Not another pasta recipe...

If you didn't believe me about the pasta addiction mentioned before I hope you do now. Here we are two days later and I have made yet another pasta dish. My Hubby requested this one so I am not totally at fault, but it was on the list of meal possibilities that I gave him so it's not like he pulled it out of left field.

Does anyone else feel like your pulling teeth when asking your significant other what they would like for meals through out the week? I despise trying to get that sort of information out of Daniel. One of the last times I asked him you know what he said...hot dogs? Hot dogs?? You have a wife who loves to cook, is willing to cook just about anything, and has a food blog to top it all off, and all you can think about is hot dogs? How am I supposed to blog about hot dogs...geesh.

Anyway, I am slowly realizing that my husband doesn't have a fancy palate, he is happy with down home simple meals such as a good casserole. I know this probably isn't considered a casserole but it's down home and very easy. Some may know it as Johnny Marzetti as my family does, others may know it as Goulash, either way I hope you enjoy!!!

Katie's Johnny Marzetti~

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef, cooked and drained
1/2 onion, finely chopped

1 green pepper, finely chopped
1 lb. elbow macaroni, cooked and drained
1- 14.5 oz petite diced tomatoes
1- 6 oz. tomato paste
2/3 C. tomato sauce
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper

Directions:
1.) In a large pan, bring to a boil elbow macaroni.
2.) In a skillet brown ground beef, add green pepper and onion. Drain grease.
3.) Add ground beef mixture to drained elbow macaroni and add your diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and tomato sauce. Stir together and add salt and pepper, stir once again.

Now if it were up to me I would add a couple of cups of shredded cheese and throw that bad boy in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes. Since Daniel is picky and I want him to enjoy this I am going to leave as is. You do whatever floats your boat!

Great Danes...

Can't live with them, can't live without them! I thought this disease that my hubby has in regards to raising the biggest dogs he can possibly find was just something he suffered from, my favorite pioneer lady however, has proven me wrong.

I don't know if it's the sad puppy dogs eyes that they have from the time of birth to the time of death or the need to sit on the couch as if they were human beings or what. You just can't say no to these creatures they are pathetic sad saps that you just can't help but take aside and squeeze until they almost burst from your love. Meet Mr. No Name, this lovely little fellow showed up on The Pioneer Womans front porch this morning and I'll be darned if she didn't let him in just like my Husband would have done. She also fed him and now I wonder if she will keep him. What kind of power do these wonderful creatures hold that makes people unable to use Great Dane and heck no in the same sentence?? Click on "The Pioneer Womans" and go directly to her blog to read more!

Picture provided by Ree Drummond @ The Pioneer Woman

My name is Katie and I have an addiction...

Yes I have an addiction, I think I have mentioned it before. I am a sucker for pasta, especially pastas drenched in sauce and piled high with cheeses. I don't know where this comes from, I am half German, half Irish, and I am pretty sure there is no Italian in there anywhere.

Anyway, like I said I love my pasta, I could eat it just about every day of the week in a different form each night. I have made this recipe before using different ingredients and tonight I thought I would keep it relatively simple by using ingredients that I have on hand. You are more than welcome to use your own homemade sauce, but tonight I am making Sandra Lee proud and doing it the Semi-Homemade way by using a jar of my favorite store bought version.

Katie's Stuffed Shells~

Ingredients:
1 box. jumbo shells

1 jar. pasta sauce

1 lb. ground beef

1 md. container ricotta cheese

1 C. parmesan cheese

4 C. mozzarella cheese, shredded

2 tsp. garlic powder

2 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. black pepper

Directions:

1.) In a large pot bring to a boil your shells. Do not cook all the way through as they will finish cooking in the oven.

2.) In a separate skillet brown ground beef, drain off any excess grease. Add garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and black pepper. Mix and turn off heat. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.

3.) To the cooled meat mixture, add your ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, and 1 cup of mozzarella cheese. Mix gently and then add 1/2 cup of your sauce.

4.)Begin my putting a good tablespoon or so of your meat mixture to each shell.
5.) In a 9x13 baking pan take a little of your sauce and cover the bottom. Layer stuffed shells. Top with remaining sauce and remainder of shredded cheese.
6.) Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit covered for 45 minutes, for the last ten or so minutes bake uncovered so that topping can brown slightly.

Outback Night

As promised I am providing you one of the recipes out of the lovely cook book I got from an e-mail. Tonight I decided on doing a few of the Outback recipes and we were not disappointed. I have never had these items at Outback so I am not sure how close they are to the original, but we didn't have much left so it must not have been to bad.

Outback Steak Marinade

Ingredients:

1 package of Taco Seasoning

1 package of Good Seasonings Italian Mix
1 can of Coca-Cola

Steak of your choice

Directions:

1.) In a large bowl add all of your ingredients and allow to marinate for 24 hours.

We made ours by doing kabobs so I also added green peppers, onion, and cherry tomotoes when putting them on the kabobs.

I also made cheesy fries and made their dipping sauce.

Outback Sauce~

Ingredients:

1 C. sour cream

2 tbsp. prepared horseradish

dash of salt

dash of pepper

dash of cayenne pepper

Directions:

1.) Mix together in a bowl and allow to "marry" for an hour or so.

Both my Husband and our dinner guest Denny enjoyed this sauce on not only their fries but on their steak and veggies as well.

Katie's Fried Pork Chops

Yesterday was my Uncle Dan's birthday dinner here at my homestead and I chose to make him fried pork chops, mashed potatoes with gravy, and corn casserole. It went off very well and I think everyone really enjoyed it. I had been craving those mashed potatoes and gravy for about a week and was not disappointed. My Dad had to help with the gravy but we got it accomplished. For some very strange reason I can never make gravy when I have an audience or feeding other people!

Katie's Fried Pork Chops~
16 servings

Ingredients:
16 medium thick pork chops
2 C. all purpose flour
1 tbsp. paprika
1 tbsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp. onion powder
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. black pepper
3 eggs
milk

Directions:
1.) In a large cast iron skilled add about a cup or so of vegetable oil. I didn't measure the amount just added enough until it was about an 1/2 in. deep. I warm it up on high heat and then before adding the meat I take it down to medium.
2.) In a separate bowl add your three eggs and a splash or two of milk. Beat until incorporated.
3.) In another bowl add all of your dry ingredients and mix.
4.) Dip pork chops in egg wash and then generously cover in the flour mixture.
5.) Add to skillet and brown on each side.
6.) After browning on each side I add them to the oven at about 300 degrees Fahrenheit for about an hour and half.

They came out really moist and tender and I think we only had three leftover.

Hope everyone enjoys as much as we did!!

I would also like to take a moment to introduce a new member of my family. The great dane resuce that we are associated with holds a grooming day once a month. It allows all of the volunteers to come to the rescue and groom the adoptable dogs, trims their nails, brush them down, and just overall socialize with them. I made the mistake of allowing my Husband to go by himself today and I just received the call he's bringing me home another son.
His name is currently Lennon, however I am not fond of it. Suggestions are welcome! Did I also mention that he is partially blind and deaf...this should be very interesting.

Chocolate Chip Walnut Pancakes

Since this is the first Saturday in several weeks now that I can honestly say I feel pretty good, I thought I would make some pancakes for breakfast for my wonderful Husband. Unfortunately, after I slaved away over the stove for these things while he was in one of the bedrooms cleaning up, he informed me he doesn't like "stuff" in his pancakes. Man ate them though so the "stuff" must not have been to bad.

Chocolate Chip Walnut Pancakes~

Ingredients:
2 C. Bisquick
1 C. milk
2 eggs
1/3 c. chocolate chips
1/4 c. finely chopped walnuts

Directions:
1.) Mix in a bowl, Bisquick, milk, and eggs. Gently fold in chocolate chips and then walnuts.
2.) Cook over medium heat until browned on each side.
3.) Serve with a spread of butter, drizzle of maple syrup, and a dash or two of powdered sugar.

Hope everyone enjoys...chocolate chip pancakes always bring a smile to my face!

Another Award!

I was awarded another wonderful award from Gracey and 5th Sister and I must say it is very meaningful to receive these awards from these ladies and everyone else who have passed them onto me. Blogging for me has given me a space for my creative ways in the kitchen and allows me the opportunity to share them with others. It has also provided me the opportunity to visit with other bloggers such as Gracey, and get a look into what happens in other homes across the world. While we may never meet face to face, I can honestly say I have a great group of friends in this world we call cyberspace and I am thrilled to say I am gaining new ones everyday. I have been overwhelmed with the wonderful outpouring of love, support, and well wishes during the struggle I am going through with my disease and it does my heart good.


The rules for accepting this award are listed below:

Choose a minimum of 7 blogs that you find brilliant in content or design.
Show the 7 winners names and links on your blog, and leave a comment informing them that they were prized with "Honest Scrap." Well, there's no prize, but they can keep the nifty icon.
List at least 10 honest things about yourself.

First off, here are my 10 honest things about myself, I apologize in advance for anything that may come out sounding like I am nutcase!

1.) I married the first man I ever dated/kissed/had relations with(please see apology above). I would send out an extra apology to my Uncle Dan for forcing him to read this, but our family is all crazy and we know about everyone's special relations. Isn't that right Uncle Dan and Aunt Robin??? I can't wait to tell my daughters one day, should I be blessed with any, that I waited for that one special someone!

2.) While I enjoy being married to my Husband, who I truly fall more in love with with every passing day we spend together, there are days when I miss my single days of apartment living. Having my own space, no dogs to dirty my home, moving each year to something new and exciting, and not having to worry about cleaning and pleasing someone else. Does this make me a bad wife?

3.) While I love our dogs dearly and get sad just thinking about the day when they will no longer be with us, there are times when I want to open the front door and let them go. Times like when I run home for lunch, prepare whatever I am going to eat, sit down in my comfy recliner and turn on the Price is Right and Wagner comes over and shakes his head and flings drool all over me and what I am eating. Or the times when I am just falling asleep at night and Toby lets the most ungodly fart possible and I have to vacate the bedroom. Lord, please bless me with daughters, I can't handle any more nasty male anything!!

4.) While Daniel and I both enjoy being homeowners, we bought the second house we looked at after being approved. It was definitely an impulse buy and one we both regret terribly. We hate our house and after having been forced to make thousands of dollars in repairs and updates we never imagined having to make because our inspector should have caught them, I have wondered what it would take to burn the place down? Dogs and personal belongings not included! Is it also bad to wish the tree out back would fall on our roof like our neighbors did, we need a new roof and gutters??

5.) I love to cook and our Saturday night dinners are becoming somewhat of a chore because I try to outdo myself each and every week. I really need to stop and realize, these guys don't care what I make, as long as I make something and we get to be together that's all that matters.

6.) My parents divorced when I was three years old, within a year they were both remarried. Those marriages have now failed, so I am now the proud daughter of four single people. I don't like thinking that my Mom and Dad were ever married...it makes me ill...I don't know why. Maybe it's because I don't remember what it was like with them being together and it's weird to think they ever were. I am glad they aren't together, I think my relationship with them would be very different had they have stuck it out. The one marriage I do wish was still together is my Mom and Step-Dad's...they lasted 20 years and I don't think our family will ever be the same, I don't think they ever will either and it's already been 3 years. At the end of the day however, I will never be alone, I have family coming out of ever nook and cranny and I feel blessed that each and every one of them is a part of my life . I am 25 years old and I still get multiple birthday celebrations and each year at Christmas I make out like a kid in a candy store. In my case, having divorced parents has more positives than negatives and I am a better person for it.

7.) My senior year of high school, when everyone else was running around picking schools and trying to decide on what they were going to be when they grew up, I could have cared less. I chose the one college that was closest to home and I knew would accept me. I picked the one major I knew would make my parents proud and I went with it. I failed terribly and was not ready for the commitment going to college and being someone took. I knew why I lacked the commitment then and it's the same that holds me from going back. At the end of the day I don't know what I want to major in and I don't want to waste anymore time, and it's because the only thing I ever wanted to do with my life was to be a wife and a mother. I want to be the wife that has breakfast ready for her husband in the morning and dinner on the table when he gets home. I want to be the Mom who packs her kids lunch everyday, the classroom Mom and chaperone, and I want to be the Mom who waits at the bus stop every afternoon to walk her children home and ask them how their day went. I don't need a fancy education or a degree in computer engineering that I thought I needed at the time to be either of those things. I just need Daniel and the children I hope to one day be blessed with. It terrifies me that I am going to be 26 years old this year and I am still without a child. I honestly don't know what I will do if I never get to become a Mother. The fact that my sister, who by the way is 5 years younger than I, is pregnant with her first after just a few months of marriage and trying, doesn't help with this matter. I guess if God feels that motherhood is not in my future, I will just have to be the best darn Aunt a kid could ever have!

8.) I would love to have a wedding cake business. Unfortunately, I am no good at baking from scratch. Having to use exact measurements is not good with me. I am like my Grandma, a little bit of this and a little bit of that. You cannot do that in baking. So instead I would like to open up a 50's style diner and one day be on Diners, Drive Ins, and Dive's!! Guy cracks me up. Daniel likes him to, got his book for Christmas.

9.)My goal in life is to be as positive as possible. Sadly, I am the most negative person on the face of the earth. I am a glass half empty sort of gal and I have come to terms with it. After re-reading some of the previous eight truth's about myself, I really think I should do something about it...lol. See a therapist maybe? :)

10.) Here is a positive one. Should one day I ever have any children my children's first names will all end with s-o-n. Our first daughter will be Addison Grace, our first son will be Jackson Daniel, second daughter will be Emerson Faith, and our second son will be Grayson Matthew. Sadly out of all of these names Daniel only likes Jackson Daniel and it is because of the liquor Jack Daniels...MEN!! Also, none of them will go by their full first name, I have shortened them all, Addie, Jack, Emmie, and Gray. Not in love with Gray, but I absolutely adore the name Grayson so I will deal with it. With this all being said though, I will probably have to name my kids something else to please their Father so we do have backups such as Leah Grace, Olivia(Livy) Faith, and Jacob(Jake) Matthew. We shall see if he caves or not when the time comes.

I know I now need to select 7 others to award this to however since I have been working on this for several days now and it is all ready a book long, I am going to post my selected bloggers separately this afternoon.