New York mama

This is just such a sweet little "mama love" movie I had to share. It comes via Nat the Fat Rat - a way cute lds girl who lives the NYC life with her hunk of a cute baby and hubby.




I have a blog crush on her. I couldn't explain why, other than her family is cute, she is a new mom, and an excellent writer.

Go Braves - Scrapbooking

Latest scrapbook page! Bradley's first Braves baseball game is something to remember for sure!
We had great seats with our family and Bradley stole his first hot dog (bun). It was so fun!
 
I used the Cricut to cut the letters, a punch to cut the stars, and I covered an existing chipboard frame with blue paper. Cute and simple!

Pasta: With Red Sauce? Are you sure?

Here in my household we eat pasta. No. We eat a lot of pasta. You could probably say with confidence that in some variation, pasta is what we eat the most, at least once a week even!

My husband's all time favorite food happens to be spaghetti, so naturally we end up having this often. Now don't get me wrong, I love a good spaghetti too. But I'm not so much a fan of "red sauce" pastas as I am creams sauces. (Probably for obvious reasons, its cream!) Spaghetti is the only red sauce pasta that I make, and I'm OK with that.

Although, did you see my food storage? I have a million cans of red tomato spaghetti sauce. There has got to be another way to use this sauce without over exasperating the spaghetti dishes. 

So I asked a buddy at work (thanks Joe!) if he had any good recipes. He said some kind of fancy name, because he is Italian, but it basically means Red Sauce, Sausage, and Pasta. So here it is folks!

Red Sauce Sausage Pasta

6 cloves garlic, diced

1 stick butter

1 pound pork sausage (could be any kind you want, I just got some Jimmy Dean.)

1 large jar/can red spaghetti sauce

1 cup Parmesan cheese (powder stuff you shake on pizza)

1 bag, or 8 oz, (2 cups I think) grated mozzarella cheese

1 box hearty pasta, like Penna or Ziti

(These are all just approximations. When I cook I tend to not measure. So I just throw stuff in and adjust, give it a try! Its fun!)

Saute your garlic in the butter (yes the whole stick) in a large skillet. Then add the ground sausage and brown off. Add the spaghetti sauce and let it thicken up a bit. Add the Parmesan cheese and continue to cook and thicken on a lower temperature.

All the while, cook your pasta.

Then when the past is done, toss together the pasta and sauce. Then melt the Mozzarella over the top of it and ENJOY!

I really didn't think I would like it. But it was SO STINK'N GOOD! I always associate sausage with breakfast foods. So to have it in a dinner pasta sounded weird. On top of the fact that, remember, I don't care for red sauce all that much. (Same for on pizza, but that is a while other topic really.) 

This pasta has a richness and depth in its flavor. I highly recommend it, because it is not only yummy, but very easy to make. And you can make it any way you want! Put less butter in, put some mushrooms in, try a different kind of cheese, onions (don't put onions in it, bleh), whatever you want!

 No meal is complete without some good vegetables, garlic bread, and my husband's Darth Vadar cup! Happy eating!

Summer Treat

I'm not a good cook... But I love to dabble in fun desserts!

I also worked at Rockey Mountain Chocolate Factory for a while and now I think I know everything about chocolate. And I definitely know everything about chocolate covered bananas!

So I whipped some up for a little girl crafty night I had at my house! If you want a recipe I used this one from Epicurious to get the chocolate/oil ratio. But it is really really easy, I'll go over the basics.

CHOCOLATE COVERED FROZEN BANANAS

Grab a sauce pan, 2 cups of chocolate chips, and 2 tbsp canola oil.

Melt over medium/medium high heat till smooth.

Take the pan off the heat and let the chocolate cool. (I thought it would harden right away... three hours later I could still dip my finger in and swirl the chocolate around... not that I did that or anything.)

Cut up some bananas, or other fruit, and start dipping!! Shake off the extra, plop fruit down in your toppings and carefully roll around till covered! Then, freeze your little dippers!

 Wala!! Chocolate covered bananas!!

Then I got this great idea!

My toddler- who had been watching my every move from a chair he pulled up to the counter - could help me with a few!!

 I dip, he sprinkles. 

It worked out very well. He was very very good at the sprinkling part.

 So I rewarded him with a bite!!

 Turns out he still doesn't like chocolate that much. He spit it out and wiped it on his shirt.

 A small price to pay for an afternoon of fun. Oddly, he liked the frozen chocolate banana version much better.

Note to Self: Get a kid apron.

Fave Things

1. Nation LTD tee - Odessa Tee
2. My Little Sewing Room - Handmade Pillow
3. Garnet Girl Designs - Green Amethyst Ring

It is raining outside, what can I say. I'm missing my Oregon gray tones, they are so comforting. I may have expensive taste this week, that blouse is $90... I would never spend that much on a shirt... or a pillow... but I would on a ring!! Too bad this one is over double that...

*sigh* wishes.