Yesterday Gannon was at my house. Â You might remember I have the grandkids on Mondays and Fridays. Â Well, it was a Gannon day. Â He loves outside and I thought I’d take him out and we’d pick tomatoes. Â I was expecting Kayla later that day for a long weekend visit and thought lasagna might be something I’d make for “big family supper”. Â That’s what Carver calls meals when extra of the family is here. Â “Big family suppers” are my favorite but figuring out something to cook is always a challenge.
This day…I decided on lasagna. Â I had made one a couple of weeks ago using fresh tomatoes, onions, and peppers from the garden.
I grabbed this bowl, threw my phone in the bowl, grabbed Gannon and Rosie, and out to the garden we went.
We picked tomatoes and peppers. Â It took a long time as I’d pick a tomato, hand it to Gannon, and as he put it in the bowl, I’d say, “IN”. Â Gannon is a little behind on speech so when I have him, I try really hard to work on words or concepts. Â He loved it.
We did some playing outside. Â I watered the flowers and about an hour later, I grabbed the bowl of garden pickings, Gannon and the dog, and went inside. Â Gannon wanted to outside so fussed and Rosie jumped on him. Â It was lunchtime and I was scrambling to get something for Gannon to eat.
I put the bowl of tomatoes in the sink and turned the water on….then finished getting food for Gannon.
Once he was eating I went back to the sink and started washing off the tomatoes and chopping them up to make yard sauce…which is a roasted tomato sauce.
Imagine my horror when… I realized my phone was still at the bottom of the bowl and had now been soaking in water for the last 10-15 minutes. Â I’ll be honest, tears immediately came to my eyes.
Darn it!! Â I had gotten a new phone in December. Â I didn’t want to be buying another new phone. Â AHHH.
As quick as I could I grabbed the phone, ripped off the case, and checked it. Â IT WORKED!! Â It looked just like normal to me. Â I checked Instagram, yep, it looked normal. Â I called Kelli to make sure the phone was really working. Â It worked. Â Kelli’s response was, “Mom, that is one good phone case.”
I checked out the case, There was only a little moisture on the outer lip. Â No water had gotten into the case.
So…I am completely recommending Otterbox Commuter series cases. Â HERE is a link to the one I have. Â I have an Iphone 11 Pro. Â If you have a different phone, you can find the Commuter series cases HERE.
I never dreamed my phone would be okay. Â Seriously, it was underwater for 10-15 minutes!! Â Oh, happy day!
As a caution, my phone is in a bag with rice. Â I am over-cautious when it comes to things like this…but so far, it’s working perfectly.
I went on to put Gannon down for a nap and make my lasagna….a vegetarian version for Kayla-a meat version for the rest of us.
I really don’t have a recipe so I’ll tell you what I can about the lasagna. Â First off, IT’S AWESOME!!
For the sauce pick a 9 x 13 pan of tomatoes, peppers, and onions. Â Clean and quarter them. Â I put in garlic cloves, fresh basil, and drizzled it with olive oil. Â I baked it in the oven for 45 minutes on 425 degree heat. Â It’s what some call yard sauce. Â HERE is a link to when I made it last year.
After it was done and cooled a bit I put it in the blender and blended it all into a sauce. Â I added Italian seasoning, more garlic, salt, pepper, and a little sugar. Â It was delish.
I made Kayla’s lasagna….then poured the sauce into two pounds of ground beef that had been browned. Â Then I made our lasagna.
I spray the pan, put a layer of uncooked noodles down. Â Then sauce and cottage cheese and cheese. Â This time I used a garden flavored cheese. Â I kept layering ending in the garden cheese. Â (I actually ran out but had tomato basil cheese in the frig so finished it off with that) Â Cover with tin foil.
I put it in the oven on 350 for about an hour. Â I let it set for 10 minutes before cutting.
Seriously…the best lasagna EVER!! Â Between the sauce and the cheese, it really made the whole dish SING! Â Everyone loved it. Â So if you have tomatoes left in the garden and need a way to use some up…LASAGNA is the answer. Â Oh my.
My tomatoes are almost done and Karl offered to rip them out. Â I told him I think we can get one more lasagna out of there if we wait…Karl happily waited!!
P.S. Â I wrote this post yesterday and was so happy about my phone living through the water bath it got. Â Well, imagine my sadness when I went to plug my phone in last night to charge it. Â The charger wouldn’t go in. Â Oh my. Â I was sad. Â Here I spoke too soon.
This morning I woke up and I tried a different charger.  Nothing worked  UGH.
I looked in the charger hole on the phone and found a piece of rice had wedged itself into the whole. Â After a little surgery, it’s all good and working. Â What a saga….
Almost foiled by a grain of rice
Oh, geez!! Glad it tuned out ok. What a relief that must have been!
Your lasagna looks wonderful! That was great luck with the phone>
I really want to make some of that garden sauce. I remember it from last year but never got it made. Thanks for the reminder. Your lasagna looks great and makes me hungry for it, so guess it will be on our menu soon. So happy your phone lived through being soaked. What a scare!
As soon as you said you put your phone in the bowl to go out picking tomatoes and peppers, I gasped. So glad you had an Otterbox case on it! You saved your phone! The lasagna looks great!
Otter Box is the bomb for protecting phone!! Glad yours survived! Have you tried half ground beef and half ground sausage in your lasagna? I like the extra flavor the ground (usually Italian) sausage gives to it. Yours looks wonderful!
I have got to try your yard/garden sauce. I think I would cold pack it, but that’s just my preference. I’m really liking your lasagna recipe, especially with the different cheeses. I was so sad when I read about your phone, then happy, then sad, and happy at last. My husband will only use an Otter Box, but I pretty much use whatver is cheap. Sometimes I use no case at all. Your story has me second thinking though. As the grandkids get older I’m having to rush around more, that’s when accidents like this happen. Hmm. My phone is so old they might not even make cases for it anymore. So glad your story was a good one.
So glad your phone worked! I dropped my older iphone in water twice and didn’t have a proper case but it was fine. I know I was lucky! When I upgraded I got a better case and that was several years ago so it’s time to think about a new phone. Love the yard sauce! I use it in a number of things and need to think about making lasagna. Husband and I love it but our son doesn’t like cheese much. Guess I can make a smaller one like you did for Kayla. I have lots of sauce in the freezer so I’ll be planning on lasagna now!
Your lasagna looks delicious!
Your phone is water resistant in water for 30 minutes. I dropped mine in the toilet and panicked until I remembered reading it was water resistant. Thank goodness!!
Thank goodness your phone is working and charging!!! Your lasagna looks yummy!!!
Otter box cases are definitely lifesavers! Especially against garden accidents like dropping my phone into the watering jug or once leaving it in the sprinkler’s path on the edge of a raised bed garden!
The aren’t inexpensive cases but they are cheap insurance for $1000 phones!
Thanks for the garden sauce idea, definitely going to try it. We’ve had an abundance of Sweet Million cherry, Midnight Snack and Sungold tomatoes this year. I’ve been slicing them and several garlic cloves in half, drizzling with olive oil, and S&P Then slow roasting them in 200 degree oven for a couple of hours till carmelized. Spread on rustic bread and a light drizzle of balsamic glaze is divine!
Now that our air quality here in the Pacific Northwest is no longer Hazardous, I’m looking forward to getting back outside to my garden!
Mike had an Otterbox for his work phone when he worked at Legoland. You can imagine how many times it was dropped, watered on, smashed etc. My son has one too. They both swear by them. If only I had one on mine when it fell into the ocean. LOL!
Your sauce looks amazing – hope to make and try it one day.
Love and prayers
My cousin was ice fishing and his phone fell into the lake…freaky I know! Well, the next day they went back and were able to fish the phone out of the lake. He has that same Otter cover! His phone also worked!! 24 for hours in the lake and no water and still worked!
I too am a confirmed Otterbox user! Mine got dropped into my Grandson’s bathtub. My daughter in law got it right out. We put it right in bag of rice and it was totally fine. My case has saved me so many times from dropping it on pavement, stones, etc. I still have an uncracked screen!!!
I am definitely giving my daughter in law your yard sauce recipe-awesome looking lasagna! Hugs to the whole family,
As I was reading your story I must admit I felt all the same emotions you did! We’ve all done something along those lines at least once (in my case, many times…just not with a phone as mine is never on!). What a blessing to find the phone actually works — but what a scare, twice! Hope the rest of your weekend is VERY peaceful! Never thought to roast the tomatoes, I’ll have to try that. I have bags of tomatoes in the freezer, that would be a good way to use those up, roasting first and then several lasagna’s (and spaghetti, enchilada, tacos….). A garden just keeps on giving for a LONG time!
I have shared your “yard sauce” with my sister and mom and I think they will love how easy it is compared to canning sauce. They both have gardens with lots of tomatoes and peppers. I will wait for one of them to share with me. So glad you were able to save your phone, that must be a great case.
Your lasagna looks so delish! I used to make it, but now it’s just me, so I don’t fool with it anymore.
You were so lucky with your phone!! I have an Otterbox on my phone, too, because my son had recommended it to me. It’s saved my phone from being broken after having been dropped several times. They are so worth buying!
I had a similar story in which I forgot I had tucked my phone into the top of my bathing suit to walk the dog before leaving for Aquafit class. 18 minutes into the class we did a move with arms elevated and my phone started to slide south. I screamed, retrieved the phone and handed it to the lifeguard. She dried it off and it was fine. Turns out the later iPhones are made to withstand water to a depth of 5 meters! Thank goodness, for all of us!
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Lasagna sounds great! You had me on the edge of my seat wondering about the phone. Glad it all turned out good!
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