Talent Show?

Hey Everybody,
Are we planning to have a talent show? I don't know if we can top last years' entries, but we should definitely try. What about Sunday night--does that work for everyone? Would we have it at the McCarty home? Respond with your ideas.

Carrot Cake

Here's a lower cal carrot cake recipe that a friend made. It was delicious. It has 290 calories/serving compared to regular carrot cake that can have nearly 600 cals. So it's a better option and tasty! Even Ryan liked it (I told him it didn't really have carrots in it...)

1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup oil (can substitute applesauce too)
1 (8 oz) can crushed pineapple with juice
1/2 cup cholesterol free egg product
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups shredded carrots
1/2 cup raisins

Frosting:
4 oz light cream cheese, softened
2 T butter or marg, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Combine dry ingredients. In another bowl, combine wet ingredients. Beat well. Stir in flour mixture. Stir in carrots & raisins. Pour batter into a greased and floured 9X13 pan. Bake at 350 for 30-40 min until top springs back when touched in center. Mix frosting and spread over cooled cake.

Booked - Mortensens and Durneys

I have booked my room and Mom and Dad's at the Residence Inn. It's too bad I'm a semi-honest person, because those old people get senior citizens rate, which I'd also like to have. I also found out that the $109 rate is only if you stay for 5 nights, otherwise it is $139/night. I have booked 5 nights for my family. We will arrive on Thursday, and leave Tuesday. That's the tentative plan, but it might change. I did find on hotwire.com a hotel that sounds alot like the Residence Inn (they don't give you the name of the hotel) for $86/night, and I'm tempted to do that. But then, it's risky, and might be a dump. I'll think about it, and see what happens.

Here is a link to help with calorie counting.
http://www.Calorie-count.com

Spinach Lasagna

I tried this recipe with my family today and they loved it!

3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
2 cups lowfat cottage cheese
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped (I didn't use fresh)
1/4 cup grated Parmeasan cheese (again, not fresh)
2 tsp minced garlic
3 cups marinara-style pasta sauce (I just used Hunt's spaghetti sauce)
9 uncooked lasagna noodles
2 cans spinach, well drained (I used a 10 oz box of frozen spinach)
1/2 tps black pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Baking time: 1 hr. 15 min.

Combine 2 cups of mozzarella cheese, cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, garlic, chopped parsley and pepper. Set aside.

In a 9x13 in baking sidh, pour 3/4 cup marinara sauce. Place 3 uncooked lasagne noodles on the sauce, covering with another 1/2 cups of the sauce.

Layer with half of the spinach, then a layer spreading half of the cheese mixture over the spinach. Repeat layers of noodles, sauce, spinach and cheese, finishing with 3 more lasagne noodles. Cover with remaining sauce.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for one hour. Uncover and top with 1 cup of mozzarella cheese during last 15 minutes of baking.

Youth Baptisms

I checked with the Spokane temple to see if we could squeeze in a youth trip to the temple for baptisms on saturday afternoon before the reception, but they have reserved all of saturday for ward groups, so it won't happen. There is a 10 am slot open on july 14 (that would be tuesday morning, for those who are staying that long). I could reserve it if there are any who want to go. Comment to this post to let me know whether or not you can do a 10 am session on tuesday morning.

Get your Hotel Reservations made!

It's time to find out when everyone is planning on arriving in Spokane. Hotel Reservations need to be made. Most people are staying in the Marriott Residence Inn near Ellen's house. Karen called today and rooms are filling up fast--another wedding party just booked 20 rooms.

To make reservations at the Residence Inn call 1-800-331-3131. The hotel is the Residence Inn Spokane East Valley.

Chicken Fajitas

Marinade chicken for 2+hours in:
2 T oil
3 T lemon juice
1 minced garlic clove
1 tsp each cumin, garlic powder, onion powder
dash hot sauce
salt & pepper (go easy on the salt!)

Cook chicken on grill or stovetop. Serve with grilled peppers and onions. To make it even healthier, skip the tortilla.

Vegetarian Chili

from Karen

4 med zucchini, chopped
2 med onions, chopped
1 gr pepper, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced

Saute in 1/4 cup olive oil until tender.
Add:
2 28oz cans Italian stewed tomatoes
1 15oz can tomato sauce
1 can pinto beans, drained & rinsed
1 can black beans, drained & rinsed
1 jalepeno, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup cilantro
1/4 cup fresh parsley
2 T chili powder
1 T sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin

Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer for 30 minutes.