Whole Wheat Pasta Vegetable Lasagne

From time to time, I'd like to talk about dinner. I don't want this to be about food or recipes, but I'd like to share some of the simpler things I make for dinner.

If you really want a website that's big on simple cooking, go to www.savingdinner.com. Leanne really has it covered. Her freezer meals are a great way to eat healthy even when you have to be out of the house all day.

I recently had a reason to put my hubby on a diet, but that's another story. The point is, that I've been trying to eat healthier. We've always eaten vegetables, but now I'm trying to eliminate enriched flour and high fructose corn syrup.

Whole wheat pasta has been a challenge for me. It seems like the flavor of the pasta always overpowers the dish. I can't just substitute whole wheat for regular in my recipes. So, my poor family has had to endure me learning to cook all over again.

Tonight, I made lasagne. It was pretty good, it tasted fresh, like real food should. That's what I like about losing the fake foods, everything tastes better.

Until now, you're thinking: "I don't have time to cook from scratch", "Who does she think she is?". Let me just cut in here to say that dinner was not without its mishaps. First of all, after I promised my son that I would make it, I remembered that my oven is broken. That's a whole 'nother story too. I couldn't disappoint him, so I decided to adjust it to fit in a pan that would fit in the toaster oven. My point is that you can have real food, even if you're not perfect.

Here's how I made my lasagne:

I cut up half an onion and five cloves of garlic. I sauted them in garlic oil in a small sauce pan. Well actually, I started to saute them, and my mother called. While I was distracted, I remembered that my oregano needed trimmed. Taking the cordless phone out to the herb garden, I cut some for the sauce. Then I came in to find the onion and garlic burning on the stove.

I decided that it was salvagable, burnt garlic is bitter, but not unedible. It wasn't black, just darker than the soft saute I wanted. I added a large can of diced tomatoes and a small can of sauce, and set it on medium.

Hubby was bowling on the Wii in the next room, and I challenged him to a game. My son walked into the kitchen, took the lid off, and smelled the sauce. He commented that it smelled wonderful.

My son knows how to cook, or so I thought. After I bowled that frame, I checked on my sauce. It was at a full rolling boil, and the bottom was scorched. Apparently, my son didn't realize it needed to cook slowly. So, I transfered the sauce that wasn't stuck to the bottom of the pan to a new pan and set it on Low while I finished my game of bowling.

My son boiled the noodles, and I microwaved some vegetables. I used a frozen zucchini and squash mixture. If I would have thought ahead, I would have added the veggies in with the tomatoes, and they would have all simmered together, but I didn't. So, I microwaved them for 7 minutes in a bowl with a little water and some plastic wrap on the top. When they were done, I added them to the sauce with some of the fresh oregano (if you add herbs too soon, they lose their flavor).

I put some (1 1/2 cups?) ricotta cheese in a bowl with one egg and stirred it up. Then, I put a layer of noodles on the bottom of the pan and sprinkled it with shredded mozzarella cheese. I put a layer of the ricotta cheese mixture over that, and then the sauce. I finished off with a layer of noodles, a very thin spread of sauce, a generous sprinkling of mozzarella cheese, and a sprinkle of parmesean cheese.

If I would have been using a normal sized pan, I would have made several layers, but I used a small pan that would fit in the toaster oven. As it turned out, I think only having one layer of noodles was a good idea with the whole wheat pasta.

I baked it at 350 while I beat my husband at Wii golf. :-)

See, it turned out OK, even though I had problems (most of them self-inflicted). I'd love to get some real recipes with whole wheat pasta. If you have any, e-mail them to me. I will try them and let you know what my family thought.