Black Bean Lasagna Rolls

I always find it odd when a dish looks one way but taste like another. This recipe is exactly that but it works! The lasagna noodles and ricotta cheese give it the classic Italian lasanga look but adding in green chiles, black beans and some spices gives it a Mexican twist. And instead of tomato sauce you use salsa. Garnish with some cilantro and you have Mexican Lasagna!

From the All-New Complete Step-by-Step Diabetic (I googled "Healthy and Vegetarian" and this is what I got, totally random!)

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 1 roll)

Ingredients
8 uncooked lasagna noodles
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded reduced-fat Monterey Jack cheese
1 (15-ounce) carton part-skim ricotta cheese
1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups drained canned no-salt-added black beans
Cooking spray
1 (15 1/2-ounce) jar no-salt-added salsa
Fresh cilantro sprigs (optional)
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.

Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; drain well.

Combine cheeses and next 3 ingredients, stirring well. Spread cheese mixture over 1 side of each noodle. Spoon black beans evenly over cheese mixture. Roll up noodles, jelly-roll fashion, beginning at narrow ends.

Place lasagna rolls, seam sides down, in an 11- x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Cover and bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

To serve, spoon salsa evenly over rolls, and garnish with cilantro sprigs, if desired.

The Halloween Festivities Have Begun

We are still several days away from actual Halloween but Samantha has gotten a lot of wear out of her costume so far. Dancing Grandma bought her the cutest Ladybug outfit.

On Saturday Dancing Grandma and Papa Ward picked Samantha up and took her down to their house for an overnight trip. Samantha couldn't wait to get in the car and spend time with her grandparents. They went swimming, visited the museum and even hit up a Halloween party (Samantha wasn't quite ready to wear her full costume yet).

On Sunday we went to the PEP Rockin' Halloween event at the Stowe House. PEP is an organization that I volunteer for and I must say that everyone involved did a fabulous job. We were even able to get part of Samantha's costume on. There was face painting (you can see the very talented Sarah hard at work painting faces in the picture below), trampolines, dancing and lots of fun activities.



And then today we went to Oliver's Halloween Party. Oliver is one of Samantha's friends from the music class we used to go to. Oliver's backyard is amazing and you can imagine Samantha's delight when she spotted both a trampoline and a bounce house.

Samantha and her buddy William

All the kiddos in their costumes (it was impossible to get them all to look at the camera)

Astronaut Oliver and Samantha trying to break the pinata

Samantha and her Ladybug friend Ava

She Can Dance Too

Samantha is going to be a Ladybug for Halloween. Getting Samantha dressed in regular clothes each day can be a battle so I am not surprised that we haven't succeeded in getting her Halloween costume on.

The base of her outfit is a black leotard and tights. I bought the smallest size I could find and the poor thing is swimming in her leotard and tights but she sure looks cute. I can't wait to put her in dance lessons.

She is showing signs that she has some talent (I know that Dancing Grandma is just beaming with pride as she watches this video):

**** We need to work on her "Mommy Dance".

The Little Singer

Samantha has become quite the singer lately. She is mesmerized by this kid's sing-a-long DVD that I got her. She loves to sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and the "Wheels on the Bus". When I try and sing along with her she says, "No Mommy, NO! Samantha do it!" She's a little diva already!

Here she is singing a few lines from "Old Mac Donald" and "This Old Man" (even though the "Hokey Pokey" is playing in the background).

The Beggar

So I know that my last post was all about how much we love our dog, and we do, but my goodness does she beg! I have a feeling that because we keep her on a pretty strict diet to keep her at a borderline anorexic weight (Italian Greyhounds are supposed to be super thin) that she obsesses over food. Poor Samantha is easy prey since she only gets half of what she tries to eat in her mouth. While I do like the instant vacuum quality of Lollipop for clean up purposes, it is such a nuisance.

We managed to go Lollipop's entire first year without letting her have a taste of people-food and we never had a begging problem. That all went out the window when Samantha dropped her first spoonful of mashed carrots on the floor, the rest is history.

Happy Birthday Lollipop

Lollipop turns 3 today (or the BIG 21 for those of you counting in Doggy years - woo hoo!!)

We know that there are other "dog people" out there like us as well as people who make fun of us for how we treat her. She is not just an animal to us, she is a part of our family. We try to include her in our family activities and when we can't, we make sure she is not home alone for long periods of time. We let her go on dates with her Yorky boyfriend Zuki and weekly trips to Doggy Day Care. She thanks us in return by being a loving, well-behaved (for the most part) and gentle little dog.

There is a paragraph in the book "Marley and Me" by John Grogan that sums up perfectly the love and lessons a dog can give a family:

"Was it possible for a dog- any dog, but especially a nutty, wildly uncontrollable one like ours- to point humans to the things that really mattered in life? I believed it was. Loyalty. Courage. Devotion. Simplicity. Joy. And the things that did not matter, too. A dog has no use for fancy cars or big homes or designer clothes. Status symbols mean nothing to him. A water-logged stick will do just fine. A dog judges others not by their color or creed or class but by who they are inside. A dog doesn't care if you are rich or poor, educated or illiterate, clever or dull. Give him your heart and he will give you his. It was really quite simple, and yet we humans, so much wiser and more sophisticated, have always had trouble figuring out what really counts and what does not. Sometimes it took a dog with bad breath, worse manners, and pure intentions to help us see."

Lollipop teaches our family about friendship, selflessness and unwavering loyalty. And most importantly it is the simple things in life that Lollipop teaches us to appreciate like walks on the beach, naps in the sun and curling up under a blanket.

Tonight we will let Lollipop indulge in what would probably be the equivalent of cake to us, her favorite "people food", string cheese, and we will celebrate the wonderful 3 years that our first child has brought to us.

Happy Birthday Lollipop!!!

Lollipop and her main squeeze Zuki

Who can resist this cute smile!

Tuna with Asian Slaw

Seared ahi tuna is one of my favorite seafood's to eat. Now that I am pregnant I have to cook my portion all the way through, but it still tastes good. I found this recipe in Real Simple Magazine (one of my favorite magazines) and it did not disappoint.

I had an issue trying to crush the whole coriander and peppercorn seeds with a knife or a pan like they recommend below. I don't have a spice grinder and our coffee grinder was full of coffee so I used our Cuisinart. It worked fine but I hate to bring out the Cuisinart to grind a couple tablespoons of seeds, it seemed a bit silly.

Recipe from Real Simple Magazine


Makes 4 servings

Ingredients
2 cucumbers, peeled
1 bunch radishes, thinly sliced
5 scallions (white and light green parts only), thinly sliced on the diagonal
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 teaspoons whole coriander seeds
2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns
4 teaspoons canola oil
4 6-ounce tuna steaks (about 3/4 inch thick)


Preparation
Working over a medium bowl, use a vegetable peeler to create long, thin strips of cucumber. Add the radishes, scallions, cilantro, vinegar, sesame oil, 1/4 teaspoon of the salt, and the black pepper and toss. Cover and refrigerate.

Using the flat side of a knife or the bottom of a heavy pan, crush the coriander seeds and peppercorns. Heat the canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the remaining salt over the tuna and press some of the crushed coriander and pepper onto each side. Cook, turning once, until the tuna reaches the desired doneness, about 3 minutes per side for medium-rare. Divide the tuna among individual plates and serve with the Asian slaw.

I am not happy with this picture. I need to get better at my food photography. Part of the problem is that as soon as I start plating up dinner, I have a hungry husband staring at me and a toddler who is in borderline meltdown mode so setting up a photography session is not in the cards.

Lane Farms Pumpkin Patch

We made it to our third and final pumpkin patch of the season, Lane Farms.

Samantha checking out Harley the Pig

Samantha LOVED the turkeys

until...........

one nipped her finger!

This turkey was really in to getting his picture taken

He kept posing in different angles

This goat had the sweetest smile

He was doing some odd yoga moves

Bonnie and Clyde

We took a hayride around the farm

Todd and his new friend

Here are the two pumpkins Samantha picked out

And I couldn't resist throwing in a picture of Samantha last year at this time.

The Lemon Festival

Another day, another festival in Santa Barbara. This was the first time we attended the Lemon Festival and it will probably be the last time. It was a total dud. There were a few fun things that Samantha liked but we were disappointed in the whole lemon concept.....there didn't seem to be a lot to do with lemons. In fact, we walked around for a long time trying to find a lemonade!! And once we found it, it was good, but not great.

There was a Smokey the Bear mascot walking around (this guy must of been dying in the heat) and Samantha spotted him. She was so scared of him that her face froze with fear. He tried to give her a high five and she gave him a little swat! After that incident, we knew it was time to go.

The Lemon festival was a total LEMON! (that was Todd's corny joke, not mine)

Pumpkin Patch #2

We are making it a point to hit all the pumpkin patches in Santa Barbara. We went to Dave's Pumpkin Patch yesterday and it did not disappoint especially since it had a bounce house. We are saving the best for last, Lane Farms, for this weekend when Daddy can go with us.

Rainy Day

Samantha and Lollipop went for a walk in the rain (okay, Daddy went too) and checked out Mission Creek. Todd was impressed by the beauty of Mission Creek. Living so close to Mission Creek puts us in a high risk flood zone according to our insurance company. Perhaps the beauty of the creek makes paying our flood insurance bill a little easier for Todd??