Veggie Lasagna

I have a LOT of recipe books. And I always want to try new recipes. So my personal challenge this year is to make 2 new recipes a week.

And share them with you!

So here we go-

"Not Nearly as Complicated as it Looks" Veggie Lasagna

from Looneyspoons cookbook

(Great recipe. Will for sure make it again. See notes at bottom.)

1 cup chopped onion

3 cloves garlic-minced

2 cups sliced mushrooms*

1 cup diced carrots

1 cup chopped sweet red peppers

1 cup thinly sliced zucchini

1 can (28 ounces) tomatoes- undrained- cut up

1 cup "Italian-style" tomato sauce

1 can (5 1/2 ounces) tomato paste

1 Tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce

2 teaspoons dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

2 teaspoons brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

9 whole wheat lasagna noodles- uncooked

2 cups low-fat (1%) cottage cheese

1 egg white

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1 (10 ounce) package frozen spinach- thawed, squeezed dry & chopped**

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

3/4 cup shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese

Spray a large saucepan with non-stick spray. Add onions, garlic, mushrooms, carrots, red pepper and zucchini. Cook and stir over medium heat until vegetables are softened, about 7-8 minutes.

Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, soy sauce, basil, oregano, brown sugar, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Mix well. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Meanwhile, prepare lasagna noodles according to package directions. Rinse under cold water and drain well.

In a medium bowl, combine cottage cheese, egg white, Parmesan cheese, and spinach. Set aside. In a separate bowl, toss mozzarella and cheddar cheeses together until well mixed.

To assemble lasagna spray DEEP**** 9x13 inch baking pan with non-stick spray. Spread 1 cup sauce over bottom of pan. Layer 3 noodles over top. Spread 2 cups sauce over noodles, followed by 1/2 of the cottage cheese/ spinach mixture, and 1/3 of the cheese.*** Top with 3 more noodles, 2 cups of sauce, 1/2 of the cottage cheese/ spinach mixture and 1/3 of the cheese.*** Layer final 3 noodles on top, followed by 2 cups of sauce (you should be left with 1/3 of the cheese).

Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, uncover, and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Return to oven, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Let lasagna cool for 10 minutes before slicing. (Be patient. It will hold together much better if you wait!)



Makes 8 servings. (34 calories & 8.6 g fat per serving)



I think it took me longer to type that up than it did to make it!

Changes I did or will make:
*I (nor any of my family members) don't like mushrooms. So I didn't want to put them in. But I felt like 2 cups was a significant amount of an ingredient to just leave out. We had some leftover chicken so I cut it up and added it instead.
** This was a little too much spinach. It wasn't bad- but just a lot. So unless you have a great love for spinach, I would put a little less next time.
***So I have a problem. I just skim recipes before making them. And then will realize I missed a step when it is a little too late. I didn't realize there was supposed to be cheese layered throughout until I was at the 2nd cheese layer. I decided to just put lots of cheese on top. It ended up tasty. But oh my- it would be even more tasty with cheese throughout. So ALWAYS read your recipe thoroughly before making it!
****I did not use a deep pan. And had to put a cookie sheet on the rack below to catch the drippings that were surely (and did) going to happen. It doesn't necessarily be a big pan, but just not a shallow glass one!!

Decorating Cakes with Fondant

I have wanted to take the Wilton Level 3 cake decorating class since I took level 2 last April. I finally enrolled. And this is my first cake for the class.
It was so exciting learning how to use fondant. But boy is it expensive and such a waste. It doesn't taste very good so it just gets thrown away. It looks good though.
I am excited for our final cake. Stay tuned for that!

Movies

Christmas break= Movie time. Here is my take on what I have seen. And my ratings of them according to what I would pay to see them again.

Marley & Me. Such a cute movie. I truly loved it. It made me Sad. Laugh. Cry. Think. Happy. Hopeful. It made me happy to not have a dog. It made me want a dog. It brought back sad memories of when we had to put dear ol' Snuffy down. Thank goodness I wasn't sobbing like the lady across the aisle from me. I really want to read the book now.

I would pay $$$$$$$$$$ to see it again.

(Not really a family movie! Due to a little bit of loving and Jennifer Aniston skinny dipping.)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

I don't know what to think. It was a very interesting story. Long. And slow. A little weird at parts. Inappropriate at some. But funny at others.

I am glad to have seen it. But don't think I have any desire to see it again.

Eagle Eye.

I really liked it. It was pretty action packed. I was confused. Wondering what was going to happen next. And satisfied at the end with what happened. The fact that I only paid $3.50 to see it probably made it that much more enjoyable.

I would pay $$$ to see it again.

Twilight. I had read the book. And wasn't too impressed. I had no desire to read the rest. But I did want to see the movie. Although the acting was cheesy. And the makeup was horrible. I really liked it. And it actually made me want to read the rest of the books. (New Moon down. 1/3 way through Eclipse). Read them. Unless you are lactose intolerant. Because they are loaded with a LOT of cheese.

I would pay $$$$$$ to see this movie again.

It Can Be a Great Year!

Happy New Year!
I hope you all had a great Christmas and an exciting New Years!

I have a feeling 2009 is going to be a great year.
Here are my goals for this year:

My friend did such a cute thing for New Year's day.
She made yummy caramel corn.

Canned it at her local Home Storage Center. Made fun labels.
And delivered them anonymously to people. So fun. I need to be more like her. What do you want to accomplish this year?

So many memories.

On this day ,many moons ago, I returned home from my mission.

The best 18 months of my life for sure.

1- when my family was making their final guesses before I opened the envelope my mom said "Halifax." and I said "I am NOT going to Halifax." I went to Halifax. I am convinced that my call was for Africa or New Zealand or Ireland. But when I said that, Heavenly Father decided to teach me a lesson. And I am sure glad He did. It was truly the best mission in the world. Located in the most beautiful part of the world. (I should have my family guess who I am going to marry. And my mom can guess John Krasinski.

and I will say "I am NOT going to marry John Krasinski." And I will marry John Krasinski).

2-had 12 companions. 2 of them were officially crazy. Or drove me crazy. I was convinced that one of my crazy companions was going to take off while I was in the shower. I don't know why. She never did. But she did try to jump out of the car once when were were pulled over. I grabbed her and stepped on the gas. She was weird. It hurt her to smile. Seriously. Maybe I should have taken off while she was in the shower.

Can you spot the crazies? And no. I am not one of them.

She is from Hawaii. I need to go visit her.

The one in the middle was my trainer.

Her brother was dating one of my friends from home.

I look freaking tall in this picture.She was a fun companion. Not crazy at all!
She had never had a Blizzard before.... even though DQ was her Dad's favorite restaurant. What?? We were both supposed to be taking bites. I did not know mine was that big!

I told her that this was how Canadians celebrate Canada day!

Those Californians will believe anything.

Tracting in the pouring rain.

1 million beautiful husband points were earned that day.

The ocean. One of the best parts of my mission.

You were never more than 1 1/2 hours from it.

We got to spend one night on Prince Edward Island. We were so excited that we had to take a picture to prove we were there for 13 hours.

Apparently I look special when I am excited.

She was actually a member. But became my companion for 2 weeks when my companion became sick and went home. So fun.

3- served in 5 areas. All of them (except the last) were switched from sisters to elders when I was transferred. I am not sure if that is a good or a bad thing. One of my areas was Trenton. While serving there I thought it would be cool to name my son after it. But why should that area get all the glory? Kentville. Clayton Park. Miramichi. Yarmouth. What lucky children. At least their father will be good looking.

Other highlights included:

4-losing 2 CTR rings. So we borrowed a members metal detector to look for them. It was so funny. And embarrassing. And pointless. Never found them.

5- Buying apples on the side of the road from local orchards. What I wouldn't give to be able to do that every month. (see what I meant about looking special when excited!)

6- Made a giant oreo cookie for an elder's birthday. I should have taken a bite.

7- Eating lobster for the first (and last) time. (excited= special)

8- Chasing chickens while waiting for our truly crazy investigator to come home.

Those were the days.

So lucky!

And the winner of these cute magnets is:

Darin said...

My favorite is "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" by the Barenaked Ladies (a fine Canadian group) with Sarah McLaughlin, and a very close second is "All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey.
But Dominick certainly is at the top of my list.

Congrats Darin. Apparently your luck runneth over with my contests!

And good choice of song. "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" is my second favorite!!

So cute!

Tis' the season for giving.

So leave me a comment telling me your favorite Christmas song and you will be entered to win these:

Cute nativity magnets.


And in case you were wondering what MY favorite song is... it hasn't changed from last year.

Dominick the Italian Christmas Donkey.

You can watch a silly video of it here or check out a light show done to it that I posted here last year.





And don't blame me if it is stuck in your head all day.

"Jiggitty-jig hee haw hee haw."

So much fabulousness. So little time.

I am sure you are all dying to know what I did in Vegas. So here we go.

After the most turbulent flight that almost made me yammy, my dear friend Alisa took me to In-N-Out where we ordered our fries animal style. mmmm. I wanted to go back and have a burger animal style but never made it. Guess I will just have to go back again!
I was blessed to be there at the moment Alisa received the keys to her very first home. Which I am totally and completely jealous of. But she is going to let me move in and since I can't work down there it will be rent free. What a gal.

Thanksgiving day we went to a casino. To partake of their feast buffet. Oh my. It was a feast and it was a buffet. There was so much food. My first plate consisted of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, pizza, ribs, and spinach quiche. Holy smokes it was good. My other plates held delicious items like donuts, fruit, egg rolls, french toast, pot stickers, fried rice, mint chocolate chip gelato, brownies, cookies. And that wasn't even an hundredth of the food offered. God bless America.

After rolling ourselves out of the buffet, we dropped a couple hundred in the slots.

Just joking. I didn't even play a penny.

I met up with my friend Rachel at the Bellagio where we drooled over the largest chocolate fountain. Then I was lucky enough to have 3 other friends in town. Well maybe the little guy isn't my friend. Since he cried the entire time I held him. Whatever. Sorry the pic is a little dark. Hopefully my friends with a not dark picture will email it to me. (hint hint)


It made me laugh to see this sign in every bathroom. Well laugh in a "that's really sad that people need to be told this in a bathroom or at all" sorta way.

And I did a lot more. Shopping. Eating. Talking. Sleeping. Movie watching.

Vegas rocks.