Tonight we had Simple Lasagna.
Simple Lasagna
1lb extra lean ground beef
2-1/2c mozzarella cheese, divided
1 container skim ricotta cheese
1/2c grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/3c fresh parsley
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1c water
12 lasagna noodles, uncooked
Preheat oven to 350
Brown meat
meanwhile, mix 1-1/4c of mozzarella cheese, all the ricotta cheese, 1/4c Parmesan cheese, the parsley and egg until well blended; set aside.
Drain meat, return to skillet, stir in sauce and water.
Spread 1cup of meat sauce onto bottom of 13x9 baking dish; top with layer of 3 uncooked noodles (noodles will expand during cooking).
Spread 1/3 of ricotta cheese mixture and 1 cup of meat sauce over noodles.
Repeat 2 times.
Top with 3 remaining noodles and remaining meat sauce.
Sprinkle with remaining 1-1/4cup mozzarella cheese and remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.
Cover tightly with greased foil.
Bake 45 minutes
Remove foil bake additional 15 minutes.
Let stand 10-15 minutes before serving.
I have to admit, I have never made lasagna, so I have nothing to base “simple” from, but it seemed fairly easy (pre-made this yesterday).
My mom was over so she was able to be a part of our rating which was fun. As the guest, we let her rate first:
Mom - 5 (I made sure she wasn't just "being nice")
Bill - 3
Theresa -4
Sadie - 3.5
Syrah - 3
(rating 1 worst meal, would rather not have it again to 5 being the best meal ever and now on the all time favorite list. A three would be, lets add it to the regular menu).
Both Billy and thought some things could change... I would add some onion and garlic, it also needed more sauce, but overall it was very good and provided us leftovers for lunch!!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
A milestone
I just have to share this as I think it is a big deal. Years ago my mom bought this growth chart for the girls. It has been in Syrah’s room and we have been measuring them from time to time (usually with big gaps in between).
The other day I was looking at it while Syrah was getting ready for bed and I thought “so many people have commented on how tall Sadie has gotten – I wonder how much she has grown”. I think when you see your child every day it is hard to see the growth in the same way others see it, however, we have noticed that Sadie’s hugs are different and that she is standing very tall these days. We measure the girls and found that Sadie had hit the FIVE FOOT mark!!!
That is 4.5 inches since February of this year. From 2006 -2008 she grew 4.5 inches - so it’s pretty amazing that she grew that much in 10 months! It sure is fun to watch these girls grow up both physically, emotionally and spiritually!!
two more recipes
This last weekend I was down and out in bed sick. I started to go a little crazy on Sunday night, so I decided I would attempt to make dinner. I made: Meatloaf mini's.
Meatloaf Mini's
1lb extra lean ground beef
1pack stove top stuffing
1c water
3/4c Cheddar Cheese
add options below!
Preheat oven to 375
Mix meat, stuffing mix, water and add-in options
Press into 12 muffin cups (sprayed)
Make an indention in center of each meatloaf with spoon, fill with sauce option
Bake at 375 - 30 minutes or until cooked.
Top with cheese; continue baking 5 minutes or until cheese is melted
Options:
1) add-in: 1tsp garlic power - sauce: 3/4c BBQ sauce
2) add-in: 1tsp Italian seasoning - sauce: 3/4c Spaghetti sauce
3) add-in: 2tsp chili powder - sauce: 3/4c salsa
We made ours with the Italian option (#2) and I do look forward to trying this again with one of the other variations. I have to say that I was glad it turned out as the last time I made meatloaf it ended up in the garbage and the idea of portion control and options within this dish were exciting.
Declaimer on the rating… none of us girls eat much red meat, so this is out of the norm for us to eat. Also, Billy never really enjoyed meatloaf, so again, we are out on a limb. Please keep those things in mind when reading our ratings and know that Billy said the meal was super good as leftovers the following day!
Bill – 3
Theresa – 3
Sadie – 1
Syrah - 2
(rating 1 worst meal, would rather not have it again to 5 being the best meal ever and now on the all time favorite list. A three would be, lets add it to the regular menu).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Last night we had: Foil pack Taco chicken
4 small boneless chicken breasts
4tsp taco seasoning
1/2lb red potatoes - peeled, thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
1/2c salsa
3/4c Mexican cheese
1/4c sour cream
Preheat oven to 400
Sprinkle chicken with seasoning
Place 1/2 cup of potatoes on center of 4 large foil sheets (sprayed), top with chicken, salsa & cheese
Wrap foil - leaving room for heat to circulate
Bake 30-35 minutes until chicken is cooked through - remove from oven
Allow to sit 5 minutes after opening foil carefully to allow steam to release.
Serve with sour cream.
This was super easy to prepare and pop in the oven and clean up was a breeze!!! I made two variations to this meal – the recipe as stated above and I made plain chicken (added some garlic) and cheese for the girls.
Bill – 3.5
Theresa – 4
Sadie – 3 (she would have liked it more, but I added too much garlic – she LOVED the potatoes)
Syrah – 3 (she too found it to have too much garlic on it!)
(rating 1 worst meal, would rather not have it again to 5 being the best meal ever and now on the all time favorite list. A three would be, lets add it to the regular menu).
Meatloaf Mini's
1lb extra lean ground beef
1pack stove top stuffing
1c water
3/4c Cheddar Cheese
add options below!
Preheat oven to 375
Mix meat, stuffing mix, water and add-in options
Press into 12 muffin cups (sprayed)
Make an indention in center of each meatloaf with spoon, fill with sauce option
Bake at 375 - 30 minutes or until cooked.
Top with cheese; continue baking 5 minutes or until cheese is melted
Options:
1) add-in: 1tsp garlic power - sauce: 3/4c BBQ sauce
2) add-in: 1tsp Italian seasoning - sauce: 3/4c Spaghetti sauce
3) add-in: 2tsp chili powder - sauce: 3/4c salsa
We made ours with the Italian option (#2) and I do look forward to trying this again with one of the other variations. I have to say that I was glad it turned out as the last time I made meatloaf it ended up in the garbage and the idea of portion control and options within this dish were exciting.
Declaimer on the rating… none of us girls eat much red meat, so this is out of the norm for us to eat. Also, Billy never really enjoyed meatloaf, so again, we are out on a limb. Please keep those things in mind when reading our ratings and know that Billy said the meal was super good as leftovers the following day!
Bill – 3
Theresa – 3
Sadie – 1
Syrah - 2
(rating 1 worst meal, would rather not have it again to 5 being the best meal ever and now on the all time favorite list. A three would be, lets add it to the regular menu).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Last night we had: Foil pack Taco chicken
4 small boneless chicken breasts
4tsp taco seasoning
1/2lb red potatoes - peeled, thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
1/2c salsa
3/4c Mexican cheese
1/4c sour cream
Preheat oven to 400
Sprinkle chicken with seasoning
Place 1/2 cup of potatoes on center of 4 large foil sheets (sprayed), top with chicken, salsa & cheese
Wrap foil - leaving room for heat to circulate
Bake 30-35 minutes until chicken is cooked through - remove from oven
Allow to sit 5 minutes after opening foil carefully to allow steam to release.
Serve with sour cream.
This was super easy to prepare and pop in the oven and clean up was a breeze!!! I made two variations to this meal – the recipe as stated above and I made plain chicken (added some garlic) and cheese for the girls.
Bill – 3.5
Theresa – 4
Sadie – 3 (she would have liked it more, but I added too much garlic – she LOVED the potatoes)
Syrah – 3 (she too found it to have too much garlic on it!)
(rating 1 worst meal, would rather not have it again to 5 being the best meal ever and now on the all time favorite list. A three would be, lets add it to the regular menu).
Friday, December 5, 2008
Our Christmas Tree
This week we decorated our Christmas tree. I love this time as our tree is a family tree and we each have ornaments from the years previous. Growing up I was always given an ornament from that year and Billy's family had the same tradition. We give our girls an ornament each year as does a few of their grandparents. We all look forward to pulling out the box and going through the ornaments and reflecting on memories.
This is me passing out ornaments to the girls; we each make piles and then decorate the tree with our own ornaments.
Syrah made this hand print her first year; she was only two months old at the time; it is amazing to see how tiny her little hand was!
This is me passing out ornaments to the girls; we each make piles and then decorate the tree with our own ornaments.
Syrah made this hand print her first year; she was only two months old at the time; it is amazing to see how tiny her little hand was!
Here is Sadie's baby hand print; she was probably only about 6weeks old when she made this. Now her entire baby hand fits in her palm!
Billy and the kids decorating.
Sadie peeking out!
Syrah peeking out. She did great this year with decorating and only needed help on the ones high up!
At the end Dad always puts up the star. This is a new star this year (which I am very excited about), but it has a little heavy!
Before we light the tree up we make hot chocolate and turn off all the lights. I could have sat their for hours!!
At the end Dad always puts up the star. This is a new star this year (which I am very excited about), but it has a little heavy!
Before we light the tree up we make hot chocolate and turn off all the lights. I could have sat their for hours!!
Yesterday the girls and I talked about the reason for the Christmas tree. Although we talk about this each year it is a good reminder as to the truth behind all the traditions and can serve as a great history lesson as it still surprises me that the first public tree in American was not seen until around 1912! The greatest truth still remains that this season can easily become about what is under the tree, when really the tree itself and the symbol that it is, is the ultimate gift.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Recipe - Chicken Nacho Bake
During our time in Medford we stayed with Grandma MaryLou (Bill's mom) and she has a subscription to several magazines including one that is packed with recipes. I took time to write several down and she was kind enough to give me one magazine from 2007 that was so filled with recipes I couldn't have possibly copied them all by hand.
I thought it would be fun as our family tried these recipes to put them on here with our personal rating.
Last night we had Chicken Nacho Bake, which was advertised as either an appetizer or a main dish (if used as appetizer, cut the size of the chicken to be much smaller).
Chicken Nacho Bake
4 small boneless chicken breasts
1/2c salsa
1/4c sour cream
1/2c crushed tortilla chips
1/2c mexican cheese
Preheat the oven to 400'
Place chicken on foiled baking sheet
Slice 3 cuts on top of each chicken breast
Top each with salsa, sour cream, chips
Loosely cover with foil and bake for 20 mins
Remove from oven, sprinkle with cheese and bake an additional 10 mins
We served ours with spanish rice and corn. Each of us ate our meal and discussed a rating system. Our rating system looks like this:
1 worst meal
2 not the greatest, but edible
3 would eat again, but didn't find it great nor bad
4 pretty good meal and would like to see it on the menu again
5 greatest meal and added to the favorites list
The family rated as follows:
Dad - 4
Mom - 3
Sadie - 2
Syrah - 4
Come back soon to see more new dishes!!
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Thanksgiving in Medford
We left Meford last Tuesday and Wednesday most people had to work, so we took the opportunity to have a family day. The best part of the family day was the fact we were complete; Jeremiah, his brother and mom moved back to Medford this summer so we were able to get lots of time with him and actually have true family time. We went up to Ashland on Wednesday, it is one of my favorite places to spend a day... a cute little town, that has charm and fun shops, restaurants and a great park.
One of my favorite shops in Paddington's which is fully decked out with Christmas decorations this time of year. Here is Syrah in their "silver" section... after this photo I forgot I even had a camera!
A group shot outside the Chocolate Factory. The bear has been a family photo opportunity each year we make it to Ashland. This year the bear was inside; we asked the owners why and they said it was a "city ordinance" that it could no longer be outside. They told us to take him outside for the photo and we were grateful... a big bear like that needs hugs and photos!
At Lithia park the boys found a huge rock to climb. The problem... no way down but to jump!!!
On Thanksgiving we went to Jake & Jaime's house (Bill's brother & sister-in-law). Jaime did an amazing job with the food. I was so busy playing with the kids and visiting I hardly took any photos, but I grabbed a very few. Again, the highlight for us was that for the first time we were able to spend Thanksgiving with Jeremiah!!
The only picture I have of Sadie and McKayla and McKayla was on the move as you can see!!
Koen and Syrah were playing with the kitchen stuff for quite some time!!!
Friday we spend some more time together as a family and Jeremiah's brother Ceth joined us. It was fun to go to the park together and let the kids play!!! They all get along so well and Ceth is a really good kid, we were glad he could spend the day with us too.
We had some great photos taken at the park!
Sadie, Syrah, Jeremiah & Ceth
I just love this picture... This is Penny, she is the sweetest dog and I have a similar picture of Sadie several years ago. Penny is a great family dog and wonderful with the kids!
Koen & Uncle Billy; they had such a good time playing together and we hope that we are able to see the kids more often - they are growing up so fast!!
We did our best to take a family photo with Grandpa Bill & Grandma Cindy; after several tries this one turned out pretty good!!! This was our last night in Medford and it was good night! It went by too fast!
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