Beer + Bread = YUM

Love pinterest... Had a freak day off of work due to a power outage, and stumbled across this beer bread recipe...  I had everything on hand, so I baked it up right away.

It was so delish!  Couldn't resist going back for more and more ;)

Beer Bread Recipe (Via honestfare.com)

3 cups flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

4 Tablespoons sugar

1 12 oz beer (I used Yuengling)

3 Tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 375 and grease a loaf pan.  Combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in bowl.  Stir.  Pour in the beer and stir until a stiff batter is formed (I used my hands... it was messy, but kind of fun lol)  Don't over mix.

Put dough into prepared loaf pan and pour melted butter on top.  Bake about 40 minutes.

Comfort Food

T's taking his CFA tomorrow.  

Saying he's a hot mess of stress would be a gigantic understatement.

He is fried.

Done.

Mentally drained.

And in need of some comfort before the big day...

So I decided what better way to warm the spirit than by some good old fashioned comfort food in the form of Baked Ziti with Sausage...

Preheat oven to 350.  Boil up a pot of water and cook a pound of ziti until al dente (they should still have some bite).

Meanwhile, brown up a pound of italian sausage.  Drain.

Spray a 9X13 pan and add a layer of tomato sauce (about 1/3 cup-ish).

Mix together a 15 oz container of ricotta, 1 egg, about a 1/4 of minced onion, 2 cloves of minced garlic, salt, pepper, and some dried oregano.  Add the drained sausage and drained pasta.  Mix well.

Layer about half of the pasta mixture into the pan.  Top with some tomato sauce, and 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese.  Add in the remainder of the pasta mix, some more tomato sauce, and another cup of mozz.  Top with some fresh basil 

(YAY for using basil from the garden for the first time this year!!!)

Wrap tightly with foil (I sprayed the foil to keep the cheese from sticking).  Bake for 20 minutes.

Take off foil and bake another 5-10 minutes until cheese is melted.

Deee-lish!

And as always, LOVE when Mags, T and I all sit down and eat the same meal happily.

It's a trifecta of happy tummies  :)

Our Furry (uninvited) Friend...

Let me introduce you to our furry friend, dubbed "Easter Funny" by Magpies.  (Yes, we are still working on our B's lol so bunnies=funnies)... We've suddenly sprouted a handful of bunnies in our yard.  We see them every day, and I must say they are pretty darn cute.

Though cute to look at, if these Easter Funnies decide to make a snack out of my precious garden, I may have to kick some bunny butt lol...  Hopefully our chicken-wire garden fence will do its job!

Big Girl Bed!

 That's my happy BIG girl seeing her BIG girl bed for the first time!  Super duper excited doesn't even describe how thrilled she was.  I hadn't expected her to be so into it!

It's been three nights so far, and she's slept great.  The first night, she snuck out of bed at some point and grabbed a book from her book basket near the rocker.  I found it next to the bed when I checked on her a couple hours after I put her down.  It was too cute... I could totally see her "reading" a book in bed in the dark lol.
And can I just say I CAN'T BELIEVE my baby's not in a crib anymore!  How has time flown by so stinkin fast???