eco friendly

Pastaless Lasagna

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Now, I know you are all reading this and wondering, “What the heck is this crazy lady talking about?  Lasagna without pasta.  Madness!”  And honestly, the Italian in me is saying the very same thing.

Recently, my husband has been trying to significantly reduce the amount of refined carbohydrates that he consumes.  And truthfully, this new eating style has placed quite the strain on my dinner-making abilities.  Yesterday though, I was struck with a moment of genius!  I got an idea to use butternut squash, sliced very thin, as the “pasta” element in normal lasagna recipe.  I tested the dish out last night and I unequivocally say that the venture was a success!

Here is the recipe:

2 quarts tomato sauce (I used sauce I had frozen back in August when our tomato plants were the size of the ones in The Godfather!)

1 large butternut squash

1 yellow onion (chopped)

2 cloves garlic (chopped)

1 lb. grass-fed ground beef

1 lb fresh, local spinach (chopped)

1 lb mushrooms (chopped)

1 lb ricotta cheese (I used the fresh ricotta we made last week.)

1 lb mozzarella (Again, I used the cheese we made last week.)

I first took a 13 X 9 baking dish, drizzled it with olive oil and then coated the bottom of the pan with a layer of sauce.

Then I shaved the top portion of the butternut squash very thinly like this:

I then layered the pan with the sliced butternut squash.  Then I added a layer of ricotta.  Then sauce again, followed by another layer of squash.

Then I cooked up the onion, garlic, spinach and mushrooms in a bit of olive oil.  Once the meat was cooked through and the veggies tender and wilted, I added that to the lasagna pan, followed by more sauce and another layer of squash.

Then I finished it off with a final layer of sauce and topped it with sliced, fresh mozzarella.

I then covered the pan with a metal cookie sheet (you could use foil as well).  I baked it at 375 degrees for 35 minutes.  Then I took the cook sheet off and baked it for another 15 minutes, or until the cheese begins to brown.

Enjoy!

I would also like to apologize for my absence yesterday.  We have a ton of projects going in our house right now, many of which I will be sharing with all of you over the course of the next few days 🙂

I hope all of you have a marvelous week!

Spring Soup

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Anyone who knows me will tell you that I have a bit of a crush on Jamie Oliver.  In fact, this year our Thanksgiving meal featured all dishes we gathered from various Jamie Oliver cookbooks.  I am just in love with his fresh approach to food, and that is why I find myself constantly reaching for one of his recipes time and time again when it comes to feeding my family.

My all time favorite cookbook of his is Jamie at Home:  Cook Your Way to the Good Life.  The cookbook is broken down by season, and also explains how he grows the many vegetables highlighted in the recipes.

Yesterday, when I looked out my kitchen window and saw all of those asparagus sprouts reaching out from beneath the soil, I knew it was time for my favorite spring soup.  The recipe below is an adaptation of a recipe from Jamie at Home by Jamie Oliver.

1 1/2 lbs. asparagus (chopped)

2 white or yellow onions (chopped)

2 leeks (chopped)

2 celery stalks (chopped)

3-4 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 lb fresh spinach

3 quarts stock (You can use any stock of your choice here, depending on your preference.  The soup I made last night featured pork stock.)

salt and pepper to taste

Put the olive oil in a large stock pot and heat over medium to high heat.  Then add your onions, leeks, and celery.  Cook until the veggies are tender, but not browning.  Add the chopped asparagus and spinach.  Stir a bit more until the asparagus is warmed and the spinach begins to wilt.  Then add your stock, cover the pot and turn down the heat.  Let the mixture simmer for about 10-15 minutes.  Take the lid off and run an immersion blender through the soup.  Salt and pepper to taste.

I normally then poach some fresh eggs and add those to the soup once it has been dished up.

Enjoy!

 

“I want to make my own thing!”

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These are the words that ring throughout our home at least three times a week.  My girls just love to cook and/or bake “their own thing” and yesterday was quite the large step for my oldest daughter.

In the past, she had been content to mix random ingredients together, put it in our counter top convection oven (with Mommy’s help of course), and eat her creations.  Now with that said, she has done quite a bit of experimenting with various flavors and has come up with some delicious combinations, but the creations were random none the less.  But yesterday she said to me, “Mommy, I want to make my own thing, and I want it to be an actual recipe.”

So I decided, why not throw caution to the wind and let her completely take over the kitchen.  With a little bit of my help reading the measurements, she made cut out sugar cookies completely on her own!

Now the crowning moment of this adventure was when it came to the topping for these cookies.  My little five-year old gazed up at me and said, “Mommy I think I am going to sprinkle a little sugar, cinnamon and rosemary  from our garden on top of the cookies.  That way we don’t have to use food coloring or sprinkles with the yucky chemicals.”  (Oh she had just made her mama’s day with that one!) And an fyi…the cinnamon and rosemary combination is one of those flavor combos she came up with during her previous food experiments.  And let me tell you, it is really delicious!

Once she was done with her sprinkles, she sat back, looked approving at her creations and said, “Perfect.  It’s just like Jamie Oliver’s pumpkin muffins when he sprinkles lavender flowers on top for sprinkles!”  (My how this little one impressed me yesterday!)

2012 Seed Starting Day

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Ever since we started our garden three summers ago, the third weekend in February marked our “Seed Starting Day” for the year’s garden.  This past Saturday marked this occasion and a wonderful day was had by all.  As I said last week, I was feeling the need to get in the soil and grow something, so I was very happy to see that day pop up on our calendar!

We normally start the morning off with some sort of yummy breakfast, made with products from last year’s harvest.  This year I made pumpkin scones, and they were delicious!  (This recipe to follow in a post later this week.)

Then the girls drew pictures of what they thought would happen to the seeds once they were planted.

Here is my five year old daughter’s drawing.  She said, “This is a picture of a pot, with the plant marker and a few sprouts coming up.  The sun and rain are coming down on the sprouts.”  Such the gardening expert!

This is the drawing my two year old completed.  She said, “This is a plant with a rainbow.” She is on her way to garden expert status very, very soon I’m sure.

This year for our seed starting mix, we took a five gallon bucket and filled it up half way with compost from last summer.  We then mixed in one small package of coir (coconut husk fiber), which helps to retain moisture much like a peat mixture does.

We mixed away until we had a nice ground mixture, perfect for seed starting.

Then my husband and girls got busy planting tomato seeds (Amish Paste, Martino’s Roma, Speckled Roman, and Italian Heirloom…all my favorite tomatoes to make tomato sauce with in August), basil seeds and Butterfly Weed seeds.  The girls were really able to contribute to the effort this year and it was awe inspiring to see those little hands working the earth, and instinctively knowing how to plant these small seeds so that they will later grow to provide us with a bounty of vegetables.

We keep our seeds in our craft room in our basement.  My husband hooks up fluorescent shop lights that can be moved up as the plants grow.  He also hooks the lights up to a timer so that the plants can get 14-16 hours of light per day.  We also put an oscillating floor fan in there with the seeds to help prevent mold or fungus from growing on the surface of the soil.

A Bit of Spring

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This morning I feel a bit remiss because as I peer out my kitchen window I find a fairly hefty amount of snow fell overnight.  The garden that was showings signs of early spring just yesterday is now covered with a thick layer of snow and the earth is hardened once again by the cold temperatures.  Even though we have had a very mild winter, the need to delve into the soil and plant something is seeping into my veins.

I often find myself feeling this way on these cold February mornings and I think today I have come up with a temporary solution for my need to plant something, anything.

The girls and I grab a few Mason jars and go to work.  We will sprout some seeds this morning!  You can purchase sprouting seeds at just about any garden center and all it takes are those seeds, cheese cloth, a Mason jar and water.

Simply follow the directions on the back of the seed package and in about 4 days you will have lovely little sprouts to add to salads, stir fries or smoothies.

I wish you all a wonderful weekend filled with fun and family!  Enjoy!

Birthday Bliss

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When a member of our family celebrates a birthday, that festivity does not only last one day, but several. We share multiple meals, eat a plethora of desserts and of course exchange a multitude of presents.

As I’m sure many of you know, the little ones in our lives are always making gifts for others.  Whether it be a drawing, a hand-strung necklace, a small piece of fabric that is a “mini blanket,” my girls are always at the ready to shower any birthday celebrant with many a gift.   Because of this, I am always trying to find new and creative ideas for gifts that the recipient can actually use, yet my kids can make as well.

Well in one short day a special lady in our life is celebrating her birthday and the girls and I found the perfect gift idea…bath salts.  It is very cost effective, very useful (especially when the birthday girl is quite the athlete), and is very easy and fun to make with the kids!

The basic recipe is as follows:

1 cup Epsom salt

1 cup course sea salt

20 drops of essential oil of your choosing

Any glass jar with a lid (We reused an old honey jar.)

Place the salts in a bowl and mix well.  Take out about ¾ cup of the salt mixture and place in a smaller bowl. Add the essential oil and mix well.

Then add the salts with the essential oils back into the large bowl with the remaining salts.  Mix well.  Pour into a glass jar and tightly fit on the lid.  That’s it!

I hope you all enjoy this fun, easy project with your little ones!

Laundry Day

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Laundry.  The word itself sent shivers down my spine.  I hated it.  From as far back as I can remember I loathed laundry day.  The sorting, the washing, the drying, the folding, the putting away.  Everything.  I had been known to wait until laundry was pouring out of the hamper, and even sometimes pouring out of the laundry room, before I would tackle the task.  I think the reason I always hated it so much was because I always felt so rushed.

In high school I was studying, working, playing sports or busy with band and pushed the job of laundry off on others, mainly my mom.  In college I would be so bogged down with reading and writing papers that I never felt I had time for it.  As a married woman and then a mother, my time was spent with my young family and the mountains of student papers that needed to be graded and lessons that needed to be planned, so the laundry just got pushed to the back burner.

Two years ago I decided that enough was enough and something had to give. I felt like my entire life I had spread myself too thin and because of that I was giving a partial attempt at everything.  It was at this time when I started to slow down, become mindful of my life, and take a step back.

Many things in my life changed after this realization.  But one aspect that I never, ever thought could change was my feeling toward that dreaded word…laundry.  But my how I have come around.  I think I may, in this post, even admit that I like laundry.

I like looking back upon the clothes that my family has worn, so thankful that we are able to have these garments to cloth us.  I enjoy the sound of the laundry tumbling in the background as my girls’ voices rise and fall in their imaginary play.  And I love hanging the clothes on the line to dry in the crisp, clean air.  Right now that line is in my basement, but oh how I look forward to a bit of warmer weather so I can get those items out in the fresh air again.  Yes, I think I have definitely come around when it comes to this very basic household task.  And boy am I thankful for that.

***

Two years ago my brother-in-law gave me a container filled with homemade laundry detergent for Mother’s Day.  I have used the recipe ever since, and have been able to save quite a bit of money in the process.  Enjoy!

3 cups white vinegar

2 cups Borax

2 cups baking soda

2 cups washing soda

½ cup castile soap (any scent you would like)

Mix all ingredients with an electric mixer (be sure to mix after each ingredient is added) and store in a sealed tub.  Add the vinegar first, then Borax, the baking soda, the washing soda, and finally the castile soap.  The mixture will be a little mushy at first, but will solidify more once it sits for a bit.

I have a high efficiency washer and this soap works just great.  I use about ¼ cup of the detergent per load.

An important note: Although all of these ingredients are naturally derived, they can still be very harmful if consumed.  I am always sure to just have my little ones observe the making of the detergent and I leave the actual preparing to the adults.

“Sew” Much Fun

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It seems that every year when January and February roll around I get this need to do a project.  Last year it was the girls’ new, shared bedroom.  Out with the crib and whole nursery scene and in with the “big girl stuff,” as my girls like to say.

This year when January rolled around I again got this yearning for some sort of crafty undertaking.  I happened to be on a blog that I love and follow regularly, SouleMama.com, and she had some pictures of the most adorable little flannel night gowns and I knew that I had found my project.

In her post she mentioned that she used a Butterick B4910 pattern for the gowns and I began to get a little nervous.  Now you see, I had never actually used a pattern in my entire life.  My sewing skills up until this point consisted of items like one-seam sun dresses, pillow case dresses, quilts, and fabric napkins.  So you can image my surprise when I carefully opened the Butterick package to find those lovely brown pieces of tissue paper with print all over them.  Oh my.  Talk about a flood of anxiety!

But after some work, I realized that I truly LOVED this whole sewing thing.  And then I became obsessed.  I made 6 nightgowns (some for my girls, some for a birthday present, some just to make for when I come across anyone who may want one).  Here are two of the gowns I made for my girls for their Valentine’s Day present.

Then I thought to myself, “My goodness, if I can make this gown, why not try the shirt and pants that are in the pattern as well?”  So on I went with my sewing, a little bit each day, and my how I have realized this is an amazing way to relax and unwind at the end of a crazy day.  Here are some of the PJs I made out of some vintage cotton curtains I thrifted.  I felt like Maria straight out of Sound of Music…ha!

Once I was on the repurposing kick, I found an old sling I used with my youngest and decided to make a school bag for her because she will be starting preschool in the fall.

I definitely believe I have found a new love, and it is my Brother sewing machine.