You Don't Need a Reason to Carbo-Load!

Happy Sunday! I've had a busy week/weekend. I spent Thursday through Saturday in Washington D.C., visiting friends. I really love that city. Not only is it quite veg-friendly, but they have an amazing public transportation system (the Metro) and a lot of my friends live out there, too! Oh, and of course there's my brother and soon-to-be sister in law who are going to be buying a house there soon. Good times. (Shout-out to Kristen Hines for letting me stay with her all weekend!)

Anyhow, I boarded Jakers for the very first time while I was out of town. It was a much better experience than I anticipated. I brought him to a new place called Now Boarding - right by the MSP airport. It's really convenient, because you can drop off & pick up 24/7, so I was able to bring him at 4:30am on Thursday and get him after 9pm on Saturday -- no where else would let me do that. PLUS, you can leave your car there and they offer a shuttle to bring you to/from the airport. It was great!
The only hitch is that I did the online reservation for him, putting his name as Jakers (I never call him Jake, his given name). So when I arrive at 4:30am on Thursday, I'm over-tired and really emotional and fully crying by the time I walk in the door with him. The woman at the desk greets us, saying "This must be Jackers!" (rhyming with crackers). Well, I didn't correct her right away, so by the time she had called him Jackers a dozen times, it was too late. So not only was he super devestated to see me abandon him, I'm sure he was thinking, 'Who the crap is Jackers!?' *sigh* But I called to check on him a few times over the weekend, and they assured me he got a lot of attn and snuggles, and he was happy as a lamb when I arrived last night, so I will definitely be using Now Boarding again!

But now that Jakers (Jackers, if you prefer), Mabel and I have been apart all weekend, I've decided to stay home for the Superbowl. Insted of going to a party where there's a ton of snack foods I can't eat, I'm going to stuff my face with lasagna and snoogle on the couch with my babes! This vegan spinach lasagna recipe is one I found on cooks.com, but I've made some changes to the measurements & ingredients. I've also opted for a square pan, as a 9x13 pan would make WAY too much lasagna for one person...not that I couldn't handle it. :) Oh, the vegan cream cheese addition was also a change I made -- it makes it just a bit creamier! I like that you don't need to cook the lasagna noodles, as the moisture in the recipe will steam the noodles while it bakes. It's also something you can make in advance and throw in the fridge for a day or so until you're ready to bake it.

Vegan Spinach Lasagna
adapted from cooks.com recipe

15 oz fresh spinach, well washed
8-10 lasagna noodles, uncooked
1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 c. onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled & chopped
14 oz (1 block) soft tofu, mashed
8 oz soy cream cheese
1 tbsp dried parsley
1/4 dried oregano
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
7 oz soy mozzarella cheese
1 lg jar of marinara sauce, any variety

Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Coat square cake pan (I think mine is 8"x8" or 9"x9") with nonstick spray.

Cook spinach in large pot of boiling water for 2 mins. Drain, chop and set aside.

Heat olive oil in small skillet and saute the chopped onions & garlic for 3 mins, but do not brown.

In a large bowl, combine mashed tofu, cream cheese, sauteed onions & garlic, parsley, oregano, sea salt and pepper. Add spinach and stir well.

Put 3-4 tablespoons of marinara sauce in the bottom of pan to coat. Put down 4-5 uncooked lasagna noodles, overlapping slightly (you'll need to break an inch or so off, to make it fit in the pan). Place half of tofu/spinach mix in a layer over noodles, then put half of mozzarella on top of that.

Repeat process again (marinara, tofu/spinach mix, cheese) and then end with marinara over the top of everything. Cover with tinfoil, sealing along the edges, and bake at 350 for 60 minutes. Let cool ~10 mins then slice and enjoy!