Recipe Monday: Baked Ziti

My love for pasta runs deep. My love for cheese, well, it may run even deeper. And lucky for me, this recipe has a lot of both.

Cheesy Baked Ziti

The cast of characters (aka) The Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 3 Tablespoons Minced Garlic (or 3 cloves if you use the real stuff)
• 1 Large Onion, Diced
• 1 pound Italian Sausage
• 1 pound Ground Beef
• 1 can (28 Oz.) Whole Tomatoes, With Juice
• 2 cans (14.5 Ounce) Tomato Sauce Or Marinara Sauce
• 2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• 16 ounces, weight Ziti Or Mostaciolli, Cooked Until Not Quite Al Dente
• 1 tub (15 Oz. Size) Whole Milk Ricotta Cheese
• 1-1/2 pound Mozzarella Cheese, Grated
• 1/2 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
• 1 Egg
• Fresh Minced Parsley (for garnish) 

The let me take a photo of everything I do steps. 

Start as you would with any pasta dish … boil it … but make sure you take it out at al dente (a little bite to it)

 While the pasta boils, chop an onion. And if your me, cry like crazy because they burn your eyes.

 Saute the onion and garlic in a big ol' pot until the onions start to soften.

 Once their softened, add the italian sausage and brown that goodness.

 While that's browning, drain your pasta and douse it in cole water so it stops cooking.

Now your sausage should be brown, make sure it's good and crumbled and add the ground beef.

Brown all of that yumminess together!

 Add your can of whole tomatoes.

 Then the marinara sauce.

 Then add all that yummy spice: red pepper, italian, salt, pepper.

 Mix all that yumminess up and get it going. Leave it alone and let it simmer about 30 minutes.

 Now, let's get down to the real good stuff. Add your ricotta, 2 cups of mozzarella, parmesan cheese, your egg and salt and pepper.

Then give it a little mix to combine it all, but it should still be lumpy.

 Then coat them noodles in all of that yumminess!

 Once the sauce is finished simmering, spoon 1-2 cups sauce into the noodle mixture and combine.

 Yum.

 Coat your pan in cooking spray and then layer half the coated pasta in a big ol' dish.

 Then slather half the remaining sauce on top.

 And then cover that with half of the remaining mozz cheeeeeeeeeese!

 Yep, you guessed it. Next add the rest of the remaining pasta and pat it down real good.

 Then another layer of sauce and cheese.

 Then bake that bad boy in a 375 degree oven for 20-30 minutes until good and bubbly. I cover mine half way and then remove the foil so the top of the cheese doesn't get too brown.

Then sprinkle with a little fresh parsley to make it all pretties and serve it up!!! Nom Nom Nom.

Enjoy!!!

Five on Friday

I have so much catching up to do in blogland. This fall has been crazy busy busy busy and any downtime I have I'm either heading straight to the DVR (seriously OBSESSED with Nashville, Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder) after little man is asleep or packing in another fall activity because this weather has been divine. But things like our family chili cook-off, B-man's first pumpkin carving, etc NEED to be documented, so I better get my act together and get on the ball.

In the meantime, we'll play a little Five on Friday and link up with these fancy ladies on this fabulous fall Friday (how's that from some alliteration?!).

One: The Wedge Booties.

I posted about my love for them here. I really wanted the tan suede, but after a serious discussion with myself I realized I have an overdose of that tan color in my closet and needed to go the cognac route. They should arrive this weekend, Hopefully I love them as much in person as I do online.

Two: Baby Backpacks.

The familia and I are headed on a looooong journey to the other side of the world for our first ever trip to Australia and I am in crazy planning mode. Mister Bennett has decided he hates all things sitting (car seat, stroller, etc) and Little Mister INSISTS on doing everything himself .... but also is a toddler and his little legs can only last so long. Not to mention we're doing real Aussie things like the outback, so thinking I'm going to let him meander through uncharted territory with puppy-sized spiders just ain't gonna happen. So, I've been researching like crazy and it seems the baby back-pack carrier is the route to take. These are my front runners, but geeZZZe OH Pete they are expensive. Will we ever use this stupid thing again?  Will we look like complete dorks? Actually, don't answer that. I know the answer, and frankly I don't care. I just want to be able to let everyone ENJOY every ounce of this once in a lifetime vacation and if I can purchase something that helps, by all means I probably will.

Deuter - Kid Comfort 3

Osprey Poco Plus Child Carrier

Kelty Pathfinder 3.0 Child Carrier

Three: Short Hair.

I have DYING to chop my hair off. It has been the same for what feels like forever and although I know I would hate it in less than three weeks after doing it, it still consumes my every hair thought.  There are mixed feelings about the inverted bob, I get it. But, I LOVE it. Side note: I'm not going to do any of these (at least until summer), buuuut here is some of my hairspiration if I were to do it.

Four: The North Face Psuedio Jacket .

My girly pals got me this beauty for my birthday and it was finally chilly enough last night (and I was outside long enough) to wear it. Holy Love. The side neck button, the fuzzy inside, the awesome blackish grey color, the tunic like style fit, all of it. LOVE it.  Thanks girls, it exceeded all of my expectations.

Five: Fall Pictures.

We've never had professional fall family photos - or Christmas card photos taken, but I'm starting to think maybe we should now that we have a little one in the picture?  We got some great shots on the beach this summer and of course had some of him when he was first born and on his first bday and we added in a little smash cake session.  But I'm thinking with all these cute scarves, booties, pretty leaves and plaid phenomena we should jump on the band wagon. And if so, I'd probably put Little Mister in something like this ...

TGIF!  Happy weekend ya'll!

   

Bootie Love

While small child is napping I made my way to the computer and started perusing through some weekend photos, tidying up a little bit of work, playing a little bit of blogger catch up and I stumbled across Little Miss Nancy J's blog and my jaw dropped.

These. Booties. Y'all.

Link to Cognac >>Link to Tan >>Link to Black >>

They are everything.

I think my favorite are the tan. But I have an internal struggle because I just purchased these fancy little wedge numbers in a similar color from Nordstrom Rack a week or so ago.

There are some serious decisions to be made this week. The struggle is real.

Katie: Late 20's Edition Numero Dos

Well hey there month of October ... you snuck up so quick I barely had time to grab my hoodie (not that I'm complaining)!

It's no secret I love fall and everything that comes with it. September kicks it off with a grand entrance including both my birthday and my anniversary and is such a warm welcome every year. However, this year, September came and went so quickly I barely had time to sit down, unwind and take it all in.  And now that we are well underway moving into our second week of October, I better take some time to reflect before it's Christmas!

Last year, on my birthday, I posted this. All about how I was going to do better this year. Focus on the best version of myself. Spend time in areas I WANTED to spend time in, and less time in areas that were no making an impact on a better me.

Now, it's time to take a look back, and see how I did.  So, I sigh a big *Le Sigh* and come to terms with the fact that I did far worse than I ever intended too. Sigh another *Le Sigh* Put on a pair of  new cute boots (hehe) take by boy to the park, eat a pumpkin cookie and set out to do better.

(I couldn't have timed this photo better in 100 years if I tried)

Because it's not a life worth living if you're not constantly challenging yourself to DO better, BE better, EXPLORE better and eat delicious cookies along the way. Well, in my world it isn't.