Wedding Wednesdays!

In case you haven’t heard, I’m getting married in October. October 10 — that’s 37 days from today. HOLY CRAP. From now on (until the wedding), Wednesdays will be devoted to information about the wedding.

WF and I (and my mom) have gotten a lot done since the end of May and now we are down to the details. LOTS of details. We are getting married in my hometown in Virginia where most of my family lives. WF’s family are from North Carolina and Maryland (mostly). We mailed the invitations a few weeks ago and have already gotten a lot of responses. So far 70+ have said they are coming. That is less than 1/3 of the total invited. Yes, that’s right. We invited 300+ guests. Why, you may ask? Because we are crazy. And we have big families and lots of good friends. But mostly we’re crazy.

Did I mention we are planning a wedding in less than 5 months? That should have tipped you off on the crazy.

It’s a good kind of crazy, though. We’ve got it all under control. The big things are done (caterer, photographer, florist, DJ, etc…) now it’s things like making the favors, designing the program, booking the limo, etc. And picking our first dance song which has been kinda hard since WF and I are quite particular about music and songs.

POST A COMMENT: What song did you have your first dance to at your wedding?

Another big detail (that we love) is the parties! I’ve already had 2 bridal showers (thank you!!!) and this Saturday we are having a couples/family party/shower given by my Matron of Honor and the Best Man (who just happen to be married to each other – cute right? ) A lot of Matt’s family is supposed to be coming to this party which is great because so far I’ve only met some of them. My parents have only met WF’s parents and his mom has met a few of my grandmothers and an aunt. There’s a lot of meeting to still go around.

WF and I have also gotten together the thank you gifts for our parents. I’m really excited about these gifts, but can’t tell you about them until after they are given — mom reads the blog (Hi mom!) I’ll be sure to post about them once they have been received.

There’s so much going on in my head about the wedding, so many little things to think about and do. Makes me understand why some people get wedding coordinators. It really is a job! Good thing I’m not otherwise employed

I’ll finish this post up with a picture of our wedding bands (which we both LOVE and want to start wearing NOW). We are still deciding what to engrave in them. I’ll keep you updated.

Meaty Vegetable Lasagna

I’m all about using up the perishable ingredients I have in the fridge before they go bad. This week it is primarily the veggies from Papa’s (my grandfather) garden that I posted about before. Even after making this recipe I still have 3 green peppers and 3 tomatoes left. We will have stuffed green peppers sometime this week, with fresh tomatoes! At least I was able to finish off the squash.

Tonight we had lasagna which involves pasta so WF was happy. He probably would have eaten plain pasta noodles, but being the wonderful fiancee that I am, I dressed it up a little for him with some meat, veggies, and lots of cheese. One of the things I like about lasagna is its versatility. Like many of the dishes I am beginning to love, lasagna is a fairly easy recipe, although a little time consuming, that you can cater to your own tastes.

The foundation recipe was passed to me from my mom when I moved into my first apartment at college and could cook in my own kitchen. I’ve stayed true to that recipe for a while, changing a few things regarding the cheeses, but tonight I thought, “well why the heck can’t I just throw some veggies in there? Afterall, people eat VEGETABLE lasagna don’t they?”

Of course they do, and we did, sort of. Verdict: Very very VERY good.

There are a couple of things in this recipe that aren’t in my mom’s recipe. For one, her recipe calls for two kinds of cheese, ricotta and mozzarella. My version of the recipe has evolved to include ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, white cheddar and cream cheese (thanks Paula Dean!).

My recipe has, as of now, also evolved to include diced squash and green peppers. In order to keep the veggies from getting soggy (which I hate) I waited to add them to the meat sauce until just before I started layering the lasagna. This left them with just enough crunch to give an interesting texture. If you are weird and like soggy veggies I would just add them into the meat sauce at some point while it is simmering on the stove.

For anyone that doesn’t eat meat, doesn’t like meat, whatever… I think you could easily take the meat out of this. Add more diced tomatoes (either canned or fresh) and more vegetables, whatever you like.

And finally, I (as usual) halved the original recipe resulting in enough for about 3 to 4 people. A doubled version of this recipe would probably feed 6 to 8.

Meaty Vegetable Lasagna

Stuff you need:

• 1/2 lb. ground beef
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 oz. tomato paste
• 10 oz. diced tomatoes
• ricotta cheese
• 4 to 6 oz. cream cheese
• shredded mozzarella – as much or as little as you want
• shredded white cheddar – “”
• shredded parmesan – “”
• 1 medium squash, diced into bite-sized pieces
• 1 small green pepper, diced into bite-sized pieces
• 9 lasagna noodles
• olive oil
• oregano
• salt & pepper

What to do with that stuff:

1. Bring water to a boil in large stock pot.
2. In saute pan, brown beef and garlic in small amount of olive oil.
3. Add diced tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, pepper, and oregano.
4. Cover and simmer about 20 minutes.
5. Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions.
6. Preheat oven to 350.
7. Once meat sauce has simmered and lasagna noodles are cooked, drain noodles and add vegetables to the meat sauce.
8. Begin layering lasagna in an 11″x6 1/2″ baking dish.
9. Start with meat sauce then layer three noodles.
10. Follow by spreading ricotta cheese on noodles.
11. Drop chunks of cream cheese all over noodles.
12. Sprinkle Parmesan, white cheddar, and mozzarella cheeses.
13. Repeat layering until all noodles and cheese are used.
14. End with meat sauce on top.
15. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
16. Let sit briefly before serving.
17. Enjoy the meaty, vegetable, cheesy, lasagna goodness.

Source: [FF]