Summertime Cleaning

It's hot, y'all... Like really, really hot. Barli (our sweet Boxer puppy) has decided that the best way to beat the heat is to burrow underneath the storage shed in the backyard. I have no clue how she even figured out how to dig her way under there, but it is not a good thing! She gets so dirty and with the crazy speed at which she is growing, she could easily get stuck. Right now, she's passed out in front of a fan while Tom and I take a break from doing lots of chores around the house. So far we have sold some old video games and an old Xbox at the pawn shop, got Tom's free suit from Men's Wearhouse, started to clean off the back porch, done the dishes, and cleaned one bedroom. Tom's family is coming into town this weekend for a wedding in Katy, so I want the house to look awesome! We still need to do lots more cleaning, but getting started is the hardest part! Tonight I am taking a break from cooking and we are going to Chuy's for happy hour with my old roommate, Amber. I am excited to have a night off from doing dishes! haha I also think we have enough leftovers for me to not have to cook all weekend. I am proud of how much cooking I have done since we got married. If you know me, you know that I do not enjoy being in the kitchen, but recently I've discovered that I love doing wifey things for my hubby! I guess it was just the motivation I needed.

 A couple of the recipes that I've made recently are this pizza casserole and pasta with spinach and tomatoes. The recipe for the pasta is a little confusing, so here's what I did! Instead of using 8 oz of penne, I used the entire box (16 oz). The recipe calls for half a jar of spaghetti sauce, but the instructions say canned, diced tomatoes. I opted to use the diced tomatoes and since I did twice the amount of pasta, I used twice the amount of everything else.  

2 cans diced tomatoes

6 oz cream cheese (We used reduced fat)

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 tsp garlic powder (We used a lot more than that, but we like garlic!)

1 tsp dried basil (We used some Italian seasoning instead)

1 cup spinach leaves

We left out the Parmesan cheese (mostly because we didn't have any...) but followed the rest of the prep instructions. I hope that everyone enjoys it as much as Tom and I did! We had lots of leftovers and it tastes just as good reheated as it did the first night.