One of the best things about this whole Pinterest thing {wait, you DO know what that is, right? People “pin” things to virtual inspiration boards…you can follow people, and they follow you… you can check my boards out HERE } is that people pin lots of yummy food. The inspiration for our dinner was actually a combination of two different recipes that I modified a little [for the record, next time, I will probably make a couple other changes].
I’m calling them Lasagna Cupcakes! (no, not cake, but made in muffin/cupcake tin…)
Here’s what I did:
Browned 1 lb. extra lean ground beef and 1/2 lb. of Jimmy Dean Pork sausage
Added a jar of spaghetti sauce & simmered for about 5 minutes (obviously, you can simmer as long as your little heart desires!)
Mixed together one container of the Philadelphia Cooking Creme Italian Cheese & Herb with 1/3 c. Part Skim Ricotta Cheese, a little kosher salt and pepper.
I sprayed a muffin tin with non-stick spray and then lined with…get this…Wonton! It comes pre-cut squares that work perfectly!
Then I put a scoop of cheese mixture in the shell, a layer of meat, a little shredded cheese …
Lasagna Cupcakes
The first time
I have wanted to go to a blogging conference for quite awhile now. As recent as last year, I thought “Not yet. I don’t know enough people; I don’t even blog that much.” But then I heard about Gleek Retreat – a small, casual conference in my very own state. So I signed up. It was months ago, and I figured I could at least go and get something out of it for my office.
So, Friday I packed a bag, grabbed some snacks and my ipad and headed to Holland. I was so excited to go on a little road trip and have a night in a hotel by myself that I totally forgot to be nervous!! I’ve avoided conferences because I wasn’t ready, because I was scared I’d be left out or not know what to do. Turns out, I fit in just fine. Which, of course, was surprising to no one but me.
I had to get up very early and left the house by 5:30am to drive over. The drive was easy peasy and the weather delightful. I found the conference center easily and collected my name tag and ‘swag’ bag. I found a seat in …
Ice Skating
My brother and I took the boys ice skating for the first time today. I hadn’t had ice skates on for YEARS, so not only did they feel weird, I was a bit wobbly! I did alright on the ice, but was thankful my brother is a good skater so he could help out the boys!
We rented skates and I made sure we took their bike helmets (totally afraid they would fall and thunk their heads!).
Matt jumped right on the ice with his little skate-walker thing, and although he seemed like he was running on the ice rather than skating, he did really well! Preston had the technique better, but didn’t move around very much. I fully expected him to be done sooner than Matt and I wasn’t surprised (but that was ok, because I was ready to get my skates off, too!).
Matt wanted to stay out there forever! We definitely will be taking him back. By the end, he was much more comfortable on the ice and in the skates.
I took some video of them, but I’m still working on getting it edited, so here are some pictures!
