Stuffed Manicotti

This is a great dish to serve and impress guests, without overly impressing your wallet.  My oldest daughter chose this as her birthday dinner last week.

Stuffed Manicotti

1 box of manicotti shells

2 cups marinara sauce

2 cups shredded mozzarella

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 24 oz. container small curd cottage cheese

1 Tbs. dried basil

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 egg

In a large pot bring water to a boil.  Place manicotti in water and until the noodles soften.  Drain the shells.  In a medium mixing bowl combine cottage cheese, one cup of mozzarella, parmesan, basil, garlic powder and egg.  Mix well. 

Lightly spray a 9" X 13" baking dish.  Place a thin layer of manicotti in the bottom of the pan.  Using a tablespoon fill the manicotti shells placing them in rows into the baking dish.  Cover the filled manicotti with the remaining marinara.  Sprinkle the rest of the mozzarella over the top.  Sprinkle additional parmesan and some dried basil on the top if desired.

Cover with foil and bake in a 400° oven for 30 minutes.  Remove foil and continue baking 15 to 20 more minutes until the top begins to brown.  Remove from oven and allow to sit covered an additional 15 minutes and serve.

Serve alongside a fresh green salad and a loaf of homemade French bread and you have a wonderful meal for Sunday dinner or entertaining.  Thrifty and delicious.

Our Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a lovely weekend and I hope you all did as well.  I took Friday off work and enjoyed a four day break with my family and friends.  I was very nice.  I wanted it to be a productive weekend, but not over the top with chores and projects.  My goal was to make it enjoyable and I think I pulled that off quite well.

This fabric is so pretty

We began our weekend Wednesday evening the minute I clocked out at work and left for home.  Along the way I stopped at the post office to pick up a book of stamps and a book of Christmas stamps to use to mail our Christmas cards this year.  My oldest drove me to JoAnn's for their pre-Black Friday sale where I picked up a big spool of white thread I needed on sale for 40% OF.  I looked at their pretty Christmas fabrics hoping to find a piece to make a pillow cover for one ot the living room pillows.  I found two pieces of I really liked at 70% OFF so I got a yard of each.

Homemade rolls ready to rise & bake

When we got home I made a fruit salad and baked keto pumpkin custards.  They turned out so good.  My oldest made a Dutch apple pie for her and her boyfriend to share on Thanksgiving.  The next morning I was up early making dough for dinner rolls and baking a cake for my youngest's birthday on Friday.

Before

I got out a spool of old fashioned button thread and repaired a hole in my great grandmother's tablecloth.  

After

This tablecloth was made in 1941 by my great grandmother

I love this tablecloth so much.  Probably not how my great grandma would've repaired it, but I like to think she'd be pleased nonetheless.

This china was presented by my parents and my aunt & uncle
to my grandparents on their 25th wedding anniversary

I set a formal table with my grandmother's china and glassware, the lace table cloth her mother had made her as a wedding gift and my other great grandmother's silverware.  I used my other grandmother's cut crystal bowl for the pineapple salad I made the night before.

I had made cloth napkins with some leftover quilt fabric my mother had given me about five years ago.  I think they turned out really pretty.  My centerpiece was made up of candle holders, tea lights and ceramic pumpkins all purchased at the dollar store.  I think it made a very pretty table this year.

These two were very happy to be together on Thanksgiving

While the turkey roasted I printed out our annual Christmas letter and got my Christmas cards addressed and ready to mail.  I also wrapped Christmas presents.

This girl was just ready to eat!  Me too!

After dinner I made my daughter a Jell-O Poke Cake and tucked it into our jam packed refrigerator.  Friday we celebrated her birthday with a Harry Potter Movie-a-thon, friends, cake and games.  She had a very nice birthday.

Saturday I sewed.  I made an envelope-style pillow cover for the purple pillow in our living room using that pretty Christmas fabric I bought Wednesday.  It turned out beautifully and I loved how it looked so much I decided to make a second one.  It only took half of the fabric to make the first one so it only made sense to make another one.  I used one of the throw pillows on my bed and ended up putting both of them in the living room.  Very, very pretty.

Super cute & really soft flannel pillowcases!

I made some new pillowcases for the girls using up some leftover flannel I had from pajama bottoms I'd made them for Christmas several years ago.  I used some ruffled trim I had in my stash to decorate the hems.  I think they turned out really cute.

Me & my darling girls

I sliced up the last of the turkey and put the turkey bones in my largest slow cooker along with carrots, celery and an onion to make a big pot of broth.  Once it was done I put a container of broth into the freezer and set the rest aside to make soup.  I left quite a bit of meat on the bones so this should be a really good pot of soup.

Gingerbread pancakes & homemade pancake syrup

Sunday morning we wrapped up our weekend with a quick trip to Fred Meyer for a few sales items.  I fixed a big brunch with gingerbread pancakes and then it was time to bid farewell to my daughter's boyfriend.  After he headed back to Salt Lake City I got my Sunday chores done and did some paper crafting while the girls practiced their instruments and did a little bit of homework.  I made turkey noodle soup and a big salad for supper serving it with dinner rolls leftover from Thanksgiving.

Our weekend was very nice   I think it was just the right amount of stuff, not too much to make you feel like you didn't get a break, but enough to make me feel productive and satisfied.  I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend.

Last Week's Thrifty Moves

Sunday proved to be an awesome day!  We began with my oldest driving me to the grocery store to pick up items on my list for Thanksgiving and both birthday dinners for the girls as well as to fill in a few gaps in my pantry.  Along the way we stopped and dropped off a library book in the book return bin for my youngest saving us an extra trip.

When we got home I hurried and put everything away and didn't bother to take a picture because I was anxious to get to my next project.  As you know from Friday's post I was finally able to get the carpet completed and finish up our hallway updates.  I am so happy with how it turned out.  So pretty!

This mama is one happy camper!

I worked a short three day work week and the girls were off of school altogether.  I had absolutely nowhere I needed to be and nowhere I needed to go after work.  It felt amazing!  What a nice break for all of us.

Monday afternoon I did pick up the oldest after I got off work so she could go to the bank and make a deposit into her savings account.  It also worked out so she could get a little driving lesson in and learn how to merge into traffic.  She did great.  Then we went home and I taught her how to make stuffed manicotti.  It's an important skill to have I think so I'll be working on getting that recipe posted.

Tuesday was my oldest's 18th birthday.  We baked the manicotti we had prepared the night before for her birthday supper.  She had a friend over for dinner and then we had more friends join us for cake.

On Wednesday I stopped in at the post office on my way home from work and picked up a book of Christmas stamps.  Then the oldest and I went to JoAnn Fabrics for their pre-Black Friday sale.  All I needed was some white thread and it was on sale for 40% OFF, but my oldest daughter wanted to get a couple items for gifts for her friends so off we went.  Their Christmas fabrics were 70% OFF so I decided to get a piece of pretty holiday fabric to make a pillow cover for the living room.

Thursday made for a delightful day in the kitchen.  I did a formal table setting and we enjoyed some amazing food.  Loads of leftovers to see us through the weekend, which I absolutely love. My oldest daughter's boyfriend drove up from Salt Lake City that morning to join us for dinner and stay the weekend.  That made my daughter extremely happy.

Friday was my youngest's birthday and she turned 15.  We had friends over once again for cake and played games that evening.  It was a lot of fun.

Saturday I sewed!  I made a couple quick items for Christmas gifts and two new pillow covers for the living room with the fabric I bought on sale at JoAnn's on Wednesday.  I made the girls some new flannel pillowcases for their travel size pillows using up some cute leftover fabric from pajama bottoms I'd made them several years ago.  They were pretty excited about those pillowcases.

I reused gift bags and tissue paper I already had on hand to wrap the girl's birthday presents.  I got all of the Christmas gifts I've completed so far wrapped up.  I used gift wrap I already had (purchased on clearance at 70% OFF two years ago), gift boxes I picked up at Goodwill last spring, as well as gift bags, bows and tissue paper I'd collected from previous holidays to reuse.

I pulled out some leftover Christmas stationery I'd purchased at least ten years ago, maybe more, and printed out our annual letter that I always tuck into our Christmas cards.  I wanted to get that used up this year.  I also got out the Christmas cards I made this past January and got them all addressed and ready to send.

I did not do any Black Friday shopping!

We watched movies from our home DVD collection.  The kids had a Harry Potter-a-thon on Friday.

We listened to a lot of music on our Alexa (family Christmas present last year that I bought on cyber Monday for $28!), mostly old jazz and swing that reminded me of being at my grandparent's for Thanksgiving.  My kids loved it.

I made turkey broth for soup with the turkey bones, celery, carrots and an onion.  I put one container of broth in the freezer to use later on.

How was your Thanksgiving?  How was your thrifty week?

Another Small Home Improvement - The Hallway

Once marching band season began my home improvement projects seemed to come to a screeching halt.  I told my oldest that once it was over she owed me a paint date.  Well marching band season is done and we had our paint date.

With two fresh coats of Pure White by Behr on the ceiling and walls of the hallway it now looks clean and bright again.  I took down the light fixture and rolled the ceiling and the walls and oldest did the trim and baseboards.  The door to the hall closet got a fresh coat of paint too and I even removed the doorknob and gave it a couple coats of Metallic by Rustoleum along with the hinges to make it look chrome instead of the dated brass.

My youngest finished painting the risers and trim I had installed late last summer while we worked on the hallway bringing the stairway project much closer to completion.  We still have a few pieces of base trim missing along the floor and I have yet to trim along the steps in the hallway.  Next spring, once the weather warms back up I plan to tackle that.

Once the painting was completed I added deck screws to the sub floor in the hallway just as I had done in the living room and that eliminated a few squeaks.  Then I gave the subfloor two coats of the lavender Ooops! paint I had purchased to seal the old stained and worn out wood.  I let that dry overnight.  So much cleaner and nicer.

Sunday the youngest and I got busy and finished up the carpet.  Yaaaay!  I am so, so, so very happy to have the carpeting completed.  It has made an amazing difference!  I will admit, it has been hard to be this close to completing this project and having to wait, but it is done and I am super excited about it.

After cleaning up tools and supplies and giving the carpet a good vacuum it was time to hang my artwork back up on the walls.  Then I just stood back and enjoyed it.  It feels wonderful to have come this far and see how much we have improved our living spaces.  Our house is so much more now and has truly become a home.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Is My Favorite Holiday

When it comes to holidays Thanksgiving Day is by far my very favorite one.  It always has been and for a load of different reasons.  For one there is the food and because I love to cook and feed people Thanksgiving Day is right up my alley.  I usually start cooking the night before by baking pies and brining the turkey.  Then the next day I'm up early preparing homemade dinner rolls and get stuff ready to put in the oven.

I take my time and set a pretty table with my grandma's lace tablecloth and china and my great grandmas silver.  I have a cut crystal bowl that belonged to my other grandma that I use as well as many other family pieces that make their way onto my table.  It is a really special day for me.

We play games, work puzzles, watch movies from our DVD collection or play music, talk, laugh and visit.  Anyone is welcome to join us, we can always make room.  It is a time to relax and just focus on the day itself and reflect on all we have to be grateful for.  And believe me, we ALL have a lot to give thanks for.

I hope all of you have a very blessed Thanksgiving tomorrow and are surrounded by love and really good food.  And for those of you outside the U.S. that aren't celebrating Thanksgiving I wish you a wonderful day as well.

Another Small Home Improvement Project - The Duct

A couple weekends ago we finished up the last item to be completed after our kitchen updates.  That was to close off the hole on the side of the house where the old duct work was for the old vented range hood.  In the winter we always got a lot of cold air coming into our kitchen from that old range hood which led me to believe it wasn't well installed.  Since I had swapped out the vented range hood with a ductless one I no longer need it vented to the outside of the house.

Before

Patching up the holes from the duct work in the cabinet over the stove had already made a significant impact in the cold air issue as well as the number of bugs that seemed to come into our house.  At one time, a couple years ago, I could swear I heard birds in the duct work.  The girls heard it too so I knew I wasn't imagining it.

After

I waited until we got a couple of really good frosts and I was pretty certain there weren't any critters in there before I got busy and boarded it up.  Once up on the ladder I was able to see the duct that ran from the outside of the house to the vent had been installed in pieces and they used actual duct tape to hold it together.  Not the type you are supposed to use but the all purpose gray tape we all know and love.  Not a single screw to be found holding those joints together either.  Ugh! 

I pulled out as much as I could reach and left the rest inside.  When the hole was cut in the siding nothing had been done to secure the insulation and it had fallen down inside the wall.  Ugh again!  I pulled it up and back into place as best I could and then, thanks to a good friend of mine who had given me a bag of leftover insulation scraps in case I needed it on my motorhome projects, I filled in the gaps as well as the hole itself.

This is what it looked like originally

The duct had been shabbily concealed inside the cabinet with some scraps of siding of all things.  When I removed that I saved it in case I needed to patch something.  I used a piece of that and some screws to cover the hole.  A bead of caulk across the top of the patch seals it up against moisture.  Once painted it will be hardly noticeable.  If in the future someone wants to properly install a new duct and vented range hood they still can as nothing here is permanent.

I haven't decided yet if this will be the final product or not
But for now we are weather tight and that is most important right now

I feel better knowing my house is sealed up against weather, cold and critters.  And even better knowing this is the final step to our kitchen updates.  I get to check this one off the To Do list too!  Yay!