'Tis the season for casseroles! Sharing one of my favorites today, one that takes me back to my momma's dinner table.  Our family of five could clear out an entire dish of this delicious casserole in 20 minutes- no problema.  This is a meatless, super-cheesy twist on her ziti that we all shared so many moons ago.

Reed ready to work- armed with a wooden spoon and toothy smile.  How I love that smile!

The ingredients are simple for this one: alfredo sauce, marinara sauce, rigatoni, ricotta, mozzarella, parmesean, and an italian blend of cheeses.  It's a quick dinner too; I made two batches, took pictures, and baked this in under an hour.  Oh, yeah!

First, fill a pot with water to boil an entire box of pasta.  Heat the water as you prepare the sauce.  As soon as it starts boiling, add the rigatoni and cook according to the instructions on the box.

Over medium heat, add a jar of Alfredo sauce to a large stock pot or sauce pan.

Add an entire jar of marinara.  This is so complicated!

Next, add a cup of mozzarella cheese.

Stir in 1/4 cup of the Italian cheese blend and 1/2 cup of Parmesan.

Putting the little guy to work here as my "stirrer".   He takes his stirring job very seriously. With great cheese comes great responsibility.

Stir, stir, stir!  Add 1/2 cup of creamy ricotta cheese.

Sorry about the "cheesy" jokes!

Ok, ok, I'm finished.  I couldn't help myself.

​Drain the pasta.

Add the pasta to the sauce.  Mix it together really well.

Normally, I would grease a 9x13 pan, pour all of the noodles in, and call it a day.  But Jacob's on his first business trip this week, and I felt bad keeping all of that cheese to myself.  Plus, we currently have in our family right now a very sick person, another person taking care of the sick person, and two pregnant women with toddlers.

Time to share, and this is the perfect recipe!  We split the casserole into two smaller pans.  I chose a 2 quart and an 8x8 pan.  Reedie did the scooping.

Cover the noodles with a cup of mozzarella and 1/2 cup of Parmesan.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.   Simple, easy-cheesy goodness.

One for us, one to share- that's what casseroles are made of.  I just popped this one in the fridge overnight and delivered it the next day.

We cleared out our whole pan in one sitting!  This is everything I want in an easy weeknight dinner.  I know you will love it, too.  

Looking for some other easy, delicious weeknight dinners?  Check these out:

Easy Chicken Quesadillas

Simple Pasta Salad

Melty Cheese and Chicken Wraps 

Ingredients:
-1 pound of rigatoni, cooked
- 1 (15 oz) jar of Alfredo sauce
-1 (24 oz) jar of marinara sauce
-2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
-1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, divided
-1/4 cup Italian cheese blend
-1/2 cup ricotta cheese

Instructions:
1.  Cook pasta.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large stockpot or sauce pan, mix alfredo sauce, marinara, 1 cup of mozzarella, 1/2 cup parmesean, italian cheese blend, and ricotta on medium heat.
3. Stir until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly.  Add cooked pasta and mix well.
4. Grease a 9x13 casserole dish and add pasta.  Cover with remaining cup of mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup parmesean cheese.
5.  Bake for 20 minutes, until cheese is melted and golden brown.

Once upon a time, my husband and I took a dozen or so teens to a youth conference in Knoxville.  The kids sold this apple butter and paid for almost the whole trip- hotel, tickets, and all! It's that good.

Although we don't do the trip to Knoxville anymore, I still make this sweet, warm, and spicy apple butter every year to share with family and friends.  The whole house just fills up with this wonderful spicy apple aroma- better than any candle out there.  And the butter is smooth, thick, and oh-so flavorful.  And yes, you need to share it.  No one likes an apple butter hog.

The ingredients here are simple: apples, sugar, salt, cinnamon, ground allspice, and ground cloves.  The flavors of autumn!

The type of apple you use is really important.  You will need 5 pounds total.  I like to use 3 pounds of Granny Smith, 1 pound of Gala, and 1 pound of Red Delicious.  I find this is the perfect balance of sweet and tart, and using more than one variety of apple gives the butter depth.  Here's another list of good varieties to use in apple butter.

I start off by mixing 3 cups of white sugar in a medium-sized bowl with 2 teaspoons of cinnamon and a quarter teaspoon each of allspice, cloves, and salt.  Sometimes I like to sprinkle this mixture on a piece of buttered toast.  Is that weird?

Because the apple butter cooks for a really long time in the Crock-Pot, I make it as soon as I wake up.  I was just getting ready to start peeling and slicing the apples when TLO woke up and insisted on helping.  Good morning, Reed!  I guess this is a #ReedCooks recipe, now!
A little update on our growing boy: he is getting so big!  Birthday #3 is a little over a month away and he is PUMPED.  Right now he is absolutely obsessed with anything construction.  He's constantly talking about excavators, dump trucks, bulldozers, graders, front-loaders. backhoes, and cranes.  Tracks, hydraulics, exhaust, cabs, booms, arms, and on and on and on and on.  I know way more than I ever thought I would about "mighty machines".  So yeah, picking a theme for the birthday party was no problem!

The most time-consuming piece of the preparation is peeling and slicing the apples.  We bought this handy-dandy apple peeler at our local grocery store for 12 bucks a few years ago.  It does a great job.  Obviously, you don't need an apple peeler to make this butter.  Just peel the apples and slice or dice them pretty thinly.

Be sure to remove any skin and the core of each apple.  You don't want any hard pieces in your smooth apple butter!

Throw the apples into a large crockpot as you slice them.  When you are finished, pour the sugar mixture on top.

Yummmmm.

Mix them together, and try not to eat them right out of the Crock-Pot!  Or let your two-year-old eat them.  I was unsuccessful in that endeavor.  Oh my goodness, they already smell amazing.

After that, your work is done!  Put the lid on the Crock-Pot and let the apples cook on high for 1 hour, then on low for 11-12 hours.  Whisk the butter every few hours or so.  Otherwise, just sit back and let the wonderful spiced-apple smell fill your home.  I can't stop thinking about it!  Seriously, the smell is almost as good as the apple butter.  But only almost.

After 11-12 hours, the apple butter will become very smooth and thick.  I usually take the lid off of the Crock-Pot for the last hour or two to make sure the butter is nice and thick (depending on the types of apples I use).  Scoop the butter into clean canning jars.  I don't can my apple butter- I just ask people to keep it in the refrigerator.  It is good for about a month after opening... if it lasts that long.  It won't!

I like to make the jars look all purty- especially if I am giving them as gifts or selling them for a fundraiser.  I put the lid on the jar, cut colorful squares of fabric, and screw the band on over the fabric.  Sometimes I will tie a gift tag under the band as well.  They dress up nicely!

I don't make our jar look pretty; we just dive in right away!  Warm or cold, this apple butter is wonderful on toast, biscuits, rolls, or just plain-old butter bread before bedtime.

Ah, no-bake cookies!  The perfect go-to weeknight craving-crusher.  The dessert appropriate for any season.  The one treat I can make and say to myself, "Hey, they're healthy because they have oatmeal and peanut butter in them."  I've made this recipe since college, and I eat them for breakfast- without shame- until they are gone.

So last week, one of my students handed me The Nightingale with the assurance that it was "the best book ever."  She didn't lie.  It was incredible in so many ways.  Once I crawled inside the pages,  I didn't come up for air for days.  I was in a book stupor.  I thought about the book constantly, wondering what would happen next in the 400+ pages.  I couldn't sleep, but when I did I dreamed of the characters and their dramatic lives.  Seriously!  Finally, after 3 days of this madness I was an emotional trainwreck and knew I had to get back to reality.   With only 50 pages to go I looked up the ending on CliffsNotes to have some closure (gasp!  I know...), gave the book back to the student with my heartfelt thanks and instructions to (jokingly) NEVER recommend a book to me again, and came home in a fog. 

I know you think I'm a crazy person.  You're probably right.  But this usually happens to me once or twice a year.  I think my last time was with The Girl on the Train.  Has anyone else experienced this?  And now I just keep thinking I need to read the ending for myself.  Sigh.

 Anyway... determined to reconnect with my real life, I decided to make a huge batch of no-bakes with Reed.  Toddlers and chocolate.  It was the only logical solution.

​Yep, that's right.  #ReedCooks is back!  Y'all ready for this?!

Reed was pumped to be back in the kitchen!  This recipe is perfect for weeknight book-induced baking frenzies.  5 minutes of prep, 10 minutes of cooking, a little cleanup, and you'll have fudgy chocolate cookies just in time for a bubble bath before bed.  No books allowed.

Start out by melting a stick of margarine on medium-low heat.  (The "eat healthy" part of my brain ignores this step.)

As the butter melts, add in two cups of granulated sugar and a quarter cup of unsweetened cocoa powder.  
​(Also ignored.  It gets easier the more you do it.)

Add 1/2 cup of milk, 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract, and 1/2 cup of creamy peanut butter.  See, I told ya it was healthy!

Crank the heat up to medium high and stir often until all the ingredients melt together and eventually come to a boil.  It smells so good!  

"Get... out... of that peanut butter jar!!!"  
I love how he thinks he's getting away with something.  Mr. Rebellious, right there.

Stir constantly and let the mixture boil for 2 minutes.

Turn off the heat and pour the chocolate mixture into the oats.  Stir it together quickly.  Lay out some wax paper on the countertop or in a tupperware container.  Spoon the mixture onto the wax paper, moving quickly.  They will firm up fast!

I like to put my cookies in the refrigerator so they get cold quickly, which means I get to eat them quickly.  Other, more practical folks like to let them sit on the counter to dry and firm up at room temperature.  Keep in mind that these no-bakes are quite gooey, so I think eating them cold makes for an extra-fudgy treat.

And that's all there is to it!  So easy and so delicious!  

Now that the cares of The Nightingale are past, I have moved on to Wonder by R. J. Polacio.  It is a delight!  Please feel free to leave any book rec's in the the comments along with thoughts on the recipe!

A few weeks ago, the weather here in Cincinnati got really cold for a couple of days and then shot back up into the upper 80s.  As a result, The Little Outdoorsman caught an awful cold, which he kindly passed on to me.  He was coughing, sneezing, runny nose-ing- just a mess!  The only good part was the clinginess; I always welcome the chance to cuddle with my growing boy.  We tried medicine, doctor visits, Vicks, the vaporizer.  Cha-cha's chicken soup.  The DoTerra diffuser.  Nothing worked!  I guess sometimes you just have to wait it out.

We watched a LOT of Netflix.  I let him outside for short amounts of time to work on his garden and dirt piles.  I tried to get him to eat, but nothing really sounded good to him.  The only "food" I could ever get him to eat 100% of the time was an orange slushie.  So over the course of the cold, we developed this "kick the sick" slushie.  It is loaded with Vitamin C, has a sweet orange flavor, and has an icy base (great for staying hydrated).  Even now that I am finally over the Terrible-Awful Cold of 2017, we still make this slushie to stay cool and healthy. 

The ingredients are pretty simple and can vary based on what's in your fridge.  Our favorite combination was orange juice, crushed pineapple, strawberry yogurt, and ice.  I think it would be great with a banana, blueberries, or even using vanilla yogurt in the place of strawberry.

Now that TLO is feeling better, he wanted to help in the "cooking" process.  Looking through the blog, I've noticed he helps out a lot in the kitchen.  So I've made him his own tab: #ReedCooks.  Check it out to see all of the ways this two-year-old helps in the kitchen.

Jess and Matt came over to visit the other night and I decided to make these for the boys. Matt has a sixth sense when it comes to juice.  It's his love language right now, I'm certain.  So Reed set up his big step-stool and we whipped these right up!

Begin with about two cups of OJ, and add in a big, fat tablespoon of yogurt.

Next, add 2-3 heaping tablespoons of crushed pineapple.

Finally, dump in a big cup of ice.  We ended up using about 3 cups here, but feel free to adjust to the consistency you prefer.

Mix it up, baby!  Yeah, I lost the lid.  Just keeping it real, here!  Towels work just fine, believe it or not.  Lid or no, always supervise little kiddos in the kitchen!

I like to serve these up with a maraschino cherry, or two, or three.  Thanks for cooking, Reed!

​"They are DELICIOUS!"  -TLO

I hope you love these as much as we do!  I am so excited to begin cooking some rich, comfortable, beautiful autumn food soon. Whenever Cincinnati decides fall is here, we will begin!  During the transition, we kick the sick!  Hang in there, Momma (or Dadda)!  This too shall pass- in about 10 days, give or take a day or two.

"Kick the Sick" Orange Slushie

Ingredients:
- 2 cups orange juice
-1/4 cup crushed pineapple
- 1 heaping tablespoon strawberry yogurt
- 2-3 cups ice
​- maraschino cherries (optional)

1. Add the orange juice, pineapple, yogurt, and ice to a blender.  Mix well.  Adjust ice to preference.
2. Garnish with maraschino cherries.
3. That's it!  Now go sit down, watch Netflix, and give your little one (another) head rub.  You're awesome!

Last week, The Little Outdoorsman had spent a little too much time outdoors.  He was tired, cranky, and sniffly. As the muggy temperatures climbed into the lower 90's (again), I resolved to keep him inside and spend the evening making sugar cookies.

My family has been making these sugar cookies for years and years.  My mom passed the recipe to me; I remember she cut the recipe out of a magazine when I was a little girl and pasted it in a red notebook. It is a classic sugar cookie recipe- the cookies are soft, the icing is sweet and fluffy.  They are a dream at Christmastime, but Christmas in July is a thing, right?  

I am watching Sleepless in Seattle as I type this post during nap time...  
"Now that was when people KNEW how to be in love. They knew it! Time, distance... nothing could separate them because they knew. It was right. It was real. It was..." 
What a movie!  It is seriously my favorite movie of all time.  I am basically Meg Ryan's character in real life.  It's scary.

Anyway, I tried to involve Reed in every step of the process.  We collected measuring cups, spoons, mixers, and bowls, set out all of the ingredients, and got to work (see recipe at end of post).

We started out by measuring and mixing together all of the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, and salt.  I'm trying to teach him to flatten out the ingredients when he measures them and count the cups and teaspoons as he pours.  He loves being in charge.  He says, "Lemme do it all by myself, Mommy.  I want to do it all by myself, please!"  So what if by the end of the night there are eggs on the floor and flour on the dog?

Put the dry ingredients aside and cream Crisco, water, and sugar until it is fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time and mix well.

Beautiful!

In a small bowl or measuring cup, stir together 1/2 cup of milk with 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla.

Time to put it all together!  Turn the mixer on the slowest setting possible (to avoid spraying flour all over the kitchen) and add in the dry ingredients and the milk mixture, alternating the two.  Stop the mixer as soon as the ingredients have mixed together to avoid the cookies getting too tough.

Cover the dough and let it chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour.  We ordered a pizza and cleaned the flour off of Oliver's head.  He was not amused.  "I'm sorry, Walter.  Are you bleeding?" He's fine.

After an hour, we floured the counter top and rolled out the dough.  I need to get one of those cloths that you roll dough out on.  For now, a clean counter works just fine.

Then the fun really began!  Most of my cookie cutters are holiday shapes, but I managed to find a star, a heart, and a blue cup to serve as our summer sugar cookie dough cutters. Mr. Independent took over from there.

8-10 minutes later, voila! Beautiful!  

While I was taking my classes at Miami this summer, Reed's Cha-cha (grandma) taught him how to dye icing.  He remembered this, of course, and insisted on dying some of the icing green and blue.  Boys.

TLO was getting pretty tired by decorating time, so I did most of this part by myself before rewarding him with a big, blue cookie.  I left some of the icing white with colorful sprinkles, some with green icing, and some with blue icing.

Hard work pays off!

By bedtime, I had a full belly, a sink full of dishes, and a happy boy.  These are the nights that fill me up.  They are my soul food time!

"H and G!" (Hi and Goodbye!)  I just know you will love these soft cookies. Enjoy!

Cookie Dough Ingredients
- 4 1/2 cups sifted flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter flavored Crisco
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 6 teaspoons of water
-2 cups white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup milk

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.  Set aside.  Cream Crisco, water, and sugar until fluffy in a standing mixer.  Add eggs one at a time and beat well.  In a measuring cup or small bowl, mix milk and vanilla.  With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients, one cup at a time, alternating with milk and vanilla, beating until mixed well.  Wrap and chill for at least one hour.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness on a floured surface.  Cut dough into shapes and bake for 8-10 minutes.  Do not overbake!

Icing Ingredients
- 4 cups confectioner's sugar
- 1 stick margarine
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2-3 Tablespoons of half and half

Mix together confectioner's sugar, margarine, and vanilla.  Add half and half a tablespoon at a time until the icing reaches a creamy consistency.


Allow the cookies to cool before icing.

The weather this first week of May has just been, well, ugh.  Not fun.  Rainy, windy, just cold enough to make me not want to go outside.  What happened to April showers and May flowers?  Not happy.

Perspective.  That's what I needed.  A little perspective.  And food.  I had a bunch of way over-ripe bananas, so I decided to make my favorite banana bread and jazz it up with some walnuts and crumb topping.  Living life on the edge over here!

Now I don't want to take credit for something that is not mine, so right away let me tip my hat to "Banana Banana Bread" by Shelley Albelun on Allrecipes.  If you are looking for a nut-free, comforting banana bread recipe- Shelley's your girl.  However, like I said, I like to live dangerously, so I added walnuts and a crumb topping to her recipe.  Giving the weather a one-two-punch, if you know what I'm saying.

I compiled all of my ingredients here- your standard banana nut bread ingredients.  You want to make sure you have super-ripe bananas.  Speaking of perspective, here's what is hiding just outside of this picture (blocking all my light)...

Reed crooning the ABC song on a ninja turtle ukulele in his underwear.  Priceless!  He will be grumpy about me sharing this picture someday, I'm sure.  Don't care!

I began by asking Reed to mash up several bananas.  I had 4 pretty big bananas, so use 5-6 if you only have smaller bananas.  And if you are cooking with a toddler, you may want to add an extra one just in case he/she gets a little hungry...

Then, mix together the dry ingredients: 2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 1/4 teaspoon of salt.

In a separate bowl or mixer, combine 3/4 cup of brown sugar and a stick of butter.  Beat this pretty well.

Next, add 2 beaten eggs and the mashed bananas to the brown sugar-butter mixture.  Mix until blended.

When you're ready, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and pour in the nuts as well, should you choose to use them.  Stir this until just moistened.

The joy of cooking!  Yes, I know it has raw egg in it.  It was just a little bit, and I was going to lick the spoon if he didn't.  Future Rocky Balboa?  Didn't that guy eat raw eggs?  Reed has the boxer shorts going on, anyway.

Spray a 9 by 5 loaf pan with cooking spray and spread the mixture evenly in the pan.

Now, let's talk about this crumb topping!  This  topping is sweet, buttery, and really takes this bread to the next level.  Plus, it's really simple.

With a fork or a food processor, combine 1/2 cup of brown sugar with 2 heaping tablespoons of flour, 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of cold butter, and a sprinkle of cinnamon.  Pulse or cut in the butter until it is evenly mixed.

Sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over the batter in the loaf pan.  It's ready for the oven!  ​The bread will need to cook at 350 degrees for about an hour, or until you can poke it with a toothpick and it comes out clean.

Let the bread cool in the loaf pan for a little before you get it out.  I like to spread some butter on mine and serve it warm or at room temperature.

We really enjoyed having this banana nut bread during our first chilly week of May.  We ate it for breakfast for a few days and it was satisfying and delicious until it was gone.  I hope you love it as much as we did!

Banana Nut Bread with Crumb Topping
Find base recipe: "Banana Banana Bread"

Ingredients
- 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons of flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
-1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter
- 3/4 plus 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 1/3 cups mashed bananas
​- Dash of cinnamon
- 1/2 cup to 1 cup of chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9 x 5 loaf pan with cooking spray.

Mash the bananas well.  Mix together first three ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.
In a mixer with the paddle attachment, combine 1/2 cup of softened butter with 3/4 cup of brown sugar.  Add 2 eggs and mashed bananas and mix well.  Pour into dry ingredients and add walnuts.  Mix until just combined and pour into prepared loaf pan.

In a food processor or small bowl, combine remaining 1/2 cup of brown sugar, dash of cinnamon, 2 tablespoons of flour, and 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of cold butter.  Pulse or cut in with fork until combined.  Sprinkle evenly on top of batter in loaf pan.

Bake for about 60 minutes, or until inserted toothpick comes out dry.