Zucchini Lasagna

Now that we are no longer on vacation - I was really bad! - back to healthy eating.  Thanks to Tim - he continues to add more clean eating recipes to his repertoire.   I was suspicious of this one but it was delicious and although I am not a fan of bolognese combos - it was very good!

ZUCCHINI LASAGNA

Ingredients: 

• 1 lb 93% lean ground beef
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 large onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (28 oz can) crushed tomatoes
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
• black pepper, to taste
• 3 medium (8 ounces each) zucchini, sliced 1/8″ thick
• 1 1/2 cups part-skim ricotta
• 1/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano
• 1 large egg
• 16 oz (4 cups) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

In a medium sauce pan, brown meat and season with salt. When cooked drain in colander to remove any fat. Add olive oil to the pan and saute garlic and onions about 2 minutes. Return the meat to the pan, add tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper. Simmer on low for at least 30-40minutes, covered. Do not add extra water, the sauce should be thick.

Meanwhile, slice zucchini into 1/8″ thick slices, add lightly salt and set aside or 10 minutes. Zucchini has a lot of water when cooked, salting it takes out a lot of moisture. After 10 minutes, blot excess moisture with a paper towel.

Preheat a gas grill to medium high, and grill 2 to 3 minutes per side, until slightly browned. Place on paper towels to soak any excess moisture.

Preheat oven to 375°.

In a medium bowl mix ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese and egg. Stir well.

In a 9×12 casserole spread 1/2 cup of sauce on the bottom and layer the zucchini to cover. Spread 1/2 cup of the ricotta cheese mixture, then top with 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese and repeat the process until all your ingredients are used up. The last layer top with remaining zucchini and sauce, cover with foil and bake 30 minutes. Uncover the foil and bake 20 minutes (to dry up the sauce) then place the remaining 1 cup mozzarella and bake until melted, 10 minutes.

Let stand about 5 – 10 minutes before serving.

Home Textiles Market

Home Textiles Market came and went.  It is exhausting designing and developing for market week.  I am responsible for designing Jacquards, Embroideries and Embellished Quilts.  These were just some of the 40 something beds my team develops for market. I design for stores like Macy's, Bed Bath and Beyond and J.C. Penney's.   Just when you think it's over, you have to start all over again for the next season.

A True Neighbor

We got back from Portugal and got terrible news.  My Mom's best friend and neighbor of my family 

for 30 years passed away.  She had been struggling with cancer and it had gone into remission but then apparently came back.  Her name was Linda King.  She defined what a neighbor should be.  Our

families moved into two brand new homes next to each other in a new subdivision in the late 70s and have been close friends ever since.  I took care of her children when they were little - babysitting for her three boys in high school and college. When I needed work - she employed me in her business whenever I needed money because I had such crazy hours in college. When I was in my early 20's, I did a lot of community theatre and they came with my parents to see every play - as excited to see me as my parents.  Whenever, I came home to visit over the years, we would go out to dinner and they would always have me over to their house.  They were very close to my parents and when my brother, Chris, died in 2005 - they held a memorial at their home and went on trips together through out my parents grieving process.  My parents sold their home and moved a short distance away. When it came time to move back to be closer to San Antonio, Linda and her her family built a 2 bedroom mother in law apartment on the lot they owned next to them so they could look after each other. The apartment was two doors down from their original house and it felt like they had never left the neighborhood.  Linda was there at the hospital the day my Dad died in 2013 and at my mother's side at the service never leaving her alone.  You couldn't ask for a better friend or a better neighbor.  We loved her so much and she will be greatly missed. 

London

 Prior to Portugal, I had to make a quick trip to London with co-workers for market shopping.  I design for a large home textiles company and we just finished market in September and jump right in to designing for the next market.  We shop Europe for trends and come back with a lot of samples for product development in China and India.  It was a short trip just to London for 4 days with lots of shopping.  Liberty of London, Harrods, Debenhams, John Lewis, Next, Selfridges, and House of Frazier. Had the best bruschetta pizza which I had never had before.

Porto Portugal

We haven't had a vacation in a couple years due to my family.  My Dad passing away and then moving my Mom back to NY and getting her settled with proper care - it's long overdue for us.  We decided to take a quick trip to Portugal.  We both had been to Lisbon before and had not done a lot of homework on Porto but it came highly recommended by friends who had gone in July.  What an awesome trip.  The city is absolutely gorgeous.  The weather was incredible the entire time.  The city is small so you could do it in a weekend but spreading it out over 7 days was perfect.  Unbelievably, beautiful architecture, great food, access to the river and to the Atlantic Ocean.  Great shopping, lots of tapas and sangria.  I got my fill of grilled octopus which I can never get enough of in the city. We ran into Tim's cousin and his wife and had dinner one night which was a complete surprise.  The people were so friendly and inclusive.  Plus, getting away from all of the awful political coverage was a huge plus too.  It was a great trip and we would definitely go again.