Nonessentials.

Blogger's been down the past couple of days. Which is good, because I had nothing to write about. It was a surprisingly slow week here - turns out if you plan your meals for the week you don't have to waste time going to the grocery store every other day. Speaking of meals, I recently made a lasagna that gave us three days worth of meals. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, we ate lasagna. Okay, okay, maybe we had smoothies and waffles and french toast for breakfast. But the point is, here's my beautiful lasagna:

 

Things I learned from this lasagna: (a) don't put a Béchamel sauce into a lasagna because it just doesn't work; (b) any white wine you used in the first few steps of deglazing the beef-containing pan will stick around in the beef no matter what else you add, and will taste odd when everything is put together; (c) use more pasta sauce. While the end product was delicious, I wish I had thought about the pasta sauce before I cooked it. At least I've got experience for next time!

Oh, and you guys remember those Red Lobster biscuits that I made about a month or two ago? I made them again, and instead of real eggs I used egg substitute in an attempt to be healthier. The biscuits ended up flat and mushy, and I had to cook them for a ridiculous amount of time just to get the mush out. They weren't big and fluffy at all, but we'll still eat them because they are pretty darn delicious.

For dessert (read: anytime snack), we've been having spritz cookies.

 

I am aware that these are traditionally a Christmas cookie - or at least in my parents' house they are - but you have no idea how delicious these little guys are with just a little bit of sugar sprinkled on top. It's insane how addicting they are. It's also insane how many cookies the original recipe makes. Seven to eight dozen cookies. I had to halve it, then halve it again just to get a reasonable amount of cookies. Turns out if you quarterize it, you get exactly one tube's worth of cookie dough (here, tube refers to the tube in the actual cookie press). Very manageable, but you need 1/4 of an egg. Thus, the egg substitute.

Aaaaaaaand now I can't stop thinking about dessert-like things. I guess I'll just have to bore you with some super-cute recipes.

Mini Boston Cream Pies | Design*Sponge

How cute is that? And it looks like it would be super easy to make ... if you had nine arms and a ton of counter space. But I'm sure it tastes divine.

Pulled Pork Sandwich | Design*Sponge

No, this isn't dessert, but I dare you to tell me this doesn't look mouth-watering. Maybe it's the fact that there's no barbecue food out here, or maybe it's because I almost considered Jack In The Box and their new Bourbon BBQ Steak Sandwich for lunch. One day, when we're not living in an apartment that prohibits barbecue, I'm going to make the best darn pulled pork sandwiches ever to grace the desert.

Vietnamese Spring Rolls | Design*Sponge

These have a high degree of difficulty to make, which is enough to ward me off from actually attempting them. They do, however, remind me of the Thai restaurant nearby my parents' house that makes absolutely delectable spring rolls, accompanied by a peanut sauce that disappears fast.

Yes, it is lunchtime. Yes, I am going to go eat the rest of the lasagna and biscuits. No, I can't share any tasty things with you. Not until they invent smell-o-vision, that is.