Adopt a dog

Today was another fun day walking my dog,Trip,in the snow. He has been such a wonderful addition to my family. I got him home from a foster rescue home just to see how I feel about having a new dog after losing the one I had adopted 6 years before. It had been only 2-1/2 months since I had to take Bandit to his vet and say a very tearful good-bye. I missed my Bandit and yet I could not bear the thought of having another dog coming to my home so soon. My girls convinced me to at least visit the foster home and meet Trip. I reluctantly drove with the girls to meet Trip and fell in love with him. Bandit was a 4 or 5 year old Border Collie that I had brought home from the animal shelter on Nov.2nd 2006. This was my first experience of having a dog in my life and now I cannot imagine my life without a dog. I am so glad that I had the opportunity, not once but twice to adopt a lost dog and share my love. I seem to have made it a mission to encourage people to adopt a dog rather than going to a breeder. Alfred A. Montapert once said,"animals are reliable, many full of love, true in their affections, predictable in their actions, grateful and loyal; difficult standards for people to live up to." How true is that!

Some days I am just bouncing from one place to another like a tennis ball but at the end of the evening, everyone gathers around the table and wonders,"what's for dinner"? I have a quick pasta dish that everyone seems to enjoy and so I am going to share my recipe with you. I just fix a salad and get some Artisan bread to serve with this dinner.

Macaroni Hotpot is what it's called.
You will need 1 green bellpepper(capsicum), chopped
1 can(16oz.) vegetarian baked beans
1 small onion (sliced)
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
salt to taste
dash of black pepper
1/2 teaspoon of chilli powder(more if you like it on the hotter side)
1 cup elbow macaroni
shredded mozzarella cheese
Fresh tomato(Sliced)
1 can (16oz.) diced tomatoes
olive oil

Boil a quart of water with some salt and cook the macaroni (el dente), drain all the water and set aside.
Heat oil in the pan. Add the sliced onions and once they get translucent, add crushed garlic to it. Add the chopped bell pepper and stir well. Once the bell pepper is well cooked, add the baked beans and canned tomatoes. Now add salt to taste, black pepper and chilli powder and stir well. Add the cooked macaroni and mix well.

Take a pan and spray some pam, pour the macaroni mixture, cover the top with shredded mozzarella and put fresh tomato slices on top for decoration. Heat the own at 350 degrees and bake for 25-30 minutes. I like to cover the pan with aluminium foil for the last 10 minutes so that the dish does not become too dry. As a variation you can break 4 eggs on the top before you put it in the oven to bake(do not cover with foil). Sprinkle some salt and pepper on the eggs to taste. I check if the eggs are cooked before serving.
Take the pan out after 25-30 minutes and serve hot with bread and salad.

Enjoy this dish from my kitchen to yours. Yum...

Finally had some much awaited for snow. Considering how happy I sound with the idea of snow, any one would think that I must be into skiing and such but in all honestly, I have done down hill skiing and cross country skiing once each in 23 years!! I do love skiing, as long as someone else is on the slopes and I watch completely in awe of the skier, wondering what an amazing feeling that must be!! While my family ski's, I sit with a nice hot drink and watch :)
I would rather walk in the snow and have the silvery powder fall on me while I see my imaginary Fairy hovering around so that I can pretend that the Fairy is sprinkling "silver dust" on me. How blessed I feel to have great friends and family in my life.

I did it!!

I have been asked to start a blog for quite some time now and I wasn't too sure what it was going to be about(that's the problem with people who love everything in life).So I kept procrastinating for the past year or so. Well, here I am now getting started. I will be writing about everything that is on my mind from recipes, life with a child who has special needs, life with a high schooler as well as a junior high schooler, taking care of parents, volunteering, traveling and general philosophy in life. My passion in life is to share what I do, taking things as they come. That's what this blog is about. Just loving life and sending love, advice, and great food, from our family to yours.