Lasagna A-La Jim

The last time I made lasagna, my dad called me to make sure I didn't actually eat the wax paper that I had accidentally melted on top. 

Nope, I sure didn't.  Congratulations Dad... you didn't raise a complete idiot.

Lasagna is kind of my dad's thing.  I think he was mildly horrified when he read that I was making it in the microwave.  He was pleased to see that I had used ricotta cheese though.  I'm pretty sure that had I used cottage cheese in the lasagna I would have been disowned... again.

My parents came up to celebrate Christmas last week and for dinner my dad and I worked together to make his famous cheese lasagna.  It isn't really a recipe so much as a method.  Or just throwing stuff in a pan. 

It tastes good.  So I'll share. 

Boiling noodles.

Jim uses boiled noodles in his lasagna.  I usually just buy the kind that cook in the oven because boiling those noodles is a pain in the ass.  Just like I was in high school.

Making layers.

Jim sent me a list of ingredients to have on hand.  One of the ingredients was parsley.  So I bought parsley.  Apparently I bought the wrong thing.  He meant dried parsley and I bought fresh.  So this could have negatively affected the flavor. 

You mix the parsley into the ricotta.  He told me to get two pounds of ricotta.  I thought maybe he wanted to make a pan of 'sagna for the ride home, but no.  That all went into one pan.  Jim is serious about ricotta.

Alotta Ricotta.

I wonder what is happening that made me make that face?

Just pretend nothing is wrong.

Pre-baked.

Straight out of the oven.

Jim's Cheese Lasagna

Ingredients

• One box of lasagna noodles
• Tomato Sauce (I used pomodora because I'm obsessed, but Jim says Prego works just fine)
• Cheese: 2 lbs ricotta, shredded mozzerella, sliced provolone, parm
• 1 egg, beaten
• Parsley, dried
• Italian seasoning, garlic, salt, pepper, whatever you've got

Method

• Preheat oven to 350
• Boil noodles, mix parsley and egg into ricotta. 
• Spoon tomato sauce on bottom of 9X13 pan
• Layer noodles, ricotta, provolone, sauce.  Sprinkle some seasoning in there if you like.  Jim says not to add too much sauce to the actual dish.  You should have some on hand to serve with the finished pasta so people can have as much or little as they like.
• Top the last layer with sauce and whatever cheese you have left... including the Parm.
• Cover the dish with foil and bake for 40 minutes.  Remove foil and continue baking uncovered for another 20 minutes.
• Let it sit for about 20 minutes before serving.
• Serve with additional sauce.
• Best enjoyed while listening to Jim tell old football stories or telling you which of his golf buddies just died. 

My camera is acting goofy.  So is Drew.

Top Chef Jim.

Josh, enjoying some Italiano.

Please note that our house is not equipped to feed more than four people at a time.  I busted out the card table (wedding gift ---> thanks Aunt Joan!!!) but couldn't find a table cloth.  This is why we never have people over.

Mom made salad.  I bought bread.

Merry Christmas!

I hope you are still reading because I have not even gotten to the very best part of the night!!!

Remember when I almost burned the house down making carmel apple cake???  Well, I found the proper sized cake pan at Michael's and decided to give the cake another go.  Perfection!

Redemption: thy name is cake.

I'd planned on using a pretty cake stand, but by the time the cake came out of the oven I was pretty deep into the wine and low on clean dishes.  I just flipped it over onto a dinner plate.

nom nom nom

My goodness this cake makes me smile!

Gratuitous dog shot.

Thanks Dad for sharing your lasagna secrets and being featured here on Meatless Mondays!!!  Now everyone knows you can have a merry Christmas minus the meat. :)

Happy {meatless} Monday!

Big D: Week 4

I had a pretty good week running-wise.  Drew had the whole week off and sometimes its hard to motivate myself to go to the gym when I'd rather be cuddling with him and the pooches, but I did alright, regardless.

Here's what the week looked like:

Monday: 3 miles outside.  I bought new running tights and a compression top so I was excited to try them out.  I felt pretty cute... and pretty cold.  I came home and did Jillian Michael's 6 Week 6 Pack on FitTV.  Has anyone done this???  It is awesome!  Brooke & I went to yoga later that night too. 

Tuesday: 5 miles on the treadmill: 43:14.  I started at 6 mph and ended at 8 mph.  Lots of fun... right.

Wednesday: Nada.  I meant to go to the gym.  I told Brooke I'd go to yoga.  I bailed on both.

Thursday: 11-ish miles.  OMG.  It was 60 degrees out.  I didn't even get to wear my cute new running clothes because it was so nice out!  I wore capris and a short-sleeve top and it was awesome.  If I could get one day a week of that kind of weather then this marathon training would be a snap. 

I accidentally turned off my Garmin mid-way through the run so I'm not sure exactly how far I ran, but it was somewhere in the 11 range.

Friday: Yoga.  I didn't think I was too tired after that long run until I tried doing yoga.  My legs were tired.

Saturday: Nada.  Drew and I decided to go to the gym after visiting his grandpa in the afternoon.  We ended up at Jose Peppers drinking beer and eating queso with Brooke & Bryan instead.  Is there a better way to start off the new year?  Didn't think so.

Sunday:  2 miles & 20 minutes on the elliptical.  We got up and went to the gym this morning to make up for missing on Saturday.  The gym was busy!  Dang resolutioners.

I said I was only going to run 3 times a week... but it had been a few days since I had run, so I took these miles easy and kept it slow. 

Total: 21 miles

There were a few too many rest days this week, but I still feel like I did okay.  Looking forward to a twelve miler this week!  I'm praying for another warm day for running!

2011 Resolutions

Happy 2011!  I hope everyone is dealing with their champagne hangover as well as I am.  Please, we went to the movies last night and barely made it to midnight.  I feel like a million bucks.  And like a million years old.  Loser.

SO!  January 1st... you know what that means.  Time to make those big goals and resolutions for the fabulous new year.  Drew says January is his least favorite month because its post-holidays and super pre-Spring.  I don't mind January because I feel like its got so much promise and optimism.  Its a fresh new year.  Hooray! 

By February I'll be joining in on the winter-depression-hatefulness though. 

For now, let's roll with the new year enthusiasm and get on with the resolutions.

***

Resolution: Run a marathon.

I don't care if it is the slowest marathon in the history of marathon running.  I don't care if my knee busts open and I have to latch onto another runner to drag me across the finish line (watch out Lauren).  I want to train for and run a marathon this year.  I've got my sights on the Texas Big D marathon this Spring, but if for some reason my knee doesn't cooperate, I'm trying to stay open to dropping down to the half and pushing the full until next fall. 

But who am I kidding?  I want to run the full and I want to run it fast (fast for me... which isn't really fast at all, but you know).  It's a bit early in training to be this optimistic, but damnit, I feel good. 

Resolution:  Finish School!

I'll be done with classes this summer and student teaching in the fall!!!  I can't believe how soon that is!  This whole thing feels like it has gone very fast.  I cannot even explain how excited I am. 

On top of all that, I'd love to get a teaching job for next Spring, but for now I'm just going to focus on finishing up school.  I'm assuming whichever school I end up student teaching at will be so enamored with my charm that they will immediately offer me a full-time teaching position. 

Right?

Of course they will.

Resolution:  Stop spending money!

Okay, this one is probably always going to be on the resolution list.  Drew and I have recently been talking about financial goals for the future... big exciting stuff.  I sometimes forget about the big exciting stuff though... especially when I'm at Target.

"Oooh!  Pretty scarves!  Look at those shoes!!!  Oh, this dress is on sale!  I must buy it!"

So, I'm making a pretty serious decision: no clothes shopping whatsoever for at least 3 months and NO Target trips either.  Ouch.  Even saying that hurts a little.  But seriously, Target is my biggest problem.  I made 3 trips in December that were all close to $100 each... and couldn't for the life of me remember what I bought.  No idea.  That's not good.

Resolution: Eat better.

This one again is probably always going to be on the resolution list.  I weigh the exact same thing I did at this time last year, so I'm not trying to lose weight or anything.  But after all this holiday sugar madness, I just need to get back on track with healthy eating and give up the junk. 

So as part of my attempt to eat healthier, I'm giving up eating candy and any store-bought sweets.  I guess if I want to eat cookies, I'll just have to make them myself. 

Don't think I won't.

Resolution: Go to Church.

This one shouldn't be hard.  At all.  I live right down the street from my church.  I love our priest.  And I'm to the point where I naturally wake up on the weekends before the first service even starts.  There is absolutely no reason for me not to go to church every week.

And yet, I have the worst attendance ever.  I'm going to try to go every week this year.  Every week.

Resolution:  Keep Jade clean.

We all know I'm kind of a disaster in most areas of my life... but no where as much as I am with my car.  Jade Jetta is a serious disaster.  Like, I can't even allow people into my backseat because its covered in dog hair.  On top of that I usually have coffee cups, water bottles, and tupperware floating around too.  I drive a lot.  And I eat a lot.  It usually looks like I'm living in there.  And she deserves better than that.

I'm going to make it a point to keep all the junk out of my car and vacuum out the dog hair at least once a week so that I can actually allow others to ride with me... others who aren't of the furry variety.

***

And just in case you're wondering... I'm not the only one in the house making New Year's resolutions.  Ari had decided to try to stay awake while doing his neighborhood watch and not start barking from his crate until at least 7 AM.  Mya has resolved to be less furry and to find a boyfriend. 

Wish us luck!