Classic Lasagna Roll-Ups

Despite my love of food now, I didn’t really have much of an interest in making anything other than chocolate chip cookies and spaghetti until I was in college. After my sophomore year of college when I was living in my parents’ condo in Arizona with a really nice kitchen and I realized that during my junior year, I wouldn’t have that cushy meal plan anymore, I thought I should maybe have a couple of dishes under my belt. Lasagna was the first one I tried, although a disdain for ricotta lead to me to making it with cottage cheese.

So for the past eight-ish years, lasagna has been my thing. I’ve never made it any more complicated than I did during the first summer, always using cottage cheese, no-boil noodles, ground beef and jarred sauce. No one has ever complained.

But I have finally created a more refined version of lasagna. On top of that, this lasagna not only offers built-in portion control, but also makes dishing the lasagna out so much easier. Instead of trying to slop a square onto the plate (it’s supposed to come out neatly? Mine certainly did not), just neatly scoop out one roll. And while, certainly, boiling the noodles and then rolling them up took longer than simply layering all the ingredients, it was not as difficult or time-consuming as I thought.

Creamy Mushroom Pasta with Truffle Oil topped with Short Ribs // The One Where Crouton Tries to Go Shopping

I often feel the need to add a disclaimer to my blog posts, stating “THIS PHOTO IS NOT STAGED. I PROMISE.”  Crouton gets herself into such weird little situations and poses that I could imagine someone thinking, “Please. This is a cat we’re talking about. This is not for real.”

That would only come from someone who hadn’t actually met Crouton, but I digress.

Over the weekend, David had borrowed my debit card. When I was sitting on the bed, he tossed at me to return it (Not exactly the most responsible method of return, but again, that’s digressing). It soared passed me onto the floor on my left.

In the 10 to 15 seconds between the card landing on the floor and me looking to my left, I couldn’t tell you what happened. But, I looked down to see this:

I guess there’s a chance that the debit card simply landed there. I prefer to think that it landed next to Crouton, and that she stealthily drew one paw out to slide it back to her. “I’ll take this, thank you. I’ve been considering purchasing a new hair dryer to maintain my fluffy exterior. Or food. I need some more food.”

Crouton always thinks she needs more food.

The One Where Crouton Strip the Tree // Pork and Apple Ragu

It’s December 20th, and Crouton has done her fair share of stripping our Christmas trees of their
ornaments. I’m fairly positive this is not a Crouton-specific phenomenon, but rather something cats just
instinctively do. An old college friend of mine recently posted a photo on Facebook of his cat actually
sitting in the tree, a la Simon’s Cat, so it’s clear that Crouton could be much, much worse. However,
she does seem to go out of her way to make sure the tree is free of all things shiny. At this point, David
and I have just resorted to kicking the ornaments back under the tree next to the wrapped presents.
(The ornaments are plastic. We’re not stupid; we’ve made it nearly impossible for her to reach the glass
ornaments…although I can hear her in the back of my head now, “CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.”)

Fighting with the cat over Christmas tree ornaments means that’s it’s definitely the holiday season. As
such, it’s the time of the year for warm, comforting foods. This pork and apple ragu, a recipe inspired
by Top Chef contestant Stephanie Izard, fits into that category. The original recipe calls for papardelle,
which I do really love, but I found it easier to manage using shells or other smaller, shaped pasta.

Meatballs in Red Wine Sauce

Crouton has officially been kicked out of the fridge.  You might recall this photo from last year:

Well, no more. Last week, we spontaneously purchased a new fridge that has a freezer on the bottom. This means that unless Crouton develops the ability to open the freezer door and pull out the shelves to stand on — and I wouldn’t put it past her — there will be more no more climbing into the fridge to find her food.

Zucchini Parmesan

While versions of this recipe using chicken and eggplant are staples in any Italian kitchen, using zucchini brings a fresh rendition to this delicious classic. If your backyard zucchini plant is still producing, this is a great way to use it up!

Shrimp & Greens Pasta Bake

First things first. Crouton has successfully recovered from her traumatic vet experience. She’s back to her old ways — unrolling the toilet paper in the middle of the night, begging for more food, constantly getting trapped in the basement level because we don’t know she’s down there. Oh, and eating vegetables. We’ve discussed her love of all things green before, right? Now, I don’t know if she’d like collard greens — I’ve never offered it to her — but spinach, celery, any lettuce are all right up her alley. Healthy cat, right?
I know greens are healthy for me, but I never really know how to cook them. Here’s an easy way — sneak them into a pasta dish!

Pancit Bihon (Filipino Fried Rice Noodles)

Even though I love crabs, chicken, and Maryland sweet corn as much as the next girl, I also have a wonderfully diverse group of friends. So on Saturday, when I threw the question of what I should cook that day out to the general world of Facebook, it was really exciting when my Filipino neighbor offered up some suggestions.

Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad // The One Where Crouton is Overrun with Dogs

We watched our friend’s two dogs this weekend. They’re sweet little things, Leah and Skyler, who want nothing more than a few scratches and a comfy place to lay down. Oh, and to chase Crouton. They wanted that, too.

As you can imagine, Crouton was not pleased by this turn of events. We’ve traumatized her a lot lately, as last weekend we moved everything out of the kitchen and ripped up the floor to lay tiles. I think she was sure we were moving her again — we have a habit of doing that, as this house is her fourth place of residence in her three short years of life — so she was probably relieved when everything returned to normal.

And then we let the dogs in the house.

Luckily, there was no blood when the dogs cornered Crouton (or did Crouton corner the dogs? Honestly, I think she hand the upper hand in this situation); however, I did received the following  text message from David on Saturday night when I was in Annapolis: “Crouton just reduced Leah to noises I have never heard a dog make before.” I was slightly worried, but we managed to get the dogs back to our friends in one piece.

After all, what dog would really want to mess with this linebacker?

Shrimp and Mango Pasta Salad

When I first came up with this recipe a year ago for a friend’s bridal shower, I called it “Caribbean Shrimp Pasta Salad.” After actually traveling to the Caribbean and realizing that these flavors aren’t really Caribbean-influenced, I decided to go ahead and give it a new moniker that’s a much more apt-description. If you’re looking for a pasta salad recipe sans mayonnaise for a barbecue this summer, try this one out.

Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Pasta // The One Where Crouton Actually Loves Us

As indicated by my last (somewhat brief) post, David and I spent a week in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, celebrating our one-year anniversary. We left Crouton at home, cared for by our neighbor’s teenage daughter. We came home really late Saturday night (or is that really early Sunday morning) and walked into the house, noticing errant cat toys on the living room floor. We stared.

“Did she actually try to PLAY with Crouton?” David asked. Sure seemed like it. That’s probably something we should have included on the instructions sheet — play with cat at your own risk.

As far as we know, the 14-year-old only walked away with minor scratches. And that night we came home, Crouton actually showed affection. The type of affection only reserved for when she actually thought we had abandoned her, and what would she do if she couldn’t get her dry food refilled at any time she desired? (We really need to cut back on that.)