Pasta with Tomato, Sausage and Spinach

I almost thought this one was destined for the trash can.

When I pulled the spinach out of the refridgerator and realized most of it was a wilted mess, I was pretty sure I would be eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for dinner. Lucky for me, I managed to salvage just enough of the good leaves.

Then, because I used a regular stainless steel pan, the lean turkey sausage stuck to the bottom of the pan like glue and started to burn. I added a little extra oil and tried to turn down the heat a notch to keep it from burning, but it wasn't helping.

The browned bits were more like burnt bits. Things really weren't looking good.

I added the tomatoes — which helped — but the possibility of an edible meal still looked a little bleak. I'm not going to lie.

Then, came the pasta's cooking water. The browned.. er, burned bits came up with ease and the tomatoes helped create a decent-looking sauce. It was much darker than the photo accompanying the recipe, but then again when does it ever look exactly like the photo?

I added the spinach and the cheese and took a bite, hoping for the best.

And you know what? I wasn't bad. I almost would call it delicious. Maybe.

It may have not been the most successful dish, and I probably wouldn't have served it to guests. But it certainly wasn't headed for the trash can.

Next time, though, I think I'll go with fresh spinach and a nonstick pan.



Pasta with Tomato, Sausage and Spinach
Adapted from Cooking Light

1/2 pound short-cut pasta (I used orecchiette)
1 tbsp olive oil
2 links lean hot Italian turkey sausage (about 6 ounces)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved if large
salt and pepper
3 cups fresh baby spinach
Parmesan, for spinkling at the end

Cook the pasta according to package directions, reserving 2/3 cup of the cooking liquid at the end.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Remove the casing from the sausage, then add the sausage to the pan, breaking it up as it cooks. Cook until browned — about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant about 30 seconds.

Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper; cover and cook 2 minutes. Mash the tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon to break them up. Cover, reduce the heat to low and cook for 3 minutes.

Then, add the reserved liquid and the spinach, scraping up any browned bits with the wooden spoon. Cook until the spinach just starts to wilt. Sprinkle with Parmesan.

Macaroni and Cheese with Bacon and Sage Breadcrumbs

This, my friends, may go down in history as one of the best macaroni and cheeses I've made to date.

Not kidding.

It all started with a serious craving for macaroni and cheese. Then, I was thinking how awesome it would be to put crumbled bacon in my macaroni and cheese.

In fact, that's what went on my meal plan this week — Macaroni and Cheese w/ Bacon. I figured I'd cook up some bacon, stir it into a basic roux based cheese sauce, top with some dried breadcrumbs and call it a day.

Then, inspiration struck. Later in the week I have Tilapia with Mashed Yams and Bacon Sage Breadcrumbs on the menu. I've made it once before and I remember LOVING the breadcrumbs. They were lick the plate good.

So, wouldn't it be great to top with macaroni and cheese WITH the Bacon Sage Breadcrumbs? Yes, it would.

I made the bacon, used the bacon drippings to toast up the sage and fresh whole wheat breadcrumbs, then stirred the bacon into the macaroni and cheese as planned and topped it with the sage breadcrumbs.

It was pretty much over the top deliciousness.

And get this — it's actually pretty healthy! It's still not exactly a low calorie dish, but I used low fat cheese, whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta, 1% milk and center cut bacon to make it a better-for-you splurge.

Then, so I wasn't tempted to dig into the second serving, I baked it in individual ramekins. But, if you have willpower of steel, go ahead and bake it in one casserole dish.

Macaroni and Cheese with Bacon and Sage Breadcrumbs
Inspired by Bon Appetit
Serves 2

For the macaroni and cheese:
4 oz. short cut pasta (mine was a mix of medium shells and whole wheat penne)
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
3/4 cup 1% milk
1/2 cup of any good melting cheese, shredded (I used half 2% cheddar and half swiss)
salt and pepper to taste
pinch of cayenne pepper

For the breadcrumbs:
2 slices center cut bacon, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs made from whole wheat bread pulsed in a food processor
1/2 tbsp chopped fresh sage

Preheat the oven to 350° and bring a large pot of water to boil.

Once the water is boiling, cook the pasta just short of al dente, drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, crisp up the bacon in a small skillet over medium heat. Once crisp, remove from pan and drain on paper towels. Add the breadcrumbs and sage to the pan and cook, stirring frequently, until the breadcrumbs start to toast up - about 5 minutes. Keep an eye on them though! They burn easily. When done, remove from pan and set aside.

In the pot you made the pasta in, melt 1 tbsp of butter over medium heat. Then, stir in the flour, whisking to combine completely. Let cook for a minute or two, but don't let it darken. Gradually stir in the milk, whisking to combine. Cook over medium-low heat until it thickens up (mine took a minute or two.. it thickened up really fast!), then add the cheese stir and until just melted. Add salt, pepper and cayenne to taste.

Then, add the reserved pasta and bacon crumbles to the cheese, stirring to mix everything up. Divide the macaroni and cheese between two 8 oz. ramekins and top with the reserved breadcrumbs.

Put the ramekins on a baking sheet and bake until the cheese is warm and bubbly and the crumbs are crispy — about 15 to 20 minutes.

Gnocchi with Chorizo and Spinach

A few weeks ago I was browsing my local Aldi store, when I found a package of shelf-stable gnocchi. It wasn’t on my list, but I’m unable to pass up a good deal so I threw it in my cart.

I was trying to figure out something to do with it a few days ago when inspiration finally struck.

Make a riff on this Manchego and Chorizo Pizza but use gnocchi instead of a pizza crust. After all, I can’t turn down gnocchi OR chorizo.

I took a lot of liberties with the original idea. The pizza recipe calls for broccoli rabe, which I subbed for spinach. Truthfully, every time I’ve made the pizza I’ve used spinach.

Broccoli rabe or even regular broccoli would work with the gnocchi, too. I’m all for cleaning out the fridge and using what you’ve got.

Lastly, for the cheese, I subbed parmesan for the manchego. And, I wanted something a little saucier so I used canned fire roasted tomatoes. If you want something with less sauce, use fresh romas. Want something less chunky? Go with canned crushed tomatoes.

The result is kind of like a Spanish-Italian mash up. It’s Spatalian. Or better yet, Italianish.

No? OK. Let’s just call it delicious.

Gnocchi with Chorizo and Spinach
Inspired by Cooking Light’s Manchego and Chorizo Pizza

2 links chorizo sausage, diced
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
4 big handfuls baby spinach
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1 package shelf-stable gnocchi

Bring a large pot of water to boil.

While the water comes up to a boil, heat large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and chorizo to the pan. Cook until the onion softens up and the chorizo begins to brown.

Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil. Simmer until the sauce thickens up - about 5 minutes or so.

When the water comes up to a boil, add gnocchi and cook according to package directions.

While the gnocchi cooks, add the spinach to the tomato sauce and let it wilt down. Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper to taste.

Drain the gnocchi. Add to the skillet with tomato sauce and stir to combine. Top with grated cheese.

Gnocchi with Kale

A funny thing happened while I was making dinner last night. Well, not exactly funny. More like hilariously tragic.

I saw the "recipe" in a magazine. It's simple, really. Boil some gnocchi. Warm up a pan with some olive oil, wilt the kale, add some salt, pepper and lemon zest. Add the cooked gnocchi and voila.

I was doing great until pepper.

I have one of the those pepper grinders from the store with the peppercorns in jar with a plastic grinder screwed on the top. The plastic grinder kept jamming and my response was to just turn the grinder harder.

Wrong choice.

The grinder top came flying off and the entire contents of the jar spilled into my pot of wilted kale. The jar was full, by the way.

I tried to fish out the kale, but I still ended up with a lot of whole peppercorns in the final dish. Oh well, not worst mishap in the kitchen and probably won't be the last.

It would have been a great dish minus all the pepper. At least it looks pretty!

What's your worst cooking mishap? Mine is probably the time I made a chicken and rice casserole for my friends when I was first learning to cook. I forgot to cover the dish while it baked and I ended up serving them rice pellets. Not good.

Edited to add: My Whole Wheat Banana Bread Muffins made the Foodbuzz Top 9. Awesome! Thanks Foodbuzz!

Roasted Vegetable Pasta

I'm one of only a few single people in my department at work. Most are married with kids, married without kids, or planning their weddings. There might even be a couple who, although not married, are in a relationship.

I'm none of these things.

You can usually tell who the single people are, just by how they eat. Many eat daily in the cafeteria, warm up frozen dinners or bring the same sad looking sandwich every day.

Many single people I know don't see the value in cooking for just themselves. They'll learn to cook when they get married or move in with someone, they say. Afterall, most veggies, meats, etc. don't come in single-serve packages.

I understand their reasons, but I disagree. I don't have to wait until I'm married to feed myself well.

It's true, most things don't come in single-serve packages. But, I've developed lots of strategies for dealing with family-sized packaging.

For one, there's this Roasted Vegetable Pasta. It's a good go-to recipe when you have bits of odds and ends in the produce drawer that need using up.

I used the mushrooms, tomatoes and onions that it called for. But really, you could use just about anything that's good roasted. Broccoli, green beans, brussels, squash. Heck, you could probably even have zucchini or summer squash.

Instead of wine, you could try balsamic vinegar. That'd be good, too. If you don't want onions, try tossing in some garlic instead.

If you decide to mix it up a bit, definitely keep the tomatoes. They burst when you roast them and add a sauciness to the dish. The tomatoes are my favorite part.

What are your go-to meals when you need to clean out the veggie drawer?

Penne with Broccoli

I know I've written about this recipe before, but I love one pot meals so much I can't help but share it again.I've increased my workout schedule so I can not die running a 5K in 6 weeks. By the time I make it home from work and the gym, it's almost 7 p.m. So, quick meals are definitely the way to go on weeknights.

There's not much quicker than this Penne with Broccoli. It cooks quick and cleans up quick, too. That makes it a winner in my book.

I washed it down with the last of the super classy wine from a box. It was suprisingly pretty good, and in my defense, it came from World Market. This was no Franzia.

What's your favorite one-pot meal?

Pasta on a budget

One of my main goals this year is to save more money. The other day, my mom offered to let me move back in for a year to save up some cash -- hopefully enough to make a 20 percent down payment on a house or condo with enough leftover for an emergency fund. My dad also seems super excited about this because whatever I pay them in rent can go toward paying off their house.

But before I uproot my life in the name of savings, I wanted to do a better job of seeing where my money goes.

I refigured my budget so I can see where my money is going every month.

I thought I knew, but I'm spending more than I think I am. For one, my grocery budget is out of control to the tune of about $300 a month. That seems outrageous for one person. To put it in perspective, it's EVERYTHING I buy at the grocery store in a month -- laundry detergent, shampoo, pet food, etc. -- not just the food I eat. Plus, I don't eat out except for an occasional happy hour with some friends or lunch out with coworkers.

Still, if my goal is to save more and free up money to do things out of my comfort zone, my food budget is probably a painless way to cut. If I count my pennies, I may even come under budget this month.

To start my money-saving efforts off right, I pulled together this Spaghetti with Tuna, Lemon, and Breadcrumbs. Pasta, canned tuna, lemon and homemade whole wheat breadcrumbs? What could be cheaper?

The most expensive part of this meal was the kalamata olives, which were $2.99 for a jar of store-brand olives.

It came out to 500 calories, 9 grams of fat and 4 grams of fiber, which isn't bad. (You can make it fewer calories by using 2 oz pasta per serving rather than 3 oz. ) And you know, it tasted pretty great, too. If you don't like canned tuna with pasta, then this isn't for you, but if you like tuna, lemon and the saltiness of kalamata olives, you'll probably like this.

I am the Leftovers Queen

Woo hoo! I made the Foodbuzz Top 9 with my last post! I am so ridiculously excited about that. So head over there and check it out.

Now I almost feel bad following up a stellar post with leftovers. Oh well, nothing much I can do about that, I suppose!

Last night's dinner was pretty boring, actually. Just leftover mac and cheese with kale and a sad looking side salad:



Oh, and a cup of Trader Joe's Cranberry Green Tea. If you can find it, it's delicious! It is kind of licorice-y, but I kind of like that. I was cold and tired so it was the perfect pick-me-up.



After dinner I headed out of a night of trivia at a local bar with a college alumni group. We actually came in a close second, I think out of maybe 10 teams? Good thing the group I was with knew some of the answers. I may be the Leftovers Queen but I'm definitely not the queen of trivia. I should've known more with categories such as one-hit wonders, TV show theme songs and movie quotes. Too bad it didn't include quotes from Anchorman or Napoleon Dynamite because I can practically recite those movies.

Tonight's dinner will still be leftovers because it's been a crazy week, but tonight's should be exciting, I promise.

Two Budget-Friendly Meals

I have so much to catch up on! For one, I spent all last week dog sitting this cutie pie. She looks so sad that her parents were out of town:




I planned to blog all week and even snapped a few photos of the meals I made while at my parents, but realized I couldn't upload them or edit them because I shot them all in raw format and the software to convert them to jpegs is on my home computer. Oops.

But I do have good news. I found out Thursday that I do have a job and I get to continue doing pretty much what I do now. Plus, it happened to be a promotion! It is such a relief to go into the holidays knowing 100% that I have a job. I was pretty sure I would end up with something, but nothing is ever certain. In fact, I was nearly certain I wouldn't even have to reapply for my job to begin with, but I was wrong about that.

Either way, I'm still gainfully employed and with more money to boot. I feel so rich. I think I'll enjoy the feeling while it lasts because soon enough I'll probably be thinking.. darn I could use a little more money. Not that I would spend it. Ever since my sister and my brother-in-law moved into their house this summer, I have house envy! For me to buy a home responsibly that would mean 20 percent down and an 8 month emergency fund.. and um, that's a lot of money to come up with! I'm saving like crazy.. so someday!

I should actually talk about some food. Speaking of frugality.. I made two budget-friendly meals this weekend that I actually liked. The first was an actual recipe: Winter Lentil Soup. This is super cheap for several reasons: There's not a whole lot cheaper that dried lentils and canned diced tomatoes. Plus, seasonal veggies — like the sweet potatoes — are a great bargain right now. The only potentially pricey ingredients are the fresh herbs. But it's a soup that simmers a while, so dried is fine. That's what I used.

Plus, look at how pretty it is.



The downside is that I ended up with a ton of leftover kale. So I made Annie's Mac and Cheese and stirred in sauteed kale with garlic.




I put in a baking dish, covered it with the bread crumbs I made with the leftover bread from Saturday and leftover grated parm.. and baked it at 350 until the bread crumbs toasted up.. about 20 minutes. It was a little dry, so I might make the cheese sauce with more milk than it actually calls for knowing that it's going in the oven. Otherwise it came out great and not bad for a) repurposing the ingredients I had on hand and b) dressing up a boxed mac and cheese dinner. I usually just go with stirring broccoli in, but the kale and bread crumbs was a welcome change of pace.

I know there's lots of Annie's mac and cheese eaters out there.. how do you like yours?

Penne with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage

I apologize for the long absence. I received some potentially awful news at work last week, and it has taken me a week to process it and regroup.

I've also struggled with what to say about it, if anything at all. Obviously, this is mostly a food blog, but obviously — stress and emotions in general — can make a direct impact on the food choices I make in a day. So in my mind, it's completely relevant.

I'm not much of an emotional eater, truthfully, and I'd like to think I can *mostly* handle bad news with poise. All things considered, I handled the breakup of my 3-year relationship last year well. Externally, at least. I took a day to cry it out, and then it was business as usual. Eating-wise, when under that much emotional stress I completely lose my appetite. So there wasn't any gallons of ice cream consumed or anything like that.

This time it's a bit different. Unlike a breakup, which is final, things are a bit in limbo at the moment. In a month's time things can go really, really well, but things could also end up in the toilet. While I'm fairly sure things will be fine in the end, there's no certainty and that's the bit that's driving me nuts.

My stress levels are much better this week, but last week was all kinds of a mess. I abandoned my usual healthy routine. I did make it to the gym over the weekend and yesterday, but a wrench was thrown into my plans for today and I'm traveling for work the rest of the week.

My schedule for the next few weeks, actually, is just as crazy. That's why I'm thankful for meals like this Penne with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage. It's practically a 15-minute meal. You can't beat that with a stick.

I wasn't in love with the broccoli rabe, but I don't think that's the fault of the recipe. I remember liking it in this dish, but for some reason, I found it to be way too bitter this time. Does anyone know how to cut back on the bitterness? Other than that it was pretty tasty, but I don't think you can really go wrong with turkey sausage, garlic and pasta.

On the side was a frozen vegetable medley from Aldi's. Trader Joe's actually used to carry it, and probably still does. I can't remember what the blend I bought is called, but it was always called the Brittany Blend at TJ's. It's yellow and green beans with baby carrots - two of my favorite veggies!

Pasta alla Norma

Pasta alla Norma

It's only Tuesday and this just hasn't been my week. Last night I planned to meet a friend at a minor-league baseball game, but it was standing room only when we got there a half hour before the game started.

I guess it was a blessing in disguise because instead of the three hot dogs and beer I planned to eat (it was dime-a-dog) I had a healthy bowl of tofu and veggie stir fry with brown rice an Mongolian BBQ. It may have been good for the waistline, but I was really looking forward to eating crappy hot dogs.

And today, I thought I was being super thrifty by making stock in the slow cooker while I was at work. I put two carcasses, tons o' veggies and covered it with water. Then my power went out.

I have no way of knowing if it was just a out and then on again or if it was out for a while — I only know it was out for less than 8 hours. I decided not to take my chances.

Meanwhile, I was super busy at work and practically had to bolt from my desk a little after noon to grab this wrap from the healthy station in the cafeteria. I try to bring a lunch on Tuesdays because it's so hard to resist the normal Tuesday wrap station complete with sweet potato chips. The was an OK substitute, but I prefer the bad for me kind.


Turkey wrap — complete with bad florescent lighting

Dinner was actually pretty good — End of Summer Pasta alla Norma. This version didn't have onions, but it definitely could use some. Maybe some red pepper flakes at the very least. It was missing something.. that's for sure. The version came from the most recent issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray and the addition of ricotta was actually pretty great. I love ricotta as a topping for pasta dishes. Here's my version as I made it tonight. I left some things out and reduced the amount of oil, pasta and cheese to keep it lower in calories.

End of Summer Pasta all Norma
Adapted from Everyday with Rachael Ray. Serves 4.

8 ounces whole wheat penne
4 tsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 eggplant, peeled and diced
2 pints grape tomatoes
salt and pepper
1 cup basil, chopped
1 cup part-skim ricotta (I used Sargento Light)

Bring a big pot of salted water to a boil, add pasta, and cook according to the package's directions and drain, reserving a bit of the pasta's cooking water.

Meanwhile, warm the oil over medium-high heat in a large saute pan. Add the garlic and let cook about a minute. Then add the eggplant and tomatoes and salt and pepper. Cover.

Cook the tomatoes and eggplant over medium-high heat, stirring half way through, until eggplant is soft and tomatoes burst — about 12 minutes. Add reserved pasta water until it forms a sauce. Add in pasta and stir in basil. Serve topped with ricotta cheese.

Italian Ravioli Casserole

Italian Ravioli Casserole

Today got off to a rough start. I was running late dropping my car off at the dealership for service. I had my dad meet me there so we could go to work, but they gave me a rental car. So we were later getting to work than I wanted to be because I had to drop off the rental car at home.

Right before leaving for work, I slurped a strawberry-orange smoothie and poured the rest into a to-go container. I added some whey powder in this time, which was awful tasting. Lesson learned. It didn't keep me any more full, either.


Strawberry-Orange Smoothie

I get to work to find out I accidentally scheduled a meeting for next Monday that I intended to schedule for today. Luckily, the day turned itself around mid-morning and things were looking up. And when all else fails, have some carbs. My mid-morning snack ended up being a Trader Joe's whole wheat mini bagel and almond butter.

Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to work out in the gym downstairs. I had a short window of time after lunch where my food had digested enough and I would still have time to make it back upstairs and compose myself so I didn't go to my 3 o'clock as a sweaty mess. But I got a phone call from a guy I was waiting to hear back from for like a week, and I missed my window. Oh well. If there's one thing I learned as a journalist — when a source calls you back you'd better take the call and get the info while you can.. or you face waiting another week for them to call you back.

After my 3 o'clock I grabbed the only form of artificial sweetener you'll probably ever see me eat. Yoplait Light and some low fat granola. I especially love the raspberry flavor because it reminds me of being a kid. My mom used to buy the raspberry custard style Yoplait occasionally. Do they even still make that? I don't think so. Closest they have are the whipped light cups, which aren't quite the same.


Tastes like childhood — but with artificial sugar

When I finally made it home this evening I realized I didn't put out the tortillas for the tacos I planned to make and part of it was supposed to marinade for an hour. So, I found the Italian Ravioli Casserole recipe on myrecipes.com to use up the last of the frozen cheese ravioli I found in the freezer. The portion was small, but I liked it. Especially since I made the tomato sauce rather than getting it from a jar. I even used fresh basil from my "garden" aka railing planters. When using only a handful of ingredients, it's best to use the best tasting ones you can find! Looking forward to the leftovers tomorrow.

Tonight's snack will probably be a Skinny Cow knock-off from Aldi. Ice cream treats are another diet-y food I sometimes buy, although rarely. I just can't be trusted with the real deal. And I have yet to find a great low fat ice cream recipe and I'm craving it this week. Next week I'll probably go back to homemade or store bought sorbets, which are my usual summer treat.

Ok — now off to do some yoga before catching up on a little TV. Night!

Rainbow Peanut Noodles

Rainbow Peanut Noodles

If I had forgotten what a hunger signal was, I got a rude awakening on Saturday. I went with my family up to Cleveland for the day to see my sister and her fiance's new house. We left around 11:30 so I had a big bowl of cereal with fruit and nuts around 9:30. I even packed a Larabar. I thought about packing lunch, but figured we'd stop along the way. Nope.

We got there and did my family think to get lunch? Nope. By 3:30.. even after I had my snack, I was dying of hunger. A snack bar and a bowl of cereal doesn't last long. When I mentioned I was hungry that meant my mom and sister had to pipe up about how little they ate and they weren't complaining. That's great my mom can got 6 hours on a piece of toast and my sister can go 8 hours on coffee and a handful of triscuits, apparently I was made to be a "wuss" because my body couldn't subsist on 550 calories for 8 hours.

I did get a handful of peanuts and South Beach cereal bar my mom had in her purse, but I didn't make the best choices at dinner because I couldn't get rid of the headache I developed from being over hungry.

On the bright side, my sister's house was super cute and makes me want to save even more so I can own my own place and have the opportunity to paint and decorate things.

Today was MUCH better all around. I started my day off with another bowl of Kashi Go Lean with blueberries, pecans and vanilla soy milk and coffee with a little half and half. Then, I went shoe shopping! My right arch has been hurting on and off when I run and my left knee was starting to bother me again, so I decided it was time to plunk some money down on good shoes. So glad I did!

No pain at all.. I even went a little farther than I normally do. I should really keep track of mileage so I can replace them before the pain sets in.

I stopped in for lunch.. leftover pulled chicken from Friday night on a Trader Joe's whole wheat bun. It was much better cold, but still very vinegary.. I think I like a more sweet bbq sauce kind of pulled chicken.


Pulled Chicken Sandwich

Then off to do my grocery shopping so I could make some dinner. As I got out of the car a young guy was a couple spaces over loading up his car with his groceries -- an entire cart of gallon-sized tubs of ice cream and gallon jugs of 2% milk. Looks like he picked up the basics! I'm guessing he lives with a bunch of other guys?

I picked up stuff to make this Rainbow Peanut Noodles recipe I saw on the Splendid Table site. I usually listen to it in the car every Saturday while I'm running errands, but I've never actually made any of the recipes from the website. I wasn't disappointed.. these were fantastic! I skipped the bean sprouts since they looked awful at the store and skipped the chicken because I didn't want to fuss with making some. I think seared tofu would be excellent in this salad if you didn't want to use chicken.

Now I'm exhausted. I think I'll crawl into bed and catch up on some reading. Night!

Pasta with Two Tomatoes

Saturday's dinner, Pasta with Two Tomatoes, is prettier than the meals I ate tonight and last night. Both were good, but brownish, monotone and ugly. I decided not to subject you to that.

And not only was Saturday's meal not bad looking, it tasted pretty great, too! It was really fresh tasting with all the tomatoes. It wasn't very sauce like, so if you prefer actual sauce with your pasta this isn't for you. If you like chunks of tomato with a little olive oil and cheese, this is more your speed. The only problem with it was my mozzarella melted. But that could be my fault rather than the recipe's.

Last night I had a vegetable stir fry from Food and Wine, but I used shredded carrots instead of the cabbage, increased the vegetable broth, and decreased the oil drastically. I served it over brown rice with a couple of steamed chicken pot stickers I found in the back of my freezer. It was really good. It was still good today as leftovers and was really points-friendly despite the amount of cashews if you decrease the oil down to 1 tbsp. If you're using a nonstick pan with cooking spray you don't need a bunch of oil, especially with the sesame oil to add so much flavor.

Tonight's dinner was less successful — grilled portabellas with bulgur salad. I wanted to like it so badly.. and it wasn't awful.. it was pretty good, really. It was so involved I ended up losing patience midway through and slapped the rest together. So I can't blame the recipe for much. I did cut WAY back on the oil and tried to compensate a little with some vegetable broth, so my vinaigrette didn't come out so vinegar-y.

But 5 minutes for cooking bulgur? What planet are they on? That's definitely not long enough. At least the roasted asparagus I had on the side was good. I eat it once a week and I haven't tired of it yet!

All right — off to watch Jon and Kate Plus 8. It looks like it's going to be a bit of a train wreck this season, but I can't help but watch. That's probably what TLC is banking on.

Night!

Warm Tortellini and Cherry Tomato Salad

This Warm Tortellini and Cherry Tomato Salad looks better than it tasted. Unfortunately, it wasn't very good.

Maybe it was because I tried the whole wheat tortellini, but it was probably just bland. I agree with one of the reviews that said you should have used your favorite vinaigrette instead. It might have been better that way. I could possibly play around with this and get it to where I would like it, but I don't feel like putting in the effort.

Like most Wednesdays I feel like I could drop and fall asleep at any moment. My afternoon was so busy and I didn't get time to work out, and lately it seems like through the week if I don't go downstairs and workout in the afternoon I'll make an excuse why I "can't" go after work.

Usually, hunger just gets the best of me after work. No matter what kind of snack I have between lunch at noon and dinner at 6 p.m., I'm starving by the time I'm done with work. Plus by the time I make it to my actual gym, it's packed. I don't think I could convince my dad to stay an extra 1/2 hour so I can workout right after work at the gym downstairs.

How do you get past the excuses?

Gnocchi with Summer Vegetables

I was ravenous yesterday. I snacked all day long. And I was legitimately hungry. Believe it or not, I know the difference. The problem is stopping myself from eating too much.

Last night I had a mishap while making dinner. I piled some portobello mushrooms and pita to grill to make this recipe on a plate and set it on the side of the grill. Then, I proceeded to scrub down the grill with the bristle brush. Not my brightest idea. I have an el cheapo grill that wobbled back and forth while I scrubbed and knocked the plate off food off the grill. It landing top down on the deck, ruining dinner. Ugh.

Luckily was much, much better. No falling food and no eating everything that's not nailed down.

Considering my dinner mishap there were no photos, but I did make Gnocchi with Summer Vegetables on Sunday night. I was actually looking for a way to use up the ton of zucchini I have. For some reason I'm compelled to buy the 3-pack at Aldi. And one person doesn't really need three giant zucchini.

But then I found this recipe and it was fantastic. Even my coworkers noticed how good it looked and smelled the next day. And that's saying a lot. Leftovers don't often look appetizing no matter what they are.

Plus, this was another simple recipe that even the cooking impaired could handle. Just saute a large zucchini with salt, pepper, and a garlic clove or two in oil while you're cooking the gnocchi by the package's directions. Add in some halved grape tomatoes, cook for a couple more minutes, then add in some of the cooking water, the gnocchi, some chopped basil and a sprinkling of parmesan.

I know it will be even better when summer vegetable start making their appearance at farmers markets. I do plan to plant some basil when it gets warm and stays warm, and my mom planted a couple of tomato plants this summer that I can steal from.

In other words, I'll definitely make this again.

Linguine with Arugula Pesto

I have been such a terrible blogger lately! I just haven't even had the energy to post. That sad. Sad as in pathetic. The other issue has been my forgetfulness.

I planned all sorts of great meals last week, and I'm finally getting around to eating one of them tonight! I bought almost everything I needed, but would forget to put out the meat, forgot couldn't find an important ingredient, etc. So I ate a lot of Kashi frozen pizza, egg sandwiches, whatever was in the fridge. And I still managed to lose two pounds. Go figure.

Over the weekend I did make this arugula pesto, which is similar to this post, but healthier. And less grassy tasting. Probably because instead of an arugula and parsley blend it was arugula and basil which made it seem more traditional — or at least closer to the pesto I'm used to. I loved it. Definitely would make this again next time I have extra arugula. And I'm trying to grow basil on my balcony, so I see lots of pesto in my future.

I made the same garlic bread I made last time, which isn't even close to being healthy. It's made on whole grain bread this time, though! At least I'm having some whole grains with my saturated fat. And isn't garlic good for cholesterol levels or whatever? So that should cancel out the fat, right? A gal can dream.

Anyone have a healthier version of garlic bread?

Cavatappi with Roasted Broccoli and Walnuts

I don't usually make meals like this. For one, I rarely use white pasta — and I have the triglycerides to prove it. The other part I don't normally do: use all the oil and butter a recipe calls for. It clocks in at 643 calories per serving, which is a little high for me, but I figured it couldn't do much harm considering I pretty much slept through breakfast on Saturday and Sunday.

I love lazy weekends.

And the Cavatappi with Roasted Broccoli and Walnuts is a rare recipe where I think cutting back on the oil and butter could be a mistake flavor-wise. I'm so glad I went ahead and made it as written for a change. Without the butter the noodles would have tasteless. I suppose, though, you could cut down on the oil used to roast the broccoli as long as you make sure it doesn't get charred to a crisp while roasting.

For as simple as it was, I really liked it. Maybe I'm butter-deprived or maybe roasted broccoli really has turned a former broccoli hater into a broccoli lover. Either way, it was the perfect choice for a weekend where I really wasn't up for much other than lounging.

Shrimp Florentine

When I made the soup earlier last week I only used half a 10 oz. box of frozen spinach. But I didn't want the other half to go to waste. So, I made Shrimp Florentine from Cooking Light.

I ended up really liking it overall, but it's another recipe where I think fresh spinach is preferable to frozen. And it's not like fresh spinach would go to waste. If I didn't use it all between the two dishes, it will always be good in salads or sauteed with garlic and olive oil for a quick side dish.

I actually did make two swaps here, though. I didn't have half and half so I used half heavy cream and half skim milk, which is basically what half and half is, afterall. And I totally messed up the garlic. Either I did it wrong or the recipe is written poorly. It burned to a crisp. I ended up mincing garlic and cooking it with the shrimp. Worked fine in the end.

What I really liked about this dish, though, was that it tasted like it was much more fattening than it really was. And I'm all for that!

Penne in Creamy Basil-Walnut Sauce

Now that I've moved, the front of my balcony faces East. I'm not certain, but I think if I can find a window box type pot that hangs over the edge of my balcony, I'll have full sun on the right side of my balcony. Possibly.

Full sun in the summer means I can plant a mess of basil, which is my favorite summertime herb. I tried growing it in my kitchen once, but because I didn't have any windows it died after only a month. A coworker also used to bring me large bunches whenever her basil started to grow like weeds in her garden, but now that I'm no longer at that job I have to come up with a new solution. My new apartment has the balcony and I think it might just work. If not, I can always grow it in pots on my mom's sun-filled deck. I might even grow a tomato plant this year. Tomatoes and basil.. yum.

Even though it's not the season for basil -- it snowed several inches over the weekend in fact -- I made a creamy pesto type pasta dish, Penne in Creamy Basil-Walnut Sauce. I bought the basil late last week for something, but it never got made. So, before it went completely bad, I tried this recipe.

Using a slice of bread to make it "creamy" seemed odd to me, but I thought, 'what the heck, it might turn out.' And you know, it wasn't bad. By all means, cream sauces with cream are better, and pesto sans cream with plenty of oil is preferable, but for a healthier for you swap it wasn't awful. I might make this again.

If anything, it made me crave warmer weather.