Baked Ziti- Kid and Adult Approved

I have made Baked Ziti for years and it was always good, but I just knew it could be better. I found/modified/created this recipe and WOW, DELICIOUS! I love it, my husband loves it, and even my picky 2 years old say "MMM, good Mommy" when she eats it. Even a one year old can gum the soft noodles and devour it, although I suggest you dress them in one of those parka type bibs :)

Baked Ziti

Ingredients:


26.5 oz can pasta sauce (I like Hunt's Traditional Pasta Sauce, the thinner type sauce works better here)
3 cups water
3 3/4 cups Ziti noodles
1/2 cup milk or cream
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (I like the real stuff, not the powder)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

optional, but recommended: 1 cup cooked ground beef

Instructions:


Preheat oven to 475 degrees
Add sauce, Ziti, and water to a deep skillet and sprinkle with salt
Bring sauce, ziti and water to a boil and cook covered at a low but constant simmer for 18 minutes.
Stir occasionally.

Stir in milk, parmesan cheese and cooked ground beef. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over Ziti.

Transfer to casserole dish and bake for 10 minutes.

Cook your ground beef. I like the pieces to
be very small. I also like to use the fatter ground beef
because it stays soft and full of flavor.

I like to season my ground beef with onion
powder and garlic salt

Brands I use that work!

Pan with ziti, sauce and water added-
ready to cook!

Cook covered

18 minutes later...

Add the ground beef, parm cheese and milk
(if you are worried about adding milk to this,
I was too, it seemed strange, but it turns out awesome!)

Everything stirred in nicely

Transferred to casserole dish

Sprinkled with cheese

After baking for 10 minutes- beautiful! 

Finished and ready to enjoy! YUM!

One of My Favorite Things!

My kids use to cry and turn their heads when I would come at them with a diaper wipe or...dare I say it...some random thing I found in the car and wet with my own spit. But it was always better than having kids with dried snot stuck to their face or food smeared on their hands and mouth as we went to the park or into a store.

I figured this couldn't be that bad, why did face cleaning always fall into a screaming, teary mess? That was until I used a diaper wipe for my own mouth one day (can't remember why) and discovered it was one of the worst things I had ever tasted!

So I tried these kinda pricey Boogie Wipes and WOW! They work like a charm, my kids actually open their mouths and hold still when they see them coming and they smell amazing.They are moisturized with saline so no gross taste and they wipe off snot much better than the old diaper wipe. I keep them in my purse and use them everyday. Worth every penny.

THANKS BOOGIE WIPES!

Delightful Quote of the Day

Annalise stayed up way past her bedtime last night and wanted to "snuggle" with me as I watched Dateline. Soon the snuggling turned into a total chatter fest with her talking non-stop!

ME: "Annalise, Mommy wants to watch her show, and if you can't stop talking, you need to go back to bed, OK?"

ANNALISE: gives little nod and turns to watch TV

Literally 1 second later...

ANNALISE: "See Mama, I'm not talking! I am being quiet for your show, Mama! You like your show, Mama?"


Thank goodness for DVR!

Toddler Toys that Passed the Test!

Before I was ever a Mother, I was an Aunt who was clueless about the right kind of toy to buy my nephew. Desperately wanting to be the "cool" Aunt to my only beloved nephew I use to wander the toy aisles aimlessly searching for just the right toy, and it always took longer than I'd like to admit.

Now I am a Mom who has tested MANY toys on my two little ones and wanted to share the toys that are still getting tossed around, drooled on and Oreo smeared. These are also Mom tested with no annoying repetitive noises that make you take the battery out when they're not looking... :)

FOR CHILDREN 6 MONTHS TO 3 YEARS OLD (in no particular order)

Fisher Price Lil' Zoomers Chase and Race Ramps

My 1 year son goes crazy for this one and has loved it
for months. When you put a car down the ramp
the toy makes a fun car noise (not annoying) and occasionally
it will play a song that always makes my boy bounce and smile in delight!

Fisher Price Little People Animal Sounds Farm

This is a great toy to teach farm animals and their sounds.
This toy has kept my kids attention with the different animals
and sounds, and when all else fails, they just put the animals
down the silo!

ZipBin Mini Zoo

This was my solution to storing all the small animal toys.
The fact that the toys live in this colorful "zoo" makes them more
interesting then pulling them out of a plastic bin. You can unzip
the bin and it reveals a zoo with areas for lots of different animals.
We love to set up the animals in all their "homes" and play.
The bin only comes with two animals, but I bought a big set of more
animals at Wal-Mart for about $3.50. My daughter has learned a lot about
different animals from playing with this toy.

B. Critter Clinic

"Mommy, lets play doctor!" This is an almost daily request.
I got this one from Target last Christmas and it has been a raving success.
I did buy some other small plush animals from Oriental Trading to be
our other "patients." This has been well loved.

LeapFrog My Own Leaptop

My daughter got this from her "Mimi" last Christmas. One day she was looking
at some of those blocks with letters and started naming the letters, I was
amazed! I hadn't taught her any letters yet thinking she was too little, but she learned
them for this great toy. Even today I caught my 1 year old son and 2 year old daughter
holding onto their play table and bouncing up and down to the songs
being played my this toy in the music mode.

Melissa and Doug Prehistoric Pals, Layered Wood Puzzles

Layered puzzles are a big hit with the older toddlers,
and I especially love the Melissa and Doug brand.

Melissa and Doug Magnetic Dress Up
(This one is called "Tops and Tights")

This is the perfect answer to the paper doll I grew up with...but better!
You can mix and match outfits and they even come with bows!
I admit, I play this one with my daughter because I have fun with it too.
I even got her one for Christmas that is a Princess and Prince with matching
outfits she loved this so much. Perfect for quiet time playing like
church or waiting in an office.

Schylling Toys Rose Tin Tea Sea in Tin Basket

I wanted to give my little girl a tea set that was beautiful, but
I knew I couldn't do glass, and the plastic sets are just so plain,
so I found this great set made of tin with all the cute
flowers and decoration that make a tea set special. My daughter
loves it! It is especially fun when dressed up in plastic jewelry and
crowns.

Haba Soft Petit Fours

These are a necessary part of our tea parties. Each piece is different
and so beautiful with all the detail. My kids have loved these little cuties!

Delightful Quote of the Day

From my 2 year old daughter Annalise:

Me: "We need to go change your diaper."
Annalise: with fists clenched and shaking head "No, I can't change my mind."

Not so Delightful Quote of the Day


Angry about changing diaper...
Annalise: "I'm going to take a block to your head, Mommy."

Beach Baby 1st Birthday Party!

 My son Jonah turned 1 year old this summer and since he loves water, I just had to throw him a beach themed birthday party. The colors were inspired by a beach ball. We had so much fun!We had a pool, sandbox with hidden treasures and a slip-n-slide, and the kids used everything. Happy Birthday Jonah!

Beach Party Centerpeice.
I bought the glass containers at Wal-Mart and filled
them with Skittles and Swedish Fish with blue
tissue paper at the bottom. I made the paper accents
with my Cricut from scrapbook paper.

Cupcake Table

Beach themed cupcakes in chocolate and
banana with cream cheese frosting.
I used my Cricut to cut out the cupcake wrappers
and make the crab and sandcastle from the
"Create a Critter" cartridge.

View of patio.
The fabric triangle banner and Happy Birthday banner
are both from Target. The tablecloth is from Wal-Mart.
The sailboat and starfish are decor I have in my kid's
bathroom that I borrowed for the beach party. The cupcake
stand is wood and from www.thecupcaketower.com.

My husband made the sandbox and filled it with sand from Home Depot.
I hid chocolate gold coins, plastic sea animals and sea shells in the sand
for the kids to find. They loved it!
(These pics are of my kids out playing before the
guests arrived.)

This is a blow up pool we got from Wal-Mart and is one that
my kids actually love and play in. It has a deeper pool
on the hippo side and then the hippo head is a slide to a
shallow pool, so fun!

We set up a slip-n-slide on a small hill in the backyard.
When the water was on it created a tunnel of spraying water,
and the kids had a blast!