Pizzagna

I got this recipe directly from Rachael Ray's website, it's a 30 minute meal and it is one of our favorites. It is a cross between Lasagna and Pizza. It tastes great as a leftover too or you can freeze it. It is also a great casserole dish to make for a friend with kid's who just had a baby or is laid up from a surgergy. Try it!!!
Pizzagna
Ingredients 1 pound pasta curls (recommended: campagnelle by Barilla; short fusilli or cavatappi twists may be substituted)
Salt
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, a couple of handfuls
small Handful parsley, finely chopped (VERY SMALL, THIS IS A STRONG FLAVOR, many people dislike it)
1 cup sliced pepperoni, cut into thin strips
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
1 red bell pepper, seeded, quartered and thinly sliced
1 onion, quartered then thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic
8 oz sliced crimini mushrooms (baby portabellos), thinly sliced (you can use regular too)
Black pepper
1 (28-ounces) can crushed tomatoes
3/4 pound fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced or shredded
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Loaf of crusty bread
Directions
Preheat broiler. Bring a pot of water to a boil, add pasta and salt the water. While the water boils combine ricotta, Parmigiano, parsley and pepperoni in a large bowl and reserve. Heat a large skillet over medium heat with extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan. When the oil is hot, add the peppers, onions, garlic and mushrooms. Saute 6 to 8 minutes until tender and mushrooms are dark. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper. Stir in tomatoes and reduce heat to low. Add a ladle of starchy cooking water to the ricotta just before you drain the pasta. Drain pasta then toss with ricotta and pepperoni mixture. Pour pasta into a baking dish and top evenly with peppers, onion and mushroom sauce. Top with a layer of mozzarella, oregano and red pepper flakes. Place under hot broiler and melt cheese until golden and bubbly. Remove and serve with crusty bread.

Chef Grant and Our Irish Chicken and Dumplings!

This is an awesome recipe I got from Allrecipes.com that I tweaked just a little bit to fit my family and time constraints! This is an awesome dish to serve in the Fall and Winter. I love to make it when it is cold and rainy, it is a hearty dish and a great alternative to the repetitive beef stew or Chicken Noodle soup!
Irish Chicken and Dumplings
3 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
6 cups chicken stock
2 cup chopped celery
2 onions, quartered
salt and pepper to taste
1 bag skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 bag of matchstick carrots
1 (10 ounce) package frozen green peas
4 potatoes, quartered (I omit the potatoes)
4 cups baking mix
1 1/3 cups milk

1. Trim, boil, cool and shred chicken
2. In large, heavy pot, combine chicken, soup, stock, celery, onion, salt, poultry seasoning, and pepper. Cover and cook over low heat about an hour.
3. Add potatoes and carrots; cover and cook another 30 minutes.
4. Add peas and cook only 5 minutes longer.
5. Prepare dumplings. To make dumplings: Mix baking mix and milk until a soft dough forms.
6. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto BOILING stew. Simmer covered for 10 minutes, then uncover and simmer an additional 10 minutes. Do NOT stir stew or the dumplings after they are added to the pot.

My Not-So-Secret Spaghetti Recipe

Again, this is my very own creation, it has evolved a bit over the years, now I use turkey and I have added some fresh basil and parmasean cheese to the pasta, now it is even more delicious than it was 15 years ago when I started making it! I have never given out the recipe until now! Actually, I have never even written it down, but that is no surprise, most recipes I make I have no written recipe for, which is why I am doing this, I want to make a cookbook to pass down to my family! It's always been Gabrielle's favorite dinner and I could eat this everyday for the rest of my life and not get tired of it! I leave my mushrooms whole because it's easier for Gabe to pick them out, you can leave them out altogether or slice them up. This makes A LOT of sauce, you could freeze half or it makes awesome leftovers!

~The Sauce~

1 or 2 lbs of ground turkey or lean hamburgar
5 links of spicey Hot Hilshire farms sausage with casings removed (if you don't like spicy, use the sweet Italian sausage, you can also use the turkey sausage)
1 very large onion diced finely
1 small stalk of celery diced finely
1 bunch of green onions diced finely
1 bulb of fresh garlic minced or 1-2 tablespoons of jarred garlic
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley
1 large (or 2 small) container of mushrooms
1 28oz can of diced tomatoes
1 28oz can of tomato sauce
2 cups of chicken or beef stock
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried basil
salt and pepper to taste

~Pasta~
1 box of whole wheat pasta, I use thin spaghetti noodles (try it, it's really good)
1 8 oz container of parmesean cheese
1/2 cup of fresh basil sliced into ribbons

1. Brown ground turkey and sauage together until it falls apart, drain and blot off extra grease with a paper towel and return to a large stock pot.
2. Add Onions, celery, parsley, garlic, mushrooms and spices.
3. Add chicken stock, tomatoes, and tomato sauce.
4. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer covered for at least one hour or longer for even better flavor.
5. About 30 minutes before serving boil water for the pasta according to directions. (don't forget to add some salt and olive oil to the water)
6. Drain pasta at al dente and return to pot.
7. Add parmesean cheese and basil
8. Serve with Garlic bread or toast

Chef Carter's Chicken Enchilada's

My sweet boys love to cook with their Mommy and I love having them in the kitchen helping me! I find that if I include them while making dinner they are more apt to eat it. They are proud of what they made and excited to try it! Carter looked at me one day and said, "When I grow up, I wanna be a 'cooker' just like you Mommy!" It made my heart soar! I love memory building with them!
** This is my own made up recipe, I kind of just throw it together without exact measurments.......Here is the basic recipe below.....
Sandra's Chicken Enchiladas
1 -3 lb bag frozen boneless skinless chicken breast (trimmed, boiled, shredded)
1 -8 oz container of sour cream (I use fat free)
1- 6 oz cans of diced green chilies
1/4 to 1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro (I love cilantro)
1 large onion finely chopped
1 entire bulb of garlic minced or I used a heaping spoonful or two of the
minced garlic in a jar, you can use garlic powder too if you don't have fresh
1 teaspoon cumin
Lots of shredded Cheese about 3 cups divided in half- I use a bag of mexican blend!
1 extra large can of Macayo's enchilada red sauce
12 Flour tortillas

1. Trim the chicken, boil it with some salt until cooked through, drain and let cool, then shred with fork or fingers.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients (except 1/2 the cheese, tortillas and, enchilada sauce) and mix together thoroughly.
3. Drop a spoonful of mixture on each tortilla and roll them up, place them seam side down into the baking pan.
4. Cover the tortillas evenly with the red sauce and the other half of the shredded cheese.
5. Bake uncovered in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbling

This is the Woodpecker....

That visits us everyday, I have been trying to catch him for a while now. He likes to drum the metal on our roof with his beak and then drop by the porch for a "nanny-nanny boo boo" appearance! It's as if he is saying, "I woke you up, and there is nothing you can do about it!" LOL

My first lightning capture!

I caught this one as a monsoon storm was ending, I didn't get another opportunity after this one, next storm!!!

Spiderman Boy!

Recently an older classmate of Carter's passed down all of his Spiderman Toys to the boys! They were all in mint condition. Dozens of action figures, books, backpacks, lunch boxes, and even a spiderman mask were all included in the huge box he gave them. The boys are enjoying still enjoying these toys months later! This is my favorite picture of Carter right now! I snapped it right after he put on the mask and looked up! I blacked out the background and this is what we sent to his friend as a thank-you card!

Playing in the Rain!

Here are my boys playing in a Monsoon Summer Rainstorm. The temperature dropped and the rain was cold for 110 degree day. The boys loved it and I loved the pictures I got!

Brandi Fenton Memorial Park!

These were taken at the Brandi-Fenton Memorial park! This is a wonderful local park created by the family of Brandi Fenton, a 13 year old Tucson girl who was tragically killed in a car accident. It is a beatuful park and a fun place to take the kids to cool off and best of all it is free! We have made the drive to River and Dodge several times. As you can clearly see, the kids love it here. I highly recommend this beautiful park for a family outing. There is also a covered playground area and several ramadas with picnic tables with barbecues for parties and picnics! Go and check it out!