Spicy Sausage Pasta Bake

You MUST try this recipe. It's a matter of life and death. And please don't let the word 'spicy' scare you. There are MANY substitutes you can do to cook it to your desired spice-level, even with no spice, if that's what you'd like.

Now let me give you an idea of how good this recipe is. I've been trying lots of Pioneer Woman recipes lately, and every one I've tried has been a home-run. I was getting a little nervous about this and was contemplating telling Greg some of the recipes were my own, so he would stop considering leaving me for Pioneer Woman because her cooking is so amazing. Anyway, we're sitting at the dinner table over this pasta the other night, and he said, "Where did you get this recipe again? Was it PW?" And I said, "no, why?" His answer: "It's so good that if it was, I might have to leave you for her."

Greg LOVES this recipe. If I don't make it at least once every 2 weeks, he's asking for it. The credit actually goes to my good friend Kat. (Well, she informed me that the ORIGINAL credit goes to Cook's Country, but thank goodness she was willing to share it for all of us who don't subscribe to them!) Side note: Please don't get me in trouble if it's illegal to post this recipe on my blog without their permission... ;)

So here goes:

Ingredients

1 lb chorizo sausage (I use mild sausage, bc that's too much spice) halved lengthwise, and sliced thin

1 onion, finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

3-4 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes (or, if you're like me and can't cook with chunks of tomatoes if you want your husband to keep speaking to you, substitute with a 15 oz can of tomato sauce)

1/2-1 cup heavy cream

1/2 tsp each salt and pepper

1 lb penne pasta

2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese (this is the only spice that I keep in and it gives it just the right amount of kick, but you could substitute colby jack if you wanted)

4 scallions, thinly sliced

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook sausage and onion in large, oven-safe skillet over med-high heat until lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. (If you're like me and your sniffer doesn't work, just count to 30.) ;)

2. Stir in 3 cups broth, tomatoes, not drained (or tomato sauce), cream, pasta, salt, and pepper, and bring to a boil. Cover pan and reduce heat to med-low. Simmer, stirring frequently, until pasta is tender, about 15 min. I usually end up adding that last cup of broth during this 15 minutes because I run out of liquid to finish cooking the pasta.

3. Turn off heat, uncover pan and stir in about 1/2 cup of cheese. Top with remaining cheese and put in oven for about 5 minutes until cheese is melted and slightly browned. Sprinkle with scallions and serve.

Please let me know if you make this, and let me know how much you love it!

Looking for another recipe for Italian sausage? Try my Italian Sausage and Spinach Pasta!

23 Weeks

Oh, baby!

I have a little kick boxer inside my stomach! I have read that by now, she has a regular sleep pattern and if I pay attention I can figure out her basic schedule. Well, one thing I have noticed is that right around 11pm when we climb into bed, she loves to bounce off my uteran walls! She is SO active at the time every night. Greg and I were actually able to just watch my belly move the other night from her.

We have a list of possible first names, and are just mulling over them for a while to narrow it down some more. We both have our #1 favorite, but unfortunately, they aren't the same as eachother's! It's so odd to think we are trying to think of what this little girl will be called the rest of her life!

Ohh, to be a Kid...

Homeschooling Progress

So we've been at our homeschooling preschool curriculum for 3 weeks now, and Hunter LOVES it. Whenever I ask him if he wants to do "school," his answer is always "YES!" He loves doing our calendar and weather board, and always LOVES singing the song of the week.

This past week, our theme was Farm, and I wanted to share a picture of one of our crafts we did. He was so proud of his work, and so we had to display them on the fridge. We made paper plate farm animals. He chose where all the pieces went, so it definitely looks like a toddler did it, and I LOVE it! :) I think they are so cute!
Twice a week, every week, we work on writing his name. Sometimes we get to writing it more than once, and other times, he's a little reluctant. But, since he's not even 3, I don't force him into anything. Anyway, this was written yesterday. We wrote his name the one time, and then he always likes to trace numbers. I wrote the numbers for him to trace, and dated the paper. I then walked over to the desk to pack something for the mail, and left him to trace. He called me over and told me he had written the date. If you look in the upper left hand corner, you can see that he copied just like I had written. This is the first time he has ever tried copying something and writing it by himself, as opposed to just tracing it. You can make out the 9, and the dashes, and then it's a lot of 0's and it finishes with a 10. I was SO proud of my baby boy. He is making progress even 3 weeks into it, and that is very rewarding for momma!

To finish off Farm week, our plan is to go on a field trip to a local petting zoo today. It's supposed to be about 90 though, so as long as we can handle the heat, we'll be going. And if so, I'll definitely be taking pictures!

Udder Cover

Yay, my udder cover came in the mail!!! In the picture, it kind of looks like a purse, but it's just because I have it hanging. If it were laying flat, it would be a big rectangle. It's for nursing in public, and it has the strap to go around your neck, and then it has a flexible piece of plastic or something sewn in the neckline so I can adjust it to be able to see baby while nursing. I used to just use a blanket with Hunter, and couldn't see him unless I held the blanket up, and once he got older, he would just swat the blanket off! This should take care of both of those problems. :) The best part about it is that it's normally $32, but they had a code I found (at retailmenot.com) to get it free, I just had to pay shipping. So I got it for $9.95! I considered making on myself, but this one was definitely worth it for that price.  Now, if only she were here to use it!  If you're interested in one (they have many different fabrics to choose from!) head on over to www.uddercovers.com

22 Weeks, Doctor's, and the Dentist

Well, I am 22 weeks as of yesterday, and yesterday was quite the day. First, here's the belly pics:

So I had 3 different appointments yesterday, so I felt like that's all I did. I had an OB appointment in the morning, which was a follow-up appointment to the ultrasound. Dr said baby looks great. He did say my placenta is kinda close to my cervix, so he will just check to make sure it's moved up ok at 32 weeks. He also said that, although my weight gain as of now is healthy, he wants me to get all desserts out of the house. And between 30-40 weeks, he wants me to eat 100% healthy. He said that second babies do tend to be larger than firstborn's and he is concerned for my baby's health because of it. Between 30-40 weeks is when she will go from being 3.5 lbs to 8, 9, 10 or even 11 lbs. So he wants to make sure I'm not doing any unnecessary unhealthy eating so that she doesn't gain any unnecessary weight. I felt like my heart was ripped out of my chest when he told me this, but I know that's just the hormones. There are no down sides to me needing to eat healthy. It's better for me, better for her, and will make getting back down to my prepregnancy weight that much easier! So, although I am extremely upset that (of course) Thanksgiving, Christmas, AND my birthday fall in those last 10 weeks, I'm trying my absolute hardest to stick to the dr's orders and eat super healthy. I've started logging my calories today (as I do when I'm not pregnant) just so that I'm aware of how much I'm consuming. So hopefully, I can have self control and only gain the 12 more lbs he wants me to!

Next, I had a dental appt. I have been having some toothaches and wanted to get them checked out, and also was in dire need of a cleaning. Thankfully, we finally have dental insurance for the first time in almost 3 years, so I was able to take care of these things! In order to avoid waiting 6 months for an appt, I took a 1:40 and a 4:40 for the two procedures because they had just happened to have cancellations. I saw the dentist for my aches first, and am thankful I went in. Apparently my filling that I've had since I was about 6 or 7 years old was cracked and needed to be replaced. The good thing about this is that I originally had a silver filling, but got it replaced with the tooth colored one. And since this is my only filling I've ever had, it was nice to get rid of that awful silver in my mouth! Also, it came up with the dentist that Hunter is almost three so I was able to talk to him about how they get kids acclimated to going to the dentist. He suggested I bring him in for my cleaning that afternoon so he could sit in on it and see mommy getting her teeth nice and clean, and then go for a spin in the chair himself. So, that is just what we did! Daddy and Hunter sat and watched, and I had a wonderful hygienist who didn't mind one bit, and talked to Hunter about each step she was doing. Then, she let him sit in my lap and showed him the tooth polisher that they put that (awful tasting) toothpaste on, which she referred to as the "tickle brush." She spun it on his finger, and he loved it. That was going to be the end of it, but Hunter opened his mouth (without anyone suggesting it!) to have her "tickle" his teeth, like he saw her doing to mom's teeth. I was so proud of him! So she did one little tooth and he didn't mind it one bit! He did so wonderful, and I'm really glad we took him in. So, I'm going to schedule his own appointment to get his teeth polished soon, while the experience is still fresh in his mind.

As always, I was chastised for not flossing, and I swear my doctor and dentist are in together about telling me no sweets! But, I am going to try really hard to floss for the next six months and make the dentist proud. Ask me in a month how I'm doing! ;)

Meatball Subs

I made these for lunch today and they were a big hit with my boys! Greg even came into the kitchen to tell me again during clean up that he liked them. I can't remember the last time that happened! Anyway, it's a modified Pioneer Woman recipe. Here: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/07/16-minute-meal-3-mini-meatball-sandwiches/ is her recipe for mini meatball sandwiches. Thanks to a suggestion from a friend, I just made bigger meatballs and put it on sub bread instead. It was YUM-O and a good recipe for fall!  Let me know if you try them!