Another Butternut Squash Lasagna

I decide to tackle that Roasted Butternut Squash and Yam Lasagna and my version of it which I had added spinach and ricotta.  I found the original tasty but really oily so I decided to take another attempt at it again but change it up to try to make it a bit healthier and much less greasy.

Here is the last piece of the lasagna, I didn't get any pictures of the process or any other part of the lasagna.

This recipe is sweet and rich tasting but not greasy.

Lovely sage on the top.  I decided to add some sage to the filling as well since it needed to add more then decoration.

Roast Butternut Squash and Yam Lasagna

Adapted from: How Sweet It Is

6-9 oven ready Lasagna Noodles or Fresh Lasagna Noodles

Medium Butternut Squash

2 Medium Yam

1/4 tsp Nutmeg

Olive Oil

3 tbsp Butter

4-5 small Shallots, finely chopped

3-4 Garlic Cloves, finely chopped

6 Sage Leaves, finely diced
9-12 Sage Leaves, left whole
6 oz Mascarpone Cheese
6 oz Light Cream Cheese
1 cup Parmesan, grated
1 1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella
Salt and Pepper to taste

1 Preheat oven to 350.

2 Peel and cube the butternut squash and the yam.  Line the baking sheet with parchment and lay the cubed squash on the baking sheet.  Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and season with nutmeg, salt and pepper, then roast for 30-45 minutes or until the squash has is soft and starting to caramelize then remove from the oven and let cool.  Once cool, mash up the squash up (I like it a bit chunky)

3 In a small frying pan heated to medium, heat the butter and saute the shallots, garlic and sage until they are tender and translucent and then remove from the heat and let cool 5-10 minutes.

4 In a bowl add shallot, mascarpone, cream cheese, parmesan, salt and pepper (to taste).

5 Now it is time to put everything together.  In a buttered 8"x8" glass baking dish, lay a layer of noodles and top with half of the squash mash and then smooth out the top.  Top that with half of the cheese mixture and then slightly less then half the mozzarella.  Then another layer of noodles, then the last of the squash and the last of the cheese mixture.  Top that with the remaining mozzarella and the sage leaves.

6 Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until bubbly and golden.

7 Enjoy!

Kickass Corn Bread

I love my corn bread.


I mean, I loooooooove my cornbread!!!


There is only one problem with it, that it doesn't last, at all. It is usually gone rather quickly and if there are any leftover, it just isn't the same the next day. This cornbread is a little different then most cornbreads. It doesn't contain any flour and thusly is pure deliciousness.

Johnny Cake
1 cup Cornmeal (Yellow or White)
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
2 Eggs
1 cup Cream Style Corn (I use the small can, 10fl oz)
1/4 cup Veggie Oil
1 cup Sour Cream

~Preheat oven to 400.
~Stir together all the dry ingredients in a 8"x8" square pan.
~Add eggs, cream-style corn, oil and sour cream and stir until combined.
~Bake for 25 minutes or until browned.

Enjoy!

Start with a 8"x8" pan, grease it (although I neglected to do that here)

I like to mix everything in one pan, to save on dishes.

Here are all the dry ingredients.

Here are all the ingredients in the pan.

All mixed up.

I love this cornbread so much that I didn't get a chance to get the camera out before it was devoured.

It has been THAT kind of day!

This has been a very craptastic day so far, and it hasn't really begun to get better.   The kids have colds and are thusly terribly whiny and terribly frustrating to deal with, so, I decided to kick the sugar away from them for a few days (which is sooooo easy at this time of year) and so they had a choice of eggs, sausage or oatmeal.  Rosie happily had an egg but Ladybug melted down with the suggestions and then it went down hill from there. Eventually she decided on sausages and then happily ate almost 3 1/2 sausages.  Then it was Rosie's turn to meltdown, poor kid lost her Playmobil Advent Calendar for 2 days.  Luckily my Mom was over so when I lost it, she took over.

On top of allllllll of that, I spilled scalding milk on my foot and all over the floor and then spread ground coffee everywhere and then as I was trying to use my lovely Aeropress and I had coffee grinds stuck in the threads and mess followed.  My day did not start well.

On a some what better note, I had decided to make baked beans that I saw on Seriouseats.com and decided that since we have friends over most Mondays, I should make something nice to eat.  If it turns out horribly we can always get pizza which is the standard unless I make some sort of awesomeness. 

You start out by simmering the beans.  It is best if you get them tender since they don't have a lot of liquid soak up to make them even softer.

Diced onions.

And then they meet the cooked beans.

Line the dutch oven with the bacon.

Place half of the beans into the pan and then place the ham hock in the pan and cover with the remaining beans.

Here is the beans, sauce, and ham hock all together.

Doesn't that look delicious.

Maple Baked Beans
From Serious Eats

2 cups dried Navy Beans
6 strips Bacon
1 Onion chopped
1 tsp Dried Mustard Powder
1 tsp Salt
1/2 cup Maple Syrup
1 Pork Hock, Fresh or Smoked
2 tbsp Butter
2 tbsp Brown Sugar


~Preheat oven to 325
~Simmer beans for 20-30 minutes until tender.  Drain beans and reserve cooking liquid.
~Line bean pot or dutch oven with stripes of bacon.
~In a large bowl toss together onions and bean.
~Place half of the bean mixture in the pot, place the ham hock and then cover with remaining beans.
~Mix together 2 cups of the cooking liquid with mustard, salt, and maple syrup.  Pour over the beans, cover and place in oven for 3 hours, or until the pork hock is fully cooked and pulling away from the bone.  Add more cooking liquid if the beans are looking dry.
~Once the ham hock is cooked, pull the beans out of the oven.  Blend butter and brown sugar and sprinkle over the top of the beans and place back in the oven with the lid off for an additional 30 minutes.

Sick Day and Mug O'Cake

Ladybug had a fever this morning and is currently resting on the kitchen bench, poor kid.  My mum had come over to watch her so I could volunteer at her school, which unfortunately she missed out on.   There were only 4 girls in class today since illness has taken out half the class.

As a appropriate way to keep the cold bug away from me, I decide to make a mug of cake.  That's right, a mug of cake.  Isn't that the worst thing you can think of, a small cake that you can cook in the microwave and have ready within 4 minutes from start to finish.



Chocolate and Caramel Mug O'Cake
Adapted from My Family Kitchen at Babble.com

4 tbsp All-Purpose Flour
2 tbsp Brown Sugar
2 tbsp White Sugar
3 tbsp Cocoa Powder
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
1 Egg - beaten
1 tbsp Vegetable Oil
3 tbsp Milk
2 pieces of leftover Halloween candy, (I used a Caramilk and a Caramel candy)

~Mix all the dry ingredients and add in all the wet ingredients.
~Pour mixture in a regular coffee mug and put the candy in the middle of the batter.
~In the Microwave, cook on high for 1 min and 20 sec.  If the cake is not quite cook you can cook in 10 sec chunks until it is the cooked.  (I cooked mine for 1 min 40 sec)

All the dry ingredients are mixed in a bowl (you could use the mug but this was handy for photos.)

There isn't a lot of each ingredient so a small bowl will do.

I put the combined mixture in the mug.  It is just waiting for the chocolate and caramel to be added.

Here they go.

First the Caramilk.

Then the caramel

Still in the Microwave, it puffed up rather well.  I didn't get it at its full height.

Out of the Microwave and piping hot, so let it cool a bit before devouring.

Doesn't that look delicious?

 I found the treasure.

And the treasure is tasty.

Tuesday...

I did not manage to get my run in Monday afternoon, since Rosie decided to sleep until 5 and Ladybug has dance until 4:30 and this morning we were running super late and Rosie is asleep for pick up today, so hubby has gone to pick up Ladybug although he is now super late.  Whoops, I neglected to tell him that R is asleep, although I asked if he could pick L up from school since I thought R would fall asleep on the way home from lunch, oh well, these things happen.

Cabbage rolls for dinner plus some of the dessert and a big lunch today do not bode well for eating better.  It is just so easy to eat terribly.  I know that I will feel terrible afterwards, but that doesn't stop me from enjoying it now.

I want to feel successful and to be able to accomplish something I have set as a goal, but I seem to have a bit of blind spot for getting my act in gear.  I wish it were easier.  I remember going to weight watchers with my husband a whole bunch of years ago.  He lost all he wanted to lose in such a short time and the weight just fell off of him, I have never had that even when I was trying.

I am just not sure what I should be doing and how I will accomplish it.  I can't give up, I don't feel good in my own skin and I want to feel good about myself again.  I have had that and I want it back.  Well there is always the next meal.

I think this evening I will have some steamed veg, tofu and a bit of the brown rice left over from yesterday's cabbage rolls.

Slow Cooker Cabbage Rolls

The grocery store had heads of Savoy cabbage on for $1 each, so we picked up this gorgeous green wrinkled cabbage.  I decided that I wanted to make some cabbage rolls with it, so I searched the internet and found a bunch of different recipes and then decided to make it up as I go along and see how it turns out.

Slow Cooker Cabbage Rolls
1 1/2 lbs Lean Ground Beef
2 Eggs
2 Carrots
1 medium Onion
1/2 cup crushed tomatoes
1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 cup chunked Zucchini (about 3 inches of a medium zucchini)
2 cups cooked Brown Rice
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 1/2 cups Crushed Tomatoes
1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
1 1/2 tbsp Lemon Juice
Zest of one lemon
2 tsp Bragg's

~In a food processor, finely process, carrots, onions and zucchini.  If you do each individually you'll have more control of the size.
~In a bowl combine beef, eggs, finely minced carrots, zucchini and onion, salt, pepper, 1/2 cup crushed tomatoes, worcestershire sauce and brown rice.  Using you hands combine gently.
~In a pot of boiling water, cook the cabbage leaves for 3 minutes or until tender enough to roll.
~Lay out the leaves and put a spoonful or 2 about 1/4 to 1/2 a cup depending on the size of the leaves.
~Place rolled cabbage rolls in the slower cooker.
~Mix up 1 1/2 cups crushed tomatoes with the remaining ingredients and pour over cabbage rolls.  If you have 2 layers of rolls then add some sauce on the first layer before adding the second layer and then top the second layer with the remaining sauce.
~Cook on low for 7-9 hours.

I neglected to get any pictures since the hungry hoard of gamers devoured most of it.  I did make some dessert for the gamers but since they tasted them and thought they would come down with diabetes if they ate too much, I don't think I will pass that recipe along.  I remember them from my university days but I don't remember them being quiet so sweet.  I might try them with the natural peanut butter rather then Kraft peanut (sugar) butter.

Sinus infection has eaten me alive...

I have been really sick and tired.  I had a terrible cold that turned into a sinus infection, I could have dealt with it earlier but I kept telling myself I would get better in a couple days.  2 1/2 weeks later, I finally take myself to the doctor and get some heavy duty antibiotics, I am feeling better within 3 days.  The only problems with this whole cold thing is that I had no energy or desire to work out and my eating went to hell in a hand basket.  So here I am on the brighter side of my sinus infection feeling less then bright and rather blue.  Chocolates had become my best friend, my favorites were the Himalayan Pink Salt Peanut Butter chocolates which took me 4 days to go through the whole box and then I set on the Hedgehogs truffles.

I feel terrible about gaining weight and just terrible all around. I decided that I should try to kick myself out of the funk that I am in, so... I decided to go for a run this morning.  This was the plan from last night and I managed to keep with the plan this cold frosty morning.  I did not run as far as I had thought I would but I ran to school with Ladybug and then ran home from dropping her off.  I was slow, but I did it and I think that I will do it again this afternoon when I pick up Ladybug from school.  I need to get back into shape from my weeks of being sick and I thought a little here and there might be better then throwing myself in whole hog and getting hurt in the process. I would like to continue to get better and continue having shoulder and an upper back that doesn't hurt.

Ah, some lofty goals I have set for myself.  But I don't think they will be too hard to handle.  I will try to eat a bit more veg and a bunch less chocolates and then see what happens.
 

I'm back

I haven't been posting in the last little while since my life has become very entrenched in studying for an up coming licencing exam.  Plus, my self esteem hit a bump, although, I am not actually sure what that bump was.  I decided that I need to start looking after myself, especially since I have had this stupid cold for almost 2 weeks and I am running out of energy and I ran out of patience last week.  So I started with my breakfast which is the easiest meal to get better but also one that is fairly easy to not have time for.

I bought some vanilla almond milk last week and thought that I would like to substitute that for milk.  Well it so didn't work in my tea, but it worked really well in my oatmeal.  So I vamped up my oatmeal.   

Morning Kick Start Oatmeal

1/3 cup Old Fashioned Oats

2/3 cup Almond Milk

Sprinkle of Cinnamon

0.5 oz (about 10) Almonds, chopped

1 small box  (14g) Raisins

1 tbsp Unsweetened Coconut

Place all ingredients in a microwave safe bowl and cook on high 1 1/2 minutes.  Let stand 1 minutes and then enjoy.

Simple but filling.

Recently, I have been truly interested in anything butternut squash relate,  I have made 3 different lasagnas and tonight concoction is a Roasted Butternut Squash, Red Lentil and Chickpea Curry served on a bed of sauteed Kale.

For this Kale I sauteed it in the bacon drippings from the kids breakfast this morning, delicious.

There is nothing better then roasted butternut squash; I knew I was putting it in the curry so I didn't bother to cut it up and that worked well for this application.

Fairly simple curry but still has a whole bunch of flavour.

Although I looks like a pile of kale, this Kale has that something extra with a bit of bacon fat.

Roasted Butternut Squash, Red Lentils and Chickpea Curry

1 Whole Butternut Squash, halved, seeded and roasted at 350 until tender and some what caramelized

1 tbsp Olive Oil

1 tsp Butter

1/2 large Onion, diced

3 cloves Garlic

Salt to taste

2 tsp Curry Powder (I used a vegetable curry blend)

1 tsp Garam Masala

1 cup Red Lentils

1 L Chicken or Veggie Stock

1 can Chickpeas

-In a heavy bottom pan, heat butter and oil to medium.  Add onion and cook for 2 minutes, then add the garlic and cook another 2-3 minutes.

-Add the spices and cook until fragrant.

-Add the rest of the ingredients and cook until lentil are cooked soft and the chickpeas have a nice texture, about 20 minutes.

-Serve over sauteed Kale.

And the Lasagna Played On.

I tried out a lasagna recipe last week, I like the idea behind it since it was called Roasted Butternut and Sweet Potato Whole Wheat Lasagna, but I found it really sweet and it was quite greasy, delicious but heavy.  So I did what I normally do when it sounds better then it was, I modified it :)

I changed it up considerably from the original recipe, which is not that unusual for me :)  Firstly I found that the  bottom layer of noodles didn't cook properly since there was no tomato sauce, so I cooked the noodles first rather then us no-boil noodles.  Next I decided that it needed something a bit bitter to balance out the sweetness of the pasta, so I added spinach and finally I found that the whole thing was really heavy and greasy so I changed the cheeses and changed the procedure a bit.  I hope you enjoy it as much a I have.  Especially since I made it big since I was expecting a house full of people to eat it and since they cancelled I have a whole big pan of lasagna to eat.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna

Heavily modified from thisHow Sweet East recipe

9-12 Lasagna Noodles, whole wheat or white

Squash

1 Medium Butternut Squash, peeled and cubed.

1 Medium Yam, peeled and cubed

1 tbsp Butter

Spray Oil (I have a sprayer filled with Olive oil)

1/4 tsp Fresh Grated Nutmeg

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Pepper

Spinach and Cheese

1/2 White Onion, finely diced

3 Garlic Cloves, finely diced 

Spray Oil

1/2 tbsp Butter

1/2 tsp Salt 

1/2 tsp Pepper

2 packages Frozen Spinach, thawed and excess water squeezed

500g tub Ricotta

250g tub 2% Cottage Cheese

1/2 cup Parmesan

1/2 cup Mascarpone Cheese ( I added this because I has some left over from the original lasagna I made)

1 bunch Green Onion

1  Eggs

1 1/2 cups Mozzarella

Sage leaves around 20.

-Preheat oven to 350

-Lay squash and yam on a baking sheet and spritz with olive oil, sprinkle with nutmeg, salt and pepper and toss to coat.  

-Roast approximately 50 minutes, tossing every 15 minutes, remove once the squash and yams are soft and a little golden along the edges.

-Remove from oven and let cool.  Once cool mash with a fork

-Preheat a skillet and spritz with a bit of olive oil, and butter.  Saute onions until translucent and then add garlic and stir until fragrant.  Add spinach and cook for approximately 2 minutes.  Put spinach mixture in a bowl and let cool.

-Once cool, stir in remaining cheeses, green onions and egg.  Mix well.

-Cook lasagna noodles according to directions.

-Start Layering a grease/buttered 9"x13" rectangular pan with noodles, top that with 1/3 of the squash mixture, 1/3 of spinach and cheese mixture and top with 1/2 cup Mozzarella. Noodles, 1/3 squash, 1/3 spinach, 1/2 cup mozzarella.  Noodles, 1/3 squash, 1/3 spinach, rest of mozzarella.

-Bake 45 minutes at 350 or until cheese is browned and lasagna is bubbling.

Squeezed the spinach dry-ish and the onion and garlic is ready to dice.

My helper with her new self cut hair.

Onions sauteing.

Cooked spinach, garlic and onions, cooling waiting for the cheeses, green onion and egg.

Mmmm, cheese, in many forms.

Mashed squash and yam, divided into three lumps for easier assembly later.

All the layers have been added and it is ready to bake.  I plan to put it in so I pull out a hot lasagna when everyone arrives.

See all those lovely layers.

Ready for the oven.

Mmmm, delicious.

You can still see the layers.

Brownies from Heaven :)

I grew up having the best brownies in the world.  I didn't know this at the time but with all the brownies out there, my mother made the best.  They are also rather weird.  I have only made them a couple times and the first time that I did make them, I ignored the "Cover when cool and set aside overnight to mature." line in the recipe.  Wow, I was shocked at how bland they tasted and I thought that was the worst thing ever since I remember these being absolutely fabulous brownies.  So the next day when I actually finished making the brownies and adding the fudgey icing and OMG it was the best thing on earth.  I decided to forgo the unsalted butter and just use saltIed butter this time since I remember it required a bit more salt so I had added a bit of crunchy salt on top of the icing to just send it over the top in greatness.

So decided to makes these delicious goodies for Monday's dinner.  I did forget that I only have 9"x9" square pan so the brownies turned out a little thinner that I like them, what I usually do is double the recipe and put it in the 11"x13" pan.  

Brownies

Recipe courtesy of my mum,

Brownies

4 oz Unsweetened Chocolate

1/4 lb (4 oz, 1/2cup) Butter

1 1/4 plus 3 tbsp Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

3 large Eggs

3/4 cup All-Purpose Flour

Fudgy Frosting

1 1/2 oz Unsweetened Chocolate, melted

1/4 cup Sugar

1/4 cup Evaporated Milk

16 Pecan halves (Optional, really optional since I believe that Brownies should not contain nuts, although these are decorative for the top and are almost tolerated.)

-Preheat oven 350. butter or line 8"x8" square pan

-In a double boiler, melt butter and chocolate, set aside for 5 minutes.

-In a bowl beat together chocolate and sugar 1-2 minutes until the mixture is completely combined.  Add vanilla, and lightly beaten eggs and mix only until combined.

-Add flour and beat until mixture is totally blended and has a shiny velvety look, 1 minute or less.

-Spread batter evenly over the prepared pan and bake 20-25 minutes.  Bake until a very thin crust forms on the top and a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.  DO NOT OVER BAKE.

-Cool in pan on rack to room temp. COVER WHEN COOL AND SET ASIDE OVERNIGHT TO MATURE *this is very important*

Frosting:

-In a blender combine the melted chocolate, sugar and evaporated milk.  Blend for 3-5 minutes until the mixture is smooth and shiny (the sound of the blender will change when the mixture is ready)

-Frost brownies with a thin layer of icing.  To serve cut into 16-2" pieces and top with pecan, if desired.

I use a bowl over a pot of simmering water instead of an actual double boiler pot.  That way there is only one dish to clean.

Here is all the chocolate and butter melted and cooling

In with the sugar. 

The eggs have been added and the mixture is almost complete, all it needs is the flour.

With only a few crumbs on the toothpick it was ready to take out of the oven at around 20 minutes.

Here is my rather thin brownie.  It is still moist and fudgy but I think I will have to pick up a 8"x8" square pan.  I have also sprinkled the top with Himalayan Pink Salt.