Baked Ziti with Ground Turkey

Ok so I'm all about making dinners that are quick, easy, and healthy. This recipe is just that and you can even freeze it for up to three months and then just pop it in the oven for a quick, healthy meal that will be ready in minutes. I have just recently started meal planning, so this recipe is on our monthly list at least twice a month. I usually cook all my meals on Sunday for the month that are made to freeze and that way during the week I can come home and pop something in the oven and have dinner on the table in a matter of minutes. Philip loves this recipe and I usually serve it with a fresh garden salad or oven roasted asparagus.

Baked Ziti with Ground Turkey
Ingredients
1 pound ziti noodles
1 pound ground turkey
2 (28-ounce) cans diced tomatoes with seasonings (green pepper and onion or garlic and oregano, or any flavor you want)
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 teaspoons dried rosemary
1 (15-ounce) container regular or part-skim ricotta cheese
4 cups grated part-skim mozzarella cheese, reserve 1 cup, for topping
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside. Meanwhile, brown ground turkey in a hot skillet over medium heat and drain any excess fat. Add tomatoes, thyme and rosemary and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat. In a medium bowl, combine ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese and garlic powder and mix well. Spoon 1/2 cup of the tomato sauce in the bottom of a 4-quart casserole dish. Top with half of the cooked ziti. Top with half of the cheese mixture. Top with 1 cup of the tomato sauce. Repeat layers (remaining ziti and remaining cheese mixture). Top with remaining tomato sauce. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheese over top. Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 15 more minutes, until cheese is golden and bubbly.

Forgot These!

I forgot to post these pictures of our New Year's trip to Gatlinburg!  We had a great view and our chalet was literally in the mountains.  All of these photos were taken from our deck.  If you look closely at the top picture, Phoebe loved the view of the mountains too!

Courtney's New "Big" Girl Room Preview

Courtney's new "BIG" girl room transformation is under way.  Her new toddler bedding (Purple Dragonfly Dreams) is in and we are getting ready to start painting next week.  We have picked out the shade grape lavender, which is a soft lavender and should compliment her bedroom decor nicely.  I was amazed to find out that there really isn't a lot of toddler bedding out there to purchase.  I found this bedding online, but couldn't find anything in the stores.  So any of you looking for toddler bedding now or in the future, www.beyond-bedding.com has the best selection of toddler bedding and their prices weren't bad either.  We also have purchased a lavender chandelier and can't wait to get that up and I have included a picture of it at the bottom.  The bedding in the third picture below (Annie) is what Courtney will graduate to, once she outgrows the toddler bed.  We purchased it from Pottery Barn Kids and at the current moment is on backorder until the spring.  The Annie Cat bedding will go well with the lavender walls and that way we won't have to paint the room again.  Last night I spray painted all of Courtney's letters white to hang up on the wall and Phil at the current moment is putting together her black bookcase.  I have also ordered a lavender dot bean bag with Courtney's name embroidered on it from Pottery Barn Kids to put next to her bookcase so she can have a cozy reading nook in her room.  Once we get everything finished I will post more pics!  I'm planning on having her room completed by the middle of March, after my spring break.

Purple Dragonfly Dreams Toddler Bedding

Isn't Courtney's lavender chandelier darling???

The Annie bedroom by Pottery Barn Kids

Happy Valentine's Day!

I woke up this morning and to my surprise I had flowers and very sweet card waiting for me on the mantle from my wonderful husband.  I had three red roses each one symbolizing each Valentine's Day we've been together since we got married.  I know I've said it before, but Courtney and I are so very lucky to have Philip as a husband and a father.  He's a wonderful provider and works very hard to make sure that we're taken care of and that our needs are met.  We had a great day, once my migraine subsided, and enjoyed including Courtney in our Valentine's Day activities. Since having Courtney we believe that Valentine's Day should be celebrated with the ones you love, so Courtney was definitely included in our plans. HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYONE!!!

New Ears

Daphne had her stitches removed and her ears look great. Her ears are still healing, but they looked so good the vet said she didn't need to get them re-taped a second time. Daphne continues to be a bottle of energy and I must say she's not as "yappy" as Phoebe. We enjoy having her with us and Phoebe does too!

Look at those "new" ears!

Phoebe and Daphne enjoying each others company

Poor Daphne

Daphne had her ear cropping surgery on Wednesday and it went well other than she came home EXTREMELY tired from the anesthesia.  The vet has her on an antibiotic and some pain medicine, but other than her ears being in bandages, I would've never known she'd had surgery. She is still the active puppy she was before and continues to harass Phoebe to play.  Next Wednesday we go back to get the stitches removed and to get her ears re-taped.  After that she only has to keep hers taped one more week, then she should be good to go.  

She was soooo sleepy and couldn't hardly keep her eyes open.