Homemade Lasagna Roll-ups

About a week ago (ish) I was watching the Today Show in the morning and one of the guests was making lasagna roll ups. I thought this sounded like a fun way to eat lasagna, and I've never made lasagna before...but it looked so easy! So I figured I'd look it up and get the ingredients and make it when I had the chance. I looked it up earlier this week, then bought the ingredients we didn't already have a few days ago. And today/tonight Mary and I worked together to make it! I adjusted the ingredients slightly, and doubled the recipe since we have a lot of people to feed. The prep time was approximately 30 minutes.
Ingredients:
1 extremely large carrot*
1 very small head of broccoli*
6 oz thinly sliced prosciutto**

1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
1 (15-ounce) container skim milk ricotta cheese***
2 1/2 cups grated parmesan
4 cups grated mozzarella
4-5 cloves garlic
2 eggs, beaten to blend
2 lbs uncooked lasagna noodles
2 cans of spaghetti sauce
2 cans of alfredo sauce

Directions:

Cook lasagna noodles according to box directions. (Cook only one box worth at a time though!)

Into large mixing bowl put: Peeled and shredded carrot, finely chopped up broccoli, and shred some of the stem portion. Add both containers of ricotta cheese, 1 1/2 cups of mozzarella, and 1 cup parmesan. Chop up the thinly sliced prosciutto into tiny pieces and add to mixing bowl. Grate the garlic and add to mix. In a separate container beat the two eggs together until blended (we used one of the now empty ricotta containers to save on dishes) then add to mixing bowl. Take off whatever rings/bracelets you don't want to get dirty and mix with your hands (works WAY better than using a fork or whisk, or hand blender).

Mixture blended together should look similar to this

Now preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Put a 13x9 baking dish near your work area.Pour enough of the tomato based sauce to have a thick coat on the bottom of the dish. Lay out 4 lasagna noodles on a work surface, then spread about 3 tablespoons of ricotta mixture evenly over each noodle.

Starting at 1 end, roll each noodle like a jelly roll. Lay the lasagna rolls seam side down, without touching, atop the spaghetti sauce in the dish. Repeat with the remaining noodles and ricotta mixture.

Pour the rest of the spaghetti sauce over the lasagna rolls. Sprinkle 1 cup mozzarella and 1/4 cup of Parmesan over the lasagna rolls.

Cover tightly with foil.Repeat in a second baking dish for the alfredo sauce.

Bake until heated through and the sauce bubbles, about 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until the cheese on top becomes golden, about 15 minutes longer. Let stand for 10 minutes.

And EAT! MMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmm Such a wonderful dinner. :-D

*I substituted a large carrot and very small head of broccoli for the spinach the recipe called for.
**I used 6 oz of thinly sliced prosciutto ... but you really couldn't taste it. I'm thinking it might have been tasted better if I had cut it into pieces just the right size to cover (or nearly cover) the spread out mixture on the noodle before rolling. I'm going to try that next time.
***The original recipe  only called for whole milk ricotta ... but I decided to mix whole milk and skim milk. It tasted great. :)

Spazmatic adjustable family

Some days I want to run from my house screaming and flailing. Let me rephrase that: Some days I want to run from my PARENTS house screaming and flailing. My husband, myself, our 9 year old, and our recent addition have been living there for the last two years now. Well, the recent addition the last 7 months... but you get the picture. Aside from us living there, my nephew does as well. Full house? Yes. And we don't exactly all get along as one big happy family. Not quite the Brady Bunch. Or the Partridge Family. More like Everybody Loves Raymond, but in ONE house, not two. And the parentals are mine, not my husbands. And my nephew is added in for extra drama/action.
At least that was the situation two years ago when we moved in. Well, technically, when we moved in my niece (the sister to my nephew) was living there as well. But she moved out within a very short time period and is now married with a baby of her own on the way. Now fast forward two years and my niece is moved out (like I just said) and my best friend and her two girls have moved in. Yikes... more people. And we still aren't exactly like one big happy family. Still more like Everybody Loves Raymond.
I love my family. I really, truly, honestly do. I just can't stand them. I can't live with them. I despise being at home. I relish going to school and work because it means I'm not in that house. I should not feel that way. I want to be with my husband - whom I love dearly - and my children - whom I cherish and love dearly - but don't want the rest of the crap that goes along with being at home.
Disagreeing with my parents means I'm "arguing" and "talking back". Really? I'm not allowed to differ in my opinion? And when my mother is rude to myself, or my husband I'm supposed to just "put up with it"? I don't get to be mad that we are being talked down to, or get mad when she tells my baby "It's ok, your daddy doesn't hate you" because he was forcing her to turn her head towards her food when he was trying to feed her. No, I'm not allowed to be mad at that, or say anything about it, because then I'm being "disrespectful".... Well, maybe I am. And maybe I've had enough of being disrespected. Enough of my husband being disrespected and treated like crap. Of my mother going behind our backs and trying to give things to my kids that we've said "no" to, and not only have we said "no" to the kids, we've told her "no" as well. Or having my mother go behind our backs and try to tell our 9 year old that we don't hate her. (because she was punished for doing something she shouldn't have, and knew that she shouldn't have) Or have my mother tell US that our 9 year old is going to hate us when she gets older...why? Because *gasp* we make her do chores (aka, "treat her like a slave" I'm sorry, but in what way is making her feed the animals, put the clean silverware away, put her own clothes away, and clean up after herself treating her like a slave?! I'm pretty sure it's not.)
Even worse? My nephew's behavior. The things he gets to get away with because they are "getting too old" to deal with it (my dad's words, NOT mine!). And it's not just his actions, but also what he says. And it's not just what he says to my parents, it's what he says to me, my husband, and my kids. It's also what my 9 year old witnesses and then maybe thinks in the back of her head (or the not so back of her head) that it's acceptable to act this way. That breaking a $700 t.v. that isn't yours is alright. And that the worst that happens is you have to pay it back by doing chores, that you can continue to have your cell phone (a privilage) and play computer games (a privilage) and go hang out with friends (a privilage) and go to theme parks (a privilage)...and instead of getting your allowance, the allowance goes to pay it back. Well, maybe that would work if he actually ever did his chores himself. But it's extremely rare that that happens.
Am I disgruntled? Maybe a little. But frankly, I think I have a right to be. The only reason we are still living there is because we need enough money to be able to move out. Hard to do when I have a part-time job that doesn't pay very much because I'm still in school, and my husband's job doesn't pay a whole lot. I'll be done with my AA in May, but that doesn't mean that I'll be able to get a good job. Instead that means that before I graduate I'll be able to apply to nursing schools. And continue going to school for another 22 months. Here's hoping it goes by quickly, and that our living situation can change very soon.... before I have to be hauled away to the pillow rooms and wear a nice white jacket all the time. :-P

Upcycle, Reduce, Reuse

My latest love? Upcycling. What is upcycling?! It's taking something that you would throw away, or deem "garbage" or "unusable" or even just "ugly" and turning it into something else. My favorite things to upcycle right now is sheets and (fabric) shower curtains. Not only is it reusing something that already exists, but I'm turning it into something that either I, or someone else, needs and/or wants.
I made a baby carrier for myself that I could/can/will use from the time my baby was born, through toddlerhood. I made this carrier out of a gray sheet and a green shower curtain. Both of which I bought at Goodwill since I did not have a spare shower curtain or sheet to make it with.

The gray side with a green pocket

The green side with a pocket.

I added batting to the top part of the carrier and then quilted on it to keep the batting in place. You can see the quilting on the gray side. I also made a button-hole in the sides to adjust the length of the straps.

I've also made clothing using sheets, ribbon I've had around forever, and some new fabric to mix in.

Close-up of the giraffe I appliqued

Can you tell which fabric is the sheet and which one is the bought fabric? If you can't tell, I'm not going to!

I've also made items for caring for your baby - baby towels, burp cloths, bibs... Is there an end to what I can/will make? I'm not sure. If so I haven't hit it yet!! I'm definitely loving this form of recycling. It's not just something I put in a recycle bin, and wonder what ultimately happens with it. I'm making things into something else myself - so I know exactly what's happening with it!