Nifty

Ok, buckle up buttercups, this is going to be a long ride! (Buckle up buttercups is something my mommy used to say to us whenever she'd drive us places growing up, so I ALWAYS hear it in my head when get in my car now--thanks ma!). Luckily, for you though, the scenery is interesting on this trip : )

I had the opportunity to make lovely Lainie's ingenious neat joes on Sunday night, and since I made enough for leftovers, I had the perfect concoction up my sleeve for later in the week when I was feeling too busted to cook.

The neat joe's were super delish and easy to prepare. I even pretty much followed the directions :) The only things I did differently were to chop up the onions and add them to the mix; and also I didn't have any tomato paste, so I substituted the world's best condiment--ketchup, instead.
The turkey mash up was the perfect blend of sweet and spice. I have to say, I was tempted to add MUCHO more cumin since I love it, but I'm glad I opted to heed the original instructions here. The recipe called for one chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, which I just so happened to have on hand from this and then this. Ladies, buy yourself something nice and get a can of sauced-up chipotles--it will last ya!

We had a little less than half left over, so lickety split, I transformed this:Into this:
Nifty Neat Joe Zucchini Lasagna

Step by step:
I blended 1 c. cottage cheese in my food processor with some garlic powder, red chili flakes, basil and oregano. Oh, and I almost forgot--I threw in a couple of tablespoons of parmesan and feta, too.


Sliced up a humuongo zucchini that D brought home from workSpread half of turkey mixture on the bottom of a 9x9 pan sprayed with Pam. Arrange zucchini slices over the sauce.
Blob a big old glop of the cottage cheese slop onto the zucchini and spread evenly

Add another layer of zucchini and cheese, then top with remaining turkey mix. I sprinkled the top of our s with a little parm for some extra yum, too.

After the casserole was prepared, I just sealed it up and popped it in the fridge.

It was a good thing too, because I got home from work TWO AND A HALF HOURS later than I anticipated and was in the mood to stew, not in the mood to make stew.

I was also in the mood to eat so I was totally bugged by the fact that I had to put this bad boy in the oven for an hour (tightly covered @ 400 degrees), but it was worth it in the end!I can always usually judge how good something is by the number of times Dustin mentions that it's good or that he likes it throughout the meal. If it's something with too many vegetables or whatnot, my super trooper husband eats it anyway and only opens his mouth to take another bite, but if it's really bomb, I get like five or six of "I really like this babe" or "That turkey stuff is really good." He's so cute. And that turkey stuff was, indeed, really good. :)