Lasagna Roll-Ups and Parmesan Pull-Apart Bread

Josh loves lasagna, and we've been eating out more than I would like recently, so I decided to try an easy lasagna recipe I found on Pinterest last night, and I paired it with another bread recipe I also found on Pinterest.

 1 lb. lasagna noodles

15 oz. ricotta cheese

1 c. shredded mozzarella

1/4 c. grated Parmesan

1 large egg

10 oz. spinach

2.5 c. marinara sauce

1/4 tsp. salt (or to taste)

pepper to taste

I'm sure there are fancier, better recipes for lasagna rolls out there, but this tasted pretty good for how simple it is, and it took all of maybe 20 minutes to throw it together (not including baking time). I had some marinara sauce I bought for some oven-toasted ravioli I meant to make and never did (I love ravioli--ended up eating it all before I remembered I had other plans for it), so I figured this would be a good way to use that up. 

In a large stock pot, bring some water and a dash of salt to a boil and cook your lasagna noodles al dente. When they are cooked, lay them out so they're flat (I didn't have the foresight to do this, as I almost never make lasagna noodles). Combine all remaining ingredients (except marinara sauce) and mix well. Spread your mixture on your lasagna noodles and roll up (you will probably have a few noodles left over, which is good backup in case a noodle breaks). Grease a high-walled baking pan (I used olive oil cooking spray) and put your rolls. in. It will look something like the picture at right. Cover your lasagna with your marinara sauce of choice, making sure that all the noodles are covered to ensure they stay soft. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes.

The Parmesan pull-apart bread recipe is a cheater recipe, but it's really good. 

1 tube Pillsbury Grands Homestyle (or Butter Lovin') Biscuits

3 tablespoons melted butter

1 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. dried parsley

1 tsp. dried minced onion

1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

1/3 c. shredded mozzarella

Mix you butter, garlic, parsley, onion and cheeses together and coat the bottom of a glass pie dish. Place your biscuits on top, so they are touching. If you squeeze them they all fit. Bake at 425 for about 12 minutes or until golden brown. Simply plop your biscuits upside down on a plate! When I checked my biscuits at 12 minutes they weren't quite done yet, and I briefly forgot about them, so my bread turned out a little more brown than golden, but it still tasted amazing. 

Anyway, I just bought tickets to go visit Josh's family in upstate New York. Its going to be a long train ride, but I've never ridden a train (that I can remember, anyway), and I've never been to Syracuse or Elmira, where Josh was born, so that will be fun. I hope to maybe learn some family pasta recipes from his grandparents--his grandfather is 100% Italian so you know they make good pasta!

Unfortunately my shea butter, almond oil, and peppermint oil are due to arrive from Amazon the same day we are leaving, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they come early so they don't have to sit in the area by the building front door. Also, I'm terrified that while I'm gone mice will over-take my home (although I haven't seen any sign of one since The Mouse From Hell, and its been about two weeks, maybe three?). If the peppermint oil comes early I'm going to dab it on cotton balls and place them all over my kitchen. They don't like peppermint oil. When I ordered my stuff from Amazon I read the reviews on the peppermint oil and people said they used it to ward off mice and that it was effective, so hopefully it will work for me, too. 

Forbidden Island

Yesterday Josh and I tried out the game we bought, Forbidden Island. It was a lot like Pandemic, the premise of that game being there is a disease spreading throughout the globe and your team has to work together to cure the four strains and eradicate it. Forbidden Island is a little simpler. Your team lands on an island in search of four lost ancient treasures, but the Island was rigged by the ancient peoples who hid the treasures to sink, so you have to get to all four treasures and escape the island before the treasures sink or before the island itself sinks, whatever comes first. It's a pretty quick game and it changes every time you play it, so it was a fun distraction. The tiles reminded me a lot of the Elder Scrolls games.

Anyway, that's it for today. Tomorrow I hope to try out a lemon sugar hand scrub! I'm also interested in learning how to can--canning--whatever you call it. I found an easy recipe to make jam (or jelly, I forget the difference, but I think it's jam), and from what it looks like you don't need any kind of canning equipment. I assume that if you want to store the jam for any period of time you would need canning stuff. It would be fun to put together a little package of homemade lotion bars, lip balm, sugar scrubs, and jam for a Christmas gift. I like making fresh, "all-natural" kind of stuff--it's quite fun--but I hate that it doesn't last as long as store-bought stuff. But then again, perhaps that's a good thing?