Avocado pesto pasta

I love avocado. However, M hates it, pulls it out of everything and refuses to eat it. Ugh he doesn't know what he's missing. Tonight he is teaching late so I'm on my own for dinner. I decided I was using avocado in my dinner since 9 am....then the task was to research it and find a recipe, I found several. So I used what I had on hand, combined a couple recipes and boom, had a great avocado pesto pasta.  

Now if course I enjoyed this with a bottle , I mean glass of wine. The pup and I then enjoyed the rest of the night watching "One For The Money", drinking wine and eating pumpkin roll. 

Ingredients: 

8oz of pasta ( I used ziti)

1 avocado

1/2 lemon juiced

4 cubes of basil 

2 tbs of grated cheese 

2 cloves of garlic 

Salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup of olive oil

1/4 cup of cherry tomatoes - diced

1/4 cup of mushrooms- sautéed 

 

Directions: 

Boil pasta according to directions. In a food processer or in my case "smoothie maker" mix together the avocado, lemon juice, basil, and garlic until smooth. Then add the cheese and olive oil and mix again. Stir in diced tomatoes. Pour over hot pasta and mix, stir in extra cheese and hot pepper flakes.  This would be good with shrimp, chicken or steak added. 

Hope you enjoy! 

Giving spaghetti squash another try!

M and I have tried spaghetti squash a couple times in the past two years, usually not being impressed. So when I came home with one two weeks ago, M groaned and I stuck it in the fridge. Tonight I was looking for something yummy to make and found that spaghetti squash and sorta made a spaghetti squash lasagna. 

The recipe is below, hopefully you enjoy it! 

Ingredients: 

1 spaghetti squash

1 tbs oil

1/2 onion chopped

2 cloves of garlic

1/2 lb sausage

1 can of no salt added diced tomatoes

1 tsp of oregano 

1 tsp basil ( I added a little more a couple shakes)

Red pepper flakes 

1/4 cup of part skim ricotta cheese

1/4 cup of cottage cheese

Italian blend shredded cheese to sprinkle on top.

Directions: 

1) Preheat oven to 400

2) Slicesquash, spoon out seeds and rub with oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper

3) Place face down in a baking dish and cook for 50 minutes.

4) With 15 minutes left to cooking, in a large saucepan cook sausage, onion and garlic

5) Once browned add tomatoes and spices.

6) When it bubbles, reduce the heat and simmer 3-4 minutes.

7) Meanwhile, combine ricotta and cottage cheese. Add some salt and pepper

8) When squash is done, flip over and fill with cheese mixture, then meat mixture and sprinkle with Italian blend.

9) Put back in oven under broil for 1 min till cheese is bubbly. Serve! 

So it changed our opinion, we both enjoyed it and I will definitely be picking up another squash when I'm at the store! 

Pumpkin spice cake without the guilt

More pumpkin but this time mixed in with spice cake and without all those calories! I have heard you can also make these into cookies, but I have only tried the cake.
 I bought the Duncan Hines spice cake mix 
and added a can of pumpkin purée and 1 tbs of milk. I made it a little fattening by adding cream cheese frosting mixed with cinnamon! Bake as the cake box directs! Delicious, I think I'll have a piece now!

Do you love pumpkin?

So it's fall, chilly and grey outside and boy do I love pumpkin.... I have been whipping up pumpkin everything. I feel like every time I'm at the grocery store I pick up another can of 100% pumpkin. First I found a recipe on Betty Crocker for pumpkin and sausage manicotti, it called for 1/2 cup of pumpkin purée so I knew I would need to use the rest of the can.... So I made pumpkin snicker doodles. Below are both recipes... Pumpkin-on. 

Pumpkin and sausage manicotti: (I halved the recipe when I made it for M and I) 

Ingredients:

16 uncooked manicotti

1 lb of pork sausage ( I used spicy) 

2 cloves of garlic

2 tbs sage leaves

1 egg

1 container (15oz) part skim ricotta cheese 

1 cup of canned pumpkin

1/2 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp black pepper

2 cups do Italian blend shredded cheese

3 cups Alfredo sauce ( 2-16 oz jars) 

1/2 pepper and mushrooms (optional) 

Directions:  heat oven to 350' cook and drain shells.

Meanwhile, cook sausage, garlic, sage, peppers. Drain. 

In a medium bowl- beat egg, stir ricotta,pumpkin, parm, pepper, 1 cup of Italian cheese, sage and sausage. 

Stuff shells, put 1 cup of sauce on bottom of pan. Put shells on top and any leftover mixture on top. Add the rest of the sauce, cover and bake 30-35. Uncover and top with rest of cheese and bake 10 minutes. 

Pumpkin snicker doodles: 

I got the recipe from sallysbakingaddiction.com. They were gone in 2 days! Next time I will double the recipe. 

1/2 cup of unsalted butter

1/4 cup of light brown sugar

1 cup of granulated sugar, divided 

1 tsp of vanilla

6 tbs pumpkin purée

1-1/2 cup of flour 

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon, divided

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/2 cup of chips ( chocolate, white or I think cinnamon would be good) 

Directions: melt the butter in the microwave. In a medium bowl mix together butter, brown sugar and 1/2 cup of sugar. Mix in vanilla and pumpkin till smooth and set aside.

In another bowl mix together the rest of the ingredients except the chips. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix. Fold in the chips, cover and refrigerate 30 min. 

Preheat oven to 350' roll dough into balls and dip into 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon.  Press them down slightly. Bake 8-10 minutes. They look under baked but do not overcook. Allow cookies to cook on pan 10 minutes then put on racks. Keep at room temperature. So good! I might have to make a batch right now!! 

Moroccan Fish

I found a recipe on the internet last week for Moroccan fish. The only thing is it calls for turmeric which I am sooo allergic to and never have in the house. So I substituted my own things. The recipes is not the one I found it's a substituted version, because I also didn't have paprika... Who doesn't have paprika, this girl. I think this recipe would also be good with chicken! Ps. I forgot to take a picture before we ate it... So all I heave is the empty plate!  I served with boxed cous cous and fruit.

Ingredients: 1 zucchini, finely chopped

2 large carrots chopped

1 tbs of oil

1 clove of garlic

1 small onion

1 can of diced tomatoes 

1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes 

Pepper to taste

1/2 tsp of cinnamon

1/4 tsp of cumin

1/2-1 tsp cayenne pepper- since I didn't have paprika. If you have it... ( 2tsp of paprika, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper) 

2 tbs of capers

4 filets of white fish, I used tilapia 

Directions:

Chop zucchini, onion and carrots

Heat oil and garlic in a pan

Add veggies, cayenne pepper and sauté until soft

Add tomatoes and cumin, cinnamon, cayenne and pepper

Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer for 5 min

Spread room for fish( I used frozen tilapia) 

Place fish in pan and cover and simmer for 7-10 minutes.

Add capers and serve! 

Frozen garlic

Almost every recipe I use that is not for cookies or cakes has garlic in it. I love garlic but I do hate chopping it and having all over my hands. When I was working for Trader Joes I found these frozen garlic cubes and they have changed my life. Ok not totally changed, but I love how convenient they are. One cube equals a clove, you just pop it out into whatever dish you are making.  I have only found them at TJs but I'm sure other places have to carry them. I just stock up when I go to TJs. Ps they also come in basil which I also use. Try them out! 

Eggplant,chicken and spinach

I haven't posted in over a month! However, I have been baking and cooking almost everyday! Some meals are out of a box, I won't lie. But I have been using a lot of fresh ingredients and creating new meals.  Last week I was in the grocery store and they had eggplant, I love eggplant.... M hates eggplant. I bought it, held on to it and never used it. So on Monday I looked up a way to use it. I found a recipe on all recipes.com and of course didn't have all the ingredients so I created my own. Below is an awesome recipe because the eggplant didn't get mushy and M loved it. Enjoy. 

1 medium size eggplant

1 small zucchini

1 red onion sliced

2 garlic cloves

1tbs oil

3 cups of spinach

1lb of boneless chicken breasts

1 (15oz) diced tomatoes 

1tbs Italian seasoning

1 tbs of basil

1/2 tsp ground garlic

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Directions: heat oil and garlic in a large pan. Add onion, eggplant, zucchini and let cook 5 minutes. 

Cut up chicken into cubes and add to the pan. Cook 5-7 min until chicken is cooked! Add spinach, stir. Add tomatoes and seasoning, mix and simmer 7-10 minutes. I served mine with boxed cheddar buiscuts and cantaloupe. 

Dinner for two

I love meals you can just whip out at the last minute! Tonight, was one of those nights when I couldn't go to the store and needed a meal with everything already in the kitchen.  So tonight we had cheesy ranch chicken. The directions are below but no pictures this time, we ate it too quickly! 

Cheesy Ranch Chicken

Ingredients: 2 chicken breasts ( ours were frozen but ran them under warm water )

1/4c mozzarella shredded cheese ( used Italian blend)

1/4c  Parmesan 

1/4 c cheddar shredded cheese (used Mexican blend) 

1/2 sleeve of ritz crackers (crushed)

1 tsp Italian seasoning 

1/2packet of ranch dressing powder

Ranch dressing

Directions: put all seasonings in a zip lock bag. Put some ranch dressing in a bowl then roll chicken in it. Then put each chicken breast in mixture and shake. Put in a 8x8 pan and bake 400 for 20 min (35min if frozen) I served this with crescent rolls and edamame. Will make again soon! 

Enchiladas!!!

One of my favorite recipes to make are enchiladas!! The best part of this recipe is you add what you have on hand and it's always good.  I make this recipe at least twice a month, it makes enough for leftovers too!  

Ingredients: Basic recipe-of course i add whatever else I have on hand.  

1 small onion-chopped

1/2 of green pepper-I also used red and banana pepper

3 cups of shredded chicken breast

1 can of no-salt diced tomatoes

1 block of philadelphia cream cheese

1 package of taco seasoning

1/2 cup of mexican cheese

8- 6inch tortillas 

Directions:  

Heat oven to 350'.  Add onion and peppers with oil to a pan and sauté.  

 Stir in chicken, tomatoes, cream cheese, taco seasoning and a little pepper.  ( I also used black olives) 

Spoon 1/3 cup of mixture into tortilla and put with the slit down.  When you have put all of the tortillas in the pan add the extra sauce mixture on top.  Bake covered for 15-20 minutes. 

I usually serve with mexican rice and mexican beer.  But when we don't have mexican beer we have IC Light Mango!  Enjoy friends!!!!

Baked fish in foil packets

Over the past couple of months dinners have been hectic.  We ate out a lot and didn't eat healthy that's for sure.  But one meal I made at least once a week.  It was the baked fish in foil packets.  One of my favorite things about this recipe is that you can do so much with it.  The basic recipe is below but I would change it up a bit by using a different fish (salmon, cod, tilapia) whatever we had on hand, different veggies and added a sauce.  

Ingredients:

1 lb of fish- (i used flounder)

2 handfuls of baby spinach

1 quarter of an onion

20 or so little tomatoes

Strips of zucchini

4 sprigs of thyme

1/2 lemon

salt and pepper

oil

Directions: Preheat oven to 400'.  Lay out two sheets of foil.  Pile zucchini on the bottom then had a handful of spinach to each packet.  Lay fish on top and season with salt and pepper.  Add the onion, tomatoes, and thyme.  Squeeze the lemon juice on top and add the oil.  Close the foil and lay side by side on the baking sheet.  Bake for 18-22 and enjoy!!!   

Other variations I have used Salmon-honey-pecans-spinach-cauliflower.   Tilapia-zucchini-squash-cajun seasoning.  

ugh so i suck.  Haven't posted since April, but to be fair.... my husband graduated with his ph.d., it was summertime, i worked like a crazy person, we vacationed, my hubby got a job in Virginia at a university and we moved.  So finally we are starting to settle in and thought hey, i should probably get back to my blog. Not that many people read it but I do enjoy putting recipes and such up!
So to catch ya'll up from the last 4 months.  My next several posts no doubt will be out of order and who knows a little wacky.  but o well!

i want to post about.....


our new orleans trip and the amazing food we had= don't worry i have pictures

amazing dishes i have made in the last four months

struggles with food and crap because hey everyone has crap in their lives



and i plan to do most of this from either my bed or our back deck with a glass of wine in hand.  
so for whoever follows me... thanks, and sorry for not writing in forever!!! Here we go!

Pantry Challenge Day 3

So it's going.... For breakfast- I ate a late brunch.  Had one egg scrambled with onions and peppers with  an avocado and toast and well of course coffee.

Ollie and I ate lots of chips today but took a huge walk!!

We had softball tonight so a quick meal for dinner a pasta dish from tjs that was in the freezer and fruit. Onto day 3.  I put overnight oats in the fridge.

Better than Momma Sue's stuffed peppers

As promised I will start to post all the yummy recipes we have had in the last couple of weeks. Recently, M wanted stuff peppers like his mom's. So we found a recipe and adapted it to what we like better.

4 green peppers- we used two red two green

1lb ground beef- we used neeses suasage (hot) 

1/3. Up of chopped onion

1 can of diced tomatoes

1 tsp of Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup of uncooked rice 

1/2 cup of water 

1 cup do shredded cheddar cheese 

2 cans of tomato soup

Directions:  Boil a large pot of water.  Cut off the tops of peppers and remove the seeds.  Cook peppers in boiling water for 5 minutes. Remove and add salt and pepper to them then set aside.

In a large skillet, saute onions and beef (sausage) for about 5 minutes. (Longer if frozen) Drain off excess fat then salt and pepper it.  Add the tomatoes, rice and worcestershire sauce and water to the pan. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.  Remove from heat and then stir in the cheese.  

Preheat oven to 350' and then stuff each pepper with beef and rice mixture- there will be leftovers that we spread throughout the pan.  

 Put peppers open side up then take the two cans of tomato soup and mix them with some water to make a gravy consistency.  Pour over peppers and bake 25 to 35 minutes. We baked for 32 min.  Enjoy! and yes M said they were better than his Mom's. :) 

Pantry Challenge Day 2

So the second day of pantry challenge has been good.  But I did almost cave and buy a coffee this morning. -meanwhile, I have tons of coffee at home.  Lunch was leftovers from last night and for dinner we used our rice medley- white, brown, black and quinoa, brussels sprouts and a tilapia dish!

The tilapia was adapted from cooking light.  As usual I used what I had on hand and it still turned out delicious.

Sweet and Spicy Tilapia:
Ingredients:   2 tilapia filets
                     1/4 cup of fresh orange juice- I used honey tangerines
                     1 and 1/2 tablespoons of lime juice- i used lemon
                     1 tablespoon of brown sugar
                     1 tablespoon of EVOO
                     1 teaspoon of low sodium soy sauce
                     1/4 teaspoon of salt
                     1/4 teaspoon of pepper
                     1/4 teaspoon of cumin- i used old bay instead :)
                     1/4 teaspoon of ground red pepper
                     2 cloves of garlic- crushed
                     1/4 teaspoon of paparika

Directions:  I took my two tilapia filets out of the freezer and defrosted them all day.  Then I mixed all the ingredients together and let the filets marinate for 40 min.
Preheat the oven to broil.  Put the filets on a pan and put in oven 5-7 minutes.  Then take the leftover sauce and heat it on the stove with a little bit of flour.  Pull out tilapia put on whatever you are serving it with and pour sauce on top.   M hated the brussels sprouts so i got extra!!


                   

Pantry Challenge Day 1

Hey all, sorry it's been forever since I posted! I have had some amazing recipes since I last posted but I will load those later.  Recently, a friend from childhood posted this challenge on facebook.  Basically, for one week you make all of your meals (yes breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks) from your pantry, freezer and fridge!! I thought we should give it a whirl.  So I will post our progress on here.

As Day 1 started:  I had to make sure M had a lunch to take to school as I know several days he stops for McDonalds or Subway.  Luckily I had some turkey and cheese in the fridge.  I have to work today so I put together a casserole that I pretty much just made up.

I used ground beef- browned it with onions and garlic. Then put that on the bottom of a 8x8 pan covered that with frozen veggies, cream of chicken soup, some milk, shredded cheese, and topped with tater tots, but not just any tater tots- we didn't have regular but sweet potato, so that should be interesting!!

I'll let ya'll know how it is!! :)

Update: it turned out awesome- great for leftovers

Overnight oatmeal

Lately I have been struggling to find a breakfast that keeps me full. Also, since I work so early (5a) and have my lunch break around 9. I need something to keep me full till the end of work! I have tried yogurt with chia seeds in it and. Just don't feel satisfied! 

I found this new overnight oatmeal from skinnytaste.com and love it and had to share! Of course I changed it a bit.

I make a batch of it and use it for two breakfasts.  

Ingredients:

1/4 cup of oats

1/2 cup of almond coconut or soy milk. (I'm using almond right now but might switch to coconut)

1/4 medium banana ( I skip this and use a heaping teaspoon of Greek yogurt)

1/4 tbs of chia seeds ( I sprinkle them in ) 

1/2cup of blueberries ( I mix blueberries blackberries and raspberries) 

A squirt of honey and a pinch of cinnamon

Shake up! Put in fridge overnight

Sometimes I top it with granola or cereal! 

Getting back in the groove!

PThe past couple days family members have mentioned that I haven't been writing up my recipes and insisted I get back on it.  Boy it's been 6 months and I swear I have cooked and baked since then! I just forgot to write it down!

Tonight we had Spicy Shrimp Penne with a Spinach and Blood Orange Salad! I got the recipe for the patsta from http://damndelicious.net/ but of course changed it a bit.

 

The Spicy Shrimp Penne recipe:

Ingredients-

1/3 cup if olive oil

1/4cup of grated Parmesan cheese (I used Parmesan Romano blend) 

4 cloves of garlic minced

1tbs of brown sugar

2tsp of soy sauce

1/2 tsp -1tsp of red pepper flakes ( I used closer to a teaspoon but we like spicy!)

1 lb of medium shrimp. I used TJs already cooked shrimp

8 oz of penne ( I used whole wheat) 

Green onions and parm cheese on top

Mix oil, cheese, garlic, brown sugar, soy sauce and red pepper flakes in a zip log bag,add thawed shrimp and shake. This is when we walked the dog to let this mix marinate!

Cook penne to desired softness, meanwhile add shrimp to saucepan, drain pasta and add to shrimp mixture. Cook for 3-4 min then top with green onions and cheese.

For the salad: TJs had blood oranges in a bag for $2.99: couldn't pass that up. I had spinach on hand so served that with oranges, sunflower seeds, goat cheese and our fave dressing.  Now is when I poured myself a glass of wine! Enjoy!