Three Cheese Pasta Bake

I guess I'm all about recipes lately!  I've been working on some back to school stuff, but it's not ready to share just yet.  So, instead I'll share a pasta recipe.  I love me some pasta!  I could probably eat pasta every night of the week if my husband would let me.  I found this Three Cheese Pasta when looking for recipes online.  It seemed that the more I looked, the more differentiations of this recipe I found.  So with just a substitute ingredient here, or an addition there, it could change the recipe to just what you are looking for.  I would say this recipe is a mix between mac and cheese and pasta alfredo.

Once again, I've halved this recipe since I'm only feeding two, but you could easily double it for a family or group of people.  I've included a lot of pictures because when I'm following a recipe, I like to look at the pictures to make sure mine's looking about the same!

Ingredients:
(Makes about 4 servings)

1 (16 ounce) package pasta
       I only use 2/3 of the package; I used Mostaccioli

I jar alfredo sauce

4 ounces sour cream

8 ounces ricotta cheese

1 large egg

3/4 cup mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup parmesan cheese


Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Cook the pasta according to the directions on the package.

Ingredients (minus the large egg)

Cooking the pasta

2. While the pasta is cooking, I start with the other ingredients.  Mix the alfredo sauce and sour cream in a medium-large bowl.  Then mix the ricotta cheese, large egg, 1/4 parmesan cheese, and 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese in a small ball.

Alfredo sauce and sour cream

Ricotta cheese, egg, parmesan cheese, and mozzarella cheese

3. Drain the pasta.  Then mix it with the alfredo sauce/sour cream mixture.  I also add some parsley.

 

4. Spoon half of the pasta and alfredo mixture into your coated pan.  Then spoon half of the ricotta cheese mixture over the pasta.  Pour the rest of the pasta alfredo over the ricotta cheese mixture.  Sprinkle the rest of the mozzarella cheese (1/2 cup) over the top.

Pasta alfredo layer with ricotta cheese

All three layers, sprinkled with mozz cheese

5. Place your dish in the oven.  Cook on 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Next time I'm going to add chicken! Yum!

Chili for two please!

Chili may not seem too enticing with all the hot summer weather, but as I said in my last post I'm trying to branch out and try new recipes this summer.  My husband likes chili and believe it or not, I've never made chili!  I've eaten it, just never made it.  So I looked up some super easy chili recipes to get me started.  I found one at Welcome to Heardmont, and just changed it a bit for my taste.  I also didn't want to eat chili for two weeks, so I halved some of the ingredients.  Now, it feeds both my husband and I and gives us enough left overs for another lunch or dinner.  Here's how I made it!

Ingredients:
(Makes 4 servings)

1 lb lean ground beef
1/4 white onion diced
1 can chili beans
1 can Rotel
1 can diced tomatoes (I used half a can)
1 can tomato sauce (I used half a can)
Package chili powder
Salt

Directions:

1.  Cook the ground beef until it's no longer pink.  Add a dash of salt and chili powder to the meat.

2. Place the diced white onion in your pot of choice.  Cook on med-high for just a minute to brown the edges.

3. Add the meat to your pot and mix with the onions.

4. Add the chili beans, Rotel, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and chili powder to the pot.  As I said above, I used only half a can of diced tomatoes and half a can of tomato sauce.  I used about 3/4 of the chili powder mix.  Mix everything together.  Let it simmer on medium for about ten minutes.

5.  Let it cool for a minute then serve with your favorite chips, crackers, or bread!  We sprinkled ours with shredded cheese and ate it with our favorite Hawaiian bread.  Enjoy!

It came out really well and it was a lot easier than I thought!  I don't know why I never attempted chili until now!  At least now I know we have a great easy recipe for the next Winter!

Garlic Parmesan Chicken

Mmmm!  This is my husband's favorite meal now.  I'm actually a pretty picky eater.  I like a lot of things plain.  I don't like a lot spices, herbs or condiments.  Give me a burger with just bacon and cheese and I'm good!  Well since it's just my husband and I, we struggle with coming up with dinner meals, especially ones that we both like.  I can make a yummy lasagna but then we would be eating it for a week!  I am attempting to try some new recipes and cut down on the eating out.  There's this little place online that allows people to share great ideas and even recipes, you may have heard of it - Pinterest!  I found Pinterest a little later than others but I am now obsessed, just like everyone else that may or may not admit it.  Aynyway, that's where I have been finding new recipes to try.  I found the picture for this Garlic Parmesan Chicken on Pinterest and followed it here to the original post.  Let's keep in mind, I am no Betty Crocker, so my chicken did not come out as presentable as did that woman's, but it tasted great!

Here are the original ingredients:

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese*

1 package Good Seasons Italian Dressing mix

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder*

6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves*

*I have adapted this recipe just a bit to fit our needs.  I usually buy a package of chicken that has 4-5 pieces in it.  I don't measure the Parmesan cheese, because I find that I need more than 1/2 cup.  And as I stated before, I'm pretty plain, so the 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder was too much for me.  I usually just sprinkle a little from the bottle.  My husband would probably request more garlic powder, but since he's not cookin' he can't complain!

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Mix cheese, garlic powder and dressing mix.

3. Moisten chicken breasts with water; coat them with cheese mixture; place in a shallow baking dish.

4. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink in the center.

Super easy ingredients!

Chicken all prepared! Ready for the oven!

Right out of the oven!  Ready to put with a side,  then eat!

Another picture of the chicken ready to eat, excuse my bad photography skills!

Really easy!  And it tastes great!  I usually make a package of Knorr's Pasta Sides with it, because we love our pasta!

Enjoy!

Summer Bucket List

At the end of the school year I wanted to create something for my students to do over summer break.  I thought about having them write about what they would do and the places they would go.  I also thought about having them write their own bucket list.  After getting some inspiration from Pinterest, and from this blog and this blog, I decided to create a bucket list for my students.  I came up with 30 things for my students to do over summer break.  Then I also attached a letter describing the Summer Bucket List rules and explaining the prizes for completing the bucket list and returning it next school year.  For example, if a student completes 1-5 items from the bucket list, they get a sticker.  If a student completes 25-30 items, they get a book!

Here's an example of the Summer Bucket List I sent home in May!

Click here to download

Then I thought about having a Summer Bucket List for myself.  I just moved to St. Louis last summer, and I spent most of it trying to find a job and planning my September wedding.  So I didn't have a lot of time to check out the sights here.  I thought I would create a Summer Bucket List for myself (and my husband) of things to do and places to go this summer.

Here's what I have so far!

1. Go to the St. Louis Arch
2. Get a tattoo (maybe)
3. Go to a shooting Range
4. Go to the City Museum
5. Go to Six Flags
6. Go to the Zoo
7. Organize our Office at home
8. Go to garage sales

Hello!

Hi!!  I'm new to this whole blog thing!  I just started reading blogs this year and since I'm home all summer I decided to start my own!  Hopefully, I'll be able to keep up with all the great teaching blogs out there!  I taught first grade for four years and I am teaching second grade next year.  On my blog, I'll be sharing things about my life and my teaching ideas!

Thanks for visiting!