Lasagna Party

YHC had some free time on his 49th birthday before a dinner reservation, so what better way to spend it than by Breaking Bread and sharing some celebratory cheer with the Medical Respite residents. Here’s how it went:

Warmarama: 20 minute run to Kroger for Lemonade/Iced Tea 2 Liters x 2, cupcakes x 12, caesar salad kit + tupperware bowl x 2, and lasagna fixings.

The Thang: preheat oven to 350. Brown 1.5 lbs ground beef and 1 lb hot italian sausage and 2 minced garlic cloves, drain and add crushed tomatoes x 28 oz and tomato paste x 12 oz, 2 TBS basil, 2 TBS dried parsley 1 tsp salt and simmer 20 min. In medium bowl, combine 2 beaten eggs, 3 cu. cottage cheese, 1/2 cu. parmesan cheese, 2 TBS dried parsley, 1 tsp salt. In 9 x 13 pan, assemble:

1. layer oven ready lasagna noodles
2. layer cottage cheese mixture
3. 8 oz. sliced mozzarella
4. half of meat/tomato mixture

repeato and top with grated parmesan. Bake 20-30 minutes until top bubbles.

Mosey to 180 Belt Blvd and start unloading grub. MedRespPAX having smoke break in parking lot offers to help carry bags, learns that it is dinner and expresses deep gratitude. Site Q Barbara receives dinner and $15 Starbucks gift card and expresses appreciation for efforts of Upchuck & F3RVA.

NMMS: YHC echoes everything Upchuck has said and written about how much the Medical Respite folks appreciate any time and effort that we put in to share our blessings with them. Just as a brutal 1stF beatdown will bring you closer to the PAX who sweat through it with you, humble 3rdF engagement with people who need a helping hand will bring you closer to those whom you serve and to the best version of yourself. For the scholarly minded, in a recently published article in the Journal of Positive Psychology (“Prosocial behavior increases perceptions of meaning in life”) Nadav Klein wrote:

The present results appear to coincide with well-known
aphorisms suggesting that to find meaning in life, one
must be motivated by something ‘greater’ than oneself.
In philosophy, Ralph Waldo Emerson is quoted as saying
that ‘the purpose of life is not to be happy’, but rather ‘it is
to be useful’ to others (Brown, 2000). In literature, Charles
Dickens (1864) echoes a similar sentiment through the
main character in the novel Our Mutual Friend: ‘no one
is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it for
anyone else’. In religion, the Bible suggests an association
between prosociality and meaning in life (e.g. Galatians,
5:13–14) and Buddhism promotes benevolence (mettā),
sympathy (muditā), and compassion (karuṇā) as essential
qualities necessary for enlightenment. The conventional
wisdom that meaning is generated by being useful to
other people appears to have solid empirical foundations.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2016.1209541

TLDR: To live third is to live well. SYITG!

Doublemint