We were busy getting ready for Easter. Our family was all coming over. It was the weekend before, and we were doing yard work. The normal spring clean-up and getting our plastic eggs on our front bush with our light-up bunny. (Yeah, I was a bit behind on that.) We had a big mountain stone project going on in our dining room for a few weeks in March and had quite the mess to clean up after all the masonry work, but boy, was it worth it. I’ll have to share about all that later, but it sure did turn out exactly how we wanted. I just didn’t realize how much dust it makes, but we only ever had the outside of our home done. At least I’ll know for next time.
We came in for lunch, and I had just gone to the store the day before. I had fresh, beautiful green romaine lettuce just waiting on me to make a boat out of that sucker. I couldn’t wait for that crunch with some ham salad spread on it. I was trying to be good by cutting out the bread.
Plus, I love a good boat from a fresh green romaine leaf. Just add some protein, and you have a perfect guilt-free boat-wich. (My computer is telling me that boat-wich isn’t a word, but it’s just gonna have to get over itself.)
I grabbed the lettuce from the fridge and carried it over to the sink to rip a leaf off and wash it. I pulled two of the leaves back to see what looked good, and something caught my eye. I took a double take, threw my arms up on my chest, and jumped two feet back, yelling, “Oh my word! Yuckkkk!!!” I was totally acting like a crazy lady.
Chris was over at the table pouring drinks.
“Babe. What’s wrong!?”
I was squirming around with the heebie-jeebies, and I tried spitting the words out.
“There’s a big sucker in my lettuce!”
“What do you mean, big sucker?” Chris asked.
“I don’t know for sure, but I know it’s big! I can’t think right now! Just go get it out for me, pleaseeee!” I begged.
Typically, things don’t bother me like this, but it was so unexpected and was not supposed to be in my darn romaine lettuce!
Chris walked over to the sink and, with caution (haha), slowly brought the leaves back.
“Ewwww… wowww. That is a big sucker!” he exclaimed.
“Is it what I thought it was!? Is it alive? Does it have a family with it?” I wanted to know all the details of this ferocious sucker.
At this point, we had Kenzy’s attention, and she wanted to know what was in Momma’s lettuce.
“It’s a grasshopper Kenz, a big one,” Chris said.
She slowly peeked her head over as he lowered it to her. We walked outside, and sure enough, even after one whole day of being in the fridge, it was still alive and kickin’. JOY.
Live protein in my lettuce. Chris grabbed his pocketknife and used it to get the big guy out of there. It was still chilly outside, but the fridge was obviously way colder. I wasn’t keeping this thing as a pet, so it was going outside whether it liked it or not. You could see it had a leg missing, but it seemed to be OK. Maybe it got frostbite from the fridge and fell off. Who knows!?
We at least wanted to set him free as the grasshopper sat on the top of his knife.
“Daddy! Can I keep it!? It’s cold outside; I don’t want him to get dead!” Kenzy said.
“Kenz, you are not keeping this thing in the house. It just lived in the fridge. It will be just fine outside.” Chris and I were on the same page, but she was full of questions. What will it eat? Is it too cold for it to survive? Will it live with three legs? Where is his family?! Google came in handy, and this was when we realized it was not a grasshopper; it was a locust. JOY. Even better and explains why it was freakishly ginormo!
I told Kenz to take it out between these three trees we have right at the edge of our woods and cover and protect him from predators that could harm him. She did just that. Taking a big piece of bark to set him on, then covering leaves and moss around him to protect him from other animals and the weather. Kenz checked on it before she went to bed. He hadn’t left his house, from what she told us. She just knew he would like the little home that she had made for him.
Our precious little girl checked on this locust for the next four days. When it warmed up, he got more active. She would set him out in the sun to hang out, then take him back to his “house” as the sun set. After church, in the mornings before school, and after school, she would go check on it. She and my niece Lexi checked on him every morning right before we left for the bus stop. Kenzy loved holding him.
“Love ya! See you after school!” Kenzy would say to it.
Well, we were outside one afternoon, and the wind was picking up. She went to check on him, and he was gone. We looked around the area for him, but no luck. Kenz was so sad. I said, “Oh honey! You made him feel so much better that he could finally fly back to his family! He couldn’t have done that without you taking such good care of him and making him a special little home to rest in. You are such a special little girl, and that bug was so lucky to have you care for it like you did.”
She wiped her tears, and that made her feel better even though I knew he probably got blown to China by now with that wind. But deep down, we believed he was back with his little, well, probably, huge family. Hey, at least he was out of my lettuce.
I ended up having my ham salad on a bagel thin that day because I couldn’t get over the thought of him in my green leafy romaine. I love protein, but not alive inside my produce. Yackkkk. I’m back to buying the three-pack romaine in a bag instead of fresh for now. I have some healing to do and a little bit of a trust issue. Just hopefully not scarred for life. I’ll be checking it out before I ever “leaf” the store. Ha! See what I did there? LEAF. *enter my cheesy smile here*
Cheesy Tortellini Bake
Ingredients:
• 1 (24 oz) container of refrigerated or frozen cheese tortellini
• 2 lb. ground beef
• 1 (24 oz) jar of tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup chopped onions
• 8 (ounces) of cream cheese (cubed)
• 1-2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup grated or shredded parmesan
• Seasoning to taste
Directions:
Cook the tortellini according to the package directions; drain and set aside.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9×13 baking dish.
In a large skillet, brown the ground beef with the seasoning. I use garlic salt, 1/2 cup chopped onion, pepper, and salt. Then add your sauce and let simmer for a bit; the longer, the better for flavor.
Remove the excess grease from the browned beef and stir in cream cheese. Mix well.
Gently mix your cooked tortellini in with the meat mixture and then pour it into your casserole dish; Generously top with shredded mozzarella and parmesan.
Bake uncovered on the center rack of your oven for about 25-30 minutes until bubbly.
