Lasagne with sweet potatoes and bell peppers

I(Dad) experimented with a new dish last week when we hosted a dinner for friends - a vegetarian lasagne - and it turned out swell, if I do say so myself, heh heh.

Here's the recipe...

Ingredients:
- Lasagne noodles
- Sweet potatoes
- Milk
- Assortment of bell peppers (green, red, yellow, orange)
- Shredded mozzarella
- Shredded parmesan
- Thinly sliced gouda to top off the lasagne(optional)
- Salt, pepper and sugar
- Cumin, oregano, lemongrass powder
- Chopped onions and garlic

1. Microwave sweet potatoes for a few minutes to soften. Peel skin off, cut into smaller pieces, and blend into puree with milk. Add salt, pepper, sugar to taste. Set aside.
2. Fry chopped onions and garlic until caramelized, then add to sweet potato puree from step 1. Add cumin, oregano and lemongrass poweder to taste.
3. Now to layer the lasagne into the pan: start with a layer of puree at the bottom. Next, add a layer of chopped bell peppers, followed by a sprinkle of mozzarella and parmesan, then cover with a layer of lasagne noodles. Repeat two more times.
4. After the top layer of lasagne noodles has been set, sprinkle mozzarella and parmesan/gouda on top. The gouda will tend to be more crispy/crunchy.
5. Place in pre-heated oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit, and bake for 45-60 minutes. Place the pan at the bottom of the oven to prevent over-browning, or cook covered until the last 15 minutes.

Yummy!

San Diego Trip, December 22-27, 2007

We had lots of fun at SeaWorld and Legoland over Christmas. The last time we made a trip to the theme parks was in 2003, so it had been a while and we were ready for the challenge. As it turned out, we thoroughly enjoyed it. The weather was nice - sunny and cool - and the Doubletree Del Mar was comfortable. We enjoyed the food in San Diego, including a Christmas eve dinner at Mikko (Japanese) with the Hesed gang, and Christmas dinner at Emerald Chinese Restaurant with Yong Lee's family and 2 other Singapore/ Malaysia families.

Now, on to the photos! We have hundreds of photos, which we distilled to about 150 for scrapbooking, so here are just a few as a sampler...



This whole area is called "Miniland" and features well-recognized buildings from around the world, all built on a 1:20 scale.



Here's a detail of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., all made out of Legos:



San Francisco Chinatown:


The kids were very tickled by the Legoland ad that was aired before one of the 4-D movies we watched: "30 cities...3500 people...20 million Lego bricks...one toilet! ~ominous music~"

Other than gawking at the Lego structures, there were lots of fun rides and movies too. The kids' favorites:

Aquazone - Clarence and mommy getting some splash action...


Skipper School's race boats...


The 4-D movies "Lego Racers" and "Spellbreaker"...


We also had some fun on the roller coasters. Mommy was conned, I mean, persuaded to try out a ride, hee hee.


The SkyCruiser...


The amazing Shamu show at SeaWorld...


And polar bears (special request from auntie Amy)...


There was much fun and silliness all around - here are our Viking Warrior and Apprentice Wizard caught in the middle of a show-down... (Beware the Magic Finger)


And finally, reconciliation and hugs all around after four fun days in Legoland and Seaworld :-)


Merry Christmas 2007...


And Happy New Year 2008!