21 Day Fix: Lasagna Roll Ups *Updated*

So, I grew up on Italian food.  Not Italian food from a restaurant, or a pizzeria....like, authentic Italian food from the old country.  My grandmother taught me the essentials of Italian cooking at the ripe old age of 8, when I would stay up late the night before Thanksgiving and watch her every move in the kitchen.  The GRAVY (yes, in my Italian house, we called the sauce that cooks on the stove for hours on end with sausage, meatballs and bracciole - so fondly called "bra-jole", GRAVY) was on the stove, the fresh lasagna noodles were on every inch of flat, floured surface in the kitchen and dining room, the fresh mozzarella was all sliced up, and the fresh ricotta mixture was ready to be applied.  Assembly was like a fine tuned machine, placing everything with care, precision and let's not forget, amazing speed!  Man, I remember it like it was yesterday...some of my favorite times were spent in that kitchen on the evening before Thanksgiving...

So, what does this mean? It means I know good Italian food.  I know a lame attempt at Italian food when I see one.  This recipe?  Its pretty darn good!!

Check it out:

Lasagna Roll-Ups
serves 4
Cook time: 40 mins

(1) 15 oz. container of part skim Ricotta Cheese
(8) Cooked {Whole Wheat} Lasagna Noodles - if you can't find whole wheat, use regular...I had trouble finding whole wheat lasagna noodles
(1/3) C. Parmesan
(1) C. Shredded Mozzarella
(1) Large Egg
(1/2) Lb. Cooked Ground Turkey
(3-4) C. Tomato Sauce, Gravy...whatever! (I use homemade, usually, but this time I used Rao's...it happened to be on sale for $4.99 and it's worth every red cent...the best!)
(4) C. Baby Spinach
(3) Cloves of Garlic, Minced
(1/2) tsp. Italian Seasoning
S & P for seasoning...use sparingly!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cook Lasagna Noodles, drain.
Cook Turkey.
In a bowl mix:
Ricotta, Spinach, Parmesan, Egg, Italian Seasoning, Garlic, S&P and Ground Turkey.
Place 1 Cup of Sauce in the bottom of a glass baking dish. 
For each Lasagna Noodle, pat dry and spread the mixture over about 3/4 of the noodle.  Roll up and place in the baking dish, seam side down.
Top with approximately 3/4 C. of Sauce on each roll, and about 1/8 C. Shredded Mozzarella.
Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 40 mins. 

Each serving is 2 rolls and can be counted as:
(1) - Green (1 C. of Spinach)
(1) - Purple (1 C. of Tomato Sauce)
(1) - Red (3/4 C. Total of Ricotta + Egg + Turkey)
(1) - Yellow (2 Lasagna Noodles)
(1) - Blue (1/3 Cup of cheeses)

I think for this dish, the quality of the ingredients will make a big difference in the true-to-Italian taste.  To keep it a bit more authentic, you might want to opt for the non-whole wheat variety of lasagna noodles, but, experiment! have fun with it! And because the quality of the ingredients is key, don't skimp.  Buy the good stuff ;) you won't regret it! 

*EDIT* upon {trying} to eat one WHOLE serving, I realized I could not--sadly! So, I would say each serving is really ONE roll and just cut the containers in half...really...way too much food! 

Mangia! Buon Appetito!

Asian Quinoa Turkey/ Chicken Meatballs

How appetizing do these bad boys look? 

They're really good.  Honestly!! And not in that typical "Asian style" that everyone makes, the teriyaki sweetness...that's not Asian, that's just boring! This has a great Siracha flavor...a little spice!

Here it is:

1 lb. ground turkey (I used ground chicken) 

1 C. Cooked quinoa

3 cloves of garlic

2 green onions (plus more for garnish)

1 large egg

1 T. Soy sauce (low sodium is best)

2 tsp. Sesame oil

1 tsp. Siracha, or more to taste

Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

Sesame seeds for garnish

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Lightly grease a baking dish (I used Pam)

Mix all ingredients for the meatballs in a bowl. I used a cookie scooper to make 24 1 1/2" balls (wet hands every few balls, it makes for easier rolling)

Bake for about 20 minutes.  

Now, the sauce:

1/4 C. Soy sauce (low sodium is best)

2 T. Rice vinegar

1 T. Freshly grated ginger (they have it in a tube, now....awesome!!)

1 T. Packed brown sugar (light or dark...doesn't matter)

1 tsp. Sesame oil 

1 tsp. Siracha, or more to taste

2 tsp. Cornstarch

1/2 C. Water

Whisk it all together and put in small sauce pit.  Cook until thickened.  I add the sesame seeds in, here.

I served mine over brown rice, and each meatball was approximately 55 calories.  So, for an easy 500 calorie dinner, 1/2 C. (Or one yellow container) of brown rice, and 6 meatballs will do the trick! (Actually, it's 498 calories, but, who's counting??)

I haven't figured out exactly what this would translate to in 21 Day Fix containers, but, I'm thinking 1 1/2 yellow and 1 red?? 

Simply put: My Story.

I'm sure you've read stories about weight loss "journies" that's what we like to call it, our "journey"...I guess it's because that's really what it is...it's a trek, it's a wild ride, it's constant ups and downs and wanting to quit and wanting to keep pushing.  I suppose a better name for it would be a roller coaster...but, nobody would find that to be too encouraging...oh, yeah, let me take you on an emotional and physical roller coaster...sounds like fun, right? Nope. So, we so eloquently rename it our "Journey"... Well, here's mine:

I graduated college in 2006, ironically enough, the same year I met my now husband.  I was around 160 lbs.  at 5' 6", with a slightly muscular build, that's pretty lean.  I wore a size 6/8 in women's pants and my diet consisted of primarily cigarettes and coffee during the day when I was in class and work, and when I cooked at night, I found about 487 ways to jazz up tomato soup.  Classy, huh?? 

Anyway.

I met my husband right after graduation, and as the years built on to our relationship, I gained what most people would call "comfort weight"...fast forward to my wedding day, and I'm at about 185 and wearing a size 10.  I'm still pretty comfortable with my size and weight, especially since I landed my man, and I wanted to have kids ASAP...which I did.  Our 1 year anniversary was a sober one because I was pregnant with our fist son. I wound up gaining a whopping 40 lbs with him...FORTY...I'm now up to 225 lbs.  Needless to say my doctor wasn't too happy with those numbers.  I was determined to lose it all. I started off strong! Down 25 lbs! Screech....halt! Pregnant, again!  I found out I was pregnant, again, right before my son turned 1.  We had started announcing it earlier than we did with the first because we were excited.  Then, a couple weeks later...a small tragedy.  I suffered a miscarriage.  Only about 2 months along, but, a small piece of me died along with that baby.  We named him or her Jaime and attempted to move on with our lives. I bet you didn't realize you can suffer from postpartum depression after a miscarriage...and I did.  Who could focus on losing weight after something so sad? Not this lady.

So, there I was...heavier than I'd ever been, depressed and my marriage was suffering.  I'm lucky my son was so small and didn't know the difference because I'm sure he would have suffered, too.

A few months later, I get pregnant, again! We're cautious not to announce it, and we wind up with a beautiful baby boy! Our rainbow baby! With that pregnancy I gained 25 and then lost 40! Yay! Oh, but, I was also diagnosed with Hypotyroidism.  Nice.  Makes your metabolism slow as molasses in the wintertime...among other things, but, you could imagine how awesome it was to have that "minor" setback...anyway, I was back to my wedding weight! Back in my size 10s! I'm nursing and the weight is shedding! 4 months in: whammo! Pregnant, again! Oofa! When does this fertile myrtle take a break?? Never, I guess! 

Gained 30 lbs with my daughter.  And after I had her, I couldn't even think of losing weight...my eldest was in speech therapy 2 times a week, and the three of them were so demanding, I could barely find time to do anything...

Then....another small tragedy: my husband lost his job.  Now, I'm a stay at home mom.  We worked on the weekends with an adult sports league and that made up some great income, but, certainly not enough to supplement my husband's entire salary....we did what we needed to do...we bunkered down, ate lousy food because it was cheap...we didn't qualify for food stamps, bc that would have obviously helped out in buying food that was more nutritious than hamburger helper (ugh! I cringe when j think about the crap I used to put in my body). 

I felt awful, my body hated me.  I don't blame it...I hated me, too. 

My husband ultimately found another job.  A job he loves and is good, nay, great at! So, really, everything happens for a reason...

So, now...here I am, I have hit rock bottom.  I hate the way I look. I am steadily growing out of my clothes.  I'm 207.5 lbs, and a size 14.  I needed to change something.  And I say I hit rock bottom because I believe that people only really start to get serious about changing their habits when they have hit rock bottom.  I was there.  I began to work out, track my calories on my fitness pal, and I started to feel good, again.  My progress was slow, but, it was progress...so who cares?! I'm down 18 lbs! 189...and slowly going down... BAM! Pregnant, again. 

Whoops!

My OB warned me that a 4th c section and a 5th pregnancy in 4 years would reek havoc on my uterus.  It could rupture, ultimately killing me and perhaps my unborn child.  Scary.  Talk about below rock bottom.  I've always wanted a big family, so, a 4th child didn't scare me.  What do I do?  Okay. I got this.  I was introduced to Beachbody and didn't think much of it until I had to make sure I didn't gain a lot of weight during my pregnancy.  So, here I go.  My OB didn't approve shakeology for me, given my history of complications and preterm labor.  21 day fix, let's do this!

I gained 20 lbs.  that's it! My doc was so happy with my weight gain (or, lack thereof) and I knew this was for me.  After I had my son, I hit the ground running, once, again...this time with shakeology! Holy moly. Not only did my doctor look at my scar in amazement at my 6 week check up, but she told me I was amazing, and that my uterus looked as healthy as it did before I had kids! It's amazing what eating clean can do for your body, inside and out! 

So, here I am...down to 166 lbs...a size 6, and determined to keep going.  

That's it.  That's my story.  Maybe a little drawn out.  Maybe I forgot a few details...but, that's how I remember it, and that's what rings in the back of my mind when I feel like giving up...

Many people will turn up their noses at your "journey" maybe because it's a term used so often these days...who knows...but, next time you hear about someone's journey, think of how much work went into getting where they are...they're not bragging for the sake of showing you how you should be living...they're simply sharing with the world how proud they are of themselves and are finally confident enough to show you their struggles and leave themselves vulnerable to your criticism.  Be kind.  A journey is just that.  It's a trek through what feels like hell and back.  It's hard, and worth it.  It's climbing up mountains laced with chocolate and sugar.  It's trekking through vallies of beer and buffalo wings...soda and ice cream...it's resisting because you're not willing to set yourself back after all the work you've already put in.  But, most of all, it's your badge of honor.  To show the work you've done, all you've accomplished, and the promise you've made to yourself and your loved ones...that you're going to be the best "you" you can be.  And your body will thank you for it.

Seriously.