Should be illegal...

Monday Recap:

*This is gonna be quickJ

8:00am:  Coffee with creamer

9:30am:  Breakfast- Life cereal

12:30pm:  Lunch- Pastina with butter

OK...so NEITHER of those were what I planned to eat for a "Monday," but an achy headache hit around 11 and I just couldn't think of anything else that sounded more enjoyable than that bowl of pastina with butter.  Probably helped that I had been telling Scott over the weekend that Katie had been wolfing this down at my Mom's house and that pastina was what any good Italian Nona served her grandbabyJ  So I had Pastina on da brainJ

And after that, I was pretty full for the rest of the day.

(OK...except for maybe a little leftover slice of CAT CAKEJ)

There was also a dentist visit and yin yoga, but you don't really want to hear about that.  What you WANT to hear about is THIS:

OK...so you KNOW I love me some Pioneer Woman, but I wouldn't exactly normally use her recipes for Italian food cause, well, Jerseyians (and their Grandmom's recipes) do it betterJ  But when I stumbled on THIS RECIPE for THREE MEAT LASAGNA in her new HOLIDAY cookbook (which I just love SOMUCH!), there was an ingredient that just SOLD ME.  We'll get to that in a sec!

So I thought THREE MEAT LASAGNA just SCREAMED "Snow day food" (when you can pretend calories don't countJ) and had went to the grocery store on Friday to gather up the ingredients in light of the 14-inch storm that had predicted for yesterday.  And considering we got just about a DUSTING yesterday (just enough to crunch under your sneakers...sorry, Jerseyians, I still love that soundJ), it turned out that it wasn't sure a bad idea that the ingredients were calling me from the fridge on Friday and I just COULD NOT wait to make it. 

It also helped that it was about 6 degrees HIGH on Friday and WARM, GOOEY lasagna seemed to still fall in the category of "extreme weather/pay no attention to the calories" kinda dayJ  So, as you can see above, I gathered up 2 of the meats (well...actually make that 4, given that for lasagna, or a good gravy, I'll only use the beef, pork & veal mix)...

...and the absolute "SELLER" ingredient of this ENTIRE THING:  Diced PEPPERONI!

Don't even get me started on my love for pepperoni.  I know it's probably one of the most unhealthy foods on planet Earth, but to me it just screams: HOLIDAYS!!!!!  You knew it was Christmas when I was younger when we were allowed to have soda in the house (SUCH A BIG DEAL!) and when a pepperoni & cheese plate greeted each visitor.  In short:  Happiness, folks.  It brings me happinessJ  

ANYWAY...so back to that lasagna!  It took nearly 40 minutes to brown up ALL that meat and I literally had to put a strainer over a foil-lined bowl to drain it.  Don't skimp on this step folks!  Between ALLLL the meat + the pepperoni, it made A LOT that you'll want to discard so you're not left with an oil-laced lasagna.

Next, add the tomatoes, paste, PESTO (another 'seller ingredient') and seasonings and let it simmer for about 30 minutes... 

...while you get to working on the ricotta cheese mixed with 4 eggs, 1 cup Parmesan cheese, parsley & salt and pepper... 

...and then it was time to LAYER UP this monstrosity!  I used no-boil noodles and they worked just fine.  Not to mention, you REALLY don't use a lot of noodles here.  The layers of MEAT AND CHEESE are MUCH more predominate!

I think this thing weighed more than Katie.  No jokeJ

 45 minutes in the oven and 15 minutes of resting and dinner is SERVED:

I mean... 

I really think this should be illegal in 48 states.  It was FILLLLLLLLLLLLLED to the brim with meat, meat & more meatJ  It is MAN FOOD: 101!  I even told Scott that I felt a little crazy after we were done eating it...it just felt so wrongJ 

But oh man...was it goodJ  We both EXTRA loved finding the little hidden gems of pepperoni laced throughoutJ  We were having a hard time figuring out if we liked it better than our house fav, the Bove's Meatball Lasagna, but we had enough leftovers for THREE more dinners, so we'll have another chance to weigh in on this decisionsJ     ...even if we won't be eating ANY of those leftovers for AWHILEJ  A zillion meat lasagna should only be had very, very, very sparinglyJ  hahahahahahaha...

Well, MUCH healthier blog: take 2 coming at you tomorrow!  I'm getting up RIGHT NOW to get the spinachJ

Have a great Tuesday!J