Tag Archives: lasagna

Sunshine Sunday

What happens when I get behind on blog reading? I miss out on this: My Sunshine Award nomination from Katie at Blonde Ambition.

Even though I’m chiming in a little late — like, um, a month too late — I’m here to play along. Thanks, Katie, for nominating me. Sorry I dropped the ball. In my defense, I’m now halfway through drafting a new 50,000-word novel. 😀

sunshine Here goes …

The Rules:

  1. Include award logo in a post or on your blog.
  2. Link to the person who nominated you.
  3. Answer 10 questions about yourself.
  4. Nominate 10 bloggers to receive the award.

Katie’s 10 questions:

What 3 items are must-haves in your grocery cart every week?

Depends on the diet du jour. Currently:

  1. Unsweetened almond, coconut or almond-coconut milk.
  2. A variety of veggies
  3. Something chocolate

If you could live in any city, no questions asked, which one would you choose?

That’s a tough question. When I was in middle school, in the throes of “Gone with the Wind” mania (the book, not the movie), I wanted to live in a renovated Georgia plantation house with my three cats, Rhett, Scarlett and Ashley.

In high school, any big city would have done. I was so OVER living in a one-stoplight town where cow-tipping counted as major excitement. I wanted big-city entertainment — and cable TV. We lived in the sticks, and couldn’t get cable. After I went off to college, my mom got a satellite (the precursor to Dish and DirecTV, probably), but even then, we only got a few channels … and NO MTV. Oh, the horror.

Nowadays, I’m pretty pleased with Flagstaff.

SunsetGreat scenery, beautiful spring and fall temperatures, summers that don’t get hot as hell, like the rest of Arizona. Winter leaves something to be desired, though. So ideally, I’d live in Flagstaff from April through November, then high-tail it to the Valley for the winter.

Do you spend more money on food or clothes?

Pants not tight anymore!Food. Definitely. I’m not a fashionable person. Most days, you can find me in sweats (or wearing the Boyfriend’s clothes). This outfit from Kohl’s is one of my dressier ones.

Have you ever broken any bones?

Not yet. (Knock on wood.) But as klutzy as I am, it’s only a matter of time.

Fad diets: yay or nay?

Depends on what you call a fad. I still firmly believe Atkins is a great option for many people, myself included. Yet others scorn it as a fad.

Knowing what you know now, what is one piece of advice you’d give to 18-year old you?

Exercise can be fun. Start now.

What is your dream career? (Props if you currently have it :-P )

Ideally, I’d quit the day job to become a full-time author. I’m working on it. Maybe once I have three or four books out there, I’ll be making enough to pay the bills.

If you could choose one type of cuisine for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Only one? Yikes. I’ve been craving pasta lately — perhaps because I’ve been reading about Carly’s adventures in Italy — so I have to go with Italian. Ask me next week and the answer might be Mexican.

What is your favorite part of your body?

Does my brain count? 😉 Probably not. My feet. I have gigantic size 9 or 10 feet (depending on the shoes). I used to wish for smaller ones, but at 5-foot-10, I’d look pretty ridiculous trying to get around on tiny size 6 feet.

What is the “signature dish” that you cook best?

Last-Minute Lasagna
Last-Minute Lasagna

I make a mean lasagna (and associated pasta-less versions of said dish). It was one of the first dinners I learned to make, in eighth-grade home ec.

The lasagna in this photo is Last-Minute Lasagna, a recipe I read about over at Carrots N Cake. It layers frozen ravioli with meat, sauce and cheese.

My nominees: Thanks, but I’m going to pass on nominating folks, since the moment is long gone.

Who needs noodles?

image

Not me, that’s for sure.

I whipped up a batch of Meat Lasagna from George Stella‘s “Livin’ Low-Carb” book, and I love it. It’s worth the work — especially because it’s really not all that much work.

Yes, it has to bake for 50 minutes. And you have to make a meat layer and a cheese filling. Garlic must be minced (but my Pampered Chef garlic press does that in a jiffy). The house still smelled like garlic when I got home from work last night.

Still, it’s pretty simple to make. You just cook onion and celery (!) in olive oil, add the ground beef and a simple homemade tomato sauce (just a can of tomato sauce with garlic and other spices). The filling includes ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan cheeses, egg, more garlic and other spices.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love garlic? I get that from my Mom. The more garlic, the better.

And instead of multiple layers, you only have to deal with two: Meat on bottom; then cheese filling, topped with more mozzarella.

De-e-e-licious! I’m so glad the pan served eight. I have a couple of servings in the fridge and the rest are in the freezer, ready for a day I need a quick meal.