Source: Food Network – Paula Deen
My husband and I were so excited for Thanksgiving because that meant we could pick out our Christmas tree the next day. But our cute nephew decided to grace us with his presence and we would much rather have him here than a Christmas tree. We keep saying to each other that today is the day we are getting our tree! It has been 2 weeks and still…no tree. Today is the final day, we are getting a tree, no matter what happens. Everyone, cross your fingers!!
When I signed up for weight watchers I first thought about how I just ruined my blog. How nothing I made would be that great because it was for a diet, and diet food can’t be good. Well, I’ve proved myself wrong and have oddly found this experience to be fun. By treating it like a game, I almost forget I am even dieting.
Paula Deen’s Lady and Sons Lasagna recipe is one of my favorite lasagna recipes. It is rich, creamy, and full of tomato flavor. I started to crave it last night and though “Oh no! There is no way my points would allow one of Paula’s recipes!” So I entered her recipe and the point per serving was a whopping 22. By swapping out a few ingredients, not including many, and using some of her techniques, I formed a recipe that is only worth 8 WW points! The best part about this dish is when you are eating it, you feel like you are over-indulging, but you aren’t (as long as you don’t eat 3 helpings!).
Servings: 8
WW Point Value: 8 per serving
Ingredients:
2 jars marinara sauce (store bought or make your own)
1 lb 93% lean ground beef
1 pack of dry/no-boil lasagna noodles
8 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 cup fat-free cottage cheese
1 egg
4 tbl parmesan cheese, shredded
8 oz fat-free cream cheese
1/3 cup basil, chiffinade
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Cook the meat in a pan on medium heat until brown (may need to use a little bit of olive oil), drain, and set aside. In a small bowl mix together the cottage cheese, egg, and 2 table spoons parmesan and set aside.
Spray a 9×13 casserole dish with non-stick spray and coat the bottom with 1 cup of marinara sauce. The box of noodles I buy has the layering directions on the side, and I usually just follow that:
4 noodles
1/3 Cottage cheese mixture
1/3 of cream cheese
handful of mozzarella
1/2 the meat
1 cup sauce
4 noodles
1/3 Cottage cheese mixture
1/3 of cream cheese
1 cup sauce
1/3 of basil
4 noodles
1/3 Cottage cheese mixture
1/3 of cream cheese
handful of mozzarella
1/2 the meat
1 cup sauce
1/3 of basil
4 noodles
Rest of the sauce
1/3 of basil
Rest of the mozzarella and 2 tblsp parmesan cheese
Bake, covered with foil for 50-60 minutes. Then, uncover and cook for another 5 minutes until the cheese is nice and bubbly. Remove from the oven and let it sit for 15 minutes (you’ll be glad you did when your serving comes out nice and easy!).
This Carolina Girl 
Thanks for the follow. I'm following you back!
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I love your blog. I look forward to exploring it.
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I can hear heaven singing! oh how great this looks! Yummy!!
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Hi. I am Imelda from MBC. I will be following through Google. Best regards, Imelda
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What an awesome recipe and I LOVE the fact that you can be a bit lazy and use jarred marinara sauce. What a big help this time of year! I'll bet that the cream cheese is the clincher in this recipe. Yum!
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I used to make my own sauce, but it always took way more time. It is hard to tell the difference between store bought and homemade in a lasagna anyways! Time vs. Taste. Time wins! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
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