For the ladies...

Last night our women's group met to kick off another year together. The discussion was unbelievably honest and a gift to me for sure.

Apparently, the Black Bean Spinach Lasagna I served was a gift to them - hehe.

SO...attention Monday night ladies - here is the recipe you requested! Thanks to Laura for passing it on to me years ago - it's a crowd pleaser for sure.

BTW - one of you left a "Talk Tools Therapy" catalog over here - let me know if you need it and I'll stick it in the mail.

happy eating...

BLACK BEAN SPINACH LASAGNA

Ingredients

* 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
* 1 (15-ounce) container ricotta cheese
* 1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 4 cups (16 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese with peppers, divided
* 2 (16-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
* 1 (2-pound, 13-ounce) jar pasta sauce
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
* 9 precooked lasagna noodles
* Garnish: chopped fresh cilantro

Preparation

Stir together first 5 ingredients and 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese; set aside.

Combine beans and pasta sauce and cumin in another large bowl. Season with garlic powder and fresh pepper to taste. Spread one-third of bean mixture on bottom of a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish.

Layer with 3 noodles, half of spinach mixture, and 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese; repeat layers. Spread with one-third bean mixture; top with remaining 3 noodles and remaining bean mixture.

Bake, covered, at 350° for 1 hour; uncover and top with remaining Monterey Jack cheese. Bake 5 more minutes or until cheese melts. Garnish, if desired.

Southern Living, FEBRUARY 2002

Summer Toes

Well, summer is officially over and the kidlets come tomorrow. I am ready for school for sure, but am sad to see summer go. Monica helped Kim and I close summer out by hosting us at her pool for a few hours. We were tickled by our last summer manicure so I had to take a picture and post...

Pasta Night

Dave and I had a ball last night making homemade pasta with Reeves and Elton. It was the first time for us, but the Clicks led the way. In the end, it was super delicious, super fun, and super easy. Who knew? Reeves also made some delicious homemade meatballs and sauce. Mmmm.

We finished the night with a rousing round of Wii Resort Sports - the canoeing was my favorite. Kudos are in order to Mrs. Obama for winning the wake boarding with a new high score of 1224. Muy impressivo.

Thanks, Reeves and Elton, for a lovely evening. We loved it.

Five Minutes of Fame

Believe it or not, our beloved sister-in-law Liz found herself on TBS' "Movie and a Makeover" recently. I think this is how it went down: Liz mentions to a friend that she is donating her hair to Locks of Love. Friend, who is connected to TBS, asks if she'd do it on TV. Liz reluctantly agrees. Liz loses lots of locks, but looks fabulous.

Thank to Liz for sharing the air date of her episode with us - she reported that is was very produced and cheeser. She also reported that Annabelle found her virtually unrecognizable due to the over-the-top make up. :)

Well....we loved enjoying your five minutes of fame, Liz - you look gorgeous. Although we wish they'd given you a better movie - RV, really?

At Last!

After seeing the fabulous Harry Potter 6 movie, David was enticed to read HP7 to finish out the series. I'm happy to report, at long last, that he is hooked! Those who know me know that I love, love, love me some Harry, Ron, Hermione, Hagrid, Dumbledore - etc etc etc. David's conversion is more proof than ever that a movie is never better than a book! Victory says the teacher of reading - sweet victory!

Since the passion began, I have heard the following around the house:

Emily - have you seen my Gillyweed?

Stupefy!

When does Gringott's open?

Accio ____ ! (insert various household items he is trying to call off the ground)

You are such a Hufflepuff.

Needless to say, I have been smiling and giggling my way through his adventure with this book.

Check out this picture of him finishing it up last night - if you look closely, you can see that he is wearing the Sorting Hat.

la ellen

time for an la ellen update ... last week she was uber busy entertaining a new client, but at the end of the week, she was rewarded for a trip to see Pat Green in concert - jealous. she reports that when she met Pat backstage she sent him a little Texas love - yee haw!

smells also got to catch up with sweet Linda who was jaunting in LA for a few days...

life is good in LA I'd say.

Coming and Going...

On Friday some of us from work got together to celebrate our colleague Nan who is off to live in San Fran. (So jealous.) We also said hello to sweet Kim who just returned from Africa - jambo!

Three cheers for coming and going in life's adventures and to Coors Light in Mason Jars ... :)