Pioneer Woman Lasagna, Nana B Stuff (Name EVERYTHING), Judith Turns FIVE, RT Becomes a Three Year-Old AND Melia's Gift Card Tea

Good Tuesday morning!

I've been using my Pioneer Woman Cookbooks the last few months, and as usual, it hasn't been hard to find new recipes I like. The following is the best lasagna recipe I've ever tried...

And I don't think I'll be looking any longer.

Pioneer Woman Lasagna

You will need the following:

2 pounds hamburger
1 pound hot breakfast sausage
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
One 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
One 6-ounce can tomato paste
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt
10 ounces lasagna noodles
1 pound mozzarella
10 to 12 fresh basil leaves (I used 1/8 cup of store-bought basil.)
1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
3 cups low-fat cottage cheese
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
2 eggs, beaten

1. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, saute the hamburger, sausage and garlic until brown. Drain off excess fat. Add the tomatoes with their juice, tomato paste, 1/2 teaspoon salt and some freshly ground black pepper. Stir together well. Simmer over low heat, uncovered, for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the olive oil and a dash of salt. Cook the lasagna noodles according to the package directions until al dente. Drain the noodles and lay them flat on a piece of aluminum foil to keep their shape.

3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

4. Grate the mozzarella cheese and set aside.

5. Cut the basil into a chiffonade by stacking the leaves on top of one another, rolling them tightly and then cutting across. Finely chop the parsley. Add half the herbs to the meat mixture and stir together.

6. In a medium bowl, combine the other half of the herbs, the cottage cheese, 1/2 cup of the Parmesan and the eggs, and stir together well.

7. Now let's assemble the lasagna! Begin by laying 4 lasagna noodles in the bottom of a deep rectangular baking pan; the noodles should slightly overlap. Spoon half the cottage cheese mixture onto the noodles; spread to distribute evenly. Sprinkle half the mozzarella on top of the cottage cheese mixture. Spoon just under half the meat mixture on top of the mozzarella, and spread evenly, being careful not to disrupt the layers below.

8. Now repeat the process, beginning with a layer of lasagna noodles, followed by the cottage cheese mixture, followed by the mozzarella and ending with a thick layer of the meat mixture.

9. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan over the top. Bake until the lasagna is hot and bubbly, 35 to 45 minutes. Allow to stand 10 minutes before cutting into squares.

Nana B Stuff

Name EVERYTHING

Kids love catchy names for the activities they love.

Nana enjoys them, too.

Here are just a few I use when the Grand-Tots visit.

Windy Walks - Taking walks on particularly blustery days.

Puddle Jumpin' - Wearing old shoes (or no shoes at all) and looking for the biggest puddles after a rain.

Stacking Sticks - Helping Pop out by picking up as many sticks as we can in five minutes, and stacking them neatly for him to see when he gets home.

Reading Chair - The old, overstuffed chair in the corner of the living room with comfy pillows and soft, soft blankets.

Snack Rug - The little rug at the foot of Pop's recliner in the den where the kids enjoy goldfish and juice during a riveting show of PJ Masks.

Midnight Milkshakes - As soon as it gets dark and Nana finishes bathing the kids, Pop offers to take them in their pajamas for a Midnight Milkshake. (Midnight is a relative term since most of the time these milkshakes are purchased somewhere between 7:00 and 7:15 at night in the Winter... and just a tad bit later in the Summer because of Daylight Savings Time.)

Park Hoppin' - Taking the Grand-Tots to a new and different park 15 to 30 minutes away.

Driveway Day - Clearing the driveway of vehicles and pulling out any and everything we have in the garage (bikes, trikes, cars, bouncing horse, wagon, baby pools, bubble machines, bouncing balls, kick balls, etc.).

Dinner on the Deck - Any meal on the deck is more fun than a meal inside. It's a fact.

Splash Pad Picnic - Chick Fil-A nuggets or a Little Ceasar's pizza eaten at the picnic table ON LOCATION at the Splash Pad is always a treat.

Popsicle Picnic - On hot Summer days, laying out two, three or four beach towels and passing out messy popsicles is so much fun. And a quick jump in the baby pools or a squirt from the hose is quick clean-up.

Sucker Bath - If the day has been long and the child has been good, enjoying a sucker in the bathtub before receiving the actual bath is a wonderful thing.

There are more fun names for everyday activities. It just depends on what you and yours enjoy doing while you are together!

RANDOMNESS #1 - Judith Turns FIVE - That's right. Judith is five and Courtney and Josh hosted her birthday party at a gymnastics gym in Hartselle. Two inflatables, mats and other equipment in a giant room...

It was kinda great.


What's a perfect theme for a five year-old chick?

Unicorns!


Eden was in attendance and was able to play to her heart's content on the floor with her toys...

And no one ran over her.




I was happy to see Judith knew the correct response to the always perfect Cash Gift.


A party favorite.




The family that flips together, stays together.


I didn't post the video of my routine on the parallel bars...

Didn't want to embarrass Courtney with my superior skills.

RANDOMNESS #2 - RT Becomes a Three Year-Old - That's right! This little blue-eyed boy is now a big ol' three year-old!




On his actual birthday, Melia, Judith and I took him to McWane Center for a fun day.

His actual party was a few days later, but one of the benefits of being three...


Mom adds sprinkles to every food you eat during the day (and I mean EVERY food), and it gives the day that wonderful "birthday party feel."

Oh, to be three again!

NOTE FROM ENCHANTING BELINDA - I'll have some details and pics from RT's party next post.

RANDOMNESS #3 - Melia's Gift Card Tea - Melia had a Gift Card Tea recently, and it was lovely.


She looks really pretty, doesn't she?










This was my favorite decoration. Baby pictures of Austin, Melia, RT...

And even some of the New Chick.






Even though she received many gift cards, some of us brought baby clothes, too.

It was a very cute theme idea.

I hope y'all have a great week. I know not everyone agrees, but I am very happy with the cold weather we're going to have this week. I might even break out my coat!

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda

Yesterday I really wanted cookies.
Today I am eating cookies.
Follow your dreams!

My Favorite Things RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE, An Oxford Christmas, Christmas at Pop and Nana's House AND Christmas Day Visits

Good Wednesday morning!

As usual, we have a lot of things to cover, so let's get to it!

My Favorite Things RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE

Kitchen Blow Torch - I love the Crème Brulee at Surin West. LOVE it.

I also love the Bruleed Grapefruit at Big Bad Breakfast in Homewood.

And I love the Great British Baking Show.

Other than how many times I used the word "love" in the beginning of this post, what do the above three things have in common?

They all use a tiny Kitchen Blow Torch.

I decided I wanted one in the worst way for Christmas, and I was more than a little happy when it was one of the gifts I opened.

I've already tried the grapefruit several times, and the Crème Brulee looks like it might make an appearance this weekend.

I will keep you posted on other uses I may find in the upcoming days and weeks.

Little Women - First of all, I am a fan of all the Little Women movies AND the book. I went to this movie with no expectations except to wholeheartedly enjoy this movie, too.

Ten words...

It is my favorite Little Women movie of all times.

RANDOMNESS #1 - An Oxford Christmas - We celebrated Christmas with Mikie's side of the family the Saturday before Christmas, and everyone was in attendance!




Miss Eden and Brandi.


Lauren and Mackenzie.


Amber and Miss Eden.


Micah and RT.


All was going very well until we tried to get a great-grandkid pic with all seven of the kids...

Ages nine months to 11 years.


As you can plainly see...


It didn't go that well.




Me, Mike, Mrs. Faulkner, Becky and Guy.

(See how well we did?)

RANDOMNESS #2 - Christmas at Pop and Nana's House - The last two Christmas seasons have found me trying to simplify, simplify, simplify. I know I've mentioned it before, but I tweaked it even a little more in 2019.

First of all, I am going to list some of the "Christmas" things I don't necessarily enjoy doing for one reason or another...

1. I am not a good tree decorator. More specifically, I am horrible at putting lights on trees (real or fake). I have a pre-lit golden pencil Angel Tree in the living room which is no trouble at all, but my den tree has always been real, and since no one in my family appears to be allergic to it yet, I'm going to keep it that way.

This was the third year I went to the Tree Farm and instead of cutting down a tree, I found a pre-cut one I liked, had it flocked and picked it up two days later.

As I stated before, since I am not good at holiday illumination, I bought 24 little candles to clip onto branches of the tree. Once they are all clipped, I simply push a button on a remote control to make light!

I will probably purchase another set of 24 (and use six or seven of them), but that will be it.

2. I have 1,000,000 small ornaments, and not only do I not enjoy putting the lights on...

I am not crazy about hanging all of the ornaments.

And DO NOT get me started about how I feel about putting 1,000,000 ornaments AWAY at the end of the season.

To take care of this problem, I bought a dozen or so extra large burlap poinsettias to clip onto the branches.

I bought 18 small natural colored metallic balls and 18 red glitter icicle ornaments to add some pops of color.

Last, but not least, a golden star sits atop the tree and it looks pretty lit or unlit.

This year, I wanted to make the tree look a little more full (especially on the sides), so I purchased five stems of red berries. I just stick them into the tree and I leave them to do their magic.

3. I am the owner of three complete sets of Cherished Teddy Christmas scenes... the Nativity, Santa's Workshop and The Christmas Train. Every little piece is wrapped in bubble wrap, placed in a molded Styrofoam box AND then placed in yet another collectible box.

It literally took me forever and a day to set up those little scenes, and even longer to put them away.

You may be asking, "If decorating with a bunch of small stuff isn't your thing, then why, why, WHY did you collect all the pieces to THREE SETS?"

It's a good question.

All I can tell you...

In the late 70s and throughout the 80s, people collected stuff.

Lots and lots of stuff.

I had a refrigerator magnet collection AND a very large Country Duck collection during those years.

I can't begin to tell you how many ducks I've dusted in my lifetime.

Well, those are the BIG things I don't particularly enjoy doing during Christmas, but just to let you know I am not a complete Scrooge, I will now list the things I do enjoy...

Immensely!

1. I love working on and sending out our family Christmas card. I enjoy picking out my Christmas stamps, creating the card (Shutterfly), addressing the envelopes and walking them out to my mailbox.

I know a bunch of people who do not enjoy this particular task, and while I don't fully understand, I tell myself, "Christmas cards are their 1,000,000 small Christmas tree ornaments!"

And then I have some empathy.

2. I love going to the Tree Farm every year, and even though we don't cut our tree down any longer, we still walk around, drink hot chocolate and browse in the Gift Shop.

3. I thoroughly enjoy wrapping gifts. That isn't to say I am an expert gift wrapper, because I am most certainly not. However, for some reason, I DO like it.

4. I like cooking for our family events throughout the holiday. Again...

That doesn't mean I'm a fantastic cook, but I like the process and the tradition.

See? It's all about finding out what you truly enjoy doing during the holidays, and maybe concentrating on that a little more than some of the other activities that feel more like chores.

Or maybe that's just me!

Below you will find some of my Christmas pictures from our own little celebration...


Okay. This is my Christmas tree.


And one more shot just a little closer.


Also, all of the gifts in little stacks around the room belong to individual kids and grandkids.

Everyone gets four gifts (something to wear, something to read, something you want, something you need).

Also, each family gets a stocking and I like to tuck "memory gifts" in each of them. A "memory gift" to me is an activity for them to do with other family members sometime during the year to create new memories.

This year, Mike and the boys received a memory gift, Austin/Melia and Josh/Courtney each received a memory gift and Roxie and I have a memory gift. The gifts are never set in stone, and right now in January 2020, I have no idea what memory gifts they might get in next year's stocking.


The last few Christmases, our family has celebrated with Christmas Eve Brunch. This year, Josh wasn't able to get off work Christmas Eve, so we adjusted to the Sunday evening before Christmas.

Even though we had dinner, I served the food from our Brunch Menu which includes Hot Vanilla served with whipped cream and cinnamon, Tater Tot/Sausage Casserole, Fruit Salad, Cinnamon Biscuits (think Monkey Bread) and a small Biscuit Station with gravy, jellies, apple butter, etc.






I have always loved taking the picture of the unopened gifts, but my most favorite Christmas pic to take is ALL THE TRASH!






We had a Merry Christmas.

RANDOMNESS #3 - Christmas Day Visits - Since the Grand-Tots arrived, Mike, Roxie and I get up Christmas morning and make our way to Hayden to visit Austin, Melia and RT.

After a quick 30-minute visit, we hop in the car and drive toward Hartselle to check on Josh, Courtney, Judith and Eden.








I guess I should mention...

Those two 30-minute visits are on my Things I Love About Christmas List...

Just in case you were wondering.

I hope you and yours have had a wonderful Christmas season and a great beginning to 2020. I'll be back in a few days with a new post!

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda

"Parenthood: When you kind of vaguely mention something that you might maybe do on some hypothetical day and your kids take it as a blood oath."

Adulthood is saying, "But after this week, things will slow down a bit" over and over until you die.