Louder than words

This week was picked out of the whole year to be the week of little miracles.

All of face book seemed flooded with photos of little feet, tiny hands, and chubby cheeks. Proud papas paraded their new born in the halls of the maternity ward. Mamas melted in the arms of yet another new found love. And in the land of parenthood, all was precious.

Between the hospital visits, flowers, and sanitizer, the memories of labor came flooding back. As I remembered it, it wasn't the labor that was hard, it was the week that followed.

The sleepless nights, the constant feedings, the colic, the aches and pains, and probably the worst of it were the breasts! Just the thought of it, makes me cringe. But I must say, the sights of a child breathing in my arms is nothing short of a miracle, and I rejoiced with the new moms.

One of the things that I do, to extend my congratulation and to really help in the recovery is to coordinate a meal plan for the mom.

I usually send out a message to her friends and family, asking to help in the meal planning for the week or so. Each person that volunteers are asked to pick a day out of the week that would work best with their schedule. By bringing dinner over allows the family to focus more on the baby and all the changes that this may hold on the household. Personally, I like the sense of community and idea that our actions speak louder than our words.

Do you sometimes feel as though you say empty words?  I do, but I also don't want to. I never want my words to be empty, I want to stand behind them with my deeds. I never want to expect some one to do the things that should, I want to be the first to do them. And I never want to be the girl that holds bitterness in others successes, I want to be the one to help them succeed. Because what I want, is to be so consistent in my 'wants' that my life would show it. And I feel as though you do to.  So, be the next one to bless some ones socks off.

Here is the recipe I used this week.

Lasagna recipe:

1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork
1 onion,diced
5 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup heavy cream
28 ounces crushed tomatoes
salt and pepper
fresh basil
Olive oil

In a dutch oven, on medium heat the oil and add the onion, cook until softened.  Add the garlic and cook about a minute.  Add the ground meats and cook until it looses its pick color.  Add the heavy cream and cook until it is absorbed into the meat.  This might take up to 10 minutes.  Add the can of tomatoes last and return to a simmer.  Adjust the flavors with salt, pepper, and basil.  Sometimes I add more herbs like Marjoram,  parsley, rosemary.

After the meat mixture is ready.  Make the ricotta mixture.

1 15oz container of fresh ricotta
basil leaves, chopped
1 egg
salt and pepper

You will also need:

Modzerella, grated
Parmeson, grated
Uncooked, ready to bake lasagna noodles

Then in a casserole dish spread the meat mixture on the bottom.  Try to have more liquid then meat in this step.  I like to use the uncooked, ready to bake lasagna sheets, just because its one less step to worry about and it takes the flavor of the sauce.  Place those on top.  Smear with the ricotta, sprinkle with Parmesan first and then mozzarella, top it off with more of the meat mixture and repeat.  I usually end up with 3to 4 layers.  

 Cover the casserole dish with aluminum foil and bake in a preheated oven at 375 F for 30 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for 15 more minutes.  After removing it from the oven let the lasagna rest for 10 minutes before cutting.

Of course, enjoy :)