Thoughts, and a Recipe

I'm not sure why, but hearing that Hostess is going out of business has really affected me this morning. Just knowing that this company that every single person has heard of and has bought their product at some point in their lives is now going under makes it very real to me that there are changes in our future. In less than two weeks tens of thousands of people have lost or learned that they will soon lose their jobs. I am feeling paranoia coming on. I want to pinch every penny, start getting serious about food storage, and appreciate my steady job now more than ever. I really have SO much to be thankful for.

Well, on a more positive note, let me share with you the most delicious thing to happen to me this week. :) It is called Braided Spaghetti Bread and I have wanted to make it ever since I saw it on Shaylin's blog, who found it from this pin. I figured that you canNOT go wrong with mixing garlic bread and spaghetti so I decided to give it a shot.

Unfortunately this is one of those recipes that does require some planning ahead and patience, which neither Jordan nor I have when we know there is a delicious meal ahead of us. You need to let your frozen Rhode's dinner rolls (or bread dough) defrost and raise for 2-3 hours. Then smoosh them all together and roll out into a large rectangle. You want to make sure you have a non-sticky surface to work on! I used wax paper and sprayed it with non-stick spray. Then you plop your already-made spaghetti down the center of it.I added cooked italian sausage to my sauce...delish. The recipe called for cubes of mozzarella cheese, I had shredded and it was fabulous. Make these funny cut strips and then braid!

When I envisioned myself making this recipe I thought surely I would have a prettier braid than others. Ha! It was a lot harder than I thought and this was the best I could come up with. Pathetic. I spread butter instead of egg whites across the top (don't judge me), then sprinkled parsley flakes and parmesan cheese.

Then you bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. I laughed out loud when mine came out of the oven. It looked like a squashed bug. :)

But BOY was it delicious. We had one guest over for dinner, and between the two boys and myself, we ate more than 3/4 of it. Which surprised me because it was HUGE. I thought surely we'd have leftovers for days. Nope. It was so good.

I hope this inspires you to go try it! I wish we had more leftovers. :(