Southern Cooking

I cooked my family's favorite meal for dinner tonight. Fried chicken with homemade mashed potatoes, homemade corn bread and corn on the cob. We, also, had homemade peach cobbler for dessrt. It was wonderful! I am so glad & proud to be a southern cook. I've added pictures of our dinner...

Cheesy Baked Ziti

1/2 pound dried ziti
15 or 16 ounces ricotta cheese (part skim)
3 cups (12 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
3 cups (or 26 ounce jar) spaghetti sauce
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of water to a boil; add the ziti. Cook until tender, about 8 minutes; drain.Place ziti in a large bowl. Mix with ricotta and half of the mozzarella. Grease a 9x13 inch casserole dish. Spread half of the spaghetti sauce on the bottom of the pan. Add the ziti mixture and top with the remaining sauce. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and remaining mozzarella. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes, until the casserole bubbles on the edges.

This is wonderful served with a green salad and bread or rolls on the side.

Strawberry Pie

Crust:

1 cup bisquick or equivalent
1 stick butter, melted
3 Tbls hot water

Mix and press up sides of pie plate. Bake 8 minutes at 450 degrees. Cool.

Filling:

1 cup whole strawberries
2/3 cup water1 cup sugar
4 Tbls cornstarch
1/3 cup water
2 cups sliced berries

Boil whole berries and 2/3 cup water. Mix together sugar and cornstarch and then add 1/3 cup water and then add to the whole berry mixture. Cook until thick and glossy. Cool. Put sliced berries on cooled crust. Pour cooled cooked mixture over. Chill until cold. Serve with whipped cream.

Sick Momma, Healthy Baby

Alright, so it's been almost three months to the day since my last post. Don't ask me why because I don't know. All that I know is that things have been really crazy these past three months. I am four and a half months pregnant and it has been a roller coaster ride trying to stay that way. I have had three miscarriages in the past and so far this pregnancy has been really difficult. When I was pregnant with my son (now five), I was wonderful. It was the best pregnancy! I didn't have any sickness or any of the typical pregnancy ailments at all! It was a wonderful pregnancy. This time it seems that I have every single last ailment listed in the pregnancy books but like I tell my husband...."Sick momma, Healthy baby!" I can and will endure whatever I have to go through so that my baby will be healthy. My doctor has already warned me that I may have to go on bed rest before the end of my pregnancy. That will be tough! I have a 10 year old step-daughter, a five year old son and a husband to take care of and as a stay-at-home mom I'm always doing something! Anyway, I will just continue to pray that everything goes well! I will also do my absolute best to make regular posts to this blog. We'll see! LOL!

I've added a copy of my last ultrasound that was taken about 14 weeks along!

Day 21

This is the book that I'm reading right now.

I'm really enjoying it and I recommend it to

everyone!

Day 20

Chase loves going to Storyland @ City Park!
He's on the ship from Peter Pan!

Day 19

Chase & Lilly-Ann....he is the best big cousin

that any baby could ask for! He loves to help take care of her!

Day 18

Chase & Sadie. They have really bonded.

If you see one, you'll see the other! They've become best friends.

Day 17

My niece, Lilly-Ann. Isn't she beautiful?

Day 16

Chase LOVES spending time in his daddy's garage! He knows that

it's one of the places where he can get really dirty! LOL!