Tasty Tuesday

It has been hot and humid here. I wanted to make baked ziti the other night, but I really did not want to turn the oven on for any amount of time. I found this recipe and it was the perfect compromise and there was only one pan to wash!

I used cooked ground beef from the freezer. I buy large quantities of ground beef when it's on sale cheap and then cook it up with onions and garlic. I then rinse (to remove the fat) and place one lb portions in bags and freeze. It makes it super easy to throw in casseroles and such.

I added extra garlic (no surprise) and basil and oregano. I also used whole wheat pasta.

Cheesy Skillet Ziti

Ingredients
1 lb ground beef or sausage
3 cups dry ziti or penne
1 jar pasta sauce
2 cups water
1 cup mozzarella cheese

Directions
1. Brown the beef in a large skillet. Drain.
2. Stir in the pasta, pasta sauce and water.
3. Bring to a boil.
4. Cover and reduce to a simmer.
5. Simmer for 16-18 minutes, until the pasta is tender.
6. Top with the cheese and cover until melted.

I love sweet tea on a hot summer day. But, I'm the only one in the house that drinks iced tea so a large batch of sun tea would take forever to drink. I've started making single batches in a mason jar. I fill it with water, add a couple tea bags, and set it in the sun for an hour or two. It's the perfect amount for me.

The first time I made it I told the boys to watch the jar because I was doing an experiment. Brooks was so funny, he kept coming over to me and whispering in my ear, wanting to know what was going to happen. For some reason, he had it in his mind that it was going to explode! He was very disappointed when he realized that it just changed colors.

Wordless Wednesday

Last Day in San Diego

Here are some random images of our last day in San Diego. We visited the Model Railroad Museum and the USS Midway.

Earthquake!

What would a vacation to Southern California be without an earthquake? The boys were in bed, and Ryan and I were watching House Hunters on tv when the house started shaking. We had experienced earthquakes before, but both times we were asleep (once at home and the other time in Mexico). The boys slept through it. It ended up being a 5.7 magnitude.

Yesterday afternoon we hit the beach. The boys had a great time playing in the sand and ocean. Brooks told me it was his favorite part of the trip!

A boat full of bananas

San Diego

So what else have we been up to in San Diego?
We went to the Science and Natural History Museum.
We went to the zoo.
We went to church this morning.

We've been pretty busy! Ryan and I are going on a date tonight while the boys hang out with cousin Ady. We watched Ady last night while Shaun and Carissa had a date. We took all the kids out to dinner at Station Burgers, a short walk from our vacation house. It had a cool outdoor patio with a play area for kids. They had a great time and it had great food!

We love our vacation house, it's really nice and in the perfect location. There are some great restaurants and stores within walking distance. It has a fenced in yard that the kids have fun playing in. And it's in the landing path of the airport, which Hudson loves! We thought he might grow tired of seeing all the airplanes, but he has not. He gets so excited seeing them!

The cousins goofing around.

Anyone hungry for bamboo?

We drove up to Cabrillo National Monument on Point Loma the other afternoon. It was cool to see this sub pop up in the water. There were tons of helicopters flying out of the Navy base too, which Hudson was excited about.

Legoland

We made the journey to Legoland on Thursday. The boys (all 3 of them!) had been anxiously awaiting it! And the amazing thing was that we all got out of there without any tears!

Wordless Wednesday

The Great Outdoors

Brooks went to YMCA day camp last week. He had a great time! He got to fish, canoe, swim, ride horses and do archery. He even got to ride the Y bus out to the camp property. Several of his friends from the Y were in his tribe. Hudson was upset that he couldn't go, but he will be old enough next summer.

Friday night we all went out to camp and had a picnic, toured the activities and watched the skits put on by each of the tribes.






Ryan had his first mountain bike race of the season yesterday at Brown County State Park. He did a great job. The boys were excited to race in their first kid race of the season.

Wordless Wednesday