The Mothership

So, I haven’t made this in years. Because the last time I made it...it was so detestable, that my husband who will eat almost anything, couldn’t even finish it. It was so bitter. Bleh! So, we were talking with our friends April & Marques and they mentioned that their favorite dish to eat as a family is Eggplant Parmesan. So I asked for the recipe and I added a little to it. I also figured out how to get rid of the bitter taste. This recipe made enough for a 9x13 and an 8x8 freezer meal too. I do all I can to make less work for myself during the busy school year and a lot of times I’ll just make double of the dinner and make a freezer meal out of the extra. Also, I had two HUGE eggplants to use. INGREDIENTS: 2 LARGE eggplants Salt 4 eggs, beaten 3 cups of Panko bread crumbs 1 Italian Dressing seasoning packet 2 jars of red pasta sauce - your favorite 4-5 medium tomatoes, chopped 4 cups of mozzarella fresh, torn basil, about a cup copped red onion (optional) ...

My kids eat pretty well at home - I mean if the stars align, there is a possibility that everyone will remain in their chairs and that gravity won't work against them, finding their bottoms on the floor once again. Or the reminders to "Take another bite" will be minuscule...but all in all, they eat and they sit at the table and they come back to do this about 5 times a day. So naturally I think "I just don't feel like cleaning up another mess today," or "I'm tired of packing 4 lunches...let's go out" But eating out with these fine humans is a whole other ballgame...a game I enter with prayers that THIS time we enter into this restaurant will end differently than the time before... and ALMOST every single time I am reminded that I was wrong. I am fully reminded of why we don't take our three out to eat unless the whole dining experience can take less than 45 minutes from sitting to standing. It's like dipping your toe in i...

I really do like spaghetti squash...I do.  But the texture to just eat it plain is hard for me.  So I keep playing with a casserole type of variation with it every so often.  I am trying to only buy grass fed beef - so I buy it as long as the budget allows.  We don't eat a ton of red meat, but when we do we think it is important to be grass fed. I usually prepare my squash before I need it to cook and just set my oven with an automatic start time because...LIFE! Squash it up! Ingredients: spaghetti squash, halved and un-seeded olive oil salt & garlic powder 1 lb of ground beef 1 zuchinni, chopped into bite size 1 yellow pepper, chopped 1/2 an onion, chopped cumin 1 bar of monteray jack cheese, shredded dried oregano cherry tomatoes, halved spinach Recipe! Baste your halved squash with olive oil and sprinkle eat half with salt and garlic powder. Place face down on a greased cookie sheet. Cook squash in your oven for about 1 hour and 15 min...