Uncategorised – Lauren Bisset

This Friday, I participated in the Global Climate Strike at the Legislature Buildings in Victoria. I am extremely passionate about protecting our planet from those in power who continue to destroy it, as I think everyone should be. I was proud to join the thousands of people, young and old, skipping school, university, and their jobs to strike that day.

One of the most powerful moments of the day for me was realizing the amount of elementary and middle-school aged children were there, chanting and holding up signs without any prompting from adults. People were applauding them and taking up their chants, these young people being the true initiators of this revolt. They are so much more informed than I was at their age, and they are so adamant because they are forced to be in order to have an Earth to live on when they reach my age.

Part of the peaceful protest involved a communal mural painting. My friends and I watched the entirety of its creation. It was really moving to watch the artists hand paintbrushes to people in the crowd and involve them in the painting, making it such a moment of community and togetherness. At the end, we were able to see the sea and mountains that they created, and read the the words: “ELEVEN YEARS TO CHANGE EVERYTHING”. I am so glad to have participated in this strike, and look forward to continuing to be a part of this amazing, and crucial movement.

For my passion project, I have decided to try to cook and bake things that I have never made before. I find myself often resorting to the easiest meals that I am used to making, and eating out or ordering in when I am craving something different. I want to try and change this habit, partially to save money, but also to bring joy and creativity back to my kitchen, a place that is currently inhabited by endless tupperwares of the same quinoa salad.

I am going to take on any recipes that catch my eye or mood, my first endeavour being lasagna made from scratch. I have never made any form of lasagna before, not knowing how to make it but knowing that it is time-consuming, so I chose this as an ambitious first mission.

I recalled my stepmom always having the best meat sauce, so I called her and found out that she actually adapts this recipe from The Best of Bridge’s website.

So I went to pick up my ingredients, and the bill came to $51!!! Which at first made me cry internally. But I realized I had to buy both of the spices, which I won’t have to buy again for a long time, and that lasagna is a bulk meal which will probably give me about 8 meals at about $6 each, a lot less than a meal I would typically order in.

I followed the very minimalist recipe the best I could, except I didn’t buy Worceister sauce because I couldn’t find it at the store and I used cottage cheese instead of ricotta because it’s cheaper. It took me about 3 hours in total from start to finish, because the meat sauce has to simmer for an hour and also I am really slow at prepping.

Sauce time:

Layers!

Before and after oven!

I gave some to my roommates to test out and they loved it! Not to pat myself too much on the back, but a real quote from my friend Emily: “Like, am I at Pagliacci’s?” Hopefully it’s safe to say they liked it.

I got 6 meals frozen out of the recipe in the end, so even though it takes a while to make I would say it’s worth it! If you’re looking for a relatively easy venture into lasagna, I would definitely recommend this recipe! Or even if you’re just looking for a simple but flavourful meat sauce, this one is super yummy.

Ed. etc.

Category: Uncategorised

Global Climate Strike

First taste of my passion project