Ravioli and Escarole Lasagna

I’ve been thinking more and more about cutting red meat from my diet. It really won’t affect me all that much. Looking at this week so far, I haven’t had red meat. The last time I had red meat was last Wednesday when we ate tacos. Of course considering how little I eat red meat (remember I think steak tastes like liver, so I avoid that almost always!), it probably doesn’t matter whether I eat the occasional bit of ground beef. Pork would be harder for me to give up. I love pork sausage, pork roll, bacon, ham steak, pulled pork, and the Carnitas at Chipotle. This would be a major sacrifice and I just don’t think I could do it. Have any of you cut things out of your diets (for non health reasons) that you thought you couldn’t give up, but you made it through? BTW I’m seriously not cutting out pork. Don’t even ask me about it!



Ah, dinner. I had been feeling sick during the day yesterday and I was very concerned that I wouldn’t be able to eat dinner. Less concerned about my food intake and more concerned that I wouldn’t have a blog post for you all. (See how much I love all of you!) Luckily my sickness turned and I was starving. I wanted to make something interesting, but easy for everyone. I’m still on my lazy kick. Don’t judge me too harshly!  The only way I can continue cooking most every day is if I am allowed lazy weeks.  So, Ravioli and Escarole Lasagna (from Everyday with Rachel Ray) was what was for dinner last night. There are times when it’s just easier to substitute ingredients rather than waste what you already have. I had spinach left over from the lentil soup, so I used that instead of escarole. (Both leafy greens, what’s the difference!) You are probably thinking, how in the world is lasagna for the lazy cook? This lasagna is perfect for the lazy cook! It’s only 5 ingredients and those are ravioli, escarole (spinach), 1 24 oz jar of red sauce, Italian sausage, and mozzarella cheese.


All you do is take the sausage out of the casing and cook it over medium heat (crumbling it as you cook) , until it’s no longer pink. Take it out of the pan (I drained the grease out of the pan, it’s not required) and then put the escarole/spinach in with some salt and pepper. Cook that until it’s wilted. Take the jar of red sauce and spread it in the bottom of a casserole dish, layer the ravioli next (I used the refrigerator kind), then sausage, escarole/spinach and the cheese on top. I’m pretty sure I didn’t use as much cheese as suggested (16 oz) that just seems like way too much even for a cheese lover. You pop that in the oven at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes, let it cool for about 5 minutes and there’s your dinner!

Final Proguct:

This was good. It could have been better. When I was eating it I wasn’t sure what I didn’t like about it, if it was the jarred sauce (which I don’t use often) or the sausage. Anthony told me it was the sausage, there was just too much of it. I used 4 links, which was a little over a pound. I didn’t want to waste any. Think I might only use 3 links next time and freeze the extra one. This meal would be a good addition to a weeknight menu, as long as you used less sausage. This will also make for good leftovers.


Tonight I won’t be cooking. We are going to The Owl House. Figure I might as well review the food we have on Facebook tomorrow. It’s a pretty cool place. This weekend I’m really planning on challenging myself by making risotto with asparagus. To say I’m nervous would be an understatement. After work today I might actually run to Wegmans and get a frozen pizza just in case!

Milanese Gnocchi and Vegetable Stew

Day 15-First let me discuss the reality shows I viewed this week. One non-cooking show that I have to complain about is The Real Housewives of NJ. Joe’s story about how he got into his car accident and that he drank right after the accident happened before the police came not while driving. Really?! Do you really think anyone believes you Joe?! And seriously could Teresa and Joe’s children been any more annoying. Every time they were screaming or running or doing who knows what last night I was cringing. Holy cow, if I were Caroline and Albert I would have said no way to babysitting on the cruise. Poor people, I wouldn’t be able to tolerate those children.

Onto the Next Food Network Star. I say thank goodness for Aria finally leaving! I’ve never like her and her stupid family style point of view. I’m pulling for Aarti or Tom to win this thing. Although lately Aarti has really been screwing up, so maybe Tom deserves it more. Hell’s Kitchen update and spoiler alert: Holli won! Yay! I was pulling for either of them, but her son is so dang cute and for that I wanted her to win a little bit more. Holli have fun in London! Lucky duck! MasterChef was much better this week, with the contestants being challenged to slice and dice a ton of onions perfectly. I noticed some contestants struggling with their onions like I do, and for that they were kicked off the show! The egg challenge was next. They each got one egg and had to cook a dish with the egg being the star. I would have failed at that since I don’t eat eggs and have only cooked eggs once or twice. The woman with the same issue ended up baking her egg perfectly though, and she made it through. Poaching is the way to go, and I think I’m going to have to challenging myself with poaching some eggs. I’ll be blogging about the challenge after my vacation.

And then there was me. The minute I got into the kitchen to cook, I checked to make sure all my produce looked okay. Luckily it did. Whew, sigh of relief. Another mold sighting and I would have completely lost my mind. Looking at the page in the cookbook that the recipe was on, I knew I was going to have an easy night. This recipe said that if you eat one bowl of this stew you become 4.7 days younger. I guess that’s better then nothing. None of the other recipes I've made have claimed something like this.

Simple, simple, simple. You heat some olive oil (from the jar of sun dried tomatoes) in a pan with garlic. Add 3 cups of chicken or veggie broth; I used chicken. Bring it to a boil, add your prepackaged gnocchi (you didn’t think I actually made it did you?) and sun dried tomatoes. Cook until the gnocchi are done, which is when they are floating to the top. Stir in 2 cups of escarole, and cook another minute. Stir in diced plum tomatoes and serve in bowls. Top with gorgonzola cheese (we used feta), sage, and hot red pepper flakes.

Final Product:

Loved it! I thought it was super. I will definitely be making this recipe again. I figure if I eat enough of it I could be 30 again in another year! (It’s a joke people; the book claims that you decrease your RealAge by eating this meal.) Anthony seemed to like it too, so it’s a keeper. No changes needed to the recipe, unless you also don’t like gorgonzola.

The blog isn’t a long one today. I’m too tired to write. I think all of the ranting yesterday exhausted all of my energy. Tonight I’m making sliders with chipotle mayo and wedge potatoes. Hoping it’s as yum as it sounds. Think I’ll pull some carrots from the garden and cook them up too.