Project: N.R.S. (new recipe sunday)

I have a lot of Recipe Books.  I can't resist looking through all the pictures of tasty treats, and succulent desserts. The thing is, I never actually use the cook books. When it comes time to cook something, I just "google" it. So my next project is a little bit old school. I am going to start using my cook books every Sunday. One new recipe, once a week.

Just click on the "Recipes" link at the top of the page. 

Lasagna Rolls with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

From Best of Cooking Light:
 
Lasagna:
8 uncooked lasagna noodles
4 tsps olive oil
1/2 c finely chopped onion
1 (8-oz) package presliced mushrooms
1 (6-oz) package baby spinach
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 c shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 c ricotta cheese
1/4 c minced fresh basil, divided
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

Sauce:
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (7-oz) bottle roasted red bell peppers, undrained
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper

 To prepare Lasagne: cook noodles, drain and rinse noodles under cold water. Drain.

 Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, mushrooms, spinach, and 3 garlic cloves, saute 5 minutes or until onion and mushrooms are tender. Remove from heat, stir in cheeses, 2 tablespoons basil, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp crushed peppers.

 To prepare sauce, place vinegar and next 6 ingredients in a blender. (I used my handheld bamix. Great addition to any kitchen). Process until smooth.

Place cooked noodles on a flat surface, spread 1/4 c cheese mixture over each noodle. Roll up noodles. Place rolls, seam sides down, in a shallow 8x8 microwave safe dish.

Pour sauce over the rolls and cover with plastic wrap.  Microwave at HIGH for 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Sprinkle with remaining 2 tbsp of basil.

Very yummy dish! The crushed red pepper adds a little bit of a kick. I will definitely be making this one again. Great flavor!

Note: Roasted red peppers were very hard to find, FYI-planet organic has roasted red peppers in really cute little jars.

Project: Christmas Cards

Confession: I feel guilty throwing away Greeting Cards. No matter what the card says, or why it was given to me there is always a lengthy process that goes into throwing away cards. The first step in this process is, of course, just storing the cards away in a drawer for a while. Then, when it comes time to clean that drawer I have to re-read every single card and relive the occasion it was intended for. After wasting all that time and still not having cleaned the drawer, I must decide which ones will stay and which ones will go...for now. I call this the 'first cut'. For the cards that don't make 'the cut' they will either end up in the 'could probably scrapbook with this pile', the 'I'm only throwing it out because they didn't write enough in it pile', or the 'I guess I'll just throw it back in the drawer again... pile'. And there ya have it, the lengthy process starts all over again.

However, instead of throwing away all my Christmas cards this year (and lets be honest, this is the first year I've actually gotten enough Christmas cards to craft with), I decided to make a "Card Book". Easiest Wednesday night craft, ever!

All you need is all your cards, some thick thread, and a needle.

 ...Yup, that's a Santa taking a poop down a chimney... Funniest card we got all season.

This is what it said inside ---->

Start by weaving the thread through the spine of the cards, there isn't really a wrong way to do it.

  There ya have it, Card Book.