a recipe and then back to bed.

sit ubu sit.  good girl.

hot....sara used to say,"I'm burnin' up hot Momma!"  with a slow southern drawl......but my children rarely sound southern.  since i'm an iowan, californian, texas, georgian......it makes sense.  their dad is a louisiana, up state ny, virginia, both carolinas and a few more, from mississippi to who laid it.......he has no southern sound either.  but their aunt's and uncles on their dad's side all have stronnnnnggggg southern accents.  very strong. 

funny when you think about it.  their dad should sound all in southern, but he sounds vanilla just like me.  when i go home to visit i pick up a slightly different sound, which my children identify as iowan, but what that is i couldn't tell you.  iowans say things like pop....not soda.  here coke refers to any cola drink.  any and all. 

i didn't want to get up. not one bit.....but eventually i get up.  after the short term scary hijinks of the man in neon green on Sunday, (my last journal) i wiped out once again.......slept or rested nonstop pretty much since then with the exception of getting some stuff organized for sam via computer on monday. 

sadly my food runs out and then i have to get back in here and get busy.  i had ground beef with diced onion in pan one, boiling water which cooked up some rotini pasta very nicely.......back two burners held a half dozen boiled eggs and 4 diced red potatoes. 

i plan to make potato salad later.......and depending on my mood put the eggs in the tater salad or make a separate egg salad for sandwiches.  we'll see........needless to say the kitchen got very hot.

this new made up casserole is pretty easy......and tasty.  it is an american mexican pasta dish......

preheat oven to 350 degrees

1 lb ground beef w/1/2 onion or green pepper or both (personal taste depending) sauteed & drained

8 oz. rotini, cook in advance - set it aside

get out a favorite casserole dish.....

1 can tomato paste

1 can water plus 3-4 tb. water

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. garlic powder

(use salt/pepper or in my case no salt seasonings on meat while cooking)

1/2 - 1 pkg taco seasoning.  (i use low sodium and restrict it to 1/2 pkg.)

1/2 c sour cream

1 c. shredded cheese. 1/2 c goes on top, 1/2 c goes in the pasta

mix the tomato paste, water, oregano, garlic powder, taco seasoning with a whisk.  once the meat onion and or bell pepper mixture is drained add the tomato paste w/seasonings and let it mix all together. 

while it simmers for a few minutes on the stove top , go ahead and put the pasta in a bowl, add the 1/2 c sour cream & 1/2 c shredded cheese, mix well & layer in the bottom of the casserole dish.  then pour the saucy meat mixture on top, spread gently on top & cover all the pasta.  sprinkle the remaining 1/2 c of cheese on top......bake in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.  ( i prefer to pull it out when i see the edges bubbling a bit)

I like it even better as leftovers.......still burning up hot.....but the ceiling fan is cooling me down a good bit.

see ya in the funny papers.  i'm sneezing like crazy!  ahhhh spring pollen! 

i'm ready for a nap as soon as the food comes out of the oven.  rest easy........be good to yourself!