The Thursday Recipe

A vegetarian recipe that we've also done gluten free (that's a topic for another day.)

Roasted Red Pepper Lasagna

• 24 ounces Marinara sauce
• 1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup shredded parmesan chese
• 1 egg (can substitute 1/4 cup egg substitute)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon oregano
• 9 lasagna noodles - uncooked
• 1/2 cup roasted red peppers, water-packed, cut into thin strips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a small pot combine the Marinara Sauce and the fire roasted tomatoes.  Set over low heat and allow to simmer for about ten minutes to allow flavors to blend.

In a large bowl combine the cheeses, egg, salt, pepper and oregano.

Spoon 1 cup of sauce in the bottom of an 11 x 7 inch glass baking dish.  Arrange 3 noodles over the sauce.  Spread half the cheese mixture over the noodles.  Top with pepper strips.  Place three more noodles on top and spread with the remaining cheese mixture. Top with one cup of Marinara Sauce.  Place remaining three noodles on top and top with remaining sauce.  Gently press down on the lasagna.

Cover the dish loosely with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes.  Remove foil and bake until sauce is lightly browned and noodles are tender when tested with a knife - this will take about 10 to 15 additional minutes.  Remove from over and allow to sit about 5 minutes to firm up.  Slice into serving size pieces and serve with a salad and a good loaf of bread.  

This is an incredibly easy dish to prepare, since the lasagna noodles don't have to be cooked.  You'll find special no-cook noodles at the store, but you don't have to use these.  I haven't tried this, but the original recipe says you can add a layer of tender baby spinach if desired.  

We've also made this a gluten-free recipe by using Tinkyada, brown rice lasagna noodles...and honestly...you can't tell the difference!  We've served this recipe to family and friends and it gets rave reviews all the time.

Check back next Thursday for another vegetarian recipe.  Happy Cooking!

Recipe of the Week

January 1, 2011 Jan and I began a vegetarian experiment.  Mostly at my insistence, we decided to try a vegetarian lifestyle for one month. The experiment was based on reading a part of a book at while visiting Eli in North Carolina.  He had a book about healthy hearts based on a vegetarian diet.  I come from a family history that isn't real conducive placing bets on longevity.  My parents are the type that are in good health, for the shape they're in.  They are both diabetic and have both had bypass surgery. Jan jokes that my family thought we had vegetables on the table as long as the ketchup bottle was open.  A recent heart procedure of my brothers had me thinking about my own mortality.  After reading the introduction to Eli's book, I made the decision to try a vegetarian diet.  I really don't know what the rest of the book was about.....I made a swift decision and made plans to implement the change. Almost two years later, we're still mostly vegetarian.  I prefer to think of myself as a Flexitarian.....someone who still enjoys a good steak, a piece of chicken now and then, or a crisp piece of bacon.  In other words, I'm not a fanatic about things.  We eat vegetarian at home, but we're not going to be crazy about things when we go out to friend's houses for dinner.  Jan has remained truer to the vegetarian lifestyle, noting that my actions have ruined her.  She finds it hard to place a piece of meat on her supper plate.
One of the things that helped when we made the decision to go vegetarian, was reading that when you look at what you eat, most people have about ten or twelve recipes they use most of the time.  That was true with us...we tended to repeat the same things over and over.  If you look at those ten or twelve recipes, you will probably find that several of them are already meat free.  We had a base to start from and some of our other recipes were easily adapted to be meat free.  From our base of recipes we could then do a little branching out.  I must admit, I enjoyed the challenge of finding and trying new recipes.  Our goal hear is to share some of our recipes we have found and we have found some really excellent recipes....recipes we eagerly share with our meat eating friends.  Watch every Thursday for the Recipe of the Week.....hint: that's tomorrow!

Helping parents stay connected

It all started with a MailStation.  The MailStation was an email only device that was marketed as a very simple, very cost-effective alternative to a home computer if your only interest was sending and receiving emails.  I've heard it referred to as PawPaw Mail...you know, something for Grandma and Grandpa to use...not too complicated with few things that could go wrong.  This seemed like the perfect solution to moving my parents into the 20th century and keeping them connected to children in California, Texas and Virginia.  My mom took to it like a duck to water.  She loved sending and receiving emails and soon developed a long list of folks she corresponded with.  The MailStation did have it's drawbacks. You only viewed a couple of lines of text at a time and there wasn't the capability of viewing pictures.  Let's face it...it's not a computer.  
Mailstation II solved the problem of not being able to view pictures, but the process to view pictures was cumbersome.  The pictures couldn't be viewed in color, screen size was limiting and acceptable picture formats were not very user friendly.  A home computer seemed to be the answer.  Unfortunately a home computer was also the problem.
Teaching an 80 year old how to use a computer is a daunting task.  The goal was still to primarily have access to email and viewing pictures, but it was no longer as simple as turning on the MailStation.  I did my best to simplify the process, writing detailed lists of instructions, but it is impossible to anticipate everything that could and would go wrong.  After a long weekend of instruction we left Pennsylvania and returned to Virginia hopeful that communication had been established and would be maintained.  
Suffice it to say that one short weekend did not answer all questions and didn't make my Mom an expert.  I spent a lot of time on the phone, trying to visualize what my Mom was seeing as she tried to understand this new machine.  It was a frustrating experience for both my mother and myself and Jan had to remind me on more than one occasion to watch my tone.  I needed a better way to provide help from three states away.
Enter Teamviewer. Teamviewer, free for personal use, allows you to remotely control any computer.  Both computers have to have Teamviewer installed.  It is then a simple matter to have the person you want to help open Teamviewer on their computer while you do the same thing.
Here's a screenshot:

Your partner gives your their ID number and password shown on the Teamviewer window and you take control of their computer.  You see their screen and control their computer.  I was now able to take control of my mother's computer, walk her through the problem she was having, saving a huge amount of frustration for both of us.  Life has been simpler for both of us.  If you are responsible for keeping parents or friends connected on the internet.....do yourself a favor...get Teamviewer!

What's this all about?

I'm an on again, off again blogger. I blogged over a two year period when my sons were deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq, I blogged during the election of 2008 and I've blogged about cooking.  Blogging has been a part-time diversion for me.  Jan, on the other hand, has never blogged and never expressed interest in doing so....until recently.  A recently developed interest in Pinterest has exposed her to numerous blogs and given her an appreciation for sharing knowledge, skills and abilities with others.  During a recent weekend we spent at Smith Mountain Lake she brought up the notion of doing a blog together.  After thirty-five years of marriage we felt we may have a few things to offer to others.  We spent part of the weekend brainstorming a list of things we could share that may be of interest to others.  Much to my surprise, we're blogging.  Let's see what happens.  Hopefully we have a few things that you may find interesting.  Let's get started! 

It all begins with listening to your wife.  You may think you're doing something helpful, something maybe even a bit gallant, but bottom line...listen to your wife.  For example, when your wife tells you to leave the snake in the water garden alone, that may be the best advice and direction you'll receive all summer long.  Failing to follow that directive may impact the rest of your summer, the fall and into the winter months of the year. Bottom Line:  Snake - 1, Ed - 0.
Running down a steep hill in flipflops while chasing a snake should be something most fifty-eight year old men should avoid.  I've never been real good about knowing my limits, so the chase was on as Jan again told me to leave the snake alone.  Seeing my failure to heed her advice, she moved indoors and didn't see the fall.  It wasn't graceful, it wasn't pretty and it wasn't good.
To make this long story short, I messed with physical therapy during the remainder of the summer with poor results.  An MRI in September revealed a large tear of the rotator cuff which led to surgery on October 24th.
So how many times have I wished for a chance at a mulligan?  As I sit here, ten days out of surgery, very limited in what I can do around the house, I again say, "Why didn't I listen to my wife?"