Delicious Baked Ziti...!!!

Bonjour Foodies,

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
3 pounds plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped (about 15 tomatoes)
1 - 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon pepper
8 ounces uncooked ziti
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Recipe:
1. In a Dutch oven, I ended up using a normal pot because I don't own a dutch oven. I cooked the beef and the onion over medium heat until the meat was no longer pink. Then drain your beef. Afterwards stir in tomatoes (I did not put the tomatoes in mine), salt, basil, and pepper. Reduce heat to low; cover and cook for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Since I didn't add the tomatoes to mine, I did not do this step. 

2. Cook the ziti according to the package directions and drain. Place in a large bowl Stir in sauce (I prefer to make homemade sauce but a jar of sauce will do just fine) and 1 cup of mozzarella cheese. Move to a baking dish; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and remaining mozzarella cheese. 

3. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 15 minutes or until heated all the way through. 

I had a lot of fun making this dish and I think my family rather enjoyed it. I also think the only way I could of improved the dish was with some homemade sauce and more mozzarella cheese. I rather like cheese. I think next time I will add a different kind of cheese along with the mozzarella. I'm thinking cheddar or some type of three cheese combo pack. Yeah, that sounds really good. I love cheese so much. 

Shepherd Pie Stuffed Baked Red Potatoes...!!!

Bonjour Foodies,

                                                Ingredients:

 
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup of beef stock
1 pound lean ground beef
1 small chopped onion
1 bag of mixed frozen veggies
1 bag of three cheese mix, shredded
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoon of A1 sauce
5 pounds of red potatoes
8 tablespoons of butter or 1 stick of butter
Salt and Pepper to taste
A dash of ground garlic powder to taste




Recipe:

1. Peel, wash, and cut into the fourths the red potatoes. I set two of them aside to make the baked potatoes. Fill a pot with water, add some salt to help start the boiling process, and throw in the potatoes into the water. Bring the water to a boil and let the potatoes cook until tender. This usually takes 15 to 20 minutes.

2. Next I saute the onions in olive oil until tender. I then add the ground beef and cook it until it is no longer pink. I drain the excess fat from the beef and put it back into the pan. I add the beef broth, A1 sauce, and the Worcestershire sauce. Then prepare the potatoes to be mashed, adding the milk, salt, pepper, and butter as needed until you are satisfied with the texture and creaminess of your mashed potatoes. I like mine to be buttery.

3. I baked my potatoes in the microwave. The recipe called for them to be put in for ten minutes but I feel like that may have been almost too much time. The second one I put in for about six minutes and it seemed better. I believe I may have overcooked my baked potatoes so they weren't as good as I was hoping they would be. I dug the middle of the potato out with a spoon and created a nice little crater for my shepherds pie to be placed.

4. I put the shepherd's pie inside the baked potato and put mashed potatoes on top. I then put the rest of the meat in another glass baking dish and covered with the mashed potatoes. I put them in the oven for about 15 minutes and then pulled them out to add the cheese on top. I popped them back in the oven for another 15 minutes, which is probably why my baked potatoes were overcooked. I cooked them way too long. In my defense this was my first time making baked potatoes with something inside of them other than the potato itself.

5. I baked this dish at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

I had a lot of fun making this dish. I hope you all try it. It tastes amazing and the cheese always add an extra boost of flavor. My boyfriend and I love cheese and this recipe brings that to the table every time we make it.

Expecting in the New Year...!!!

Hey Y'all,

My boyfriend and I have been so busy preparing for the new year. We have a lot going on right now. One of those things happens to be growing inside my tummy as we speak. We found out a few months ago, maybe around October that we were pregnant. I honestly had no idea that I was pregnant. I just thought that all the things going on in my life were messing up my cycle. I never thought I was pregnant. I'm sure a lot of you are probably wondering how I couldn't know I was pregnant. The answer is pretty simple, it can happen. I wasn't really showing for most of the pregnancy, not until maybe late October to early November is when I really started to look pregnant. My boyfriend took me in December for an ultrasound.

The ultrasound was really cool. It was kind of freaky to though. The nice lady performing our ultrasound was showing us all the different parts of the baby growing inside of me. In all honestly, the baby looked like a giant mass of blobs that were very difficult to distinguish from one another. I would never of known that I was looking at the babies feet or hands if the lady wasn't there to guide us through the ultrasound. Also, while at the ultrasound, we got to find out the babies gender. This was the most exciting part of the ultrasound for me. She told us that we were having a little girl. According to my boyfriend, Andrew, he said I got the biggest of smiles on my face and looked so happy about finding out I was carrying a little girl inside of me. I was hoping that my first baby was going to be a little girl. Of course this lead us down the path of choosing a name for our little princess. We've decided to name her Violet Anne. I wanted to name her Violet because I think the name in itself is not very popular nowadays. I choose Anne as her middle name because of a friend I have who treats me like a daughter and has always been there for me when I needed someone to talk to. I'm very lucky to have the family and friends in my life that I have. They've all been super supportive since news of my pregnancy got wind to them. I feel so blessed to have as much support as I do.

The doctors have told us that we are due the 22nd of this month. I'm super excited to meet my daughter and to become a mother. I'm also terrified of becoming a mother because its an entirely new experience for me. I hope I am a good mother. I know I won't be perfect but I'll do my very best. I know my boyfriend is worried about being a good dad. But in all honesty, he shouldn't be. I think he will make a great father to our little one. I can't wait to watch him step into the role of father. I'm excited to start this new life together. I'm excited to see where this big step leads us.

Our next doctor appointment is on Friday. I'm sure I'll have more news to share with you all then.

Do It Yourself Projects...!!!

Hey Y'all,

I want to do some kind of do it yourself project in the near future. I only have one in mind currently but I'm sure inspiration for more won't be hard to come by. So I apologize now for a short list of projects. A lot of these are inspired by pinterest, where everyone posts their own projects and advice on everything you could possibly imagine. 

1. Build my own Crate bookshelf. I can find the crates at Micheal's for a pretty cheap price. I might be able to get the paint there as well. I'm not sure yet if I want to paint them or stain them. I might stain them because I like the look of stained wood. I'd also have to figure out where to put it and how tall to build it. I think its possible. 

2. Boho Lamps made with mason jars, paint, and gold fabric paint. I actually am currently working on theses. I painted them and everything. The only thing I have left to do is get the gold fabric paint and do that to make them look as awesome as they do on pinterest. I bought everything I need for this one at Micheal's as well except for the fabric paint. I couldn't find the kind they have listed at Micheal's. 

Well I don't have anymore projects as of this moment. I hope to add more as soon as I find some I believe I can do on my own. I'm not the most handy person in the world but I like trying my hand at projects I complete on my own. I feel like its an accomplishment really. I seem to struggle with projects like this because I am a procrastinator. So I always put things off. 

The Best of News...!!!

Hey Y'all,

So after all my hard work applying to different places for a job, I finally got an interview at Kohls. On top of that, I also got a call back from Kohls after the interview, I got the job. I'm so excited, it's a seasonal position but I'm hoping that I can get a more permanent position within the company. For most of you that don't know what a Kohls is, its a clothing and home goods kind of store. I like to shop their discount racks for great deals on clothes I might not buy at full price.  I usually find all my clothes this way. It makes me feel rather accomplished too. It's always an accomplishment for me when I find great clothes that I really love at a great price. 

On top of some other things going on in my life. There's not much to talk about really. I'm still looking for a full time job so I can make the next big adult thing in my life happen, moving out. I may or may not have gotten my boyfriend on board to move out with me too. I know we haven't been dating very long but I feel like this step would be okay for us because we've known each other for a while. I believe we have known each other for almost three to four years now. He's been my best friend for that short time. I feel living together will make no big difference in our lives as a couple or as best friends. 

Honestly, my life is not very eventful at the moment. At this point, I feel slightly like a failure in my life. But really I'm still young. I still have a life to live and I should push for that. I just hope that someday that when I'm old, I wont regret the way I lived my life.

Late Goals of 2015...!!!

Hey Y'all,

So I feel like I'm already doing better with my blog. I know its only been a few days since I made that pledge to myself to start writing more. I think I'm off to a good start. This would be my third post. I hope to continue this trend that I seem to be on. 

Anyway, as many of you know of you know that this year is coming to a close. Unfortunately some of the goals I made for myself never came to pass. I really ought to write these things down more often so that way I can reference them on a day to day basis. If you'd like to see these goals, you can find them here. 

Some of the ones I did accomplish were my goals to read more, saving some money, and trying to live life to the fullest. I have been spending a lot of my free time reading. I love to read. I love getting lost in a a good book. I also love using Goodreads as a way to track my reading progress for that year. I am currently eleven books away from my goal of reading twenty-five books. I'm almost there. I also did start to try budget my money better and save more. It's a lot harder than it sounded. I'm just lucky I have people in my life who I can talk to about it and help me keep on track. I'm nowhere where I'd like to be but at least I have a nice start. Once I find a new job, I will be able to take another look at my budget and see how things will fit into my finical life. I also am allowing myself to live a little. I don't have a lot of money so trying to do some of these things is kind of hard but its not entirely impossible either. I just have to work at it. 

I wanted to add some goals to my goal list. One I want to add is to Be Healthy. To me this means taking the time to workout, eat better, and using an app on my phone to help me track it. I'm just starting out so I know I won't make a huge difference in my life. I just know the earlier you start caring about yourself, the better chances of keeping those trends later in life are usually much higher than vise versa. Currently I am trying to get at least thirty minutes of being active every day. I plan to accomplish this goal through tracking my steps with an app. 

I hope to keep up with my goals and try to push the ones I can't complete this year into next year. I still want to do those goals. I just know that some of them aren't possible for me right now. Hopefully that will change as I find a better job and start to pay off my debt. 

I'll keep everyone up to date on my progress for the rest of the year. I'd love to hear from others about what goals they set and which ones they have come to work on. If you have any, feel free to comment below.

It's been three months already?...!!!

Hey Y'all,

So as I said before I am trying to take the time to write for my blog. I want to keep doing it because it is something I have come to enjoy over the past few years. My blog is like a diary. It's like a safe place for my words to be written and seen by others to view. I like this aspect very much. I like sharing my personal struggles with others. I like to think that it helps others know that they are not alone in life. That everywhere someone is struggling with something. It may not be the same thing but it is a struggle non the less. 

Today, I come to share something or rather I should say someone that has become a part of my everyday life. This person is very important to me and they always have been. I'm not sure how long we have known each other. If I were to guess, I would say its been possibly four to five years of friendship. I like to think that our growth in friendship is what allows for what happened afterwords to be possible. As many of you know, my ex, a man I wish to not name because he is not worth mentioning by that fashion hurt me in more ways than one. He may not have physically hurt me but his words were like a punch to the gut. A loss of air to my lungs and a inability to speak or process what he was telling me that dreadful night he returned home. He came to tell me that he was ending our relationship of almost three years and that apparently I was nothing more than a past time for him. I will never understand fully what happened with us. I will never understand his reasoning or his defenses.

But those things no longer matter to me because I know have you. The person I am speaking of is known as Andrew. He has become my life these last three wonderful months that we have been dating. He is outright one of the best men to have ever walked into my life, I am without a doubt very lucky to have him now after some hardships before that made a relationship too difficult for me to handle. He was there for me when it felt like no one else was. He knew me better than anyone else. He knows how to make me smile and laugh uncontrollably. We fit well together, like a glove may fit over a hand in the winter. He was there when no one else could see how much I was hurting on the inside. He also could tell when I was lying and trying to pretend like I was not. He saw through me and all my defenses and I love him for it. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be able to be the girl I knew. Andrew helped me find myself again after the breakup. He helped me become whole again. He listened to me cry over someone that was not worth it. He listened to me when I was being hateful towards all  men because I believed that not a single one was good. It took me awhile to see what I had right in front of me, I had a man willing to do anything to make me happy. I had a man willing to do anything to make me smile. He's always there and when he can't be, he tries to make it up to me. I'm so happy you found me Andrew. You'll never know how lucky I am that we are together now. I can hardly believe it's been three months, already. It feels so much longer than that. I hope that time does us some good. We both deserve it. I'll always be there for you and be supportive of your decisions. I won't let you give up on your dreams when you feel weak. I will be your light in your darkest moments and I hope you will be mine. I hope we get to go places someday and do things other dream of. I hope so  much for us. I know we are meant to do amazing things. I also hope that someday I will tell you I love you. I hope to someday be the woman you wish to spend the rest of your days with. I hope I get to walk down the aisle and stand beside you as we recite the vows of love. I hope you know how much you mean to me baby because I know I don't always express it. I hope you know that you make my life brighter everyday. Happy Three Months baby. I couldn't be happier.