Friday, January 22, 2016

Bowling, Bed Bugs,

Not much going on in my life at the moment. We went bowling as usual and in fact I didn't do too badly so I was happy about that. I was surprised the alley owners knew about my hospital episode and then realised a good friend had been bowling on Wednesday.

One thing I am worried about. It turns out that in Ontario there has been an outbreak of many total infestations of bed bugs. Funnily enough I had seen 3 insects in the bedroom which I didn't recognise. I checked on line and I think they might have been the bed bugs. Not 100% sure. However, I sprayed all round the bed and the rest of the room. The exterminators have been working in the building for most of the day apparently. I am also told we have had cockroaches in our building, in Canada? That does surprise me. Apparently the whole building needs spraying outside as they say the bugs are now in the brickwork. I think we tenants should get together to achieve this rather than just wait and see what is done. Bed Bugs seem to have become a problem in North America. I have heard lots of reports about infestations. In fact I read that they are a big problem in Canada these days and in our area too. There is a scam going around advertising an easy cure. I believed it when I first read it, but luckily continued reading.

Elizabeth Seckman who is an author and is also one of the housewives at The Really Real Housewives of America says she likes easy recipes and admits to being lazy in the kitchen. For you Liz here is an easy lasagna. I don't know what a doonk is, you will have to guess I'm afraid.

Lazy Lasagna

I’ve made plenty of zucchini and eggplant lasagnas in the last few years that fit S mode* (see info below), but they call for cutting the veggies into thin layers as faux noodles, and sometimes also require pre-cooking the veggies. I’m so over that. These days my life is way too busy for those extra steps; I need ultra-easy meals, so I thought about spinach. It’s super cheap when you buy it in frozen bricks, it doesn’t require cutting— hmmm—couldn’t that work as a lasagna noodle layer? My children
are not the hugest spinach fans, but they scarf this down and tell me it is the best lasagna ever! This is my go-to lasagna now; I’ve ditched all the others.

Serves 6-8
Ingredients

2 pounds ground meat (beef and venison work well)
2 (12-ounce) jars no-sugar-added pizza or spaghetti sauce (see Note)
1 1/2 tablespoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon Mineral Salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
¹/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 to 2 doonks Pure Stevia Extract (optional)
2 (10-ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 (8-ounce) package 1/3 less fat cream cheese
1 (14-ounce) container 1% cottage cheese
2 large eggs
1 (8-ounce) piece part-skim mozzarella cheese, grated
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (for sprinkling over top; green can is fine)

Directions


Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Brown the meat in a large skillet over high heat, then drain off any excess fat if necessary. Add the sauce and seasonings, and simmer over low heat for several minutes.

Put the spinach in a colander and squeeze and push to get all the liquid out.

Put the cream cheese, cottage cheese, and eggs in a food processor and process until smooth.

Layer half the meat sauce in the bottom of a 9 × 13-inch baking dish. Top with half the cheese mixture, then layer on half the spinach. Follow with half the grated mozzarella. Repeat the layers, ending with the mozzarella. Top with a good sprinkling of Parmesan cheese. Bake for 40 minutes or until bubbly.
Have a great day
 

22 comments:

  1. Hi Jo - bed-bugs are a bane all over the world .. particularly in larger cities and hotels etc ... they are difficult to erradicate. Cockroaches seem to be endemic .. but aren't quite so nasty ...

    We live in a world where bugs move around with anyone - the don't discriminate .. hope the problem is solved and monitored for you.

    Love the lasagne ... cheers Hilary

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    1. I have never had any problems that I know of, but unfortunately they seem to be spreading across North America. Used to get a lot of cockroaches in North Carolina, but we managed to keep them out of our home. I hate them. Yes Hilary, it does look good.

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  2. Is there no actual pasta in that lasagne? What a brilliant idea - will definitely be trying it.

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  3. I'm terrified of bed bugs. Coming across the country in 2011, I wouldn't even bring our bags in the room till I pulled the sheets off the bed and inspected the mattress. We want to go to Universal/Epcot one of these days and I'm shocked at the hotels with reported bed bugs. There's even a website, The Bedbug Registry, that I check.

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    1. I have used that bed bug registry in the past JoJo. Very useful. Unfortunately, they don't just stick to hotels though.

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  4. That looks great with the recipe; I think I'd make it for company, otherwise we'd have lots of leftovers just the two of us :)

    Son and daughter in law had bed bugs a few months back. They figured they picked them up from a cheap hotel they had stayed in. They had a mess to get it all cleaned up; ended up buying a new mattress which they needed anyway, and doing lots of laundry; etc. I'm surprised about the cockroaches in Canada, I would have thought too cold for them.

    betty

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    1. You can reduce the quantities Betty.

      You can, apparently, get them anywhere. Doesn't have to be a cheap hotel. I am told all hotels have them but some are better at controlling them than others. I too am surprised they can exist in Canada too. I always hated roaches.

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  5. Hate bugs, all bugs, but bed bugs, yuck. Eat you when you sleep. Truly creepy! Glad you bowling went well, and that recipe looks delicious! I'm a lazy cook too! :)

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    1. Ditto, ditto and 100% ditto.

      Thanks, I am not usually a lazy cook but I guess I am getting a bit more so as I get older Yolanda.

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  6. That's why I'm really careful what hotels I will stay in. Bed bugs are disgusting.
    Didn't think cockroaches were up that far north. Then again, they can outlive anything anywhere.

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    1. But I have been told that all hotels have problems with bed bugs some just control them better. They are disgusting. So are cockroaches. They say roaches will outlive an atomic war

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  7. When my mom had her restaurant in the late 1950's in Toronto she had to have her place sprayed every month for cockroaches. She was in the centre of of buildings and the others never did anything. Cockroaches can live anywhere. I get the heebie jeebis when it comes to bed bugs.

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    1. I get the heebie jeebies with either bug Birgit. Awful things. First time I saw roaches was in Malta and that was a hot country. I thought they didn't like cold countries.

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  8. In the olden days we used glass pipettes for blood analyses. They were quite pricey. One morning I opened a drawer full of them, saw a cockroach and slammed it shut breaking most of the glass. Oops. Time for the hospital to call the exterminator.

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    1. I can understand your reaction - I always hated the damned things. Used to get them in the Med when we visited my parents. Remember one ran across my face in the middle of the night. Surprised I am still around to talk about it. Not too happy with this bed bug situation now either.

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  9. Hi Jo,

    We had a number of cockroach infestations in the area I lived in of Langley, British Columbia. Luckily, it only lasted a short time.

    Time for some lazy lasagne...

    Enjoy your weekend and stay warm.

    Gary

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    1. Never knew we could have cockroach problems in Canad, it seems I was wrong Gary. Enjoy your lazy lasagne. Warm is not my problem thank goodness.

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  10. Because I hate spraying chemicals I buy those cockroach baits you can leave under your sink and behind the fridge. It seems to work for us. Of course it doesn't stop them coming inside. There was a report on TV about bedbugs in hotels in Australia. I'm pretty sure they aren't endemic in households here. Hope so anyway!

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    1. I would not allow them in the house at all Pinky so it was spray inside and outside on a regular basis. There is a big problem with bed bugs in North America unfortunately.

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  11. That recipe calls for 1 to 2 doonks but I usually use 3 and a half doonks. No, I'm just kidding, I have no idea what that means.

    My lasagna is an all day affair - 3 hours of the sauce simmering, then making it in the slow cooker for another couple hours. It's heavenly, though, so I don't mind.

    I've never seen bed bugs up close, and I hope for my sake I never do!

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    1. I would say 3 1/2 doonks might be better! Depends how sweet you like it of course.

      Your lasagna sounds good. Funnily enough it's not something I cook. I think I have made one in my life. I guess when I lived there, it was never a big thing in the UK and when I emigrated I didn't catch the lasagna bug.

      Caught the other bugs though. From a nieghbour.

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