This was surprisingly good and my daughter had me make it twice in one week. I used Broccolli instead of Zucchini and I am sure other veggies would work well.

Prep Time:
15 Min
Cook Time:
25 Min
Ready In:
45 Min

Original Recipe Yield 6 servings
Ingredients
• 8 ounces penne pasta
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup crushed saltine crackers
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 cups chopped zucchini
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 pinch dried celery flakes
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Directions
1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add penne pasta, cook for 10 to 12 minutes, until al dente, and drain. Lightly grease a medium casserole dish.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a blender or food processor, thoroughly mix the Parmesan cheese and crackers.
3. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place the onion in the skillet, and cook and stir until tender. Mix in the zucchini, tomato, and garlic, and season with oregano, basil, celery, salt, and pepper. Continue to cook and stir until the zucchini is tender.
4. In the prepared casserole dish, mix the pasta with the vegetable mixture and mozzarella cheese. Top evenly with the Parmesan cheese mixture.
5. Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the topping is lightly browned. Allow to sit 5 minutes before serving.
Nutritional Information
Amount Per Serving Calories: 271 | Total Fat: 7.9g | Cholesterol: 15mgPowered by ESHA Nutrient Database

Apartment hunting can be tough for pet owners; it’s hard to find two communities that have the same policy when it comes to owning pets. Luckily, however, lots of places <em>do</em> allow cats. (If you’re a “dog person” and you’re reading this post, I’m sorry to exclude you!) Having a cat in an apartment may mean that you’re forced to keep it indoors – which, to some people, may feel almost cruel. Do they have enough room to run around? Do they feel cooped up? Are they sad looking out the window and not being able to run free? These questions may sound crazy to some but, to cat owners, they’re real concerns. With a little help from <a href=”http://www.google.com/”>Google</a> search, I was able to find a great source of tips for indoor-cat owners courtesy of – who else – <a href=”http://www.mspca.org/programs/cat-campaign/indoor-cats.html”>mspca angell</a>. Check out the link – and feel free to leave more tips as a comment on this post. Meow!

You’ve all heard that saying before…you all know what it means….but did you ever wonder where it originated from? We did too.

Yesterday, I was asking Andrea what she thought I should blog about this week and sarcastically she replied, “Why don’t you blog about the price of tea in China!” We both laughed. Then we stopped and asked, where did that saying come from anyway? And what about a Catch-22? We know what it means, but what exactly does it <em>mean</em>? So I started to do a little research about these little phrases known as idioms. These are the little sayings you hear all the time – “I’ve got an axe to grind”, “We’re going to paint the town red”, “Don’t let the cat out of the bag”.

The more I researched these, the more I am convinced that my mother speaks only in idiomatic phrases! There are so many of them! And she USES so many of them!

The funnest part about researching them was thinking that I could actually figure out the origin before finding it on the page. For example- “Mind your Ps and Qs” was something my fourth grade teacher, Sister Antonita, would always yell at us if she caught us looking at our classmate’s paper. The origin is this: <em>Comes from the early pub days when beer and ale was served in pint and quart containers. The tab was kept on a chalkboard used to count the pints and quarts consumed. To watch your Ps and Qs is to control your alcoholic intake and behavior</em>. – Very interesting coming from a nun!! 🙂

But my favorite so far is “Saved by the bell”! You would think this was an easy one – saved by the school bell, perhaps? Or maybe it has to do with the ringing of the bell in a boxing match, possibly. But this is the origin I found and I was completely surprised:

<em>There was a strange disease in the 1500’s that would slow one’s heartbeat and breathing enough that upon inspection, the afflicted person would indeed seem quite dead. When England began to run out of room to bury recently deceased people, they dug up the coffins of people who had long been deceased, removing their bones from the coffins and placing them in a bone house and re-using the gravesite. When opening the coffins of long ago buried bodies, they noticed that 1 out of every 25 coffins had scratch marks on the inside. The town folks had been burying people while they were still alive. To avoid anymore people being buried alive, a string would be tied to the wrist of each corpse, threaded through the coffin,up through the ground, and tied to a bell.
Someone would have to sit in the graveyard all night and listen for the bell to ring, just in case the corpse was not really a corpse. Hence the phrases: Saved by the bell, Dead ringer and Graveyard shift.</em>

Anyway, I found this to not only be fun, but very informative and I can’t wait to start throwing origins at my mother when she starts throwing the idioms my way! (which may be as early as this evening!) 🙂

Here are a couple of links to see some other fun idioms! Enjoy!

http://www.bachelorsdegree.org/2011/01/30/30-common-english-idioms-and-the-history-behind-them/

http://www.pride-unlimited.com/probono/idioms1.html#a

Fall in New England isn’t complete without a visit to the Mega Maze at Davis Farmland. Davis Farmland is located in Sterling MA is only 20 minutes from Worcester. The Davis’ Mega Maze was actually drafted in England by Adrian Fisher, the world’s leading maze designer. Mr. Fisher has designed hundreds of mazes for castles, palaces, and visitor attractions around the globe and holds 7 Guinness World Records. Since designing the world’s first cornfield maze, Adrian has created a number of “Signature Series” maize-mazes each year. These creations include the finest field maze in the United States at Davis’ Mega Maze.

For more information visit https://www.davisfarmland.com.

What do you do with your pumpkin after Halloween? The past few years I have tried not to just throw it away. I try to use the pumpkin in a new recipe that I want to try. I came across this recipe for Roasted Pumpkin Soup and I am going to try it out. It looks pretty easy and has gotten very good reviews!
INGREDIENTS
• 1 (4-pound) sugar baby pumpkin, cut in half and seeds removed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup small-dice bacon (about 3 slices)
• 1/2 cup small-dice shallots (about 2 medium)
• 1/4 cup dry (fino) sherry
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 cups water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• Parsley Croutons, for garnish (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Heat the oven to 375°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Rub the cut halves of the pumpkin with 1 tablespoon of the oil, and season generously with salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet, cut side up, and roast until fragrant, tender when pierced with a fork, and golden brown, about 70 minutes. Remove from the oven and let sit on the baking sheet until cool enough to handle, about 20 minutes.
2. Using a large spoon, scoop out the flesh, place it in a medium bowl (you should have about 3 cups), and set it aside.
3. Place the bacon in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat and cook until crispy and the fat is rendered, about 10 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to a small paper-towel-lined plate; reserve for garnish.
4. Add shallots to the bacon fat, season with salt and pepper, and sauté until softened, about 4 minutes. Add sherry and cook until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Add chicken broth, water, thyme, and reserved pumpkin and season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine, then bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and simmer until flavors have melded, about 10 minutes.
5. Using a blender, purée the soup in batches until smooth, removing the small cap from the blender lid (the pour lid) and covering the space with a kitchen towel (this allows steam from the hot soup to escape and prevents the blender lid from popping off). Place the blended soup in a clean saucepan. Stir in the cream and season with salt and pepper as needed. Serve garnished with the reserved bacon and croutons, if using.
I don’t want to wish Hallowween away but I really want to try this recipe out! It is the perfect day today for some Roasted Pumpkin Soup!

Came across a very interesting article the other day on-line posted by 7 News about the <strong>Top Ten Foods</strong> that can actually be affecting your mood! Items we eat almost daily and never even know about! I was shocked to see foods on this list that I eat that could be contributing to a low mood or a sugar rush crash!

According to the article number 1 is ham…I love ham and had no idea that this was a mood killer but apparently it is due to being packages with high amounts of preservatives that trigger low moods.

Number 2 is something most people use as a substitute for butter since what we know of butter is that it isn’t the best for you but I guess now I know neither is margarine which holds high levels of omega 6 fatty acids which tend to tamper with our moods.

Number 3 is peanuts that include high salt levels and MSG .

Number 4 is pumpkin and I’m stunned by this and the amount of pumpkin I have been enjoying this fall season! Apparently pumpkin seeds are coated in preservatives which block iodine from being absorbed by the thyroid which is a big part in depression.

Number 5 is a big staple in holiday cooking…shortening! Used a lot in baking this item increases omega 6 fatty acids which we know is not good for us!

Number 6 is something most people drink on a daily basis…soda but as we know soda is pure sugar and turns to fat once inside the body sending moods plummeting after that initial sugar rush.

Number 7 is another holiday staple in most households..sweet potatoes which when packaged they tend to be packages with excess sugar that cause a crash and burn affect.

Number 8 is agave nectar which may seem healthy and in most grocery stores is sold in the organic food section but it is actually made with high fructose which is definitely not a healthy item.

Number 9 is another popular breakfast item…a bagel.. and yes, we all know they are high carbs so that in itself is a bad thing but they are made with refined cards that cause us to have a quick pick me up in the morning but by lunch time we tend to crash and send our mood with it.

And lastly number 10 is a huge american favorite especially during football season but potato chips are fried in oils laden with omega 6 fatty acids that block out mood enhancing. Some of these might be a shock to you but some of course may not but was still an interesting article to read about foods we might be ingesting on a daily basis and weren’t aware they could be affecting our over all mood!

Everyone is a kid on Halloween. You can play dress up, stage pranks, decorate, party, and eat all kinds of fun treats!
The Disney family website always has some great ideas. http://family.go.com/holidays

I’m going to make the Mickey mummy cupcakes and pumpkin whoopie pies for our neighborhood trick or treat night!

Wicked Pumpkin Whoopie Pie Recipe- http://www.squidoo.com/utility/print_module/162356029
Mickey Mummy Cupcakes- http://family.go.com/food/recipe-924031-mickey-mummy-cupcakes-t

Happy Halloween!

Every September and October, Connors Farm in Danvers, has an amazing corn maze. This year’s theme is Old Salem’s Village. Admission is only $12.95 per person and this includes unlimited access to the maze, hayrides, cow train, grain train, jumping pillow, bouncy houses, pedal carts, duck races, pumpkin teatherball, cornball, mini hay bale maze, hay jump, barnyard animals, sand box, corn box, pig races, spider web. There is even special activities as well: corn cannon, pumpkin blaster, sling shots, pick your own apples, pumpkins raspberries.

For additional information, please check out their web page www.connorsfarm.com

It’s hard to believe, but the holidays are approaching and life is about to get a little bit busier. Don’t get me wrong – it’s a fun time of year and it’s nice to spend even more time with family & friends…but it also kind of makes me daydream about getting away. I’ve never been very interested in “typical” vacations (you know the ones: an all-inclusive resort in Mexico, a Caribbean cruise, and the like), but I’ve always loved the idea of going to historical sites or far-out places. When I saw the Yahoo! headline that read <a href=”http://travel.yahoo.com/ideas/10-trips-of-a-lifetime.html?page=all”>Ten Trips of a Lifetime</a>, I had to check it out! From Bora Bora to Turkey and all the way to China, they’ve listed some trips that they claim could actually be life-changing. With rent and other bills dictating where my money’s going, these places are all probably going to remain daydreams for me (for now, anyway) – but it’s fun to imagine the day I book my flight. Check them out for yourself…and feel free to suggest other places I should add to my must-see list!

The Mayonnaise Jar.

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day is not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and two cups of coffee.
A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.
When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and fills it with golf balls.

He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured it into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.

He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous “YES”.

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

“Now,” said the professor, as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things – God, family, children, health, friends, and favourite passions. Things, that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the things that matter like your job, house, and car. The sand is everything else — the small stuff.” he said.

“If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “There is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you…” he told them.

“So… pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Worship with your family. Play with your children. Take your partner out to dinner. Spend time with good friends. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the dripping tap. Take care of the golf balls first — the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled and said, “I’m glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.”