Recipe: Homemade Lasagna

Homemade Lasagna

Ingredients:
Lasagna noodles
1lb. hamburger meat
Spaghetti Sauce of choice
Different kinds of shredded cheese (I use Mozzerella, Cheddar, and Colby/Jack, along with sprinkle Parmesan cheese)

Brown your hamburger meat and boil your lasagna noodles. Pour your sauce into a large bowl and mix with browned hamburger meat. In your pan, layer noodles. I use scissors to trim mine to whatever size of pan I use that time (sometimes I make smaller pans, other times I make larger ones -- which obviously requires more or less noodles). I usually average using between 6-9 noodles (depending on size). Line noodles up in pan going the same direction. Apply a layer of meat/sauce, then sprinkle on a layer of each kind of cheese (parmasan too). Then I layer the noodles the opposite direction of what I layered the first set. Layer of meat sauce and cheese, then if my pan is deep enough I keep doing this until there is no more room. This time, I only had room for 2 layers of noodles.. but anyway. At the top, I add a little more cheese than I normally would and bake on 350° for about 20 minutes or until the cheese melts and is brown on top.
*Garlic bread is always a delicious side to go with and my kids love this! Enjoy!

ABC's of me!

The ABC’s of Me:
A. Age: Twenty-three.

B. Bed size: Queen, but I want a California King!

C. Chore you dislike: Putting away laundry.

D. Dogs: Snowball ♥

E. Essential start to your day: When Callie wakes up for a bottle. That is, unless Addison beats her to it and climbs out of bed and starts romping the house -- then I'm up for the day!

F. Favorite colors: Blue

G. Gold or silver: Silver

H. Height: 5'4"

I. Instruments you play(ed): None.

J. Job title: Mom, wife, photographer, dietary cook/aide/dishwasher/buffet server, and hopefully after I finish school, I'll be a Certified Surgical Technologist! Unless I change my program before that time comes ;)

K. Kids: I have three! Gunner, who is 3. Addison is 1 and Callie is 2 months old. And yes, we are finished expanding our corner of the Earth! Lol

L. Live: (Western) Kentucky

M. Mom’s name: Pamela

N. Nicknames: Sis, Rocka, Karadid, Sissy

O. Overnight hospital stays: Just when I had my kids (or when I was in the hospital during pregnancy due to dehydration or complications)

P. Pet peeves: Correct usage of words: their, there & they're! And to, two, & too..

Q. Quote from a movie: "You're Joe Meteorite and I'm Joe Dirt!" ~Joe Dirt (my sister and I can quote this whole movie word for word, lol)

R. Righty or lefty: Righty.

S. Siblings: 1, Kaysie who is 17.

T. Time you wake up: Whenever my kids do, unless I have to be up for an appointment, class, or something else.

U. Underwear: Underwear.. yeah I need to purchase some new underwear!

V. Vegetables you don’t like: I hate anything green, tomatoes, squash.. or pretty much I hate anything except potatoes, carrots and corn.

W. What makes you run late: SEAN! He is the world's worst about making a person late. You can tell that man a deadline 2483948 times and he will still either make you there A MINUTE BEFORE (where you're stressing really bad because you might be late), or you will be late. End of story.

X. X-rays you’ve had: When I was a kid, I fell off a trampoline and I know I had to have x-rays of my neck, back/spine and so on. I've never broken anything before, though.

Y. Yummy food you make: Lasagna, cookies.. I'm a fan of just about anything I cook!

Z. Zoo animal you like: Elephants!

Summer Mini Sessions

A few shots from my mini sessions that I hosted not this past, but the last weekend!






Blake, an adorable little boy I've had the pleasure of capturing ever since he was 2 months old.


My little sister, Kaysie, and her boyfriend.








Kenzlei and Kaijain, an adorable sibling session!










Baby Wyatt! :) (One of my best friends, Leah's little boy)














Sarah + Kord, a couple I've shot with once before who are so photogenic and up for anything!


I had a blast and I hope they all did too. Not to mention, for my location, I was pretty pleased with the outcome of the images!

And life changes.. Again.

Monday was just a normal day for me. Got up, got ready and went to the doctor to get my release for work and a post-surgery check-up. Now the backstory on things: About 4 days prior, Sean had applied for a job online. One that was very similar to a job he applied for a few months prior and didn't get. Sunday night, he got a text message on his phone inviting him to a job recruitment that he had been emailed about, but hadn't bothered to check. He's a man, he's not so good at those things. Anyway, fast forward. Monday comes. Job recruitment at 1pm. He fills out information about hearing about said job. Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork. Background check, and then it's interview time. They tell him he will hear in a few days (or more like a week) if he got the job or not and that they would let him know either way. He lost his job back in May right before I had the baby, so it felt good to just know he was looking for work. After the outcome of the previous job attempt, I never expected this. But a few days passed and we got this e-mail:

"Congratulations, based on your interview and assessment results Loram Maintenance Of Way would like to make you a conditional job offer for our General Laborer position. Please contact me via email at your earliest convenience if you are interested in pursuing this opportunity."

So.. our life changes. This is a traveling job. By traveling I mean, good money. Great benefits, but he's gone 6-12 weeks at a time and then home for 2. Then leaves again.. and so on and so forth.

I have never been alone. I'm left to deal with this. It's bittersweet. I'm terribly happy for him.. so excited. Couldn't be more happy for him to have this opportunity. But I'm left behind, with our three kids.. to raise pretty much by myself. All of their firsts, strictly for my viewing..

And my heart is breaking. I don't want to keep him from this opportunity, though. I would regret it my whole life and wonder What If? .. I'd feel guilty, like I kept him from something he wanted. His sister told me, "He always told me when we were kids that he wanted to see the world. And that he would.. He always said he would." Well, nows his chance.

Recipe: Sugar Cookies

Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:
2¾ c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
1 c. butter, softened
1½ c. white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Makes 48 cookies, approx; Preheat oven to 375°F. In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and place onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

*These are red because I asked my husband to pick a color and he picked red. I was tired of the plain ole' sugar cookie look! I also put my thumbprint on the top of each cookie before I stuck them in the oven and sprinkled sugar down in the thumbprint for a thin, sugary coating.


3 year old approved!

Fix-It Friday #151 with Julie Rivera Photography

Fix-It Friday #151 with Julie Rivera Photography.


Before


After


Another edit (b&w version)


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Recipe: Doodle's Surprise

This is probably my favorite pasta dinner. It's so delicious. Named "Doodle's Surprise" because my Aunt (nicknamed Doodle) is the one who came up with mixing the perfect amount of ingredients together & it just STUCK! :) It's quick, easy, & delish! Ready now? With pictures, of course.

Ingredients:

Velveeta Shells & Cheese

Ragu Spaghetti Sauce (I use Mushroom & Green Pepper for the flavor, but you can use whatever kind you like)

6-8 slices of cheese, depending on the size of the pan you are using

1-2lbs. hambuger meat

Getting Started:
* Preheat your oven to 425°F.

Brown your hamburger meat and in a seperate pan, put your noodles on to boil.


Strain and rinse hamburger meat.


Make sure you non-stick your pan first, but then add your hamburger meat to your pan. I always use this really small dish because it's my favorite, but you can use a bigger size if needed. This dish typically makes around 8 servings. For more, I'd suggest a bigger pan & doubling the noodles & sauce.


This is optional. I always put my spaghetti sauce through a strainer and hold it over my meat pan. I don't like mushrooms & peppers, but I love the flavor it gives. If you like those things, then this step isn't necessary, but if you don't - it's a life saver from having to pick them out later!


Pictured above: Meat & sauce after straining the mushrooms & green peppers from the sauce. Like I said, completely optional! Or if you're in a hurry and don't mind the taste of the peppers & mushrooms, it just saves you a step from having to strain them out.


Pictured above: All of the strained-out mushrooms, green peppers, tomates & extra stuff from the spaghetti sauce. After straining them, feel free to toss them on out!




Remove noodles from stove once they are nice & done. Strain them as well, then add to your meat & sauce pan.




Next, pour ontop your velveeta cheese. And mix mix mix mix mix.


Once mixed well, add on a top layer of sliced cheese. I usually cover the whole pan with cheese.


Bake for about 30 minutes or until cheese browns. Remove from oven, let cool, and DIG IN!!


Yummy?


Why yes! Yes it was!


Good side dishes:
Garlic bread! Or just any kind of bread, really.

Oh yeah, I forgot the warning.
VERY CHEESY!! Haha.

:) Enjoyyy.


This was posted to an older blog entry and had pictures still from before, so I just copied and pasted. Hope you guys enjoyed it!

Recipe: Garbage

No image yet
Garbage

Ingredients:
1 stick butter
1 pkg. chocolate chips
1 tsp. Peanut butter
1 lg box Chex cereal
1 lg box raisins
1 jar Nuts
1 lb. Powdered sugar
1 white garbage bag


approx 32 servings; Use what nuts, etc. that you like. If you really like chocolate chips, use a bigger package. Melt the butter, chocolate chips, and peanut butter in a saucepan. In a very large bowl, place the Chex Cereal, the raisins, and the nuts. Pour the melted ingredients over the dry ingredients in the bowl and mix. Put the entire mixture into a white garbage bag. Add 1 pound of powdered sugar and shake. Snacks galore!

What's for Dinner? Wednesday

What's for dinner, you say? Tonight we had: pot roast w| gravy (thanks, crockpot!), mac & cheese, carrots, corn, green beans (not pictured), and biscuits! Yum yum yum yum.. yum.





What did you have for dinner?

Wordless Wednesday: Lunchtime!