Ain't No Party Like A Guest List Party

Last night, the future hub and I had a little in-home date night. I made dinner, we watched Parenthood and we made our guest list! I have been stressing about making this guest list…we have a crap ton of family and a massive amount of friends. I thought for sure the list would be 800 people long when I really want to keep our wedding at or under 200 guests. I thought it was going to take hours and I had visions of us fighting and arguing over who to cut and who to invite. I will say, the way we went about it was very civilized, organized and worked really well.

We started by listing our parents, it may sound stupid but when you have eight parents you need to make sure you don’t forget anyone. Next we listed all of our siblings, again may seem silly but we have ten siblings between the two of us! After that, we listed all the grandparents, then the aunts and uncles and finally made a list of our cousins. It worked really well to list everything with a bride column and a groom column and then to sort and list by family. So by the end of it we had a nice list of our entire family. After that we individually made a list of our friends. We decided, to start, we would just write down everyone we would consider inviting. We figured it’s easier to edit the list later than to add on to it. We both did a great job! We were almost even in the number of friends we wanted there and neither one of us went out of control, we both had very respectable lists. Finally we made a list of friend’s family and family friends. We gave each of our parents (by couple, not individual) 6 guests or three couples that they could invite. Then, we listed our friend’s families that we are close with an want to be there on the big day! The not-so-fun part is then counting all these people, which was scary because I still thought the list was going to be way too long….I was pleasantly surprised when our list rounded out at about 220 people! Yes, that’s 20 more than we want BUT this is our very first draft of the list, and a common wedding tip is to invite 10% more guests than what you actually want to attend because there are always going to be people who can’t make it. So, in short, I’m thrilled! It was painless, took less than an hour and there was no fighting, arguing or crying. Now we just need to find a church, a venue and a date….no big deal, right?

On another note, have you ever dreamt about what would happen if a taco, lasagna and a casserole had a dance party? Well, I think about that a lot and decided to find out. Last night I created my own super random recipe that turned out really well. Here’s the low down:

Kristin's Sassy Taco Lasagna Casserole

(shout out to the future mother-in-law who helped me think of the name)

INGREDIENTS:

-1 pound Extra Lean Ground Turkey

-Whole Wheat Egg Noodles (I used about half a bag)

-1 onion

-garlic to taste

-1 can refried beans

-1 package Low Sodium Taco Seasoning

-1 can tomato sauce

-1 6oz can tomato paste

-1 bottle Ortega Taco Sauce

-Tabasco sauce (if you like spicy)

-16oz container Low Fat Ricotta Cheese

-1 ½ cups shredded Mexican Cheese blend

-1 egg

-1 can sliced Black Olives

-Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees

-Start by cooking the noodles 

MEAT LAYER: 

-The saute garlic and chopped onion in olive oil

 -Once onions are soft add ground turkey and brown

-Add taco seasoning to meat and onions following directions on the package

-Finally add and blend in refried beans

CHEESE LAYER:

-Combine container of ricotta, 1 cup of shredded cheese, egg and black olives.

-Mix really well

SAUCE:

-Combine tomato sauce, tomato paste, taco sauce and tobasco sauce

-Whisk together

-Grease a 13x9 baking dish

-Layer the noodles

half the meat mix

half the cheese mix

then  half the sauce

AND REPEAT

-Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of shredded cheese on top

-Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes

-Let the casserole cool for about 10 minutes, slice up and serve! 

It was really yummy and pretty impressive for random made up recipe. Next time I make it there are probably a couple things I would add or do differently....1. It needed more sauce, at least in my opinion. I love a lot of sauce, so I will probably do 2 bottles of taco sauce next time to give it more flavor and sauciness. 2. It needed some crunch...tacos are crunchy and all the flavors were there just not the noise. I think next time I'll crush up some tortilla chips to create a crust on top. 3. It would be really yummy with a dollop of sour cream on top....maybe not if you're trying to look good in a wedding dress in the near future, but otherwise, sour cream would be money!

I hope you all have a great weekend! I have a super jam packed, super exciting weekend coming up and I can't wait to share it with you on Monday!