lasagna 2.0

This is a test of a new lasagna.
Fresh tomato sauce:

The noodles are brown rice noodles by Pasta Joy, thus avoiding processed white flour. I think they are better then regular noodles.
For the filling, instead of ricotta or tofu-ricotta (which is pretty good), I used the cauliflower/ spinach mash:


Layer like any lasagna, cover, and bake until the noodles are cooked.


How did it come out? Well it tastes pretty good. The texture of the filling is comparable to reg lasagna. The sauce is fine, lots of fresh basil. The noodles soaked up most of the sauce while cooking; I like their texture, but is different from the regular limp white noodle texture. I like it just fine for me, but if I was serving it to some other brave soul, I might go ahead and precook the noodles, and shorten the baking time.

snickalizzi

Nicky is having a good week so far:

Just like a little kid, Snickers knows when it is Christmas morning. He really does. He always has a present under the tree, and he knows it. He always opens it by himself. Here are some shots of him opening his present and eating it under the tree.

Then on Sat, Ange and I went to pickup something in the truck. Snicky wanted to come along:

before and after

before                                                 after




after
before

a new toy and snobby joes

Mom and Dad gave me a gift card for my birthday and I used it to buy this:
It is a food processor on steroids, twice the size of my old one! I christened it by making cauliflower/spinach mashed 'potatoes'. (Wow, two whole heads of cauliflower and an entire package of spinach at once...)

Since I had a little $ left over, I also bought a cookbook I had wanted for awhile. While I was in the kitchen anyway I figured I might as well try out the recipe for Snobby Joes; so named because they are better than Sloppy Joes in every way.


Here are the ingredients. The finished product came out pretty good, but note for next time:
less chili powder (too strong), and watch the lentils more carefully (fell apart)

This was my first time trying red lentils, and they are really good. We tried them over brown rice, and wrapped in sprouted grain corn tortillas. I will be making this again for sure.
Thanks Mom and Dad!

Christmas eve

When the kids were little, they used to be up early on Christmas. Now everyone but me sleeps in. (I can't sleep past 6am ever.) So, while I'm waiting, I thought I'd put up some pics from Christmas Eve. Note that no one is wearing warm clothing against the brisk air. That is because there is no brisk air. What we have here is a warm, slightly muggy, perhaps even a slight drizzle, hair- frizzing Christmas . yuck.

Just a few pictures:




One really cute kid and one weird looking aunt.



One happy fan... the dolphins have their game on this season, plus he gets to share a couch with two beautiful girls.










Presents, finally!















The boys.
















And here is my Christmas present forever (thank you, Lord)

a tale of two pies

I made a chocolate silk pie, and 2 apple cobblers for Christmas. I am not sure if I am brave enough to take them with me to the dinners. Mom said she liked them at Thanksgiving, but she was probably just being polite. (My taste buds have adapted to food without lots of added oil, salt, sugar, cheese, etc...so they taste good to me.) The thing is I don't really care if anyone likes them, I just don't want to waste them. What I mean is it is totally fine with me if someone doesn't eat it, it won't hurt my feelings at all. But they are good, and I would rather keep them for myself if no one is going to like them anyway.

The apple cobbler is made with apples, apple juice, dates, cinnamon, and arrowroot powder. The topping is oats, walnuts, date sugar, and cinnamon.


The chocolate pie is the texture of a thick cheesecake. It is really rich, I can only eat a small piece at a time. Actually I could probably eat the whole thing at once, even if I made myself sick. That's it, I am keeping it for myself. This decision is rationalized by the thought that no one else will like it anyway. Right?

the legacy trail

The day was so beautiful, we decided to finally try out the Legacy Trail. It was sunny and warm (not hot). There were no clouds, and the breeze was nice and cool. There were a few other bikers, but we mostly had the trail to ourselves. It was fun. The last section of the trail should be open in 2010, and I definitely want to go back.

road trip

Savannah, Shanna, and I went to SC to get Joe for Christmas leave. It was a very quick trip: drive up on Tue, pick him up Wed, and drive back home. The trip is about 9 hours. We stayed at Day's Inn near Fort Jackson on Tues night. Never stay there. It was shabby, not very clean, and kinda creepy. On the plus side, the staff was friendly, and a huge mall was right across the street. We went there for dinner. . Here are a few pics of the trip:


At BK for breakfast.

Stuck in a total traffic jam on I-10. Took 1 hour to go 10 miles.



Waiting for Joe. This is in Fort Jackson, but we were actually in the wrong place...
We were looking for A company, and this area had a sign that said A company, but is was some other A company. Joe's unit was down the road. Of course there was no sign there. But we found him eventually. :)



The car had to pass a safety inspection before we were allowed to take Joe. Of course it passed with no problems. Bonus: this car will drive almost across two states on $17.00 worth of gas.

On the way home, Joe was keeping us entertained with stories from basic training. We had a good, but long, trip home. Stopped for a real lunch at Ruby Tuesdays, cause no one could handle BK or McDonalds again.

Christmas stuff

Ange actually decorated the house this year, and he did a much nicer job than I usually do. Everything looks so nice for Joe's visit. I especially like the lights. I will add some more pics later.

veggie chili

I decided to make a veggie chili instead of soup this week. Here's what I did...
sauteed some green peppers, onions (yellow and purple), celery, and garlic. I also added a shallot.

When they were about done, I added the spices: chili powder, parsley, and chipolte.
Next I added a can of chopped tomatoes, can of tomato sauce, three different types of beans, green beans, butternut squash, and zucchini. This is just a mix of stuff that has been in the fridge and needed to be cooked.

Bring it to a boil, cover and simmer till done.
Note for next time: add butternut squash with the peppers and onions cause they take longer to cook.

about the crabs

Just thought I would update since this blog kinda started with them. I have 17 of the little guys; a mix of strawberries, Caribbeans, Ecuadorians, and one other kind whose name escapes me at the moment. I have not had a death in the tank for a least 1.5 years. The secret to keeping hermit crabs alive in captivity is the quality of the saltwater. I bought a big container of ready made saltwater petco and I have not lost a crab since. They like to climb and bury themselves and trash the tank. Lately several of them have been piled in the corner near the heater, they just sleep in a stack. They don't eat much. Mine live on branches and leaves from our oak tree, dried baby shrimp, dried fruit and oats, and the occacional branch from a mangrove tree. They also like to eat earthworm castings (looks like dirt). I have all but given up on keeping track of individuals cause so many of them look so similar, and they change shells. But there are a few that stand out: Mumper with his grumpy attitude and his missing antenae. Baby with her bright purple claw. Klinger cause he is kinda small, but i'm not 100% sure about him. Anyway, they are fine, although their tank is totally trashed at the moment. Geuss that is one more thing to add to my list.

butternut squash / black bean casserole

Note: This recipe came from the fatfreevegan website.

These shots are before and after baking.I know the finished product is not what they call food porn, but it sure tastes good.
This is a very good dinner. I have made some changes to the original recipe. I use butternut instead of pumpkin. (It was good with pumpkin, but butternut is easier to get.)
I replace the tahini with raw cashews cause I can't stand tahini.(I would use raw cashew butter, but I can't find it anywhere.) The first time I made I used tahini- it was ok- ang liked it both ways.
I use arrowroot instead of cornstarch.
I also add chopped spinach to the filling, and omit the salt.
I think the filling and sauce would be good to make stuffed peppers. I would chop the squash in the food processor, and add it to the bean mixture. I would leave green peppers out of the filling. Use the mixture to stuff green peppers, top with sauce, and bake. might even add some brown rice? could sub kidney beans for black just for color.

Busy girl

what i need to get done in the next five days (in no particular order)

• write R's IEP-done
• write H's IEP done
  
• invent final exams for 5th and 6th hour done
  
• make copies of all exams for admin- done
  
• start W's IEP-done
• make a pot of split pea soup -done and a pot of veggie-chili to freeze for lunches done
  
• set up sub plans for tues and wed (picking up Joe)-done
  
• ride at least 25 miles on my bike not quite
  
• gather appropriate videos for exam days-done
• finish setting up eating disorder project-done
• find a plastic comb binder for ABC books
• make a black bean and butternut casserole- done- or stuffed peppers
• make a thanksgiving loaf done or black bean burgers
• make spinach lasagna
• shop for supplies for the above items-done
• oh yeah, get the consult sheets signed
  
• find my way to south carolina and follow the army's arbitrary and obscure procedures for soldier pick-up
• drive up tues, pick up and drive home wed, back to work thurs
• attend R's IEP meeting- done, but miss H's (yeah!!!)
• i guess i should put up some sort of christmas decorations- Ang did this and it looks beautiful
  
• pay bills done
  
• come up with lesson plans for bobby
• talk to geometry teacher about work
  

ok that should do for now, no wonder i almost fell asleep sitting on the toilet

so i've been thinking about this blog. i am making it a journal for me. if anyone wants to visit and comment that's fine too.

weird things interest me. i once kept a yearlong journal documenting the types, locations, and behaviors of dragonflies and damselflies i observed. i mean, who does that? while i am still interested in dragonflies, spiders, and crabs, I have other hobbies, too.

• cooking- i used to be an indifferent cook at best. cooking was just another chore to get done. well, out of necessity, i have had to take it up a notch (because there are very few people capable of cooking something i will eat) i guess that isn't fair. i know some pretty great cooks. that fault is that i am now too picky about what i will put into my body. i know too much and it ruined lots of food for me. so i am going to use this blog as a sort of food/ recipe log, to keep track of what worked and what did not (remember the high- crucifeous stew -yucko)
• keeping the classroom in order - a full time job
• my pets- nicky, the 17 crabbies, and the cats

so this is my first post, i will try to post once a week or so just to get my cluttered head clear