Hello world! I am soooooooooo beyond ready for the National Counselors Exam, Comps, and the Praxis II to be over!!!I miss my life! I miss cooking and crafting. Ugh I have so much crafting I want to do. But the NCE is this coming Saturday and Comps a few weeks after that and I still haven't registered for the Praxis but it will happen this semester. I hope I pass all these exams because I never want to study like this ever again! Ugh!
Well I have still be cooking. Not a whole lot of new things sadly. I have been making alot of things that I can make quickly so its usually stuff I know like the back of my hand. And alot of it is on the blog.... or frozen pizza. I did make a few new things lately. My friends and I were tailgating for an App football game and we all decided to bring food. I wasn't sure what to make for a while. I knew that I wanted to do something big and filling because I figured everyone else would bring sides. And I really wanted more than just sides. So I went to my trusty Pinterest boards! I came across crockpot baked ziti! It was so simple and so yummy! I will be making this again!
Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
2 teaspoons dried italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 (25 oz) jars pasta sauce
1 (15 oz) container ricotta cheese
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 (16 oz) boxes ziti pasta
Directions:
1. Cook ground beef and onion in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until beef is no longer pink. Stir in seasonings to evenly coat meat; stir in pasta sauce. Set aside.
2. Mix 1 cup mozzarella, the ricotta and parmesan in a medium bowl. Spoon 2 cups of meat sauce into the slow cooker; top with 2 cups ziti. Drop half of the cheese mixture, by rounded tablespoons, over ziti; carefully spread over ziti using back of spoon. Layer with 2 cups meat sauce, the remaining ziti and remaining cheese. Add remaining meat sauce, completely covering all the ziti and cheese. Place lid on slow cooker.
3. Cook on low for 6 to 7 hours or high for 4 to 5 hours or until noodles are tender.
4. Carefully remove lid to allow steam to escape. Sprinkle food with the remaining 1 cup mozzarella; let stand 10 minutes until melted. Serve directly from the slow cooker.
*Use a crock pot liner! Reviews I read said otherwise you will hate your life when it comes time to clean the crockpot. I cooked mine on high for 4 hours and already the sides were starting to turn black. It still tasted fine I would just cook it on low and really keep an eye on it if you can. Also the cool thing is that you don't need to precook the pasta! Just dump it on in there. Some reviews said to rinse it in water before you use it so that is what I did. I'm not sure if it made the pasta any more moist or not but I figured it wouldn't hurt anything.
The following Monday after that football game I was going to my practicum site. I usually go on Wednesdays but this Monday there were going to be some important meetings that I really wanted to observe. Woah baby did I get to see some great stuff that day! That Monday the ENCORE team (guidance, art, music and PE teachers) were all having lunch together. Something they try and do the first Monday of every month. What a great way to build community! I'm going to remember this! Well since I was going to be there I wanted to bring something too. My mom makes this salsa alot and it is always a huge hit!
Black bean and corn salsa
Ingredients:
1 can black beans rinsed and drained
1 cup frozen corn that has been thawed
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
8 green onions sliced
3 Tablespoons Lime juice or 1 Lime juiced
3 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
Directions:
1. Mix together in a dish and let sit in fridge until ready to serve.
2. Serve with tortilla chips
*I used a green bell pepper because it is what I had. The color bell pepper doesn't matter. Use what you have.
*Sorry I forgot to get a picture of the salsa. You just have to take my word for it that it looked and tasted yummy!
The only crafting I have really had any time for is occasionally doing a row on my blanket before bed. It is really starting to look like a blanket! I am pretty proud of it so far! :)
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