Roasted Broccoli, Homemade Lasagna and a Tribute to Cabbage

This week has been a roller coaster of feelings. All in all, it has turned out to be a great week. I tried some new things and brought out a few old recipes, so I am excited to share. The first of the week started out with yummy leftovers. On Sunday of last week, Alex's mom made baked ziti and me and Alex brought home our vegetarian ziti. So, for dinner on Tuesday, I heated up the leftover ziti. I also did something different, which was roasting broccoli. This is, by far, the BEST way to eat fresh broccoli. First of all, I am absolutely in love with broccoli and especially fresh broccoli. Secondly, broccoli is so versatile and I have used it in a variety of ways, but I never thought to use it this way until my future mother-in-law suggested it to me. Vegetables are so amazing roasted. All you do is drizzle said vegetable (i.e. broccoli, asparagus, squash, etc.) in olive oil, throw a little bit of salt on it and whatever seasonings you like, and put it in the oven at 350 degrees fahrenheit until it gets as soft as you like it.

Notice the huge portion of broccoli compared to the ziti.

So, this week was tough as far as money is concerned and we got low on dog food on Friday morning, so I cooked my dogs some rice to help fill them up. Well, then I realized that there is no nutrition in white rice, so I cooked up the rest of the eggs and put that in their bowls, as well. Alex was jealous as he doesn't even get eggs on a weekly basis.While this has nothing to do with cooking, I thought it was nice that I even made them something special.

They enjoyed it thoroughly.

The 20th was my mother's birthday and I actually forgot her birthday! I was so disappointed in myself so I offered to have her birthday celebration at my house with my family. It was so wonderful and since it was a special occasion, I made my homemade vegetarian lasagna. I do not have a recipe for this because it is something that over the course of four years, I have perfected. Last year I attempted to write a recipe for it, but upon reading it this time, I realized that I had no business writing recipes especially since I wrote on it to use cottage cheese for the recipe. Luckily, I caught the mistake only after I went shopping but, I had some ricotta cheese in the fridge that I bought for a different recipe. So, all I do is cut up red, yellow, and orange bell peppers, chop some onions and sautee them. Then, I just make a basic spaghetti sauce from scratch and add italian seasonings and a pinch of red pepper to give it a kick.

I didn't use green bell, but I should have because it breaks up the monotany of all those red hues.

Then, I use the ricotta/parmesan/egg mixture plus some slice sharp provolone for layering. I top it with some block mozzarella and then sprinkle shredded mozzarella for coverage. I put it in the oven at 350 degrees fahrenheit for as long as it takes to make the edges start to get crunchy, then throw it in the broiler to brown the cheese a little. I accidentally broiled it for a little too long, but it still looked good.

Yum-yum!

For the bread, I slice a fresh loaf of whole wheat french bread and butter both sides. I also sprinkle garlic salt and McCormicks Italian Seasoning grinder on both sides and then sprinkle some shredded parmesan on top. Bake it in the oven for 5 minutes and then broil it until slightly browned.

My family wanted me to pose with my lasagna.

Saturday I also took my mom shopping for her birthday and found a coat that was made especially for me. It was on sale for 40% off and I just could not resist. I absolutely *love* this coat.

You can't really see it in this picture but you get the idea. And, no, my eyes are not closed, they are just that small.

For dessert, my mom had been drooling over a recipe for Buttermilk Pound Cake and Caramel Icing. The pound cake was very good, but the icing was way too sweet. I loved making the caramel because I have never made caramel from scratch and I thought that was really neat.

We drizzled the leftover caramel on the top of the cake for presentation.

Now, this cake is close to 600 calories per serving and between the eight of us we only ate 1/4 of the cake because no one wanted to eat 600 calories for dessert. What did we do with the remaining 3/4 of the cake? Threw it straight down the sink disposal because no one wanted to take it home. A travesty, I know, but you gotta do, what you gotta do!

Today, I made some more pumpkin bread upon request of Alex's parents. It is such an easy bread to make and it is so moist. I substitute the oil for applesauce which makes a big difference in the calories and fat. It also adds to the moistness of the cake. A-maz-ing!

I also mix walnuts in half the batter because Alex doesn't like nuts.

Me and Alex decided to go pick out pumpkins today and seeing as it is getting close to Halloween, it was long overdue. I enjoy carving pumpkins because I love roasted pumpkin seeds so I am really excited about these babies!

He didn't want to be there, as you can see from his facial expression.

This pumpkin is huge! We had to seatbelt it in because it wouldn't quit rolling around.

On the way to Alex's parent's house, we both craved pumpkin, so we stopped off at Starbucks for their pumpkin spice latte. It is like a warm, pumpkin pie drink. We also had some candy corn in the car, and it was as if we were celebrating fall with the pumpkin strapped in the back, two pumpkin spice lattes and candy corn.

I like to play with candy corn more than I like to eat it.

At Alex's parent's house, I helped make cheese biscuits which is just the White Lily Flour biscuit recipe and some cheese mixed in. This is only the second time I have made biscuits and I needed Alex's mom to show me what to do because the first time I made them, they were nothing more than average.

Alex's mom also made steamed cabbage which, to me, is one of the most looked over vegetables out there. It really does not get the credit it deserves. I absolutely love cabbage and it is such a wonderful vegetable. Alex's mom always says that she loves Chinese cuisine because they truly celebrate the amazing cabbage. Just for fun, some fun facts about cabbage!

+Cabbage is available in many varieties: red or purple, green and Napa cabbage, usually found in Chinese cooking, bok choi and Brussel Sprouts.

+Cabbage is rich in fiber and vitamin C and helps fight cancer.

+Cabbage is one of the oldest vegetables, dating back to the 1600’s.

+Cole slaw became popular in the US in 1903 when bottled mayonnaise was invented.

This was my plate of food: corn, cabbage, pinto beans, butternut squash and a cheese biscuit. Yes, I ate every bit and even went back for steamed cabbage.

This was the first time I had ever eaten butternut squash. Alex's mom cut it in half and put it cut side down in a casserole dish. Then, she poured about an inch of water in it and baked it for 40 minutes at 350 degrees fahrenheit. When it was done, she sprinkled brown sugar and cinnamon on it and put it in the microwave for five minutes. It was so good; and prepared like this, it tastes like sweet potatoes.

For dessert, there was a choice between s'mores and pumpkin bread. Since I am going to have pumpkin bread tomorrow night, I decided to have a s'more.

 

This was Alex's S'more. He wanted double chocolate.

This week, in regards to emotional eating and weight loss, has been extremely trying for me. I don't know if I am just craving sweets because it is almost "that time" of the month, but there is really no excuse no matter how you look at it. When I checked the scale today, I was down a pound, which is good, but I do not want to let myself believe I can eat whatever I want and still lose weight. I am looking forward to a new week and I am elated that I am now down 10 pounds from when I first started counting calories 2 and 1/2 months ago. Since I have started working on emotional eating habits, I am down 3 pounds. While I no longer count calories, I am becoming use to healthy eating and occasional sweets, rather than dessert after every meal.