I decided when we moved into this house that I wouldn’t touch the gardens until after summer. I’ve had a bad track record with my summer gardens in the past and decided that it just wasn’t worth planting one yet. But I do really miss having a vegetable garden to potter around in and I miss going out and picking my own fresh vegetables.

The weather is meant to be a little cooler for the next couple of days so I am planning on getting out and cleaning up the gardens a little. Luckily we only have two little gardens here because I have neglected them since we moved in. So I need to do a little bit of weeding and remove some poor little plants that I have let die off.

Photo Source: Flickr – Chantal Foster’s Photostream

Ingredients

500g ground beef
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
500g pasta shells, cooked
6 cups mozzarella cheese
700g cottage cheese
2 eggs
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons parsley
800g jar of spaghetti sauce

Directions

In a skillet, cook beef and onion until meat is no longer pink and onion is tender; drain. Sprinkle with salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; set aside.

In a large bowl, combine pasta, 3 cups of mozzarella cheese, cottage cheese, eggs, Parmesan cheese, parsley and remaining pepper; stir gently. Pour into a greased 13x9x2-inch baking dish.

Top with beef mixture and spaghetti sauce (dish will be VERY full).

Freeze. Cover tightly with foil. Seal additional cheese in package attached to pans.

To serve:.

Thaw all day in refrigerator.

Baking Instructions:.
Cover with new layer of foil and bake at 350ºF for 45 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella.
Bake, uncovered, 15 minutes longer or until the cheese is melted ad bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 6 to 8

It’s currently 41 degrees here, that’s celcius folks which is about 106 degrees fahrenheit and I’m so glad that this house has much better air conditioning than our old house did. Today has been the hottest day so far this summer, and I will be quite happy if it is the hottest day for the rest of the summer. As you can probably tell I don’t like the hot weather all that much. I don’t really like the cold weather either. I prefer the milder months of spring and autumn.

Poor Rob had to go into the city today for a job interview. Hopefully he managed to get an air conditioned train in there because it would have been unbearable otherwise.

I was contemplating going to Mum and Dads for a swim but the idea of getting all the kids in and out of the scorching hot car doesn’t really appeal to me, so I think we will just stay here in our nice cool house

Photo Source : Flickr – bredgur’s photostream

After all the Christmas and New Years festivities my kitchen was in need of a good clean up. The rarely used bowls and platters are put back safely in the back of the cupboard. The fridge has been purged of all left overs and the containers have been washed and put back in their cupboards. And last years lunchboxes and drink bottles have been purged from their cupboard making way for this years new lunch accessories. I finally have my kitchen back again

I haven’t joined in with MPM for a while now but I thought it was about time that I did, so here is what is on our menu this week:

Monday – Magic Meatballs – The Sneaky Chef Cookbook with beer battered potato wedges and salad

Tuesday – Crumbed Chicken, mashed potato and steamed vegetables

Wednesday – Gotta Lotta Lasagne – The Sneaky Chef Cookbook

Thursday – Quesadillas

Friday – Homemade Ham and Pineapple Pizzas

Saturday – Take Away Night

Sunday – BBQ at my parents house