Merry Christmas!

Whew, what a busy day!  So happy that we were finally able to celebrate today!  Joe came over around noon and we had our immediate family Christmas – got a ton of stuff, but my favorite things were my new camera, Joe gave us gift certificates to the high end movie theater that he works at (can’t wait to do that again!) and Hannah made me four pairs of earrings to go with a shirt she bought me.  Inside was a note giving me breakfast in bed and a closet makeover!

I still have to read the instruction manual to the new camera and load the software on my computer – but here’s what it looks like.  And, you guessed it, blue is my favorite color!

My old camera (the one that took that picture!) is only 3 megapixals, this new one has 10.1!  Can’t wait to figure out how it works!

So my parents-in-law, sister-in-law, nephews and grand nephews came over to exchange gifts.  You can imagine my surprise when my father-in-law walked in with this!

Are you kidding me?!  Yes, that is a 42 inch flat screen, high definition television!  I was so dumbfounded I didn’t really know what to say!  Of course, Tony and I said it was TOO MUCH but they said since we’ve been through a lot, they felt we deserved it.  THANK YOU SO MUCH!

So I made lasagna, penne pasta with alfredo sauce and a chopped salad.  Here’s how it looks after resting:

Here is the easy recipe!

Easy Meat Lasagna (adapted from a recipe from www.recipezaar.com)

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 lbs Italian sausage (removed from casing)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
• 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
• 24 ounces cottage cheese 
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons parsley
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 lb mozzarella cheese, divided
• 12-15 no boil lasagna noodles

Directions

1.       Brown ground beef, Italian sausage, onion and garlic.

2.       Add salt and next 5 ingredients; stirring until well mixed.

3.       Simmer 1 hour.

4.       Combine cottage cheese, eggs, pepper, 2 tablespoons parsley, Parmesan cheese and 1/2 of mozzarella cheese; in a lasagna pan, layer noodles, meat sauce, and cheese mixture; repeat.

5.       Top off with layer of noodles, sprinkle evenly with remaining mozzarella cheese.

6.       Bake at 375 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes, or until cheese mixture is thoroughly melted.

7.       Let rest 10 to 15 minutes before slicing.

So I am off to load my new camera software and read the instruction manual.  Hope everyone had a good weekend!

See you tomorrow!