Moving On

Porter starts kindergarten a week from today. We are all very excited, a little bit nervous, and so ready to be moving on to the next phase of life for him. We survived the summer, and it has actually gone a lot faster and smoother than I thought it would.

Molly has potty trained herself, which seems to me a miracle. Porter required sticker charts and M&Ms and months of accidents, and yuck, I didn't want to relive that. We had a couple of false starts with her, and I had pretty much given up out of laziness. And then one day she told me she wanted to wear underwear, and that was it. She's had a few accidents, but nothing horrible. And she does everything herself. Big sigh of relief. She will go to nursery school again this fall, and probably preschool after she turns three in November. Moving on!

Last night for dinner we had Zucchini Chicken Lasagna. I didn't have high hopes for this other than using up our garden bounty, but everyone loved it. Porter did pick out the zucchini, but he ate the rest, and Molly and Bryce had seconds. It also comes together quickly.

Zucchini Chicken Lasagna
adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe

8 ounces Neufchatel cheese (or cream cheese), room temperature
15 ounces ricotta cheese
3 medium zucchini (or more)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons dried oregano
12 no boil lasagna noodles
1-2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
2 cups cubed or shredded cooked chicken (I baked 2 chicken breasts)
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 425. Lightly oil a 9x13 baking dish.

In a small bowl, stir together the Neufchatel and ricotta, and season with salt and pepper. Slice zucchini in half lengthwise, then thinly crosswise. In another bowl, combine zucchini, garlic, and oregano, and season with salt and pepper.

Spread 1/3 zucchini mixture in baking dish, top with 4 lasagna noodles, then 1/3 ricotta mixture, some mozzarella, then half the chicken. Repeat layers once. Then top with zucchini, noodles, ricotta and cover nicely with mozzarella.

Cover baking dish with foil and bake until bubbly and noodles are tender, about 45 minutes. Remove foil, bake until golden brown, 10-15 more minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.