Vegetarian "Crab" Rangoons

Nom, nom, nom

I heart crab Rangoons. The friedness. The cream cheese. The duck sauce. Only one problem. The crab :(
Are you a sad vegetarian who can't eat delicious crab Rangoons? Turn that frown upside down my little plant consumer. Because I have brought to you a very special recipe for vegetarian crab Rangoons. Well, there's not any crab of course, but Rangoon just sounds silly. If you say it enough, it loses all meaning. Rangoon, Rangoon, Rangoon, Rangoon. Poof. Gone.

Anyway. I totally digress. Here's what you need:

I didn't have any "regular" carrots, so I used 3 baby carrots.

• 1 package refrigerated won tons. I found mine by the tofu.
• 1 8 ounce package of cream cheese, room temp. (You could substitute a lower fat version if you'd like, but it doesn't cook up as nice)
• 1 carrot, shredded
• 1 T minced garlic (alternately two cloves garlic finely minced)
• 1 small onion, grated
• 1 T soy sauce or tamari
• 1/2 T oil
• a little bit of water in a bowl or cup or some sort of water holding vessel

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Mix all your ingredients together to create the filling.

Mix, mix, mix.

Lay out one won ton wrapper and add one teaspoon of filling in the center of wrapper. Moisten the outer edges of the won ton square with water (I just dipped my finger in the water). This helps the wrapper form a nice seal. Fold the won ton wrapper closed, creating a triangle. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Arrange those bad boys on a cookie sheet and brush with oil. I used safflower oil, but you can use whatever you have on hand.

I hate my pink counter tops.

Cook for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve with whatever you like to dip in. I like the tiny packets of duck sauce that comes when you order Chinese food. And if that shit has actual ducks in it, I don't want to know. M'kay?

And, because I love you, and I needed to be able to record my calories on my daily intake log, I figured that out for you (me). Assuming you followed the directions above and created 26 Rangoons as I did (two were not pictured above) then each "crab" Rangoon has approximately 38.5 calories. Eat a bunch.

Easy Vegetarian Lasagne

This is my go-to meal that I take to friends and relatives when they have a new baby. It's delicious, it's easy for me to make and mom to heat, and it's vaguely good for you. Pair it with some garlic bread and you're good to go. I brought it to my cousin-in-law (is that really a term?) when she had her baby awhile back and her mom has been gushing over it and asking for the recipe ever since. Since I'm super on top of things I'm going to get that right to her. It's only been 20 months or so. No big.

P.S. I totally cheat and use a jar of spaghetti sauce. Ragu actually because it's crazy cheap and delicious. And no one will know unless you tell them. Or write a blog about it.

16 lasagne noodles
4 ounces of fresh spinach, chopped
1 can artichoke hearts, rinsed and drained
1 small onion
16 ounces of ricotta
4 C mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T olive oil
1 jar of spaghetti sauce of your choice

1. Cook noodles according to package directions, drain, and rinse with cold water.
2. Saute onion, garlic, and artichoke hearts in olive oil until onion is see through. About 5 minutes.
3. Spray bottom of 9x13 pan so your lasagne comes out smoothly later.

4. Layer noodles, sauce, cooked veggies, chopped spinach, ricotta, and mozzarella. I use my hands to spread out the ricotta because it's sticky.

I left out the artichokes because there's no way Thing 1 would eat that.

5. Repeat. Each layer uses four noodles. When you run out of noodles, you're mostly done.
6. Top the lasagne off with a little bit of sauce and mozzarella. I find it hard to ration appropriately for the topmost layer and sometimes we don't get any goodness up there. Sad face.

7. Cover with tinfoil and cook at 350 for 45 minutes. Remove tinfoil and cook for 5 minutes.

Super yum. AND miracle of miracles, everyone ate it. Even Thing 1 who is super picky.