seal well.  Set aside.
4. Place 2 c penne pasta in another quart bag.  Seal well.  Set aside.
5. Label gallon bag with "One-Skillet Mama Mia Lasagna" and today's date.
6. Place all bags in the freezer bag.  Seal well and freeze (or you can refrigerate up to 24 hours.

Finish and Serve

Remove One-Skillet Mama Mia Lasagna from freezer and refrigerate until thawed, about 24 hours.

1. In large skillet over medium-high heat, empty contents of the meat bag.  Cook and crumble until no longer pink, about 6-8 minutes; drain off liquid.
2. 
   Add contents of sauce bag, 2 c of water and contents of pasta bag (2c).  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer until pasta is tender and sauce is thickened, stirring occasionally, about 15-20 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and sprinkle with cheese bag.  Cover and serve when cheese is melted.

Pesto Turkey Burgers

 We love eating burgers.  However, we're not into all the bread with having to watch carbs and gluten.  Yeah, we had fried potatoes - that's kind of why we eliminated the buns.  I probably should have prepared a vegetable like green beans but spaced out on the time.

Original recipe is on a previous blog post from 2016 or you can print it out from our website.  Here are the modifications:

• Avocado Oil instead of the Olive Oil
• 99% fat-free ground turkey instead of lean
• regular bread crumbs instead of the panko bread crumbs
• Liquid egg substitute instead of regular egg
• sliced medium cheddar cheese instead of mozzarella cheese
• didn't mix the pesto with the mayonnaise
• no extra salt & pepper (not listed in the ingredients but mentioned in the instructions)

Oops!  I just noticed that the parmesan cheese was to go into the pesto and I had added it to the ground turkey.  Oh well, it was still delicious.  The pesto that was supposed to be mixed with the mayo, I sprinkled on top of the burger while I was grilling it before adding the cheese slices.

This makes 6 patties (except I only made 5).  Grilled 2 of the patties and froze the rest for a later meal.

This was the Dried Tomato & Garlic Pesto Mix with water.  Microwaved.  The Avocado Oil was added afterwards (another oops!) 

Here I was mixing the ground turkey, bread crumbs, egg, half of the pesto, and the parmesan cheese before forming into patties.

This is "grilling" the patties along with the potatoes.  After flipping, I topped it with the remaining pesto mix.  Then the cheddar cheese slices.

The whole meal took about 30 minutes. It's kind of nice to look back at some of the old recipes and make them again.

Asian Beef & Veggie Skillet

 

I made the above recipe from our 14-Day Reset Program Guide.  We've had this a couple of times before.  I decided to try it again and this time it was much better.

Original recipe is on our website.  I did the following modifications:

• 99% lean ground turkey
• eliminated the sweet peppers
• used 1/2 tablespoon of the Si Si Cilantro Seasoning

Next time, I will probably only use one teaspoon of the seasoning as my husband could still taste the spiciness.   I sliced whole mushrooms instead of buying a package already sliced.  I also grated my own carrots.

The recipe said to use a large skillet.  But as you can see, mine was more like a medium size.  Here, I'm browning the ground turkey.

I then added the veggies and seasoning.  As I was stirring, I ended up cutting the mushrooms into smaller pieces. 

 

I then added the riced cauliflower.  Mixed it in real good and allowed it to heat up.  While that was happening, I did the thickening sauce.

Using a one-cup measuring cup, I used a low-sodium beef broth and added the coconut aminos to it.  Then using a small whisk, mixed in the cornstarch.

I then poured the liquid into the skillet and stirred frequently until the sauce had thickened.

This makes five servings.  We actually had seconds.  I was able to dish up a couple of small containers to freeze for later eating.