Yummy Wednesday: Beef and Cheese Manicotti

So I said I would start a blog schedule and I meant it. Monday I didn't get a chance to post about books because I was just too busy, but next Monday I'll have the time thanks to the holiday.

But today is recipe day and I'm going to post a recipe. My goal is to find and try new recipes and then talk about how they go on here, but again, this week is really busy, so I am just going to feature one of my favorite recipes that I have made many times in the past with much success.

This is a recipe I got from Giada De Laurentiis years ago, when she came out with her first cookbook, Everyday Italian: 125 Simple and Delicious Recipes and I was working at a bookstore. I bought the cookbook, but it has been lost between now and then and so many moves, so now I use the print out from Food Network

Even though I didn't create this recipe, I love making and and sharing with others. I think it is so delicious and I hope you do too!



Giada de Laurantiis's Beef and Cheese Stuffed Manicotti





4 teaspoons olive oil

1 medium onion, coarsely chopped

1 pound ground beef (I use really lean beef)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

14 (8-ounce package) manicotti

1 (15-ounce) container whole-milk ricotta

3 cups shredded mozzarella

1 cup grated Parmesan

2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 cups marinara sauce (I usually use jarred sauces, my favorite is Trader Joe's marinara sauce, one day I will make my own)

2 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces

Cooking Directions

*The directions are pretty easy, the hard part is stuffing the manicottis...and it's not really hard, just time consuming*

Heat heavy skillet over medium heat, then add 1 teaspoon olive oil, onion, and ground beef, season with salt and pepper. Saute until the meet browns and onion is translucent, like 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let it cool.

Brush 1 teaspoon of the olive oil over a larger baking sheet (this is really important, trust me). Then cook the manicotti in a large pot of boiling water for about 4-6 minutes. You want them to be slightly softened, but still really firm. Then use a slotted spoon to transfer them to the oiled baking sheet to cool. Make sure you oiled that thing, otherwise the manicotti will stick and break apart.

While that cools, combine the ricotta, 1 1/2-2 cups mozzarella, 1/2 cup parmesan, and parsley in a bowl. Add some garlic, salt, and pepper to taste. Now that the meat is cooled, stir it into the cheese mixture.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Brush the remaining olive oil over a 13 by 9 inch glass baking dish. Then spoon about 1 1/2 cups of marinara sauce over the bottom of the dish.

Now here comes the fun part! Fill the manicotti with the cheese-meat mixture and arrange in a single layer in the glass dish, then spoon the rest of the sauce over the top. This takes a really long time.

Sprinkle the rest of the cheese (mozzarella and parmesan) over the stuffed pasta. Dot the entire dish with butter pieces for a nice golden-y color. Bake uncovered for about 30-35 minutes, until the sauce bubbles on the sides. Once it's done, let it sit for 5 minutes, serve and enjoy!

Thoughts on a blog

I have some ideas. For this blog that is. I want to get back to doing more posts per week, but for awhile I've been having a hard time thinking up some good content. I think my work updates aren't the best for content and I do have other interests. Seriously, I do.

I recently discovered Kaelah Bee and her adorable and awesome blog, little chief honeybee, and she had a great post about some blog dos and don'ts that has offered me some ideas, mainly the idea of a blog schedule. What do you think of that? I would have certain days of the week dedicated to a certain type of post, maybe about music, books, fashion, cooking, etc, in addition to the random, personal, activities/photos, and silly posts, of course.

So here's what I'm thinking, friends.

Three or four scheduled days a week:
Monday: books (both old and new, favorites, read and unread)
Wednesday: cooking/new recipe ideas
Friday: music (both new and old, indie and mainstream, favorites)
Weekend (optional): fashion related post (new trends, inspiration, stuff I love)

And maybe, if I can get my act together, outfit posts. I've been holding off on that until I knew I could get good pictures, but right now I do have a great camera and a tripod, so maybe it'll happen. Just don't get mad if it doesn't!

What do ya think? I'm going to try and start this week, but I'm also starting my new job (today was my first day), so I might wait until next week. What I'm hoping by doing this is to hold myself accountable to providing good, interesting, original (more or less) content and not just stop updating because I don't have anything to say. I usually do, and this is the place to do it. Plus I'm kind of missing the idea of homework, which this would be...but fun!

I would love to hear any ideas y'all have, but otherwise, I hope you'll enjoy the more organized blog! Happy reading!

P.S. I joined Pinterest. Have you? Because it's awesome. We should be friends! Click here to follow me.

New Job? YES

I have started my new job and I think I love it. I've only done half days this week, but it's been awesome and I can't wait to start full time on Monday.

I like having something to do all day. I like learning new things. I like getting to meet and talk to some very interesting and eccentric people. So far I've been doing lots of publicity things, setting up radio interviews and sending press materials out, but I have my first manuscript to go through and edit/comment as we begin the publishing process. It's really exciting! I'm helping produce a book, people, for realsies. And it's about yoga, which is right up my alley and I feel like I have a lot to say about it and, you know, stuff.

But things are going really great. I like that I'm going to be busy, have guaranteed hours, have finished products to be proud of...just everything. Blogging may be less frequent, as you can see I haven't in a week, partially due to housesitting without my computer, partially due to the new job, but I want to continue as best I can.

So for now, life is good. And I'm really excited for what's to come.

I HAVE A JOB!

Remember last week when I was all lost and stuff about work and where to go? Well, I guess I kind of figured some stuff out. I got a job. A real one, that does not involve folding other people's laundry or walking a dog or driving anyone to school.

I'll be doing marketing and publicity for books at a very small (but well established/respected) firm in Sonoma. Eventually I might get to start editing and producing books as well. I'm really excited, because I love books and getting to work with them in any way is good for me. The position is entry level, but they are willing to take a chance on me and really help me enhance my skills, to learn and grow and reach my full potential, and I am very grateful for that. This is my foot in the door of the working world. No more nannying for me.

And I found this job randomly; as I said before I was just sending out resumes to anything that sounded intersting. I hadn't been receiving any responses, except this place and one other job that I actually didn't want. I went into the interview not expecting to get the job, but I still tried my best and it turned out to be a good thing. So, I'll go in for a few half days and training next week to learn the ropes, then I start full time on August 22.

Things are looking on up!

The Beauty of a TV Show Marathon

I love a marathon. A TV show marathon, that is. Now, I don't mean the kind that are actually on TV (commercials? No), I mean when you have the DVDs of several seasons of the show, and you watch them back to back to back, nonstop. And this weekend I strangely watched two of them (marathons, I mean)? What? That is incredibly lazy! But I did it anyway. Plus I love a TV show marathon because I am really bad at watching a show when it is actually on, I prefer to watch them when I want, on my own time, especially when I can watch more than and really get into the story. I also am not a fan of cliffhangers, and this method allows me to avoid them. 

 Yesterday (and a little on Friday night) Amy and I started a Gossip Girl marathon, and so far we are almost done with the first season. Ummm that show is awesome, in a campy, cheesy, unrealistic, but totally amazing way. I forgot how much I liked it because I stopped watching it after the first season, because couldn't the time to sit down and watch episodes when they were on, I had better things to do on Tuesday nights...like go out and stuff. You know, Very Important Things. But I very much enjoyed our mini-marathon, and Amy and I are going to work our way through every season, with relish!

This morning, I was incredibly delighted to discover that Mad Men has been made available on Netflix instant, thus encouraging me to finally watch it. I kind of saw it when it first started, but I didn't get why people made such a big deal about it...now I realize it's totally up my alley; drama, intrigue, sexy men in suits. I watched about five episodes and am hooked. If I'm lucky I can get caught up in time for the new season, which would be nice...even though I probably won't keep up and have to rely on the handy DVR to make sure I actually watch it.

Anyway, that's what a big chunk of my weekend was spent doing. Though I also managed to make it to the gym, spend time with friends, and eat pretty awesome food, so all in all, I say: win.

Becoming a grownup?

Image via

Summertime is almost over and it's time for me to start getting real. Like getting a real job. Like those pretty ladies in the photo. For the record, I really like being a nanny. It's pretty stress free, at least with the family I currently work for (I have worked for them on/off for four years now), it's fun (today work involved going to an amusement park!) and it pays well. And I adore my girls. They are totally awesome. But it's not a "real" job. I don't get benefits, my hours aren't consistent, there is no mobility, and it can get tedious being what is essentially a servant.

But! I have plans! I've been religiously searching Craigslist for jobs, any jobs that sound remotely interesting, and applying for said jobs. My goal is to apply for at least a dozen a week, so far I have applied for seven this week. The ones that interest me the most are marketing, public relations, part time receptionist work, nonprofits...anything that sounds like it will give me experience and help me establish myself, someway, somehow. Oh, and I have an interview! It's only for an entry level position, but it could be something. Maybe?

There is also law school. Something I have thought about for years and years, something my family really wants, and something I'm pretty positive I'll be good at. I like to argue and I like using facts to win arguments. Plus I'm right a lot of the time about many things (mainly facts pertaining to pop culture and it's history? Don't ask me why).  But trust me on that. Plus, you know, I like being right. Anyway, I've made the decision to at least take the LSAT and apply, I'm still deciding between applying for next fall or fall 2013. Because school stresses me out. Plus I worry about burn out; I don't want to apply, get into law school, and then realize I hate it. I know that it would let down a lot of people, as well as myself. At the same time, I am of the mind that one can return to school at any time. My grandpa didn't go to law school until way later in life, after he'd already had one career. So there's that.

So, I have lots of thinking to do. Right now, though, I will keep applying for anything and everything, because I need to get into the "real" job market, to do something challenging, and to, I don't know grow? As like a person?

Any help or advice you have would be much appreciated.