Julia's Lasagna, The Young Victoria, and Negativity

These are the things I've been thinking about.  Here we go, first blog.  I decided on quip in the title because thats all I can focus on at the moment.  Small musings about whatever is going on at exactly this second.  I'm trying to write fast because my baby is coming home soon, I think I hear her crying.  She's with Daddy.  It's slightly overcast today, and we are going to have a family day.
I should mention somewhere here that I watch a lot of cooking shows, and love to cook.
So, we'll go in order.  I was watching Julie and Julia the other day and  I thought, "I want to make a blog as well." Then yesterday, flipping through the channels, I found Julia Child.  I decided to watch even though, I try to eat vegan as much as I can, and didn't think it would apply.  She was making this delicious lasagna with white cream sauce and left over poached chicken, mushrooms and other ymms.  My new thing is substitutions so I decided to try it with what I had.  Here's what I came up with: (oh did I tell you I'm gluten, dairy and mostly white sugar free?)/ also I don't do a lot of measurements.  This is what I used, but if I had other ingredients I would have changed it up a bit.  I make a killer tomato sauce, but didn't have tomatoes
Ingredients:
rice flour
soy milk
garlic
onions
frozen spinach
bottle of spaghetti sauce
brown rice noodles
tofu
spices like basil, 21 spice salute from trader joes
butternut squash
package of zucchini and eggplant (frozen from trader joes)
nutritional yeast


Basic white sauce:
brown some rice flour in a pan then add soy milk to thicken up, stir really with a whisk which I don't have so it came out a bit clumpy.


sautee in another pan, chopped garlic, chopped red onion and frozen spinach.
I didn't have lasagna noodles so I used some brown rice corkscrew noodles.

Bake butternut squash with spices and olive oil for a bit over an hour

Layer:
white sauce, then zucchini and eggplant, more white sauce and sprinkle nutritional yeast
butternut squash, just a few  noodles, white sauce, nutritional yeast
tofu, spinach mixture white sauce a bit of red sauce
most of noodles, rest of white sauce nutritional yeast, then rest of tomato sauce, salt and pepper, bake for a little over an hour.

It was really good, and better the next day, but the noodles were kind of mushy so maybe cook al dente


Killer tomato sauce:

Slice tomatoes in half and simmer for a long long time...when they start to get mushy press down with potato smasher.  Add whole garlic and simmer simmer simmer, put a little agave and rip up fresh basil, simmer....delish!!!!



Ok so I was watching Young Victoria yesterday...the movie is really good.  I saw that Scorsese is a producer but not a director.  Then I looked it up on youtube and saw that Fergie, not of Black Eyed Peas fame, but the other one...conceptualized the film.
I loved the camera work, I loved the costumes...I love love love Emily Blunt.  I really love that time period too.  It reminded me of Age of Innocence with the self consciousness of the story...I don't know quite how to explain it, but there is a way that Scorsese really can draw you in...A match lights, a flicker of a reflection, that reminds you that you are human, reminds you that you are watching humans, and draws you into his character.  This is filmmaking...Otherwise it would be a play.
You may hate me for saying this, but I can't stand Clint Eastwood as a director.  When I watch his films I A: always know what's coming next which bugs me because I want to be suprised.  B: feel as though I'm outside looking in and constantly know I'm watching a film.
I don't want to know I'm watching a film people, I want to be inside of the film.  This movie made me feel I was inside of it.  I knew how Victoria felt, I lived her life.
This is why people who talk in movie theatres are the anti christ.  I don't want to pay $10.00 or however much it is now, to hear you talk you self involved world-revolves-around-you a-hole...I want to disappear.  I want to escape.
anyhow, this film let me do that.

Just a quick note on negativity:  You know the energy zappers?  The people you just feel prickly around like you know they are bad vibing you for some weird reason?  Well I found this website yesterday and it really helps with that.  http://www.life-with-confidence.com/how-to-deal-with-negative-people.html

So, eat some Lasagna...veggie? if you want, and watch this film and other good ones, and put yourself in a white bubble of love, and  I'll be back soon.  I have to go find my baby!!