Ravioli Casserole

Andy and me before his 27th Birthday dinner at Daddy Jack's

Last year for Andy's birthday, we went to New Orleans- read about that trip and Blackened Chicken here.  I knew I wanted to try to do something almost as equally fun this year, but New Orleans had put up some tough competition.  I told Andy that we had plans on Saturday, November 12, but that he could not ask any questions.  Knowing Andy is not being a big fan of surprises, I told him to rest easy and that he would find out on the morning of the 12th what the game plan was.

The Flying Saucer Group

I sent out an invitation on Facebook to all of our friends, and organized Andy's 27th Birthday Surprise 80's Pub Crawl.  Despite Andy's numerous attempts to find out what our plans were, my friends and I managed to keep the plan a secret.  On November 9th, I took Andy to dinner at Daddy Jack's New England Lobster & Chowder House- which was also a surprise, but he had been talking for months about wanting to go there.  On Friday, November 11th, we went to Wichita Falls to have dinner with his family.  We went to Samurai of Tokyo- a Japanese hibachi restaurant that he loves.  We spent the night in Wichita that night and went back to Fort Worth for the big surprise the next morning.

The Jake's Group

Andy and me at Jake's

Andy's baseball themed cookie cake

The Library Group

I gave Andy his presents on the  morning of his birthday- a sign from Frame the Alphabet that says "Jennings," monogrammed scotch glasses with a "J" on them, and a card.  Inside the card was a poem that looked like this:

Andy's card telling him what the game plan was

If you can't read the poem, it went like this:

You've been waiting and waiting, and patiently so-

despite all your begging and wanting to know.

Now you will find out what your birthday plans are-

but how to pick where to go? How to pick which bar?

So instead of ONE place for us to play and have a ball,

I figured, heck, why not? Let's hit 'em all!

We'll start at 8.0 at 3 for some afternoon boozing,

then onto Flying Saucer for any beer of our choosing.

Then it's 5 o'clock somewhere, but we'll be at Jake's.

At 6 is Houston Street- we have cocktails to shake!

Fox is at 7, The Library at 8-

they're not much for books there, but their drinks are sure great!

Paddy Red's is at 9, and lastly VIP's-

oh, and did I mention?

The theme is 80's!

I hope you're ready for your 80's pub crawl fun-

You're turning 27- party like you're 21!

We ended up cancelling the theme because Andy is about as fond of themes as he is about surprises, but we had a great turn out and a (long) fun day of bar-hopping around downtown Fort Worth!  I surprised him with a cookie cake from Great American Cookie because he had mentioned loving cookie cake at another friend's birthday a few weeks prior (I pay attention to these things!)  Thank you to everyone who came out and celebrated with us, and thank you for keeping my secret so Andy was surprised!

The Houston Street Group

Sundays are always lazy for us, and this was was especially so, so I decided to make a crock pot recipe so I didn't have to deal with cooking much.  I found this one on Pinterest, and it seemed pretty healthy.  It made SO much that we had enough for both of us for dinner, lunches the next day, and I even froze some in individual tupperware containers so I could take them to work later.

The Paddy Red's Group

Ravioli Casserole
Pinterest.com
Servings: 10; Weight Watchers PointsPlus Value: 7

• 1 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
• 1 can stewed tomatoes
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
• Salt & pepper to taste (I also added in some crushed red pepper to taste)
• 10 oz. spinach
• 16 oz. bowtie pasta, cooked
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
• 1 1/2 cup mozzarella, shredded

1. Brown ground beef with onion and garlic.  
2. Put in crock-pot and add sauce, tomatoes and seasonings. 
3. Cook for 6-7 hours on low.  
4. Add the last 4 ingredients during the last 30 minutes of cooking and turn crock-pot to high.  
5. Add the fresh spinach, pasta, parmesan and 1 cup of the mozzarella and mix.  
6. Add the last 1/2 cup of mozzarella to melt on the top.

Keep on cookin'!

-Katherine