Cheddar Chicken Lasagna Roll-Ups

The first thing CM ever cooked for me was chicken lasagna. I already knew that I didn't like regular lasagna, but he insisted it was delicious, so I gave it a shot. I was hooked. During his times overseas, I would crave it so much. I'm glad he's home to make it whenever I want now! But I decided to do something a little different with it; I decided to roll it up. I had CD 2 months ago, so I've been trying to lose the baby weight, and my biggest issue is portion control. I would be going, going, going all day, and be starving for dinner and eat more than I should have. That's what makes these roll-ups so perfect! Easy for me to portion so that I don't eat too much.

I'm going to be honest. The way it's supposed to be made is with mozzarella. But when I went to the store, I completely forgot to get some, and all we had was cheddar, so I went with it because I don't like going to the store at 5 pm on a weekday when everyone else is there. It turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself. 

Here's what you need:

• 3 chicken breasts
• 1 8oz package of cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 C of hot water
• 1 chicken bullion cube
• 3 C of cheddar cheese
• 1 24oz jar of pasta sauce (I used Classico Four Cheese)
• 15 lasagna noodles (NOT oven ready)
• 1 Tbs of olive oil

Here's what you do:

• Boil the chicken until it's cooked (it will take about an hour), then let it cool.
• While it's cooling, boil your noodles in a large pot until they're al dente (it took my noodles about 6 minutes or so)- put the olive oil in the water to keep the noodles from sticking together.
• When the noodles are done, drain them and let them cool down.
• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
• Shred you chicken and put it in the food processor (or a large mixing bowl).
• Add in the cream cheese, water, and bullion cube.
• Blend until it's well mixed, it will be kind of like a paste.
• Line your noodles up, side by side, on a baking sheet. I was able to fit 6 on the sheet at one time.
• Spread your chicken mixture out down the length of the noodle. I put about 2-3 tablespoons of the mixture on each one.
• Then spread some of the pasta sauce over the mixture. Put as much, or as little as you want. But keep in mind that it will be a bigger mess if you put too much.
• Slowly roll each noodle up, and place in a 9x13 baking dish.
• You should be able to put 3 rolls on one row, and have 5 rows.
• Pour some more sauce over the top of all of the rolls and use a spoon to spread it out.
• For maximum cheesiness, add an additional cup of cheese over the top of the rolls.
• Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

The cheddar added a little more sharpness and flavor to the lasagna. And, again, these rolls are great for portion control. I was able to stick to only 2 rolls. And there are plenty of leftovers to eat for lunch for a few days, which is always nice. These take a little more work than regular lasagna would, but they're so worth it!