Friday, January 30, 2009

Italian Baked Pasta & One Smart Cookie

Just wanted to share one of my family's favorite "comfort food" meals. My friend Jenny Carr shared this with me many moons ago and we absolutely love it. It is also a great meal to take in to someone...it freezes well and just omit the garlic powder and it's great for new moms.
















Italian Baked Pasta

8 oz. pasta (the original recipe calls for ziti, but I use whatever is on hand...last night it was fanfalle)
1/2 lb. extra lean ground beef
3 cups favorite spaghetti sauce
2 cups Ricotta cheese
2 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese
1 egg
1 tsp. dried parsley
1/4 tsp. garlic powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook pasta according to directions on package, omitting salt and oil. Drain and set aside. Meanwhile, crumble meat in a large skillet; cook and drain. Add spaghetti sauce.

Combine Ricotta, Parmesan cheese, egg, parsley, and garlic powder. Mix thoroughly. Add pasta and mix well. Spread one cup of sauce mixture in bottom of 9 x 13 pan. Spoon pasta/cheese mixture into pan. Pour remaining sauce over pasta/cheese mixture. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 25-30 minutes.




And on the way home from Utah, Anna uttered this treasure.

Anna: Dad? Do you know why I like being a girl?

Tony: Why do you like being a girl, Anna?

Anna: Well, I get to wear cute clothes, I'll get to be a mommy someday, and girls get to pretty much be in charge.


Obviously, the girl gets her brains from her mother.

15 comments:

Ruth Ann said...

Your little girl is sooo cute, and smart too according to her comment! I wish I had a girl!

About the Pay it Forward...you just missed being number 3. So if you still want to participate just look at the other three people before your comment and keep watching their blog, they'll be posting a round probably within the next couple of days...it's a chain!
Have a wonderful weekend!
-Ruth Ann

Montay said...

Guess what we are having for dinner tonight Yumm!!! THat sounds so easy. As for that little smarty you taught her well!

The Brough Family said...

Gotta love that Anna! What gem! She's basically right, now you just have to teach how to fool the guys into thinking they're really in charge. As for my post, moving at this point it completely unrelated to getting the house ready. I can't allow myself to think about it or I accomplish nothing and wallow in misery. May the next few months go by very slowly!!

Jeni said...

I ALWAYS say girls rule!

Madi and Steve have a game...Madi says mom's the boss and Steve tickels her and she keeps saying Mom's the boss until she can't take it any longer and then she will yell dad's the boss and he stops....then within half a second she yells the truth that mom is the boss and then the tickeling starts again.

Anonymous said...

Ahhhh, the baked ziti recipe. Such a staple in my home. : ) Thanks for the plug! : D

Anna is a natural genius, nice of her to come that way, right?

Dave says "I wear the pants in the family and I have Jenny's permission to say so" LOL

The Bennett Bunch said...

Hee, hee, smart girl!!! What a cute pic too!!

Kristi said...

That recipe sounds great- all the comforts of lasagna without the hassle.

And Anna is indeed one of the smartest little girls I know!

What's your next week look like? I'm subbing Wednesday & Thursday. Wanna get together?

Camie said...

are you sure that wasn't the conversation YOU had with Tony? :) TOO TOO CUTE!

jess said...

I love Anna! Your kids were my favorite to babysit ;) That seems like so long ago...I love reading your blog, by the way. You have so many cute ideas for everything on here!

Kathleen said...

thanks for the recipe--we always love the italian at our house :-).

anna's right--the man may think he's the head, but the woman is the neck and turns the head however she pleases! ha! (the truths we learn from "my big fat greek wedding", eh?)

Montserrat said...

Anna is too smart for her britches! Her statement makes me wonder how our family even functions with so many "bosses" around.

Megan Coyle said...

That pasta dish looks delicious, I'll have to try it out sometime.

Jenni said...

What your daughter said is SO cute! Especially the part about the girl being in charge! :) Isn't it funny how a child's view of life so much reflects what they see at home? Our kids think the dad cooks...because my husband does pretty much all the cooking! :)

The recipe looks delicious! I am on the lookout for good ones, and am going to print this one off right now! Thank you for sharing. :)

just jamie said...

Yum, and LOVE that Anna attitude!

JoAnn said...

Will is working late tonight and I need a quick kid friendly meal that is easy, and I will give this a try, it looks like it would be something my kids will love!!! thanks for sharing your yummy food ideas!!