Mushroom & Turkey Lasagna (Even Better Than The Last - I Swear!)

Okay. So even though a lasagna lasts quite a long time for two people, I somehow have not stopped craving it since the last time (which was like... 3 posts ago?). 

Oddly enough, I didn't even want to alter the recipe that much. I searched for some ideas that included a dairy-free bechamel. I looked up ideas including a squash pesto in it! In the end, I wanted: tomato sauce, meat and cheese.

Well, at least it was easy enough, right? Especially for a weeknight...lasagnas are sometimes best for Sundays, but this version wasn't so bad.

J and I have been monitoring our grocery orders as of late, trying to ensure we're getting the most "bang for our buck" for healthy, yet affordable food. We decided to try going to Pete's, a local grocery shop that we love to visit, but never include in our routine. Our first intention was to pick up my Foodie Pen Pals treats. (will come back to that), but we decided to get all that we could at this store.

A few things lacking: They were out of Daiya. For a girl on a mission (or any dairy-free person, really) - this is panic-city, and an extra trip to another grocery store. They also don't carry the Rice Dream Rice Milk that I have grown to love so, so, so very much. Their pasta sauce was a bit too pricey for our liking, too. In the end, we got a really great amount of food that seemed to be a bit more organized. We knew what we were doing with each thing we bought, where normally we end up home with a whole lot of nonsense thrown in our grocery bags! We did obviously have to make a 5 ingredient run to the Super Store to pick up a few of our other essentials...

As I was saying....

I grabbed all necessary ingredients for this recipe + some essentials + my Foodie Pen Pal things! I'm participating in a fellow blogger's (Lindsay over at The Lean Green Bean) program, Foodie Pen Pals. She's been doing this through the States and has had great success. This is the first month for Canada, so I'm trying it out! I sent my package off to Erin in Saskatchewan the other day and my package will be coming to me from Southern Ontario - fun, right? We will all be blogging about our packages soon enough!

Speaking of Lindsay: Can I say that she and Lauren (I'm Just Here To Eat) have been two of the most supportive people I've met through this venture - I don't mean to exclude anyone, because I've encountered an unbelievable amount of supportive, talented and positive people through this foodie-world that I've tapped into, but these ladies are constantly reading, commenting and encouraging me on my blog and - but most importantly - have been great ambassadors in motivating me to GET ACTIVE. Even if all I do in a day is run up and down the stairs a few times, they're bringing positivity.  (Local friends, I think I appreciate you all the time... I have to give props to newbie. faraway friends who make the effort!) :) 

Mushroom and Turkey Lasagna

- 12 lasagna noodles (I accidentally bought the ones that you had to boil first - turns out it's not hard to do at all - directions will not change, either way)
- 1/3 of a red onion, chopped small
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 jars of pasta sauce, your choice. I used a No Name (yellow label) mushroom-flavour sauce. I find the No Name things usually have less "additives". Make your own if you want to be extra good!
- ~3 cups of button mushrooms, sliced
- ~2 cups of Daiya (I used both cheddar and mozzarella this time)
- 1 pkg of ground turkey

1. Cook onions and garlic in oil. Once onions are translucent, add turkey and cook.
2. Boil lasagna noodles, if necessary.
3. In a 9x13 pan, add the following layers in order (bottom to top, obviously) sauce + meat + noodles + sauce + mushrooms + cheese and repeat until you use all of your ingredients up! When you get to your last noodles, make sure to finish it with a layer of sauce and cheese!
4. Bake uncovered (if you used the already-boiled noodles, cover if not) for 40 minutes on 350. I took it out when it was done and added more cheese and let it sit in the oven (turned off) for another 10 minutes before eating.

Make sure to eat a salad (or something) with this as I haven't included enough veggies! We had a spinach salad to get some good greens.

We've so far eaten this every day (either for lunch or dinner) and have not gotten sick of it! J doesn't even wish for real cheese - or ricotta - or cottage cheese.

Major success!!

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Happy Day-After Valentine's Day! How was it for everyone? Eat or do anything special?