Family Friendly HEALTHY Baked Ziti

I have been on the search for a healthy pasta dish, more specifically BAKED ZITI!!  My husband is a pasta lover, I guess I'll blame it on his Italian genes!  He always gets bored with my typical chicken dinners so I have been inspired to create a HEALHY Baked Ziti that is also FAMILY/KID friendly!  It's not too time consuming and makes for great leftovers!!  It also fits very nicely into my Insanity Max30 or 21 day fix Nutrition Plan!  This dish includes carbs, protein, cheese/dairy and veggies so it a 1 DISH, complete meal!  

If you enjoy pasta, cheese, any one dish meals you will LOVE this recipe!

Ingredients (**I try to use Organic as much as I can**)
-1 pound lean ground beef 
-sea salt and pepper 
-1 T Italian Seasoning 
-1T mined garlic 
-2 cups carrots sliced/chopped 
-1 cup tomatoes diced 
-1 cup plain tomato sauce 
-3/4 cup 1%/part skim ricotta cheese 
-10oz dry whole wheat/grain pasta 
-2/3 cup mozzarella cheese 

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 375.  In a large sauce pan add ground beef and cook until browned.  Pour cooked beef into a dish.  Save some of the fat from the meat in the pan to use to cook with.

2) Before you prepare sauce, cook pasta.  In a large pot, add 6-8 cups water and bring to a boil.  Cook pasta according to directions on box.  Drain and set aside.   

3) While pasta is cooking, create sauce.  In the pan with some of the beef fat add garlic, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning and carrots and sauté for about 10 minutes or until softened.  Add diced tomatoes.  Add tomato sauces and seasonings.  Let simmer for about 10 minutes.  

4)Add ricotta cheese, stir in slowly.  Add cooked beef, stir.  Add 1/2 mozzarella cheese and stir.  

5) Spray a large casserole dish (9x13) with cooking spray.  Add the pasta mixture to the dish.  Sprinkle other 1/2 mozzarella on top of pasta mixture.  Bake for 15-20 minutes to melt cheese.  Garnish with fresh chopped parsley and/or basil if desired.

If you are following the Insanity Max 30, 21 Day Fix or CIZE Nutrition Plan this dish makes 4 servings. One serving would be 1 Red, 3/4 Green, 1/2 Blue, 1.5 Yellow and 1/4 Purple 

Never heard of the above nutrition plans and want to learn more about clean, portion controlled eating and daily exercise check it out here: More info

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