...That's not great.

Kid approved meal: turkey lasagna.

I plucked this recipe out of Cooking Light magazine and made a few adjustments to suit our tastes and needs. The biggest adjustment was to make two 8x8 pans (one to eat now, one to freeze), rather than one 9x13 pan. Also, the recipe called for deli turkey breast and I just thought, "GROSS", so I substituted a pound of ground turkey. Frankly, I delighted with the results; I found the lasagna to be less "cheesy" than most lasagna, but still delicious because it was very flavorful. AND, the kids ate it and liked it. Even though it was my first time making lasagna EVER, it still only took 45 minutes to whip the two pans up. I made it the night before it was on our meal plan (it would take too long to make it, bake it and eat it on a school night). It was great to just be able to come home from work, stick it in the oven and just have to make crescent rolls and salad for the sides. Did I mention the kids actually ate it and liked it? BECAUSE THEY DID.

Sounds like a success in my book.

Ingredients
2  tablespoons olive oil
1 chopped red onion  (how thinly diced depends on how you like your onions)
1 chopped green bell pepper
1  (8-ounce) package presliced mushrooms (I did not include these, as I do not like mushrooms!)
1  garlic clove, minced (I used a couple of tablespoons of diced garlic - we buy in bulk)
1  pound ground turkey
1  teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
1  (26-ounce) bottle tomato-basil pasta sauce (such as Bertoli)
1/4  cup  (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1/2  teaspoon  salt
1/4  teaspoon black pepper
2  large eggs, lightly beaten
1  (16-ounce) carton fat-free cottage cheese
Cooking spray
12  cooked lasagna noodles (look for whole wheat to make it healthier)
1  cup  (4 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

 

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°. Cook ground turkey until cooked through. In another large skillet, heat oil in medium-high heat; add onion, bell pepper, mushrooms (if desired), and garlic. Sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Add turkey; cook 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in seasoning and sauce. Reduce heat to medium; simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

At the same time, cook the lasagna noodles according to package directions. Set to cool/dry slightly on clean kitchen towels.

Combine parmesan, salt, black pepper, eggs, and cottage cheese in a medium bowl.

Spread 1/2 cup turkey mixture in the bottom of each of your 8x8 baking dishes coated with cooking spray. With typical lasagna noodles, cut about a third off of two noodles. Use the two noodles you cut AND their 1/3 sections that were removed to create the first layer of lasagna noodles for one 8 x 8 pan (repeat with two more noodles for your second pan). Then top the noodles of each pan with a quarter of a cup of the parmesan mixture and 1 cup turkey mixture. Add a second layer of noodles (perpendicular to the first set) to each pan, and repeat the parmesan and turkey layer. Add one final layer of noodles, and sprinkle with any remaining turkey mixture (you should have a little bit left over. Repeat layers, ending with turkey mixture. Sprinkle each pan with mozzarella. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes and then enjoy. We sure did.

What eight years looks like.

RD and I were married eight years ago today, on September 24, 2000.

I'm not the most sentimental person in terms of anniversaries and the like. And when we got married, I told him the only date (other than my birthday, of course) he'll have to remember in terms of our relationship is the day we were married. To further prove how unsentimental I am, we did not even exchange cards this year (as an aside: I think greeting cards are kind of a scam - I'd rather spend the $4 and buy them a latte). And we don't really do presents, either.

I don't need to read about his feelings in a card; he tells me every day that he loves me. Gifts would be just an overture; he gives me gifts each day by picking up my dry cleaning or hanging up his towel (because I hate seeing it on the floor). In my mind, THAT'S the key to a good marriage. Well, that and the fact that he lets me sleep in on the weekends.

He's fine; I'm a mess.

Bubba continues to enjoy Kindergarten. He is EXHAUSTED, which results in a 7:30pm bedtime on school nights. SCORE FOR US.

I, however, am bit of a mess.

I'm coming out of it now, but the changes in routine, schedule, pick-ups, etc. really threw me for a few weeks. I think it wasn't so much the nuts and bolts stuff, it was not really knowing how Bubba was doing in school.

I know, I know: HE'S IN KINDERGARTEN, HOW TOUGH CAN IT BE?

It's like this: I know Bubba is smart (not gifted smart, but above average) and he likes learning. The "book smarts" part of school - I have no worries that he won't figure that stuff out (with our help, of course). I am more concerned about his behavior in class and with his classmates. He's been at the same daycare since he was 3 months old and since it's smaller, they would always have time to chat for a few minutes to discuss how he was doing. And I knew that they understood him.

In many ways, Bubba is alot like me. He always wants to know what's next, what's our plan. Until now, I thought it was because he was anxious about change (like me), but what this experience has taught me is that he handles change just fine. I think he wants to know what's next because he's always thinking about what he'll be doing and what kind of fun he'll be having.

And fun he is definitely having. He is making friends and can tell us what they are doing during class (although, it takes specific prompting). We finally started having homework last week (which is sort of a joke, because it took us four minutes), consisting of Bubba telling us a story from a book that has no words (the first steps to reading, I guess).

My concerns were completely put at ease when RD ran into Bubba's teacher last week as he was picking Bubba up. She confirmed that he is doing just great, and is always involved in the lesson she is teaching, and is usually one of the first children to have their hand in the air to answer a question. Which, sadly for what this will mean for Bubba's future, sounds alot like me in school.

For the past 3 weeks, I have just been in two modes: school/work and home life. Which means I owe people emails and phone calls, so I better go get on that.

Why God created the Daily Show.

Jon Stewart gets this one right.

This is the first day of the rest of his life.

Bubba's first day of kindergarten was yesterday.

He was ready - socially and academically, FOR SURE. But was I?

I'm not sure if my worrying was based just on my general malaise regarding change, my inexperience in the public school system, or just my generalized worrying.

Now, I want to be clear about this - even though I spent all my years as a student in parochial schools, RD and I made a conscious choice to have our children attend our local public schools. (It doesn't hurt, though, that our local schools have an excellent reputation and excellent test scores [regardless of what your beliefs are in terms of standardized testing - they are a general indication of the health of a school].) I just don't really know how to navigate the system, and I DESPISE not knowing exactly what is going on.

My worrying or not - the day finally arrived - KINDERGARTEN!

While most days he'll be going to a program at the school for before and after school care, for the first day RD and I took him to school at the regular start time - 8:30am. (He was very much bummed to NOT be on the school bus.)

We parked at school and followed the crowd into the gym; where the students lined up according to their class assignment. Bubba's teacher come over to him said hello and gave him a nametag to wear. He sat in the line, along with his jacket, backpack and lunch, until the classes were ready to be dismissed to their classrooms. We were invited to stand near the stage and wave goodbye. I only got a little teared up as he happily waved back and walked behind his teacher.

He did go to his after school program and he must like it because he burst into tears when I came to pick him up early (BEFORE THE SNACK, God forbid). I think he was really excited to be playing with an older friend from the neighborhood. So, I went to pick up Sissy and then came back. By that time, he was prepared to leave, but said he was excited to go back to the program BEFORE school tomorrow. We specifically choose this program because our friends' son loved it so much, so I was glad he seemed to be having such a great time.

Bubba couldn't (or wouldn't!) really give details on his day until I started to ask specific questions, and I can tell you from our conversation that he knows one boy's name in his class, who sits in the same desk area AND also goes to the before and after school program (which, apparently, is VERY important in his mind!). He really liked PE, lunch was in the gym (with some big kids and no adults - although I doubt that!), they had three recesses, and they take a rest after the lunch recess ("We did 5 minutes to today, then 10 tomorrow, the 15 after that - then that's as mush as we'll do each day!"). I would say he's taken to kindergarten quite well (so far, at least).

Also, that he has informed us that he would like to be called his given name from now on (rather than Bubba, although he says, "That's okay some of the time"). He is asserting that it is his "real name".

Do we really have to do this all everyday? It's exhausting. At least they are both in bed (ASLEEP!) by 7:30 pm. Apparently, kindergarten is quite tiring. It is for us parents, too.

Meal planning, 9/1-9/5.

We've left the craziness of August behind us and we're back on track in terms of meal planning. Plus, SCHOOL! STARTS! ON! TUESDAY! Holy crap.

Monday, 9/1. It's not Labor Day without a BBQ. We enjoyed honey BBQ chicken, rice and corn on the cob. 
Tuesday, 9/2. Mexi-night; including black wraps of black beans, rice, cheese and chicken. YUM. Side of strawberries.
Wednesday, 9/3. Macaroni and cheese, broccoli and apples. Since RD works in schools, the first week back is always a bit crazy, leaving me to single parent until things calm down a bit. Single parenting = EASY MEALS.
Thursday, 9/4. Rotini with asparagus. This one is a new family favorite.
Friday, 9/5. PIZZA NIGHT.