I found this pretty cheesy recipe from Pinterest and gave it a try last night. I've got no real cute anecdote to go with it so onward:

Two Timin' Pasta

Recipe can be found at the original source here or transcribed below.

Ingredients

• 1 Box Penne Pasta
• 1 15-oz jar Alfredo Sauce
• 1 24-oz jar Marinara Sauce
• 2 cups Shredded Mozzarella
• 1 cup Parmesan

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350.

Cook pasta according to directions and drain.

Mix the Alfredo and Marinara sauces together in a large bowl (ok - I did the lazy way and just mixed them in the 9x13 casserole.  Didn't think it was worth dirtying another bowl).  Add the mozzarella and stir to combine.

Add in the penne and toss to coat.

Pour into 9x13 baking dish (unless you're already there like I was) and cook for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly.  Remove from oven, sprinkle with shredded parmesan, and bake for another 5.

Notes

Look at all that cheesy goodness.

So I picked this recipe because the pin on Pinterest said "just like Olive Garden 4 cheese Ziti al Forna!!!!!".  I was skeptical, particularly when I opened the link and saw that it's just mozzarella and parmesan cheeses rather than the 4 used by Olive Garden. And the original post itself doesn't mention Ziti al Forna at all so not sure where that comment came from.

Skepticism aside, I figured either way, why not - particularly when I saw I had ShopRite 3 cheese tomoto sauce and Classico 4 cheese alfredo on hand to boost up the cheesy factor.

Well definitely not like the 4 Cheese Ziti al Forna - but definitely good nonetheless.

The recipe gave Boyfriend and I enough for dinner, seconds at dinnertime for both of us, and leftovers for both to bring to work for lunch.  For those who're better at portion control than either of us are, this could go a long way.

Only criticism I have is with the parmesan on top.  A full cup was too much for my taste.  Next time I would probably just take it out and sprinkle whatever cheese we each want on top after it's been scooped to bowls.

I think I'll definitely be adding this as an alternative for when we're bored of either marinara or alfredo, both together is different and pretty tasty.

Let's Get This Show on the Road

So - I've been contemplating the merits of blogger vs wordpress.  I've been pretty happy with the ease of posting on blogger but I recently realized it's really difficult to connect with anything else.  To add things to reading list, you have to know their actual site name.  If there's a way to just wander around Blogger reading without relying on Googles blog search - which was giving me results from news sites and blogs beyond just Blogger - than I don't know it.

So I'm taking this blog on the road.

Check me out on Wordpress at MakeNomsNotBombs.wordpress.com. (Click there. No seriously do it.) Easy enough - same name as here only .wordpress.com instead of .blogspot.com.

I haven't decided yet which I'm going to use long term.  I was able to import blogger over to wordpress which was pretty awesome.  For the new stuff - I'll probably update both here and there, at least for a little while I get the feel of everything and deciding which is ultimately better for my purposes.

I hope to see you over there (if anyone's even reading this :-P)

Chicken Bruschetta Pasta

This isn't so much a recipe as a item review.

With Boyfriend's wiffleball on Mondays (fall seasons done but he's prolly starting the winter league in January), my dance Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and $1 off Thursdays at the Laundromat, our weekdays are typically pretty crazy.  I try to cook real food rather than rely on fast food or delivery so something that I can make really quickly is pretty appealing to me.  I know I've mentioned the Kraft Fresh Take bread crumbs and cheese before and I've also used Hamburger Helper occasionally.  Well I recently saw the Kraft also has Recipe Makers and the other day, we tried the Chicken Bruschetta Pasta recipe maker.

Picture from Kraft's website

The box has directions on it and they're really simple.  Boil up some pasta to al dente.  Cook chicken in half of the first of two sauces - the "Simmer Sauce".  Add the pasta to the skillet with the remainder of the Simmer Sauce.  Add the Finishing Sauce on top with some parmesan cheese, cook just a few more minutes to heat throughout.  About 20 minutes total.  Easy as pie.

The Simmer sauce was really good - it was a zesty garlic sauce that was really enjoyable on the chicken and pasta (I tried some prior to the Finishing Sauce).  The Finishing Sauce though - the Bruschetta - I didn't enjoy as much.  It was pretty acidic and gave me bad heartburn; that doesn't happen to me often or easily so it's got to be pretty bad to make me feel that way.

I'll probably try other of the Recipe Makers at some point.  As I'm sure I've said earlier, I like low key recipes like this so it's probably worth trying the other varieties. I may even get this one again and just give more of the Finishing Sauce Bruschetta to Boyfriend and keep the simmer sauce for me.

My Sister's Keeper

Jodi Picoult is pretty high up there on the list of my favorite authors.  Despite the popularity of this particular book and that there was a movie based on it, I just finished reading My Sister's Keeper for the first time. Picoult, yet again, does not disappoint.

The Jodi Picoult books I've read all deal with a court case, an ethical dilemma that stretches beyond the lawyers and jury and into the characters. In My Sister's Keeper, Kate has leukemia and her parents, like any parents in that situation, will do anything to keep their daughter alive. Including conceiving younger daughter, Anna, who at 13 is asked to donate a kidney, after already donating stem cells, blood, and bone marrow.  Anna makes a decision to petition for medical emancipation, to give herself the right to make her own decisions about her health when her parents are torn between their two daughters.  Throw in a delinquent older brother, a lawyer with a medical problem, and a guardian who used to date the lawyer for good measure and you've got quite the story.

There's a "WSP reader's club guide" at the back that I was planning on typing about.  After starting several times, I've decided against it.

The questions most ask about how I would act in the situations the family faces and if they made the right decisions.  I can't imagine how I would handle any of this if I was in this situation because it is one of those awful circumstances you just hope will never happen to those you care about.  You don't know how you're respond until you get there.

One of the common themes throughout the book is that there is no right answer.  Do you let the younger sister make a decision for herself and her body even if her answer costs her older sister her life? Do you force the younger sister to donate something for the greater good of her family even if it psychologically harms her? There's no right answer for this family, in this and numerous of the other problems they face.  They make the decisions they think is best and that's really all you can do.

The Hunger Games

I first read The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins just before the first movie came out in 2012.  I started reading The Hunger Games Saturday evening and in less than 24 hours finished the three books.  Afterwards I felt exhausted, hyper, shaky; I felt like a powerful drug was working it's way out of my system.

Last week, I reread the three before the Catching Fire movie came out, which started playing in United States theaters on Friday, November 22.

I could talk at length about these books and the movie adaptations but since it's been a few days since I read them, I don't have anything right in foreground to discuss.

But something about this reread has stuck with me.  Having gone directly from Fifty Shades of Grey to The Hunger Games, I was really struck by the differences between Ana Steele and Katniss Everdeen.  As I'm pretty sure I've mentioned before, one of the most annoying things about Ana is her complete dependence on Christian for well... everything.  Katniss though- Katniss is such a BAMF.  Yeah she's got the two guys who love her but she says *repeatedly* that she can't think about that now.  Katniss has got bigger fish to fry than daydreaming about who to marry and how to make him happy.   When Ana ends things with Christian, she gets severely depressed and stops eating.  Katniss endures through far more traumatic experiences and while she has moments of what I'd consider severe PTSD (and really, who could blame her?), she survives.

I loved Katniss as a character from my first read through but giving the timing of this, her strength was really that must clearer in comparison.

Chicken Tortilla Bake

When wondering around Pinterest and the like, I try really hard to only save things I can in some way replicate.  What good is the picture of someone's dinner if there's no instructions on how to make it myself?

This recipe came from one that fell through the cracks.  The description explains that it's a 5 item recipe using only chicken, tortilla, rotel, cream of chicken soup and cheese.  The link gives me a recipe that doesn't really match the description. Same concept of dinner but loads more ingredients and such.  So here's my attempt just using the 5 items listed and trying to make the best of it.

Chicken Tortilla Bake

Ingredients

4 Tortillas - I used Mission Carb Balance Soft Taco flour tortillas, 8 ct to a package so I used half.

1 Can Rotel Diced Tomatoes and Green Chiles

1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup

2 Cups "Fiesta Blend" cheese - This is a mix of Monterey Jack, Cheddar, Queso Quesadilla, and Asadero cheeses but I'm sure any cheese will work.

1 lb of Chicken

Bonus Ingredient: Few tablespoons of Sour Cream

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350.

Cut the Chicken and Tortillas into bite sized pieces. Layer in a 9 x 13 casserole dish.

Pour the Rotel Tomatoes and Chiles and the Soup into the dish.

Sprinkle cheese on top.

Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Serve with Sour Cream on top (if desired).

Pre-Oven, it didn't last long enough once cooked to have a photo shoot.

Notes

The amount of cheese is approximate.  I had about 1/2 of an open cheese blend in the refrigerator and used the rest of that.  It probably could've used just a bit more.

That's really my only comment, I'm really please with how it came out.

Boyfriend specifically requested this and was pleased with the results so hazzah!

Meatball Biscuit Sandwiches

It's essentially just grands, cheese, and meatballs.  What could possibly go wrong?

Meatball Biscuit Sandwiches

The original post that started this can be found here.  I didn't end up following most of it so not bothering to copy it here.

Ingredients

2 cans Pillsbury golden layers biscuits
10 frozen fully cooked Italian style meatballs - thawed
Mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese 
Italian Seasoning 
Garlic Powder
Marinara Sauce

Directions

Preheat oven to 375.  Take 1 biscuit, add a meatball on top along with some mozzarella cheese.  Put another biscuit on top of the sandwich and seal the sides.  Repeat for remaining meatballs and biscuits.  Arrange in a round cake pan.  Sprinkle the biscuits with some Parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning, and garlic powder.  Bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve with marinara sauce for dipping.

Notes

So. Definitely misread the instructions and not sure how that happened so badly.  The original post talks about 1/2 a meatball to 1/2 of a biscuit (using only 1 can instead of by 2).  Whoops.

I used mozzarella cheese rather than the suggested string cheese because I just can't stand string cheese.  Well after trying to use shredded mozzarella, I can see the appeal in string cheese.  I had trouble keeping my shredded in the biscuit long enough to seal it.  Maybe I'll try getting a block of mozzarella next time so I can just cut off a bit to be more solid than the shredded.  Definitely need to try something because this time did not give as much cheese as I would like.

I don't think I enjoyed the garlic. I love garlic and garlic bread and all that but it wasn't working for me with everything else.  I liked the parm and seasoning though.

We just had the sandwiches, no pasta or such alongside.  I think I had 4 while Boyfriend had 6 and was real full.

Overall pretty good though and worth another try.