Spinach Rolls Dish

 

We've found a new family favorite recently. If you ask my kids they'll tell you I'm not much of a cook. Mr. ChadT is more into mixing and measuring then I am. But these, I have to say came out better than I thought. Even the kiddos really liked them.

 I made these over New Years while we were visiting my family. It's a great dish for a dinner party or large family gathering.

I got this recipe from emeals. (yes, they do all my meal planning and I love it!)

 Spinach Rolls 

9 lasagna noodles
10 oz pkg of frozen chopped spinach, thawed
15 oz ricotta cheese
1 large egg
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 small clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dried Italian seasoning
24 oz jar spaghetti sauce, divided
1  cup shredded mozzarella

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook pasta according to package directions: drain and lay out on wax paper. Pat dry with paper towels. Squeeze excess moisture from spinach. Combine spinach, ricotta, egg, Parmesan cheese, garlic, and Italian seasonings in a medium bowl; season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour 1 cup spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a 9 x 11 inch baking dish. Spread ricotta mixture over lasagna noodles and roll them up.

Place, seam down, in the baking dish. Top with remaining sauce and sprinkle with mozzarella.

Cover dish with foil and bake 40 minutes.

Click here to print this recipe!


Add a salad and some garlic bread, and you've got yourself a great family meal!

This serves 4 - 6 people.
You can easily double or triple the recipe for a larger group.

Bon Appetit!

Holiday Meal Planners for Teacher Gifts this Christmas

Every year, as Christmas approaches I'm always in a mad dash to come up with new ideas to give my children's teachers for gifts.  Last year, it was brownies in a jar, this year my local MOPS group made peppermint bark, bagged it, and put cute little tags on it. This year, however, I didn't make enough peppermint bark to go around to all the teachers during craft time. 

So this year, I thought it would be a neat idea to pass on the peppermint bark to the bus drivers and do something different for the teachers.

While standing in my local Michael's I picked up small weekly calendar pads that had the days of the week down one side and a shopping list down the other side.  Along with the calendar pads, they had matching recipe cards, note pads, and blank cards.

The cogs of creativity got to turning in the store and I brought home calander pads and recipe cards.   Then it was matter of getting out my Zutter Bind-It-All and with a few small helping hands to punch holes, another to do some artwork, and to-da!

These meal planners came together quite nicely, my son is exspecially proud of the books he made for his teacher as he punched, stamped, and picked out paper to help put them together. 

If you'd like to find out more about how I put this together you can check out the following article:

How to Create a Meal Planner Book

Preparing to Travel

Every Thanksgiving I'm grateful for the time I get to spend with my family, even if it means hours on end in the family taxi.

However, before that wholesome family time can begin a lot of planning, packing, and time is spent preparing for the days away from home and on the road.

If you are planning on traveling for Thanksgiving, here are a few things you may want to add to your "to-do list".

1. Water Plants.
2. Arrange for Pet Care (if your pet isn't coming along for the ride too).
3. Turn your thermostat down for the days you'll be away.
4. Make sure your home is secure by locking all the windows, doors, and removing hidden keys from outside around your house.
5. Set a radio and light on a timer. Those who don't know you're out of town will think your home.
6. Close blinds and curtains.
7. Clean up the kitchen, empty garbage cans, wash dishes, and dispose any items in refrigerator that won't be good when you come back.
8. Have at least one frozen dinner in the freezer when you get back, you'll be thankful for it later.
9. Check out the family taxi before you leave, tires, jacks, fluids... make sure your vehicle is road worthy for the trip.
10. Make sure you have a few dollars of cash for tolls or traveler's checks depending on where you're going.
11. Have the car charger for your cell phone and a calling card for areas you might not get service on your cell phone in an emergency.
12. Take care of any last minute bills that arrive and are due while you're away.
13. Catch up on your laundry while your packing, this way when you come home you only need to take care of the soiled clothes in your suitcases.
14. Pack an extra "fun bag" for the kids with books, games, and other amusements that are age appropriate for the ride. (we'll talk about this in another up coming blog. :) )
15. Take along plenty of snacks to prevent unnecessary fast food stops.
16. Don't forget your GPS, Maps, and directions.
17. Post a list of "what not to forgets" on the front door as your going in and out from packing the car, write on last minute items as you think of them, but don't get too carried away!!
18. Wear old comfortable shoes. Yes, you can get blisters inside the car too.
19. Give yourself plenty of time to travel to your destination.
20. Relax, it's going to be okay. You're family will remember this time always. :)

Make sure you use your travel itinerary and packing list in the free MRsCHADT Holiday Planner to help guide you as you prepare to leave. And, if your staying home this Thanksgiving, there's a meal planner and shopping list made especially for the occasion.

As always I'm thankful for my family, great friends, wonderful fans, and I don't have to cook the turkey this year. ;P

How about you?

To all of you, a blessed Thanksgiving.

Sock Goblin

Around Halloween it comes as no surprise to see ghost, ghouls, and goblins out and about.

Yesterday, I participated in a fun filled morning with my children at preschool. One of the games we played was "Guess the Goblin". A child would hide under a black sheet and another child would go out of the room, then come back to guess which child was the goblin hiding under the sheet. This went on for a good hour, filled with laughs and guesses, until all the children had taken a turn.

Coming home, my little goblins and I went about doing our afternoon chore - the laundry. Sometime in the midst of when my children's socks were on their feet to the time they went through the laundry, a few were missing.

So, we blamed it on the Sock Goblin.

Who knows, maybe you have a Sock Goblin in your house too. How else can we explain why at the end of doing the household laundry that socks are left without matches? My preschooler has decided that the Sock Goblin eats socks, while my other children feel the Goblin simply wears the socks and we get missing socks when the Goblin needs a new outfit.

Whatever the explanation, all I know is I've got a growing accumulations of mismatched socks. So, why doesn't the Sock Goblin take them instead of those which already have a mate?

Good question. One I'm sure my children would be happy to elaborate on during dinner when we often have discussion such as this. I'm sure, they will have a good explaination for it when I ask them tonight.

What kind of Goblins do you have in your house this Halloween?

Meal Planning 101

One of the main compliants of most families is they get tired of eating the same thing over an over again. It's like getting your tires stuck in a rut and needing a little shove to get out. That's why most of the time I try to plan my meals ahead, at least by a week.

Once a week, usually on a wednesday, I sit down and figure out what's for supper for the next week. I pull out my cookbooks, take a look at what's going on that evening, and begin my meal planning.

Yesterday, an old friend of mine sent me a link, this month I may try it. This website promises to not only to cut my grocery bill each month in half, but to help organize and plan my meals according to where I shop, number of people I'm feeding, and type of diet.



I'll keep you posted next month on how it actually works out. As a mother, freelance writer, and not to forget - wife. I'm willing try anything new that might give me more time to spend with my family and cut my grocery bills, especially in today's economy.