Easy Pasta Dinner

One of the perks of married life is having my own kitchen! I have the sweetest little "postage stamp" kitchen, which is big on efficiency if not on space. *wink* With just two of us there's little sense in running the dishwasher (and I like washing dishes anyway), so instead we use it to store our Pyrex. So much handier that having to stack it in a cupboard.

But that's beside the point. Because the point of this post is an easy pasta dinner. This is recipe I came up with while figuring out what to serve at a mystery dinner. It's quite easy, and very flexible!


~ Easy Alfredo Pasta Bake

- 1/2 box pasta (I used the little shells), which is 4 servings
- 1/2 medium-size jar of Alfredo sauce
- 1/4 cup milk
- plenty of Italian seasoning
- dash of pepper
- garlic powder to taste
- 1/4 of a large red onion
- 1 clove of garlic
- Shredded Mozzarella cheese
- Bread crumbs

1. Cook pasta according to directions on box.

2. Meanwhile, combine Alfredo sauce and milk in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add Italian seasoning, pepper, and garlic powder to taste (Alfredo sauce in a jar is shockingly bland!). Stir occasionally.

3. Slice onion into quarter rings. Dice garlic clove. Saute onion and garlic in a skillet with some butter over medium heat, until onions are limp and slightly browned.

4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. As soon as the pasta is done, combine all of your ingredients in a baking dish, mixing them together well. Generously sprinkle the shredded mozzarella and the bread crumbs on the top.

5. Pop it into the oven for 10-20 minutes (or until the top looks slightly browned and the cheese has melted.



Serve with garlic bread...



...and a Caesar Salad.



This served two very hungry adults, with enough left over for Pablo's lunch. If you served it with a meat (grilled chicken would be great!), it should serve 4-6. All of the ingredients are flexible with regard to amount; this is just a "do what feels right" kind of recipe. I love it because you can make it very complex (make your own Alfredo sauce, grow your own onions, make your own pasta!), or very simple (canned Alfredo sauce, etc.).

And it has Pablo's seal of approval, to boot!

Little Bits of Randomness

For lack of anything better to post at the moment (i.e., wedding pictures), I thought I'd share some random images from the past few weeks.

And when I say random, I mean random.



Hot chocolate and a muffin in the wee Southern town we stayed in for our wedding trip.



Vintage loveliness. *sigh*



Pablo chatting with the Frog of Wisdom





Do you think these bananas are ripe yet?



Why do I love ornamental cabbage?



Another favorite: iced fountains. This one was particularly gorgeous!



I told you it was going to be random...

The Etsy Shops are Back!

My Etsy shops enjoyed their little "vacation," but they're now up and running again! Hopefully I'll have some time soon to update them.

~ Austentations

~ Oh Sew Delightful

Also, thank you to all of you who have left such sweet comments over the past few weeks! The wedding went beautifully, and I'm just waiting for our photographer to finish editing the pictures before I post some!

Ah, it's good to be back in blog land!

Bringing in the New Year

This year we joined friends from church in celebrating on New Year's Eve. A couple in our church owns a tree farm out in the "country," and each year they have a delightful bonfire with plenty of Smores and hot dogs.



It's always a treat to skewer some unoffending marshmallow or hot dog, load it up with carcinogens by roasting it over the flames, and then enjoy it in the proper receptacle (either graham crackers or a bun, depending on what you've skewered). Why does something burned over a fire taste so much better than something burned in the oven? *sigh*



We were also treated to a hayride. It was bitterly cold, and the air was thick with fog and mist -- perfect conditions! We bundled up together and soaked in the eerie, mysterious darkness.




We headed home around nine and welcomed the New Year in with sparkling grape juice (a family tradition). Yesterday our family reflected on all that has happened in the past year. How many changes there have been! And as we start the New Year out with even more changes, I look forward to seeing the plans the Lord has for all of us in the year to come.

A Peaceful Christmas

I am grateful for a peaceful Christmas.



For precious time spent with my dear family.



For the delicious aroma of our beautiful live tree (our first in over a decade).




For wonderful memories of these last days at home.





For the food, warmth, and shelter that our Savior did not have at His nativity.



For the joys of the changing seasons -- even though our seasons don't change quite as drastically in this tropical climate!



For thoughtful and generous gifts from loved ones.



For Christmas dinner in all of its delicious splendor.



For humor and love and laughter. And just in case you're wondering about this one, "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" has been our theme song this Christmas...




I am grateful for a peaceful Christmas -- for the peace that only comes through the Savior whose birth we celebrate. But as we celebrate His birth, we must also celebrate His death and resurrection. It was His sacrifice and His triumph over death that gave us hope and peace. And that is truly something to be grateful for!



"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not... He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."

~ John 1:1-5, 10-14 ~