Update/Correction/Clarificiation
(for recipe below...)

Here's a few things that I forgot to add to my lasagna (not used to posting recipes so please forgive me... =)

The sauce cook time is part of a larger part of the recipe where my great grandma adds meatballs and cooks for another HOUR, so anyone thinking, "15 minute sauce?" was right to question... I also forgot to say that I COMBINED 1/2lb. of the turkey and all of the sausage into the sauce so I ended up not sprinkling the meat separately from the sauce in the lasagna...

Oh, and my mom found a cool site that gives equivalencies for old can #'s to our today's can ounces... HERE so a 2.5 can is 27-29oz. or 3.5 cups...

And just so this isn't such a lame post... Here's a short clip of why Sarah is SO Todd's and my daughter...

Non-intentional Hiatus - meets - Collage Catch-up
(in no particular order)

This past Saturday morning, some of the girls from my MOPS group table surprised me with a baby shower at what I thought was just a girls' brunch outing at a cute little Tea House... Beautiful, colorful, fragrant roses (Christy was so cleaver and picked that preference up from my "47 Things" note on FB!), a gift card to Target, and a scrumptious brunch of English B'fast Decaf and Lemon scones... Fun conversation and much talk about babies, families etc. Thanks gals!
Also pictured: Sarah's penchant for using her toes like her Mama, a random duck nesting outside of the tea house, Sarah sporting a cute birthday outfit from Aunt Heather...

A couple of weekends ago, we went down to the Seattle Children's Museum to catch the Minniapolis travelling exhibit of Curious George... Sarah LOVED it... If only she didn't need her naps so badly, we could have stayed longer...

Baking with Sarah is one of my favorite activities... She's a very "hands-on" girl and loves tasting EVERYTHING, touching everything - especially cracking the eggs, and really enjoys helping to eat the end product! (As does her Daddy...) I hope this pattern continues and we'll eventually get into cooking...
Also pictured: Sarah in her Chinese dress that Jos brought back for her... Thanks again!

I've been in major craft project mode... and driving Todd crazy (Why do you need to do something more?) =) He's so great at humoring me...

Finishing up Sarah's room (highlighting her name on the wall, personalizing her lamp shade, finishing up the hanging flower balls - so THERE Pottery Barn - not giving you my $ on these! Button wreaths from a former roommate from 6 or 7 years ago... Thanks Elizabeth! Little did you know at the time they'd be cute additions to her room!)

Hmmm... What else?

• Still trying to read through the beginning of Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood - a response to Evangelical Feminism
• Organizing/revisiting all the baby clothes to figure out what we need - Seems like we have WAY too much pink/roses/"cutsie" things... I'm thinking - not pink, some fun funky things will be on the wish list...
• LOVE the fun M'udder Wear Nursing Cover . and pillowcase dress for Sarah from Amber B... If you are expecting, or have little girls, check out her Etsy shop!
• Still need to use our new carpet cleaner... A MUST at our house between lil' messy eater/potty training girl & our resident cat-who-pukes-on-a-regular-basis...
• I've handed over the church secretary role to wonderful Kay... so now I'm always thinking I have something to do, and then realize with a sigh...that no, I don't! =)
• Like everyone else, I wish spring would show up soon and perhaps give us some unexpected days of sunshine... If only I could dig in the dirt more easily... I have blueberry bushes to plant! I'm afraid that there will be few garden pictures this season since I haven't/won't be gardening as much in the next few months...or blogging for that matter...
  

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OH - and, by request (sorry it's taken me so long Heather C.), here's the super yummy lasagna combo that I made last weekend for some old friends stopping by and some new friends just up the street... I don't like touting my cooking, but this one did come out great... And who can beat cooking/entertaining for nine AND having enough afterward for a freezer meal?

Great-Grandma Mayme Morici's Prize Winning Sauce
(as featured in the Chicago Times, 1955)

1/4 c. olive oil
2 cloves chopped (I put in 4)
1 small onion chopped
1 6oz. can tomato paste
2 cans (#2.5 - which must be a type of can used back then, but can't be found today) peeled Italian (Roma/Plum) tomatoes drained ** I used the Italian Seasoned Crushed Tomatoes - the big cans
1 c. water
2 T. parsley chopped
6 leaves basil chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste

Heat oil in 6 qt. pan. Fry garlic & onion until brown. Add tomato paste and continue cooking garlic and onion until soft. Press tomatoes through sieve (read: "open crushed tomatoes and pour in" - we have it SO easy today...) Add parsley & basil. Let simmer for 15 min. Seasoon to taste....

Homemade sauce really does make a big difference...

I used 1lb. of each ground turkey and sweet Italian sausage browned and ground in food processor (for a smooth texture), Ricotta cheese dolops, Plenty of whole-milk mozerella, chopped frozen spinach thawed(with water thoroughly squeezed out), cottage cheese, parmesean, and of course, lasagna noodles...

Combine:
First, a little sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 pan so the noodles don't stick(I also got a 9x9 lasagna pan filled with the extra ingredients), noodles - I overlap them a bit, meats sprinkled, sauce, mozerella/parmesean/cottage cheeses spotted over mixture, spinach... Repeat. Inevitabally I overfill my pans, but it doesn't matter if you make sure to line your oven with something to catch possible/probable overflow...

Cook at 350 for 1 hour or until bubbly... Let sit 5ish minutes before cutting into it...

Why this one was especially good this time I *think*... Great depth of flavors with sauce, just the right amount of moisture/creaminess/firmness...

Complements all around and GREAT leftovers... Oh, and the garlic bread (which you probably already do) is the bread buttered, put under broiler to brown, and then scraped with a clove of garlic... Much more authentic/better than garlic salt or other methods I've seen/tried... Our new friends brought a Caesar Salad and of course there was a fabulous Cab-Sav that we had... Can't wait until my conscience can let me have more than a few sips! No pictures because of awesome conversations and kid patrol going on.... =)

So... What do YOU all put in your lasagnas to make them yours? It's always so fun to know different people's traditions/versions...

Right now I'm following a book study that a guy in our church is doing on Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood Available at Amazon or for free HERE), and I'm thinking of suggesting that our women's morning Bible study consider it for our next book. With that said, those involved in/are thinking that they might want to be involved in this study, please take this as an opportunity to familiarize yourself with a bit of the book's content. To others who are not part of that study/are just reading this, take it as a challenge to consider your viewpoint and actual day to day behavior on this subject.

One of the main topics addressed at the beginning of the book seems to be that of the Scriptural support for believers being either egalitarian or complementarian in their understanding of how men and women are to relate to each other in marriage and in the church. I didn't know the details of either viewpoint and both, by name, seemed "okay" as biblical view points. After all, I do believe that God created men and women equal before him - we each are created in His image. I also believe that, in the ideal circumstances where we are each walking in obedience, women and men complement each other in how they are wired. I knew, though, that these simplistic first impressions were probably, just that, "simplistic." So I went ahead and read through THIS paper which fleshes out the evidences, objections/and responses to those objections for those, like me, who didn't know. Very interesting. A somewhat longer, "academic" read (I looked up a couple of terms), but DON'T be daunted! If you are a believer, it is well worth reading through (on the longer side, but I saved it for a time where I could really think and be without distractions - again, I'm challenging my sisters in Christ to rise to the challenge rather than think, "Oh, I'm not that brainy/into the deeper stuff, I can just go to a study and have people tell me what to think.") because it does affect how we treat/view our spouses and how we view our own role/other's roles in the church body.

Questions that I'm asking myself after reading just the paper on defining egalitarnian and complementarian viewpoints (Oh, and by the way, I've determined, thus far, that I count myself as a complementarian, though I am finding myself behaving more like an egalitarian in some areas of my marriage).

1a. If I believe that I am created in God's image and to be a helper (as defined by a complementarian) to my husband, how does that affect how I make decisions in my daily life?

1b. Do I rationalize sin (selfishness, greed/spending $, laziness, not holding my tongue, gossip) because I think, "Oh, I'm just a stronger personality than my husband, that's just how God made me. God made him more patient and self-controlled by nature so he's naturally good at that,"?

2. How often does the more evangelical feminist tendencies (not to mention the overwhelming feminist viewpoints of our world) affect how I view myself and my behavior in my marriage?

3. How do I submit to my husband in our marriage? Is this truly a joy or do I view it as drudgery/that I've "lost" in a competition?

4. Do I seek out the wisdom of my husband (in bigger and smaller things -not just waiting for the "biggies" to come along that involve spending a lot of money), or do I automatically think, "Oh, I know how to deal with this," not giving him the chance to guide me as the leader of our family? (Obviously not all decisions can/should be discussed and I do have a decent idea of what I do know how to handle - don't read this as I need to ask him which cereal to buy.)

5. How often do I pray for my husband in his career, his position in our family, his role in our church body, etc.?

6. How do I honor him in our marriage - recognizing him and appreciating him for who God created him to be and not taking advantage of how he loves me (ie. giving him "guys' nights" and opportunities to go have fun/relax as much as he is willing to serve and give them to me - again, not thinking that I "need" them more because I'm wired the way I am)?

Okay, I could go on, and we'll have to see how much more I am able to process. This book study could stretch on longer than I am able to keep up with it (with baby coming etc.), so I might not be able to follow through with it all, but it's fun to get the brain cells juiced and allow God to instruct/convict me...

Thoughts?

Happy 34th Birthday Babe!
I wouldn't want to walk through this life with anyone but you by my side...

Our Princess is now 3! CRAZY...
A photo record of Sarah and my activities the past weeks...

Transforming our guest room...

into her new room - no more nursery for Sarah!

Painting, searching/finding great furniture/decorations at great prices (Thank you Lord for providing!)

Planning/making the requested "snake cake" (What a kid! I love it!) for her zoo themed birthday party.

Celebrating with friends... Thanks again to all of you!

Pin the tail on the giraffee.

My mom came over (Dad was nursing their ailing cat) to celebrate with us... She's so great at creatively connecting/involving Sarah in fun projects - this one is making pudding with an old fashioned egg beater.

This is another time when they made chocolate pudding cookies (consistency of dough is like Play Doh) - Perfect for kids and yummy little cookies. Todd is thrilled that Sarah loves chocolate and cookies/cake as much as he does AND grateful that "Nana" supports this habit!

All in all a fabulous, if jam packed, last week or so... Still a list of things to do, but none with a definite deadline other than April 20th... Smile...