Ever wake up and say “What am I going to do today”? Most of us don’t. We go to bed at night with a full idea of the events of tomorrow. This is because most of us have a commitment to arriving daily at our place of work to perform duties for pay. This is the basic concept of “Earning your way to prosperity, or Gotta get paid to buy this, mindset”.
We sometimes have to make detours in our daily schedule, but let’s face it, are they well planned outings, An entire day of fun things to do, A trip to somewhere exotic? No! These activities are reserved for our days off, be it weekends, monthly, or a yearly vacation. Our daily “what are we going to do today idea ” doesn’t even exist in most peoples mind.
I have had 4 very near brushes with the evil darkness of cancer. I am going to be 60 in about 3 months and am retired due to health reasons. I have survived ovarian cancer, I just passed the one year survival of lung cancer, and a brain tumor. Unfortunately, the evil doer “cancer” seems to take great pride in coming to see me and see if I want him to visit again. I will undergo my 2nd brain tumor removal in 4 days! I am not a martyr, but I do believe in fighting for what you believe in, and never say “never”!
Through all my trials and tribulations, I have learned to savor small things and be happy as you can be, every day, not just when you get time off, or run into a mother-load of extra money. I hesitate to devulge to the public that “I am a list maker”! Some people scoff and say you are weird, or strange, or too controlled, or other nasty little titles, but my mind-set is; If I make a list of all possible “things to do today”, I don’t have to sit down, think hard, figure out the steps to do those things after I wake up and want something to do. I can clearly see the things that must wait a day or two or can be done right now. We are NOT all created equal when it comes to what fires our passion, trips our triggers, brings a smile to our faces. I am an avid cook, devoted mother, grandmother, wife, and friend. My best friend, on the other hand, has an attitude that “I haved raised my children, now it is my time. She cooks, but only to eat. So you see, if you send me a new recipe to try, I light up with joy, because I can take it and make it my own by changing just 1 of the ingredients or perhaps the method of cooking it. Nothing makes me feel more prideful than another person sampling some of my foods and really enjoying them.
Anyway, enough rambling on today. Let’s get on with looking at a couple of new ideas I ran into. (Of course it’s food) You can find more ideas here too http://wwww.quickandeasycooking.com
SPAGHETTI CASSEROLE (Yield 2 Casseroles-Freeze one)
INGREDIENTS
1 (16 oz) Package angel hair pasta
1-1/2 Pounds ground beef
1 ( 26 oz) Jar spaghetti sauce
2 ( 8 oz) Cans tomato sauce
1 (10-3/4 oz) Can cream of mushroom soup
1 (8 oz) Container sour cream
2 (8 oz) Cups Colby-Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
DIRECTIONS
1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. While pasta is cooking, brown beef in a large skillet, drain
3. Stir in spaghetti sauce and tomato sauce. Remove from heat.
4. Drain pasta.
5. Combine soup and sour cream.
6. In (2) two 8 inch square baking dishes, layer half of the meat sauce, pasta, soup mixture and cheese.
7. Repeat layers.
8. Cover and freeze one casserole for up to 3 months.
9. Cover and bake the remaining casserole at 350 degrees for 55-65 minutes or until cheese is melted.
***To use frozen casserole: Thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Remove from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking. Bake as usual.
See ya!
JanetK
