December 30, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

Easy Lasagna

Lasagna.

My mother makes the best lasagna in the world. Happy Birthday Mom! I love you! I ask for it for my own birthday. This is not her recipe. But I still think it is really good. I have made lasagna for years. In fact, it was the first “complicated” meal I ever attempted.

It’s is one of those dishes that looks hard to make, but is incredibly easy to execute. I find it calming to make the layers. I also feel like a superhero when I view the final completed project. And who doesn’t want to feel like a superhero? Well, unless it is The Hulk. Nobody wants to feel like The Hulk. Unless you are a ten year old boy. Or me, apparently from all of the posts I have done on it. But even then, you gotta admit the name leaves much to be desired.

Remember my new favorite spaghetti recipe that uses coffee grounds and is made in the crockpot? Well, I usually have three quarts of sauce left after the first dinner that I separate into three individual quart containers and freeze for use at a later date. I have friends with three sons. Actually, when I think about it, I have a lot of friends with three sons. I have heard that with that many boys they do not get as many leftovers as I do with a recipe. In fact, the exact words were, “What are leftovers?” I think with the crockpot spaghetti recipe, they would probably only have one to two quarts left after the initial dinner. There should still be enough to freeze at least one additional meal, so if you have a larger family, do not be discouraged. Make it. Save the rest. Then make a giant lasagna that will appease all. Even three growing boys.

The other day I took one quart out of the freezer. This is completely off topic, but make sure you defrost any sauces appropriately before you reheat them. I thought it would be a great idea to just throw the frozen sauce into a pan and bring it to heat. The sauce broke up into nuclear hot parts and frozen chunks. It splattered out and hit my arm where it made a small hole. I eventually had to see a doctor for it. I will definitely have a scar from it, so please be careful in reheating.

So, I defrosted the sauce first and then reheated the sauce and added an additional jar of pasta sauce to make it stretch further.

Then I just layered it into a lasagna. It was so good.

Okay. Finally. On to the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 quart of prepared spaghetti sauce (I use this recipe, but you could use your favorite)
1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce
One package of lasagna noodles (you can use no-boil ones or the fresh ones above. I highly recommend the fresh ones above, found in the refrigerated section of the grocery store near the ricotta. Do not use regular lasagna noodles unless you boil them first. I have attempted to use them without boiling. They are not as good. They are about one minute before al dente tasting)
2 cups grated mozarella cheese
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
15-16 oz. of ricotta cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Yell, “You’re making me hungry! You won’t like me when I’m hungry!” If your family stares at you during this time, stare back, unwavering in your lasagna conviction.

Defrost spaghetti sauce for two-three hours and then reheat in a large pot over low heat with additional jar of pasta sauce until hot. Turn off heat.

Take a 9 X 13 pan and ladle in some spaghetti sauce into the bottom of the pan until the bottom is just coated. About 2/3 cup.

Take lasagna noodles and lay on top of sauce. This is two of the fresh ones above.

Take half of your ricotta and smear over lasagna noodles. Ladle one third of your sauce over the top, sprinkle one cup of mozzarella cheese. Place noodles over cheese. Spread the remaining ricotta over the noodles. Ladle one third of your sauce over the top. Sprinkle one cup of mozzarella. Lay noodles over cheese. Ladle the remaining sauce over noodles. Sprinkle one cup of Parmesan cheese over the top.

Cover with foil and bake for thirty minutes. After thirty minutes, uncover and bake for an additional fifteen minutes.

Remove from oven and let rest for five to ten minutes.

And serve.

Hulk Hands ~~not~~ optional.

August 25, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

Our New Coffee Table

When we were at the Rose Bowl Flea Market a month ago, we purchased a new coffee table/ottoman from the booth of the Los Angeles based store, Uber Chic Home. They have an amazing set-up each time I am at the flea market and it seems they always have something new and crave-able that I want to purchase. In fact, I have never gone to this flea market and not purchased something from them.

All of the grain-sack pillows I have made in our home are from their booth. We also recovered our piano bench in one of their feed bags.

Now they are creating furniture. We fell in love with their coffee table/ottomans. The one we picked out was covered with a vintage Czech army blanket. It is soft and I like the interesting striped pattern that matches the lamp shade that we purchased a few years ago from Pottery Barn.

The piece boasts two large drawers that are actually vintage food crates. With my two children now both in junior high school and high school, we have a copious amount of books to store at home. These drawers actually hold all of their books and then some. And by “and then some,” I mean I still have half of the storage room left for other things.

Even Murphy loves the new coffee table. Although he is so short, he can almost not quite see over it.

The colors match the room perfectly. I have many custom slipcovers for my couch, but I have not changed the cover in years. This fall and winter, I plan to put on my grey velvet. I am hopeful it will work well with it.

Our old coffee table was from my first apartment before I met my husband. It matched the side table on the right. It had a glass top and when my son was one, he flipped over the couch backwards and knocked his head on the coffee table, requiring us to get him staples on the cut. I was glad to be rid of the thing. It only took us an extra ten years.

Speaking of side tables, we also acquired the small little one on the left of the couch (not from the seller above) on the same day as our new coffee table. I do not know its function before we purchased it, but we use it to store video game remotes.

I am pretty confident with saying that that was probably not its original purpose. Please excuse the mess. This is just what it looks like everyday. It was the cousin of the ones my husband truly wanted that were sold while we deliberated over them. The twin cousins had two drawers apiece and were slightly taller. We are happy to have grabbed the one we did. He was incredibly inexpensive.

Because I dislike change, it took a lot for me to finally make the decision to splurge on a new piece. We got a fantastic price for the beautiful item and we are extremely happy to have made the choice that we did. Now I just need to make the choice to get the carpets cleaned.

What was the last piece of furniture you purchased for your home? Was it vintage? Do you love it?

I do not know what to call our coffee table/ottoman. Two parts of it are made from vintage pieces, but the base is new. I will just call it pretty as I put my feet up on it and indulge in some wine.

And Rice Krispie Treats.

June 8, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

Crockpot Spaghetti (with coffee grounds)

I am usually pretty lazy when it comes to making spaghetti. I just brown the meat and toss in a couple of cans of pasta sauce. The end.

But the other day I stumbled across a recipe. This is not an odd thing to happen. But what is odd is the ingredient in the recipe. Coffee grounds. Coffee grounds? Yes. And since I love anything absurd. And I love an ingredient I have around the house for free (that I usually throw away). I decided to try it.

I am not going to post the ingredients for the recipe, even though ingredients are fair game when it comes to copyrights. This is because it is a crockpot recipe so if I post the ingredients, you pretty much know there are three steps to follow after that.

Brown the meat.

Put the ingredients in the crockpot. Cook.

Make the noodles. And stir the now completely yummy and bubbling sauce.

And that would not be fair to the creators of this recipe (Layers of Happiness). If I change a recipe in at least three ways, I will blog the recipe in its entirety, but I did not change this one except to reduce the water by a cup and double the red wine. I like to play nice. So, I definitely recommend clicking over to the blog that posted this recipe to see it there.

This makes my family of four, four complete meals. The first night, we eat what we can.

Then, I pour the remaining spaghetti sauce into two of these handy dandy freezable containers (best. things. ever. The link is an affiliate link. I bought mine four months ago. I use them for everything). Each container is a family sized serving for four. I freeze two containers. The rest, I save in the refrigerator with the leftover noodles from the first evening to eat the next day as leftovers.

This spaghetti sauce is so good. It is even better the next day.

When I am tired and I do not want to cook, I simply defrost the spaghetti sauce that is in the freezer on the counter for an hour (this is so it slides out easier). Then I pour (more like plop) the sauce into my dutch oven with 1/4 cup of water and cover the whole thing and simmer on medium low heat for thirty minutes while I make the noodles.

I serve it with frozen baguettes from Costco. Have you tried those loaves? They come in 5 packs of 2. They are my family’s favorite baguettes.

Have you used coffee grounds in a recipe before? At first I was kind of nervous about it. But then I researched it and it turns out coffee grounds are a great antioxidant (article found here). And I was sold.

It looks like I am not the only one who enjoys this spaghetti. : )

October 23, 2013 by gn0mel0ver

It’s The Little Things: Cuban Coffee

I first tried Cuban coffee a week ago. I tried it and loved it. Since that time, I have been back three times to the local Cuban eatery. I just went there again this morning. Here is the thing: This coffee is strong. I normally do not like strong coffee. But this… It’s wonderful.

So, I googled “Cuban coffee.” From what I could gather: it is not necessarily where the coffee beans are from. But rather how they are ground and brewed (with sugar). No wonder I like it!

They make so many sweet versions, I suck it down. The great thing about this is that it keeps me full all day long. It also keeps me incredibly wired. So I get more things done.

Our local Cuban restaurant has fun quirky coffee signs hidden in the restaurant. These two are my favorites.

I just bought some to make at home. They grind it fresh there. Wish me luck!

Have you had Cuban Coffee? If not, check to see if there is a Cuban restaurant near you and if they serve coffee. It is really good.

It’s The Little Things: Finding a new variety of something you love.

Gnome Lover

Stumbling through life while still having fun

coffee

Easy Lasagna

Our New Coffee Table

Crockpot Spaghetti (with coffee grounds)

It’s The Little Things: Cuban Coffee