After babysitting this afternoon, I jumped on 190 and headed down to Worcester to pick up my brother, Dylan.  I babysit way out in eastern Leominster, and I’m already halfway to Worcester when I’m at the baby’s house.  I called Dylan and told him I was about 20 minutes away, and I asked him if he wanted to take a short walk with me to the Worcester cooperative food market, ARTichoke Cooperative.  He had something on his computer uploading, and it wouldn’t be ready in 20 minutes, so he said sure.  He made sure to warn me that it was windy, and asked if I had a hat.  I had a hood, and he said it was “good enough.” (it was not.)

I got to Worcester and Dylan and I bundled up, and head out walking.  It was about a mile and a half away, and my iPhone told me it would take about 23 minutes walking.

It was very cold on the way, and it didn’t help that I had no idea where we were going.  I followed my directions, and eventually we made it.

The co op was a LOT smaller than I had imagined it…. I would say it was about 8 feet wide, by 30 feet long.  Super tiny!  They didn’t have much to offer, for fresh produce they had oranges, two types of apples, potatoes, onions, and yams.  Then in bulk containers, they had pretty much everything I expected: granola, beans, rice, popcorn, organic raisins, flour, sea salt (that was carbon free! — ?) …. a bunch of stuff. One of their granolas (they had two) was SALT free!  Perfect for my low iodine diet!  Except, it was also wheat free, and didn’t look that delicious.  I would make a much better once.

They also had a HUGE wall of bulk spices, and some dried fruit (which I should have gotten, but most of it was between $10 - $15/lb).  It looks like an old fashioned apothacary!

I ended up getting almost a pound of dried Great Northern Beans, a pound of Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP), a small amount of granola for Dylan to try, 3 potatoes, and two granny smith apples.  It cost me $5.36.  I didn’t remember to bring reusable containers, because I wasn’t sure if I was going or not.  I decided to see how far it was from Dylan (I’m sure there are places in Worcester that’d be a 20 minutes drive).  Being so close, I made the decision to go. Next time I’m down in Worcester with Dylan, I’ll make another stop in and purchase things.  Maybe I should keep some clean containers in my far for this purpose.  I’ve been good at saving our old yogurt/parmesan cheese and other nice plastic containers.

It was a great place, and things were very cheap, and 99% of them were organic.

Besides the granola that was $3.55 a pound, mostly everything in bulk was about $1 a pound.  I was surprised at how much TVP I was able to get for $1.  I’m not sure what I am going to do with it, but I’m sure Megan can give me some ideas, or I’ll just find delicious recipes on my own.  The guy working at the store told me he likes to eat it in chili.  I already tried making chili, and didn’t care for it, so I want to try something different.

We were going to have lasagne Wednesday night, but when it came time to make them, I couldn’t find the noodles, and after I called mom, she told me that dad wasn’t coming home anyway, so she and I should just make a frozen Bertoli dinner we had saved in the fridge.  Fine with me… I was late making the lasagne anyway (cause I was at the gym).  So I tossed the frozen thing in the oven, and noticed that it was frozen into a big chunk, just like a lot of our other food.  Meaning, it had defrosted a bit and then refroze from us being without power for 12 days (don’t worry, I moved all the food we saved to a friend’s house who still had power).  So far, none of us have gotten sick on anything we’ve eaten (and I’ve eaten stuff that we left in the freezer and fully defrosted after 12 days).

Thursday night turned into lasagne night.  That last time I made lasagne, we invited over three friends.  The six of us were able to finish the entire thing, and anyone who’s made lasagne knows that they are huge.  With only three of us eating it on Thursday, I knew I didn’t want to make a full lasagne, even though in the past, I always make a huge one.  My mom says “We’ll have lasagne for dinner, and then again for the next four days.”  It’s depressing how huge they are, and how much we have left over.  We usually freeze some, but it still makes boat loads.

I decided to try something different.  I decided to make two mini lasagnes.

I placed two 8×8 pans next to each other, and so I wouldn’t confuse myself, I just said “Ok, just think of it as one big pan.”

(Don’t worry, I only added a tad bit of woolite, for that delicate clean taste)

This white pan wasn’t as perfectly square as the clear one, so I had to trim the lasagne noodles a bit.  At first, I had the trimmings discarded on the side…. but then I realized that they were noodles, and they’d cook, so I threw the little pieces back in.  The white pan we use quite a bit, so I cooked that one, so we’d have the pan for later use.  The clear pan I rescued from our lazy susan.  It was being used to hold onions.  I washed it, and made my second lasagne in it.  The onions wouldn’t miss the pan, and I knew my mother wouldn’t, either.  Into the freezer it went, not to come out until we were desperate for food and no one wants to cook.  I foiled the top, and added instructions on how to cook.  It wasn’t until later that I realized it would have to cook longer because of the whole frozen aspect.  Barilla online suggested defrosting it for 24 hours in the fridge, and increasing the time to 1 1/2 - 2 hours.  So this can’t really be a spur of the moment dinner to just toss in the oven out of the freezer (but watch me try!)

The lasagne in the white pan came out beautifully, and we still have some left over, and this was just HALF a lasagne.  Luckily, tomorrow is Saturday so we’ll all be home for lunch.  It will get eaten up real quick!

I’m very proud of my resourcefulness, and the fact that we have a whole lasagne left over!

For the recipe, I just used the one on the box of the no boil lasagne noodles.  Next time I think I will try something a bit more adventurous, and more homemade and doctored up.

Lasagne:

1 (9 ounce) box of barilla no-boil lasagne noodles
2 eggs
1 (15 ounce) container semi-skim ricotta cheese
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1 lb ground beef, browned
2 (27 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce

Preheat oven to 375.

In bowl, combine beaten eggs, ricotta cheese and two cups of the mozzarella cheese and parmesan.
Set aside.

In a 13X9X3 pan, spread 1 cup of sauce on bottom of pan.

Layer in the order, 4 uncooked lasagne noodles (they will overlap), then 1/3 part of the ricotta cheese mixture, half the browned meat (if using, I did not), 1 cup mozzarella cheese, and 1 cup of spaghetti sauce.

Next layer, 4 uncooked lasagne noodles, 1/3 part of the ricotta cheese mixture, and 1 1/2 c. sauce.

Next layer, 4 uncooked lasagne noodles, remaining ricotta mixture and remained meat, 1 cup of sauce.

For top layer, 4 uncooked lasagne noodles, remaining sauce, and remaining 1 cup mozzarella.

Bake covered with foil for 50-60 minutes.

Uncover and continue cooking until all the cheese is melted on the top (about 5 minutes).

Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

If you are using a pan that is only 2″ deep (like I was) just make 3 layers to avoid boiling over.  You will have 4 lasagne sheets left over.  Save them.  Once you’ve used three lasagne boxes, you’ll have 12 sheets saved up, and that’s enough for one more lasagne!

Here are the directions for using a 2″ deep pan:

1. In bowl, combine beaten eggs, ricotta cheese and two cups of the mozzarella cheese and parmesan.  Set aside.

2. In bottom of pan, spread 1/2 the sauce from one jar.

3. Layer in this order: 4 uncooked lasagne noodles (they will overlap), 1/2 of the ricotta cheese mixture, half the browned meat (if using, I did not), 1 cup mozzarella cheese, and then the rest of the first jar of spaghetti sauce.

4. Next layer, 4 uncooked lasagne noodles, 1/2 jar of second sauce, and one cup of mozzarella.

5. For top layer, 4 uncooked lasagne noodles, the rest of the ricotta mixture, the remaining sauce, and remaining 1 cup mozzarella.

Bake as stated above.