Savory Dinner Puffs and the BEST Veggie Lasagna You'll Ever Taste

Today was such an awesome day! The kids and I headed to town early in the morning to get our grocery shopping done. I have to say, this trip to the Whole Food store was much quicker (and easier with the kids) because I'm learning where everything is. Tonight's dinner menu was vegetarian lasagna and savory dinner puffs-I nailed it!! Find the recipe and pictures below. We stopped at the post office and picked up our mail. Surprise, surprise, it was an envelop from our pals for our coin exchange from Wales!!

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Arts N Crafts!!

Quick and Easy Bird Feeder

Today we decided to make bird feeders! It was fun, quick, and easy and not only do the kids love making them, they love the fact that we are "taking care of the birds." So cute :)

Here's what you'll need:

*bird seed

*peanut butter

*toilet paper/paper towel roll

*bin or something to hold the bird seed

*hole puncher

*string

All we did was punch holes in the rolls, put peanut butter on the rolls, roll it in the bin full of bird seed, and tie some string to the holes, then hang! There you have it! Bird feeders!!

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Dinner was AMAZING!!!!!!!! I've been waiting all evening to post this lol!! Remember those pancake puffs from yesterday's blog? I recreated the puffs into savory dinner puffs. I made garlic, basil, and mushroom puffs, garlic and spinach puffs, and garlic, basil, mushroom, and spinach puffs. Holy moly..I wish you could have smelled the aroma when they were baking in the oven. Heavenly! Here's the side dish to our Hilo Veggie Lasagna...

Savory Dinner Puffs

Prep Time: 8 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 38 minutes

Makes 24 puffs

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups 100% whole grain baking mix

1 1/2 cups organic milk (or almond milk)

2 eggs

8-10 garlic cloves, chopped

bunch of basil, chopped

6-8 large leaves of spinach, chopped

6 mushrooms, chopped

*can use any veggies you love

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine whole grain baking mix, milk, eggs. Mix until consistency is smooth and there are no dry spots. 

Chop up garlic, basil, spinach, and mushrooms.

Add garlic to batter mixture. If you want to make different flavors, I suggest pouring some of the batter into a separate bowl and adding your ingredients separately. The snap shot below contains garlic, basil, and mushrooms.

Spray your cupcake pan with cooking spray or wipe with vegetable oil to prevent the puffs from sticking. With a tablespoon, spoon about two scoops into each cupcake pan. Make sure not to fill more than half way so your puffs wont rise too high.

Stick in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

After 30 minutes, remove the savory dinner puffs and stick a toothpick in the center of one puff to test the readiness. If it sticks to the toothpick, place the pan back into the oven for one to two minute intervals until the toothpick comes out clean. The edges and top of the puff should be golden brown.

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Hilo Veggie Lasagna

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour and 45 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours and 15 minutes

Serves 8-10

Get ready for the absolute best vegetarian lasagna you will ever taste!!

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds of mushrooms

1 medium yellow onion

1 green bell pepper

4 tbsp olive oil

8 cloves garlic

1 cup tomato sauce

1 6 oz can tomato paste

6 large tomatoes (pulsed in food processor, do not puree)

1/2 cup vegetable broth (optional)

spinach, chopped 

1 lb lasagna noodles

15 oz ricotta cheese

1/2 cup basil

1 lb mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions

In a large skillet, add mushrooms and olive oil on medium high heat. When you see the juices flowing out of the mushrooms, add onions and green bell pepper.

Cook mushrooms, onions, and bell pepper for about five minutes. Add garlic. After about a minute, add tomato paste. Add tomato sauce. Add pulsed tomato (do not puree, you are looking for the consistency equalled to can crushed tomatoes). Add half cup of vegetable broth (optional). Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a low simmer for about 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Once sauce is simmering, cook lasagna noodles. Follow the directions on the package. Turn off the heat for the sauce. In a large mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese, half of the shredded mozzarella, and spinach.

In a large casserole dish, put a layer of cooked mushroom sauce. Add layer of noodles. Add layer of ricotta mix (half of mixture). Add another layer of mushroom sauce. Add layer of noodles. Add layer of ricotta mix (other half of mixture). Add another layer of mushroom sauce. Add final layer of noodles. Add a layer of chopped basil. Add final layer of mushroom sauce and finish off the top with remaining shredded mozzarella cheese. 

    

Cover casserole with foil (put olive oil on the foil where it make contact with the cheese so it wont stick) and stick in the oven for 25 minutes.

After 25 minutes, remove foil. Stick back into oven and bake uncovered for another 25 minutes. Take the lasagna out of the oven when it's done and let it rest for 10 minutes before cutting to serve.

Enjoy!!!