Alphabet Soup

This cheesy baked penne is a meal that is easy to get ready, on will be on the table in about an hour. My people need lots of food, so I make a big batch when I cook things like this! Of course, homemade pasta sauce would be excellent in this dish, but I won't judge if you use prepared sauce (shhhh....did you see the jar of sauce in my picture?) I actually throw the onion in a mini food processor to chop it down into really small pieces. I have one of those kids that "doesn't like onion" and can find the smallest bits in dishes. Cheesy Baked Penne Katy | Alphabet Soup 1 lb penne pasta 1 lb ground beef 1 small onion, chopped 24 oz marinara pasta sauce 3/4 cup sour cream 12 oz provolone cheese, grated 8 oz mozzarella cheese, grated 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese Fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped (optional) Preheat oven to 350'F. Spray a 9" x 13" baking dish with cooking spray and set aside. Cook the pasta to al dente a...

Photo Credit:  Garrett Farlow  via Flickr  You've heard the phrase “life is what happens when you’re busy making plans”, right?  Well, let me tell you, a whole lot of life has happened in the last two years.  I haven’t been blogging much, and while I’m not apologizing to anyone for that, I will say that I have missed it.  I want to try to get back into a routine, more for myself than anyone else.  Of course, I totally love it when others read what I write!  J   Summer is fast approaching and I’m very much looking forward to a new season and a new outlook.  

At first, I have to admit I was a bit annoyed at my mom for buying me yet another random kitchen appliance. "it was a black Friday special, and super cheap, and I thought it was cute" she said. Might I mention she also bought me a Belgian waffle maker? And I already had a working waffle maker, so.....yeah. Anyway, the mini waffle stick maker. It actually is kind of cute. And the kids love dunking the sticks in syrup. It only makes 4 at a time, so it's definitely not for rushed mornings. Maybe I'll take the time to make a bunch and freeze them. Hmmm...I could put Doctor Who on the kindle to pass the time...there's a thought! :) Anyway, not a paid advertisement. Just the random musings of an overly tired mama! I hope you and yours had a very merry Christmas! Any random kitchen appliances under your tree?

Y’all, this is seriously the best oven fried chicken I have ever made!   Truly.   It was awesome.   I haven’t blogged in forever, I hadn’t planned on blogging this, but it needs to be shared!   In light of the fact that I hadn’t planned on putting this on the blog, please excuse the last-minute phone pictures.   I have been making variations of oven fried chicken forever.   My first go at it was when I was still a kid, and I made the cornflake chicken from the Betty Crocker kids cookbook (I still have it, but it’s currently in a box in the basement or I would take a picture for you!).   I’m proud of this most recent variation.     Some tips I’m going to share with you:   ·          I use the mini food processor to make the cornflake crumbs.   Be sure not to grind them into a powder, you still want pieces you can actually see! ·        ...

Back in 2011, I participated in a project called Frosting for the Cause.  My contribution was Chocolate-Coated Marshmallow-Filled Moon Pies.  Unfortunately, it seems as though that blog no longer exists.  In light of that, I am re-posting the story and recipe here, just in case anyone comes looking for it.  :) Originally posted Feb 22, 2011 When I first heard about Frosting for the Cause via Twitter, I knew I had to join in.   I was so excited to get the email letting me know when I would be posting!   I feel very honored to be a part of this.   Later, when I sat down to write my post, the emotions really hit me.   My grandmother has battled cancer not once, but twice in her life.   And thankfully, both times, she has won.   She’s a tough old lady!   Just don’t tell her I called her old.     And she is not the only woman in my life to have been touched by cancer.  A dear friend of mine, Denyse, recentl...

I've been making the littles some apple muffins lately, which they love, but I've been wanting to make something with pumpkin instead.  However, I've been stuck in a rut and just haven't found a recipe that I've wanted to try.  Sure, I have my stand-by recipes, but I wanted something new.  I can't believe I hadn't checked one of my favorite baking books ( Baking From My Home to Yours , by Dorie Greenspan ) before now.  A quick look at the index, and I found what I was looking for, All-in-One Holiday Bundt Cake.  It really does have it all:  pumpkin, apples, fresh cranberries, and pecans.  Perfect!  I even had all the ingredients, since I had picked up some cranberries on a whim at the grocery store this week.  I decided to let all the kiddos help me, and they were excited to.  Let me warn you though, I would prep the pecans, cranberries, and apples ahead of time if you're going to be making this with kids, especially young ones....

Several years ago, my mom gave me an old cookbook, it was hers but I'm not sure she ever used it, Favorite Recipes from Southern Kitchens:  Desserts .  I love this cookbook!  I thought it would be great to go through it and pick a recipe or two to use for this year's 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats series.  For this week, I chose a super easy one, Hello Dolly Cookies.  I have absolutely no idea where the name came from.  I'm really not sure I've ever eaten one before, though the ladies I shared the finished product with knew about them!  I did an internet search too, and it seems they go by a lot of names, including Magic Layer Bars.  Honestly, they are so easy to make.  There's no mixing required.  Kids could absolutely help with these.  The cookies smelled divine while they were baking, and I barely waited for them to cool before trying one. At first I thought "these taste almost like German chocolate cake", then "or d...

Let's take a moment to look at the calendar, shall we?  Let's see, yep, it's still September.  I tried buying some Halloween baking products today, but the stores were already sold out and replacing them with Christmas items.  And I complained about that on Facebook.  Yet, here I am, talking about Christmas treats.  According to the countdown on my phone, there are 89 days left until Christmas day.  So, in that spirit, I've joined Brenda of Meal Planning Magic again on her Twelve Weeks of Christmas Treats blog hop.  That's right, me, the Queen of Procrastinationland.  ;) This week, I made a pretty easy treat:  Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Bites.  I found the recipe through Pinterest (where else these days, right?) and thought they would be a great treat to make! Instead of using the individual caramels, I decided to try the caramel apple wraps found near the apples in the produce section of the grocery store.  They made...

Hard to believe, but a little over a week ago we had snow on the ground.  Today, it's 66 degrees and windy!  Snow never lasts long around here.  Ever since the Munchkin read "Little House in the Big Woods" a couple of years ago, he begs to make maple syrup candy whenever it snows (it's snowed 3 times this winter; that's a lot for us!) and this time I finally gave in.  Needless to say, he was thrilled.  And when the other two heard "candy" they were thrilled too! I found some instructions on Shelterrific that looked good, and off we went.  I got the syrup to boiling, and Munchkin got his coat on and waited {im}patiently by the back door to collect the snow.  I did make one mistake.  I didn't let the syrup cook long enough.  I didn't take the time to make sure it had gotten to the hard ball stage before taking it off, and in fact I'm pretty sure it didn't even make it to soft ball stage.  I should've checked, because while ...

Okay, so after my last post you're probably going to be shaking your head when I tell you that I've joined another cooking group.  :)  Brenda of Meal Planning Magic  has revived her  Eating the Alphabet , series, and since it kind of gets back to the "roots" of my own blog, I couldn't really pass it up.  ;) So, while I do complain a bit about Pinterest, I have actually gotten some good ideas from there!  One of the recipes that caught my eye last month was these Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins from Skip to my Lou .  I made them, with some changes, and they were a hit.  While trying to decide what to post for the A or B month, I thought these would be perfect. Hey!  That's Sprout swiping one while I'm trying to take pictures.   Yes, I know, banana chocolate chip muffins are not earth-shattering, but I healthy-fied these, and that made me feel much better about the fact that we were all popping these little bite-sized tasty t...

  Munchkin Like half the people on the planet, I've recently become addicted to enamoured with Pinterest.  I've been gathering quotes I like, and while I managed to not pin this one, it went something along the lines of "when we compare ourselves to others, we lose a little bit of our own awesomeness."  I've been struggling lately.  A lot.  And with things I don't really want to bother you with.  Trust me, I'm not good at sharing my burdens with others. Anyway, through Pinterest, I was led to this post by Adriana of Just by Living .  I'd never read her blog before, but this post hit home, in so many ways.  One of the things she says in her post is "My life isn't pretty enough for Pinterest."  I want to hug her, give her a high five, and cry on her shoulder because that is so how I feel.  I've lost a lot of my own awesomeness lately by comparing myself to way too many others.  I didn't start blogging to be...