Teaching the boys Fire Safety - a.k.a. makin' s'mores

It's Friday. It's Fall. It's gorgeous weather here. We are used to 100+ degree days, so when it's only 85 - we feel like it's 'totally fall' now. It's time to break out the sweaters, and jeans - well maybe just jeans and tshirts - but whatever ;)

Superhubs and I decided we were going to teach the babes about fire safety. Well, really we wanted some s'mores...

there's superhubs making the fire.

yo dad, whatcha doing? I wanna help...

fire fire fire
and at that point in time, we decided it was time for wookie to go to bed. that kid has no fear, and he was wayyy to interested in the fire. It was okay though, it was 7 and he was super tired, and a little cranky - so he didn't fight it one bit.

not one bit

Dewba enjoyed eating his 4th peice of pizza outside. He ate the rest inside, but decided he really did want one more piece.

the fixin's

marshmellows!
no surpise here, but the two year old thought the marshmellows were AWESOME!

night time fun :)

MMMMmmmmmMMMMMmmmmmMMMMMM

Have I mentioned I love FALL?

Savory Salisbury Steak Loaf - CROCKPOT!

You are about to see a lot of crockpot recipes in the next few months. I am working evenings now, so I am attempting to feed my family healthy meals while I am at work. So far it is working great. Thank goodness for crockpots!

this is cubed crustless bread, chopped onion, chopped parsley, egg, onion soup mix, tomato paste, garlic, worcestershire sauce.
mix well.
add beef.

mix well. I like to use my hands, I think it mixes better - but you use whatever utensil you want...
this is what it will look like - you could also form into patties, but I thought in a crock - it would do better as a loaf.

go ahead and throw it in the crock on high while you get the sauce ready.

the sauce is diced carrots, onions, frozen o brien tomatoes - I got a skillet out and put all of it together to brown. I then added tomato paste, can of beef broth, onion soup mix and let it simmer

pour it over the loaf

cover and walk away... it's that easy folks!

Best Lasagna ... EVER!

Yesterday was superhubs birthday. Superhubs loves lasagna, so it's my duty as his wife to make him happy on his birthday - by feeding him lots of lasagna. I think he had 7 pieces, so therefore, I did my job correctly.

This recipe is Ree's from The Pioneer Woman, it's simple, and it's to die for.

Here's the cast of charecters:

Simple ingredients, excellent taste

Brown the Hamburger, the Sausage and two cloves of minced garlic

it should look like this.
add the whole tomatoes, the paste, basil and parsley.

Let it simmer for about 45 mins or so, it makes the house smell delish... Mmmm Hmmm... Good!
In the meantime, bring to boil water add noodles, a splash of oil and a little salt (it's the only time you will have to flavor the noodles) Boil them al dente, and then rinse with cold water. I bring out my sheetcake pan, and stack the noodles crossways for an easier time later

Next mix together eggs, cottage cheese (trust me you can't tell it's cottage cheese) parmasean cheese and parsley.

then put together your assembly line

and start to stacking...
noodles

cheese mixture

Cheese- Sliced Mozzarella

Sauce

repeat!

Top with parmesan cheese
Bake at 350 for about 30 mins to bubbly
1-1/2 pound Ground Beef
1 pound Hot Breakfast Sausage
2 cloves Garlic, Minced
2 cans (14.5 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes
2 cans (6 Ounce) Tomato Paste
2 Tablespoons Dried Parsley
2 Tablespoons Dried Basil
1 teaspoon Salt
3 cups Lowfat Cottage Cheese
2 whole Beaten Eggs
1/2 cup Grated (not Shredded) Parmesan Cheese
2 Tablespoons Dried Parsley
1 teaspoon Salt
1 pound Sliced Mozzarella Cheese
1 package (10 Ounce) Lasagna Noodles
(add 1/2 Teaspoon Salt And 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil To Pasta Water)
Preparation Instructions
Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet or saucepan, combine ground beef, sausage, and garlic. Cook over medium-high heat until browned. Drain half the fat; less if you’re feeling naughty. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, 2 tablespoons parsley, basil and salt. After adding the tomatoes, the sauce mixture should simmer for 45 minutes while you are working on the other steps.

In a medium bowl, mix cottage cheese, beaten eggs, grated Parmesan, 2 more tablespoons parsley, and 1 more teaspoon salt. Stir together well. Set aside. Cook lasagna until “al dente” (not overly cooked).

To assemble:
Arrange 4 cooked lasagna noodles in the bottom of a baking pan, overlapping if necessary. Spoon half the cottage cheese mixture over the noodles. Spread evenly. Cover cottage cheese with a layer of mozzarella cheese. Spoon a little less than half the meat/sauce mixture over the top.

Repeat, ending with meat/sauce mixture. Sprinkle top generously with extra Parmesan.

Either freeze, refrigerate for up to two days, or bake immediately: 350-degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes, or until top is hot and bubbly.

Meet Superhubs, dewba doo and hehe.
hehe goes everywhere (almost everywhere) with us. That night hehe wanted to wee (slide) so we went outside to wee..
(we had so much fun! Wookie was sleeping, and it's nice to have big boy fun)

and we went wee and wee and more wee!

I have to say there were lots of giggles, but there was also a lot of serious talk too...

Carnival Time

I love our little big town, or should I say big little town - either way, it's a great place to live and a great place to raise the boys.

This past weekend, they had a carnival and rodeo. While we didn't make it to the rodeo - because it started at 8pm, and little boys go to bed at 7pm... We did make it to the carnival, the weather was beautiful and it had great rides and lots of booths. The boys enjoyed themselves, and Superhubs and I enjoyed the free family date!

and here's batman running wild through the field

It was a great night, when we came home - we realized we lived close enough to walk to the rodeo - so all 4 of us, came back to the house unloaded the stroller and walked to see the 'hewses' (horses) Dewba doo and I got to watch some of them being prepped, and got to walk close enough to pet them, he then wanted to come home and watch woowee (woody...aka toy story) Normally, he thinks he is buzz, but that night for a few magical moments - he was woowee. Love that kid!

Apple Cobbler Makes the house smell FALLTASTIC

I've decided that's my new favorite word. Falltastic, I mean - how cool is that. I made it up. last night. while trying to find a new fall scentsy scent to put in the scentsy. I opted to go with Vanilla Suede. It fit my falltastic mood.

Apple Cobbler.
WOW!
It was good. So good, it's almost gone today.

Here's the cast of charectors. Mama always taught me to get everything out first, then put it away when you have added it to the bowl - that way you know you didn't forget an important ingrediant. My mama sure is a smart one - I think I'll keep her. I'll loan her out to you, but only if you really nice, or rich... I might loan her out for money, but it would have to be a short term loan.

Oh - back to blogging, here's the cast.

8 tart apples, peeled & sliced

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 c. brown sugar

1 c. sugar

1 c. flour

1/2 c. melted butter

1 egg

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 c. chopped nuts

Place sliced apples in 9 x 13 inch buttered baking dish. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle the apples with half of this mixture. Combine sugar, flour, eggs, vanilla, salt and baking powder. Spread over apples. Sprinkle remaining brown sugar and cinnamon mixture and nuts over contents. Pour melted butter over the top. Bake at 375 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes or until apples are fork tender

Before and After!
Next time I'll add more apples, and a little less butter...


oh - and while it's baking - making the house smell FALLTASTIC, go outside and play on the swingset. It's a requirement.

New Neighbors!

We have new neighbors. We 'met' them at the pool the other day, but I didn't realize they were the new ones across the street. They have two boys - naturally, I want them to be our new best friends, so I though we should bribe... er, I mean welcome, yes welcome them to the neighborhood with a batch of brownies.

Okay, so it was in my cabinet calling my name - and I don't think you should screw with brownies -so we opted for the box - I mean why make it harder on your self then need be.

Start with a box of brownies. Add egg oil and water. (mix liquids together first and then add the powder - it's a better mix that way!)

Let wookie woo play with the box while mixing it up, and then let him try the brownie batter. It makes wookie really happy to try new things, and act like a big boy!

put the batter into the oven and let cook - read the package, it'll tell ya everything you need to know (the beauty of the box!)
Then let dewba doo try the batter, and an oreo... I mean, he was really patient while we stirred the batter!

go outside to play while the brownies bake (this is one of the best parts of baking brownies - you get at least 30 mins of free time!)

you can throw mulch on your brother

and then show brother how to play with the mulch

huh... mulch... cool...

Then before you know it, you're all mulched out and TA DA - Brownies are done!

let 'em cool then run them over to your new neighbors... become best friends, or at least friends that say 'hey, wzzup' when you see one another!