Eat From the Pantry Challenge Reminder

Well it is the first day of our Pantry/freezer challenge. How are you doing? We are doing good here. I have not been to the store, matter of fact I have not been out of the apartment today, resulting in NO money being spent.

I am adding one more thing to our challenge for our house hold. I am not buying cereal the whole month of January either! Matter fact I refuse too, unless I can get it for free through a sale and use of a coupon. While taking inventory of what was in my pantry(not an actual pantry, but several cabinets) I discovered several OPENED boxes of cereal, so I decided right then and there I would not be buying cereal for the month.

We brought in the New Year with some friends---we stayed up late, watched the ball drop, played games, drank egg nog, and had loads of fun. All that resulted into a very late night/early morning celebration. I think that we all got into the bed around 4:00 this morning. We all slept through -regular- breakfast hours, snacked a little and had a late lunch, early dinner. I pulled a 9 by 13 pan of baked ziti out of the freezer, had corn and garlic bread as a side (YUM!)

One of my children gave me a cookbook for Christmas and it had this recipe in it.

I was so excited to find this recipe, not because it is good, but because it was put in the book by my friend Kristy B., who went to be with the Lord in the early part of 2009.

~Baked Ziti Recipe~

1 lb. dry ziti pasta

1 onion chopped

1 lb. lean ground beef

2 (24 oz) jars spaghetti sauce

8 oz. Provolone cheese, sliced

1 1/2 c. sour cream

8 oz. Mozzarella cheese, shredded

2 T. Parmesan cheese, grated

*Bring a large pot of lightly salted to a boil. Add ziti pasta, and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes: drain.

*In a large skillet, brown onion and ground beef over medium heat. DRAIN; add Spaghetti sauce and simmer for 15 minutes.

*Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

*Butter a 9 by 13 inch baking dish.

Then layer as follows:

1/2 of ziti, provolone cheese, sour cream, 1/2 sauce mixture, remaining ziti, mozzarella cheese, and remaining sauce mixture. Top with grated Parmesan cheese. Bake for 30 minutes or until cheeses are melted.
Then eat :)

About three hours after we ate all four of my children say "We are hungry!" I'm thinking---we just ate. Then my husband says, "Becca I'm kinda hungry too."

So I decided to make them a snack. I cut up some bananas and made chocolate gravy to over them.

~ Chocolate Gravy Recipe~
2 c. water
5 T. flour
2 c. sugar
5 T. cocoa - I think Hershey's is the best!
Cook to a medium boil. Serve over bananas or even hot biscuits.

It is a favorite in our home!

See my Goals and Plans HERE.
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