Recipe Of The Week

Why can't I look this happy and put together when I mop my floors? She's deranged that's for sure~~~

This is a recipe from Divine Domesticity that I will be trying this week. I love the fact that one prep session equals two meals with one being able to be frozen. That's right up my alley this week with trying to get back on course with housework and getting all the laundry caught up before we get to play around the next week during Spring Break. Hope you like it too. Love her site so go on over and check it out.

Baked Ziti with Italian Sausage and Sour Cream

Makes two 9"x13" pans

2 pounds dry ziti pasta
1 large onion, chopped
2 pounds regular Italian, or spicy or sweet Italian sausage
3 (26 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce
8 ounces provolone cheese, sliced
2 cups sour cream
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
One container grated Parmesan cheese

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti pasta, and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes; drain.

2. In a large skillet, brown onion and sausage over medium heat. Add spaghetti sauce, and simmer 15 minutes. In an extra large pan (probably what you used to boil the ziti in) combine the sauce mixture and the ziti noodles.

3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F

Butter two 9"x13" baking dishes. Layer as follows:

Ziti and sauce mixture,
(all) sour cream,
provolone and mozzarella cheese,
ziti and sauce mixture,
provolone and mozzarella cheese.

Top with grated Parmesan cheese.

4. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheeses are melted.

Seems easy enough right? Hopefully I won't screw it up or anything like that. Maybe I'll take a picture if I get up the energy to look for the camera charger! LOL

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Also on the menu plan for this week is the crockpot ham recipe that Stephanie over at A Year of Crockpotting has up on her site today. Decided to go ahead and try some new stuff that doesn't take much time since I will not have a lot of time this week with everything that's going on and getting tax receipts and things of that sort ready for the CPA. Yikes. So this should be a great recipe that cook all day and be able to use the leftovers for something else equally tasty and easy. Haven't really done a menu plan on paper but I'm good to go as far as knowing what we are eating until Thursday and then with baseball and the awards program for Upwards I'm thinking easy like Chinese take-out. That sounds good because Brent really dislikes it but if it's been a long time (and it has) he'll usually go for it if we beg. Nah, but we do have to coerce him into actually pulling in the parking lot.

Are you keeping up with your Lenten obligations? I am trying really really hard so we'll see at the end of Lent how I did. Ian accidentally ate a piece of candy from the candy jar today and I thought he was going to choke when he remembered he gave it up for Lent. I told him I'm sure it's OK as long as you didn't do it on purpose. He assured me he did not do it on purpose. Poor little thing. Don't forget to pray for your husband and stay on task with whatever it is you gave up (or decided to give) during Lent. Ciao.

Lazy Sunday - Feeling Better

Isn't it the cutest?

I have some belated pics from my birthday in January that my sister emailed me so I thought I'd post a few. I'll include the ones of the spectacular cake Tricia got me for my birthday. I just loved it. It was so me. I asked her "How'd you know what I wanted" and she said "because you told me a pink cake with black bows." hahaha I think that's funny. Anyway, take a gander at these photos and of my babies evidently horsing around in the lobby at the hotel while Brent and I were out for the night. It was a great weekend and looking forward to another one soon.

Keep praying for your husbands at Sandra's blog over at Diary of a SAHM. I may not post it here but I go to her site every day and do the prayers for Brent and devote just a few minutes especially to him.

Our lives will be getting a lot busier in the next few weeks with a whole season of baseball approaching, Liam's playing spring soccer and Spring Break is just in another week or so. The Nederland Heritage Festival starts during Spring Break and I am so looking forward to working the booth with my friend and selling our handmade jewelry, and then the purses, luggage and sunglasses she gets from market. I think it's going to be fun as long as the weather cooperates.

A short and simple prayer I found on the list of Catholic prayers I've been using also:

Lord Jesus, grant that I and my spouse may have a true and understanding love for each other. Grant that we may both be filled with faith and trust. Give us the grace to live with each other in peace and harmony. May we always bear with one another's weaknesses and grow from each other's strengths. Help us to forgive one another's failings and grant us patience, kindness, cheerfulness and the spirit of placing the well-being of one another ahead of self.
May the love that brought us together grow and mature with each passing year. Bring us both ever closer to You through our love for each other. Let our love grow to perfection. Amen.

Brent did so much for the boys this weekend. I still had a fever yesterday morning and all day so I just slept and watched movies while he took them to games, end of the season parties and even two birthday parties. Last night we just chilled out, all cuddled up in my bed and watched a new movie together. It was so warm and cozy and every time I'd fall asleep they'd wake me up. My NyQuil was kicking in and it was so hard to stay awake. I woke up this morning refreshed and feeling almost back to normal. No fever in the past 24 hours which is the longest I've gone in a whole week. My throat doesn't hurt anymore although I do have the residual bronchial cough (hack, hack) but it seems to be getting better. All I do know is that I've really missed taking care of them and caring about their homework. Ian and I would lay on the couch and do his homework all week because I was so stuffed up and feverish I felt so cold if my back wasn't all covered up on the couch or with a big blanket. Looking back now the quack I went to had no idea that I probably had a case of the flu nor did he ask about that. I will never, mark my words, go back to that doctor again. But then again that's what I get for going to a doctor that I've had several friends tell me some history and to go to someone else.

Friday night Brent and Ian, his mom and his brother and his children went to see Monster Nation, the monster truck show that comes every spring and Ian had such a blast. He came home and told me all about the monster trucks and the one they rode in the back of while it did a few rounds. He also could not stop talking about the motocross racers he saw there and some of their stunts. He was so impressed he's been out on the track all day today practicing and trying to get his jumps higher and do a wheelie on Liam's motorcycle. Good start for an 8 year old. He told us he'd rather ride and do jumps than play baseball. Uh? Huh? wtf? Don't think so buddy. You are paid in full so you will definitely be doing baseball this season. So we told him as soon as CCD is finished and he makes his First Communion he'll be able to practice more during the week and then all summer. That seemed to make him happy for the moment. Basketball finished up Saturday and then Brent took him to his end of the season pizza party. They got a trophy and some little souvenirs and then on Thursday the church is having the closing ceremony for Upwards. If you haven't tried Upwards in your area, please do so. The people are great and it teaches them sooooo much. The coaches just aren't about winning/losing, it's how you play the game and I especially love that every week they have a Bible verse to memorize and talk about and then at the practices they talk about what went on during the week and how it relates to the current Bible verse. Needless to say, it's a very worthwhile project to get the kids interested in basketball and the camaraderie that goes along with being on a team. Cannot say enough about Upwards. So we'll be going to that Thursday night and Ian has baseball practice every night this week except Tuesday because of CCD. Liam has a space station project due for shop so he'll be working on that all week. I have to hit the hobby stores tomorrow to look for some things to go inside the space station like food and such. He should have fun putting all that together.

Well, guess we better go check on dinner. We're grilling chicken breasts, chicken & apple sausage and veggies. Yummo. Love the chicken & apple sausage from Emeril's that we get at Sam's. It is great grilled or just pan seared with some pasta and peppers. I love it. Brent likes it. So he never really eats too much of it. Just enough to be nice. In the next several days I'll be asking questions about relationships and how to deal with people you don't particularly like. How do YOU deal with it? I ignore them and pretend they don't exist. I cannot stand hipocrits. How do you deal with things like that? Ponder those questions and then let me know your opinion.