mmm, mmm, good...

Tonight we had a very yummy dinner. "Cheese Lover's Pasta Roll Ups" Its an easier take on manicotti. I love cheese, especially pasta with cheese so this is a great recipe. The original recipe just called for a can of regular pasta sauce over top but I made my own sauce. I make it by browning Ground Beef and adding onion and garlic. Then add a can of tomato paste and a can of diced tomatoes. A dash of Italian Seasoning. One can of pasta sauce (Prego or whichever one you have on hand) add chili powder or hot sauce if you like a bit of a BITE to it. It also calls for Kraft Itailiano Cheese but I just used what I had on hand which was marble and it tasted great. Serve with garlic bread and a salad..ENJOY

1 egg, beaten

1 container (475 g) ricotta cheese

2 cups KRAFT 4 CHEESE ITALIANO Shredded Cheese

4 green onions, chopped

1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning

1 jar (675 mL) pasta sauce, divided

16 lasagne noodles, cooked

1/2 cup KRAFT 100% Parmesan Grated Cheese

Make It!

HEAT oven to 375ºF.

MIX first 5 ingredients until well blended.

SPREAD 1/2 cup pasta sauce onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish. Spread each noodle with 3 Tbsp. cheese mixture; roll up. Place, seam-sides down, in dish. Top with remaining sauce and Parmesan; cover.

BAKE 40 to 50 min. or until heated through, uncovering the last 10 min.

The Comfort Of Fall

One of my favorite things about fall is all the comfort food. I love making soups and chili in the crock-pot and have the wonderful smells filling my house all day long. I made one the other day which I have made before but it's so simple and so yummy I wanted to share it with you all.

Hamburger Soup

1/2 lb ground beef

1 med onion chopped

28 oz can diced tomatoes

2 cups water

3 cans Consumme soup (i didn't know what this was but you can get it in the Campbell's soup section in the store)

1 can tomato soup

1 can of kernel corn

1 bay leaf

3 stalks of celery finely chopped

4 carrots finley chopped

2 Tbs parsley

1/2 Ts thyme

pepper (to taste)

8 Tbs Pot Barley

Brown your meat and add onion, drain well. Combine all ingredients in a large pot or crock-pot. Simmer covered for at least 2 hours or until carrots and celery are softened. This makes a very large amount so if its for a small family you can freeze half or you can just have lots of left overs.

I am so sorry I haven't been good at keeping up with sharing the new recipes I am trying. Over the last few weeks we tried Easy Chicken Parmesan and it was a hit. Sticky Chicken was also a hit. I tried a new cinnamon bun recipe and surprisingly was not well liked by the family. I also decided to be creative one night as I had pasta sauce (with ground beef and mushrooms) left over from the night before so I made pizza subs (sort of) I toasted up some buns cut in half. Then put the left over sauce on and topped with green peppers, onions and cheese and put back into the oven and melted the cheese. These were really loved by all the family.

Here is a picture of the Easy Chicken Parmesan. I am sorry I didn't get any other photos of the other recipe attempts.

I promise I will be trying more recipes in October and November. I am looking for a really good squash soup recipe so if you have some please share.
Stay Tuned for more updates soon... If you wish to get the recipes for any of the meals I talked about just let me know and I will get them to you....

September: The Month Of Changes...

We have lived in this townhouse since march 2008 and haven't done anything really to it to make it OURS. September 09 came around and we finally had some funds set aside and went to a flooring auction and got a sweet deal of 65 cents a square foot for laminate flooring. The flooring that was in here before was old and yucky and the tile in the kitchen hadn't been sealed so everything I MEAN EVERYTHING that spilled on it (even water) would stain it. I was sooo embarrassed to have people over cause of the state of our flooring. Our sliding door also needed replacing. It didn't lock properly and it wasn't sealed right either. It was getting mold along the sides and it was leaking water into the house. So before we could put the flooring in we had to replace the door. I found a used sliding door online and got the price down from 100 to 60! I am very thankful that my hunky husband is not just EYE CANDY but he worked his buns off doing all these changes for us.

BIG hole where the old door use to be

new sliding door installed.

Kitchen before (ugg I am so embarssed that we had those floors for so long)

before

before (the wall colour was tan..but I wanted a change)

AFTER - whoohoo Love the colour...

all done (i do want to put up some art and get new towels but for now here it is..new color, new floor NEW FRIDGE)

I also found a used (new to us) fridge. its a 4 year old fridge that sells for 650 new and I was able to get it for 175. AND I found someone who paid ME 25 dollars to take away the old brown beast fridge....

Yucky old fridge (not only was it ugly but i hated the side by side cause nothing fit well in the freezer)

My new to us fridge..whoohoo

Summer Lovin'

Here we are September 1st. The beginning of my favorite time of year. FALL. I love fall. I love the smells and sounds of fall. I love the feeling of fall..a cool breeze while you wear your cozy sweaters, the heat from a wood burning stove etc. But I digress..this post is suppose to be about our summer and catch you all up on the goings on in the Meier house.

So August was loads of fun. First the kids came back after a 3 week stay at my parents ranch and my mom came with them! It was a great few days with her here. We took in the RCMP Musical Ride presentation and Mom got some snuggles and giggles from Little M. It would have been a perfect visit if only my dad could have joined us as well. (he was busy with forestry fighting those fires in the Okanagan)

Then D and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary by taking all the kids out for dinner and then went bowling. D's parents arrived the next day for the weekend. We enjoyed a trip to Coombs to see the Goats on the Roof and Cathedral Grove (where there are some really really tall trees). It was sad to see them go.

August 28th Little M celebrated her FIRST birthday. I still have a hard time believing it has already been a year since she came into the world and joined the family. We celebrated with a friends party at the park and then a family/close family friends party at a friend's house. Both were loads of fun. Little M has recently started crawling and climbing etc...up until a week or so ago she was more then content to just sit and watch and be waited on...I have to say I loved it. She was always exactly where I left her but now is the fun and wild stage of watching her get into things and explore the world around her.

The kids start school next week. I am looking forward to both of them being in full time school this year (half day kindergarten SUCKS). Big M is going into grade 4 and Little D is going into grade 1. It will be nice to have just me and Little M time everyday 5 days a week.

Well thats all for now..I leave you with a few more pictures from August.....

There's a Hero...

Tonight's dinner was HERO SUBS (aka Instant Chicken Parmesan Subs)and I was the HEROINE. It was loved by all.

I crushed garlic cloves, then heated olive oil in a saucepan until hot. I added the garlic and cook until golden all over. I stirred in chopped tomatoes (from a can) and seasoned with salt, pepper, crushed red peppers (be careful with the red peppers as I put maybe a little too much in so if you like it hot go for it but if you like it less then don't put as much in) and oregano. I added 2 chicken breasts cut into small chunks to the sauce on the stove. (Keep the element around medium to lower and let it bubble) I cooked until the chicken is cooked all the way through. I spread halved sub buns with butter and broiled till crunchy. I then rubbed the bread with MORE GARLIC (YUM, topped with mozzarella, the sauce w/chicken, and then more mozzarella. Broiled until the cheese melted. We ate it along side a Caesar Salad.

Finally One That Worked...

WHOOHOO, the new recipe I tried for dinner last night was a hit. It was a greek frittata. I have never made any kind of frittata before but I LOVED how simple and easy it was. I came home from getting my hair done and some shopping and threw it all together and in less then 10 mins it was in the oven cooking. it says to cook it in the toaster oven BUT I did it in the Oven. Next time I will add even more cheese then I did and tomatoes too. it does take 10 eggs but it was good and worth it..lots of protein..haha..here is the recipe in case any of you wish to try it...

Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil
10 large eggs
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 5-ounce bag baby spinach
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
4 scallions (white and green parts), thinly sliced
8 ounces feta, crumbled
Directions
Heat toaster oven to 350° F.
Add the oil to a 2-quart casserole and transfer to oven for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk together the eggs, salt, and pepper. Add the spinach, tomatoes, and scallions and combine. Gently stir in the feta.
Remove casserole from oven. Pour the egg mixture into casserole. Bake until the frittata is browned around the edges and slightly puffed and a knife comes out clean, 30-35 minutes.(check the middle to make sure that is cooked all the way through)