Summer sanity and my Baked Spaghetti Recipe

While most people were out celebrating summer, I was having a mini-meltdown. We’d had a wonderful spring break and then… something about the coming summer just filled me with dread. After having a box of wine and discussing it with my husband, I narrowed the reason down to the fact that the first few months of every spring and summer year are Very Hard for me. That’s because my husband’s a business administrator for a major retreat center and it doesn’t take long for those long Busy Season hours to kick in. Starting early spring I’m virtually a single mom, responsible for getting kids ready and to school /summer programs, every day, doing my own work, picking them up from school, cooking dinner, supervising homework, music lessons, church, choir etc., and then getting them to bed. My husband leaves before dawn and comes home usually about midnight- mostly to add a daily collection of sweaty shirts to the laundry, so the majority of parenting responsibilities fall to me.

During those weeks Cooper’s Café is inactive. I mean we do eat but I found out that a delightful varied menu with 5 choices is wasted on 2 picky eaters who don’t ever CARE if the meatloaf is from scratch. So in order to keep myself sane I have found a few easy stand-bys that they will eat and I won’t cry into the bowl of homemade garlic mashed potatoes. Here’s one that makes great leftovers!

Baked Spaghetti Recipe

Ingredients:

·         1 lb.  ground turkey

·         16 oz. whole wheat spaghetti

·         2 26 oz. jars spaghetti sauce

·         1 cup pureed butternut squash (optional)

·         2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Preparation:

1.    Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 pan.

2.    Brown ground turkey in a large skillet over medium heat. Drain.

3.    Prepare pasta according to package directions. Drain.

4.    Stir spaghetti sauce and butternut squash into the ground turkey.

5.    Spoon one-third of the spaghetti sauce mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan.

6.    Mix the remaining spaghetti sauce mixture with the cooked spaghetti. Pour into the prepared pan.

7.    Top with the shredded cheese. Bake 20-30 minutes until browned and bubbly. Let baked spaghetti sit 10 minutes before serving.

Love Boat Lobster Bisque

With the summer coming along I felt the need to borrow a DVD of The Love Boat to watch at home while I scrapbook. The Husband is rolling his eyes and my teen daughter won’t come out of her room. I may have to sing the theme song again. Clearly I am the only Love Boat fan here at home. The boat is sinking. Excuse me! In 1997, the segments "Hidden Treasure", "Picture from the Past" and "Ace's Salary" were ranked #82 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time. A little respect here family. Day 2 of the Love Boat a thon. Josiah's bought into it but will only allow me to sing the theme song once.  Even though the program was a bit "hokey" it did take place on a cruise ship. If you've ever been on a cruise, then you know they always serve an elegant menu. In honor of Gavin MacLeod, Bernie Kopell, Fred Grandy, Ted Lange, Lauren Tewes, Jill Whelan and Ted McGinley please enjoy my tribute.

Easy Lobster Bisque

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons butter
• 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon celery salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4 cups half-and-half
• 1 1/2 cups clear veggie stock stock
• 3 cups cooked lobster meat, shredded
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 3 tablespoons minced onion
• 3 tablespoons minced celery
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon seafood seasoning
• 1 cup light cream

Directions

1.    Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Stir flour, sea salt, celery salt, and black pepper into the butter. Gradually stir half-and-half into the mixture, gently- taking care that no lumps form. Add lobster stock; stir. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring constantly, until the soup begins to thicken, about 15 minutes.

Stir lobster, tomato paste, onion, and celery into the soup; season with paprika, thyme, and seafood seasoning. Continue cooking the soup to heat the onion and celery, about 10 minutes. Add cream; stir. Cook until hot, about 5 minutes