Food Traditions

I have so many traditions with the holidays, and this year I wanted to do something special for my step-kids who do not live with us. I have been taught their dad's lasagna (he still checks every batch to make sure I am on track) and I froze one for each of the kids not living with us... well that got me thinking about the need to put it down on paper and so this is the start... I cannot give out the sauce part as that is the family secret (but I have passed it on to the kids)

Dad’s Lasagna (makes 2 pans)

Triple batch Mom Bronson’s pasta sauce (this is a meat sauce)

Large container Ricotta Cheese

2 lbs Mozzarella

1 can grated Parmesan (you might not need it all)

1 large box lasagna noodles

1 box chopped spinach (optional)

Cook noodles, drain and rinse with cold water (place in cold water so they do not stick, I use the pot)

Mix Ricotta and spinach

Place mozzarella in freezer for 45 min then grate (much easier to grate, you can use a food processor for this as size and shape does not matter so much)

Assembly:

Start with a about 1 cup of sauce in the bottom then a layer of noodles (most dishes take 3 across)

Top with ricotta mixture, grated mozzarella and some parmesan then more sauce (about 2-3 cups)

Repeat 2 more times on the top of the last sauce add more mozzarella and parmesan.

Cooking:

Heat in the oven at 350 degrees for 45 min – 1 hour, until the top is brown and the sauce bubbly (it is a good idea to place on a cookie sheet or line the oven when cooking)

If frozen allow to thaw as much as possible then add 30 min- 1 hour to cooking time if still frozen at all.    

At my house we always made gluten stakes for holidays (as growing up I did not eat meat) and I still love them. and we all had a little different way of making them but the memories of cooking with my mom are great!

I also have a wonderful cookie from my Ex mother in law (still love them, no ill feelings on my end) but I did not get to making that this year (I forgot until to late, as they need to sit for 6 weeks) sorry I do not have permission to pass that one on :) but I will say that I have given it to the my step-kids.

My step kids have also given some to me, they shared their grandmother's brownies (the best out there and simple!!!) and other traditions like having stew on Halloween (and their Grandmother's recipe for stew!) but again I do not share what I do not have permission to. What I did with those was make sure they are on the computer and I wish to make a book out of them for the kids at some point (even if I print it simple)  

homemade laundry soap version 2.0

I really liked the soap I made and it worked really well... but then we got a new washer and it has this function to make the soap foamy so I wanted to try liquid soap... so I went hunting again and found that what I had could be dissolved, as I went about making up 2 gal. worth I found out that was a MESSY undertaking!! would not recommend it! it still worked well but I was noticing that the washer was getting a film on the inside, so I ran some bleach in it and that cleaned it up.. but I learned that the sent crystals I had used in the powder were wax and were leaving that film (I was not so happy about that) so I went back to my favorite place Pinterest and found a liquid no grate formula. I then made it mine by concentrating it so I did not have to use 1/2 to a cup but rather 1/8 to 1/4 cup

3/4 cup washing soda
3/4 cup borax
1/3-1/2 cup Dr Bonner's liquid soap (I used lavender) adjust as needed..

In a cheap pot (I have one I do not use for cooking, only this kind of thing) I put 6 cups water and the washing soda and borax. I then heated until just below boiling and turned off and added the liquid soap.
Let sit until you know it will not melt your container(s) then add 4 cups to the bottom of each gal. container then slowly fill with water. (I have a fridge water container that holds 2 1/2 gal. so when I get low I can make 2 gal and fill it) This one you can do without a pot just hot water if you want :)

This seems to work even better then the other and is cheaper! even using the Dr Bonner's, I spend about $16 total on the items and have made 4 gal. so far all items have enough to make at least that much more and the Dr. Bonner's 2x that (I got a 32 oz bottle on sale for $10)

I am ok using the borax in liquid form because it only causes breathing issues when in powder form, so the box is kept well away from the pets and humans to be safe.


 

Update on the eyes....

I had my follow up appointment with the eye dr. this week and it was a day! but all that aside we have 2 main options...
1) surgery again (no insurance for that right now, but after I get on medicare they will cover that one)

2) prisms in my glasses (did not even ask how much that would cost!)

so we were talking about the insurance issues and he mentioned that there is a stick on prism that they can put on my current glasses that is affordable ($30) and will let us know if that really is a good idea for the long run.
So we did it and I get to start wearing the "new" glasses today (ok, I should have started today but I was lazy and they did tell me to let it cure for 24-48 hours, in a safe place not in the case, and they did not get to that until almost 11pm Thursday night)
I have to clean them in a different way now (to avoid removing the stick on) and it will make the vision a little blurry with that eye (ok, so it will just match my contact with that eye lol)
But I got some good information from the lady who put it on, she said my rimless frames is not an option with an in lens prism (they are to thick and the pins for the rimless are not long enough). so I mentioned to her my idea of vision correction to lighten my lenses then maybe I could do the rimless or another really lightweight frame.. she thought it was a great idea. I did tell her I had no notion that it would give me 20/20 vision as my eyes are so bad but if we can make it medically needed, as it is less invasive as the surgery I had 7/12, so my body might tolerate it better.... for now that is just an idea but one I like :)