A Favorite (And Easy!) Meal

This recipe is a staple in my kitchen.  It's one of the first things I learned how to cook from my dad and it's so easy that it gets made often.  That and it makes great leftovers.  Although it does contain asparagus, which is not Patrick's favorite so he grumbles a little about this one.  Oh well!

Asparagus Pasta Salad
3 c. dry pasta
1 bunch asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
2 tsp. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed
salt
pepper
crushed red pepper (optional)
grilled chicken (optional)

Cook the pasta as directed on the box.  Steam the asparagus until al dente.  In a large saute pan on medium heat, pour in the olive oil in the pan and add the garlic.  Then add the halved cherry tomatoes.  Add some salt and pepper.  When the asparagus are done steaming, add them to the saute pan.  Continue to saute and add more salt and pepper, if needed.  Pour the cooked pasta into a large bowl.  Then add the sauteed tomatoes and asparagus to the pasta and mix.  If it's on the dry side, add a little more olive oil.  Let the mixture cool a bit and then add the cheese.  You're not looking for the cheese to melt, you want it to hold its shape.  Then enjoy!

This dish doesn't really use precise measurements, so play around with it until you get it where you want it.  If you like a little more heat, add the crushed red pepper or add some plain chicken if you want to add some protein.  And this is really meant to be enjoyed at room temperature, although you can eat it whatever you want.  This is better than a traditional pasta salad because it won't spoil if you leave it out (makes it great for bringing to get togethers).

Apartment Warming Party

On Friday, we had our apartment warming party.  It was nice to finally get all our friends together and break in the new place.  The best part was all the yummy food we enjoyed.  For dinner I made homemade pizza, which I had a little trouble with in the beginning, but it ended up turning out pretty good.  I used the recipe from The Pioneer Woman Cookbook.  The recipe for the dough can be found HERE and the recipe for assembly can be found HERE.
Here was my finished product:

It was really yummy.  I highly recommend trying it out.
For dessert, I made Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Brownies, which are out of this world.  I found that recipe on FoodNetwork.com HERE.

And I also served some of the leftover Oatmeal Crasin Cookies that I made earlier in the week:

Unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures at the party, but I think everyone had a nice time visiting.  We love to entertain so we're hoping to be able to have people over again soon.

Happy 200th Post

Happy 200th post to me!  Yay!  Let's celebrate with some cookies, shall we?

Oatmeal Chocolate Craisin Cookies
adapted from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook

3/4 c. butter
1 c. brown sugar
1/2c. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. flour
2 c. rolled oats
1 c. white chocolate chips
1 c. Craisins

First, beat the butter in a mixing bowl.  Beat in the brown sugar, sugar, baking soda, and baking powder until well combined.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.  Then, slowly add in the flour.  Finally, add the oats, Craisins, and white chocolate chips.  Divide the dough in half and create two logs of dough on wax paper.  Roll up the paper and put the logs in the fridge for at least an hour.  When you are ready to bake them, heat the oven to 375, slice the logs, and place the cookies on a baking sheet.  Bake for approximately 8 minutes or until golden brown.  Makes about 48 cookies.  Let cool and enjoy!

Can I just say that these things came out delicious?  They are soft, but have a little bit of a crisp on the outside.  So good!  And in terms of calories, they're a bit healthier than your traditional cookie, so win!  Happy Labor Day Weekend!

In The Kitchen

Recently I was contacted by Jamie from CSN stores to see if I'd like to review some products on my blog.  Since we all know my obsession with free stuff, naturally I said yes.  The best part was I actually got to pick the items I wanted to review from their Cookware.com website.  Aside from exercising, I really enjoy cooking and baking (and eating - and I wonder why I have a weight loss problem!).  I've been on the hunt for a nice 13x9 baking dish and some dish towels in the blue color I want for my kitchen.  So this is what I chose:

I chose a beautiful Le Creuset  12x9.5 baking pan in lime green and a set of MUbamboo kitchen towels in Pacific.  I choose the pan because the pan I currently have in this size doesn't cook evenly and it burns the edges of stuff while the middle isn't done yet.  Let me just say this new pan was the solution to my problems.  In the Le Creuset pan I baked a batch of brownies.  I found that it decreased the cooking time, but it cooked evenly.  I mean, look at how nice they look in the oven:

And here's the finished product:

Yum!  These came out so good.  The towels are also quite lovely.  The kitchen towels I currently have are ok.  They just don't absorb much, which is kind of obnoxious since that's the whole point of a kitchen towel!  These MUbamboo towels are awesome at soaking up whatever.  And the color is really pretty, although my crappy camera doesn't do it justice:

 

I also figured you might want the recipe for these bad boys:

 

This brownie recipe was given to my by my grandmother.  I wanted a recipe that produced a nice fudgy brownie from scratch.  No box.  Of course my grandmother had the solution!

Memere's Brownie Recipe

In a large mixing bowl, combine the following:

3/4 c. flour

1 c. sugar

6 tbsp. cocoa powder

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

To the dry ingredients add:

1/2 c. soft shortening (DON'T use butter)

2 beaten eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 tbsp. oil

Mix until blended.  If you like, you can add nuts, chocolate chips, or other goodies.  Bake in an 8x8 pan at 350 degrees about 30-35 minutes.  The trick is to not over-bake them.  In fact, I've found that just a little underdone is perfect.  If you are using a 13x9 pan, simply double the recipe.

Happy Baking!

Thank you to CSN stores, who provided the products I reviewed at no cost to me.  The review is all my own.

Delicious Penne alla Vodka!

Ok, so I've already made this recipe twice in the last week and a half.  And I thought it was amazing!  I even made it for a group of people and I got their seal of approval as well.  I again need to give credit to the Cook Yourself Thin Cookbook.  I just love that these recipes are healthy, delicious, and quick!  Here's the recipe:

Penne alla "Not-ka"

2 tsp. olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1/2 c. chopped red onion
3/4 tsp. salt
14 oz. can diced or whole tomatoes in juice, pureed in a food processor
Pinch of red pepper flakes
8 oz. penne
1/4 c. whipping cream
6 tbsp. evaporated nonfat milk
1/3 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 c. shredded fresh basil
1/8 tsp. black pepper

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the penne.
2. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil and garlic, until the garlic begins to brown.  Add the onion and 1/4 tsp. of salt, cover and cook until onion is soft.  Add the tomato and remaining salt and red pepper flakes.  Bring to a simmer and then reduce heat and simmer gently for about 10 minutes.  Then stir in the cream and evaporated milk and simmer a minute more.
3. After the sauce has cooked for 5 minutes, add the penne to that water and cook until just shy of al dente.  Drain and reserve about a half cup of pasta water.  Add the pasta to the sauce and simmer until the pasta is al dente.  If the mixture is a little dry, add some of the reserved pasta water.  Add 1/4 cup of cheese, the basil, and pepper.  Mix thoroughly.
4. Divide the pasta into 4 servings (approx. 371 calories each) and garnish with the remaining Parmesan cheese.

Here are my alterations:

• We're not big fans of onion, so I omitted that entirely.
• If you don't have a food processor, like me, use a blender!
• I didn't have fresh basil, so I used some dried basil.  Just remember to use less because the flavor is more potent.

And for your viewing pleasure:

 

And it takes just as good as it looks!  Enjoy!

Sauteed Spinach with Grilled Turkey Sausage

Last night I got to trying out my new cookbook:

I think I mentioned that I purchased this cookbook over break.  Really, it's the first cookbook I ever bought myself so that's kind of neat.  I wanted something that would have healthy meals (for me) that are still flavorful (for Patrick).  Last night I made the Sauteed Spinach with Grilled Turkey Sausage (with a few modifications).  Here's the recipie:

Sauteed Spinach with Grilled Turkey Sausage

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 lb. (about 1 package) turkey sausage, cut into 1 in. rounds

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 10 oz. packages of baby spinach

1 lemon

1/4 c. chicken broth, low sodium

salt

pepper

Here's how you make it:

Heat a Dutch oven on medium heat on the stove; add the oil and sautee the garlic and sausage.  Zest the lemon and juice the lemon and set it aside.  Then add the spinach, chicken broth, lemon juice and zest to the pan.  Cover and cook until spinach is cooked down, about 5 minutes.  Halfway through, give the spinach a turn with some tongs so it cooks evenly.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Here were my modifications:

I used a package of sun-dried tomato chicken sausage instead of the turkey sausage.

I only used 1 bag of spinach because I don't have a pan big enough for 3 bags.

I didn't zest the lemon because I realized I don't have a zester.

I used a frying pan instead of a Dutch oven (hence why I don't have enough room for all that spinach!).

Really, this recipe was so easy!  And I thought the spinach was really flavorful and the sausage I used complimented the flavors nicely.  The recipe was intended to serve 4 people with 272 calories per serving, but I made some changes that would affect those numbers.  And because I feed two boys, it all got eaten.  I served it with rice pilaf (from a box).  Here are the results:

I think it doesn't look as nice as it tastes.  This picture makes me realize that we need to get smaller plates.

This picture was taken by Patrick.  The funny thing is that he was making fun of me for taking pictures of my food, but then he decided I wasn't doing a good enough job, so he snapped this one for me.  Anyway, I highly recommend trying this recipe and I hope you all have a great weekend!

Chicken Sausage Omlete

This recipe that I came up with is seriously my new favorite meal!Chicken Sausage Omelet

1 egg and 1 egg white

1 link chicken sausage (I use Trader Joe's sun-dried tomato flavor, but you can pick your favorite), cut up into small pieces

1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup baby spinach

salt and pepper

I take the egg and egg white and beat them together with a bit of salt and pepper. Then you pour it into a frying pan. I prefer to cook the eggs cook all the way and then add the good stuff. Then you fold the egg in half and enjoy!

The first time I made this it look less like an omelet and more like scrambled eggs with stuff mixed in. As the photo shows, I have gotten much better at my omelet technique.