La-la-la-la-la-sagna!

Mmmmm………lasagna. The first of many, MANY treats that have graced my new-to-me deep freeze. My grandparents both died in 2011 and it is one of several wonderful items I inherited from them. I have pictures of me as a little girl and this deep freeze is peeking around the corner or the actual backdrop to the grainy, slightly out of focused, blurry late 1970s photo. Not she sits in my basement stuffed to the gills with lovely food for my family.

Four pans of lasagna is one of the treasures within. I put this together on my own and I am not sure how but it’s a wonderful YUMMY recipe. Simple ingredients just mix together, put the pieces together, wrap and freeze. Thaw that puppy on dinner day, top with some shredded mozzarella cheese and voila. Yumminess with minimal effort. 

The day I marathon cooked I made 4 pans. I cooked whatever noodles I could get my hands on. I even ROBBED a neighbor of his noodles and 2 of his pans to shave some of the time off the marathon day (I made taco meat, sloppy joes, the lasagnas, chili) TONS of stuff and I found myself wanting more pans and counter space. My neighbor was ripped off but he got a lasagna out of it. J

Anyhoo, I double the cheese and meat mixes and used the noodles I cooked. I try to do 2-3 layers of the lasagna noodles but again, I cooked all the noodles so just used my judgment on amounts to make it all work. And here she goes:

Noodles, cooked and rinsed with cool water – set aside.

Mix 1 containers of Ricotta Cheese, 2 eggs, ½ c parmesan cheese , ½ c mozzarella cheese – set aside

Mix 1 lb cooked ground beef, 1 large can of chopped/diced tomatoes, 1 jar of tomato sauce – set aside.

Then arrange in a sprayed pan this way: Sauce, noodles, sauce, cheese, noodles, sauce cheese, noodles sauce cheese.

I lay out the noodles willy-nilly. One thing I did not understand when making lasagna in my earlier years is that it is not meant to be uniform and like the frozen brick you get from the company that starts with S. lay out 2 or 3 noodles with space in between. Fork around some sauce and cheese, then noodles do not have to be covered. Bake covered with foil at 350 for 1 hour or until cheese is the brownness you like. If you want, take foil off last 15 minutes and let the cheese get good and brown. If you bake from frozen you will be baking for about 4 days so make sure that baby is thawed. 

Have a good lasagna recipe to share? Have a good meal to make that goes together with a popular song of the late 80’s or any other decade! J Gotta love Los Lobos! Here are some pictures. Of the lasagna, not Los Lobos. Unless you wanted to see Los Lobos. I could include one. OH or one of Lou Diamond Phillips!! Now I can’t resist…

Karen

What's in your Freezer??

Ever since I inherited my love, dated, magnificent freezer, all I can seem to do is dream about all the wonderful items I can put in there to feed my little peeps. Every single time a food is mentioned, smelled or considered it’s followed up either out loud or on the inside ‘Ooooooo…can you freeze it!?’ With excitement and glee.

Then that is followed by a trip to the computer to google (or search wonderful blogs) about other’s experiences with freezing certain items.

So I find myself watching for meat sales. Meat is the thing in the Brunner house. They want meat every single meal. It’s weird but they’re growing and work hard and beefy people so I guess I should not be surprised. Over Memorial day weekend there was a plethora of meat sales. I found Ground Round for 1.87/lb so bought 12 lbs of that and chicken was also cheap….so I missed and diced and hamburgered a lot over Memorial Day and it was wonderful. 

Except now I’m overrun with baggies of frozen stuff and am having trouble with organization. How do you keep your freezers organized? I do menu plan so build my menu around the items in my freezer but as far as organization, what’s a girl to do!?!?

Here’s what I have (and I am going from memory):

 

Meat: 1 chili, 3 taco meat, 3 sloppy joes, 1 pack (8 each) cheddar ranch burgers, 1 pack (8 each) Plain hamburgers 1 small container of Beef Stew, 1 Bakes Ziti, 3 lasagnas, 35 pigs in a blanket, Honey Dijon

 

Chicken x2, Hawaiian Chicken x2, 1 Chicken with Herb and Lemon, 24 taco corn fritters, 8 lbs frozen ground beef, 3 lbs random chicken breasts and thighs. 

Other: 1 chicken and rice Casserole, 1 veggie mac-n-cheeze, 1 beef and rice (this was not such a good meal..so it’s gonna sit while I ponder).

Breads: 1 loaf applesauce bread, 36 strawberry banana muffins, the mother-load of waffles

I know there is more but I am drawing a blank. How on earth do you organize this mayhem!! Ideals girls!! Let me have ‘em!

Karen

Summer Cavities??????

I can’t decide what to call this post. I almost said ‘Diet verses Regular Pop’. Nearly called it ‘The Summer of Dental Revelation’. I went with summer cavities because all the Brunner dentist appointments are in May and June. I went today and guess what. I am first up with a CAVITY!! I am soooo sad. I work hard on my teeth. I’ve always been lucky enough to have straight, white teeth and zero intervention. I had a lot of cavities as a child due to lack of dental care (poor kids didn’t go to the dentist, I’m afraid to say) so my first visit turned into my second which was the worst nightmare ever. Lots of shots and lots of cavities. Bummer.

Well now I am in my…uh….30’s and It’s been 6 YEARS since my last cavity. I am nervous already. I made the appointment for 2pm so I could go home, de-numb my mouth and relax. I am bummed.

The reason for the willie-nillie name ideas is this: I moved to regular pop. I did this about 6 months ago because in an effort to care more for myself, I started taking vitamins, trying to exercise and eat better. I was told that diet pop was horrible…worse for you than sugar loaded pop. Like a ding dong, which I now kick myself for, I switched. I figured I brush 2 times a day, floss daily. Really, it’s daily. I am that anti-needle. I know, did I do my research? Nope. Took the dude at face value and have been on the fence ever since. So I keep getting regular pop because I love it so. Fountain pop is forever a weakness and a desire for me.

There’s another reason and problem.

I let Jackson have a pop a day. Before you may gasp and (please don’t) challenge or criticize me I do this as a reward. Pop is something Jackson dreams about. We went from a school year last year of horrible marks and discipline problems to A’s and B’s and minimal discipline marks in 5^th grade. Jackie-boy knows if he gets a mark or a ding, he’s pop-free that evening. It works and I love him so I do it.

I think I need to switch to diet. What do you say? Diet or regular? Which is better and which is worse? Hopefully you don’t say both are horrible because I have no idea WHAT I’m going to do!!!!

This cutie pie has a story. I went to clipart to find something soda pop related and typed ‘Coke’. This is what I got. How cute is he!?!?!? There’s a smile for the day if you’ve not yet smiled. And I hope you have……it’s late!!

Karen

WafflePalooza!!

Boy did I stumble on to a gem this weekend. WAFFLE MAKER! I’ve been wanting one and was too cheap to take the plunge. Doing some memorial day shopping this weekend I found a little 2 slice maker for $12.00. I figured if it was a horrible experience, I pitch the thing and no worries. Believe me I’ve spent more on much less. 

I was mistaken in my idea that it would be a pain in the rear to make waffles. The kids went nuts. I almost posted on FB ‘Just how many waffles can these kids eat!?’ but I refrained. I’ll save that dialogue for you. I found an easy recipe on allrecipes.com. I’ll include it here for you because it makes like 40 some waffles and in the interest of freezing and eating at a later time, this recipe ROCKED.

Here’s some pictures. I did learn a few things and since I like lists, I’ll list them out.

1. I have no idea how to clean a waffle maker. The thing is a wreck already so here’s my plan. I will use and abuse the thing and replace next Memorial Day.
2. The Smuckers Strawberry syrup rocks the block. I am going to look for a more homemade recipe one of these days.
3. My kids think I have an obsession with food.

Now that is a pile of waffles!!  Have any fun waffle experiences to share? Make your own syrup? FLAVORED syrup?! Do tell……

Karen

Cemetery Scavenger Hunt

I looked for several hours online for memorial day ideas before finding this little gem. I found a few gems this weekend. It was a productive weekend. This gem, however took place at 7 at night and we were so sweaty and smelly when we returned home it was embarrassing. Thankfully we’re all forgiving and love each other although no hugs were immediately exchanged. Behind our yard is a corn field and beyond that is a cemetery. Cemeteries always weirded me out as a kid. I guess the idea that a dead person could reach up and grab my leg was just too much. When I turned 19 I realized this was foolish so developed a fondness for them.

Kidding.

 

I actually do dig cemeteries now. They’re peaceful and beautiful and the final resting place for people I’ll never know or meet or recognize, but wish I could. Just knowing every stone and name and flower has a memory and a story is so intriguing for me. If you are reading the Couch to 5k Diaries series of posts, it’s through the cemetery that I am running. It works out well because I can get lost in thought and not focus on the clock. I find myself imagining what life was like for a person born in 1850 and dead by 1901. Or the lady, Mrs P. I will call her, who is not buried with her husband (at least he’s not represented on the stone) but she is sharing a grave with her 4 children dead at ages 6, 4, 2 and 1 year old. What happened that this poor woman lost all these babies so close together. I try to imagine the noise in her house, the look of her house, the smells of her house, the agony of her loss. Who was left to ensure the stone was properly carved?? I could go on and on and on. If I’m close to losing you, hang in there. I promise to make a point. 

Anyway I digress.

Memorial day and all is a tme to reflect on those gone before us. I hope this doesn’t cause you to give me an ugh!!! and a weird face but we did a scavenger hunt. We took 2 stripped of paper crayons, 2 loooooooooooong sheets of paper (one per team), designate our team and hauled buns. Bring back A-Z, all 26 names. Can be first, middle or last (no initials) and no designations. A lot of stones have mother, daughter, son, that sort of thing on it. Can’t use those (wouldn’t be as fun).

The results!? There are NO NAMES that begin with U, X or Q in that entire cemetery!!!! I know because as a family we scoured the thing and I was surprised. Not a Unger, Xavier or Quinn in the entire house!! Even the newer part where people take more liberties with naming their children. We had fun. We were also prepare to explain to any family we might have accidentally encountered what our goal was and it was NOT disrespect, but a creative activity for a family to roam through the cemetery and create a memory for us as a family. We did avoid all people and were not approved or even seen as far as I know. 

Here are some pictures. Now share with me your memorial day fun!! Did you do anything unique to celebrate or to bring your family together? Got any other creative cemetery or scavenger hunt ideas? I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR THEM!!!!!!!!! This stuff always gets me jazzed.

Karen

Memorial Day Funness

Boy do I have plans. It’s going to be up hear 100 degrees and this family needs some activities to keep us busy, entertained and most of all make Memorial Day FUN FUN FUN! So I was digging around online yesterday and stumbled onto some neat little things we can do. If you read my post, be so kind as to comment on what YOU did with your family for Memorial Day. 

On a side note, I often get a little bit blue when we have holidays and 3 day weekends because we do not have a lot of family close by where we are going to reunions and hosting cookouts and all around us people are doing just that. I work hard to create memories for the 4 of us that will spark interest, creativity and a sense of adventure. Who needs 100 family members we’ll see at the next funeral, we have each other.

That last comment was meant in gest. I say that because he seems like my family sees each other when we are minus one. It’s tragic and sad, but it’s true. 

Okay so on the agenda is as follow, and in no particular order. The beauty of a holiday is NO SCHEDULE!! Only a list of fun things we can sprinkle in during the nice, long, HOT weekend.

First and foremost is this: The hubby came home with a 10 foot pool yesterday. Yup, a pool. It’s not huge just something you can step in to cool off and it’s really meant for the koi pond once we start working on it (and I’m SURE there will be posts about this agonizing process…let’s just leave that topic in the parking lot for now).

• So we’re putting the pool together.
• We are going to make a volcano in the sand box (10 inch tall sand volcano….burrow a hole down in the center using a stick, sprinkle 1 tablespoons of Baking Soda into the hole and pour in some vinegar. I’ll take pictures so you can see how it all turned out.
• Breakfast Cake and cake for Breakfast. Thanks to Laura at Heavenly Homemakers, I am a better mother and baker.
• Don’t care for that!? How ‘bout some Applesauce Cake. Also from my secret BFF Laura at HH. I am going to make 2 loaves because Laura said 1 loaf was not enough.
• Cemetery Scavenger Hunt. I am SOOOOO Excited about this but a little nervous too. Here is the nervousness broken out.

• It’s Memorial Day weekend so the cemetery could be busy
• It’s REALLY HOT out there
• The last scavenger hunt I had was Easter and it was poo-pooed on because my kids figured out the Easter Bunny magic.
• Anyway here’s the high level scoop of the activity, 2 teams (1 parent and 1 child), race out to the cemetery and give me a rub of 26 names (either first, middle or last) corresponding to each letter of the alphabet. First one back with a complete list of names gets something. Not sure what. A hug maybe? That’s a terrible prize, isn’t it. More to come on that.

• Put up the volley ball net and sweat to a lazy game of badminton or …uh…VOLLEYBALL! DOH! So obvious.
• To avoid the heat of the day I am going to propose a living room picnic with a movie
• Perhaps some water gun fights….?
• I found some library books at our wonderful library on constellations. I thought it would be a lovely weekend to interject some of space topics. Doesn’t complement the volcano well but who cares, right!?

That’s all I have on the list thus far. You will hear all about how all this went. I am so excited to share this weekend with my little peepers and you guys. Please share your memories and ideas with me. 

UPDATE: Just received a text from the hubby and he says this ‘It’s death-blow out there’. What does THAT mean!? Sounds TERRIBLE!!

Karen

Jackson Hates the Brownies

So I struggle a lot, noticed? It always seems to be over things that are trivial in nature. Well what kind of woman/mother would I be if I didn’t dabble a little bit in this space. I totally dig Laura from Heavenly Homemakers on many levels. She’s cute as a button and just sweet. Here sweetness and sincerity come across in her words. I feel her when she speaks. Girlfriend’s also got it together, she cooks, she homeschools, she blogs. WOW!! That’s a lot!! She’s also a natural, whole foods kind of gal so I turn to her a lot when I am looking for new, easy and healthy meals, snacks and desserts. 

She recently did a test to see which took longer, her homemade (natural ingredient) brownies or a store bought box. With only seconds separating the preparation to eating time, the homemade won out because why else!? They’re homemade.

So I tried these homemade brownies. They came together in thick, dreamy, fudgy way. The batter is good. Yes I licked the spoon!! Who doesn’t!? They were go-od. I baked them and they looked just like the box mix. I altered Laura’s recipe some because I did not use whole wheat flour and I used plain old processed white sugar but only 1.5 cups. I loved them. They bake up easy, looked good, smelled terrific and they tasted great. They texture was more like a cake than a fudgy brownie but that doesn’t bother me even a little.

So we proceeded to the kid test. Jackson ate one, made a face and said ‘uh mom..maybe you outta stick with the box’. I don’t care what the kid says, the brownies are good. I love Laura and her brownies. Jackson has no idea what’s even good. ;-)

Here’s the recipe I used. Happy eating.

2 sticks softened butter

1.5 c white sugar

½ c cocoa

2 eggs

1.5 c flour (white or wheat, I used white)

1 tsp vanilla

Mix, pour into greased 9x13 350 for about 20 minutes (mine needed longer for the middle to set up, edges were crunchy but not to the point of shattering….like all my other brownie experiments.)

Karen

Monster Sauce = PMS Treat

I made a wonderful yet sickening discovery early this week and it’s shameful. I blush just writing the words and it’s all my daughter’s fault. In our little down, each grade has a big project due typically toward the end of the year. Meredith is in 3^rd grade and the 3^rd grade project is called International Day. Each child is assigned a country and they complete a booklet about their country, they must dress native to their country and provide a dish native to their assigned country. Then on one lovely Friday in April all the well-dressed children flock to school to sing and dance and eat and tell you about their country. This year, we had Holland and so it was easy. 

I learned one important fact about Holland-ers (is that a word)??? They eat their fries with mayonnaise.

Yup, cholesterol/fat building MAYO. Wanna make the treat extra dreamy..add some ketchup. Don’t mix them; dip in one, dip in the other and enjoy. I am a fan and told my friend in the midst of my battle with PMS that I made this discovery. Apparently it is not the discovery I hoped (boo-hoo) because she lovingly referred to this mess as Monster Sauce. Probably because it’s a treat that turns you into a monster. Here’s how I know.

If you eat fries, you need a burger to go with it. I’ve had 4 cheeseburger and fry meals this week. J

Dear period, please hurry and get here so I can eat more nutritiously again! Love, Karen

Try it but consider yourself warned. 

Karen

Punny Business

I had this email sent to me the other day and laughed and laughed and laughed.  Enjoy!!

I changed my iPod's name to Titanic. It's syncing now.

When chemists die, they barium.

Jokes about German sausage are the wurst.

I know a guy who's addicted to brake fluid. He says he can stop any time.

How does Moses make his tea? Hebrews it.

I stayed up all night to see where the sun went. Then it dawned on me.
This girl said she recognized me from the vegetarian club, but I'd never met herbivore.

I'm reading a book about anti-gravity. I just can't put it down.

I did a theatrical performance about puns. It was a play on words.

They told me I had type-A blood, but it was a Type-O.

PMS jokes aren't funny; period.

Why were the Indians here first? They had reservations.

We’re going on a class trip to the Coca-Cola factory. I hope there's no pop quiz.

I didn't like my beard at first. Then it grew on me.

Did you hear about the cross-eyed teacher who lost her job because she couldn't control her pupils?

When you get a bladder infection, urine trouble.

Broken pencils are pointless.

I tried to catch some fog, but I mist.

What do you call a dinosaur with an extensive vocabulary? A thesaurus.

England has no kidney bank, but it does have a Liverpool.

I used to be a banker, but then I lost interest.

I dropped out of communism class because of lousy Marx.
All the toilets in New York 's police stations have been stolen. The police have nothing to go on.

I got a job at a bakery because I kneaded dough.

Haunted French pancakes give me the crêpes.

Velcro — what a rip off!

A cartoonist was found dead in his home. Details are sketchy.

Venison for dinner again? Oh deer!

The earthquake in Washington obviously was the government's fault.

Be kind to your dentist. He has fillings, too.