What's for dinner tonight?

       So what is on the menu for tonight? Maybe like me you have yet to even think about it. Or maybe you had a super elaborate meal all planned out and lost ambition. Either way I have a super yummy simple recipe to save the day! If you already have something else in mind put this one on your future meal list. I love a simple hearty meal. Something that can be put together in a pinch and still impress even the pickiest palate. After homeschooling, running errands, cleaning, and taking care of the little farm, I was in need of a quick and easy dinner.  I had the raviolis and thought hmm I could probably use this in place of lasagna noodles and ricotta. I wasn't certain it would work but hey I was willing to give it a shot to save time time, and if it failed I could always order a pizza! I mean who doesn't love pizza?  Am I right?! I am sure I am not the first genius to come up with an idea like this but I was pretty proud of my success. For this super simple recipe I call lazy lasagna you will need:

* 1 pkg of frozen raviolis ( the square kind)
* 1 pkg shredded mozzarella cheese
* 1 jar of your favorite sauce
* Parmesan cheese

      That is all you need for this yummy, quick, and easy dinner. It literally takes like 5 minutes to put together! Think of the R&R you could get in with all the time saved lol.

      ~ Preheat you oven to 350 degrees.
      ~ Place about 1/4 cup of the pasta sauce in the bottom of a 13x9 inch baking dish.
      ~ Place a layer of the frozen ravioli on top of the sauce.
      ~ Cover the raviolis with about 1/2 of the sauce that is left.
      ~ Sprinkle with parmesan cheese then half of the mozzarella cheese.
      ~ Time for another layer of the ravioli.
      ~ Follow with the rest of the sauce, parmesan cheese, and the rest of the mozzarella cheese.
      ~ Cover with tin foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for addition 10 minutes.
      ~  Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes before you serve.

   Wala you have dinner! Serve with your favorite tossed salad or bread.

here is the deliciousness in the works

Aladdin Movie night

               My daughter has been asking for special movie nights, so I decided to scour Pinterest and make them extra fun. This is something I plan on doing at least monthly. She really had such a great time as did I.  She had mentioned she wanted to watch Aladdin, so after putting her to bed I began to search for fun ideas. I found so many it was hard to choose. I love Pinterest! I mean it fantastic. You plan on looking for just a minute... and 2 hrs later your legs feel numb and your vision is blurry lol. Ya I lost track of time and planned out like seven movie nights. So keep your eye open for them in the upcoming months. I'll save you the searching, numb legs, and blurry vision hah!

So first I started with a menu. I didn't print up a fancy one but next time I might. Some of the themed food I found would not suit my little picky pants, so I had to get creative.
             I decided on:
* Prince Ali Ababwa's Cheeseburgers 
* Aladdin's Stolen Bread ( the buns for the burgers)
*Jafar's Twisted Cheese Fries with Sultan's Sauce. ( fries covered in cheddar cheese with ranch dressing on the side to dip)
* Abu's Stolen Apples ( sliced apples)
* Genie's Juice  ( Apple juice tinted blue) You could get more creative or use blue Hawaiian punch. The idea is for it to be blue lol.
* Jasmine's Magic Carpets. ( rice crispy treats flattened a bit, then  covered in frosting and decorated with candies and edible pearls)

        After dinner I mixed up some purple tinted frosting, pulled out all the candies and pearls, and had my daughter decorate her own magic carpet. She loved it. The idea I saw on Pinterest used a graham cracker. I used it as a guide for our dessert.

picture of graham cracker dessert borrowed from Pinterest.

        
        For the craft I found this cute idea online using a tp roll. Boy those things come in handy and it seems we always have some lol. 
I also seen this neat idea for a Cave of Wonders using a box and Christmas lights. We definitely needed a Cave of Wonders!
     
        Alright lets back track a bit. The day of the movie night munchkin and I went to shop for goodies needed for the night. We went to our local craft store and bought gems to decorate the tp wrist cuffs. We also bought 2 large moving boxes from our local hardware store for our cave of wonders. Total cost was less than 10 bucks.
       
        When we got home  we started on the Cave of Wonders. We taped the two boxes together to make a bigger cave. My daughter decided to glue gems inside the box and to nix the Christmas lights. I gave her some battery operated tea lights to light her cave. We taped them inside. She put in some blankets and pillow pets. Her cave was all ready for the movie.

taped together boxes for our Cave of Wonders

      
       After dinner, she made and decorated her dessert and set aside for a snack during the movie.
Next was craft time. I took a tp roll and cut in half. Then I cut a slit down the middle to make a cuff to fit her wrist. She used glue and decorated with gems. She was very proud of her princess cuffs. 

proud girl with her cuffs

      








        Time for the movie. She watched the whole movie from inside her Cave of Wonders. She is still using it now. Kids and boxes who knew lol guess they are like cats.

all cuddled up in her Cave of Wonders

        At bedtime we read an Aladdin story book and talked about her night and what she liked best. She said all of it was!  All in all it was a fun time. I look forward to our next movie night. So many movies to choose from!