Cara's Red and White Vegetable Lasagna

  Today I decided to make lasagna for our company that is coming Monday night. Somewhere between that decision and 8 o'clock this evening-it turned into a 12 pound masterpiece. I hope.
  I started by cooking ground beef and some fancy flavored sausage that I picked up at Grocery Outlet with a Walla Walla Onion.
  After that was all cooked and happy I made my red sauce- spaghetti sauce(about 2 large cans or jars),mushrooms,olives, seasonings, garlic and a dried vegetable mix. I let this simmer for about an hour.
  Next I made my alfredo zucchini sauce- In my food processor I pureed a jar of alfredo sauce with a fresh zucchini just picked from our garden and cooked it until hot for about an hour to tenderize the zucchini and blend the flavors.(We think that the fresh pureed zucchini has a very strange texture when taste testing it before it cooked)
  My Mom's recipe calls for uncooked spaghetti noodles so it makes it super easy! I took it upon myself to make a twisted alfredo garden version...
 1 layer of  red sauce
 1 layer of uncooked lasagna noodles frosted with ricotta
 1 layer mozzarella cheese
 1 layer of alfredo zucchini sauce
 1 layer of uncooked lasagna noodles frosted with ricotta
 1 layer mozzarella cheese
and repeat as needed alternating red and white sauces,ending with sauce.
Sprinkle heavily with parmesan cheese and bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees
I have great faith it is delish but I also wonder if experimenting for company is a good idea?
But then again..can you really screw up lasagna?! :)

PS-I buy Ricotta at Cash & Carry in a huge 5 lb. container for about $8 and I prefer the whipped kind. I find that it stays good in my fridge for quite awhile and is handy to have around.( Casserole and lasagna weather is just around the corner!!  Stalk up now on noodles,frozen veggies and canned soups.Start freezing that wonderful and cheap fruit from the fruit stand-berries freeze so well!! I am also anxious to start freezing zucchini and I already have 16 cups of chopped rhubarb frozen from my Mom's garden.)

Bla Bla Bloggity Blogging....

It's funny how throughout the day, I think of hundreds of things to blog about and then blogging time comes and my mind draws a blank.....Blogging is such a broad term isn't it?

Well the latest laugh around here is Chipper's new haircut. I  had his groomer Bethany give him his "summer cut". I think my exact words were "shave him,you know,like a chiuaua?" and boy oh boy did she take me literally!I am very happy to have such a clean little dog but for the first few weeks I have to admit... he looks kinda funny.Thing is,I think she used a soap or powder that irritated his skin because he twitched and itched like crazy!This went on for a day or two before I realized that my OCD neurotic dog wasn't getting any better and perhaps this wasn't an "OCD neurotic dog thing".After 2 days of ear meds and a bath he's doing much better..whew! I feel a little guilty because he had a hard time adjusting to the extreme haircut :( He usually loves it! This time he's cold and shivers.... so I am thinking I will have to put him in his sweater until he grows a little more hair..ugh. How do people handle kids? This dog could give me a heart attack some days...

I also want to talk about Maxine. Maxine is an elderly woman who walks by our house a few times a day on her way to town.She kinda reminds me of Maxine from the Hallmark cards...

Chipper met Maxine long before I did. Maxine doesn't hear well so she avoids conversation with people most of the time. Oh but the way her face lights up when she sees Chipper! It's so sweet to see her walk by and looook around the yard to see if he's out..if he isn't she continues off walking,hiding under large sunglasses and a big colorful hat.After a few months we began to talk and she asked if she could buy him treats. Of course I couldn't turn her down!She goes on and on about how much she just LOVES Chipper and then one day she started to talk with Vern and I. She realized that we were willing to talk loud enough to chat and slowly we made a new friend. I have invited her in to see the garden and the yard and she has begun to share stories and visit a few times a week if the weather is good.I won't lie,I used to kinda dread it when we saw her coming in order to avoid the "impromptu" visit. But now I look forward to seeing her bright hat through my kitchen window and I usually make a point to go say hello. I offered her the position as Chipper's Grandma and she gladly accepted!She says she tells her sisters and friends all the time about her favorite little dog and I'm pretty sure she's serious! haha I love it :) These days I chat her ears off and some days she chats off mine. I don't care if it's 10 minutes or 30,my day can wait for Maxine. I hope I get a chance to get to know her better before she can't walk by anymore. Maybe someday it'll be my turn to walk by and visit her :)

One small step for man but one giant leap in Caraland......
Del's new addition upstairs is complete enough that he has his own functioning bathroom!!! Yay! THIS is the day that I have been dreaming of since this remodel started in March! 3 adults trying to share one small bathroom was ridiculous! I cleaned and bleached "our" bathroom today and the amazing part?! The seat stayed down and clean ALL DAY! It's the little things right? Stay tuned for "leap #2 in Caraland" when he finally takes all the neon beer signs out of the kitchen and up to his new "bar"!Then, I have been given creative control to make it look like a "real kitchen" . The good news-it'll look like new. The bad news-more painting for Vern and I.Stay tuned....I'm trying to get better at before and after photos :)