Lasagna Casserole

I'm not a big recipe girl. I look what I have on hand and start throwing things together. Most of the time I do it pretty well. Here's the problem; I rarely make the same thing twice, because I don't remember what all I put in the dish. I will try to recreate it, and usually end up with an equally tasty meal but it's not the same as "last" time. So I decided I will write down my recipes. This way not only will I be able to go back and reference them, I can share them with others as well. I will warn you: I do not measure! I cook to Taste. I am a good estimator, though so you can trust my measurements and leave it up to your to taste!!



Here is what we ate tonight!

Lasagna Casserole

Ingredients:

1lb Ground Meat (I used turkey)

1lb Pasta (I used elbows!)

1 2lb 13oz jar Spaghetti Sauce

1/2 medium onion - chopped

To Taste - Garlic Powder, Salt , Pepper

Cheese Filling:

1Cup Cottage Cheese ( I used fat free)

1Cup Whipped Cream Cheese

2Cups (separated) Italian mix shredded cheese (1cup for filling, 1cup for top)

1/2 tsp each Oregano, Basil

To Taste - Garlic powder, Salt, Pepper

Preheat oven to 350*

Brown meat and onion, drain

Cook pasta according to package directions, I like mine al dente

Mix all ingredients for Cheese filling, except 2nd cup of shredded cheese

Lightly spray a 2 quart casserole dish

Mix, sauce, meat , and paste - stir well to evenly mix

Place 1/2 of pasta mix in dish

Top with Cheese filling

Add the rest of the pasta mix

Sprinkle with remaining cup of cheese (you can use more or less, we are cheese lovers! You can also use different kinds!)

Cook uncovered in oven for about 30min or until cheese is melted and pasta bubbling

enjoy!!

This recipe feed our family of 5 (that eat!) with plenty of leftovers!

I hope you enjoy this recipe should you decide to try it! I am always experimenting so check back and see what i can come up with!

Finding time

I don't know where all the time has gone. I start everyday with a plan. That's just the way I am. The plan never happens. I try to make time for detours. The only problem is I never seem to get back on track. And the time is gone.

I know that part of this is due to my children. And don't get me wrong I would do anything for my kids (yes anything!) I just wish they felt that way about me. I know they love me. I know they mean well. But sometimes mommy needs time to do her own thing.

I feel like time is being fast forwarded most days. Where is the pause button or at least the slow button. There is no way to get the time back and I feel like I am missing so much.

I don't even have time to write this blog...........

Just Plain Cruel

I will start off with a confession. We order pizza...a lot. I always save the coupons that come attached to the pizza boxes, because sometimes they are better than the online coupons.

So the last two times I have ordered pizza I have been screwed. The week of Christmas we ordered and the coupons had expired on 11-30-09. Seriously...what is that about?

Earlier this week we ordered from a completely different restaurant. I was excited because they had a great "family" coupon. We tried to order using the coupon last night (I told you we order pizza a lot!) and I get the message, "this coupon is not valid at this location."
So in other words I can't use the coupon at the same store from which I got it?? How does this make sense.

What is the purpose of giving us these coupons of we can't use them. I don't want your trash. If I can't do anything with them I don't want them in my house. The last thing we need is more random paper laying around, it's already starting to take over.

Thanks for letting me rant...

The Evil Old Women

Where to begin. My grandmother aka "crazy granny" hasn't always been a mean old troll. Even now and then she can be thoughtful, even if there are usually ulterior motives behind it. She is 89 years old and has Alzheimer's. Her alz. has progressed slowly over the years. She has had dementia for roughly 10-15years now. It hasn't been so bad that she has forgotten her family members (until recently and that was just a mix up with her great grand kids. And let's face it there are 4 of them now, it's a lot for hubby and I to keep up with), she just gets confused and her timing is way off. Every 6 months or so her mind will kind of "reset" she will forget everything that has happened, but let me assure you if something excites her she will somehow find a way remember .

She is currently living in an assisted living facility and I am her only living relative other than her 2 nephews and they reside in Fl. That being said, I am the only one around to take care of her. You would think that on a lucid day she would have enough sense to not anger the person that has this power. She calls me multiple times a day and will leave the same exact message, or if I dare answer the phone, tell me the same message and then get upset with me when I tell her I already knew (this being the 4th or 5th time she's called.) And she always starts off with "Melissa, it's granny", to which I always answer "no shit granny!". (She has a very distinctive voice!) She always expects me to react to her request right away. It doesn't matter if I'm at work, at home by myself with the kids, or lying in a gutter somewhere dying. When she beckons, she expects a fast response from me.

And a side note: I should add that she hasn't remebered my birthday in almost 10 years (she remembers my husbands though) and she called me a month ago wanting to go buy me a wedding present (we've been married almost 5 years and she already gave us a wedding present!).

Well today she was supposed to go shopping with my hubby to get my Christmas present. I told her yesterday that it wasn't going to happen today (the only reason she really cared was because they were going out for lunch!) She completely ignored me. I must have told her at least 3 times, he is not going to be able to do it. So of course today at 11:15 (he was schedule to pick her up at 11) she calls me wanting to know where he is. I nicely reminded her that I told her yesterday he was not going to make it. Well that was it. She started yelling and screaming. Called me a Scrooge and asked why I wanted to ruin Christmas for the whole family. I explained that we still had time and would try to resolve this the first of next week. Oh that wasn't good enough if it didn't happen today it was all my fault. Needless to say I hung up on her, several times. I tried to reason with her and she refused to listen, so I'm done......at least for now. I will forgive her because I always do. I know that somewhere in there is the sweet loving granny that used to be around. Every now and then I see a glimmer. I sure do miss her.

Growing up too fast

When Taylor was a newborn, I used to think about how things would be when she got just a little older. "Won't it be nice when she can hold her head up, or sit up, or crawl." I was excited and happy for each milestone, but as soon as they happened I was ready for the next one. My mom kept telling me "don't rush it, it will happen fast enough." She was right. Taylor will be 10 in April and she already has the tween attitude. Where did my sweet little girl go?


Madison is 2 1/2 now. She has also grown up fast. With 2 big sisters she has strived to do what they do and be "independent" from a very young age. She has wowed our Dr by how fast she learned to speak, especially in full sentences. With a 5 year age difference between her and Taylor, she has always been the baby. Now she is a big sister and couldn't be happier. We however are just really starting to notice how much she really has grown up. It's been there it was just hard for us to see because she was the youngest.


Now here I am with Abigail, who is 5 weeks. She has already come a long way since her birth. She is very alert, likes to hold her own head up, and is starting to smile in response to us (not just the gassy smiles anymore!) This time around all I can think is let's not do this too fast. We have decided that since Abigail makes #4, we are done. There will be no more babies for us until we have grand kids (please lord let that be at least 10-15 years!) Now I'm scared she's going to grow up too fast and I'm going to miss it and not ever get to experience it again.


Brianna is our oldest and my stepdaughter. I was not regularly in her life until she was about 3. I am amazed every day at how much she has grown. She used to be a shy little girl with a terrible temper! I am awed by her every time she is with us at how far she has come. She is 9 1/2 and has also hit the tween age. She however is a well mannered, overly helpful child... for the most part. she still has a temper, but is learning to control it! We have all sorts of rivalry between Brianna and Taylor (they love each other dearly), but I will save that for future posts!

Enjoy your babies while you have the chance. Don't wish for them to grow up too fast. We can never get that time back, but will always have the memories (and pictures!) Take this holiday season to appreciate the wonders that o are our children, even if you do want to strangle them from time to time.

Mean mommy

According to Taylor I am the "meanest mommy ever and no child should have a mommy like me". Yeah I know that's pretty harsh. It seems that Taylor has decided that since she is 9 she is a grown up and no longer has to do what her dad and I ask her to. Over the past year she has become more and more defiant. I have had moments where I won't let her get away with it and moments where I don't give a fuck and tell her can do whatever she wants I don't care anymore. Yes, I know I won't be getting any mommy of the year awards anytime soon.

Well over the past 4 weeks, since Abigail has come into our world! I have decided that I have a no tolerance policy now. This goes for Taylor and her sister's. I tell them up front what will happen if they don't listen and then I nicely ( I think anyways) give them until the count of 3 to do what I asked. Even Madison (2yr old) has figured it out and will usually straighten up by #2. Taylor just can't get it. And to make matters worse she argues, or will try and tell me what she's going to do. I just don't know what to do anymore. She has ADHD (BAD!!) and no impulse control, which is part of the problem. She is also the worst listener ever! So every night ends in a argument. She has yet to understand that when it's bedtime...it is in fact time for her to go to bed and stay there. I don't give a rat's ass if she can't sleep. I don't care if she has to pee 50 times (yes she will come and announce it every time she gets up to go), I don't care if one of her friends was mean to her at school today (I really do, but bedtime is not the time to discuss). She is "the queen of excuses".

So I told her last night that she was to get in bed at 0830 and read until 0900, then it was lights out. This has been our routine for awhile, but it fell out of habit when Abigail was born. Did she do it...no. Was she up out of bed 34 times...yes. So I told her tonight bedtime was 0830 and no reading time. Was she out of bed..yes, she just wanted to show me what she was going to wear tomorrow. Like I wouldn't see her in the morning.? When I told her tomorrow night she would go to bed at 0800 and no reading time she said "No, I will go to bed at 0900 when I'm supposed to". I then explained that from here on out, for every night she didn't go to bed on time, her bedtime would go back 30min. I told her if she had to come home from school and get straight in bed that maybe she would learn a lesson. That is how I became the meanest mommy ever. God forbid that I want my child to get a descent night sleep!

Hello again

It's been way too long Since I have written anything! I am determined to try and do better. I started blogging on Myspace a couple years ago. It gave me great relief and comfort to write about the things that happened in my life. I'm sure know one else gives a rats ass about my life or kids, but it sure as hell makes me feel better!

So much has happened lately! Abigail joined us on 11-4-09. For those of you that don't know us, she made #4. We are "blessed" with 4 girls. This labor was different than my others. i wasn't even sure I was in labor for at least 1-2 hours. then my water started gushing (this is what I was used to) and I knew it was time. Off to the hospital we went and she was born at 0629.

We planned this pregnancy so I could have the holidays off! (Not really but is sure works out well for us)! That is the main drawback to me being a nurse. We are required to work so many holiday hours and can ask for certain shifts, but they schedule us as they need us. I haven't figured out how to get out of it for next year. JK I will tough it out like all my co-workers.

Things are still hectic at home though. I thought I would enjoy being home and would have so much time to super clean and decorated and plan Christmas. I guess I was on crack and forgot what having a newborn was really like. She sleeps when she wants and not when I need her too. She has no concerns for what I need to get done........ I secretly love it though. I love her big grayish eyes staring up at me (hopefully in 6mos or so we will know the real color!). I love that I can stay up late and nap on and off during the day. I, however, don't love the fact that I'm grumpy, tired, and dirty (showers, what are those again!).

Oh well I have since forgotten the path I was headed down when I started typing. I guess that means it is passed bed time and I probably need some rest for the long weekend ahead. I will try my best to write some gibberish every few days as the mood hits and time allows. I wish everyone a safe and joyful holiday season!