What's for Dinner?: Mac 'N Cheese

When I was growing up, my mom's homemade macaroni and cheese was very close to the top on my list of favorite meals. Mom rotated it through on a semi-regular basis, but I also requested it for birthday dinners and other special occasions. Like most other families in the 80s, regular 'ole Kraft macaroni and cheese was also in our pantry, but it doesn't hold a candle to Mom's mac 'n cheese. A mix of creamy, melty, and stringy cheese perfectly melted in a white sauce and topped with a brown, crusty top = pure cheesy perfection.

I've carried the tradition on into my own family, only now I make it with gluten-free pasta and gluten-free flour. It's my go-to meal for comfort food, celebration food, and even hospitality food -- I often make this when I provide meals for new moms at our church. Nothing says "happy baby, don't start your diet yet" like homemade mac 'n cheese. :-) Most people feel very pampered when I tell them what I'm bringing, and that makes me happy!

Fast forward to last week. My husband is into culinary creativity, and he's always coming up with tasty combinations and delicious sauces. He's been wanting to try roasting peppers, and when I mentioned I wanted to make some macaroni and cheese, he suggested we try adding roasted peppers to the tried and true recipe. Wow! I'm so glad we did! I love the old recipe, and I'm sure we'll make it plain again...but those peppers took this old mac 'n cheese to a whole new level!

Here's the recipe, adapted from an old Betty Crocker cookbook (they don't even print it anymore!)...

GF Old-Fashioned Mac 'N Cheese
3 cups gluten-free pasta
1/2 c. chopped onions (Saute these separately if you don't want a crunch in your dish.)
3 c. cheese (1 each of mozzarella, cheddar, and velveeta)
3 cups thin white sauce (see below)

White Sauce
3 T. butter
3 T. gluten-free flour
3/4 tsp. salt
3/8 tsp. pepper
3 c. milk

Melt butter in saucepan, and then stir in flour, salt, and pepper. Keep cooking over medium heat and stir constantly until it's smooth and bubbly. Gradually stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil for one minute and continue stirring. If you like your mac 'n cheese really thick, increase the butter and flour proportionally, not going above 6 tablespoons of each.


Spray non-stick spray in 2-quart casserole. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook pasta to al dente or less (it will cook a little more in the oven). Make two layers of 1.) pasta, 2.) onions, 3.) cheese (mix all three on each layer), and 4.) sauce.

Bake for a 1/2 hour covered and then another 15 minutes uncovered (or broil for a few minutes) until the top browns. If you want to go full fat, add little pats of butter to the top to help it brown.

Now for the roasted peppers ... we used our gas grill and placed the peppers on the grates until the skins were all charred. After the peppers are charred, place them in a ziploc bag to let the skins soften. Then just peel the skins off, and underneath will be tasty, sweet, roasted peppers! We did a rough chop and added them right into the mac 'n cheese.

I highly recommend trying this recipe on the next rainy spring day. You won't be disappointed!

Quick Update

Hello everyone! Sorry I've been so quiet this last week. My parents came into town a week from yesterday, and I started getting really sick the day before they got here. I kept getting worse and worse until we finally decided I needed to go to the dr. on Tuesday. Turns out I had strep throat! No wonder my throat was so sore! :-) I have no idea where it came from -- neither of the kids had it, and I don't know of anyone else who had it. After one course of steroids for swelling and partially through my antibiotics, I am a new woman. Praise God!

On top of having company, I am working feverishly on a project for Nelson, proofreading a dramatized New Testament script. For the first time, I sub-contracted out some of my work, and it's been fun managing other editors and getting the chance to spread some work around to a few of my friends.

In addition to that, my parents helped us plant our first-ever veggie garden. I will post pics as soon as I can. It's about 15X20...and filled with corn, peppers, squash, carrots, broccoli, brussel sprouts, lettuce, onions, peas, and turnips. We really have no clue what we're doing, but with a little water, sunshine, and God's grace, we should have veggies this summer/fall. We're pretty pumped.

Here's a quick funny story from Kaden. It illustrates how thoroughly the Cars movie has infiltrated our life. Today around lunchtime, Kaden asked me if he could go outside, and I told him no because we were getting ready to eat. He asked me a few more times, as is his custom, but I persisted. He finally gave up and said, "I am SO not taking you to dinner, [Mom]." It's a line from the movie, and it cracked me up b/c that's the first time he's done something like that...taking a line from a movie and correctly applying it in context. Pretty cute.

The Federal Gov't. = My New Best Friend

You know you're about to get good news when your accountant -- at tax time -- says, "Jenn, you're going to be very happy with the federal government!"

To the tune of a $3000 refund! Whoa! Something about an earned income credit and the child allowances. All I know is that having a baby in 2006 was our best financial decision of the whole year! :-)

Now before you get too envious, just know that you have to have had a pretty lousy financial year for the government to feel sorry enough for you to willingly give up $3000. I wouldn't wish our 2006 finances on anyone, but boy, I'm feeling pretty good today! :-)

Just wanted to share that blessing. It's a huge one! Thank you, God!

The 3-year-old Art Critic

Funny story. Kaden and I were drawing this morning, and he asked me to draw a playground. I crafted a beautiful swingset, complete with giant slide -- Kaden's favorite. I was proud, but my drawings are elementary at best! :-) A few minutes later, he asked me to draw a baby. I started drawing my impression of a baby swaddled in a blanket, but Kaden was decidedly unimpressed.

He exclaimed, "No, Mom! Not a snowman! I said a baby!!!"

I started laughing and said, "Oh, okay, buddy. Let me try again. I guess Mommy's just not a very good artist."

He quicky reassured me: "No, Mom...you really are. You're a great artist."

I love the truth-telling (because my baby really did look like a snowman!), but I also love how eager he is to encourage everyone around him. It's something that Josh and I have always tried to do with him, and it's exciting to see that encouraging spirit coming out in him already.

Now we're off to our next project -- "cooking" with water, soap, and pepper. I know what's on the lunch menu!

Life is never dull with a 3-year-old. I highly recommend it.

Teavana

On Delaney's birthday, we were surprised with a free dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. Ya! Very tasty. Before our food came, I whisked Kaden off for a little adventure to keep him occupied for a while. Our Cheesecake Factory is attached to a mall, and we ended up strolling in there for a minute. I spotted a store that caught my eye called Teavana. Josh and I love tea, especially loose tea, so the store caught my eye. So much so that my interest outweighed my common sense of not taking Kaden into a store with intricate teapots on every surface.

But the risk paid off: he was a perfectly behaved boy, and I scored some really tasty tea. Doesn't this tea look like a trail mix or something? It's amazing! This is a blend of Caribbean Breeze and Apple Pomegranate. Sounds kind of crazy, but it is so good -- fruity, sweet, and it tastes like juice! They're all about blending teas, which I think is pretty neat.

I love drinking tea. It's relaxing and such a special treat. I just enjoyed two cups of this tonight, and I had to post a pic. I know summer is coming, but you can also use these for iced teas.

Happy tea drinking!

P.S. I also recommend Upton Tea Company -- we've ordered from them several times, and I think their prices are more affordable.

Thankful Thursday (er...Friday!)

So here are some things I'm thankful for this week...

1. My herbs. Looking out my back door and seeing those cute little plants growing in their new planter boxes has been a real mood-lifter. Try it!
2. I'm proofreading a book on leadership for a client, and it's very interesting. I see my hubby on every page! :-)
3. Celebrating Laney's birthday has been a real joy. It seems she instantly became a toddler the day she turned one. She's not walking yet, but she's close!
4. I have been so busy with freelancing! Even though I told Josh I feel too busy at the moment, he reminded me that it's better to have the problem of trying to figure out how to get everything done than the problem of not knowing how you're going to pay your bills. True.


I'm looking forward to celebrating Easter this Sunday, and I hope you all have a great weekend, too!

Happy First Birthday, Delaney!

Believe it or not, our children were born exactly 2 years and 5 days apart ... which means that today we are celebrating one whole year with our sweet baby girl, Delaney Rhys. Miss Delaney was in a hurry to enter the world, arriving just 45 minutes after I arrived safely in my hospital bed. [Phew!] But then, a day after her birth, things slowed waaaaaaay down when she was admitted to the NICU for severe jaundice, which lasted for about 5 days. At the time, it was challenging because we weren't prepared to spend so many days in the hospital, but our small group friends pulled together for us to watch Kaden and provide meals. Josh's mom also flew down about 2 days after Laney was born to help out for a week.

Despite an "exciting" start to life (for our next baby, I will be camping out at the hospital!)...and a longer than average hospital stay, her first year has been relatively uneventful. When I think about her being one whole year old, it's just hard to believe. She seems more baby-ish than Kaden did at her age. I'm not sure if it's the second child thing, or that she's more low-key, or that she's a girl...or maybe just her personality. She is less busy than Kaden [Hooray for small favors!], but much more melodramatic. She's a fan of throwing her head back, looking up to the sky, and bellowing out big wailing cries if something rubs her the wrong way. She's happy 99% of the time, but if she gets going, watch out!

Laney's favorite thing in this world is a tasty banana. She eats some at almost every meal because it's a fail-safe choice for me! She also loves her brother -- and he loves her. They play together pretty well. Kaden tends to be a little too "loving" with her, but she lets me know if she needs my help (see above for melodramatic tendencies). :-)

Laney had a great birthday today. She had birthday pancakes - complete with one candle - for breakfast, a nice bath to de-gunk from the syrup, a relaxing massage, her very first haircut, mac 'n cheese for lunch, 2 nice naps, and as a special treat (for mommy and daddy), we were all treated to a wonderful dinner at the Cheesecake Factory tonight. Yummy! Not bad for a first birthday, right?

Our first year with Delaney has been such a delight, and Josh and I are looking forward to many more years of birthday pancakes with our little girl. Happy Birthday, Delaney. I love you very much!

My Baby is Three (Oh My!)

March 30th is an important day for me. It's the day I first laid eyes on our six pounds and eight ounces of baby boy perfection. Ten toes, ten fingers, and simply wonderful in every way. Looking at him now, there is virtually no trace of that baby I first met. Same ten toes and ten fingers, but they're much more skilled (and busier) than they used to be. He cooks, paints, draws, plays the drums, digs in the dirt, gives great hugs, and so many things in between. He is inquisitive, friendly, sweet, energetic, happy, creative, smart, and downright irresistible. I promise I'm not biased.

Here are some of his favorite things at the moment: playing outside (his constant request), the Cars movie, Bob the Builder, music or instruments of any kind, and anything to do with tools & building. His definite favorite food is pasta. This boy would eat "noo-noos" for every meal and snack if I let him!

Three whole years. [Sigh.] It's hard for me to resist feeling like he's growing up too fast. Three seems awfully close to school starting, and we all know it's over after that. I mean, from kingergarten to marriage in the blink of an eye, right? Okay, maybe not.

But still, I can't help but be reminded today of how important each day is, to cherish the small stuff and to keep enjoying the boy my baby is becoming. On my third anniversary of mommyhood, I just want to say "Happy Birthday!" to Kaden and tell everyone again how privileged and honored I am to be this boy's mama. Josh and I are so blessed to have him in our lives.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Kaden. I love you!

Thankful Thursday

It seems like I haven't had much time for blogging other than on Thursdays. I have lots of things to write about, but I've been really busy with editing and proofreading. This is a good thing...but my blogging time has dwindled a bit. One of these days I'll be back more regularly.

So here are a few things I'm grateful for this week...

1.) The Office. Hi. Lar. I. Ous. Enough said.
2.) Kaden's funny little commentary on life. A few days ago he said, "My feelings are hurtin'. I need to go to the hospital." Life is never dull with a three-year-old--and often, it's downright funny.
3.) Speaking of Mr. Kaden, our little boy is turning three tomorrow!!! Three years ago, I was about 8 feet wide and playing Uno with Josh in the hospital's L&D department in Akron, Ohio. Yes, Uno. Obviously labor hadn't started yet. :-) I'm beyond thankful for this little guy, and I'm a little sad to see him growing up so quickly. (I'm hopelessly sentimental. There, I said it.)
4.) Time to exercise with my hubby at the Y.
5.) Spring, spring, spring! Loving this warm weather.

Have a great week everyone!

Seeds of Worship

I recently read about the Seeds Worship CDs on the girltalk blog. They highly recommended the CDs for kids, so I passed on the recommendation to all the grandparents for possible gift ideas for the kids' upcoming birthdays. My mom was short a few gifts for Kaden, so she quickly ordered all 4 CDs, and they arrived in just a few days since they didn't have far to travel (from Nashville).

We've been listening to them for about a week now, and I wanted to pass along a personal recommendation for these CDs. We have quite a collection of "kids' CDs," from lullabies to Bible songs to Veggie Tales, but these are definitely different and definitely cool. Two thumbs up from me, and two thumbs up from Kaden. One thumb up from Delaney...since she doesn't understand the voting process yet. :-)

All of the songs are directly from Scripture, but they're not the Sunday School sounds of yore. No, these are fresh, new, contemporary, and they won't make you cringe if your 3-year-old insists on listening to them repeatedly. :-) If you try them, give me a shout back and let me know what you think.

Thankful Thursday

It's my day 'o gratitude again. ;-) Here are a few things...

1.) A very interesting project on my desk at the moment -- Proofreading a book about the First Amendment and the separation of church and State in America.

2.) A fun two days off in a row with daddy home. Park, playing outside, and grilling burgers were all on the bill of activities.

3.) Kaden's new phase of incessant talking. Though Josh and I wink and sometimes chuckle at our new motor mouth, it's quite amusing to see him amping up his word count (by the thousands each day, I think!).

I hope everyone is having a great week. Until next time...

Celiac Disease Discussed Again on The View

Elisabeth Hasselbeck's recent announcement that she has celiac disease has the whole GF community buzzing about it. It's pretty exciting to have such a visible person speaking out and educating the masses -- especially since, of the the 3 million Americans who have celiac, only 3 percent actually know it. People are suffering needlessly, and I'm glad that several prominent people, including a CNN anchor named Heidi Collins, are using their positions to make a positive difference.

Check out the clip of Elisabeth speaking with a well-known Celiac doc, Dr. Peter Green of NYC. It's the best celiac coverage I've seen on TV so far!



Thanks for watching -- you never know when a friend or family member may be able to benefit from your celiac knowledge. :-)

Wow, It's Been 10 Days!

So, um...I'm alive. :-) It's been 10 whole days since I last blogged...a new record in blog silence for me. I have had SO much going on! Josh's family came into town last Saturday, and they headed home yesterday (Saturday), so we are just getting re-acclimated to our usual little family of four instead of eight.

The whole week was a whirlwind of activity, as usual...and we had a great time!! Papa and Kaden built two planter boxes for the deck, and Grandma and Kaden planted seven different herbs so I can try my hand at being a gardener. [I have a notoriously un-green thumb.] I also want to plant a vegetable garden this year, but that hasn't happened yet. In addition to the planter-building, we threw a little dinner party with Josh's business mentor and his wife, and we also celebrated the kids' birthdays a few weeks early.

In typical Hesse fashion, there were presents galore -- times 2! We also celebrated Josh's birthday, and Papa found a Weber grill on sale at Home Depot that caught his eye for Josh's present. By the time he was done accessorizing, the gift grew into my birthday present, our anniversary gift, and probably flag day, memorial day, presidents' day, and arbor day, too! We've already used it a bunch of times, and we love it! If you saw the pathetic little charcoal grill we used all last year, you would laugh at the drastic upgrade. Thank you, Papa & Grandma! We'll be BBQing in style for many years to come!!!

For Kaden and Laney's birthdays, we took everyone to Chuck E. Cheese on Wednesday for lunch, and I have to say ... it was really fun! I had low expectations, but watching Kaden have such a blast was pretty awesome. He is just at such a fun age. Everything is fun, everything is incredibly exciting, and he has a growing vocabulary to dialogue about all of it! Delaney loved Chuck E., too. With two little teeth barely in, she devoured an entire piece of pizza on her own. Wowzer, this girl can pack it away! Pound for pound, she can out-eat Kaden any day. Yet she doesn't have a bit of chub...she must have a high metabolism like her daddy! Coming in a close second to the pizza for Laney was the nifty balloon that brother got that said, "Happy Birthday!" As if games, pizza, and a birthday crown weren't enough, Kaden got a prize at the end with his tickets, and then -- could it get any better?! -- they gave him a huge ice cream sandwich for the road. [As we were driving off, I quickly realized that allowing Kaden to eat an ice cream sandwich on a hot day in the car was not my smartest move. However, we made it without any major messes.]

To top off this already stellar day, Kaden got another big surprise after his nap: a brand new drum kit! Grandma and Papa got it for him, and it is a pretty sweet little drum set. It looks just like a real kit, only miniature-ized for a tiny person. And he LOVES it!!! Thank goodness we have a finished basement, or I would have a lot of noise pollution going on. :-) Josh and I think he's a natural, and it's fun to celebrate his love for music and rhythm. All I've gotta say is, the boy can groove. What he lacks in formal training, he makes up for in sheer enthusiasm!

In addition to family visiting, I have also been doing a bunch of small projects for Clever Factory in Nashville. The extra work is an answer to prayer! Most of the work has been from home, but I had to make a quick trip in last week to pick up some CDs to audio proof. My MIL and I snuck away in Josh's car with the top down and enjoyed a sunny, beautiful, almost-summer day. Speaking of Josh's car, Josh and I had a little "you-need-to-learn-to-drive-a-standard" lesson last week, kind of spur of the moment, and we decided that I need a new teacher. Any takers? :-)

So between company and work [and a little joyriding], I just haven't had a spare moment to blog. I've been busy enjoying life...and that's a good thing!

P.S. I almost forgot! Josh was in a cooking mood this week, and he cooked up some great dishes: Venison Au Poivre with Grilled Asparagus and Gluten-Free Spinach & Goat Cheese Ravioli; Rotisserie Chicken; and Asiago & Pear Pork Roast. We were eating seriously well. My man can cook!

Thankful Thursday

Happy Thursday, everyone. I have a proofreading project on my desk and company coming this weekend, so I can't dilly-dally. Right to the thankfulness. :-)

1. We are enjoying a beautiful day in Tennessee. I wore short sleeves and no coat to the Y today! Ya for the sun. :-) I think the winter blahs are past us now, and I'm happy about that!

2. When I went to get my hair cut yesterday, my stylist told me that I had enough to donate to Locks of Love. I was thrilled! I have never done it before, and it was neat to think that some little kid will benefit from my long hair. My head feels light as a feather, and so does my mood! It's amazing what a little haircut can do.

3. Josh's family is coming to visit for a week! We have some fun stuff planned, like getting started on a vegetable garden and celebrating our March and April birthdays: Josh, Kaden, and Delaney!

4. Kaden and Josh got to spend all day together yesterday, mostly just the two of them, and they both had fun hanging out. I love it when they get to have special bonding time.

5. God's faithfulness. In a million ways each day, he is so good to me!

Well, I'm off to work while the kids are napping. Have a great week everyone!

self-portrait

i am a child of God.
i am a wife.
i am a mother.
i am a daughter.
i am a sister.
i am a granddaughter.
i am a friend.
i am a writer.
i am a scrapbooker.

i am loved.
i am cherished.
i am adored.
i am respected.
i am understanding.
i am missed.
i am loyal.
i am creative.
i am organized.

i am unique.
i am me.

(and I have a cute new hairstyle worth showing off!) :-)

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!

Could I share a little history lesson on Josh's birthday? Yes? Okay -- I'll try to keep it short. :-) Josh and I started dating in the fall of 1998 while we were both students at Cedarville University, and I've been celebrating March 3rd [with gusto!] ever since I threw a surprise birthday party for him that first year. That was [way] back in 1999...the first birthday we celebrated as a couple. I think it was that first year that "birthday week" was born.

You see, Josh is not shy about telling people it is his birthday. He usually starts warning people right after Christmas is over -- just so they have plenty of time to prepare for the next big holiday. A 90-day shopping window seems adequate, right? Well, that year was no different. He had been preparing me for months with hints and flat-out requests for something special for his birthday by the time March rolled around.

Although I didn't have much of a budget to work with [not much has changed!], I decided to do something special by putting a little gift in his mailbox every day for a week leading up to his birthday. I remember splurging on this really cool lava lamp for one of his gifts. We still have it! Anyway, on March 3rd, I invited him over to my dorm's co-ed lounge and surprised him with all of our friends, a cake, singing, the works. If I remember correctly, I think it was after an orchestra concert. Funny memories! I love surprises, so I think I was almost as happy as him. :-) I have some pictures of that party somewhere around here, but I'm not exactly sure where...Maybe one of these days I'll find them and post one for everyone to see us in our early days. :-)

Anyway, we've come a long way since then, but I still look forward to celebrating my sweetheart's birthday to let him know how much I care about him. We still do birthday week, and I have fun thinking up little surprises for him. Last night, I made him a very special PB&J sandwich [his after-work standard], complete with glowing candle, for him to eat at 12:05am this morning to kick off his birthday.

One year before we were married, I found a poem that I wrote out in calligraphy and framed for Josh. It's now hanging in our bedroom, and I'm going to type it out here because I still love the words.

Love, by Roy Croft
I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am because of you.
I love you not only for what you have made of yourself, but for what you
are making of me.
I love you for the part of me that only you can bring out.

I love you for putting your hand into my heaped-up heart
And passing over all the foolish, weak things that you can’t help
dimly seeing there,
And for drawing out into the light all the beautiful belongings
That no one else had looked quite far enough to find.

I love you because you have done more than any creed could have done
to make me good
And more than fate could have done
to make me happy.

You have done it without a touch, without a word, without a sign.
You have done it by simply being yourself.
Perhaps that is really what it means to be in love.

The line about exposing the "beautiful belongings" of my heart always makes me cry because it's still one of the things I love so much about Josh. He has always made me feel so special, so loved, and so valued. It's no wonder I look forward to his birthday with such anticipation so I can have a week-long excuse to make a big deal about this wonderful man I'm married to.

So baby ... Happy Birthday. You mean the world to me, and I'm so happy to celebrate your life. I look forward to many more birthday week bashes!

XOXO Jenn

Thankful Thursday (er...Friday!)

Well, I'm a day late, but still thankful. :-) Yesterday was a long day, and I'm just now getting around to blogging. So here are a few things that I've been thankful for this week...

1.) Delaney took a tumble down our carpeted steps...and didn't have a scratch. (Of course, I'm thankful for Part 2, not Part 1!) Josh and I nearly had a coronary, but Laney recovered very quickly after letting us know she was decidedly unimpressed with the steps. Kaden was very sweet and consoled her until she calmed down. Poor little thing!

2.) God has provided 3 proofreading projects for me in the last 2 weeks. Extra money always helps the budget!

3.) In the last week, we've been able to make some financial changes that are really going to impact our bottom line. Hooray!!!

4.) We have great neighbors! I went to a client's office yesterday to do some work for the morning, and I wasn't able to get home before Josh had to leave for work. So Kitty came over to stay with the kids while they were napping. It was a huge help, and she does little things for us many times each week. I don't know what we would do without them!

5.) Finally, I'm thankful that it's almost Josh's birthday. Ya! Tomorrow (Saturday) begins Josh's annual "Birthday Week" celebration. If you'd like to help me wish him a Happy Birthday, send him an email at joshATgrooverootsDOTcom. My sweetie has trained me to celebrate his birthday with gusto, and I enjoy the special occasion for spoiling. :-) Happy early birthday, baby!

Here's to another week of gratitude -- may you find it abundantly this week!

The Naked Chef

I haven't told many funny Kaden stories lately, so I think it's time to share some toddler humor. Now, to set up this story, you have to know that Kaden runs around with a naked bottom 80% of the time we're at home. We start out with clothes in the morning, but he usually completely disrobes the first time he has to go to the potty. If we go to the Y or outside, we of course reclothe him, but the next time he has to go potty? Yup, there go the clothes again. Even the socks have to come off! It's kind of a never-ending process.

So last night, Daddy was home for dinner, and he made a delicious meal for us. Kaden got tired of waiting for dinner to be ready, so he had a little bowl of cereal to hold him over. While Josh and I were enjoying our expertly-cooked venison, Kaden turned around in his seat and said, "Hey! Look at my butt!" So we looked, and said, "Uh-huh." (Nothing extraordinary to see his naked cheeks.)

But he said, insistently this time, "No, LOOK!" So we looked again and saw a Peanut Butter Swirl peeking out between two clenched cheeks. Oh my. That was enough to earn a few chuckles. [I know, I know, we shouldn't encourage it, but it was FUNNY!] But it got better.

Kaden pulled the cereal out and proudly said, "This one's for next week!!" Our chuckles quickly turned to all-out laughter. We just couldn't hold it back!

Turns out, for toddlers who prefer nakedness, the good 'ole gluteous maximus is the most convenient, perfectly logical hiding spot for after-dinner snacks.

Toddlers have a way of inserting humor into the most ordinary of moments. I love this boy!

Comfort Food, Comfort Friends

Hugs, smiles, laughter, reminiscing, and making new memories...Thursday was one of the best days I've had in a while. We had so much fun with Luke & Luci (Congdon) Perry, and we also got to enjoy Jeremy & Kenya Whaley's company for dinner at our house. Jeremy & Luci were some of our best friends at Cedarville, and we haven't all been together since Josh and I got married in May 2001. It's been WAY too long! But now that Luke and Luci are both Southwest employees, they occasionally get long layovers in Nashville and even get to travel standby for free for as long as they're employees. Pretty awesome, right?

Josh, Delaney, and I (Kaden stayed with our neighbor for the afternoon) picked up Luke & Luci at their hotel near the airport. We then headed down to Cool Springs to visit Laurie and Petite Boutique. [The pic above is L-R: Laurie, Me w/ Laney, and Luci.] Laurie had fun dressing Luci up in just about every outfit in the store, and Luci had fun being a model. ;-) She even picked out a few things for the road! Delaney was surprisingly sunny and pleasant. Not that she's not sunny and pleasant normally, but I figured she'd get bored without toys. But I think she's already aligning herself with her gender...she was happy as a lark while we were shopping! (Get a grip on your wallet, daddy!) I guess she figured that being 5-foot-4 or under qualifies her to shop at Petite Boutique. :-) She loved admiring herself in the big mirror Laurie has outside the dressing rooms, too.

So after the shopping adventure (the guys went to get a snack while we shopped), we headed back to our house for dinner. Since Kenya is a vegetarian, I wanted to make something that she could eat, and I recently watched a Food Network show called Everyday Italian that had some tasty-looking vegetarian dishes: Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables and Veronica's Veggie Meatloaf with Checca Sauce. In the words of Rachael Ray, YUM-O!

I am very new to this whole food photography thing, and so far, I stink. Josh said, "Hmmm...that dish tasted a lot better than it looks in your photo." But nevertheless, I had to include it here just to practice. :-)

I made the veggie loaf completely vegetarian, but I decided to add some chicken to the baked penne for the rest of us meateaters. I also made this dish gluten-free by using GF pasta.

Gluten-Free Baked Penne

1 package of boneless/skinless chicken breasts or tenders
Olive oil/PAM spray/Broth -- whatever you want to cook the chicken in
2 red peppers, cored and cut into 1-inch wide strips
2 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 summer squash, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1-inch cubes
6-8 white mushrooms, quartered
1 yellow onion, peeled and sliced into 1-inch strips
PAM spray
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 tablespoon dried Italian herb mix
1 pound Gluten-Free penne pasta
3 cups marinara sauce
1 cup cubed fontina cheese
1/2 cup cubed mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 cups frozen peas, thawed
1/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus 1/3 cup for topping
1-2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Place your rainbow of veggies on a cookie sheet with 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper, and the Italian herbs. Spray the top with PAM and lightly toss together. Roast in the oven for about 15 minutes until tender.

While the veggies are roasting, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. In a separate saucepan, cook the chicken for a few minutes on each side. When it's almost cooked through, cut the tenders into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.

When the water boils, add your pasta and cook for about 6 minutes. [You want the pasta to be undercooked so that it doesn't get soggy in the oven when you cook it a second time.] Drain the pasta.

Combine the pasta, veggies, marinara sauce, cheeses, peas, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. pepper in a big bowl. Stir gently until all of the ingredients are incorporated and the pasta is coated with sauce.

Pour this mixture into your favorite baking dish, approximately 9x13 in size. Top the pasta and veggies with the remaining 1/3 c. Parmesan cheese, and dot the top with a bit of butter (or skip this if you're cutting back on fat, like me!) Bake until golden-topped and heated through, approximately 25 minutes. Enjoy!

I don't have a picture of the Veggie-Loaf, but I highly recommend it as well. A couple of comments...I did not make the checca sauce from scratch. I used about a cup of Basil/Oregano canned tomatoes, and it came out great. The fresh basil really stands out in this dish, so if you love basil, you will go nuts for this veggie-loaf. In fact, I would rename this dish "Basil-icious Veggie-Loaf"! Oh, and it's naturally gluten-free (watch your broth, but it's easy to find a gluten-free stock at the market). Give it a try--everyone here gave it 2 thumbs up!

To our dinner party guests: Luke, Luci, Jeremy, and Kenya -- it was a blast. Let's get together again soon. :-) Seeing old friends and sharing life together in a totally new phase is a pretty amazing blessing.

Thankful Thursday

Yes, folks. It's that time again. This will be short b/c I'm right in the middle of preparing for company...

1.) Luci is coming today!!! Luci is one of our best friends from college, and she's visiting today with her husband, Luke!!! We'll be meeting Luke for the first time, so we're pretty pumped. We're going to stop by Laurie's store, Petite Boutique, because Luci is one of the 5'4 or under people. :-)

2.) Josh is off work today -- we have him all day to ourselves!

3.) I've had some free time to paint some blank frames that we got at IKEA. I also put 5 small prints that we got on our honeymoon in Banff in a frame and hung it up in our room. We've been dragging this stuff around with us from house to house since 2001, and now they (and we) finally have a home that we're settled in. I'm thankful for the chance to hang up pictures and put down roots.

4.) Warm weather. We didn't wear coats yesterday! Tennessee winter weather keeps us on our toes. Sometimes it's in the 20s, sometimes it's in the 60s! It looks like another beautiful day out there today.

5.) Laney's cheeks. :-) They're extremely kissable, and they make me happy, happy, happy!

Well, folks, I'm off to make a delicious dinner so that it's ready to go in the oven when we get back from Petite Boutique. Have a wonderful day, everyone. :-)