The question

For the first time this weekend, I was asked, "Why Ethiopia?" I wish I had the capability to show them this video at the time.

Nine

This month brought to you by the letter D: discouraged, disappointed, and delayed.

Will next month be brought to us by the letters H and W: happy, hopeful, and waitlisted?

Yummy new recipe

So, I was searching for a stuffed shells recipe the other day, but almost everything called for ricotta, which no one in this house likes. So after googling a bit, and kind of making it up as I went, I fixed this tonight. It was pretty healthy, and it was awesome! My biggest complaint is that I couldn't find wheat pasta shells.

Turkey and Spinach stuffed shells

1/2 box large pasta shells
8 oz. fat free cream cheese, room temperature
1 box frozen spinach
1/2 small onion
1 clove garlic
1 package ground turkey (our store only sells them in 10 oz packages)
1 jar spaghetti sauce (we buy the kind with extra servings of veggies, yay for sneaking it in!)
1-2 cups shredded mozzaarella (we buy 2%)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cook pasta per box directions, add a little oil to the water to prevent sticking. When finished, drain pasta.

Brown the turkey, drain, and then set it aside.

While the pasta and turkey are cooking, thaw spinach and drain the water. Chop onion and garlic.

After removing the turkey from the pan, saute the onion and garlic in a little olive oil. Add the spinach and heat through.

Pour half the jar of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a 9x11 baking dish.

In a separate bowl, mix cream cheese, turkey, and spinach. Fill the shells with 1-2 tablespoons of filling. Then place in the sauce. When all shells are filled, pour the rest of the sauce over the top and sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the sauce.

Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

So, it's a little work, but this recipe is about 8 servings, so you could split it into two 8x8 pans and freeze one, or double the recipe and have three to freeze.

It was super yummy!

One word....

Elora recently announced that she and her husband are adopting. As part of that announcement she talked about their one word for the year.

I really like the idea of this, and have actually had one word that has been coming to me again and again. Sometimes in the most unexpected of places.

After a difficult 2010 that included job loss that has temporarily put our adoption on hold, my word for 2011 is: HOPE.

Psalm 130:5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope.

Romans 12:12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

HOPEfully we will have good news this week about getting back on the waitlist. All paperwork has been turned into Gladney, we are just waiting on final approval.