Watermelon Gazpacho

If the idea of cold soup weirds you out, you can use this as a salsa!

Ingredients:

5 cup watermelon, cubed (about half of a small watermelon)
1 large tomato, pureed
1/2 of a bell pepper, minced
1 small cucumber, seeded and minced
1 small jalapeno pepper, minced (remove seeds for less heat)
2 Tbsp red onion, minced
1 tsp red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp unsweetened lime juice
2 Tbsp mint leaves
1 Tbsp olive oil
Feta cheese, crumbled

Instructions:

1. Puree 4 cups watermelon in blender until smooth. Transfer puree to large bowl.

2. Add remaining 1 cup diced watermelon and the rest of the ingredients; stir to combine.

3. Cover gazpacho and refrigerate until cold, at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours.

4. Divide gazpacho among bowls; top with 2 Tbsp crumbled feta cheese.


Note: This makes four servings, at 3 Points (Weight Watchers) a serving.

Italian Rigatoni Casserole

Forewarning: This makes a lot of pasta! My family is visiting this weekend, and the six of us were only able to eat half of the dish.

Ingredients:

24 oz rigatoni noodles, cooked and drained
2 cans (14 oz) tomato sauce
1 lemon, squeezed
3 links turkey sausage
1/2 small onion, diced
1 medium zucchini
3 mushrooms
3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
basil, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper to taste
1 (8 oz) bag mozzarella cheese (divided into two parts)

Instructions:

1. Saute sausage & onions; set aside.

2. Saute zucchini, mushrooms and garlic; set aside.

3. In a large bowl, combine noodles, sausage mixture, and vegetable mixture with tomato sauce and seasonings. Add 1/2 of the mozzarella cheese. At this point you can either refrigerate the mixture too bake later, or bake immediately.

4. Scoop mixture into a 9x13 baking dish. Top with remaining mozzarella cheese.

5. Bake at 350° for 45 min to an 1 hour (depending on if you have refrigerated).

Strawberry-Lime Creamy Cheese Pie

This recipe is a shout out to my friend Teri Miles, who made me my first creamy cheese pie. I have altered the recipe slightly...

Ingredients

1 9-in graham cracker crust
1 8oz block cream cheese (room temp.)
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 c lime juice
1 tsp vanilla
1 quart strawberries, sliced
2 tbsp sugar

Instructions

1. Beat cream cheese with hand mixer for 3-5 minutes, until smooth.

2. Add condensed milk slowly, while mixing.

3. Mix in lime juice and vanilla.

4. In a separate bowl, mix the strawberries and sugar together.

5. Pour the cream mixture into the graham cracker crust and refrigerate for at least two hours.

6. Top with strawberries and serve.

Eggplant with Mozzarella & Marinara

This was a winner at my house tonight...

Ingredients:

1 medium-sized eggplant

1/4 cup breadcrumbs

1 egg

1/4 olive oil

1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (I used smoked mozza)

3 c wide egg noodles

for the sauce:

1/4 med-sized onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, diced

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1/4 c dry red wine (I used cabernet sauvignon)

1 15 oz. can tomato sauce

basil, salt, black pepper, red pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Peel eggplant and cut lengthwise into 1/2 inch thickness strips. Lay on paper towels and salt both sides. (This will drain excess water from the eggplant and make it easier to fry.)

2. While eggplant is draining, saute onions and garlic in 1 tsp olive oil until onions are translucent. Add red wine and lemon juice; cook until wine has reduced by half. Add remainder of sauce ingredients. Bring to a boil, then simmer until everything else is done cooking.

3. Cook noodles.

4. Heat oil in deep frying pan. Pat eggplant dry; dredge eggplant in egg first, then bread crumbs. Fry that eggplant! When removing eggplant from frying pan, sprinkle with cheese and put in the oven to keep warm. Feeds 4 (or 3 hungry people).

5. To serve: Layer noodles, cheese, eggplant, sauce and more cheese. Enjoy!

Deep-Fried Tofu Tacos

Just made this recipe tonight, and me and the husband love it.

Ingredients:

for the tofu:

1/2 block firm tofu

1 tsp taco seasoning

2 tbsp flour

1 tbsp corn starch

oil for frying

for the sauce:

1 tbsp adobo salsa

3 tbsp mayo

1 tsp taco seasoning

pinch of salt

juice of 1/2 lime

1 tbsp honey

suggestions for the other taco ingredients:

lettuce, tomatoes, bell pepper, onions, cilantro, queso fresco or any other cheese

Steps:

1. Drain tofu (see video for details), and chop into 1/2 inch cubes.

2. Heat oil in a tall saucepan (enough oil to cover the tofu).

3. Mix corn starch, flour, and taco seasoning.

4. Dredge tofu in dry mixture and deep fry.

5. Stir together adobo salsa, mayo, taco seasoning, lime, and honey.

6. Chop other taco ingredients.

7. Assemble tacos and enjoy!

Christian Radio = Caedmon's Call

I hate to be a generalist, but I've noticed something about Christian radio. I

wasn't sure why I had been conditioned to expect to hear Caedmon's Call every time I turned on the radio.

And then I realized it's because I do hear them every time I turn on the radio. I literally turned to WCSG (or whatever it is here), and there they were. At first I didn't think it was them, thinking it was just a wannabe Caedmon's band, but the announcer proved me wrong. It was one of their new ones ;)

I just think it's ironic, considering CC's roots. They started off as the cool college band (even before I got into them in late high school). They were kind of fringe. Now, they're mainstream Christian easy listening. How did this happen?

On a side note, I heard the local GR Christian radio station talking about an interview with Laura Storey the other day. I thought that was cool.

I need Jesus

It's been a rough morning so far. I didn't get out the door when I was supposed to, but I did have an opportunity to tell Jesus how much I need him. I think that's a good excuse...

I love my husband.

welcome to the no-fault insurance state

guess what i've been doing this morning? researching how michigan is a no-fault insurance state. i've never lived in one of these states before. i did however find the correlation between being a no-fault insurance state and having the highest insurance premiums of anywhere i've ever lived. since the insurance agency considers no one person at fault in an accident, each person's insurance only covers themselves. that means that all the normal stuff (medical, work loss, etc) is covered for yourself, but any damage to your car is NOT covered by the other driver if they are "at fault" according to the police report. that makes it more of a good idea to have comp and collision on your car so that damages can be paid for if someone else hits you. therefore, if your insurance company pays for you when ANY accident occurs, they are paying for more accidents and thus your premiums are higher.

yeah, i'm sure you wanted to know all of that. i think it's kind of interesting. i also needed to re-gurgitate it to make sense of it to myself.

in other news, we are still looking for jobs. i have an interview with Meijer on Friday for an admin asst position in an IT department. sounds pretty good to me...

Still on the job hunt...

Well, it's not easy to get a job. Ian and I have been sending out resumes like crazy, with not a lot of response. It seems like everything is on hold until we have jobs. Oh well, at least we get to spend a lot of quality time together! We spend a good portion of the day job searching, and another portion continuing to set up camp.

Good news: we went to a small group last night with mostly young parents in it, and really had a fun time. We felt very accepted (even though we don't have kids!), and I'm hoping that we will be able to connect with these people. One couple even is inviting us over for dinner. That meant a lot to me. The small group is going to host a big kickball game in July for the church. We're going to play against another small group with mostly people our age :)

In other news: found a cool Oriental market today on the way home from the chiropractor (a visit which only cost me $5 in Aldi's Mac and Cheese because of a local food drive!), and the market had lots of rice noodles, Asian spices, etc for pretty cheap. Oh, the resources...

Anyways, I'm still enjoying it here.

yay, posting!

I know, it's high time for me to post. this is the first opportunity i've had because we don't have the old wireless in our apartment yet. oh, by the way, we got an apartment. ian's aunt and uncle are renting it to us for a killer deal. we're in the city of grand rapids to boot! we've got tons of space for entertaining :)

ian and i are currently looking for jobs - had one interview so far. anybody know a counseling firm in GR that needs an assistant?

in other news, i like this city. it's been a little hot, of late, but that's abnormal for this area, and for once i'm not the only one complaining about the heat! i also like the feel of living in a city; i mean, i guess cola is considered a city, but i couldn't really tell... and i like the people here; there are actually gas stations where you don't have to pre-pay!!

i think i'll leave you on that note; happy surfing!