Oh my goodness gracious!!
It has been almost
THREE MONTHS
since I last posted!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE blogging and have missed posting all
the good (yum yum)
the bad (NOT so yum yum)
and the ugly (blech-worthy) dishes
I've been making.
But I have been soooooo busy with
#1.
Work
the good (yum yum)
the bad (NOT so yum yum)
and the ugly (blech-worthy) dishes
I've been making.
But I have been soooooo busy with
#1.
Work
And #2.
Life
Um. Yeah. Don't ask. This is just between you and me, K??!!
And #3.
Hanging out with our #1 and only grandchild
Little Boy Blue!!!!
Oh yeah, I almost forgot.
#4.
Shooing cats out of the year-end records boxes...
 | Gino says, "Now you see me..." |
"...now you don't, sucka!"
| Giblet Pearl-Thanksgiving Day Kitty is smart, she knows that humans never give much attention to the lids. |  |
Gino, however,
continues his
stare-down with
"The Man"
(aka Angie) .
In fact, Gino recruited sweet Noodle to assist him in his defiance of
"The Man".
Noodle says:
"The Man can kiss my grits! Wait, what? The Man is my human momma, Angie?? I didn't mean it, Mom! I love uuuu Mom!!! Pick me up and love on me, moooommmm!"
"Dude.
I'm just here for my twice daily treat,"
says the always elegant Baby.
| "Although it will always be my job to investigate every empty box that enters my kingdom." |  |
Gino, unflinching to the repeated requests to
GET THE HECK OUT OF THE BOX, reiterates his defiant stance.
"Listen lady, if I told ya once, I told ya a million times, I ain't goin' down without a good paw whack."
So yeah,
not much has changed in three months.
Except....
SPRING!!!!!
Toys on the sidewalk.
First sign of Spring, eh?
:)
 | Pots waiting to be potted. |
Green peeking through
brown soil.
Llilies that will
bloom orange.
And a Christmas wreath by the barn that needs put away.
Course,
the wreath has been there about five years.
What?
Clearly I have an inability to follow through on boring tasks,
like putting things back where they belong.
*Sigh*
Okay, let's get to some serious food
stuff now.
LOOK AT THESE!!!
Oh my!
These are cute little
Butternut Squash and
Spinach Lasagna Rolls.
These are cute little
Butternut Squash and
Spinach Lasagna Rolls.
I've made these five times in the last two months and Ima make them again tomorrow night!!
These are little nuggets of individual lasagna rolls, filled with a creamy spinach ricotta mixture and topped with sweet butternut squash and a dollop of cheese.
I was out of shallots so I subbed a white onion. Worked great!
Whether you boil or bake this butternut squash,
it all comes out awesome.
it all comes out awesome.
Nice and earthy bake here...
Boil up your lasagna.
This dish makes 9 lasagna rolls so I usually cook up ten strips.
This dish makes 9 lasagna rolls so I usually cook up ten strips.
I use this brand because its whole wheat.
Prep up the garlic, shallots, parsley and I added some chopped sage leaves this time.
Defrost the spinach and wring out the moisture.
So the recipe calls for an immersion blender to mash the cooked butternut squash. I didn't want to get mine out so I got out my regular blender.
Dear Readers,
Do NOT do this. It's ridiculous. Just mash with a potato masher, takes like one minute and
NO MESS.
Love,
Angie
Saute up the shallots and garlic.
I added additional garlic and chopped sage for added flavor as this can be a tad...missing something.
I added additional garlic and chopped sage for added flavor as this can be a tad...missing something.
Add the butternut squash into the skillet.
If the squash mixture is a little too thick, add some liquid or some of the pasta water. I added wine according to some recipe reviewers.
Add salt and pepper and a bit of the Parmesan too.
In a separate bowl, combine the spinach, ricotta, Parm, egg and salt and pepper.
Will look like this when combined...creamy but maybe missing just a tad flavor, that's why I added the garlic and sage to the butternut squash topping.
Lay out your lasagna noodles.
I laid them on wax paper that had been sprayed with olive oil spray so they wouldn't stick.
Spread the ricotta and spinach mixture evenly over
the nine noodles.
Spread some of the squash mixture on the bottom of the dish.
Roll up those lasagna sheets, they roll up very nicely in fact, each and every time.
Top each roll with the squash mixture and cheese.
.
They look delicious just like this, don't they?
But throw them in the oven for 40 minutes and this is how these little cuties come out.
I really liked these!
At the first bite, you might be expecting a big burst of flavor but that big burst is not there. The sweet and savory and creamy flavors are subtle here and that's okay.
I keep making and making these,
I don't know why, they are kind of addicting though.
These are cute too, with the ruffly edges.
Mmmmmmm, creamy ricotta spinachy goodness.
Okay, I drizzled some maple syrup over each roll for a bit more oomph so that's a nice option too.
Here's the recipe!
(Remember I added some chopped sage and extra garlic.)
Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna Rolls
Staight outta the Skinnytaste.com website...go there for full recipe and directions!!!
Ingredients:
For the Butternut Parmesan Sauce:
For the Lasagna:
For full directions, click right here to go over to the exact recipe on skinnytaste.com for all the directions!! It's worth it!!
Or go to Epicurious where the recipe and directions are posted and people give great advice on the reviews!
Staight outta the Skinnytaste.com website...go there for full recipe and directions!!!
Ingredients:
For the Butternut Parmesan Sauce:
- 1 lb butternut squash, peeled and diced
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1/4 cup shallots, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp fresh grated parmesan cheese
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For the Lasagna:
- 9 lasagna noodles, cooked (use gluten free noodles for gluten free)
- 10 oz package frozen chopped spinach, heated and squeezed well
- 15 oz fat free ricotta cheese (I like Polly-o)
- 1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 large egg
- salt and fresh pepper
- 9 tbsp (about 3 oz) part skim shredded Italian Blend Cheese (I used Sargento)
- 1 tablespoon parsley, minced
For full directions, click right here to go over to the exact recipe on skinnytaste.com for all the directions!! It's worth it!!
Or go to Epicurious where the recipe and directions are posted and people give great advice on the reviews!
Okay guys, that's all I got for today!!
Hope I didn't bore you too much with all these pictures of cats and a Batman man and a displaced Christmas wreath.
Little Boy Blue (who is now 3 1/2 yrs old) says...
"My young,
very hip,
cool
Grandma Angie
hopes you come back and visit her blog again soon.
My Grandma makes yummy bacon and oatmeal!"
For full disclosure purposes, the words
"young"
and
"very hip"
and
"cool"
uh, may have been the blog author's words.
Wink, wink.
"young"
and
"very hip"
and
"cool"
uh, may have been the blog author's words.
Wink, wink.
Hope to get another post or two up
this week!!!!
Have a great week!!
Talk at ya soon!!
