Stuffed Shells & Simple Pleasures

Brodey is pretty easy to entertain. Scooby Doo will do the trick for as long as I let him sit there glued to the tv. When I feel like he has had enough it's pretty easy to find something for him to do. When I was little the only time we got to play with the garden hose was if we had a Slip and Slide or when we were getting hosed off before we were able to come in the house. It was just too muddy for us to really be able to play with the garden hose. Where we live now (in Tahlequah on a hill) we can get 6 inches of rain and it's gone in about 5 minutes. I can't plant anything or even stick a shephard's hook in the ground because it's that solid. We have about an inch of soil and the rest is rock so when I need to entertain Bro while I'm outside I just hand him the garden hose. He can spray that thing forever and no mud. It's great!
I looked over at him today in his little pull ups and PJ top and thought "my gosh the money we spend on toys and I can give the kid a garden hose and he's happy." ~ Don't worry environmentalists. I put a limit on his spray time. ;)
So I guess this weekend we are headed back to the lake! Tomorrow we have a birthday party for Citi (Eric's grandma) to go to. It isn't until later so we get to be lake trash the rest of the day and weekend. I just wish I had my little point and shoot fixed. Ah well!
So Natalie requested the recipe for Stuffed Shells. Brodey LOVES this dinner. I am always searching magazines and cookbooks for new dinners to cook. It gets old cooking the same thing when you have to cook dinner 7 nights a week. Most of the time the recipe gets changed to fit what my family likes to eat. Eric wants garlic in everything. I stick onions in just about everything I cook. This recipe is originally from a Paula Deen magazine and called for Turkey and spinach. I replaced the turkey with ground beef and sausage and nixed the spinach. Eric LOVES spinach, but not in his food. Go figure.
Brodey is so used to me cooking with onions and peppers that he has become a really good eater. He will eat broccoli, guacamole, and just about anything else we put in front of him. He might not like it, but he WILL try it!
Oh before I post this recipe I have to point out that with dinner we do no calorie counting. I count calories all day long with what I eat, but at dinner I just eat what I want but a small amount. So if you are trying to lose weight, you might try to change things about this recipe to make it suit you and your family. In this house when we eat dinner...we EAT! ;)

Stuffed Shells
1 pound ground beef
About 1/4 package of sausage (optional) I use the little Jimmy Dean roll
1/2 yellow onion (chopped)
1/2 Red Bell Pepper (chopped)
1 8oz Package of Cream Cheese, softened
3 Cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
2 Cups Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 Package of Jumbo Pasta Shells (this amount will fill up a 9x13 inch baking dish)
1 10oz Jar of your favorite pasta sauce (I use Ragu Marinara)

Preheat oven to 350. Spray your 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.
Boil your jumbo shells as directed on the package. Drain and rinse your shells and set aside.
(optional) Crumble and cook your sausage in a small skillet until done. Set aside.
In a large skillet season and cook your ground beef until almost done. (I season mine with minced garlic, salt, and pepper) Add your red pepper and onion. Cook until beef is done and onions are translucent.
Add your cooked sausage to the beef mixture. Stir your sofened Cream Cheese into the sausage/beef mixture. Once that is mixed stir in 2 cups of mozzarella cheese and the grated parmesan cheese. (the mixture will be thick)
Spread about 1/2 cup of the pasta sauce onto the bottom of the baking dish.
Spoon beef mixture into cooked shells and lay them in the bottom of the baking dish. Pour remaining pasta sauce over shells.
Cover and cook 45 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese and cook uncovered for an additional 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted.

*If you like spinach just add 1 10oz package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and dranined to the beef mixture before you stuff the shells!

And that's how you make the stuffed shells! They are SO good! I actually think they are better the next day for lunch! When I cook these I also make a baked potato and a green salad.
If anyone makes this let me know if you like it! If you have any questions or if I goofed typing it out let me know too!
Well I'm off to clean this house of mine! I hate coming back to a dirty house after a fun weekend!
I hope you have a fun one too!
LUV APRIL

21 Days

Wow I can't even believe it's been 21 days since I last blogged. I'm really going to have to get back into the groove. Now that summer has arrived I should have plenty to blog about. Winter is so boring.
I had an awesome Memorial Day weekend! We went to Holdenville Lake (as usual) and had so much fun! We played horseshoes until 2. We busted the taco (our large/flat tube) and the boys tried to do barrel rolls on a tube we found at Wal-Mart. It wasn't small enough to do the trick! Maybe we can find a smaller one!

Brodey has so much fun! I think he has more fun each year he gets older! He loves to ride around on the 4 wheeler with Poppa and he loves to swim. He is just like me when I was his age and hates to go in the boat! Why would you want to go in the boat when there is a whole beach of sand to play in? ;)

I can't wait to go back!!!
It's so cool here today! Brodey and I went out to water the plants and we headed right back in! 50-something degrees is not good first thing in the morning in shorts!! LOL It woke us up!
I HAVE to get my little point and shoot fixed. It broke a few weeks ago and I didn't realize how often I used it until I didn't have it! I always take it to the lake and it's so much easy to carry around than the huge camera! I really missed it! I don't take as many photos if I don't have it and I can't do videos with the big camera! I have to get that thing fixed!

Okay so if you are on Facebook you have to add me as a friend! I'm so addicted! It's so much fun! I love reading everyone's updates and looking at everyone's photos!!

Okay so I have to do a little bragging. :) I have a layout in the June issue of Scrapboks Etc and I'm excited about that because it's my first pub with them! Yeah! I also have layouts in May and June Creating Keepsakes (which are both out now) AND one of the layouts is also featured online HERE! I discovered it today and had to share! I know that I have some family members who want to know ahead of time what layouts I will have coming out. To keep up with that all you have to do is click on "scrapbook resume" at the top of my blog on the right! Okay tooting time is over! I was just excited and had to share! ;)
Okay I'm off to get dinner started! Stuffed shells tonight! YUM! Since it's so cool outside I get to cook in the oven!
Goodnight!!!
LUV APRIL

Back Home!

Well I just got back home from Shawnee/OKC!
I got my hair done. I got to see my sister and Danielle! YEAH! Then Bro, Mom, Dad and I headed to OKC. We only made it to Sam's, Dillard's and to eat. I'm trying to use my new Clarisonic but it won't work. I'm thinking I need to charge it and try again tomorrow. Oh and I have to take a trip to Wal-Mart tomorrow. I dropped my point and shoot camera yesterday and broke it. Thank goodness for extended warranties! ;)
Off to bed! Goonight!
LUV APRIL

Jewelry Art?

Well maybe not ART, but I think it looks pretty! I have wanted to put out the necklaces I wear the most and this was my solution today. Who knows I might figure out another way, but this works now! I bought four new ones at American Eagle the other day and I didn't want to put them away in my jewelry cabinet just yet. They were too pretty to put away! They look good all hung up together. These aren't my real ones, just the ones from Gap, Wal-Mart, White House Black Market, Forever 21, random flea markets, etc. It was hard to get a good pic because it's right as you walk into my closet on the left. I'm curious to see what Eric has to say about it. LOL I can just hear him now..."HOW are you going to cover up all those nail holes?" And I will say "Putty honey." Hahahahaha!!!
I'm kind of sad today because scrapnfonts.com isn't going to be selling the Creating Keepsakes fonts anymore. :( I had to buy some up today because it's the last day you can buy them. Those are my favorite all time fonts!!! Especially now since I have a new obsession....my SIHLOUETTE!!!! It's a die cutting machine you hook up to your computer and cut out all sorts of awesome things! Revolution dies, words, shapes, whatever! I LOVE IT!
Okay it's another rainy day and maybe this rain will get me back into the blogging mode. Maybe I didn't blog over the winter because I HATE winter and there is nothing going on. Hmm. That could be the case!
I'll leave you for now! Time to put on another episode of Schooby Doo! Rain rain go away!
LUV APRIL

Got rain?

My goodness it's been raining here nonstop since oh like WEDNESDAY! My gosh! I don't mind rain as long as it lets up enough to ease my boy's cabin fever! I let him go out today for a little while. He didn't last long. LOL He decided it was a better idea to come back in and sit in front of the tv in his underwear watching Scooby Doo with a bowl of popcorn. ;)
He is obsessed with Scooby Doo right now. Jennifer said Olivia is the same. Oh and who knew there were so many versions? A Pup Named Scooby Doo, What's New Scooby Doo, Where Are You Scooby Doo, Scooby Doo and Scrappy Too! I had no idea! He knows the theme song to all of them and of course he sounds so cute singing them!
I just noticed how little the puppy is in the photo of my last post. He is SO much bigger now and he's driving me nuts. He chews everything. Even rocks! Why would you even want to chew a rock? (I know he is probably teething BUT STILL!)
My Mom is always jealous because my hydrangeas grow so much better than her's do. My Meme says it's because I have the perfect light on my back porch for them. Mom calls on Friday and suggested I cut some and put them in a vase so more will bloom out. I did and are they not SO pretty!?! They even smell good!
Well I haven't uploaded the photos of Bro's head yet. I know I'm pathetic. I am so bad at that. It looks great, though. It's healing nicely and I'm not even sure the scar is going to be that bad!
I had a blast this weekend! I taught a layout class at Just 4 Keeps on National Scrapbook Day. I always have fun there!! I think Kathy was taking pics of me while I was teaching. I'm going to have to bug her to send them to me!
Okay I'm off to get Bro ready for bed! I love blogging when I can get myself to do it!
Have a good night!
LUV APRIL