Ode to My Cat and Lazy Lasagna Recipe

In his usual napping spot.

When I was younger, my grandparents had a Himalayan named Leon.  He was so mean and would chase me around the house when my Grandma would go downstairs or leave the room!  I later found out he would do the same thing to my cousin.  But, my Grandma loved him.  Leon was always on her lap, getting his pet on, or getting brushed.  I never really liked cats for this reason.

Fast forward to years later, Kevin insisted that we get a Siamese cat.  It had to be a Siamese.  I was adamantly opposed to it after my experience with my Grandma's cat.  They were similar breeds and I figured similar temperaments.  He asked if he found one could we get him?  I finally gave in and said yes, thinking nothing would come of it.

Eggy use to jump in the pantry and sit in boxes when he was smaller.

Well, weeks later he called me at work and said he found one in Milwaukee and wanted to make sure it was okay still.  I begrudgingly said fine.

Can't wait to open his Christmas present.

When I got home to see him, he was the cutest, most adorable little kitten!  He had giant ears and a little cry that sounded like a baby.  To this day he talks to us, which is a common siamese trait and I love it!

Needless to say, he grew on me.  Every night, he would fall asleep on my lap and I would carry him to bed with us.  Every day I looked forward to seeing him when I got home.  He was really friendly as a kitten, but as he grew older he became...not as friendly to strangers.  I think he is just guarding his territory and I now understand why my Grandma's cat was so unfriendly to us.

Photo-bombing my pic of all of the sauce I bought for 46 cents each.

I am quite obsessed with my cat.  There are about 100 pictures a day that I take of him that I don't post to Facebook and about 100 times I restrain myself from talking about him.  People always ask, "How's Eggroll?"  I let my fiancé's sister borrow an old phone and she messaged me, "I can't believe how many pictures of Eggroll are on here."  I texted her back, "I can!"

Sleeping in his new favorite blanket my mom got him me.

As with any pet, they make our lives better.  Both Kevin and I know that we need Eggy just as much or more than he needs us!

Lazy Lasagna

I saw a recipe on Pinterest (where else!) of a fancy looking wrapped lasagna.  I don't have time for that, so I just modified it to this.

16 oz Farfalle noodles or your favorite
16 oz your favorite jar spaghetti sauce
8 oz sliced mushrooms
4 cups kale, torn into pieces
22 oz fat free cottage cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 tsp italian seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375. Cook the noodles per boxed instructions.  While that is cooking, slice the mushrooms, and kale.  Put into large bowl.  Add the cottage cheese, spaghetti sauce, italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.  Mix until it is all covered in sauce.  When the noodles are finished, drain, and add to the bowl.  Mix everything together and put in 9x13 pan.  Cover evenly with mozzarella cheese.  Bake for 30 minutes, or until cheese starts to turn a golden brown on the edges.

Losing It

I have successfully tracked another week and am down another 1.6 lbs! I set a goal to lose at least 4 lbs a month for the next year to get to my goal weight.  This is the first time I have ever met a goal that involved weight loss...ever.  It's only 4.6 lbs, but that is a big accomplishment for myself!

This week was definitely easier then last week, in the respect that I'm getting use to how many points things are, measuring servings again, and picking fruit instead of other snacks that are not zero points.  I'm also trying to get myself out of eating out of boredom and paying attention to whether or not I'm actually hungry (People really do that.  Weird, I know).

We had super dreary weather today.  I could not wake up today.  I felt very sleepy and sluggish all day.  Eggy needed his coffee, of course.

I knitted a bit and then went shopping with Melissa and lil Joe.  She is already back in her pre-pregnancy clothes after having the twins last week!

Melissa said she was taking a shower before leaving, so I promised her I would put on a bra and brush my teeth.  You're welcome and you're welcome.

On a random note, I was reading some past blogs and found comments that I hadn't seen.  I can't figure out how to get those notifications.  Shouldn't I just get notified by default?  This falls under user error, I'm sure.

Make Me Something Good to Eat

I had a lot of baking and cooking to do today.  As soon as I woke up I started in on it.  I made some chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter cookies.

Eggy loves helping with dishes...minus the water.

Quick breakfast of green tea and banana toast.

I tried out this cookie recipe I found online.  I've had a can of pumpkin in my pantry for at least two years...amazingly not expired yet.  I've been trying to find an easy recipe to use it in.  I found this one somewhere.  All you need is yellow cake mix and the can of pumpkin.  It comes out really fluffy and light.  

After all the baking, Eggy was exhausted and had to go take a nap in his electric blanket.

I made an apple pie for Thanksgiving.  I've made it before, but for some reason I was having a really hard time with the crust, hence the raggedy look of it.  

While I was baking everything else, I was also boiling the black and white beans that I had soaked over night for my chili.  I cooked them for about an hour, then rinsed them off and let them sit while I started on the chili.

Looking for cumin, apparently I always think I'm out.

Chili with Rice

Chili Recipe

6 cups cooked beans, any kind you like.  This time I used black and white because that's what I had on hand.

2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, diced

2 carrots, slice thin

24 oz tomato sauce

6 oz tomato paste

5 c. water

1 Tbsp cumin

1 1/2 Tbsp chili powder

1/2 tsp salt

dash of pepper

3 c. rice, cooked

Heat a large pot on medium heat.  Add the EVOO.  Add the onion and cook until they are soft.  Add the garlic and cook about 2-3 minutes.  Stir in the carrots and cook them for about 5 minutes, just until they've turned a bright orange.  Add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, and water. Stir until combined.  Mix in the chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper.  Bring the chili up to a boil then lower to a simmer.  Add in the beans.  Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes.  Add the cooked rice at the very end.

Off to craft night.  Hopefully I can make some progress on my sweater that I started.