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Leftovers

Leftover spaghetti, to be exact.  Truthfully, I'm not a big fan of spaghetti in the first place.  There have only been a few times in my entire life that I've actually enjoyed spaghetti.  There are so many variations to this classic, yet for me it comes down to the noodle.  Might sound strange to some, but I don't care for the spaghetti noodle, even though I love pasta in every other form. Last night, my hubby made dinner and spaghetti was on the menu.  In our household, we have a problem gauging the amount of spaghetti to cook.  I generally don't cook enough spaghetti to feed all seven of us, which is not intentional, but works in my favor because then I serve myself the least amount.  On the other hand, my hubby generally cooks too much spaghetti and then there are leftovers.  Spaghetti leftovers, ugh.  We hate to waste food, but I couldn't bear having spaghetti two nights in a row, so I decided to get creative.  I made, lets say, a spaghetti casserole???  I'd like to say that I'm pretty good at reinventing our leftovers into a new meal and I think tonights meal is proof of that.  If I can get myself to eat spaghetti, leftover spaghetti at that, and actually like it, I think thats pretty awesome!  Let me tell you about it.... If you've ever had leftover spaghetti sealed up in a tupperware you will know that when it comes out its quite different from how it went in.  It kind of resembles a gelatinous mess of noodles all stuck together in a rectangular shape, and very well will stay that way unless you deconstruct it.  I basically took our pizza cutter and just chopped it up inside the tupperware until the majority of the noodles looked like they were roughly in the range of two to four inches in length.  In a saucepan, I combined a jar of 3 cheese spaghetti sauce, a generous handful of chopped pepperoni and one large zucchini roughly chopped into bite sized pieces and let simmer over medium low heat.  In a second pan, I browned some ground beef, drained it and added to the pan of simmering sauce.  Next, I spooned some of the sauce into a 13x9 glass dish and evenly spread over the bottom, then added a layer of chopped spaghetti about an inch thick.  I topped the spaghetti with a layer of the sauce mixture then a thin layer of shredded mozzarella, and repeated these layers once more finishing with a slightly more generous sprinkling of mozzarella over the top.  Then I popped it in the 400 degree preheated oven and let it cook through for 15-20 minutes.  It really was quite delicious.  If I hadn't made it myself, I would've never known this meal was actually repurposed leftovers!

Back to School

It's that joyous time of year!  The summer heat slowly starts to decline, the days get a little shorter, the nights get a little longer, there's anticipation of fall colors and pumpkin spice lattes, and most importantly, the kids go back to school!!!!  They reluctantly return to school for 180 days of instruction, seemingly endless hours of homework, early bedtimes and the house fatefully regains a few hours of silence. Back to School is the best time of year.  Don't get me wrong, I love having the kids home for the summer.  Love the days at the beach, evenings at the movies, later bedtimes, and family vacations, but the return of school is also the return of quiet, the end of bickering, and the sibling quarrels. Okay, maybe not the 'end' of bickering and quarrels, but their occurrence is greatly diminished. Eventually, the sparkle will fade and tarnish with rushed evenings to get homework, projects, dinner and showers taken care of before a bedtime that slowly gets pushed back, because there is always another excuse or request that the kids will have to stretch their bedtimes and our patience.  Summer was a lovely guest, but Back to School and Fall are more than welcome!!!    

Leaving the Nest

Artwork:  Leaving the Nest by Siobhan Knox

After many years knowing this day would come, it is almost here.  My daughter is leaving the nest, heading off to college to better prepare herself for her future.  This time is bittersweet for me.  I've always known my baby would go to college, we've known since she was 5, when she declared that she would go to UC Davis for their veterinary program.  A lifelong love for animals has inspired her to be a veterinarian, and she knew at a very young age that that would be the career for her.  I am enormously proud of her and know that she will do exceptionally well in anything she chooses for her life.  I know that she will fit in perfectly on the picturesque campus of UC Davis.  But on the other hand, why does it have to be soooooo far away. My little girl is going to be 430 miles, 6 hours 19 minutes, and a world away from me.  I will miss her dearly, and I think this will be so very much harder for me than it will be for her.  We will pack up the car and deliver her to her destination, her new home for the next 8 years, in exactly 31 days.  I already tear up just thinking about it.  However, I do take comfort in knowing that she has already booked and paid for her transportation home for the holidays.  It's not like she's leaving the nest forever, but it sure feels like it.

Na no Na no, Robin Williams

Such a very sad moment it was when I learned that Robin Williams passed away yesterday.  For me, he is one of those characters that have always been around.  He has been 'with me' since the days of my early childhood.  He made me laugh every week with each episode of Mork and Mindy.  Through the years he's made me smile, laugh, cry, think, and imagine with all of his talent showcased on the big screen.  He's always been there. You will be dearly missed.  Na no Na no, Robin Williams

Weather geek???

Weather geek? Is there even such a thing? Today while at my grandfathers house I came across a phrase that I had never heard before. The TV just so happened to be on for background noise on the Weather Center channel. Very frequently there is mention of weather geeks.... Are there really people who just watch the weather channels for fun? There is even a program called Weather Geeks. This just boggles my mind- I can't imagine spending hours on end watching weather programming just loop, with an occasional update of local weather.  I'd rather go outside and experience it than stare at the boob tube and hear about it.  Interesting....

Sooo delicious!!!!

Dinner is always a success when I can get at least three of our five kids enjoying the meal that I have prepared. This is not always an easy feat having a diverse group of children. The eldest goes through phases of "I'm sick and tired of chicken and rice- no matter how many different ways you make it!" to "Can we have soup ALL week?" The second oldest is the pickiest of the group and the most difficult to please. Ketchup can only be applied to so many things, in my opinion. He feels differently, if it doesn't have ketchup it's not worth eating and fruits and vegetables aren't in his vocabulary. The middle child has developed a taste for the new and exciting. Once picky, but now maturing into an adventurous eater- he often surprises me! The second to youngest has always been a good eater, not picky, always adventurous, and willing to try anything once. The youngest is our chunky 19 month old, he loves food- all kinds! He has loved every bit of everything we've ever given him. He's only recently decided that certain foods he doesn't care for anymore because of texture.  So with all these little eaters in mind- sometimes it's hard to make a meal that everyone will enjoy. I am not one of those moms that will make everyone a separate dinner, you either eat what I make or go hungry. Mind you, hardly ever does anyone go hungry. 

Taking all that into account, I try to get creative when making dinner for my family.  But this week I made something that I've heard of, but had never actually seen a recipe for- so I totally winged it and it came out delicious! I called it Zucchini Pizza. I personally love zucchini in all it's forms, it's so good. I make it for dinner every now and then and the reactions are always divided. But this 'Zucchini Pizza' had everyone, ok almost everyone(minus the pickiest one) expressing the yumminess of dinner! 

I basically took some big fat zucchinis and sliced them in half and then again lengthwise. Then I took a melon baller and scooped out the centers of the zucchinis, in essence making little boats. I drizzled them with olive oil and put them  into a baking dish. Then I proceeded to chop the centers and put into a bowl with a handful of Monterey Jack cheese, marinara sauce, finely chopped pepperonis, and some sliced olives. I mixed it all up and scooped the filling into the zucchini boats. Then I topped them with slices of cherry tomatoes and a light sprinkle of Italian breadcrumbs. Baked them at 400 degrees for about 10-12 minutes till all the cheese was melty and the zucchinis pierced nicely with a fork.  I served them with crispy tater tots and almost everyone was thrilled with dinner! Plus they are very filling and made nice leftovers too. These are definitely on the dinner repertoire from here on ;) Sooo delicious!