Thursday, January 4, 2018

Cold, Meditation, Flowers. Watch

It is cold, cold, cold round here. Mainly bad because it has been so windy. When it blows hard my bedroom windows seem like mesh instead of glass. It is also very hard to keep the apartment warm enough. I had to run a couple of errands in the morning and it was enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey. Very refreshing mind you LOL.

I went down to exercise class early and sat there meditating for a while. Dan Harris on GMA has been talking about how helpful meditation is and I haven't done it for years, used to be part of our T'ai Chi lessons. It does help. As Dan Harris says - don't try to clear your mind, just concentrate on your breathing and if you drift off, come back to the breathing again. Nobody can just clear their mind completely according to him. Anyway, I agree it helps.

Our latest exercise instructor is a bit of a hoot. We do one exercise which is helped by the use of categories like naming countries. Today we chose flowers and ended up excusing him from naming them as he didn't know much about flowers. After 17 were named, he said he hadn't heard of half of them. We assured him by the time he got a serious girlfriend, he would learn. I dunno though, you can just go into a florist and point!!!

One bit of good news for us, Matt's Seiko watch packed up over the weekend. Took it to the jewellers expecting them to send it off for repair costing a small fortune. The saleswoman immediately said "battery". That hadn't even occurred to me. Cost about $14. Hooray. Matt is happy, he is lost without his watch. Silly really we have been retired for years and anyway there are clocks all around, and yet we both are lost without watches.

Here's an interesting concept. Not sure how much success I would have as my fingers are all thumbs when I try to do this kind of thing nowadays.

Eggplant Lasagna Rolls

Vegetarians and meat-eaters alike will devour these comforting lasagna rolls. We use thinly sliced
eggplant in place of pasta to cut the carbs. Pre-roasting the eggplant helps develop the flavor and softens the slices for easy rolling.

3 large eggplants
1/2 tsp salt, Divided
3 tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 cups crushed tomatoes
½ cup chopped fresh basil, divided
3 tsp minced garlic, divided
1 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed
2 ½ cups part-skim ricotta cheese
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ tsp ground pepper
1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

1. Position racks in the middle and upper third of oven; preheat to 425°F. Coat 2 rimmed baking sheets with cooking spray. Slice each eggplant lengthwise into ¼-inch-thick strips. Discard any small or misshapen pieces. You should have about 24 strips. Sprinkle the strips with ¼ teaspoon salt and let stand for 15 minutes. Pat the eggplant slices dry and brush both sides with oil. Place on the prepared pans, overlapping the slices a little if necessary. Roast until soft and beginning to brown, swapping the pans from top to bottom midway, about 20 minutes. Let cool slightly. Meanwhile, combine tomatoes, ¼ cup basil, 2 teaspoons garlic and the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Spread ½ cup of the mixture in a broiler-safe 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Squeeze spinach to remove any excess liquid. Combine the spinach, ricotta, Parmesan, pepper and the remaining 1 teaspoon garlic in a medium bowl. When the eggplant is cool enough to handle, spread a generous tablespoon of the ricotta mixture on each slice. Starting from the narrowest end, roll up the slices and place in the baking pan seam-side down. Top with the remaining tomato mixture. Bake the rolls on the middle rack until the tomato mixture is hot and bubbling, 40 to 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and preheat the broiler to high. Top the rolls with mozzarella. Broil until the cheese is bubbling and beginning to brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining ¼ cup basil and serve.

Author: Hilary Meyer
Source: EatingWell

Have a great day
 

18 comments:

  1. Those eggplant rolls look delicious and from scanning the ingredients, I can see this would make a nutritious meal too.

    I agree that nobody can just clear their mind completely. The times I try to do that, the more I keep thinking about random stuff.

    Happy New Year, Jo.

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    1. Yes I think so Cynthia.

      I find I can think of a tropical beach and stay with it.

      Happy New Year to you too.

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  2. It's been that kind of cold here. Now we are snowed under.
    I can clear my mind. I fall asleep.

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    1. You should move to the coast, only got snowed in once there in 12 years.

      Nope, not the same thing Alex. And your mind doesn't clear when you are asleep. You are busy dreaming.

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  3. After worrying about what was wrong with my car they checked everything out and said it was just the battery. Yay! I meditate before I start my yoga exercises. Some days I'd like to meditate all day.

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    1. Glad it wasn't a major problem Denise. We rely on cars so much these days. I used to meditate before T'ai chi but don't do much of that these days. Keep meaning to start regularly again but....

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  4. I saw that bit with Dan Harris when I was at Russell's doc appt, in the waiting room. I'm trying to do it. I've never been able to meditate cause my brain doesn't stop. I was very happy to hear that even being able to do it for a few minutes a day is helpful. As for watch batteries, I have a bunch of watches that need them but I was a bit put off at the cost of them!

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    1. Yes JoJo, just start with a minute or two. As Dan said, concentrate on your breathing and if you find yourself drifting, go back to your breathing again, and again as necessary.

      I was delighted Matt's only needed a battery. Seiko's can cost a fortune to repair.

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  5. Cold and snowy here. Snowed in Wilmington even.

    With the exception of the Ricotta, I could substitute the cheeses with soy varieties.

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    1. Ah but did it snow at the coast Diane? That's when I know its serious.

      Don't you have a sub for Ricotta?

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  6. I can't live without my watch either. If I'm not wearing it I keep staring at my wrist every two minutes. Kids these days seem to use their phones instead of watches.

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    1. You're a working girl though Pinky. People keep telling us now they are retired they don't need to know the time. I guess they turn up to appointments late, if at all.

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  7. I frequently stop watches and have done since I was a child. I have a lovely gold watch that I can only wear in cool weather as I tend to 'overheat' this causes moisture inside the watch and stops it. It has cost a lot of money to have it cleaned/repaired twice and I get told off for 'getting it wet'. I now wear an old fashioned mechanical watch (no battery) when on Fuerteventura or travelling in India etc and (touch wood) it hasn't stopped yet.

    I like the sound of that recipe and have bookmarked it to try next time I entertain our veggie friend. By broiler do you mean grill?

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    1. That must be damned annoying Sue.

      Yes, broiling is grilling.

      Delete
  8. Hey now, this dish looks really good. We make eggplant Parmesian sometimes and this looks like a real winner!

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    1. Don't use a lot of eggplant myself Stephen, but this does look pretty good. Happy New Year to you.

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  9. 3AM on Christmas Eve/Day, our furance died. We got it fixed on the 26th but lemme tell you how cold the trailer was. It was warmer INSIDE of the fridge, then it was in the kitchen. I put blankets on the windows and nailed them to the wall. It doesn't look pretty but who the flip cares. We are more than warm at night now. It was -14C here the other day. Not sure today.

    I love, love, love meditation. Love it. Breathing in and out and that flow, is a huge help.

    Great on the watch battery.

    I love eggplant wraps. Not with real cheese but in general, eggplant is one of my top picks!

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    1. What bad luck for it to die just at Christmas time. Maybe that's why the pair of you were sick. Hope you are feeling better.

      Eggplant is a very versatile vegetable.

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