Chef D- Baked ziti and Pad Thai (another attempt)

It's been a while since I've made these recipes but they were pretty easy and yummy! Sorry there aren't pictures of the finished Baked Ziti. 

I use allrecipes.com a lot when I'm planning what we will be eating. Before I go grocery shopping, I decide on 4-6 good sized meals that we can eat for the next 2 weeks. Then of course there are days when I didn't cook the night before and we are left to take peanut butter sandwiches for lunch. Rem would eat pb sandwiches every day. I, on the other hand, am a little more high maintenance. 

Here's the link to the recipe I used. Baked Ziti It's super simple. Start out by sauteing some diced onions. While dicing the onions may make your eyes water a little, cooking them makes your home smell yummy!

 Make sure they are clear before you remove from heat. I've learned to be more patient lately and cook at a lower heat for longer.

 Next I browned a pound of ground turkey with your onions. The recipe calls for ground beef but I always try to sub ground turkey b/c it's better for you and much leaner! And of course cook your pasta.

 Now we can't forget the most important part- mozzarella cheese! I believe the recipe says to layer sauce, pasta and cheese. Since I'm lazy (and smart), I mix the pasta and sauce, throw it in a pan and top w/ cheese. You get the same results and save a few mins. 

Then bake! So simple!

Now for the Pad Thai. Here's the recipe- Pad Thai

Rem and I LOVE thai food. Ok well pretty much we love a lot of Asian food! Ok I'll be completely honest- we love food! :) Anyway, I tried a pad thai recipe before (actually Rem might have been the chef for that one) and it came out ok. So I'm on a mission to find a better pad thai recipe. This one turned out better than the first one but I'm still looking for a better one. But not one that requires funky ingredients... So if you have one please share! This one was pretty simple and that's why I liked it! 

This recipe calls for 4 eggs but I completely left those out. I started to soak my noodles and then threw everything else in the wok. Cut up the chicken and cooked it in all the juices to help with flavor. After my noodles were still a little tough, I added them to the wok and through in a can of baby corns (We LOVE them!). I kept mixing until everything was heated thoroughly. Like I said, I've gotten better at having patience in cooking and turning the heat down. This really helped b/c my wok gets HOT quick. Let simmer for a few mins and ta da! Pad thai!

Like I said, this was good but wasn't great. There wasn't really any sauce left after I added the noodles. Maybe next time I just need to make an extra batch of sauce??? Feel free to post suggestions!

Wow 4 blog posts in one night! That's a record for me! Off to bed!

The rest of May...

One Saturday, we made a day trip to Branson to celebrate Aimee's birthday. On the way up, we decided to take the short and very VERY curvy route. Aimee and I didn't feel so hot once we got there so we opted for the longer route home. While we were there we went zip lining (so much fun!), did a little shopping and had dinner. Justin decided to treat Aimee to the Dixie Stampede. While they enjoyed the show, Rem and I headed to Culver's for dinner and dessert! We love Culver's butter burgers and custard! We also decided in the future we will be taking the long way to and from Branson to avoid getting car sick. :)

The next weekend, our newphew Caleb spent the night with us on Friday. Of course Rem and I were clueless what a 12 year would want to do. But we had some coupons for putt putt golf so we headed to pick up Aimee and Justin's. As we are walking out the door, I notice them Rem has red popsicle all over his face and splatters on his shirt. My husband is often oblivious to food being on his face or clothing. (It drives me INSANE) So I politely asked him to change. Ok, maybe it wasn't so polite... Rem sighed and went to change his shirt as Caleb thought "What's the big deal?" Rem decided to give Caleb some "advice" for the future- Never get married. LOL He was, of course, kidding but then we had to make Caleb promise not to tell the rest of the family we are having marital problems despite our bickering before leaving the apartment.  :)

It just so happened to be National Doughnut Day. So we stopped by Krispy Kreme to pick up a free doughnut!

 I got a vanilla with sprinkles and Rem opted for the Oreo! His looked delicious but you only needed half a bite before you felt sick from the sweetness. 

On to putt putt we went. Now the weather in Arkansas can be a bit extreme. In January, we got 2 plus feet of snow. This summer, we got record beating heat. Even though it was nearly 7 in the evening, it was 90 degrees! 

The boys cheesing for the camera

Aimee taking a shot

Rem takes his putt putt very seriously...

Silly boy, we aren't fishing :)

Don't fall in Caleb! He had to fish a couple balls out...

 Like I said, Rem takes his putt putt very seriously. He started out doing real well but things went downhill on the back 9. 

 Give said the little stream. And give we did, by hitting our balls into the stream!

 Hole in one baby! A and I both hit a hole in one on the 15th!

 Nice and sweaty but we had a good time!

The lost puppy

Pretty much everyone that knows me, knows that I have a deep love for dogs. Especially my precious little girl Izzy!

One morning I was on my way to work and saw an bulldog walking down the road. It was Friday and I was running late (as usual). I just couldn't help but stop and turn around to see where the dog was going. I knew that if Izzy had gotten out and was wandering around, that I would want someone to rescue her. And that's what I did. Of course I didn't know his name but he was a friendly doggie. After following him down the road a little ways (mind you I was in 4 inch heels), I got him to follow me back to my car. I tried to get him to jump in my back seat but that was obviously NOT happening. This guy was a little heaiver than Izzy....But I managed to get him in the floor board of my Explorer.

I drove around for a little bit trying to see if his owner was outside. There was gate to someone's back yard that was open so I knocked on the back door to see if there was anyone home. No luck. I ended up taking him home and decided I'd go back and leave notes on doors near where I found him with my number. Izzy wasn't particularly excited to meet this dog. She probably felt like I was cheating on her. :) After about 5 minutes, I finally got him up the stairs and into our apartment. He got a little friendly with Izzy and she did NOT appreciate it. So I decided to lock him in the extra (Rem's) bathroom. I went back to the neighborhood near where I found him and as I was talking to a homeowner, noticed a guy across the street calling for something. I drove over and surprise! It was the dog's owner. Come to find out the dog's name was Casey and a toddler had let him out to use the bathroom before anyone else was awake.

I promptly returned Casey and headed to work. Ended up being about an hour and half late. Whoops! But I was so glad I was able to reunite Casey with his owner!

 I think this puppy had some sort of skin condition...He had HUGE nipples! LOL

 This is his tail...Poor puppy is balding!

Poor puppy was probably thinking I was a crazy lady for picking him up and locking him in my bathroom.

Happy Bday to Rem!

Ok so maybe Rem's birthday was in May and I just suck at blogging? :) (I started this post back in August...) This year was the big 26 for Rem! Now he can officially say he is closer to 30 than 20. Not sure that I like the fact that I'll be able to say the same next year.

In years past, Rem and I have gone to Red Robin so Rem can enjoy his free burger and a Freckled Strawberry Lemonade. But this year we decided to change things up a little. We ventured south to Fayetteville. About a block off the square is a little Mexican restaurant that we loved called Osguara's. They have lots of coupons and well we are cheap skates. Our buds A&J came with us and were so sweet to buy us dinner and get Rem a little gift. 

 Aimee and Justin- the most awesome friends in the world!

 The birthday boy and I

 Our signature poses- Rem with his thumbs up and me rolling my eyes b/c he's giving a thumbs up.

 Gifts!

 Looks can be deceiving :) Inside of the Sephora bag was an itunes gift card!

 It's hard to tell but Rem is holding a diaper. He's a little confused....

 Tucked inside the diaper was this little gem. Odors Away! Just a few drops in the toilet before or after you do the deed and the smell is gone! My dear husband has a habit of dropping bombs in public places. He also loves to fart while we are in the car. More specifically his little car, which is a small enclosed space and I have no where to go to escape the wretched smell!

 Ok so the Odors Away was just a gag gift (partly...). I gave him the choice to buy a Nook or a GPS watch for running since he was about to start training for his first marathon. He ended up purchasing the GPA watch. Then after his race, I lost it...

 Aw love! He was grateful for his real gift!

Love you honey! :)