Leftover Lasagna Soup

On Sunday for dinner I made a small tray of lasagna for D, the boys, and I. It was pretty good, but after eating leftovers for lunch 3 days in a row, I was pretty much over it. I started looking online for ways to use up leftover lasagna. There were a few things here and there...stuff it into peppers, chop it up and toss it with a salad...but nothing was really speaking to me. The only promising idea I could find was to turn it into soup. I found a couple of recipes, but none of them were quite right for what I had on hand. I decided to just figure it out on my own.

I cooked some minced garlic and red chili peppers in about a tablespoon of olive oil. I had about a quarter of an 8x8 tray of lasagna leftover as well as a bit of potato left from scooping it out for potato skins. I threw them together in the food processor with a half of a can of diced tomatoes until they were blended into a thick...well...goop. Then I added that to the pot with the garlic and peppers and the rest of the diced tomatoes and poured in a can of chicken broth. I didn't feel like it had enough tomato, so I added in a small can of tomato sauce. I also added a bit of white wine...why not? I seasoned it with oregano, parsley, salt, and red and black pepper and cooked it on medium until it was heated through.




I was a little nervous about feeding it to D. After all, it was a little weird. It tasted pretty good though, so I served it up with some mixed veggies and garlic bread. He said it was good, so I think it was a successful dish. He isn't usually one to hide the truth when he doesn't like something I make.

Experimenting in the kitchen is fun. :) I had the leftovers today for lunch with a big delicious salad. It totally it the spot.

-Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Green Beans and Roast

Sometimes I forget that I'm not (or at least am trying not to be) a picky eater anymore.  It's hard to redefine yourself at 30! My picky eating as so much a part of who I was for so many years, it's hard to just let it go.  The other night my mom made a roast for dinner.  Growing up, my mom's roast was the only thing that I was ever forced to eat.  I have no idea why.  I never loved it, but I could get down a few ketchup covered bites...enough to keep my mom happy.  When she made it the other night, I automatically started coming up with my own dinner plans (she no longer makes me eat it...I mean, I am 30).  I made myself a delicious dinner with chicken covered in a pineapple salsa, really yummy green beans, and roasted potatoes.  It wasn't till much later in the evening that I realized that I'd eaten like a picky eater again.  Why didn't I just eat what my mom had made for dinner.  She so seldom actually cooks a meal (she and my dad are pretty content with sandwiches and simple things like that), and it's even more rare that I'm around when she does.  I should have at least tried some.  Who knows, maybe I'd really enjoy it now? 

My own dinner really was yummy though.  The green beans were especially good.  I used to hate green beans, and now I love them! Sometimes I wonder if I'd have been more likely to try vegetables if more of them had been presented to me fresh and in their natural color.  There is nothing appetizing to me (though I will eat them now) about that muted green bean from a can color.  A nice, fresh green bean looks so delicious.  It's bright and crisp and lovely.   I think my first experience with re-trying green beans was at PF Chang's last year.  I tested out their spicy green beans and LOVED them.  I've even tried to copy them at home a couple times.  SO good! After that, I started buying fresh green beans to cook with more often.  They are cheap and plentiful around here, so we eat them a lot.  One of my favorite ways, which I used the other night, is to saute some purple onion and garlic in a little bit of olive oil, and throw in some green beans that have been boiled for about 5 minutes...add a little salt and pepper, and YUM! Try it sometime! My parents had some of the beans I'd made, and they both said they really liked them (though my mom ate around the onion. My pickyness was come by honestly). 

Other Picky Eaters

I am discovering as I become less picky, that picky eaters make life really difficult! I mean, I always knew that I was making it hard on other people, but I guess I never realized just how hard.  I have some pretty picky friends who I occasionally cook for when we all get together.  Coming up with something that will make everyone happy is sometimes almost impossible!  It really is no wonder that the hostess for our weekly get togethers usually ends up making some kind of pasta dish.  Its simple and most people will eat it. (And seriously, hats off to her! She spends her time and money to feed us all nearly every week, and she does a good job of it!)

I'm making dinner tonight for these friends, and coming up with a dinner plan was pretty dang stressful! I still don't know if what I am making is something that people will eat.  I decided on a pulled jerk chicken with a side of sweet potato oven fries.  I'm thinking about adding a few regular potatoes...just in case.  I know bbq pulled meat is more traditional, but I'm not a fan of bbq sauce, and Jerk is one of my favorite flavor combos.  That sweet mixed with a little heat...yum!  I really hope people will enjoy it.  If it turns out well, maybe I'll post the recipe.  I'm nervous though.  I'm sure I'll like it, and I think my boyfriend will like it, but I'm not so sure about the rest of them.  I feel bad when I make something that people don't like.  I know what it is like to sit at a table and panic because the food is something you aren't used to, and you don't want to offend the cook.  Bleh...so many years of stressing people out because I was coming to dinner...I don't want to be like that anymore! I know I still am to an extent, but I'm determined to eventually become the kind of person who no one would label "a picky eater."


Edited to add:

YUCK! My jerk chicken was HORRIBLE.  Like, epic fail.  I guess I put in too much marinade and cooked the shredded chicken too long...or something.  It turned into something that resembled vomit.  The chicken disintegrated! It was so bad, we ended up ordering pizza.  How embarrassing! At least my dessert turned out good.  Most people seemed to really like it. I know I sure did.

Hummus Pizza and Acorn Squash Fries

 As I said before, I'm always trying to come up with yummy, creative, but low calorie meal ideas.  I especially like it if I can find several ways to use the same ingredients.  After all, if I have a bell pepper in my fridge, it won't last forever.  Tonight I made a sort of flatbread pizza with acorn squash fries.  For Christmas I got the book Robin Takes 5 by Robin Miller.  It's all recipes containing 5 ingredients of fewer.  One of her recipes was for a Greek pizza.  I have kind of altered her idea to fit my own tastes and what I had in my kitchen.

Here is what I used for mine.  This serves 1 (1 person who is eating smallish meals), obviously, you could make more.
For the Flatbread:
1/2 Flat-Outs Sun Dried Tomato Flatbread
1 Tbsp Sabra Basil Pesto Hummus
2 Tbsp Publix Tomato Basil Feta
1 Tbsp Shredded Mozzarella
1 Sliced Garlic Clove (Roasted)
2 Tbsp Chopped Red Peppers (Roasted)
Cooking Spray (I used olive oil spray)

Preheat the oven to 425.  Spray a pizza pan with olive oil cooking spray.  (You could also use a cookie sheet, but the flatbread won't get as crispy.  Spread the hummus over the flatbread, sprinkle the cheeses over the hummus, and top with the roasted red peppers and roasted sliced garlic.  (I roasted these with the squash fries for about 10 minutes, and then took them out to put on the pizza.)  Bake for about 7 minutes or until the cheese is melted.  Watch that you don't burn the edges of your flatbread.  It cooks fast!

For the Acorn (You could also use butternut squash.  I chose acorn because I am the only one eating it, and it's smaller) Squash Fries
1/4th Acorn Squash (Peeled and seeds removed and sliced into as close as possible to "fry" shape.)
Caribbean Jerk Seasoning to taste (or whatever seasoning floats your boat.  I like Jerk seasoning on almost everything.)
Salt to taste
Cooking Spray

For these, preheat the oven to 425. Spray the roasting pan with olive oil and spread the squash slices over it.  Sprinkle on a little salt.  Bake about 7 to 8 minutes on one side, then turn them over and bake on the other side for another 7 minutes or so.  They should be browned on the outside, but soft in the middle.  As soon as they come out of the oven, I like to sprinkle on a little Jerk seasoning.

As a second side, I sliced half a banana and sprinkled it with cinnamon.  Yum! And my whole meal was under 300 calories.

 

I guess I kind of got my wish about not working.  Normally on Mondays, I go into work at 10.  However I got a text saying I wasn't needed today until noon.  When I got there at noon, I was told that we would be combining classes right after nap, and I'd be going home because we had so few children today.  So I ended up working a 3.5 hour day, and 2 hours and 15 minutes of that were spent in a room full of sleeping children!

I stopped at the grocery store on the way home to pick up food for tomorrow night's Bible study dinner.  I am planning on making The Pioneer Woman's Cajun Chicken Pasta.  I really hope it comes out tasting as good as that picture makes it look! 

Egginess

I am trying very hard to count calories and lose some weight.  I worked really hard to lose weight several years ago, and in the past year or so, I've started putting a bit of it back on.  I can't let myself go down that road.  I worked too hard! So anyway, I've been trying to come up with some yummy, satisfying, and reasonably healthy meal options.  Somewhere I saw a recipe similar to this, and thought it sounded pretty good.  Yesterday I tried out a version of it.  It is super simple and quite tasty and versatile.  I took an oven safe ramekin, sprayed it with some EVOO, cracked an egg into it, and added some toppings.  My grocery store makes their own brand of tomato basil feta which I got on sale recently.  I sprinkled a tablespoon of that over the egg and added some chopped tomato.  I made another one for myself for dinner last night and added some chili pepper and green onion to it.  Then I baked it until the white part of the egg was set.  I would really like to figure out what temp and time to do it at to get it so the white is set but the yolk is still runny.  I love me some runny egg yolk. :D  I toasted up a piece of flatbread to eat with the egg.  It was yumminess! 

Salted Caramel Tarts

So far, having my sister living here has been kind of fun. Last night we made fish tacos and salted caramel tarts together. For the tarts we used this recipe.
The recipe itself is not all the great as it lacks in detail, however, the tarts turned out pretty good. One weird thing about the recipe is that it says to serve it warm and does not mention chilling the completed tart. We were making the tarts for today, so ours needed to be chilled. I am not sure how you could have eaten them without chilling them though. They would have been a runny mess (unless our substitution of half and half instead if cream made the caramel more runny than it should have been.)


We used a few broken pieces of dark chocolate candy that we had on hand and mixed it with some semi-sweet chunks and chips.


We ended up making two 10 inch tarts and one 4 inch tart.


The 4 inch tart came out of the fridge this morning for testing and was very yummy.


This picture was taken this morning of the chilled tart. The funky spot is from where the foil stuck to it. I can't say it is an attractive dessert, but it sure does taste good!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Yo Ho, Yo Ho, An Idiot's Life For Me

Well, I just about gave myself a heart attack.  I was sitting here in my classroom as my class napped, and I was pondering what to do with the squash I had roasted before leaving the house this morning.  Suddenly: PANIC!  "Did I leave the squash cooking when I left the house? I don't recall turning off the oven!"  Just as I was getting ready to leave the house today a heavily accented someone came to the door inquiring after our coconuts (these people come by every so often and ask if they can have the coconuts off our trees in the backyard.  They do the work of getting them down, and we let them have them.  Not like we use them anyway).  Had I forgotten about the squash in my struggle to understand this woman on my doorstep?  My mind was filled with visions of flames leaping from the oven and our sprinkler system dousing the house and ruining all the furniture.  I imagined arriving home to a charred, smoke-filled kitchen.  I tried to imagine how I would tell my parents when they got home from their trip to find the their home in ruin.  What could I do?!  I am at work.  Even if I were to go home, it would take me another 30 minutes to get there.   At this point my mind began to head back into sane territory and I realized that I needed to call my parents so they could call our neighbors (I don't know their number) who have a key to the house to go check for me.   I waited anxiously to hear back the news that my parents were going to kill me, bring me back to life, kick me out of the house, and kill me again.  I waited for what seemed like 45 minutes (I think it was probably closer to 5) and finally heard that, no I had not left the oven on and that our neighbor was kindly putting the squash in the fridge for me (not sure if I left it in the oven or on the counter, but either way it was very nice of her to help out). 

I feel like a total moron!  Granted, not as much of a moron as I would feel if I actually HAD left the oven on, but still...how embarrassing!  Sigh...at least I have ginger cookies.

Nothing...

Not one word. It has been nearly 5 days, and I still have not heard back from these people. It seems inconsiderate to me. I spent nearly 8 hours in my car to visit them. I paid for the gas to get there. I don't know if you have noticed, but gas isn't cheap! I understand if they don't want to hire me, but it would be nice if they'd at least tell me so! It's very frustrating. I emailed them as soon as I got home. I thanked them for having me in their home. I told them I was still interested in the job. And still, nothing.

I'm done ranting about this now. I don't want this blog to be a place where I come to whine and complain. That's not who I want to be. I don't even think I want the job anymore anyway.

I talked with my mom last night about the choir thing. We both thought that since this is something that has been on my heart for so long, I should pursue it. I'm not sure where to go from here, but starting next week (when I get back from Disney), I am going to talk to some homeschool moms that I know as well as some people more experienced with getting these kinds of things up and running. I may also end up crawling back to the preschool and begging for a part time job. I need money, and frankly, I need to be doing something useful with my time. Enough is enough.

On to other things...

I made dinner for my family last night. I did the pistachio crusted chicken again. It has been a hit with everyone who has had it. I'm rather proud of it as it's just something simple I concocted while trying to copy something I had eaten elsewhere. :D I also made whole wheat biscuits, homemade cranberry sauce, and oven "fried" potatoes to go with it. Sorry, no pictures this time. I picked up the latest Rachael Ray at the grocery store yesterday and found a few more recipes I want to try. If I do, I may post those at a later date.

God is Faithful - Even When I am Faithless

Yesterday I found out that the job I though I might be getting is probably not going to work out. I spent the afternoon getting angry with my mom over stupid stuff, pouting, whining, worrying, and scouring the internet for a job. I just knew that I was going to be unemployed forever...that there was nothing out there for me. I'm sure God was shaking his head and sighing in exasperation over my lack of faith. He must love me though, because later that night he restored my faith. Last night I received emails about three different positions. This morning I talked to one family's previous nanny on the phone (she was the one doing the interviewing). The job actually sounds pretty good. Of course, this one could fall through too, but it is good to know that there are still jobs out there. I will find a great job, and I believe it will happen soon.

Alabama hasn't been as bad as I originally made it out to be. The weather has been beautiful and I've actually been having a pretty good time. Yesterday we went out on the lake in the boat. My parents own 1,000 feet of lake front property, but because it is so hilly and the trees so dense, you can't see the lake from the house. It was nice to be able to see more of the property from the water. I have only seen the small, cleared area where the house is. I'm not fond enough of spiders and ticks to venture into the woods for exploration (I feel fairly certain that this brings into question my pirate status).






Last night I made dinner for the family, and I'm proud to sat that it was a success. I love to cook for myself, but making food for other people always makes me nervous. I made creamy parsley and pistachio fettuccine (well, we didn't have fettuccine on hand so I actually used spaghetti noodles) and pistachio crusted chicken. I didn't have a recipe for the chicken. It was something I had eaten at a restaurant at The Grove when I was in LA. I had been wanting to try to make it ever since. I didn't measure anything, so I can't give you an exact recipe, but basically I chopped shelled pistachios in the food processor (enough to coat the amount of chicken you are preparing), put the nuts in a zip-lock bag with some black pepper, put the chicken in and shook it up to coat it. I then baked the chicken (I like my chicken absurdly well done, so I won't presume to tell you how long to cook yours. Any chicken recipe can give you a general idea of how to properly bake chicken).

Filling My Days

Another long day in the life of an unemployed PirateDiva. I was supposed to meet my friend for a Bible Study this morning at 10:30, but I woke up late and didn't make it there until 10:40. I know, only 10 minutes late, but I am the kind of person who is ALWAYS early for everything. I hate to be kept waiting, and so I hate making other people wait for me. The Bible study time was great. It is nice to be able to meet with another Christian woman to encourage each other, keep each other accountable, and discuss both the mundane details of our lives and the spiritual issues with which we struggle. Also, she is a good friend, and we always just have a good time being together.

After our study, I dropped some things off at the Goodwill and went home. I admit that I spent most of the afternoon pacing the house, bored out of my mind. Relaxation is great, but I need something to do. My room is clean, my bathroom is clean, my laundry is done, and my mom didn't really seem to need my help with anything. I searched for jobs online for awhile and then ended up taking a nap for about an hour and a half. I really need to find a job...

I made dinner for my family tonight. I enjoy cooking, and I needed something to do anyway. I tried out a few recipes from my Rachael Ray magazine. I had about 15 temper tantrums (thankfully no one was in the room) and several near disasters in the process, but everything turned out well. I made apricot-balsamic glazed chicken, peach pattycakes, and a fruity salad (not a fruit salad, a veggie salad with lots of fruit in it).

Click the pictures for recipes.
I did not make the beets with the chicken. I'm not into beets. ;)

Apricot-Balsamic Glazed Chicken



Peach Pattycakes


Both of these recipes are very tasty. I recommend them.