Madeline McAndrew 915372125 Thursday Lab Group 2

A More Wholesome Version of Stouffers Five Cheese Lasagna

Madeline McAndrew
Thursday Lab, Group 2
Fall Semester 2014

Madeline McAndrew 915372125 Thursday Lab Group 2

Lasagna is my favorite food; I eat it every year on my birthday, and any chance I get.
Many recipes make it out to be a villain with the high fat containing cheeses, the ground beef,
and the carbohydrates that come from the noodles. However, there are ways to get around the
high caloric content of lasagna without losing the flavors of this comfort food. I chose to use
Stouffers frozen Five Cheese Lasagna as my processed, packaged, product. Before beginning
the creation of a more wholesome version of Stouffers Lasagna, I researched the ingredients
used in the frozen packaged product and discovered how and why they were used. I analyzed the
ingredients and the reasoning behind why they were included in the recipe. I then based my
recipe off of one on Skinnytaste, a recipe compilation where there are many foods which undergo
transformations in order to become healthier versions of their original recipe (Ginas Skinny
Recipes). When creating a more wholesome version of a well-known item, it is essential to use
healthier ingredients as replacements for the original ingredients in a recipe. I incorporated
vegetables in my lasagna not only to add flavor, but also to add nutrients to a comfort food. As a
dietetics major, I am interested in the health of those around me. It is important to make healthy
choices a part of everyones lifestyle and transforming everyday recipes is a way to get involved.
While reading through the ingredients list of Stouffers Five Cheese Lasagna the
ingredients are the basic ingredients used in any homemade lasagna, then to my dismay, the
ingredients become names familiar to the vernacular in my general chemistry class last semester,
potassium chloride stood out among the rest. I began to realize that preservatives were what
made packaged foods so unhealthy. I made my two lasagnas and began the comparing. In
comparison to Stouffers lasagna, I made mine with more vegetables. There were many visible
differences between the two lasagnas after they came out of the oven. Stouffers five cheese
lasagna notably only contained cheese, tomato sauce, and noodles. There were no vegetables
present. My finalized recipe, which I had edited from Ginas Skinny Recipes, on
SkinnyTaste.com contained many vegetables because I wanted to make it low in caloric content
and high in fiber (Ginas Skinny Recipes). It also contained some water at the bottom of the pan
as a result of using the zucchini. Zucchini and other vegetables contain a lot of water and the
vegetables become dehydrated when exposed to the heat in the oven. This is why there was water
at the bottom of the pan after the lasagna was cooked. Another difference between my finalized
lasagna and Stouffers Five Cheese Lasagna was the fiber content. Stouffers Five Cheese
Lasagna contains three grams of fiber per serving, and one serving is half of the container. In my
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Madeline McAndrew 915372125 Thursday Lab Group 2

lasagna, I used mushrooms, onions, zucchini, and spinach, the latter a cruciferous vegetable
which is known to contain health protective benefits antioxidants, and phytochemicals, as well as
fiber (Sim 2014).While comparing the cheeses, I discovered Stouffers lasagna is made with low
fat ricotta and part-skim mozzarella. I too used part-skim mozzarella, but I used part-skim ricotta
instead. These ingredients are similar because they reduce the total fat content in the dish.
However I may have more fat in my lasagna because I used part-skim ricotta and Stouffers used
low fat ricotta. Low fat milk contains 0.5% to 2.0% milk fats, and considering this was used to
make the ricotta in Stouffers lasagna, it may contain less fat than part-skim because part-skim
means only part of the milk used was skim milk and the other part could have been any milk
(Sim 2014). I also used thinly sliced zucchini in the place of the noodles which were in
Stouffers Five Cheese Lasagna. By using vegetables instead of noodles the caloric intake was
reduced while still keeping a complex carbohydrate which are often high in vitamins and
minerals for extra nutritional benefits (Carbohydrates: Simple versus Complex). All The
ingredients I used to create a more wholesome version of Stouffers lasagna were fresh
ingredients. I did not use any preservatives including salt. In comparison to Stouffers Lasagna,
my finalized version is fresh while their lasagna is not. All the ingredients were frozen after
preparation and Stouffers used preservatives, such as potassium chloride in addition to using salt
in their lasagna.
There were many ingredients which were necessary to keep in the wholesome version of
the recipe because they are the common ingredients used to make lasagna; however, when I used
them I prepared them in a different way. In lasagna the cheese is an essential ingredient to use
because it is the binding agent especially when an egg is added to the ricotta and parmesan
cheese mixture. The egg makes the cheese firm because it is an emulsifier due to the lecithin
inside the yolk and creates a strong bond (Sim 2014). Cheese keeps the layers of different
ingredients together. I used part-skim editions of mozzarella and ricotta to reduce the total
amount of fat to make the lasagna wholesome, yet still keep it traditional. Another ingredient I
kept in the improved lasagna is tomato sauce. I made the sauce myself by dicing tomatoes and
chopping basil and placing them in a sauce pan together with olive oil and Italian seasoning. I let
it simmer and it became the sauce. Sauce in lasagna has the purpose of adding flavor and coating
the noodles or in my case zucchini and vegetables with moisture. Without the sauce lasagna
would have a dry texture. Ingredients such as sauce, cheese, and egg are present in lasagna and
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Madeline McAndrew 915372125 Thursday Lab Group 2

capture the identity of lasagna. These ingredients remained in my transformation of Stouffers
Lasagna into a more wholesome version of lasagna.
Stouffers Lasagna compromises many ingredients in order to make their product stay
edible in the freezer. Two ingredients in particular, which I did not use in my lasagna, are present
in Stouffers Five Cheese Lasagna. These ingredients are used by the manufacturer to preserve
the frozen lasagna and have many consequences to the consumer as a result. One ingredient is
potassium chloride, a preservative in Stouffers lasagna. Potassium Chloride is actually a
prescribed drug which is used for people who do not have enough potassium in their blood; as it
is used to treat or prevent low amounts of potassium in the blood (Potassium Chloride). Web
MDs article, Potassium Chloride explains, a normal level of potassium in the blood is
important because it helps your cells, kidneys, heart, muscles, and nerves work properly
(Potassium Chloride.). The possible consequences of too much potassium chloride circulating
through the blood are side effects such as upset stomach, nausea, vomiting, gas, or diarrhea
(Potassium Chloride.). Another ingredient which is in Stouffers Five Cheese Lasagna, and helps
keep the frozen lasagna edible, is not only the use of salt used in the lasagna, but also the amount
used. The Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of sodium per day is currently no more than
2.3 g, or 2,300 mg, of sodium daily for healthy adults states the article What is the RDA of
Sodium? on LIVESTRONG.com (Palacios, A., 2013). The amount of sodium calculated in one
serving of Stouffers Five Cheese Lasagna is 740 mg and thirty one percent of the daily
recommended value on the nutrition facts package which is based on a 2,000 calorie diet. This
appears to be a large portion of salt for half the container of lasagna, considering a person could
possibly eat the entire container themselves in one sitting. In Centers for Disease Control and
Preventions article, Americans Consume Too Much Sodium (Salt), the Adequate Intake (AI)
of 1500 mg per day is the recommended average daily sodium intake level which illustrates
Stouffers Five Cheese Lasagna has too much salt added to it because one serving is half of the
Adequate Intake, and could be contributing to the high rates of high blood pressure in America
(Americans Consume Too Much Sodium (Salt)). These two ingredients, salt and potassium
chloride, which are used in Stouffers Five Cheese Lasagna, were a compromise by the
manufacturer for the purpose of making a long lasting frozen lasagna which would stay
preserved for the duration of being frozen as well as being cooked and stored in the refrigerator.
Similarly, the compromise I made in order to make a more wholesome version of lasagna was to
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Madeline McAndrew 915372125 Thursday Lab Group 2

leave those two ingredients out. I did not add salt or potassium chloride to my lasagna, and in my
opinion, it still came out more flavorful than Stouffers Five Cheese Lasagna because I added
Italian herbs to season my lasagna. The use of herbs to replace salt in my finalized recipe was a
smart decision in regards to health because reducing salt intake reduces the risk of high blood
pressure (Americans Consume Too Much Sodium (Salt)). It was a compromise I was willing to
make especially because I enjoyed the flavors of my lasagna more than the flavors of Stouffers
Five Cheese Lasagna.
Eating two different lasagnas for dinner was interesting. I cooked Stouffers Five Cheese
Lasagna and tried it first. When I chewed it the bite was smooth. My teeth went straight through
each layer as I took a bite. The texture of the ricotta cheese was grainy and a little lumpy or bally.
The top of the lasagna, with the top noodle, sauce, and mozzarella was oily and rich. The sauce
tasted very salty and pungent. The sauce contained a strong flavor, but none of the other areas of
the lasagna tasted much like anything. They were bland. The texture however was easy to chew,
soft, and easy to bite through while eating. My finalized lasagna was definitely more tough to
bite through than the packaged Stouffers lasagna. It was chewy because of the zucchini between
all the layers. The zucchini made each bite difficult because the slices were too big to chew
through and the zucchini itself was not tender enough for my teeth to break through in one bite.
The ricotta had a more fatty texture than the ricotta in the Stouffers Five Cheese Lasagna. Mine
was more lumpy and thick than the ricotta in the other lasagna. My lasagna had a better flavor
though; I used more herbs and fresh ingredients, so the flavors were more present in my lasagna
than in the Stouffers Five Cheese Lasagna. My sauce tasted fresh and less salty. It carried a nice
basil flavor to it and was not overpowering or greasy like the Stouffers sauce was.
After the seventh day of sitting, I tested the shelf life of the two lasagnas. They had been
sitting in the refrigerator for a week, covered in foil, and on the top shelf of the refrigerator to
avoid contaminants. Stouffers Five Cheese Lasagna looked the same after a week. It had the
same texture, smooth chew and bite. The only difference was the sauces flavor became even
more pungent. As for my lasagna, it had a tangy flavor; it was soft, wet, and the cheese proteins
had degraded. The flavor did grow stronger, and sharper just like Stouffers brand. My prediction
for the two lasagnas in another three days (for a total ten after being cooked) is Stouffers Five
Cheese Lasagna will have not changed due to the amount of preservatives in the ingredients, and
my lasagna will be sloshy, mushy, and gross. I do not think any mold will grow on them because
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Madeline McAndrew 915372125 Thursday Lab Group 2

of the refrigeration. My lasagnas appearance will be wilted while Stouffers Lasagnas
appearance will remain the same.
If consumers have the resources to afford to make their own homemade version of
lasagna, and have the appropriate equipment, as well as the skills in the kitchen, they should
make their lasagna rather than buy it at the store. In packaged and processed Stouffers Five
Cheese Lasagna, there are a lot of preservatives and a high salt content. These ingredients could
be left out if one made their lasagna at home. Consumers could make their own version of
lasagna to avoid many unwanted ingredients, such as preservatives, or allergens. They could
make their own lasagna organic by buying all organic ingredients, or they could also design and
select the ingredients they chose to have in their homemade lasagna, instead of having to
succumb to the ingredients in the store bought packaged lasagna. For example consumers could
have vegan, vegetarian, or gluten free lasagna if they made it themselves. In addition, Stouffers
lasagna also does not have many nutritious components to it. There is cheese for protein, but no
vegetables for vitamins and minerals, and hardly any fiber. I feel that fresh ingredients,
especially vegetables, are best to ingest because they contain vitamins, minerals, and fiber. I
believe in customizing my own lasagna in order to avoid the ingredients I wish to not eat, and
also to make a healthier alternative in order to escape the processed packaged foods which tend
to lead to obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and other ailments.

Madeline McAndrew 915372125 Thursday Lab Group 2

EXHIBIT 1
Zucchini Lasagna
Ingredients:
1 lb. 93% lean beef
3 cloves garlic
1/2 onion
1 tsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
2 tbsp. chopped fresh basil
3 medium zucchini, sliced 1/8" thick
15 oz. part-skim ricotta
16 oz. part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded (Sargento)
1/4 cup Parmigianino Reggiano
1 large egg
Directions:
In a medium sauce pan, brown meat and season with salt. When cooked drain in colander to
remove any fat. Add olive oil to the pan and saut garlic and onions about 2 minutes. Return the
meat to the pan, add tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper. Simmer on low for at least 30-40minutes,
covered. Do not add extra water, the sauce should be thick. Meanwhile, slice zucchini into 1/8"
thick slices, add lightly salt and set aside or 10 minutes. Zucchini has a lot of water when
cooked, salting it takes out a lot of moisture. After 10 minutes, blot excess moisture with a paper
towel.
On a gas grill or grill pan, grill zucchini on each side, until cooked, about 1-2 minutes per side.
Place on paper towels to soak any excess moisture.
Preheat oven to 350.
In a medium bowl mix ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese and egg. Stir well.
In a 9x12 casserole spread some sauce on the bottom and layer the zucchini to cover. Then place
some of the ricotta cheese mixture, then top with the mozzarella cheese and repeat the process
until all your ingredients are used up. Top with sauce and mozzarella and cover with foil. Bake
45 minutes covered at 375, then uncovered 15 minutes. Let stand about 5 - 10 minutes before
serving

EXHIBIT 2
Final Recipe
Ingredients:
1 very large onion
2 Tablespoons of minced garlic
2 Tablespoons of olive oil
2 Tablespoons of Italian herbs seasoning
10 ounces of cremini mushrooms
1 cup of coarsely chopped basil
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Madeline McAndrew 915372125 Thursday Lab Group 2

12 Roma Tomatoes diced
3 Zucchinis cut into inch thin slices
1 package of frozen spinach
15 oz. part-skim ricotta cheese
20 oz. part-skim Mozzarella cheese
cup parmesan cheese
1 egg
My Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 3500 and grease a 9x13 pan
2. Dice the very large onion and put it in a large saucepan with a tablespoon of olive oil in
it. Add the minced garlic and cook until the onions are opaque. Add the Italian seasoning
and mushrooms and cook further until the mushrooms juices have evaporated. Set aside.

3. Dice the Roma tomatoes and place in a saucepan with a tablespoon of olive oil. Chop the
fresh basil and add it to the tomatoes. Add Italian seasoning. Let it simmer until it is the

constancy of a sauce.

4. Slice the three zucchinis into inch slices and place on a lightly sprayed grill. Grill for
zucchini slices for one to two minutes on each side then place on a plate covered with
paper towels to soak up the juices.
5. Remove the thawed spinach from the package and strain it. Remove all the water from
the spinach by using a paper towel to soak it up.
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6. Mix the ricotta and parmesan cheese with the egg stirring until smooth.
7. Start layering the lasagna with the tomato and basil sauce. Then layer the grilled zucchini,
the onion and mushroom mixture, spinach, and ricotta mixture, top with the mozzarella
and continue the pattern. When finished layering, bake in preheated oven for an hour, or
until the mozzarella on the top is browning and the sauce is bubbling. Let cool for ten

minutes and serve.

EXHIBIT 3

Madeline McAndrew 915372125 Thursday Lab Group 2

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Madeline McAndrew 915372125 Thursday Lab Group 2

EXHIBIT 4

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Madeline McAndrew 915372125 Thursday Lab Group 2

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Madeline McAndrew 915372125 Thursday Lab Group 2

Exhibit 5:
Ingredient
Research
Ingredient
1

Blanched Lasagna

Tomatoes

Low Fat Ricotta

Cheese

Details on Processed Food

Ingredients
Definition and General Commercial
Uses
A lasagna noodle is thrown into
boiling water for a timed interval and
taken out before it is cooked all the
way. The noodle is then put in ice
water to shock it and stop the
cooking.
A glossy red, or occasionally yellow,
pulpy edible fruit that is typically
eaten as a vegetable or in salad
A rich fresh cheese made from skim
cow's milk that is slightly grainy but
smoother than cottage cheese. It's
white, moist and has a slightly sweet
flavor. Most Italian ricottas are made
from the whey that is drained off
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Why (do you think) the

manufacturer used it?
To pre-cook for the purpose
of freezing and recooking in
a timely manner.

For flavor

For flavor and texture

Madeline McAndrew 915372125 Thursday Lab Group 2

Diced Tomatoes

Tomato puree

Part-Skim
Mozzarella Cheese

Water

Fire Roasted
Tomatoes

Onions

10 2% or Less Of
Romano Cheese
11 Bread Crumbs

12 Parmesan and
Asiago Cheese
Blend With Flavor
13 Modified Cornstarch

while making cheeses such as

mozzarella and provolone.
Cut (tomatoes) into small cubes.
Tomatoes are a fruit and part of the
nightshade family (like potatoes and
eggplants), but they are served and
prepared as a vegetable
A thick liquid made by cooking and
straining tomatoes. The difference
between tomato paste, tomato puree,
and tomato sauce is consistency, and
the thicker the consistency, the
deeper the flavor.
A cheese, originally from southern
Italy, traditionally made from Italian
buffalo milk by the pasta filata
method.
A colorless, transparent, odorless,
tasteless liquid
Tomatoes grilled over an open flame.

An edible bulb with a pungent taste

and smell, composed of several
concentric layers, used in cooking
sheep's milk, cheese culture, salt,
rennet, butter, salt, sodium citrate,
contains less than 2% of milk fat
A small fragment of bread or small
particles of dry bread

Cheese blends combine the rich

flavors of Asiago and Parmesan to
bring added flavors.
Corn starch that has been altered by a
chemical or enzyme to enable it to
perform certain functions in food

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Small easy to chew,

flavorful bites, less
expensive than the labor
cost of dicing tomatoes
Thickening agent for sauce

For flavor

Dissolves substances
To bring out the tomatos
natural sweetness and add a
subtle smokiness.
For flavor

For flavor

For breading or crumbing

foods, topping casseroles,
thickening, adding
inexpensive bulk to foods,
or making a crisp and
crunchy coating
Added Flavors

A stabilizer, thickening
agent, or an emulsifier. Can
be used to change texture of
a food, increase their

Madeline McAndrew 915372125 Thursday Lab Group 2

14 Extra Virgin Olive

Oil

15 Soybean Oil
16 Salt

17 Molasses
18 Roasted Garlic

19 Potassium Chloride

20 Balsamic Vinegar
21 Garlic Puree
22 Sugar

23 Spices
24 Basil

A fat obtained from the olive (the

fruit of Olea europaea; family
Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of
the Mediterranean Basin.
A vegetable oil extracted from the
seeds of the soybean (Glycine max)
A mineral substance composed
primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl),
a chemical compound belonging to
the larger class of ionic salts
A viscous by-product of the refining
of sugarcane or sugar beets into sugar
A process where garlic is sliced at the
top each head of garlic to expose
some of the cloves inside.
It is then placed the on a piece of foil
and drizzled with olive oil and
wrapped in the foil. It is roasted until
cloves are lightly browned and
tender, about 30 minutes.
A metal halide salt that is odorless
and has a white or colorless vitreous
crystal appearance dissolves in water
and has a salt-like taste.
Dark, sweet Italian vinegar that has
been matured in wooden barrels
A thick liquid made by cooking and
straining garlic.
A sweet crystalline substance
obtained from various plants,
especially sugar cane and sugar beet,
consisting essentially of sucrose, and
used as a sweetener in food and
drink.
An aromatic or pungent vegetable
substance used to flavor food
An aromatic annual herb of the mint
family, native to tropical Asia.
The leaves of the basil plant used as a
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stability, decrease viscosity,

or to lengthen or shorten
gelatinization time.
For cooking food in

For cooking food in

Enhances flavor and
preserves

A sweetener
To bring out the garlics
natural flavor.

A preservative

For flavor
A thickening agent
A sweetener

Adds Flavor
Adds Flavor

Madeline McAndrew 915372125 Thursday Lab Group 2

25 Dehydrated Garlic

26 Dehydrated Onions

culinary herb, especially in

Mediterranean dishes.
Garlic that is not in a hydrated form
and can be stored easily.
Onions that are not in a hydrated
form and can be easily stored.

Flavoring agent that does

not spoil. Less expensive
than regular garlic
Cheaper than regular onions
and do not spoil

EXHIBIT 6~ Seven days after being cooked~ Shelf Life

Reference List
Americans Consume Too Much Sodium (Salt). (2011, February 24). Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention
Carbohydrates: Simple versus Complex. (n.d.). Nutrition MD

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Madeline McAndrew 915372125 Thursday Lab Group 2

Palacios, A. (2013, October 13). What is the RDA of Sodium? LIVESTRONG.COM
Potassium Chloride. (2014, January 1). WebMD
Sim. J. (2014). EggsBrown , A. In Understanding Food. Thomson/Wadsworth
Sim. J. (2014). Milk and Milk Products Brown , A. In Understanding Food.Thomson/Wadsworth
Sim. J. (2014). Vegetables/Fruits. Brown , A. In Understanding Food. Thomson/Wadsworth
Zucchini Lasagna. (2012, September 19). Ginas Skinny Recipes SkinnyTaste.com

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