Archive for October, 2012

Lasagna with spinach and turkey sausage

Posted: October 26, 2012 in Food, Main course
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I went to a pasta themed game night the other night and I brought lasagna as my dish. It turned out to be a success with a few folks asking for the recipe, so here it is. I don’t like ricotta cheese, blech, so this is a straight mozzarella version. I apologize for not having any pics, I may have to update the blog in the future when I make it again.

1 pound ground beef (or ground turkey)
large bag of mozzarella cheese
45 oz jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce (I used Ragu’s chunky garden)
bag of raw spinach, or baby spinach
one or two links of Eckrich skinless turkey sausage sliced into quarters(depends on how meaty you want it)
small can of mushrooms
lasagna noodles
oregano
sugar
salt and pepper
garlic powder

Pre-heat oven to 350. Brown turkey sausage in a skillet and brown ground beef (turkey) in a separate pot. Drain beef/turkey and return to pot. Add turkey sausage and season with garlic, salt, pepper, and oregano. Add spaghetti sauce and stir. Reduce heat once sauce gets hot so it doesn’t splatter.  Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of sugar as well as the mushrooms and stir.

In a large pot, boil lasagna noodles as instructed on box. (Break noodles to a size to fit your casserole dish if you have a square one) When noodles are ready, spray large casserole dish with olive oil spray or any other type of cooking spray. Spread a “light” layer of sauce. Line noodles on top of the sauce. Spread another layer of sauce, add layer of spinach leaves, and lastly a generous layer of cheese. Repeat with each layer depending on how deep your dish is, three is usually the max.

Bake for 20-30 minutes, watching at 20 minutes until the cheese is nice and melted on top. Enjoy!

Nariah says… #92

Posted: October 12, 2012 in Comedy, Nariah
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It was the first fairly chilly weather on this particular morning I left for work. I grabbed the first medium weight jacket I felt out of the closet and it happened to be my “sporty” UNC jacket.
That evening I picked up Nariah from her after school care and we’re walking to the car talking about the day like normal. After getting her all buckled in the back seat, I pull off when she starts this dialogue :

“What’s under your jacket daddy?”
“What? What do you mean?”
“What do you have on under your jacket?”
“Oh… Ummm, my blue and white button up shirt. Why do you ask?”
“Oh, I was wondering if you went to work today.”
“Ha ha, yes baby I went to work. What made you wonder that? My jacket?”
“I just wanted to make sure you wore something professional looking in case it wasn’t your day off!”

Sigh, this kid here. I have to be on my Ps and Qs at all times! I’m noticing now if she sees me dressing in the morning she can tell when its my “Off” Friday and that gives her reason to inquire if I can pick her up early to go to a movie or something. Slick I tell you.

Nariah says… #91

Posted: October 4, 2012 in Comedy, Nariah
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Most of you know that Nariah is a avid Cowboys fan. Well being here in Redskins country is bound to be full of interaction of opposing interests. Oddly enough, her afterschool program has staff that is split between the two teams. Nariah has taken a liking to one in particular who is down with the Cowboys. When I went down to the Cowboys home opener a few weeks ago, the request was made for me to find some nice Cowboys girly socks to bring back for Nariah’s new “protector”.
I didn’t find any socks down in Dallas, but… I did find this nice pack of Cowboys earrings; a set of three. A silver and blue star, a silver and pink star, and silver and blue Cowboys jerseys. I figured I could let her and “protector” figure out which ones they wanted to keep/share.  When I picked Nariah up after getting back, the deal was worked out that Nariah would keep the two stars and the “protector” would keep the jerseys. Kinda how I pictured it working out as Nariah really liked the stars.

*Flash forward a week*

I pick up Nariah and as we walk thru the halls, she says that another staff member is a dallas fan and asked did I get her something too. “I’m sorry boo, I didn’t think about that. “Protector” asked me about the socks, so I really only thought about that particular request.”
“Oh ok, I wish we had gotten something else to give “Side Protector” too.”
“Hmmmm, well…. you have 2 sets of earrings…. you could always give her one of those?”

Now at this point, the sound of the footsteps went from clip-clip clop-clop to just clip clop. It didn’t really register to me until I held the door open for Nariah to walk thru that she wasn’t walking. She was still in the hallway… looking at me with this “Say what?” look.
She finally comes and we near the car. I know exactly what she’s thinking, but I’m trying not to laugh because I don’t how Nariah would take me laughing at this point.
“Baby, what’s wrong? You said you wanted to get her something right?”
She gives me this look that says “Daddy, don’t make me do it!”

“Ummmmmmm, how about… we just get her something when we go to Dallas again? Yeah, lets do that.”
I really wish I had a picture of her turned up face as she said this, classic comedy.
“Whatever you want baby!”

We both then bust out laughing as we put on her seatbelt and drive off.

Nariah says… #90

Posted: October 1, 2012 in Comedy, Nariah
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On our trip to Skyline Drive and the Luray Caverns, we did the typical road games to pass the time and entertain each other. Out of the blue, Nariah starts beatboxing. She actually came up with a good beat, so I started to bob my head a little.
“Daddy, don’t you like my beat?”
“Yeah Nariah, its pretty funky!”
“Aren’t you gonna freestyle then?”
“Oh, Ok, if that’s the kinda party this is then…. let’s do it!”

So I graced her ears with a silly freestyle as only daddy can do, and then passed the mic to mommy. She said a few rhymes and then passed the mic to Nariah in the back. This went on for about 3 rounds passing the mic back and forth, with us pretty much just freestyling about any and everything that had happened on the trip.

At the end, Nariah asks : “Mommy, who won?”
“Who won? This was a contest? Oh you know daddy was the best!”
“Yes daddy, this was a game show. Mommy, who won? Daddy or me?”
“Hmmm, it was tough…. but the winner is………… Nariah!!!!!!”

“What? Nariah??? Now ya’ll know that daddy was on point!”

“Daddy….. You need to get more talent and some skills to beat me!”

*Pause*

I look over to Toya. “Did she just say I need to get some talent… AND some skills?”
“Ha ha ha, yes, she did, hahaha”
“Heeheeheee, that was good huh daddy?”

I don’t remember if I answered her or not. My feelings may have been hurt too much, lol.