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The Middle Place

wow - this is an emotional one!! But such a good read!

I love being on track with a goal for the new year. I will {hopefully} have 2 down by the end of the month!!

be the better man (or woman)

Aside from a random thought here or there, I have only really contemplated Haiti 3 times that I can think of:

1. 7th grade international festival - Haiti was our country

2. Honeymoon - researching the area as we are going to go to the Dominican (the closest I have ever been to Haiti)

3. This week

Obviously all of our hearts are full with thoughts of the devastation. But its the kids who get me - wow...I don't even have kids yet and its hard to see those pictures and see the footage. I can't imagine having kids and being able to relate to feeding your own children or providing.

Today at church the sermon was all about Haiti and answering the "why" and "what now " questions. They played "This is How the World Will End" by The Elms.

YOU MUST listen to this!! It will inspire you to be the better man because...

When the better man won't lend a hand,

Baby this is how the World will end

Empowering lyrics for you today! Lend a hand, make a difference. Not just for Haiti - but for whatever interests you or concerns you!

copy cat recipe

This week, both Sara and I had traveling husbands so she was nice enough to invite me over for dinner and vino!

Sara made an a-ma-zing vegetarian mexican lasagna (mex-agna)...it was so great! So, tonight I attempted to re-create with no recipe and see what resulted. I really liked it and Cease ate it up, so I must have done something right!

Veggie Mex-Agna

this version is for a 8x8 glass pan and would feed 4...so it's pretty thick. you could bake it in a 9x13 and have it be a little thinner and feed more

approx. 12 small round soft corn tortillas

diced tomato (one large or 2 roma)

onion (approx. a 1/4 onion or to your liking)

zucchini (chopped thinly - 1/2 a small zuke)

carrots - shredded

1 can black beans

shredded cheese (I shredded 1 block of colby jack and it was plenty)

salsa

Preheat oven to 350. Warm black beans in small pan on stove. Once warmed through, drain and mash. (I used the back of an ice cream scoop against a stainless steel bowl and it worked fine. Mashed but with some chunks is good) Spray glass baking dish with cooking spray. Pour a little salsa in bottom of dish. Layer 4 tortillas to cover bottom of dish. Spread 1/2 black bean mixture over tortillas. Sprinkle with diced tomatos, thinly diced zucchini, shredded carrots and then a little salsa. Add a layer of shredded cheese. Then repeat starting with the tortillas to create another layer. Top with tortillas and more cheese. Bake approx. 1/2 hour until cheese begins to brown.

I let it sit for a bit so that it would cut nicely like a lasagna.

muy bueno :) Served up next to a side of wholey guacamole - you can't go wrong!!

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Truck - a love story

this is book #1...it is currently being interrupted by watching Julie & Julia (great movie-making me hungry!)

I have to give a shout out to my sister and her entire family for their 2010 goals of reading! How great is this! Even my brother-in-law is in on the reading goal :) Let's all cheer for Jack as he will read 1001 books by May 2011. It is so neat!

I am in the same camp as my sister that I really don't announce resolutions for the masses to then judge my success...but this is one that I will continue to do year after year. Hopefully it will get to a point that I will be going back to classics since I will have read all of the "chick-lit" a girl can handle!