Quorn Bolognese

I made something like Quorn Bolognese tonight, except I used egg noodles and shells instead of spaghetti noodles. Not bad, not bad.

Speaking of spaghetti, I had a meltdown after going to The Pasta House Company in U. City a few weeks ago. I met my dad there for dinner and ordered spaghetti marinara. I asked the waiter if it was vegetarian (an old habit). He said yes, of course. The spaghetti came to the table. It was super light on the sauce but edible. Then I noticed something that had texture. I pointed it out to my dad and made him taste it. He said, "That's just Parmesan. Don't worry." I ate a bit more. Then I grew certain of it - it was not Parmesan. I asked our waiter if he gave me a meat sauce, and it was confirmed. I'm still not sure if it was my hormones or just that I hadn't had hamburger meat in about 15 years, but I put my head on the red and white tablecloth and wept, folks. We're talking shaky sobs.

Bad story.

Tonight was a much tastier experience -- the pasta "bolognese" had a light though zesty sauce that highlighted oregano, onion, tomato, and of course, the Quorn:

In other news, Jake and I are finding out our baby's gender on Monday - we're pretty excited to get an ultrasound again since we haven't had one since the 8 week mark. And now it will be 20 weeks - the halfway point!

We're planning on asking the ultrasound technician if she can write the gender down on a piece of paper instead of telling us. Jake will put the piece of paper in an envelope and hold onto it until dinner, when we will open it together. If I held onto the envelope throughout the day, I am 100 percent certain I would cheat and open the envelope before dinner. Not Jake though. So that's the plan, man. I'll let you know what happens:)

Walnut Brownies with Frosting

Lately, it feels as though I should rename this blog She Bakes Brownies or something. Here I am again baking brownies using Hershey's recipes. I thought I'd get snazzy by adding red sprinkles to the frosting today.

In other news, our "nursery" looks less and less like a gross junk room these days. We've removed two pieces of furniture, piles of papers and books and it's beginning to look like we're almost ready to paint! Check out a corner view:

Also, my mother just snapped this photo -- here is me at almost 19 weeks:

Penne with Five Cheeses and a Huge Green Salad

My wonderful friend, Amy, has made this tasty dish a couple times for us over the years, so I finally made it for four tonight. Here is the oozing-with-cheese recipe:

Penne with Five Cheeses (I think it's actually six cheeses, but whatever)

Ingredients:
- kosher salt
- 2 cups of heavy cream
- 1 cup of crushed tomatoes in thick tomato puree
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Romano cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded Italian fontina (I couldn't find this at my grocery store so like Amy, I used Sargento's Italian mix - it does include fontina)
- 1/2 cup crumbled Gorgonzola
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 T ricotta cheese.
- 1/4 lb. fresh mozzarella
- 6 fresh basil leaves chopped
- 1 lb. penne pasta
- 4 T unsalted butter

1. Preheat the oven to 500 d.
2. Bring 5 quarts of salted water to boil in a stockpot.
3. Combine all ingredients except the penne and butter in a large mixing bowl.
4. Drop the penne into boiling water and boil for 4 minutes.
5. Drain the pasta in a colander and then add to other ingredients in mixing bowl and combine.
6. Pour the entire mix into a baking dish/pyrex pan and dot the top with butter.
7. Bake just 10-15 minutes until bubbly and brown on top.

Fairly easy and deeeelicious, and it serves about 6. I made it with a huge green salad. Sometimes folks think a salad means lettuce and tomato, but to this vegetarian it means everything I have in the house (well, except cheese tonight - that'd be a cheese overload). I then whipped up a dressing of lemon juice, olive oil, red wine vinegar, and honey.

A Sunday night salad:
Mixed greens.
Diced tomato.
1 avocado - sliced.
A handful of sliced mushrooms.
1 can of garbanzo beans.
Pineapple chunks.
Chopped celery.
A few T of sesame seeds.
Diced green and yellow pepper.

Funny, while I was cooking tonight I remembered an incident that occurred in the kitchen several years ago when I was living alone in Baltimore County. I left a glass baking dish on one of my burners for a while -- I didn't have much counter space -- and then I turned a different burner on to heat up water in a pot, or so I thought. Suddenly, glass exploded in my face. It was probably the most dangerous thing that had ever happened to me in a kitchen. I'm just glad I was wearing glasses - the glass was everywhere and I had been standing so close to the burners that one shard did graze my face. Ugh, I think I burst into tears. Oy.

Well, cheers to no more kitchen accidents. I no longer leave glass dishes on the stove, that's for sure.

No-Crust Spinach Quiche

Pre-cooked quiche.

Jake in anticipation of eating the quiche.

How I've missed cooking - it feels like it has been a while. I started teaching again this week, and I'm also going to be in a play next month so rehearsal started this week. Anyway I've been on the go, eating here and there, grabbing this and that. I thought I'd make a couple things this weekend to last through the week.

So I've made a potato-crust quiche on the blog before, but this recipe is even easier, yay! My mom has made this recipe for years - I remember her making it for me when I was home in college breaks. It's easy to make, healthy, and delicious:)

Beat two eggs and add 1 T of flour, 1 plain Dannon yogurt, and a dash of nutmeg (I don't think she measures, so neither did I).

Add a very, very (very) well drained can of spinach and mix.

Sprinkle 1/2 c to 1 cup of mozzarella cheese on the bottom of a pie plate, which then forms its own crust. Pour the yogurt/egg/spinach mixture on top. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes, then at 350 for another 30 minutes.

Enjoy! Also, I made this today for tomorrow's brunch group. This tastes perfectly yummy if you make it the day before (I love knowing that about certain dishes).

Monday Night Veggies/Rice Dish

All day I had a hankering for vegetables -- colorful and healthful vegetables. I was out of town for a few days and eating too much junk: frozen yogurt, cookies, creamy soups. The food was heavy and now so am I.

So tonight I am back to my usual routine. I sautéd half a yellow onion, two pressed garlic cloves, 1 sliced red pepper, 1 sliced green pepper, about 1/2 c mushroom slices, some raw broccoli, 2 diced stalks of celery, 2 diced carrots and about 1 c of protein-rich Quorn in a few T of extra virgin olive oil. I've been watching this funny show at night called "Worst Cooks in America" and I've actually been picking up a thing or two. Eg: I used to sauté onions on high heat but apparently that can burn them too quickly and does nothing to enhance flavor. Good to know.

Anyway, the veggies were a bit dry so then I added a bit of tomato sauce and made some brown rice. Voila -- an easy dinner for two (with leftovers) made from vegetables, grains and protein.

A Bit of Sunshine

I'm in San Diego! Doin' the conference thing. Again. But maybe not for a while after this...

And it's beautiful and warm. Hot even. I feel lucky to have gotten away from miserable 7-degree weather for a couple days.

I also feel as tired as an old shoe. When does the second trimester energy surge come? I'm waiting! I'm ready!

Hershey's Brownies and Musings on Creating a Nursery

Happy New Year! Yesterday we rang in the New Year with chocolate. Yes, this is another repeat, but one of Jake's favorite desserts. Not me - I'd prefer a baked apples/frozen yogurt combo. Long day yesterday - from a rather intimidating Babies R Us visit to lunch with family to seeing Up in the Air (is there a movie that I don't cry through lately?) to seeing lovely friends from out of town to crashing at night after baking brownies.

This morning I'm trying to wrap my mind around actually turning our "junk room"/office (at least I've stopped referring to it as the cat's room) into a nursery. This will include many steps - from cleaning and packing and storing to carpeting and painting and then finally decorating. Here is a photo of the current madness (I'll update you as it begins to resemble anything else than crazy clutter):


I'm thinking animals -- a spotted owl peaking out from a tree on the wall, a monkey clock, an animal quilt. Also, here are a few amazing nurseries I've been gaping at on the net.

And because a few people asked, here is a one of my "baby bump" as I'm currently in my 16th week (24 more weeks to go -- though the women in our family have babies early). My friend, Jeff, jokes that I'm "huge," while another friend said it looks like I've just had a big lunch. Either way, the baby is currently as big as an apple, I've read:)