Zucchini Lasagna

Picture it... you've just come home from a busy day at the office, it seemed that nothing went right today and all you want to do is bury yourself in a tub of chocolate ice cream or a vat of homemade macaroni and cheese. WAIT! DO NOT DO THIS! It will only make you feel worse. Turn your day from bad to fabulous with my newest recipe - Clean Comfort Zucchini Lasagna. There are no pasta noodles or ricotta cheese, but it's packed with protein and sure to be your new go-to clean comfort food! (Note: It's gluten free and has no added sugar if you pick the right spaghetti sauce - see below)

Clean Comfort Zucchini Lasagna

Ingredients:

• 1 large sweet yellow onion, chopped
• 1 lb 99% fat free ground turkey breast
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 3 large or 4 small zucchini, sliced thinly lengthwise
• 24 oz low-fat or 1% or 2% cottage cheese
• 1 jar of spaghetti sauce (I just discovered Monte Bene sauce... NO SUGAR and all fresh ingredients, absolutely nothing I couldn't pronounce!)
• Non-fat or low-fat mozzarella cheese, shredded (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Combine onion, ground turkey breast, sea salt, black pepper and garlic powder in a skillet over medium heat, cooking the turkey until it is no longer pink.

3. Layer zucchini in the bottom of your lasagna pan (I would suggest a more substantial pan, such as ceramic) just as you would lasagna noodles, covering any gaps with additional slices of zucchini.

4. Spread 12 oz of cottage cheese over the layer of zucchini.

5. Add ground turkey mixture over cottage cheese, careful to spread turkey evenly.

6. Layer approximately 1/3 of the spaghetti sauce over the cottage cheese and turkey mixture.

7. Repeat steps 2-5.

8. Place your last layer of zucchini over the second layer of cottage cheese, turkey mixture and cottage cheese.

9. Top with tomato spaghetti sauce and add shredded cheese.

10. Cover with tinfoil and bake in oven for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

11. Remove tinfoil and bake for an additional 5 minutes at 350 degrees to brown cheese.

12. Let rest for approximately 10 minutes and Enjoy!

He & She Tip: This lasagna will be a little runny because of the consistency of the tomato sauce, moisture in the cottage cheese and the amount of water that zucchini hold. I found that I just scooped out my lasagna and the excess liquid stayed in my pan.

Clean Eat Recipe: Quinoa with Mixed Vegetables

Quinoa is a very healthy, easy to prepare side dish.  Adding vegetables makes it even more delicious!  Try the recipe below or try your own variation and let us know how it turns out!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup organic quinoa
• 2 cups organic, low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup organic edamame
• 1/2 cup red pepper, chopped
• 1/2 cup cucumber, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp sea salt

Directions:

1. Combine the quinoa and broth and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and lightly simmer for 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.
2. Mix together edamame, red pepper and cucumber.
3. Once quinoa is cooked add garlic, black pepper and sea salt and mix throughly.  Then add in your vegetable mix.

I will sometimes add baked chicken and eat it in a bowl as one of my meals while I am on the road!  Easy and nutritious...add any vegetables that you like!

Enjoy our recipes?  Get help with your grocery shopping here.

- Whitney

Our Story: Scott & Whitney

We are very excited to finally be able to put all of our information and thoughts into one place and hopefully help others! We are often asked what we eat or what workouts we do, so what better way than a blog to help as many couples (and individuals) as possible discover the joys of eating clean?!

We decided for our first post we would basically just tell our story. So, here it goes….

We are Scott and Whitney and we are high school sweethearts. We got married in December of 2007. We were both at a healthy weight when we got married; however,

We gained a lot of weight in the first year we were married

(around 20 lbs each) by dining out frequently at places like On The Border, Chick-Fil-A, Zaxby’s, and McDonald’s, just to name a few.  In September of 2008, we took a trip to see the Cubs in Chicago and once we saw the pictures from that trip we knew that something had to change. Scott started going to the gym in the evenings and after making it part of his daily routine – he was then hooked. Typical of anything he becomes interested in...

He started reading EVERYTHING he could about nutrition and weightlifting.

A few years later, Whitney started paying attention to what she was eating but still was not eating clean enough or following a consistent workout routine. She would do workout videos at home because she was too shy to go to the gym. 

He finally convinced her to the gym and she has been hooked ever since!

What have we been able to accomplish with eating clean (combined with lifting weights)?

• He went from a waist size of 38” to a waist size of 32”
• She went from a size 10 to a size 4

The most important results are that we are both much happier, much stronger, and have much more energy.

---

Frequently Asked Questions

What do you eat?

The best (and easiest) way to describe it is that we eat clean, natural, whole foods that have not been modified or altered once they have been harvested or slaughtered. No fried foods, no GMO foods, no chemical preservatives, no refined or added sugars, and no highly processed foods (limited processing is sometimes necessary – e.g. Greek yogurt). Or, for those familiar with the concept,

We eat clean.

Both of us eat every 2-3 hours (6-8 meals a day). Our meals consist of protein, complex carbohydrates, healthy fats, and vegetables. You can view a sample of our meals here.

The second most common question we are asked is...

What workouts do you do?

We do weight training with a mix of cardio & HIIT. Excessive cardio is not the answer if you want a lean body...you MUST lift weights!  

UPDATE: We now have our very own 12-week transformation plan available!

Eating clean is definitely a team effort for us and the mission is to help other couples (and individuals) with tips and tricks to achieve this lifestyle. 

Both of us work full time and spend about an hour in the gym five days a week and several hours in the kitchen each week. We don’t watch much television but to us, it’s worth it! Whitney does most of the cooking and Scott does most of the cleaning. ;-)

Sundays are the days that we normally prepare all of our food for the week. Remember, this is a lifestyle and not a diet! Good luck with your journey!

- Scott & Whitney