Making Pasta when you run out of Tomato Sauce

So being Italian means one of my favorite foods is anything with pasta or chocolate :). So for my family whenever we want a quick easy meal we make spaghetti. Unfortunately for me I am out of spaghetti noodles and tomato sauce and there is so much snow I probably will not be able to go to the store soon. Some people would probably look for a tomato sauce less pasta recipe but to me spaghetti is not spaghetti is there is no sauce So I had to figure out what to do because my oldest wanted to have meatballs.

I decided to just use rigatoni noodles because that was the first box I grabbed out of the cabinet. Put the water on to boil while I started on the meatballs and figuring out the sauce.

My oldest loves cooking with me. I let hims cook the noodles (while I am watching and standing right next to him).
Next I mixed up the meatballs. I put 1lb of ground beef, bread crumbs, 1 egg, asiago cheese, salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder. Mixed it all up and then used my small scoop to get meatballs in uniform size. Then dropped them into a mini cupcake pan that had been greased. Put the pan in the oven at 350 for around 20-25 mins. I have a gas oven so things cook faster than using other ovens.

After I put the meatballs in the oven I decided to look online and see if I could use tomato paste to make tomato sauce. I figured it was concentrated tomato it should work. After I looked at a bunch of different sites I decided to give it a go. I took 2 cans of tomato paste and emptied them into a sauce pan. Next I added 3 cans of water and turned the burner on medium.

After the paste and water were mixed I added some salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and Italian seasoning. I saw that some sites recommended that you add a pinch of sugar to overcome the tartness. You should really go by taste when it comes to the sauce. Marjoram, oregano, basil, parsley, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper are all good seasonings are all good to add. Then just let it simmer for about 20 mins until nice and saucy.

Then add everything to a bowl and top with tons of cheese and sauce.

Try not to burn your mouth while eating it up. Also good luck saving leftovers especially if you are a pasta eating family :)

Cabin Fever!

So This whole week has just been one snow after another! We are at over a foot of snow and we are supposed to get 3-6 more inches today. My van got stuck in the driveway yesterday. I was able to get it out of the road but when my husband got home he had to re park my car so he cold park his. And he never laughed at me getting stuck. That is love there lol.
It is windy and snowing out right now. I am sitting at the counter watching it snow right nor. All I see is white.

From the front of my house. One good thing is the snow covers all the dirt on my van :)

The snow is almost up to my deck. I cant walk on my deck unless I want snow up my pant legs.

It does look pretty though. I wish we all could go play in it.

I do think that being stuck inside this house is giving us all cabin fever and making me forget things. I placed my order to get milk and other things from the farm but apparently it got lost somewhere in the internet. So I get my boys dressed yesterday and leave to head to the drop point (about 50 mins away). I get there and they don't have my order! Thankfully they had a few half gallons for me to buy and gave me a discount. But now no farm heavy cream, eggs, yogurt or milk for 2 weeks :(

This is all I was able to get (except my van getting stuck). Hopefully next week will be better. It does mean now tomorrow I have to hope I can get out of the house to go to the store. The hubby has training next week so it is going to mix everything up.

Ugh....Snow!

So while I love snow, I have had my fill of winter. On Tuesday we got 9 inches of snow here and were snowed into our house. My van does not have good tires so when we try to leave (our house has two steep hills one on each side) my van just slides backwards. Its annoying.

So today our boys were supposed to go to the doctors to get their flu shots when we wake up to see at least 2 more inches of snow on the ground. 2 MORE INCHES!!! So now we had to cancel the appoints and reschedule. Which frustrates me because its an hour away and who likes getting 4 kids ready at 8 am to drive an hour to get shots.

It doesn't help that today I am so tired. My 2 year old decided at 1 am to wake up and not go back to bed until 3:47. Which at that time when I got him into my bed my 7 month old decided he didn't want to sleep anymore and wanted to play with mommy and crawl around. So around 5 I finally got to go to sleep.

Today was a watching Netflix day. Had hot dogs and bratwurst with homemade buns for lunch. Then for dinner we had homemade muffins from the freezer and popcorn. Might not be the best but some days you just need a rest day.

This was from the front of our house on tuesday. I think after this we got 3-6 more inches. Its pretty but a pain.

One of Those Cooking Days!

So I woke up today just knowing that I did not want to cook. I have been spending everyday, all day (or what feels like all day) cooking or planning meals. Its gotten to the point where when my 7 month old is looking for me he crawls to the kitchen and sits and waits for me.

Anyway, Thankfully for lunch we had pizza crust frozen so I just had to top pizzas and bake. But for dinner I wanted breakfast. Well I decided to make these blender pancakes I have made many times before that everyone loves.
Well they sucked. I could not get the wheat berries to blend so I ended up with crunch pancakes. I mean like crunchier than crunchy peanut butter crunchy. I don't think I have ever used that word in a sentence so many times. They looked pretty though and I was able to flip them and they stayed a circle lol.

Oh well I put them in the freezer because my kids love frozen pancakes for breakfast. They will not let me warm them up either. They either eat frozen breakfast foods or oatmeal! Nothing else and if you warm them up out of habit or tiredness they melt down and you have to put them back in the freezer and get them a different frozen on. Kids can be strange sometimes.

Hopefully tomorrow will be better but all the boys are getting flu shots so I don't know......

Taco Chicken & Peppers with Zesty Lime Rice

So Yesterday for lunch I wanted to do some sort of burrito that used up some of my shredded chicken from making chicken broth. I have been obsessed with cooking from the Pioneer Woman Holiday Cookbook which is where I got the idea. It is seriously awesome.
So I start making the tortillas and realize that I have to let them sit for an hour before cooking them. It was 11:40 and I was starving. So I decided that they were just going to be used for dinner and moved on to figure out lunch.
So i had already put the rice on because the long gran rice takes about 20 mins to cook and I hate crunchy rice lol. I found the recipe in The Pioneer Woman's newest cookbook. The Zesty Lime Rice is so easy to make. I love that it is cooked in chicken broth, even though i used 3/4 chicken broth & 1/4 vegatable broth because I didn't thaw enough chicken broth. I really need to find out if chicken broth is able to be canned. It would save so much time.

Anyway for the chicken I just decided to look what I had in the fridge and throw things together.

So I grabbed a couple peppers I had in the fridge and cut them up. Then chopped 4 cloves of garlic.

Put some olive oil in the pan and started heating it up.

Threw the peppers and garlic in the pan to start cooking.

After a few minutes I added 2 cups of shredded chicken, that thankfully I remembered to thaw from the freezer :).

Then I added 1/4 cup of water and 3 TBSP of homemade Taco Seasoning. Now two things: 1) I would recommend a bigger pan than I used. If not you will be fishing peppers out from under the pan. 2) You might need to add more water or olive oil if it needs for liquid. Depends on your stove, preference and seasoning you use.

Looks so yummy all mixed up.

I remembered that I had some cilantro in the fridge so I chopped some up and added it at the end. Probably should have added more but was not sure how it would taste.

Then like I do with most of my food I added cheese. I shredded and put about a cup of Colby Jack on top, but really however much you like. Then let it melt some or don't its good either way.

When everything is heated scoop it onto your plate with some of the Zesty Lime Rice and eat a helping ( or two). My husband put salsa on top of his because he likes his a little spicier. Tasted good even though i didn't make the tortillas.  

Sometimes Life Catches Up With You

So I have been wanting to keep up on my blog for what feels like forever. The problem is that sometimes I do not get any free time. Four boys and a husband keep you pretty busy lol. This last year has been such a whirlwind.
So 2013 for me held getting used to having my husband back after a year long deployment. We found out we were having our 4th boy. We started talking about looking into transferring for a promotion. Then in June we welcomed our 4th baby boy and a week after he was born we found out that we would be moving to West Virginia for my husbands job. And that we had until October to sell our house, buy a new house and move almost 900 miles with 4 kids under 5.
To say I was stressed is an understatement. In August we did our house hunting trip and in October we moved from Missouri to Maryland. We stayed in a hotel for almost 40 days before we FINALLY got our house lol. Then we had to deal with movers breaking things and the house not being finished. I can honestly say that I am glad its 2014.

For now we are trying to get used to West Virginia. The snow, the extremely hilly roads, being in the middle of no where and mothering 4 active little boys.

Oatmeal Strawberry Bars

My kids love Nutri Grain cereal and since we are trying to cut out processed foods, I went looking for a new recipe that would replace them. So I found these Oatmeal Blueberry Bars by accident on Disney Family's website. Since we don't really have blueberries in our house I decided to use the strawberry jam I had in the fridge. I also used half dark/half light brown sugar and wheat flour. Besides that I pretty much followed the recipe.

They were actually really easy to make. Though in my oven they didn't need to cook for the full time. I would recommend checking on them at about 30-35 mins into cooking so they don't over cook. Also the oatmeal mixture is very sticky. I put my hand inside a twist tie plastic bag so pat down the bottom.

Oatmeal Strawberrry Bars

Ingredients

-2 cups rolled oats

-1 cup whole wheat flour

-1 cup all purpose flour

-1 teaspoon baking powder

-1 teaspoon baking soda

-1/2 teaspoon salt

-1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar

-6 tablespoons cold butter

-3/4 cup skim milk

-1 tablespoon lemon juice

-2 teaspoons vanilla extract

-1 1/2 cup Strawberry Jam

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray a 9x13-inch baking pan with 2-inch sides with cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together oatmeal, flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and brown sugar. Using the large holes on a box grater, grate the butter and add it to the oatmeal mixture.

Using your fingers or two knives, combine the oatmeal mixture with the butter until it forms pea-size chunks.

Pour the milk into a small bowl. Add the lemon juice to the milk and stir to combine. Add the vanilla and mix well.

Pour the milk mixture into the oatmeal mixture and stir with a fork until all the dough is evenly moistened. It will have the consistency of cookie dough.

Press just over half of the dough evenly over the bottom of the prepared pan, using a sheet of plastic wrap so it doesn't stick to your hands. Spread the blueberry preserves evenly over that, then crumble the remaining dough over the blueberry preserves. Some of the jam will be visible through the topping.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until topping is golden brown. Cool completely in the pan, and then cut into whatever size bars work for you. Wrap bars in plastic, seal in a zip-top bag and freeze for longer storage. Otherwise, eat within 2-3 days.

I dont have any pictures of them in the pan because I finished cooking them so late.

This is the size I cut my bars into and I wrapped them in plastic wrap.

Then I put them all into a freezer bag and stuck them into the freezer for when we want them. I gave some to the boys this morning for a snack and 15 seconds in the microwave thawed them out enough to eat them. The verdict is that the boys all love them. They are a little sticky and fall apart some but it seems all cereal bars do. I am planning on using these if we go somewhere and need a snack. They would thaw by the time to eat them.

Outside references: Oatmeal blueberry bars, Disney Family

Winter Storm

So I was supposed to have my OB appointment this morning but woke up to a thunder sleet storm going on outside. There is so much sleet on the ground that if you didn't know that it was sleet you would think it snowed here (which doesn't happen often in Nixa). Luckily the doctors office called all their patients and let them reschedule if they wanted.
So instead we enjoyed some family time watching some Netflix and my husband even ventured outside with the older 2 boys. They had fun until my oldest kept falling and hurting his hands on the sleet. I am enjoying my time sitting at the computer finding recipes to print out and use. Trying to figure out a meal plan when you are pregnant is not easy since what sounds good to me changes daily!
Now going to print off some recipes and get stuff for dinner ready and maybe make some coffee!

This was my yard this morning and we have gotten even more sleet since!

Homemade Bread Crumbs

So I finally got my new food processor and decided to use it to make some homemade breadcrumbs! I also had a huge loaf of bread i kinda forgot about (opps!) that i decided to use before it molded. So I used this "recipe" that I found on Make and Takes. Its not really a recipe, but a guide on how to make the bread crumbs. So this is what I did:

First I got out my new food processor.

Then I got out some ends of bread out of the freezer and the big 24 oz loaf of bread that was getting old. I preheated the oven to 200 degrees and get out a couple baking sheet.
Next I tore the bread up into pieces and tossed them into the food processor.

I processed them into fine crumbs. Then I pour the crumbs on the baking sheet and put them in the oven and bake them for an hour. About 3 times or every 20 minutes I move them around with a spatula. Mostly I do it about 2 times because I forget. :)

I used 2 baking sheets because I had alot of bread to use.

After they come out of the oven let them cool a little bit. Afterwards toss them back into the food processor to break them up is to fine crumbs.

Then pour them into a container and store them. I put mine in the freezer.

Now I have a good amount of bread crumbs. These have no seasonings in them but I figure if i want to use them as breading I can just season them however I like depending on what I am making.

If you want to see the where I found out how to make these jump over to Make and Takes.

Yesterday

Man was yesterday one of them days! For some reason my almost 15 month old still doesn't want to sleep all night! Which let me tell you makes for a grouchy mommy.
So we decided to go hang out with my SIL and let all the kids play until their daddy got home.
You see my husband was away on training for the army but because of circumstances he couldn't completely control he had to come home a few days early. We were upset he couldn't finish his training, but for me the kids had been sick and whinny and I was glad he would be back.
So I pretty much spent the day trying to clean and really got nothing done on my to-do list but we went to dinner as a family and hung out and played together :)
Now today I am going to hopefully get some things done.

Whole Wheat Banana Muffins

So my boys love bananas (who doesn't). We had been using this banana bread recipe from Nick Jr and its pretty easy and very good. But recently we have been trying to eat healthier and changing us some of our recipes.

In my search for healthier recipes I came across this awesome blog called Heavenly Homemakers. She gives you so many healthy recipes that are actually good. Also its explained easily and she tells you where she buys the food and does all this on without spending an arm & leg.

So I came across this recipe for Whole Wheat Banana Bread or Muffins and decided to make muffins. I was very surprised on how good they were and how healthy they seemed. It was easy to make. All you do is throw everything in a bowl and mix it together. The hardest part for me was mashing the bananas. Since I did not feel like getting out my blender, my muffins had tiny banana pieces in them. They were still good hot right from the oven. Just don't burn your tongue :)

 Whole Wheat Banana Bread and Muffins

1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup mashed over-ripe bananas (I used 3 bananas)
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup melted butter
2 eggs

Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  In a separate bowl, mash bananas, or puree them in a blender.  Mix mashed bananas, honey, melted butter and eggs into flour mixture. 

For Bread:  Spread batter into a well buttered bread pan.  Bake in a 350° oven for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

For Muffins:  Spoon batter into 12 buttered or paper lined muffin tins.  Bake in a 400° oven for 20 minutes.

Here is how my muffins turned out:

(Next time i'll try and get pictures of making it all.)

If you are just as interested in eating healthy as I am you should jump over to Heavenly Homemakers and check out all her amazing information!