Lasagna Soup

This soup I saw on Pinterest. It was delicious, although a little on the spicy side for me and the kids. Chad loved it!

Lasagna Soup


for the soup:
2 tsp. olive oil
1-1/2 lbs. Italian sausage
3 c. chopped onions
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
2 T. tomato paste
1 28-oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
6 c. chicken stock
8 oz. mafalda or fusilli pasta (I actually used Raditore. Looks like mini lasgana noodles.)
1/2 c. finely chopped fresh basil leaves
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

for the cheesy yum:
8 oz. ricotta
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp. salt
pinch of freshly ground pepper
2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add sausage, breaking up into bite sized pieces, and brown for about 5 minutes. Add onions and cook until softened, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Cook for 1 minute. Add tomato paste and stir well to incorporate. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the tomato paste turns a rusty brown color.

Add diced tomatoes, bay leaves, and chicken stock. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add uncooked pasta and cook until al dente. Do not over cook or let soup simmer for a long period of time at this point, as the pasta will get mushy. Stir in basil and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

While the pasta is cooking, prepare the cheesy yum. In a small bowl, combine the ricotta, Parmesan, salt, and pepper.

To serve, place a dollop of the cheesy yum in each soup bowl, sprinkle some of the mozzarella on top and ladle the hot soup over the cheese.

Homemade Playdough

This is a playdough recipe from Mom. I remember her making this all the time growing up. We never had store-bought playdough. I made these two for the girls and some friends last week and they were entertained for over an hour!

Homemade Playdough
Boil 1 cup water. Then add:


1/4 c. salt
1 Tbl. alum powder
1 Tbl. baby oil
food coloring of your choice


Then stir in 1 c. flour. Add a little more if needed. Knead together. Cool and store in an air tight container.

Peanut Butter Energy Balls

These are really yummy! My kids like them in their school lunches. I freeze a whole batch, then all they have to do is take one or two out in the morning and its ready for them at lunch time.

Peanut Butter Balls
Original recipe source

1 – cup honey
1 1/2 – cups creamy peanut butter
2 – cups dry powdered milk
3 – cups quick or old fashioned oatmeal, uncooked
1 – 2 – tablespoons wheat germ or flax meal
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (optional)


Mix all together with hand mixer. Form into balls with hands and freeze on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper until firm. Remove from freezer and store in a large zip lock bag in the refrigerator.

Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

I like to make these muffins ahead of time and then freeze for the kids' school lunches. They get tired of sandwiches so I make different kinds of muffins instead. This is one of their favorites!

Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
original recipe source

1/2 cup butter (1 stick or 4 ounces)
1/2 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
1/4 cup honey
2 large eggs
2 cups whole wheat flour
2/3 cups mini chocolate chips


Preheat the oven to 350. Line or grease a 12 cup muffin pan. (I usually make these in my mini muffin tins. Makes 34 mini muffins or 12 regular size and 24 mini muffins).


Beat together the butter, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla in a medium bowl until smooth. Add the banana, honey and eggs, beating until smooth. Add the flour and chocolate chips, stirring until smooth. Divide batter into the muffin cups, they'll be nearly full. Bake the muffins until a cake tester inserted in the center of one comes out clean, 23-28 minutes. Remove from oven and after a couple of minutes transfer the muffins to a rack to cool.

Sour Cream Noodle Bake

This recipe is from The Pioneer Woman. Our family gave it 4 stars! It is a simple, fast meal.

• 1-1/4 pound Ground Chuck
• 1 can 15-ounces Tomato Sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• 8 ounces, weight Egg Noodles
• 1/2 cup Sour Cream
• 1-1/4 cup Small Curd Cottage Cheese
• 1/2 cup Sliced Green Onions (less To Taste)
• 1 cup Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Brown ground chuck in a large skillet. Drain fat, then add tomato sauce. 1/2 teaspoon salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Stir, then simmer while you prepare the other ingredients.

Cook egg noodles until al dente. Drain and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine sour cream and cottage cheese. Add plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Add to noodles and stir. Add green onions and stir.

To assemble, add half of the noodles to a baking dish. Top with half the meat mixture, then sprinkle on half the grated cheddar. Repeat with noodles, meat, then a final layer of cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, or until all cheese is melted.

Serve with crusty French bread.

Grilled Chicken and Veggie Italian Skewers

I bought Our Best Bites Cookbook at Costco (it is only $15.99 there...the cheapest I have found!) and I.LOVE.IT. Here is the newest recipe that we made last night for dinner. The hot dogs in the upper corner ruin the beautiful skewers...sorry. I used the homemade Italian dressing recipe I linked to below. It was delicious, but spicy for me so if you are sensitive to spicy buy one from the store.

Incidentally, while we were eating these delicious skewers last night, our neighbors were grilling also and their house caught on fire from the grill! They were not outside so it is a good thing we were. We were able to notice it and put it out before their house went up in flames. It was really scary. In just second it went from a grill fire to 6-8 feet of their siding on fire. Moral of the story...pull your grill away from your house!

1 lb. chicken breasts, cut into small, bite-sized pieces

1 each yellow and green zucchini squash, cut in half (if large) and sliced

8 oz. small whole mushrooms, stems removed

1 red, yellow, or orange bell pepper (or combo of 2 or more), chopped into bite-sized pieces

1 small red onion, carefully cut into bite-sized chunks (try to keep as much of the pieces in tact as possible, but don’t stress it if they start to fall apart)

Sweet cherry tomatoes

1 recipe of Zesty Italian Dressing or 1 bottle of Berenstein’s Italian Dressing (recipe tastes better if you use high quality dressing)

Place cut-up chicken in a shallow dish and pour a little less than half of the remaining dressing over the chicken. Place in refrigerator for 2-3 hours or until ready to use.

Place chopped veggies in a dish (a 9×13 pan works great) and pour remaining dressing (except for reserved 1/2 c.) over the veggies. Toss gently to combine. Set aside.

If using bamboo skewers, soak in water for about 30 minutes.

When chicken is done marinating, skewer veggies and chicken (you’ll have far more veggies than chicken, so keep that in mind when assembling your skewers; I use about 3 pieces of chicken per skewer, but as many vegetables as I can get on there). 

Preheat grill and then cook skewers for about 10-12 minutes over medium heat until chicken is cooked through and veggies are tender-crisp, turning at least once.

Raspberry Pretzel Jello Salad

This jello is always a hit! The combo of tart raspberries, salty pretzels, and sweet middle is so yummy.

(photo coming soon!)

Crust
1/1/2 c. crushed pretzels (I put a bunch in a ziploc bag then crush them with my rolling pin)
3/4 c. melted butter
3 T. sugar

Crush pretzels and add butter and sugar. Pat into a 9x13 pan and bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Let cool before you add the other layers. You can do this part the night before if desired.

Middle
1 8 oz. cream cheese
1 c. powdered sugar
1 8 oz. tub cool whip

Blend cream cheese and powdered sugar together. Fold in cool whip. Spread on top of cooled crust.

Topping
1 large pkg. raspberry jello
2 c. water
12 oz. frozen raspberries

Boil water and mix in jello. Let cool slightly then add the frozen raspberries. This sets the jello. Pour on top of cream cheese mixture and spread around evenly. Put in fridge to set for at least an hour before serving.