Baked Ziti

Cooking should be pleasurable, not a chore. Here is one of hopefully many more ideas for cooking a great and easy meal which you can enjoy with family and friends. Leave your money in your wallet for better things like tuition.

So I'd love to say I'm a great cook...but that would be a lie. I do love to cook however. I love to put things together and see if they work. Most of all I love cooking for others and see them enjoy it. That's my favorite part.

I've really gotten into it for the past few months. One of my close friends says I'm going through a "phase" because it started out of nowhere. (Plus she's a good cook, and probably thinks I can't learn anything because I haven't been cooking since I was little...as she has)

Even since I starting dating my boyfriend (about 1 year and 3 months) I've had the opportunity to taste different kinds of foods. Maybe not that different from my own home cooking--but a different way of putting things together, and slightly different ingredients.

Ever since I had lunch at his step-mothers place about a month ago I starting loving baked ziti. I'm sure she's using some recipe that's been passed down in her family (being Italian and all).

I on the other hand, don't have time for recipes. They require going to the store to get ingredients you've maybe never heard of--plus gas is really expensive now-a-days.

I just put together whatever I had in the house, and to my amazement it came out great! I'm sure I used the wrong kind of cheese...not enough or too much, but that didn't matter.

For some reason I have a problem with eyeballing how much pasta is really going to be on the plate after it's boiled. So when I first made baked ziti I used an entire box. Putting it in a pan I realized that that's a huge amount of pasta. Adding an entire jar of sauce and a bag of mozzarella cheese, it was so heavy.
I thought we were going to have left-overs for 3 days--but guess what?

Me and my boyfriend loved it! We ate the entire fricken pan of ziti. What was wrong with us? It was 9 p.m. --- so much for my diet.

I advise anyone to try and make this. All of you college students out there who are tired of campus food, or if you live off-campus, if you hate take-out and ramen noodles---please try and cook. It's really not that hard. It's JUST food. It can't really come out wrong. If you don't like the taste, add something else. Just keep an eye on the oven or the stove (don't get lost in those video games) and you'll be just fine. Take-out, frozen pizza and Subway sandwiches are very expensive. You think its worth $5 but at the end of the month it really adds up.

So get your lazy butts off the couch, put that controller down, turn off the tv, get to ShopRite (not Acme, too expensive) and get a couple boxes of pasta, a jar or two of pasta, and some cheese, and you're all set. Cook with your family, or roommates, and you'll have a night to remember---even if it's just a Wednesday night.

Julie & Julia

A short review of the movie Julie & Julia as well as my thoughts and opinions based on it.

Julie & Julia is a cute little 2009 comedy/drama film . It shows the lives of two different women who are both saved by food. Julie is a young woman working for the government in New York City, answering phones all day and dealing with rude individuals. Julia however, is the beloved Julia Child who helped write Mastering the Art of French Cooking after her stay in France with her husband.

In New York, Julie wants basically...a hobby. She wants to do something that she enjoys day to day. Cooking maker her feel good about herself. She gives herself 1 year to cook every single recipe from Julia Child's book. With much agony and a messy kitchen--and not to forget the lack of intimacy with her husband--she manages to stick to her new project.

The other side of the story shows the early life of Julia Child. She tries to take up many different sort of classes to fill her days while her husband works. In the end, she comes to the conclusion that she loves to eat--thus takes cooking lessons. With some practice she becomes very good at it--she treats it like a science. Julia and her two other friends manage to publish their book after countless years of revisions.

Julia starts a blog, and gains many trusted fans. The New York Times finds her popularity a breath of fresh air and they write and article about her. With this door opened she receives book deals and also a movie deal.

This quaint story about 2 true stories makes for a cute and emotional movie which takes you from New York to Paris--and from meaningless lives to hope and happiness.

Spring Semester 2010

My anticipation on the upcoming semester. I'm sure you will hear more about my classes and professors, as well as complains about homework and meaningless projects.

A new beginning starts tomorrow.

I'm not ready. I don't think I'll ever be. I don't have all my books--I don't have an Independent Study book picked out--at least my hair is washed. Girls--always wash your hair. Even if you are having a bad day, and you have sudden breakouts, or you nails are chipped. If your hair feels flowy and clean--you will feel better about yourself.

I really pray to God that this semester will be okay. The last one was pretty bad--the one before was horrible. The summer--lets just not start that today. At least my boyfriend is in my toughest class this semester. I hope that's a good thing.

I hope my adviser emails me back. I hope she can help me with the Independent Study. I hope my children's lit class wont be a pain. I'm a Physics major for crying out loud! The b.s. class is supposed to be easy. I have 3 other classes that are do or die, and I don't need this one to take all of my time.

For those other college students out there that are going through the same thing--send me some hope please. Word of advise (I should listen to it too) don't stress. It's good to try and do your best--but when that ruins your health and peace of mind--it's not worth it. We'll all graduate sooner or later, and get some kind of job in which we will eventually advance and live comfortably.

Just don't regret this part of your life. Don't forget to live.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog.

I know this might sound very silly, but I just finished watching a movie called Julie & Julia and it inspired me to start my own little blog. After a little over 2 hours of forcing my boyfriend to watch it with me I fell in love with it. I love cooking, and he loves writing...so I don't think he hated it.

I'm going to try write blogs often. I'm not sure what they will be about...but that's for another night.