This and That

Kaleb and Daddy built a rabbit cage together.  That is where Kaleb's new white Lionhead rabbit, who's name is Sheefu, lives now.  We went swimming on Friday at Big Ridge.  The kids riding Honey Dew...Kaleb pretends he's a cowboy shooting the bad buy.   Honey Dew's new stall, that Kevin built for me...complete w/a hay feeder in the back of the stall. (click on collage to enlarge)

Saturday at Back Bay Refuge in VA

Daddy is enjoying our new umbrella.

I wear my Costco hat everywhere. After this one family near us you can walk for 9 miles and come to the NC border. There are no homes or roads for the whole 9 miles. We have the beaches to ourselves. No radios here, just peace and quiet. The water was warm and clean. Daddy and I hope to go here a lot.

Jekyll Island

We went to Jekyll Island this weekend. We swam in the ocean, played in the pool, went to the Sea Turtle Hospital (very, very fun!!), and rented bicycles and rode about ten miles all over the island. I just cannot even begin to tell you how much fun we had!!

This FIRST picture is right when you drive onto the island.
The SECOND picture is resort where we stayed.
The THIRD picture is the bottom floor of our condo.
The FOURTH picture is us at a place called Driftwood Beach just a short walk up the beach from where we stayed.

Our new home

Untitled from kevin whitley on Vimeo.

Quick and quicker

This is an easy lasagna to make...and very good.
"World's Best Lasagna"
Ingredients
1 pound Italian sausage
3/4 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup minced onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
1/2 cup water ( I did not use water, but rather extra tomato sauce)
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
12 lasagna noodles
16 ounces ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced (used mozz and provolone)
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
1. In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. (I mixed all the tomato things w/all the seasonings together in a seperate bowl before adding to meat) Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
4. To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups (I used more than 1 1/2 cups in the layers) of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.
And this recipe is extremely easy to throw together...and really tasty!
"Chili Dog Casserole"
Ingredients
2 (15 ounce) cans chili with beans
1 (16 ounce) package beef frankfurters
10 (8 inch) flour tortillas
1 (8 ounce) package Cheddar cheese, shredded
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Spread 1 can of chili and beans in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Roll up franks inside tortillas and place in baking dish, seam side down, on top of chili and bean 'bed'. Top with remaining can of chili and beans, and sprinkle with cheese.
3. Cover baking dish with aluminum foil, and bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes. (Enjoy any condiment along w/this dish you normally eat w/hotdogs)

I add the recipes when the left-overs are gobbled up as well.  :)

A fun visit

Lisa and I were freshmen college roommates...back in '96.  Then, I went to Pennsylvania to her wedding in '98.  Now, her and her husband Mike have six children...and they came to visit me and have lunch w/us today!

Frankie

This is Allyson's new pet...a Netherland dwarf bunny.  I had to post all four pictures of Ally because she is such a cutie patootie!  :)

Travis' Birthday

Meat Loaf Wellington

This is Kristin's recipe that she so kindly shared with me. Kristin, I added onions and green peppers to the meat loaf and left out the parsley because I don't really care for parlsey.

I had one piece and Eric ate the entire rest of it. I made some red potatoes with sauteed onions and garlic and butter and also corn on the cob to go with it.

Chicken Strips

This is my own recipe. I cut the chicken breasts into small strips. I got two bowls. In one, break two eggs and add a little goats milk. I guess you can use regular milk, but I think that the goats milk actually gave it a great taste. In the other bowl and I poured in some bread crumbs and added my Santa Maria Seasoning (about 3-4 tbls). I sent all of you a container of this a couple years ago so I don't know if you all still have this. Then get a deep frying pan and add a good layer of olive oil (about 1/4in). Don't turn it up too high because the oil will pop. After a few minutes, baptize the chicken into the egg mixture and then coat it thoroughly with the bread crumb mixture. Put in the pan and cook about five minutes on each side. It depends on how crispy you like it. The reason that I didn't have a lot on the plate when I took the picture is that they were gone and eaten right when I put them on the plate.

Honey Dew likes drinking out of the hose.  Me lunging Honey Dew.