Mix things up a bit

So I'm going to try and occasionally post recipes for new things that I've tried making, and maybe it will get me to post more often.

I'll start with stuffed pasta shells. It all started with food network, then looked at a few different recipes online. Then a trip to the grocery store. The only problem was I didn't write down the ingredients. So I bought what I remembered it ended up being a combination of a few different recipes, but it turned out good.

Stuffed Pasta Shells

1/2 box jumbo pasta shells or manicotti
1 pint ricotta
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 Romano cheese
1/2 asiago cheese
(if you can't tell this is very healthy)
2 eggs
parsley, salt, and pepper to taste
1 or 2 jars of pasta sauce.....I used alfredo, because Brice likes it better than tomato sauce

Boil Pasta

Combine all the cheese, eggs, salt, pepper, and parsley in a bowl and mix will. Spoon the mixture into a ziplock bag. Once paste it cooked, drain. Coat the bottom of a 9x13 dish with sauce. Place the shells in the dish. Cut the corner off the bag with the filling and start filling the shells. Cover the filled shells with your sauce of choice then bake for about 30 minutes at 350F. Be sure the paste is covered well with sauce (hence the extra jar or you will get crispy pasta, the extra sauce is also good for reheating the left overs)

I think the manicotti may be easier to work with and I will probably use it next time.

I've been told I'm supposed to update more than once ever 4 months

Life in Albuequerque hasn't been too eventful. We have made a few upgrades to the house. And I have been busy tearing up the backyard when the weather is nice. The backyard still has a long way to go, but hopefully come spring I will make good progress. I have taken out all the virginia creeper, some of the sunflower hybrid shurbs, some of the over grown honeysuckle and english ivey, a couple of native plants that I am allergic to I took out a flowerbed. It will be nice once we are able to have a little grass.

I'm playing on a volleyball team. We were 0-10 for the winter season and the spring season starts this week, so we are hoping that we can at least win 1 or 2 games this season. I'm also playing on an indoor soccer team. We are about half way through the season and my team is in second. I usually play the first half in goal and the second half on the field.

Crappy people in the neighborhood

I hate this house, that is a few blocks away from us. We drive by it on the way to work every morning. The blinds in their front window are trashed and they have a couch and love seat stacked in their front yard.....they where there for about two months. I was about to call Big Brothers Big Sisters and tell them that I had a "donation" to make and give them the address of this house. I had some stuff that I donated right after we moved to the house and they only requested that the items be outside and easily seen from the street......I thought my plan was going to be great.....but after returning from the holidays the couches were gone. Next time they have junk sitting out I'm going to call after a week :-)

Upgrades

House ....before and upgrades

Albuquerque

We arrived in Albuquerque on Sunday evening after spending the weekend in Amarillo. We are living in a furnished apartment. The apartment is actually really nice and big too. We are also by the pool. After living in Duncan, we were both a little worried about getting around in a big city, but Albuquerque is really easy to get around. The apartment we are in is about 20 minutes from work, and the house we have a contract on is probably only 10 minutes.

We have been pretty frustrated with the seller of the house we have a contract on. He initially didn't like our August 16th close date (wanted to move it up), but we had to wait until we had a couple of pay checks from SNL before the lenders would let us close. We found a lender with great rates and only needed one check so we wanted to move the closing up, but he keeps postponing the home inspection and appraisal.

I am loving the weather here. No humidity is amazing and makes it a lot more tolerable to be outside. Not to mention the fact that I still haven't seen a single mosquito. In the evenings it cools down quite a bit. We ate dinnter last night on the patio at a resturant and this morning I went for a 4 mile walk on some trails near the apartment. The have great trails for walking and biking. I am definately going to get a bike soon.

Offical News

It's offical now...Brice and I have accepted jobs and will be moving to Albuquerque, NM in the next few weeks. We put in our notices today...they told me to go home, so get my two weeks notice paid plus all my vacation, but Brice has to still work. I was suprised that they sent me home, because I told them that I wasn't going to a competitor, so I figured they would make me stay. Me and the dogs may get used to staying at home all day :-) So this means that I will not be going to Singapore on Friday either. As much as I would have liked to go, we have things that need to be taken care of in order to get moved.