Cottage Cheese Pancakes

I’ll be the first to admit, the name of these pancakes sounded sketchy to me. But they were super easy to make and seriously tasted so awesome. I topped mine with a few raspberries, blackberries, one Tbsp 100% maple syrup and served with a scrambled egg (with spinach) for a protein packed breakfast.

Makes: 6 servings - Serving size: 2 pancakes

Each Serving Contains: 1 Protein, 0 Carbohydrates, 0 Vegetables, 1 Fat

INGREDIENTS

1 cup full-fat cottage cheese

3 large eggs

1/3 cup whole wheat flour

2 tbsp. unsalted butter

 

DIRECTIONS

In a blender or food processor, combine cottage cheese and eggs. Pulse until mixture is smooth.

In a mixing bowl, combine cottage cheese and egg mixture with flour and melted butter and mix with a spoon until combined.

Heat a skillet over medium heat. Pour out a small amount of batter and let the pancakes cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side.

I think this could easily be done in a waffle maker too! 

Baked Spaghetti Pie

This is what would happen if lasagna and spaghetti had a baby...

Ingredients:

½ package of spaghetti, cooked

1 lb. of lean ground beef or Italian sausage

1 jar spaghetti sauce

2 Tbsp. cottage cheese

2 Tbsp. jalapeno cream cheese

2 cups shredded monterey jack cheese

Italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Cook and drain spaghetti noodles.  In a separate pan, brown and drain your meat.  Mix meat, spaghetti sauce, cottage cheese, cream cheese and 1 cup of shredded cheese. 

Sprinkle with Italian seasoning.  Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray, and then add spaghetti noodles. Top with sauce mixture. Top with the remaining cheese.  Bake for 10 minutes or until cheese is golden brown.  Serve with garlic bread and salad.

The original recipe did not call for the cottage or cream cheese but I’m glad I added it. You could do Ricotta too.  They added a nice creamy element to the mixture.  This made a 9x13 pan and was super filling. I’ve been eating leftovers for days and even took some to a friend to have. Next time I will try it with sausage instead of beef for some extra flavor.  

Baked Italian Casserole

Ingredients:

8 ounces rotini pasta

1/2 lb. ground beef

1/4 onion, diced

1 tablespoon minced garlic

12 ounces spaghetti sauce

8 ounces cottage cheese

8 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 teaspoon italian seasoning

1/4 pound sliced pepperoni

1 can (2.25 ounce) sliced black olives with jalapenos, drained (optional)

1 can (4 ounce) mushrooms, drained (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook the pasta according to the package.  Brown the meat with onions and garlic. Drain noodles and meat.  Add spaghetti sauce and layer in bottom of greased 9x13 pan. If you would like to add the mushrooms or olives, mix in as well.  I chose not to add either.  Mix cottage cheese, Italian seasoning and shredded cheese together.   Spread on top of the noodle and meat mixture.  Top with pepperonis.  Bake for 20-25 minutes until cheese is brown and bubbling.

I didn’t have rotini noodles so I used elbow macaroni which tasted just fine.  The flavors tasted even better together the next day when warmed up for lunch.  

Sour Cream Noodle Bake

1-1/4 lb. ground beef

15 oz. can tomato sauce

1/2 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper

8 oz. egg noodles

1/2 cup sour cream

1-1/4 cup small curd cottage cheese

1/2 cup sliced green onions

1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Brown meat in a large skillet. Drain fat and add tomato sauce, salt and pepper. Stir, then simmer while you prepare the other ingredients.

Cook egg noodles until al dente. Drain and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine sour cream and cottage cheese. Add plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Add to noodles and stir. Add green onions and stir.

To assemble, add half of the noodles to a baking dish. Top with half the meat mixture, then sprinkle on half the grated cheddar. Repeat with noodles, meat, then a final layer of cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, or until all cheese is melted.

This is a great casserole for a cold night at home.  Easy to make and doesn’t take too long.  Can be served alone or with a side of crusty French bread.  

Lasagna roll-ups

Review by Lyndee

8 lasagna noodles

1/2 pound lean ground turkey or beef

1 T olive oil

1 clove garlic

1/2 onion

1 can crushed tomatoes (I used diced)

1/2 cup cottage cheese (or Ricotta)

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 1/2 T fresh basil, chopped

1 1/2 T fresh oregano, chopped

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (I used 2% Italian blend)

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Heat a large pot of water to boiling over high heat.  When it reaches a boil, salt liberally and drop noodles.  Stir occasionally and cook to just al dente.  You want to leave them slightly more firm since you'll be baking the pasta.  Drain noodles and set aside.

Meanwhile in a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add garlic and onion and saute for 2-3 minutes.  Add meat and brown.  When almost cooked through, add tomatoes and reduce heat to medium low.  Simmer for about 15 minutes.  Add 1/2 the basil, oregano, and crushed red pepper flakes and stir to combine.

In a small bowl combine 1/4 cup mozzarella, cottage cheese, Parmesan and remaining basil and oregano and stir together.  Spray pan lightly with cooking spray.  Add enough sauce to lightly cover the bottom of the pan.  To assemble, on a drained noodle, add a spoonful of cheese mixture.  Top with a spoonful of meat sauce and roll up.  Place seam side down in pan.  Continue until you've used all the noodles.  Top each with a little more meat sauce and sprinkle with mozzarella and remaining crushed red pepper flakes.  Bake approximately 20 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.

This was my first time doing roll-ups and they were trickier than I thought they would be.  Not hard or impossible, but not as easy as layering noodles in a pan.  I like the portioned servings though.  That was fun.  And the flavor was pretty good.  I will probably make these again and try it with chicken and spinach.