Fun Food: Lasagna

The bf and I love to cook. Him more so than I but I love eating freshly made food so I'm getting in on the fun more too. I've recently realized that my fav thing to cook is lasagna. One of the reasons being it's absolutely delicious. But the other being that it solves one my biggest cooking conundrums of getting everything done at the same time so it's all still warm and not overcooked. You simply layer all the ingredients any which way you want, stick it in the oven for an hour or so, and then all you have to do is prepare the side dishes, which are usually a salad (no worries about keeping it warm there) and garlic bread (pop it in the oven with 10, 15 minutes to go). So easy!!! So in honor of my fav dish to make here's my most recent lasagna recipe that was given rav reviews by the taste testers (no matter that the taste testers are friends):

Ingredients:

- Lasagna noodles

- 3 c. Sun dried tomatos

- 4 c. Marinated artichoke

- 1/2 c. Pesto

- 16 oz. Ricotta cheese

- 16 oz. Mozzarella

- 8 oz. Parmesan

Preparation:

- Boil the lasagna noodles first until they're almost done.

- Once the noodles have boiled pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.

- Spread a small amount of pesto on the bottom of the pan so it's just barely covered.

- Add a layer of the cooked lasagna noodles.

- Add a layer of the marinated artichokes.

- Add a layer of the sun dried tomatoes.

- Add a layer of ricotta and mozzarella.

- Add another layer of the cooked lasagna noodles.

- Add another thin layer of pesto.

- Add another layer of the marinated artichokes.

- Add another layer of the sun dried tomatoes.

- Add another layer of ricotta and mozzarella.

- Sprinkle the parmesan on top.

- Place the dish in the oven for approximately 45 minutes.

Notes to Self:

The amounts of ingredients are estimated as I made this recipe up and can't actually remember how much I used but you'll know how much is enough for you (That's more of the fun part of making lasagna!).

It's so delicious! Enjoy!

Do you enjoy cooking? And if so what do you love to cook?

This isn't quite the one from above but since I didn't take pic but this one looks pretty similar.

Carmageddon

This is a little late and people are probably sick of hearing about it but a little reflection on this event feels needed because after all the fuss and fear that it would destroy Los Angeles, it ended up being an amazingly good time. The streets were empty! Millions of LAiens left town, took public transportation, or simply stayed home. Since the bf's place was at one end of the 405 closure and mine was at the other end, we had decided to hole up at his place for the weekend (mostly because of the pool) and do nada. Then, when we realized that there was no one out alternative plans to attend festivals and parties started to churn but then we decided to stick with the original idea of doing nada. Therefore, our weekend consisted of a lot of naps, delicious home cooked and local restaurant food, walks in the 'hood, movies, the women's World Cup, and some pool time complete with leisurely reading. Both of us are usually pretty high energy with a lot going on so this is rare for us but much needed. And that seemed to be the case for many of our fellow LAiens as it was extremely quiet even with a lot of people out and about walking around enjoying their local community with happy, peaceful smiles on their faces. Not a single horn was heard the entire weekend, which may be unheard of. All in all our vote is for a monthly shutdown of some major LA freeway! Or maybe we'll just impose our own Carmageddon on ourselves every so often.

How did you spend Carmageddon if you live in the LA area? Or if you had the opportunity to not drive anywhere for an entire weekend what fun things would you do that you don't normally get to?

Resume Shirt

I stumbled upon this brilliant, fun website, ResumeShirts.com. Not sure yet if I'd do it but I'm glad they're having fun!

Dancing Queen

I know dancing's a major fear for many people but I love to dance! Anywhere. Anytime. With anyone. Okay, there are probably some limitations but I haven't yet found them. I dance after a few drinks. I dance stone cold sober. I dance at clubs. I dance at weddings (The bf and I are thinking about becoming professional wedding dancers.). I dance at non-dancing venues. With or without music. I dance in crowds where there are so many people, wobbling slightly would probably be a better descriptor. I dance in my room all by myself. I dance in the sun. In the rain. Clothed. Unclothed. Happy. Sad. Dancing makes me feel alive. But I do have a slight vendetta against my parents because they never forced dance lessons down my throat so I'm entirely self-taught. Which makes for a kind of Night at the Roxbury/Fame/Beyonce style that's all my own.

The bf and I as pro wedding dancers

In the event this hasn't yet convinced you non-dancers that dancing can be fun here are some reasons for dancing and how to have fun with it:

Benefits to Dancing

- Burns calories. Secretly. When you're having fun dancing it doesn't even feel like a workout but in actuality burns 265 calories an hour (if you're a 130 lb. gal according to Medical Movement). What!

- Aside from the calories it has much health benefits.

- You might meet your significant other. That's how I did. And dancing's still an important part of our relationship. I'd say he's a cross between Fred Astaire/Usher/Carlton/Andy Samberg, which compliments my own self-taught style perfectly.

- Other social connections. Should you work up the courage to do it in public.

And How to Make it Fun:

- Dance Alone: Choose your fav music and let loose. You don't need a mirror if even that makes it too embarrassing. At worst just wiggle your hips slightly more than normal. The average person might not even be able to tell you're dancing. But you know what? It doesn't matter because you're all alone and the average person isn't going to see you. See if it doesn't make you smile just a little.

- Get lost in the moment. When you do that there aren't any worries. You have nothing to worry about anyway. No one's judging you. Okay, no one who counts is judging you. And anyone who is judging you is probably not a very good dancer themselves or they'd be too caught up in their own movement to notice yours. The trick is to not worry and have an absolute blast. Dance elegantly. Dance goofily. Dance perfectly. However, you do it do it and as long as you're truly having fun people will be lining up to be your partner, or at least drift near your vicinity to steal some moves.

- Smile. And laugh. That always makes it look like you're having fun even if you aren't.

- And along with that fake it til you make it. I'm not entirely sure I actually am a good dancer but I fully believe I am. But it wasn't always like that. I had to get over some insecurities. And I did that by faking it until I turned pro.

Flat Stanley

About a month ago my bro called me to see if I'd help his boss' daughter out with a school project. I agreed and next thing ya know Flat Stanley was making a visit. I've never read the book or did this project while either in or teaching elementary school but I know it's a popular project in that circle. The bf, his parents, and I took him to the Huntington Beach Pier and had an absolute blast taking the following pics. Just goes to show ya even as adults you can still have tons of fun with the kiddy things.

It's Not the End of the World...

as we know it. That song ran through my head much of yesterday as I prepared for the demise of our existence. And by prepared I did yoga, went for a run, and attended a couple of parties completely unrelated to doomsday. Needless to say doomsday didn't occur. Unless that is even fewer chosen ones exist than previously thought.

While I obviously didn't think the world would actually end nor do I think it's going to end in 2012 or any time during my lifetime, events like this get me contemplating. Our lives could end in any moment. I won't go into all the ways this could happen since that would be the antithesis of fun. And really we all know this. But how many of us actually live like we're dying (not to steal anything from the song with the same title)? I probably deliberate over this more than the average Joe but even I live a life more in fear than love, adventure, spontaneity, and fun. Or at least in more fear than I'd like to. And so in honor of the latest doomsday prediction to go wonderfully wrong I vow to spend more time enjoying all of the moments of my life.

Perhaps a little more time spent riding these

Finishing Things

Having fun doesn't mean always getting to do what you want when you want to do it. There are many times I think I'd love it if my life were like this but in actuality it'd probably have the reverse affect if it actually happened. Plus I don't think there exists a single person who has this kind of life. So we all have to do things we don't particularly want to. Knowing that they contribute to an ultimate goal or allow us to more quickly get back to doing what we want to do helps the situation. Also, if you can somehow turn it into something more fun in some way that also helps. Or knowing how accomplished you'll feel in the long run. But there are times when next to nothing helps in that moment. So the next moment when you're FINALLY done that's when the fun really begins.

Studying is rarely fun but it always feels so good to be done.