Spinach Chicken Lasagna with white sauce

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup butter, cubed 
• 1 very large (or 2-3 small) garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1-1/2 cups whole milk
• 4 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1 teaspoon dried basil (try more)
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano (try more and/or just use Italian seasoning)
• 1/2 teaspoon white (or black) pepper
• 2 cups ricotta cheese
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
• 9 lasagna noodles, cooked and drained
• 2 packages (10 ounces each) frozen spinach, thawed and well drained
• 2 cups cubed cooked chicken

Directions

• Cook chicken in oil in a pan and thaw chicken. 
• In a large saucepan, saute onion in butter until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Stir in flour and salt until blended; cook until bubbly. Gradually stir in broth and milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1 minute or until thickened. Stir in 2 cups mozzarella, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, basil, oregano and pepper; set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, parsley and remaining mozzarella; set aside. Spread one-quarter of the cheese sauce into a greased 13x9-in. baking dish (or two 8x8 pans, saving one for later); cover with one-third of the noodles. Layer with half of the ricotta mixture, half of the spinach and half of the chicken.
• Cover with one-quarter of the cheese sauce and one-third of the noodles. Repeat layers of ricotta mixture, spinach, chicken and one-quarter cheese sauce. Cover with remaining noodles and cheese sauce.
• Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350°, uncovered, for 35-40 minutes.

Pulled pork, North Carolina style BBQ

2 medium onions, finely chopped (yes, needs a lot of onion)
1 T canola oil
6 garlic cloves, minced (fresh garlic is much better than dried)
1 t. crushed red pepper flakes (try half this amount if you like it mild)
1 t. pepper
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
1/4 c. packed brown sugar
1/4 c. cider vinegar
2 T. hot pepper sauce (try half this amount if you like it mild)
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 t. ground cumin
1 boneless pork shoulder butt roast (3-4 lbs, if it's larger you may need to up the other ingredients)
8 Kaiser rolls, split

1. Saute onions in oil until tender. Add garlic and cook 1 more minute. Add everything else except meat and rolls. Cook over medium heat until heated.

2. Cut roast in half and add to slow cooker. Pour sauce over the top. Cover and cook on low for 10-12 hours. Remove roast, skim fat, shred meat with two forks when cool enough to handle and return to slow cooker.

3. Serve on a bun with sweet pickles.

Paleo Banana nut muffins

Quite dense and flavor is too peanut butter heavy, needs work. Try adding xanthum gum, peanut butter  1/4 c instead of original 1/2 c. Missing an acid for using baking soda. 

3 eggs
2 c mashed banana (3-4 medium)
1/4 c peanut butter or almond butter (I like crunchy but it's so dense creamy may be better)
1/4 c oil or softened butter (coconut oil is great but probably should melt into liquid)

1/4 C honey or brown sugar

1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg

1/2 t sea salt (or 1/4 t table salt)

1/2 t orange or lemon/lime zest 

1 t vanilla

1 c. oats
1/2 c almond or coconut flour (coconut is much cheaper 4.99 lb compared to 11.99), try gf flour blend
1/2 t. baking powder (recipe had said 1 t, but it had a bitter/metallic taste)
1 t. baking soda (needs acid-maybe orange juice?)
1/2 c finely chopped walnuts
3/4 c semi sweet chocolate chips (NOT dark choc chips, the muffins can be a little bitter)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease 18 muffin cups (could also try this as a pancake or waffle recipe).

2. Combine first group of ingredients with an electric mixer. Stir in the remaining ingredients with a spoon. Spoon batter into muffin cups until mostly full.

3. Bake for 18 minutes. Wooden toothpick should come out clean and it should be able to maintain its shape when you try to remove it from the pan.