Snow White and The Killer Lasagna

I really love to cook.  I don't always have the time to do it as extensively as I would like, but nonetheless, I love to cook. Let me explain: I love to cook, as in, if I didn't have my sweet, wonderful, amazing, precious kiddos :) I would do what Julie did in the movie Julie & Julia.  Luckily for my wallet and my waistline, I DO have my sweet, wonderful, amazing, precious kiddos and therefore cannot be that obsessed.  But I would if I could ;)

That being said, tonight I made a MEAN lasagna.  And I'm sharing the recipe with you!  I didn't make the sauce.  And the noodles were the oven-ready kind.  I remember as a kid my mom would LOATHE making lasagna because the noodles always gave her a headache.  This recipe will not do that to you, I promise.

I'm not a photographer, but I did snap a few pictures.  This happened after I devoured my serving and thought, "Wow.  That was good.  I should share the recipe on the blog."  So there are no step-by-step pictures but it's pretty self-explanatory.

Here ya go:

Lindsey's Killer/Mean Lasagna

1 jar of Mid's Meat sauce (This is part of the yumminess.  Find yourself some Mid's at your local Kroger and thank me later. Photo below.)

1 box oven-ready lasagna noodles (I used Delallo.  I'm sure you could use your favorite oven-ready brand)

1 lb. ground turkey (I suppose you could use veal or beef here but we prefer turkey.)

2 zuccini, cut in to coins, and then cut the coins in half

1 white onion, diced

4 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

2 cups Italina blend cheese, shredded

1 small container ricotta cheese

2 eggs

salt and pepper

2 T. butter or EVOO

1 heirloom (yes, HEIRLOOM) tomato, thickly sliced in to 4-6 rounds (for the top)

3 T. fresh basil, roughly chopped (another thing not to skimp on.  The fresh basil on top is soooo good.)

The secret ingredients of yumminess.

1. Saute your diced onion and zucchini in a tablespoon or so of butter.  I salt and pepper these while they're cooking.  Cook until nice and tender, until the onions are translucent.  Remove from heat.

2. In a large pot, saute your ground meat until cooked through.  Add in the jar of Mid's sauce.  This sauce is thick.  I add in about a 1/2 jar of warm water with the sauce.  Remove from heat.

3. In a medium bowl, mix your small container of ricotta with 2 cups of Italian Blended shredded cheese.  Mix well, add in some salt and pepper, then mix in 2 eggs.  Add in salt and pepper to taste.  1/4 t. or so of each.  Set aside.

4. In a 9X13 pan (or a 10x10), put about 1 cup of meat sauce.  Then put a row of oven-ready lasagna noodles, about 1/4" apart.  Top the lasagna noodles with 1/2 of the ricotta cheese mixture.  Top the ricotta cheese mixture with 2 cups of mozzarella cheese.

5. Take your zucchini & onion saute and layer the whole thing on top of your mozzarella cheese.

6.Repeat, layering the sauce, noodles, the rest of the ricotta mixture & top all off with your Italian cheese blend.
7. Slice your heirloom tomato and place on top of the cheese layer.
8. Roughly chop your fresh basil and sprinkle it on top of everything.
9. Bake, covered with foil, for 40 minutes at 350 degrees.
10. Remove foil and bake for another 20 minutes or until lasagna is nice and bubbly.
11. Devour and enjoy every last bit.  Leftovers are amazing too :)

There ya have it!  Hope you add it to your menu in the coming weeks.  And if you do, please let me know how it turns out for you!

Oh!  And about Snow White.  She totally joined in on our lasagna meal.  She said it was the best lasagna she'd ever eaten, and that I was the bestest cooker in the whole wide world!  Such a sweet dinner guest ;)

Birthdays & Burma

On the first day of June, my firstborn, my baby, my princess, turned FOUR.  (tear).  I just don't think I'm ever going to get used to this "growing up" thing!  

Sorry if you follow me on Instagram.  I'm sharing the same photos from that day on the blog tonight.

She is such a beauty.  In all her fury, she is truly my sparkle and sunshine every day.

Happy 4th Birthday, June Bug!  I cannot imagine life without you in it.  Thank you for helping me to see the beauty in each day, and for (literally) making me stop and smell the roses :)  I love you with my whole heart.  I love you more than Sonic cherry limeades.  I love you so much it hurts.  You are forever my baby.  And yes, it makes me sad that you are growing up.  

On a completely different note, my husband is back from his trip across the world!  Hooray!!  And he's such a great Daddy.  He made his travel arrangements so he would be back just in time for Bug's birthday on the 1st.  Jet lag and all.  But he was with us to celebrate :)

He traveled a total of 10 days.  4 days of plane travel. 5 days of consulting.  Then he 'lost' 1 day traveling back because of the time zones.  We are so happy to have him safely home!

The internet was very shotty over there, so we were SO happy when Skype was working and we could actually connect.  Between spotty internet and the crazy time different (9:30 p.m. EST was 8:00 a.m the next day over there), it was a small miracle we were ever able to talk.  But without sounding ungrateful, I truly was so glad there were a few times were we could talk, and he was able to check in via emails to let me know he had arrived in different check-points safely.

Why Myanmar, you ask?  For his MBA.  This semester he did a consulting class that culminated with a big trip to visit the client and work for a week executing all of the suggestions they had come up with for her business throughout the semester.  M's class worked with an import/export business called Ocean Crown.  It was absolutely a once in a lifetime experience for him.  Myanmar (previously known as Burma) has just recently, within the last 3 or so years, opened up to foreign trade and commerce.  It was under a dictatorship for many years, and during that time, the country was 'closed'.  M's class and other peers from Indiana University's MBA program were the very first school to do anything like this in Myanmar.  It was quite an honor.

He had an awesome time, brought back some super cool things for me and the kiddos, and has finally acclimated back to EST from Burmese time in South East Asia.  

I'll have to take some photos of all the neat things he brought home.  I can't wait to wear my longyi to Church soon!  Bug got one too.  And the jewelry is gorgeous.  More pics to come soon!

But bedtime for now.  I've got a sleeping baby and must take advantage of the opportunity while it lasts :)

Catch up & Happy Saturday!

Whew!  My has our family life been crazy as of late!  Hence the blogging hiatus.  I've been THINKING about blogging, but just have had NO time to sit down and write!

But it's Saturday.  And Saturday's are usually a little less crazy than the Monday through Friday grind.

This morning I got to spend snuggle time with my littles.  Pretty much the best thing ever :)  We're finally on a good routine with Bug's early morning hours and Mr. T's desire to sleep in.  They've compromised on 8 a.m. and I'm just fine with that.

Around here, mid-May is prime garage sale season.  So after everyone had happy bellies from breakfast I took Mr. T for a little shopping.  We've got a crew of family coming up next month, so I wanted to find some fun toys for my nephews (ages 2 1/2 and 1) to play with.  I came home with some awesome dump trucks and plastic play tools.  Husband approved :)

Mr. T had his first taste of rice cereal this morning.  If I was a better mom, I would have snapped a photo or two.  But I can only do one thing at a time these days.  He ate quite a bit; not sure if he enjoyed it much because his face would squish up every time I gave him a serving.  But he ate it!  And he slept for a solid 3 hours, so I'm calling it a success ;)  Will try again tomorrow to see how it continues to go.

Husband has been traveling the last two weeks, which is why the blog has taken a back seat for the last little while.  He took his last work trip to Michigan and got home just in time Thursday night to go to Bug's spring preschool program.  Good thing, too, because they sang the cutest rendition of "He's Got The Whole World In His Hands" you ever did hear!

The reason I say Husband took his last work trip to Michigan is because he actually did.  Due to his position at the company, he's traveled countless times between two locations: Ann Harbor, Michigan and Georgetown, Kentucky.  But no longer.  Because Friday was his last day working for someone else.

This is a GOOD thing!  We are EXCITED!  We are taking the leap and following our hearts on a new adventure!  Husband has established contacts and co-founded a business aggregating the best of online retail sites, cool and innovative products, all to monetize well-known brands.  More to come on all of that, but that's the short version.  We are so blessed to be going in to this feeling the Lord's guidance along the way, and we have the BEST business partner/CEO.

That's right, little man!! ;)

Mr. T sandwich! At Bug's preschool program.

Oh!  And if you're looking for a really neat card, check out Treat.  I found them while uploading some pictures to my Shutterfly account, and absolutely LOVE how my anniversary card turned out!  It was really fun to personalize with our own photos and write my own message inside.  I only took a picture of the front but the back is super cute too.  Definitely my new favorite way to send cards.  I'll be doing one for June Bug soon...someone's turning FOUR next month!

So Happy Saturday, friends!  I hope you find a way to enjoy your day, whatever you're doing, even if it's just a few loads of laundry ;)

Great gift idea for the men in your life

Now that our anniversary is over and gifts have been given, I can now share the awesome find I gave Husband!

Harry's offers some sweet shave kits that are stylish, great German quality and affordable!  Back in January I spent a small fortune (seriously, I could have bought myself a pair of shoes for what I paid), on refill blades for Husband's previous razor.  When I happened upon Harry's on Pinterest, I followed the link out of curiousity about their pricing.  Boy was I pleasantly surprised!

I gifted Husband Harry's Truman Set in navy.  Blue happens to be his favorite color :)  This comes with the navy shaft, 3 razor blades & shave cream (which smells lovely and works great!).

So if you're looking for an awesome gift for the men in your life, Harry's comes highly recommended!  And you know those over-priced razor refills??  No more!  Because Harry's refills are $2!  And any orders of $5+...FREE shipping!  I call that a win all around.

www.harrys.com

And the winner is....

We had 25 entries!  And I almost couldn't contain myself last night from picking the winner!  But I wanted to wait and let my little Bug help out :)

So without further adieu, the winner of a box-full of sunshine is....

Kathryn Robinson

Love you to pieces, Kat!  I'm so excited to get your box-full of goodies together this weekend!  We're headed to Trader Joe's on Saturday, where I'm sure to find something tasty to add in and send your way :) Just PM me your address, if you would, on Facebook.  You can expect your package some time next week!

Thanks to everyone for playing along.  That was so much fun!  Hope you each are having a super week!  

A Box-Full of Sunshine!

Where has the time gone?? Seriously!  Last week flew by so quickly and I didn't even realize it was already MID-APRIL!

This is a big month for us.  Husband and I are celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary.  6 YEARS!  Again!  Where has the time gone??

We have lived in 3 different states, traveled to 8 states and 2 countries (between the two of us), had 6 different jobs (between the two of us), lived in 2 apartments and 3 different homes, tried our hand at the puppy thing 3 times (we're horrible!) & added two beautiful babies to our family.  What a crazy, wonderful, emotional, growing, experience these last 6 years have been.  I can't wait to see what we're up to this time next year.  Love you so much, Babe!

So with happiness, gratitude, and love in the air, I thought I'd pass on a little bit of sunshine to you!  To 'enter' my very first GIVE-AWAY:

1. Sign up to follow my blog! (1 entry)

AND/OR

2. Post a comment on this post! (1 entry)

One lucky friend will receive a box-full of sunshine from me to you!!  Literally, hand picked items just for you, wrapped up cheerfully and delivered right to your door!  And I'm not trying to brag or anything, but I'm a really great gift-giver :)

Give-away is open tonight at 9 p.m. EST and closes tomorrow (4/15) at 9 p.m. EST.

Thanks for reading, sorry for the hiatus last week, and HAPPY EASTER week!!

Nap Time = Craft Time

We recently moved our home office from an upstairs bedroom to a bedroom in the basement.  The previous owners finished the basement with one room down there that functioned as their office.  It's really a great space; huge window, french doors, iPod dock for surround sound.

With the switch, the guest room had to move upstairs.  And I decided to keep my office space upstairs, turning the guest bedroom closet in to my little office nook!  It's only been a work in progress for a week now.  And three of those days, husband has been out of town.  I'll post a full reveal when it's all complete.  I still have to hang curtains and move a few pieces of furniture around.

But I finished a couple of projects today for the guest room/office and had to share a quick sneak peek!  Mr. T has been a good napper today so Momma had time to get her craft on ;)

Take a $7 Ikea frame (20x20), Dollar Store craft paper, a stencil and a Sharpie...

...and some patience... (it took me a while to fill in all the letters after I traced them.  I used a fine tipped Sharpie)

And bam!  A fun piece of art to greet your guests!
(I know, the 'glass' in the frame is a super shiny!  It isn't glass, but a flexible plastic.  Looks great in the space, just hard to photograph!) 

Take a clearanced frame from Hobby Lobby ($6.24), a burlap canvas, some Dollar Store clothes pins, some black and white botanical art from The Graphics Fairy, and....viola!  A little something for above the bed!  The whole piece measures 12"x24".

I wanted to keep the accessories neutral so they'll be easy to change up on a whim.

Aaannnnd, to top it all off here's a little peak at Mr. T wearing some adorable monkey jammies from Grandma & Grandpa.  When we got them for Christmas I thought, "Geez, it'll be ages before he fits in to these!"  3 months and 2 weeks new, he's wearing 3-6 size already.  Time: SLOW DOWN ALREADY!