Lasagne

Who is not in love with everyone’s favourite cat?  I love Garfield..I always get a chuckle reading the comic strip.  You know there is something we have in common though…our love for pasta..more specifically Lasagne.  And aren’t you guys lucky today…I’m sharing with you my world famous recipe for traditional Italian lasagne.  It’s made with egg noodles, Ragu and Béchamel Sauce.  Enjoy

Ragu Sauce

• 3 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 3 Tbsp Earth Balance Butter
• 2 onions, chopped
• 4 celery stalks, thinly sliced
• 1 cup chopped bacon, maple flavoured
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 600g ground moose meat or extra lean beef
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste
• 1 Tbsp  Sorghum Flour GF
• 14 oz can chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 cup chicken or beef stalk
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 2 tsp oregano
• some freshly grated nutmeg
• salt and pepper to taste

1.  Chop up the bacon, onion and celery. 

Heat the oil and butter in a pan over medium heat.  Add the onions, celery, bacon and fry for 5 minutes, stirring.

2.  Stir in the garlic and ground meat, stirring until the meat has lost it’s redness.  Lower the heat and cook for another 10 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.

3.  Increase the heat to medium, stir in the tomato paste and the flour and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes. 

Stir in the tomatoes, stock and wine and bring to a boil, stirring.  Season and stir in the oregano and nutmeg, salt and pepper. 

Cover and simmer for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring.  You want most of your liquid to be cooked off and the sauce nice and thick.  Your sauce is now ready to be used. 

Bechamel Sauce

• 1 1/4 cup milk
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 cloves
• 1 onion
• 4 Tbsp Earth Balance butter, plus a little extra for greasing
• 6 Tbsp Sorghum flour GF
• 1 1/4 cup light cream (10% or 1/2 and 1/2)
• large pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• salt and pepper to taste

1.  Pour the milk into a saucepan and add the bay leaves.  Press the cloves into the onion, add to the pan, and bring to a boil.  Remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool.

2.  Strain the milk into a jug and rinse the pan.  Melt the butter in pan and stir in flour.  Stir for 1 minute, then gradually pour in the milk, stirring constantly so that the mixture does not stick to bottom of pan. 

3. Cook the sauce for 3 minutes, then pour in the cream and bring it to a boil.  Remove from heat and season with nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste.

Lasagne Noodles

• 2 cups Semolina Flour
• 3 eggs
• 1 Tbsp olive oil

This is really easy to make.  In a bowl add the flour, then 2 eggs and oil. 

Mix together and dump onto counter.  Bring mixture together and make a well in center of mound. 

Kneed dough until you have a smooth ball.  Wrap in saran wrap until ready to be used.

Now it’s time to make the lasagne sheets.  

Using a serrated knife, slice 1 inch slices and roll through the pasta roller.  Then boil in hot water for a couple of minutes, pat dry and set aside until ready to assemble lasagne. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To assemble the Lasagne

Assemble in this order. 

• pasta
• ragu sauce
• pasta
• béchamel sauce
• cheese
• pasta
• ragu
• pasta
• béchamel sauce
• top with cheese

 

 

 

 

 

BAKE IN A 375F OVEN FOR 40 MINUTES, COVERED WITH FOIL, THEN REMOVE FOIL AND CONTINUE TO BAKE UNTIL CHEESE GOLDEN AND BUBBLY.

Breakfast for dinner.. why not?

It’s going to be a busy weekend on this side of the Pacific.  But let’s start with last night:

I went to bed early last night because I was dead tired, only to be woken up around 1am to a loud BOOM and a flash of light.

OK, well it didn’t look quite like this, but things really do go Bump in the Night.

It was pouring out and the sound on my skylight outside my master bedroom was so loud and a good indicator of how hard it was raining.  The storm went on for a couple of hours.  Buster was not impressed.  He cowered under my covers… he hates storms.  I don’t blame him.  The thunder was so powerful it made my windows shake.  Anytime we get storms, the dog panics…he hides under my covers and it’s almost impossible to get him to stop shaking, drooling and panting.  Poor guy.  So needless to say, I was pretty tired when the alarm went off this morning.  I had planned on getting up early to go for a morning run, but I needed that extra sleep.  Sometimes things just don’t go the way you plan.

On to other things…

It’s Superbowl Weekend. 

I’m not going to pretend to know anything about Football or that I’m a fan, but I do like to watch the half-time shows.  So we’re either going to have friends over or we’ll go to the pub.  To be determined later. 

Saturday night Trevor and I are hosting a dinner party/games night with another couple. The kids are with their mom this weekend, so it’s a perfect weekend for some good quality adult fun.  We wanted to have the dinner at my place, but our friends have an 8 year old daughter and are unable to get a sitter, and so we decided to have it over there so that Ashlee can go to bed and then it’s just adult time. 

So I’m going to hit the grocery store tonight before hockey and tomorrow I’ll be spending my day making yummy eats..our theme is Italian.  Will be making my world famous Lasagne from scratch (noodles and all) and some Tiramisu for dessert.  Come back Sunday night for a possible pics. 

And tonight I have another hockey game.  Hoping to score another goal or two.   

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Breakfast for dinner…I think so

I still had an egg in the fridge and thawed out some wheat-free bread I bought at my favourite bakery down island in the summer.  So I decided to make some French Toast….Cinnamon French Toast that is…

To make:

Take 1 egg and beat in a bowl.  Add a pinch of sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon and a splash of vanilla extract. Also add some milk.

Soak your bread in the egg/milk mixture and cook in frying pan over medium heat until brown.  Then flip and brown on other side.  Drizzle with pure maple syrup and maybe some yogurt?

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Well have a great Friday night and a safe weekend..will try to be back Sunday night and for sure Monday.

Anybody have big Superbowl plans this weekend? Any other plans?

With love,

Bea

xoxo

Gung Hay Fat Choy

Welcome to the year of the Rabbit…..hop..hop..

According to the Chinese Calendar, the last time we saw the year of the rabbit was 1999.  Prior to that, 1987…1975….1963…1951…1939…..and 1927.  The rabbit is the 4th animal.  What animal represents your year of birth?  I’m a monkey…ooooh oohhh aaaah aaahhhh.  

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ROASTED VEGETABLE SOUP

I decided to make something very simple tonight, yet very satisfying. Dairy-free and Gluten-free once again  

As far as the ingredients are concerned, I didn’t really measure all of the veggies…. I just threw in whatever I had on hand:

• broccoli
• 2 carrots
• 1 onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 potato
• chopped thyme
• pinch of black lava sea salt
• 2 cups of organic free-range chicken broth
• olive oil to drizzle over veggies
• truffle infused olive oil to drizzle before serving

Like I said..this is the most simple soup recipe you will probably find (I can almost guarantee this ) 

So what exactly is black lava sea salt?  Looks like this:

According to its package, black lava sea salt is harvested in Hawaii and is rich in trace minerals.  It contains activated charcoal known for its detoxifying effects.  Goes great on salads and vegetables.  Exceptional on sushi, grilled steak, teriyaki chicken or tofu. 

Preheat your oven to about 400F.  Roughly chop your vegetables and spread out on cookie sheet.  Drizzle with some olive oil and sprinkle with the lava sea salt and fresh thyme.  Roast for about 15 minutes or until potato is tender. 

BEFORE ROASTING

AFTER ROASTING

While the veggies are roasting, measure out 2 cups of the low sodium organic free-range chicken broth into a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 3 minutes or until hot.

Now put everything into your Vitamix.  If you don’t own a vitamix, you can place everything into a large pot and use an immersion wand or even in a food processor, but you’ll most likely need to blend in batches.

Now blend on high for about 3 minutes or until you see steam coming out of the lid.  Pour into a bowl and drizzle with Truffle infused olive oil. 

So creamy and tasty…one bowl was plenty filling. 

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I’m off to prepare an art project for tomorrow’ class. 

Have a great night

Bea

xoxo

Let the training begin

 

Across North America today, large hibernating rodents that we know as the groundhogs will come out from their burrows and tell us how much winter is left.  If the furry critter sees its shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter…sigh…. If the groundhog does not see its shadow, there will be an early spring..yippee .

Apparently we will see an early spring….but I think our fellow East coasters may disagree with this.  So sorry you guys are getting hit with another winter wallop.  Here is what our North American Groundhogs are telling us:

In Canada:

• Nova Scotia's Shubenacadie Sam and Ontario's Wiarton Willie both predicted an early spring.

• Manitoba Merv, the province's groundhog puppet, did see his shadow at Oak Hammock Marsh, suggesting six more weeks of winter is on the way.

• Wiarton Willie, Ontario’s groundhog, failed to see his shadow today, declaring Canada would see an early spring.

In the USA:

• Punxsutawney Phil, America's favorite groundhog, predicted an early spring when he failed to see his shadow Wednesday morning at Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, Pa

• Staten Island Chuck predicted an early spring this morning during Groundhog Day festivities at the Staten Island Zoo.

4 OUT OF 5 ISN’T BAD, RIGHT?

I am an optimist and I believe in our furry critters.  I have faith in them

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So today I began my training for an event I’m signed up for May 1st.  Myself and 8 other women are going to be competing in the 29th Annual Royal LePage Comox Valley Snow to Surf Adventure Relay Race.  This is quite the event and I’m really excited to take part this year, but I”m definitely nervous about it too.  I’ve never been in a race before.

We complete in teams of 9.  Our team name:  The Cheeky Monkeys.

1. Alpine Skiing – skiers run a set distance up the hill with ski boots on and then put on skis, and ski down the mountain.
2. Nordic Skiing – skiers ski about 8km
3. Running – about 7.5km down the paved road leading up the mountain.
4. Running – about 8.5km off road running on rough logging roads This is my part…eeek
5. Mountain biking – this leg is about 12km – slightly downhill pavement and active logging roads and single track forest trails
6. Kayaking – about 5km single kayaker on a lake
7. Road biking – about 30km road cycling on paved roads and highways
8. Canoe – last 2 teammates paddle about 5km and cross finish line.

Last year the teams finished the race between 3hours 35 minutes and 6hours 19 minutes.  We don’t expect to come in first, but definitely don’t want to come in last.  Wish us luck… Race Day is May 1st. 

Here is a video of the Snow to Surf.  Looks like a blast actually.

The race I’m going to be competing in May 1st, 2011

So Training began today for this girl.  I had planned on beginning my training program about 3 weeks ago, but then got sick with tonsillitis and a cold.

So when I got home from work today, I was really tired, but found the energy to get onto my treadmill.  I had a snack before running since my belly was beginning to growl at me.  I also had a chance to try out my new running shoes today for the first time since buying them.  Remember these? 

I bought them a little while ago because I found out my old shoes were worn down and they were causing shin splints again.  But then I got sick and couldn’t really begin training. 

But it all worked out today.  No shin splints and my legs loosened up as I ran.  My goal was to run 3km (1.86miles) within 20minutes and I did it in 19minutes 33sec.  That’s still pretty slow and I hope to improve my speed by the time the race comes.  My problem is that I often get side stitches when I run

So all you runners out there, what should I be working towards in terms of time and distance?  I need to run 8.5km.    How do you avoid side stitches?

And yes, I did stretch afterwards

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Have an awesome night everyone.

Much love

Bea

xoxo

Where does your food come from?

You know what I love about living on the West Coast?  Our accessible farms.  I love the fact that I can head to our local farmers market or farm and pick up fresh produce that is grown locally.  I try to buy eggs that comes from local farms.  I will support our local farmers as much as possible and buy free-range chicken and pork whenever possible. And if you’ve been reading my blog for the last month or so, you know that I get a lot of wild meat like moose and deer from my dad and brother.  I cannot even recall the last time I bought beef from the supermarket. Most importantly, I try to inform myself about where my food comes from.  When I got home from work this afternoon, I happened to catch the Oprah Show.  Her topic today was “The Vegan Challenge”.  This meant no meat, no milk, no animal anything for her and her staffers for one week.  Her guests today were Michael Pollan, a best-selling author and food advocate and Kathy Freston, the “Veganist”.  I thought I’d highlight a few interesting facts I heard on today’s show.  Keep in mind that these facts are American, but I’m sure us Canadians aren’t much different.

  “ We have more access to food than ever before, but the American diet has become a catastrophe.  75% of our healthcare spending is on chronic diseases linked to diet”.

“It’s not just the high amount of calories we’re consuming that are hurting us.  It’s the types of foods we’re eating – like processed foods and refined carbohydrates.”

“Our diet has changed more in the last 100 years than in the last 10,000.”

“According to the USDA, Americans eat nearly 10 billion animals each year, including 33 million cows.  If you make the choice to eat meat, you should know how it’s produced.”

So what is the moral of the story?  Let’s try to eat less processed and refined foods, more natural foods, and be more conscious about where our food comes from.  If you have local farms in your area, support those farmers that are doing an awesome job.

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SPINACH AND CHEESE STUFFED RICE BALLS

I’ve craving these for some time now and I wish I could say they turned out the way I had hoped, but they did not.   My rice balls were not a complete failure, nor were they a complete success.  I am happy to report though that they tasted AWESOME. I’m going to have to think about how I can tweak this recipe so that they don’t fall apart during the cooking process.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups cooked rice (arborio or sushi rice)
• 4 eggs (seperated)
• about 2 cups grated cheese (Dill Havarti, Edam, sharp cheddar, smoked mozzarella…)
• about 1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan
• 1/2 cup chopped baby spinach
• some fresh chopped thyme
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 Tbsp smoked paprika
• 2 cups of GF breading ( I used GF Rice Crackers)

DIRECTIONS

The first thing you want to do is cook the rice and allow to cool.  You can prepare the cheese filling at this time.

Combine grated cheeses, spinach and chopped thyme. 

In a small bowl, whisk together 1 egg, paprika, salt and pepper.  Add the egg mixture to the cheese and mix well to combine.

When the rice is cold, add 1 egg and mix well with rice.  Now you also want to prepare the coating.  I made my own breadcrumb mixture by using these GF Crackers.

 I put the crackers into my food processor and ground until fine crumbs. 

Now I created my assembly line.  In bowls from right to left are:  cheese filling, Sorghum Flour, 2 beaten eggs, cracker crumbs and of course the rice in the back. 

Now to create your rice balls.  Make sure you have your tap running slightly with cold water to prevent the rice from sticking to your hands. 

First, take a handful of rice and create a firm rice ball using the palm of the hand.  Make rice into balls, about 4 cm in diameter. (this pic was taken before I made the firm ball).

Shape each ball into a flattened disk.  Put a small amount of cheese filling into the center of each disk.  (I may have put too much into my balls, which could be the problem) 

Now wrap the rice around the filling. Squeeze into a tight ball.

 Once all the balls are made, roll in sorghum flour, pass through beaten egg, roll in crumbs and shake off excess.  Place on cookie sheet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then I placed the cookie sheet in a preheated 350F oven and set the timer for 10 minutes. 

This is where things kind of fell apart.  I checked on my rice balls after about 6 minutes and noticed that they were beginning to split and the cheese started oozing out.  So I took them out and tried to pan fry a bit, but most of them still continued to crack. 

SO I PUT THE QUESTION OUT INTO THE BLOGISPHERE….WHAT WENT WRONG?  ANYBODY HAVE ANY INSIGHT? 

WERE THEY STUFFED TOO MUCH? SHOULD I HAVE USED MORE RICE? 

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Hope everyone had a good day.  Looking forward to hearing some suggestions because I want to make these again.  I think I’m going to add saffron to my next batch…I used it all up and forgot to write it on my grocery list last time.  It’s on there now though

Much love,

Bea

xoxo