Baked Ziti for Sunday... and another day.

I have been so so so busy... both of my parents are having surgery within these two weeks, my high school reunion was this weekend, two communions, birthday parties, two crazy kids... you know the drill. So I wanted to make something that would have leftovers.

Baked Ziti to the rescue!

My sauce came out yummy today so I am going to record the recipe. Let's call it,

Marinara Sauce

One red onion, chopped
One yellow pepper, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 carrot pealed and chopped fine (I actually use my peeler to make thin strips and then chop those)
1 can of crushed tomatoes
4 cans of petite diced tomatoes
Kosher salt, sugar, oregano, parsley, basil, pepper... to taste
One bay leaf
2 table spoons of olive oil

Heat olive oil in a pot.

Saute chopped veggies until tender. Add some salt and some sugar.

Add crushed tomatoes and two cans of the diced.

Puree with a hand blender.

Add the last two cans of tomatoes. Add spices to taste, including some more salt and sugar.

Simmer for a few hours. I put some in a tupperware for another night, and used the rest for...

Baked Ziti

One pint of part skim ricotta, seasoned
One hunk of Mozzarella cheese, sliced thin
1 1/2 boxes of ziti
about half of the sauce above

For Ricotta-
One egg
a tablespoon of garlic powder
a tablespoon of onion powder
a pinch of salt

Mix all those things together and then add the cheese, stir and set aside till ready to use.

Ladle some sauce into a large lasagna pan to coat the bottom. Boil salted water and prepare pasta according to directions. Put drained pasta into the pan and pour a few cups of sauce on top, stir to coat, add ricotta and fold into pasta mixture, adding more sauce if needed. Lay the slices of Mozzarella cheese on top and bake at 350 until bubbly and hot.

Mommy, you're the best cooker ever!

Shh, don't tell him. He thinks I am just the greatest and that a lunch like this is magic. You should see his face when we stir the tiny bit of cinnamon sugar into his all natural apple sauce. I need to work on getting green and using less packaging, don't I?

Contents of this oh so special lunch-

2 turkey hot dogs from trader joes
1 all natural apple sauce with about 1/2 t cinnamon sugar mixed in.
1/2 C almonds with sea salt
1 danimals drinkable yogurt
1 bowl of ketchup


Since I didn't go food shopping in the monsoon yesterday, we are a bit short on fresh food. For dinner I am going to use what was left of that meat sauce I made with Philly Cream Cheese, to that I added a can of petite diced tomatoes and a half pint of Ricotta I had left in the fridge. I just needed to stretch it a little and it was a bit too meaty for the kids, who ate well but left a pile of meat on their plates after. So I made some whole grain penne (The yellow box with the added protein), tossed it with the sauce in a 9 by 13 pan and topped with shredded mozzarella. I think I may have to make those pop overs again to go with it. I am addicted!