Life-Changing Lasagna Rollups and Other Glorious Things.

Okay, so the next official thing on my original list was Crockpot Spaghetti and Meatballs. It was a good recipe. Here's a tip, though. If you're thinking of making it a freeze-ahead meal, don't. It was stuck in this huge chunk that had to be meticulously broken up. And of course, I sliced a huge chunk out of my finger. I'm just so used to old, blunt knives. Our sharp new Farberware ones are really dangerous to a hack and slasher like me.

I feel like I probably looked like this when I was done breaking that thing up.

In any case, I'm not going to feature that spaghetti because it was just your run-of-the-mill spaghetti and meatballs. Today was another snow day--well, rather, it was an ice day. No way I was venturing out into that stuff. Especially since I was feeling pretty under the weather last night/early this morning. However, by the time I got out of bed at the glorious hour of 10am, I was ready for a productive day. When I get an unexpected day off, I love to use it for projects. I started off with a metabolism-boosting, energy-providing, antioxidant-giving, free-radical-fighting drink of my own invention. It's simple. Hot green tea, honey, lemon, and cinnamon. If you have any low blood sugar problems, however, I urge you to eat directly afterward or you will feel ultra-nauseous. It tastes really good, but I think because it gets your body going, you need fuel (preferably protein).

I opted to design a delectable smoothie:

• 1 cup oats
• 1 whole banana
• 5 strawberries
• 1 stalk celery
• 3 T almond butter
• 1 cup greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tsp honey

So good and so nutritious!

Afterward, I made and utilized the hair mask and tooth whitener I posted about last Friday, using fresh lemon juice this time (worked much better). Then, I showered, using the leftover Like Buttah Body Scrub. My skin was wonderfully soft and I made myself nice and pretty, just for funsies.

Next, I made an awesomely healthy dessert. I was worried it might taste weird, but I was wrong. These Zucchini Brownies are fantasmic! Not as chocolatey as regular brownies (I may add semi-sweet chocolate chips next time to make them perfect), but so excellent.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 2 small or medium bananas, mashed
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups finely shredded zucchini (you'll probably need 2 large zucchini)
• 2 cups all purpose flour (I used whole wheat flour! You can probably also use gluten free, but check out a proper conversion chart beforehand.)
• 1/2 cup walnut pieces (I hate brownies with nuts, so I skipped these)

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease (or spray) and flour a 9x13" baking pan. In a large bowl, mix together the applesauce, mashed bananas, and sugar. Add vanilla and cocoa and mix together. Then add baking soda, salt, and zucchini and mix together. Add flour and walnuts [or sub chocolate chips] and mix together. Spread evenly into the pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the brownies spring back when gently touched. Makes 24 servings.

I topped them with a light dusting of powdered sugar, as well. Now, they will be VERY moist and fudgy. I promise they're completely cooked at the 25-30 minute mark. That's the texture you want because they're delectable. Even my picky Tom liked them.

Tastes like this...

With benefits like this!

After the brownies were made (and the dish washed for the second time that day, seeing as we only have one casserole dish), I unclogged the kitchen sink using 1 cup salt and 1/2 cup baking soda mixed together. You pour it in the drain directly followed by a kettle of boiling water. Way cheaper than Drano, folks! 

I did a lot today. At one point, while talking to my big sister, I told her everything I had accomplished on my "day off." She said, "See, you should definitely have kids. You'd be an awesome mom!" It's funny if you know me, because I've always spurned the idea of reproducing. haha. But perhaps my mind is changing on the matter.

Finally, I get to the good part: our delicious dinner. The picture below does not look like the one you'll find in the link. But I assure you, you should make them this way. They were good when I went light on the sauce and only had cheese inside the rolls, but I rebaked them on 300F with a ton of extra sauce and cheese on top and it made them way, way better. They're still healthy. I used whole wheat noodles, low fat ricatta, and skim mozzarella. I also added ground chicken (because we are carnivores in this house). It is super vital that you make your own marinara sauce for it, as it makes you feel like Rachel Ray (only less annoying), and it tastes way better than store-bought sauce. It's also WAY healthier and cheaper. Do it. Just do it.

Delectable and fancy.

Now, today's dinner and a movie pairing is another horror film (What can I say? Cold weather is optimum horror movie time!). This time, it's the American version of Ju-On: or, as you all know it...

Sidenote: It IS more terrifying than The Ring, which was the first true horror movie I ever saw. I saw it at my chorus teacher's house. There were nine of us girls sitting on a pull-out couch bed. At an intensely climactic part, the couch cracked loudly and collapsed, sending us all into shrieking mode. One of the funniest things ever. Directly after the movie, another girl and I went into the guest room...where, right across from the door, sat a rustic wooden chair. If you've seen The Ring, you know why that was the worst possible thing for us to see. haha.

Anywho, signing off. Remember, productivity feels much better than lazing around like a big lame fatty-pants. Unless you're having one of these days:

It's perfectly okay to feel this way once in a while.