Since I have been staying home I try to cook every night. I don't think I'm a terrible cook (maybe I should check with Robert on that one) but I just don't really like to cook. I hate it actually. But I'm trying. One of my new years resolutions has been to try one new recipe a week. I have kept up on this resolution unlike pretty much every resolution I've ever made so I'm pretty proud of myself!
This week's recipe is pretty basic but way yummy so I thought I would share it. I just found it on allrecipes.com. It makes a bunch so you can freeze half or have it two nights which I always like. One less night of cooking. :)
Three Cheese Pasta Bake
1 pound uncooked pasta (I used penne)
1 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
6 1/2 cups tomato pasta sauce (about 2 regular sized bottles)
6 ounces provolone cheese, sliced
1 1/2 cups sour cream
6 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1. Bring large pot of slightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta in boiling water until al dente. Drain.
2. While cooking pasta, cook ground beef and onion in skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until meat is browned. Stir in pasta sauce, reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 baking dish. Layer the ingredients in the prepared baking dish as follows: half of the cooked pasta, all of the provolone cheese, all of the sour cream, half of the sauce mixture, remaining pasta, mozzarella cheese, and remaining sauce mixture. Top with grated parmesan cheese.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes or until bubbly.
Yummy!
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
You know you're a mom when....
....you're changing your clothes at the end of the day and find half of an animal cracker in your bra.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Family and Kids Pictures
I have been meaning to post these for awhile. They were done like 3 or 4 months ago. I don't know who's idea it was to have family pictures done RIGHT after I had a baby but whatever. The first 3 are when we had pictures done with Robert's family.
We also attempted to have Emily's 2 year pictures taken. She is a serious diva...or you could say brat! It was difficult to say the least and I eventually just gave up. This is literally the only one where she was smiling...
The rest were variations of this...
We also did some of Chase when he was blessed. He was much more cooperative.
I love this boy!
This one is sweet but also makes me laugh. Chase had started fussing so Emily gave him a kiss. I just love how his shoe is coming off.
We also attempted to have Emily's 2 year pictures taken. She is a serious diva...or you could say brat! It was difficult to say the least and I eventually just gave up. This is literally the only one where she was smiling...
The rest were variations of this...
We also did some of Chase when he was blessed. He was much more cooperative.
I love this boy!
This one is sweet but also makes me laugh. Chase had started fussing so Emily gave him a kiss. I just love how his shoe is coming off.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Emily's ER trip
We have had a lot of people call, text, and ask about why Emily went to the ER Friday night. Here's a brief.
Friday night I was giving her a bath and noticed a red spot behind her ear. I didn't think much of it but about an hour later when getting ready to put her in bed I noticed the entire side of her face was red. We took off her jammies and she had hives and a rash all over her entire body. Robert wanted to take her to the ER and I agreed. We met Robert's parents at the ER and they took Chase. By the time we got there her face was completely swollen and she just looked terrible. We gave her some benadryl and it improved only slightly. We were unable to determine the cause since she hadn't eaten anything different, no change in soap, and she hadn't touch or done anything unusual. The doctor gave her an epi shot and she began to improve immediately. He also wanted to put her on steroids for five days. They gave her a dose of steroids at the hospital and she immediately threw up all over herself, me, and the floor. Awesome. Naturally I was excited to have to go through that every day for the next five days. But she was thrilled that she got a new "dress" to wear home. It was really just a hospital gown but it had elephants on it so she was happy.
The final determination was that it was a freak thing and could be related to the illness that she has been battling for over a month. I guess her immune system is a little out of whack. She has been battling a stomach virus including throwing up, little appetite, diarrhea, etc for over a month. (I'm exhausted!) So we're chalking it up to a virus. Anyway, we put her to bed that night and she woke up in the morning with the hives back and this time covering her ENTIRE face. Kind of scary looking on your two year old. They came and went for about three days. She still has some spots that are very slowly going away but luckily no new spots are popping up. The worst spots are on her back. This picture was taken this morning. We're now on day 6 of these things and they're still hanging around.
So all in all nothing major or life threatening but another thing to deal with in a month that has been full of illness in our family. I'm beginning to wonder if we'll all be healthly at the same time ever again!
Friday night I was giving her a bath and noticed a red spot behind her ear. I didn't think much of it but about an hour later when getting ready to put her in bed I noticed the entire side of her face was red. We took off her jammies and she had hives and a rash all over her entire body. Robert wanted to take her to the ER and I agreed. We met Robert's parents at the ER and they took Chase. By the time we got there her face was completely swollen and she just looked terrible. We gave her some benadryl and it improved only slightly. We were unable to determine the cause since she hadn't eaten anything different, no change in soap, and she hadn't touch or done anything unusual. The doctor gave her an epi shot and she began to improve immediately. He also wanted to put her on steroids for five days. They gave her a dose of steroids at the hospital and she immediately threw up all over herself, me, and the floor. Awesome. Naturally I was excited to have to go through that every day for the next five days. But she was thrilled that she got a new "dress" to wear home. It was really just a hospital gown but it had elephants on it so she was happy.
The final determination was that it was a freak thing and could be related to the illness that she has been battling for over a month. I guess her immune system is a little out of whack. She has been battling a stomach virus including throwing up, little appetite, diarrhea, etc for over a month. (I'm exhausted!) So we're chalking it up to a virus. Anyway, we put her to bed that night and she woke up in the morning with the hives back and this time covering her ENTIRE face. Kind of scary looking on your two year old. They came and went for about three days. She still has some spots that are very slowly going away but luckily no new spots are popping up. The worst spots are on her back. This picture was taken this morning. We're now on day 6 of these things and they're still hanging around.
So all in all nothing major or life threatening but another thing to deal with in a month that has been full of illness in our family. I'm beginning to wonder if we'll all be healthly at the same time ever again!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Birthday Boy!
Saturday was Robert's birthday. He would tell you it wasn't the greatest birthday he's ever had. It started off a little rocky on Friday when I left his present sitting on the couch unwrapped. Oops. I forgot to put it away after it was sent by UPS (which is another no no in our house). Later that night Emily had an issue that required a visit to the ER and of course a large bill. We didn't get home until 1am so he spent his birthday tired and dealing with a sick kid. But at least he had the day off work!
The day was vastly improved (according to him) when I unveiled his cake that can only be described as awesome. I mean I am no professional cake decorator, but Duff and Buddy better watch out if you know what I mean. TLC will be knocking on my door. Not really but I was pretty happy with how it turned out considering I don't have much experience. Robert's favorite food is hamburgers. He could eat them until he is red in the face and then he will want more. He doesn't show it in terms of fat on his belly, but I'm sure the arteries of his heart probably resemble that of an eighty year old fat man. So I made him a hamburger cake. My good friend Jennifer from back in the day is a pro cake maker (check out her amazing cakes here) and she gave me some tips and assured me I could do it.
There were a few mistakes and the patty is a little off center but man, it's hard to make a cake like this with two kids. I don't know how you do it Jennifer!
We took the cake to Robert's parents house and celebrated with his family. Because of everything that had gone on we weren't able to make it to the grocery store like I had planned so we had no ice cream and no candles. I found what candles we did have so he ended up with this:
He got a 2 and then a 6 plus a 2. And there you have 28. :) Poor guy. Robert's parents were kind enough to take on two unhappy kids while we went to IN-N-OUT to have what? More hamburgers. When we got back to his parents house our kids were waiting by the door with coats on. I guess they weren't very good! But at least we'll remember this birthday. It may be for its awfulness but at least we'll remember it.
The day was vastly improved (according to him) when I unveiled his cake that can only be described as awesome. I mean I am no professional cake decorator, but Duff and Buddy better watch out if you know what I mean. TLC will be knocking on my door. Not really but I was pretty happy with how it turned out considering I don't have much experience. Robert's favorite food is hamburgers. He could eat them until he is red in the face and then he will want more. He doesn't show it in terms of fat on his belly, but I'm sure the arteries of his heart probably resemble that of an eighty year old fat man. So I made him a hamburger cake. My good friend Jennifer from back in the day is a pro cake maker (check out her amazing cakes here) and she gave me some tips and assured me I could do it.
There were a few mistakes and the patty is a little off center but man, it's hard to make a cake like this with two kids. I don't know how you do it Jennifer!
We took the cake to Robert's parents house and celebrated with his family. Because of everything that had gone on we weren't able to make it to the grocery store like I had planned so we had no ice cream and no candles. I found what candles we did have so he ended up with this:
He got a 2 and then a 6 plus a 2. And there you have 28. :) Poor guy. Robert's parents were kind enough to take on two unhappy kids while we went to IN-N-OUT to have what? More hamburgers. When we got back to his parents house our kids were waiting by the door with coats on. I guess they weren't very good! But at least we'll remember this birthday. It may be for its awfulness but at least we'll remember it.
Friday, January 22, 2010
My little boy is growing up....
Okay, so he's not exactly a grown up but he is already 4 months old! My how time flies.
He is literally the sweetest little boy with a great temperment. He doesn't even flinch when Emily messes with him. She is constantly pulling on him, piling stuff around him, and squeezing him and he just takes it. He really loves his big sister and watches her and laughs at her all day long. He has the cutest little smile that melts my heart. I think he has already taken lessons from Emily on how NOT to take a picture because it is virtually impossible to capture said smile. He eats like a champ, sleeps great, and is just the best. And not at all a mommas boy. ;)
According to the doctor he is already getting his bottom two teeth which explains the constant drooling and the hands glued in his mouth. He never stops chomping on his hands. So yeah, that should be fun. He weighs 15 pounds 1 ounce and is 25 inches tall. Pretty much perfect if you ask me. :)
One of those times Emily was messing with him....poor kid.
He dropped the links on his face and couldn't figure out how to get them off!
We are so grateful to have Chase in our lives. He is such a joy!
He is literally the sweetest little boy with a great temperment. He doesn't even flinch when Emily messes with him. She is constantly pulling on him, piling stuff around him, and squeezing him and he just takes it. He really loves his big sister and watches her and laughs at her all day long. He has the cutest little smile that melts my heart. I think he has already taken lessons from Emily on how NOT to take a picture because it is virtually impossible to capture said smile. He eats like a champ, sleeps great, and is just the best. And not at all a mommas boy. ;)
According to the doctor he is already getting his bottom two teeth which explains the constant drooling and the hands glued in his mouth. He never stops chomping on his hands. So yeah, that should be fun. He weighs 15 pounds 1 ounce and is 25 inches tall. Pretty much perfect if you ask me. :)
One of those times Emily was messing with him....poor kid.
He dropped the links on his face and couldn't figure out how to get them off!
We are so grateful to have Chase in our lives. He is such a joy!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
The things only a dad can teach...
In case you can't understand her 2 year old talk....she is saying chicken butt. Robert has taught her to say Guess What? Chicken Butt. It is pretty hilarious I must say. She'll just randomly come up to me and say "Mom, guess what? Chicken butt!" and then she'll laugh. The things a dad teaches his children.....
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