7 months of life!

My baby boy is 7 months old yesterday!!

I can't believe it...

Happy 7 month birthday Ryan.

What's for dinner Baked Zitti w/ cheezy garlic bread

I made this Sunday evening 1/29/2012. It was so amazing... I cannot wait to eat it again!

Yum! Cheezy Garlic bread

To freeze I split the ingredients into two 8"x8" foil pans and put one in the oven and one in the freezer for another night. The one half portion was plenty for our family of 3 with seconds and lunch the next day. Enjoy!

Baked Ziti
Ingredients:
1 lb. whole milk or 1% cottage cheese
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 oz. grated Parmesan cheese (about 1 1/2 cups), divided
Table salt
1 lb. ziti
1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
20 oz. turkey Italian sausage
1/2 cup yellow onion, finely chopped
5 medium cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 (28 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp. chopped fresh basil leaves, divided
1 tsp. sugar
Ground black pepper
3/4 tsp. cornstarch
1 cup heavy cream (or whole milk)
8 oz. low-moisture mozzarella, cut into 1/4-inch pieces

Directions:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350° F. Whisk cottage cheese, eggs, and 1 cup Parmesan together in a medium bowl; set aside. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Stir in 1 tablespoon salt and the pasta; cook until pasta begins to soften but is not yet cooked through, 5-7 minutes. Drain the pasta and leave in colander.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Crumble in the turkey sausage and cook until nearly browned. Add in the onion and garlic and continue to cook until the onion is softened and the sausage is completely browned. Stir in the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and oregano; simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes. Off the heat, stir in 1/2 cup basil and the sugar, and season with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl stir together the cornstarch and heavy cream. Transfer the mixture to the now-empty stockpot over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook until thickened, 3-4 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and add the cottage cheese mixture, 1 1/2 cups of the tomato sauce and 3/4 cup mozzarella. Stir to combine. Add the pasta and toss to coat thoroughly with the sauce.

Transfer the pasta to a 9×13″ baking dish and spread the remaining tomato sauce evenly over the top. Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan over the top. Cover the baking dish tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove the foil from the pan and continue to cook until the cheese is bubbling and beginning to brown, about 30 minutes longer. Cool for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons basil and serve.

From: Annies-eats.com

Three Cheese Garlic Bread
1 large French bread or Pane Italiano bread loaf, halved crosswise
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon fresh parsley leaves, finely minced
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded asiago cheese
1/2 cup shredded provolone cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a bowl, combine the butter, garlic powder, salt and parsley to create a compound butter. Spread the butter on each bread half and bake in the preheated oven for 5-7 minutes until slightly toasted.

Meanwhile, combine the shredded cheese in a bowl.

Remove the bread from the oven and top with the combined shredded cheese. Place the cheese topped bread halves back in the oven and bake until cheese is melted. Serve hot.

* To make ahead/freezer meal - Prepare the compound butter as directed above and spread on each bread half. Wrap bread in foil and freeze. When ready to prepare, bake in preheated oven as noted above. Remove bread from oven and top with shredded cheese and continue baking as directed above.

From: joelens.blogspot.com