One-Pot Baked Ziti

Mmmmmm yum. I love pasta, and I also love the 5 cheese baked ziti at Olive Garden (classy, I know). So when I saw this recipe, I was really excited to try it out. The original came from Pinterest of course :). You can get the original link here. Me being me, I had to change some things, though not many.

Source

One-Pot Baked Ziti

¾ lb sweet Italian sausage

4 tsp minced garlic

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (or more or less to your taste)

sea salt and black pepper

1 (28-oz) can crushed tomatoes

4 tsp basil leaves (dried)

3 cups water

12 oz penne noodles

1/2 cup whipping cream

1  cup Parmesan cheese + ¼ c for topping

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1. Preheat your oven to 475
2. In your dutch oven (or other oven safe pot that can comfortable hold ~5 quarts), brown the sausage. Add the garlic and red pepper and give it all a good stir for a minute or so. *Note, use less/more of all these seasonings according to your preference
3. Add the tomatoes and use them to deglaze the pan. Stir in the basil with a dash of salt and pepper and let it simmer gently for about 10 minutes. It should reduce down just a smidge (just enough to really meld and bolden the flavors).
4. Stir in the water and pasta and increase your stove temp so the liquid comes to a near boil. Let the pasta cook 10-15 minutes, you want it to still have a bit of crunch because it will continue cooking in the oven.
5. Remove from heat, stir in the whipping cream and parmesan. Taste your sauce and adjust the seasonings as needed. Get it all good and blended then sprinkle the mozzarella and parmesan on top.
6. Pop it in the oven for another 15 minutes and let the cheese get good and melty (I like mine browned a bit). Serve and enjoy!

*You'll notice I call the dish ziti and actually have penne in the ingredients. A noodle's a noodle, use what you want. I didn't have the ziti I wanted so I used penne which is way easier for me to get anyway.

Some things I do to try to healthen it up some- I use whole grain or omega-3 pasta noodles. I'm also going to sneak attack Coach and season up some ground turkey instead of the sausage. I don't care too much for sausage anyway (ha-ha, get your laughs out now) so I'm anxious to try a different meat (and more laughs).

  

Puff the Magic Pastry

So in my foods classes at work, we cover a pastry unit. We had previously done 3 different labs- beef empanadas where they made their own pastry dough from scratch, mile high peanut butter pie where they make a crumb crust for a crème pie, and apple turnovers using a store-bought puff pastry product (with filling from scratch of course).

Well those store bought puff pastries are not cheap and the budget has been very tight this year. We always pride ourselves in giving our kids high-quality labs. This is the basic culinary arts class after all. We're going to be as healthy as we can, as tasty as we can, and we avoid "cooking from a box." So it made sense for us to drop those store-bough pastries and make our own.

Because the pastry dough has to chill overnight, we had a 2-day lab. Kids already have to peel and slice their apples the day before so we weren't adding time onto the calendar or anything. Overall things seemed to go OK today but the true test will be tomorrow when the pastry dough bakes! I'll let you know how it goes. In the meantime, here's the recipe:

Simple Puff Pastry:
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
3 1/4 sticks cold butter (that's 1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons)
3/4 cup ice cold water

Mix the flour and salt then cut in the butter. Work quickly so the butter doesn't get too warm, you want it to stay in solid clumps when working the dough. Stir in the water with a fork until everything is moistened. The dough will be very sticky.

Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface. Pat it into a loaf then roll out into a rough rectangle. Fold it in thirds like you were folding a brochure. This creates the layers. Pick up the folded dough and rotate it, making sure to re-flour underneath so it doesn't stick to the counter. Roll it out again into the rectangle shape. Then fold again. Repeat this roll and fold process about 5 times before finally folding it into a tidy little brick. Wrap in saran wrap and let chill a minimum of 2 hours. Bring the dough out again and repeat the roll and fold another 3 times. Then you can roll the dough out to use as needed. It should bake at 425 degrees.

Safety in Schools

This is obviously a hot topic in our society lately. It's an unfortunate reality but it is reality. I am blessed that I work in a district that takes our safety very seriously and it is always a priority. I have never felt unsafe in my school even though some people think it has a rough reputation.

Our district has undergone many efforts to increase our school safety in the last 2 years. We have controlled access entries now in all our schools, we have increased security supervision by contracting with a private security firm, and we have video camera surveillance on just about every corner of district property (and we use it, much to our students' annoyance). All this is to say that obviously our district has wisely chosen to invest in the safety of its staff and students.

Things were taken even one step further this year when every school was provided intensive intruder training. At first we were all a little nervous about it, but everyone quickly got on board with the project. Since my parents are uber-safe about everything all the time (wrist guards while rollerblading anyone?), I get a big kick out of this sort of thing. Being prepared is the best way to be!

It started with a basic classroom session. We listened to sound and video footage of various shootings and learned a lot of important lessons. We watched demonstrations on how to barricade doors, how to fight back, how to evacuate. It was simple knowledge stuff but it was very important and really made you think.

The next phase was a hands on training. We were put in classrooms to practice barricading doors and locking out intruders. We were taught how to fight back. And then we had drills. First they had us run a drill with the previous method of school safety- no locking out the intruder, every man for himself, hide. I had scoped out my hiding spot and was positive I could be completely unseen. But another teacher saw me headed there and joined me. We both scrunched ourselves into the corner and anxiously hoped the "shooter" wouldn't see us. It didn't work. Well kind of. She was more exposed than me so she was "hit" but I was not. It was eye-opening to feel so powerless in that sort of situation.

The second situation let us lock down the classroom. Whoo! That's where things got serious. Another teacher and I ended up in the dark right by the door anxiously holding on to the rope to keep it closed. Fortunately we did.

Each drill upped the ante and each time we got better and better in securing ourselves and our "position." It was an adrenaline rush for sure. We were proud that the intruders were never able to get into our room. By the time we finished we had some rope burn on our hands, were hot and sweaty, and definitely breathing hard. But it was worth it! We, and I say we because of course we all talked about it, feel much more empowered and in control should we face an intruder situation. The information isn't just for school invader situations either, you never know where you will face a violent situation.

Obviously we hope that this was all for nothing. That we never face this sort of situation. But the facts of life today are that you need to be prepared, and our crew is.

Sorry I've Been Gone! Literally, not in town.....

So sorry for the gap in posts there. I somehow got super busy at work (which is crazy because this year is still not nearly as busy as last year since I finished my masters) and obviously wedding planning is a total time controller :)

There have been lots of fun trips though. First was a Hermann, MO trip with some good friends from work. We stayed at nice B&B and participated in the wine trail. It was neat because I finally tried out different wineries than my usual :) We also had a food sampling at each location which was delicious. I love a Hermann trip any time of year.

Next Coach and  I went to Texas for a weekend trip. He met one of my sisters, plus her husband and kids, for the first time. Crazy to think that we've been together a year and are engaged but he still hasn't met much of my family. Just a fact of life when you live away from them all!

After Texas we enjoyed even more time off work since it was Thanksgiving Break! This was first year ever in my life that I was not at my parents' house. It was a little surreal but at the same time, being with Coach and his family felt completely naturally. I'm very blessed to have found not only a great guy, but a guy who comes with a great family. I'm a lucky girl :)

We have a weekend trip to St Louis next with some of Coach's college buddies followed by a trip to Branson with his family. After that it's a weekend off before we're back in my hometown to spend Christmas with my family. A couple that travels together stays together right?!

Tis the Season!

The holidays are well upon us. Thanksgiving has come and gone and we're a mere 3 weeks away from Christmas! My oh my how time flies when you're older and planning a wedding and have friends and family and things to do!! :) It's a wonderful place to be.

So my mother was always the chic woman with enough vision and control to make sure the family presents were wrapped in coordinating paper to match the tree they were placed under. If you wrapped your presents in a non-coordinating scheme they were very sweetly and prettily stacked in a different area of the room. The "pretty" tree remained picture-perfect however (we had a "fun" tree in another part of the house that held all the kids ornaments and was where we spent the most time). It's a small tradition that's stayed with me, even during the years of no tree.

This year I do not have a tree. Coach and I are traveling a lot this season (3 of the 5 weekends before Christmas were out of town). Not to mention my apartment is too small for a tree and I really don't want to lug all my decorations to his house. Not until we've done a proper sorting and moving over of things and everything will have a place. So no tree this year. But I still have a wrapping scheme. Coach is a little over(under?)whelmed that he also has to wrap according to the scheme. This way everyone knows which gifts are from us!

This year I chose white, tan, and gold. I've got white paper with gold swirls, plain brown craft paper, and gold foil paper. Then the ribbon is either white or gold or a combo depending on the paper. I'm still debating on tags but I may do the letterpress again this year. It worked pretty well last year and added a ritzy sort of touch to things.

Here is a sort of inspiration photo. I'll provide pictures of the finished product once I actually get things wrapped :)

THE Dress

So I found it. Finally. Well sort of. I reached the problem many a girl reaches (I think, maybe, I hope I'm not the only neurotic bride out there who's faced this). I liked the top of one dress and the bottom of another.

And no, I couldn't just attach one to the other, not without buying 2 dresses and breaking all and every level of wedding budget scruples. I could however, order and attach the fabric of one dress to the bottom of the other. So I went into it with that problem and met a seamstress who's a genius. Long story short, I will have my gorgeous princess gown with a few simple alterations. Add some train here, add some bedazzling there (and everywhere actually), and voila! My dream dress.

I'm still torn on the whole veil situation. I still dislike them all but there are a couple of different options I haven't tried yet. I have plenty of time before I have to decide that though.

There was just so much pressure. I loved so many of the dresses I put on and it was very hard for me to know that 1) I could only have one and 2) this was the last time I would ever get to wear a big fancy dress. I don't want to waste my final opportunity on just a so-so dress! I had visited 6 different stores and really kept comparing everything to one particular dress. So I finally went in on a whim, just by myself, back to the shop where I first tried it on. I spent about half an hour just wearing it, looking at myself in the mirror, all by myself. The sales ladies were super sweet and simply left me alone to dwell and think. In the end I shared my concerns with them and we were able to find the solution I needed. Definitely a great shop and I think I'm definitely going to have a great dress :)