Spicy Sausage-Spinach Lasagna

Due to a minor accident involving an oven fire at my house, I recently haven't been able to cook or bake in a couple weeks. Sooo my new oven is finally here and ready to start making magic. To kick off the year with my new oven I decided to make my favorite lasagna.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/4 pounds hot Italian turkey sausages, casings removed
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1 15-ounce container cottage cheese
• 1 10-ounce package spinach (chopped or whole)
• 1 3/4 cups grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 9 uncooked lasagna noodles
• 3 cups shredded provolone cheese (about 12 ounces)

Preparation:

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add sausage and sauté until brown. Add tomato sauce and simmer 5 minutes. 

Preheat to 375°F. Whisk cottage cheese, spinach, 1 cup Parmesan, eggs, basil, oregano and pepper in large bowl. Set aside. 

Spoon 1 cup sauce over bottom of 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Place noodles over sauce in single layer. Spread 1 cup sauce over noodles. Spoon 1 cup cottage cheese mixture over sauce. Sprinkle 1/4 cup Parmesan and 1 cup provolone over cheese mixture. Repeat layering with the noodles, 1 cup sauce, 1 cup of cheese mixture, 1/4 cup Parmesan and 1 cup provolone. Arrange the remaining noodles over cheese. Spoon 1 cup sauce over noodles. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan and 1 cup provolone over lasagna. Tightly cover with foil. 

Bake lasagna 50 minutes. Uncover and continue baking until noodles are tender and lasagna is hot and bubbly, about 25 minutes longer. 

This does take some time to make but it is super easy and you can be doing other things while it cooks (homework, laundry..). Plus it makes for delicious left overs that will last you a couple of days.

Pieces of Peace

There is an amazing website for unique shirts and I found one that had the best design. (threadless.com you need to check it out!!) But instead of buying the shirt I decided to make the design myself and use it as wall art.

What you'll need:

• old wood board
• metal brush
• spray paint
• acrylic paint
• small paint brush
• peace stencil

 How to:

1. Using the metal brush, brush away any dirt or debris on your board. Remember to go with the grain of the wood.
2. Spray paint many light coats of paint. You don't want it to have blotches or drips.
3. I just printed a peace sign of the internet to use as my stencil. I used a pencil and outlined it, you may want to cut it in peices, but I found it easy to just use it as a whole.
4. After it is stenciled, use a small paint brush and paint in the lines. My board was very grainy, so it took several coats to get it so it didn't look streaky.

I love mine. It's unique, and not just something you find at a store. You can make it simple or amp it up, the fun thing about this project is you can mix your creativitly.