Baked Pasta

A big bowl of pasta smothered in sauce and cheese is what this woman who was feeling cold, with a cold needed last night. So that is exactly what I made. I forgot to get a picture of the deliciousness so I snagged one off of Google images that looked like what I made! I'll try and remember not to deconstruct my food before taking a picture next time! So you say you'd like the recipe? I just so happen to have that right here:

12oz pasta (I used whole wheat rotini)
4 cups of your favorite pasta sauce (I used left over all day sauce)
1 cup mozzarella cheese, divided

1)Preheat oven 350.
2)Boil pasta according to package directions, drain.
3)Add pasta sauce and 1/2 cup of the cheese. Mix well and place in an 8x11 baking pan (that is what I had on hand)
4) top with remaining cheese. Cover with foil.
5) bake for 20 min. Remove the foil and bake for another 10 min or until cheese is lightly browned.
6) Let stand 10 min, then cut, serve and enjoy!

This can be doubled with one pan frozen and cooked later! Do steps 2-4. When you plan on baking it, preheat oven to 350 and bake for 50 min then remove the foil and bake for an additional 10. Let stand for 10 min before serving.

Pets

I love animals. We saved a bunch of kittens (5 of them!) early this year and are down to 2 brothers. Diagonally and Princess Buttercup (don't laugh, we thought he was a girl!) are both orange and white cats. Buttercup was chosen to be ours when he was able to put up with Drake picking him up and carrying him around like a baby. Diagonally is just so pretty, that we couldn't say no. Plus they have each other to play with when we are asleep at night. Boy do they ever play when we are asleep at night!

Over the weekend we acquired a male Beta Fish thanks to my Mother in Law. The Hubs is stoked about this! He's a beautiful shade of red and I instantly thought "I need a nail polish to match him!"... anyway I ended up getting an email from The Hubs on how to care for a Beta. I thought they were just kept in covered containers because they are jumping fish and said containers were cleaned about once a week. Boy was I wrong! These little fish are much higher maintenance! So, that is the job of The Hubs. I take care of the cats, he takes care of the fish.

When we move to a place with a yard I would love to get a Labradoodle for Drake. I think a dog would be a great companion for a little boy (and his momma and daddy hehe) and would teach him a little responsibility. I hope to accomplish this by his 7th birthday. We'll see :)

Overall, pets are great to have around. They provide hours of entertainment and company. Now, if only I could keep Diagonally from plotting against the fish....

Holidays!

Starting around Halloween I get the itch to start baking and cooking for others. The weather cools (finally!) and I find myself just daydreaming about seeing happy faces and sharing my talent with others. So far I have made a Greek Pasta Salad for my husband's Halloween potluck at work, a dinner of beef stroganoff and fresh green beans with roasted red peppers for my in-laws and 2 butterfinger ice cream pies. This phase doesn't end until Easter.

I love the holidays!