Soundtrack to cook to: Alexander's music class CD
This vegetable lasagana dish is one that my mom would make for our family and is truly a comfort food for me. It's incredibly simple to make and is sooooo delicious! Plus, you'll have plenty of leftover for the next day's dinner (and maybe a little bit for yourself for lunch the next day). In order to make this dish, I used the following ingredients:
-1 box no boil lasagana noodles (Oh yeah!! VERY easy to work with)
-1, 16 oz. container of fat free ricotta cheese
-2, medium-sized summer squash, cut into thin, length-wise pieces
-2, medium sized zucchini, cut into thin, length-wise pieces
-1 bag of uncured pepperoni pieces (bought at Whole Foods and can't remember the size of the bag)
-1 1/2 bottles of Rao's marinara sauce
-Garlic powder
-Italian seasoning
-Parmesan cheese
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| Grease a 9 x 13 pan, then put a thin layer of sauce on the bottom. Top that with a layer of noodles that you have smeared a thin layer of ricotta cheese onto. Then put a layer of pepperoni, alternating summer squash and zucchini, and season with garlic powder, Italian- seasoning, and parmesan cheese. After that, put a thin layer of sauce and repeat the pattern.
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| After your last layer, top it with noodles and sauce on top of the noodles. I had a few pieces of zucchini leftover, so I put that on the top. Then season with garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and parmesan cheese. If you would like, you could also put a nice layer of shredded cheddar cheese on the top as well. |
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| Then cover the dish with foil and place it into a 400 F oven for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. You just want to make sure that the noodles are cooked through and the vegetables aren't raw. I like to take the foil off for the last 15 minutes of cooking so that the cheese will get nice and gooey, and form a little crust. The result is absolute perfection! Plus, this dish freezes well. When we first had Alexander, we made this dish and cut it up into individual serving sizes and froze each one. They warmed up very well in the microwave. |
And now....for picture palooza!! On May 9, Alexander turned 2 years old!! (Where has the time gone??) Joseph's parents and grandmother were visiting, and we decided to throw him a little shindig to celebrate this momentous occasion.
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| Alexander's 2nd birthday cake that my sister Kristen got for him. He LOVED seeing Thomas the Tank Engine on his cake. |
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| Alexander giving his little girlfriend from preschool a smooch. These two have been great friends since they were just a few months old. |
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| Alexander sharing toys with his friend as well - he doesn't do this for just any kid. |
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| Party pics! |
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| My Bowen friends smiling for a picture. |
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| Our neighbor Kate and her two children Sanders and Lucy - it's been so nice for Alexander to have such good friends that live so close to home. |
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| Joseph's grandmother and mother chatting with Olga and Becky (our friends from Purdue). |
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| Joseph's father Elias, chatting with my sister Kristen and her boyfriend Pete. |
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| Alexander playing around with a box of Red Stripe beer and a bottle opener - this kid is starting early! |
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| Time to open presents! |
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| Daddy and Tita Kristen helped out. |
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| Thanks NaiNai and Nono for my water table and Lady and the Tramp DVD! And who could forget that red envelope??! :) |
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| A box full of dinosaurs??!! Yes, please! Alexander even exclaimed, "DINOSAUUUUUURRS!" |
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| Playing with his new dinosaurs. |
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| Daddy's helping open a few more presents - what a lucky boy! |
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| Joseph and I got Alexander a balance bike and helmet for his birthday. This was a picture of Alexander trying it out for the first time. |
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| Daddy was helping out, but... |
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| Alexander wanted to be a big boy and do it all by himself. The look that Joseph is flashing is priceless. |
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| Hey mom! Look! I can do it one-handed! :) |
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| Alexander having a slice of his delicious red velvet birthday cake for dessert on his actual birthday. He even blew out the candles by himself! |
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| Time to dig in! |
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| This was a day when the sprinklers went off at the park and the kids had a blast playing in the sprinklers. It was so sweet to witness this childhood innocence. |
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| Look at this kid's swagger! He's so fly and he knows it! He was soaked from head to toe after playing in the sprinklers. |
Fun in the sprinklers!!
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| Alexander waiting patiently for my friend Vena to join us for breakfast in Cambridge. |
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| Alexander hugging Elmo before he and I went to see Sesame Street Live at the Agganis Arena. He had such a blast and is STILL talking about how much fun he had at the show! |
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| Hugging the Count. |
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| Hugging Zoe - he had a lot of love to share that day. |
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| Alexander hanging out with Elmo and a box of popcorn during the intermission of the show. It was so much fun to see him so excited to see the characters. |
Alexander demonstrating that he's a big boy.
Alexander at our farm class, petting the sheep. They
were so sweet and docile.
Alexander singing.
We were cleaning up after dinner, and I caught Alexander
singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" to himself - too sweet!
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| Playing with his favorite outdoor toys - sticks! |
Alexander having his birthday breakfast of pancakes
and chicken sausage at one of our favorite local restaurants - Zaftig's!
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| Alexander, chilling, on our little porch with a nice cool beverage. |
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| Daddy helping Alexander on his big boy bike. |
Playing around on his bike for the first time.
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| Smiling sweetly for the camera on Mother's Day at Larz Anderson Park. |
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| My sweet bouquet of flowers and sticks that Alexander gave me for mother's day! This was the first time he's ever done this - I was heartbroken to leave them at the park. |
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| Alexander running down the hill and enjoying the beautiful weather on Mother's Day. |
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| Alexander holding hands with his friend Lucy at our farm class. |
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| So cute! |
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| Alexander digging for "pond critters" at the farm class. |
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| Splashing around and having a great time with his new water table. |
Water table fun!
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| We took Alexander out to dinner and he insisted on eating ONLY the "crispy noodles" (calamari tentacles). He loved them! So hilarious! |
More bike riding fun!
These were two great months as I was starting to feel better, we celebrated Alexander's birthday, and Joseph wrapped up his Step 2 test for medical school. After this, we went on an absolutely fabulous week-long trip to Orlando, Florida so we could play around Disney World and Sea World. More pictures to come!!
Love and kisses,
Nikki
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