(Day 40) Tastiness and cuteness

Today was a good day. 
Liam was cute and played really well by himself (I could write a whole post on the funny things he said and did but I want to watch something fun with hubby before we go to bed); Brielle was darling and slept well; I got a lot of house work done and made an awesome, quick dinner that I (basically) created on my own. Which is a big thing for me. Hubby said it was one of his favorite meals he has ever tasted. Just to remember so I can make it weekly as he requested, here it is:

Tuscan Pasta with Tomato-Basil sauce

1 (20 oz) package four cheese ravioli or tortellini

1 (16 oz) jar four-cheese and tomato Alfredo sauce

1/4 c. Chicken broth

1 (14.5 oz) can petite diced tomatoes, fully drained

1/2 c. fresh basil, chopped

1 heaping tsp. dried basil

1/4 tsp. garlic salt

1/2 c. fresh mushrooms, finely chopped 

1-2 tbsp. warm butter

1/3 c. shredded parmesan  (plus more to spread on top after dishing)

--Prepare pasta according to package directions

--Meanwhile, pour Alfredo sauce into a medium saucepan and heat on medium heat. Pour chicken broth into jar, close tightly and shake well. Stir mixture into saucepan. Stir in tomatoes, basil, mushrooms, garlic salt and dried basil. Cook over medium-low heat for 5 minutes or until heated through. Add the warm/melted butter and stir to incorporate. Toss the sauce with the cooked pasta and mix in the parmesan cheese. Add more as you serve.

So there's the tastiness as promised. Here is the cuteness:

Him saying "cheese" with a crazy face

So story behind the pictures: For some reason, Liam is obsessed with my sisters water bottles. He has his own, but whenever he sees hers, he HAS to use it. It becomes his only mission. Well last night, after his birthday party as I was cleaning up, I noticed she left her water bottle he had been trying to get all night. I put it in a safe place so he wouldn't drink/back wash in it. Later the next day (today) I was doing something in the other room and it got too quiet. As I have learned in the past, that is not good. I came in to find a boy with a very "I am guilty of doing something naughty" face, staring at me and sitting on the counter. He had somehow climbed up, found the water bottle and was having fun drinking from it, as he knew he wasn't supposed to. His "guilty" face was so cute, I had to take a picture.

 my sweet, darling Bri-Bee all ready for me to put her to sleep...mmm sleeping babies is my heaven.

And here are some videos from last night that are so dang cute, I still laugh out loud every time I watch them: 

Liam practicing blowing out his candles while Richard got the Skype set up so my family could sing with us:

I can't get the other video of him actually blowing out his candles, which is so DANG CUTE....so here is the URL if you are interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXZJJLGbYF8

Hope you enjoyed the tastiness and the cuteness from my day today.

(Day 6) Success in the kitchen

I love to cook. A lot! My whole life I cooked by the books and I had to measure everything perfectly. My husband tried to encourage me to break out and make new recipes, but I was too afraid. I am a perfectionist and it extended to my cooking. My mom would laugh at how exact I was when I cooked. But my goal has been to try and not be so "by the books" and go on my own. Well the last few years I have been doing better at that and lately especially. The other night I decided to do the ultimate. For me ;) I have several lasagna recipes that we like and I wanted 1 ultimate recipe that would combine them all. So I tried the other night to combine all of them. It was scary and my kitchen got totally demolished. But it was a success!!! Richard said it was the best lasagna he has e.v.e.r had. So that was a big compliment. Here is the recipe if you are curious:

Red sauce (from my "awesome cook" friend SarahLynn)
6 carrots-pealed and cut up
2 garlic cloves-minced
1/2 onion cut up
1 tablespoon of butter
2-3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tsp of Italian seasoning.  
1 tsp Salt
Pepper to taste
1 bunch of cilantro-chopped
1 bunch of Italian parsley-chopped. 
3 cans of diced tomatoes
1 lb of hamburger
1 lb of sausage (didn't include this time, but plan to next time)
2 cans of spaghetti sauce.

Warm butter and olive oil in a large stockpot then dump in carrots, onions and garlic. Cook on Medium-Low heat until the carrots start to soften and onions start to turn clear. Add Italian seasoning and cook for an additional 3 to 4 minutes. Then add cilantro and parsley to pot and allow herbs to sweat out for an additional 3 to 4 minutes. Then turn heat to Medium and add diced tomatoes. Stir frequently. Cook until almost all of the tomato juice is gone (it will look similar in consistency to a chunky salsa but don't worry in a few minutes it will be beautiful). Now transfer that to a bowl and allow it to cool (probably at least 10 minutes) before placing in the blender, and blend until it is thick and saucy. While the veggies are cooling, use the stockpot to cook the hamburger and sausage. You will want to season it with a little bit of salt and pepper. When the meat is all cooked and the veggie herb blend is done combine the two. And then add two cans of spaghetti sauce. Let simmer for 30 minutes and enjoy hearty red sauce (next time I want to cook it ahead and let it simmer in the crock pot on low for a couple hours to make it even better).

Cheese mixture (combination of my mom's lasagna and the recipe from the noodles box)
15 oz. ricotta cheese
2 c. mozzarella cheese
2 eggs
1/2 c. Parmesan

Cook the red sauce according to the directions and mix together the cheese mixture while the red sauce is simmering. Preheat oven to 375 (I used no-boil noodles so this might be different using normal noodles). When both are done put 1 1/2 cup of red sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 13 in pan, a layer of noodles (for my noodles 5 worked), half of the cheese mixture, 1 1/2 cups of red sauce, noodles, rest of the cottage cheese mixture and 1 1/2-2 cups of red sauce. Cover with aluminum and cook for 50-60 minutes. When it is done, remove from oven and take off the foil. Put as much mozzarella cheese as you want (I used about 1 cup) and let it sit for 10 minutes at least. The longer you let it sit, the more it settles and is not runny. 

So yummy!! But warning, this is what your kitchen will look like:

That is if you have 2 needy and 1 crying baby who wouldn't nap to take care of while trying to cook. Luckily it cleaned up fast during the lasagnas cooking time. 


We inhaled it SO fast that I didn't get any pictures of the finished thing! But it looked like any normal lasagna, so just imagine that. 

p.s. yeah sorry I didn't post this truly on the 6th. I had most of it written, but didn't finish it because yesterday was crazy busy. Richard and I did go to the temple though! It was awesome.