Egg-cellent Egg Salad

I am in NO way, shape, or form an egg salad girl.  My husband likes it.  I never have made it. I take that back.  I did make it once.  It just tasted like nasty mush to me.  Now.  I like hard boiled eggs, A LOT.  I dig mayo.  But something about the combination together was just plain icky.  So I never made it again.

Then one day I was on Pinterest.  Oh Pinterest.  You shall be the death of me.  

While I was on there I found a recipe for Avocado, Spinach, Egg Salad.  I like avocado.  I like spinach.  But I don't like egg salad.

So I saved the recipe as one of the 9,000 bookmarks on my computer.  This was months ago.

Yesterday I got brave.  REAL brave and I am SUPER glad I did.  This stuff is YUMMY!  Maybe it is the exclusion of the mayo that does it, or the addition of the yummy avocado, or the nice onion roll I put it on.  Either way...I am making this bad boy again!

  

Ingredients:

• 7 large, hard boiled eggs
• 1/2 cup plain Greek Yogurt  (4oz)
• 2 avocados
• 1 stalk celery, chopped well
• 1 cup baby spinach, chopped into small pieces
• Red pepper flakes to taste, I like spice.  I had a heavy hand with this
• Some form of yummy bread.  I used an onion roll
• More baby spinach to put in the sandwich

Directions:

1. Hard boil your eggs, cool, and peel.
2. In a large bowl mash together the eggs and the yogurt.  Season with salt and pepper.  Set aside.
3. In a second bowl, mash the avocados well and season with a bit more salt and pepper.
4. Mix the avocado mixture into the egg mixture.
5. Chop your celery and spinach.  Add to the mixture.
6. Sprinkle on some of the red pepper flakes, if you want.
7. On your bread put down a bed of the baby spinach and flop some of the egg salad on top.  Flop of course is a very technical term and should be used with only the greatest of care.  

Enjoy!!!

Recipe from We Are Not Martha 

Slow Cooker Spinach Pesto Lasagna

I never thought lasagna in a slow cooker could be so good.  I am the type of girl that spends HOURS, cutting vegetables, making the sauce, cooking the meat, assembling.  So I never would have in a million years thought that a lasagna that you just throw together and forget about in a slow cooker could be so good.

But it was.

Ingredients:

• 1 (26-ounce) jar prepared pasta sauce 
• 1 (10-ounce) box lasagna noodles (regular ones.  Not the no-boil ones.) 
• Pesto, or you can buy some.  (11oz) 
• 1 (15-ounce) container ricotta cheese 
• 1 (12-ounce) bag baby spinach 
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese 
• 16 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded 
• 1/4 cup water
• Slow Cooker.  Mine is a 6qt.

*Parmesan cheese is guesstimated.  I sprinkled until it looked good.

Directions:

1. Put some of the sauce in the bottom of the slow cooker, about a 1/4cup and smooth it around.
2. Cover the sauce with the RAW noodles.  You will have to break them to make it fit.  Rectangle noodle will not fit perfectly in a oval slow cooker, unless you are Chuck Norris and then the noodles will bend for you.
3. Spread some ricotta on top of the noodles to cover.
4. Spread some pesto on the ricotta.
5. Sprinkle about 2 handfuls of baby spinach on top.
6. Sprinkle the Parmesan Cheese.
7. Sprinkle on the Mozzerella Cheese.
8. Spread some pasta sauce.
9. REPEAT until you use everything up ending with a cheese layer. I got three layers. 
10. Take the 1/4 cup water and put it in the pasta jar.  Shake, then pour over the top.
11. Cover and cook on high for 3 to 4 hours or low for about 6 hours. 
12. It is done when the top is browned and bubbly.  It also pulls away from the sides a bit.  Let sit for 10-15 minutes before eating.   Enjoy!! 

Strawberry, Banana, SPINACH Breakfast smoothie

I guess you could have this at other times of the day.  I just drank mine, hence the name.  My good friend from High School, Erin Quarenski, posted a smoothie on Facebook the other day.  It looked so pretty. Nice and green and yummy looking.  So I decided to try to remake it. 

Did it turn out as pretty and green?

NOPE.  (I think I added too many blueberries and maybe it was the addition if the Whey Protein that did it.  But it still was yummy!)

FYI-You can not taste the spinach.  I can feel the fibrous nature in the smoothie, but it tastes like strawberry banana.

Ingredients:

BIG handful of spinach (I added more while blending too)

4 Strawberries

1 Banana

1/2 cup blueberries

1/2 cup pineapple tidbits (big sale at the store.  I would have done fresh if I didn't have this)

1 scoop Whey Protein

Put it all in your blender/bullet/ what ever you have.

White powder is the whey protein.

Give it a good whirl.

Pour into a glass and

Smile.  You just consumed a good portion of you fruits and vegetables for the day!

Told you it wasn't that pretty.  But it tastes GREAT!