Pinterest Challenge Day 1 - Chicken Enchilada Pasta

Hello Internet!
Here we are at the first day of the Pinterest Challenge!  Wee!  Today we made Chicken Enchilada Pasta, which I have pinned here.  The link I have pinned takes me to some site with the ingredients listed but not the original source of the recipe, which is here (on what looks to be an awesome blog with a ton of amazing looking food btw).
Here's how it turned out!

Spicy cheesy goodness!

We made a few substitutions/additions because I can never just do what I'm told:
1) We used a tsp of chili powder in the sauce in place of the tbsp (ours is crazy spicy)
2) Used whole wheat penne in place of regular for added fibre
3) Used chicken thighs in place of breasts because we generally like them better and I'm cheap.
4) Added a small yellow and orange pepper for added veggie deliciousness
5) Used cheddar cheese in place of monterey jack because we already had it in the house and I was too cheap to buy more cheese.
6) We stuck the whole skillet in the oven at 350 for 5 mins to melt the cheese.



Here's how we rank this bad boy:
Taste: A-.  It was pretty good! We both enjoyed it and are having the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.  I do think it would have been lacking without the veggies though.  In fact, if I were to make it again I would add even more veggies and maybe some black beans and probably reduce or completely eliminate the of chicken.
Cost: A-.  This was decently budget friendly.  The chicken and cheese are the only expensive ingredients here.
Nutrition: B.  As it's written, this recipe was severely lacking in veggie goodness and using regular pasta is just a missed opportunity for fibre!
Simplicity: B.  The recipe is pretty simple and was relatively quick.  My only complaint is that the order the steps are written in makes the timing of this recipe a little wonky.  In my opinions step 1 should have been to make the sauce, step 2 to boil you pasta and step 3 to cook everything else.  As it's written, the chicken is cooked well before anything else is ready to go and there's a lot of down time.
Overall: B+

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Warm and Cheesy.

If nothing else, this recipe is proof that I am NOT the food police - dietitian or not...

Individual Italian Poutine - serves 2
Spicy Tomato Sauce
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 14 oz can of crushed tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (adjust as suits your taste...we like it spicy!)
1 tsp mixed Italian herbs (oregano, basil, tarragon etc)
salt and pepper, to taste
1 package gnocchi
1/2 cup fresh mozzarella cheese, cubed
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Start by mixing up the spicy tomato sauce!  Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat and saute the onion and garlic until it starts to smell delicious and look sort of wimpy (5 mins).  Add the rest of the ingredients and stir.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and let simmer for 5-10 minutes to let the deliciousness evenly distribute.
While the sauce is simmering, cook the gnocchi according to the package directions. When everything is ready to go evenly divide the gnocchi, sauce and cheese into 2 small oven-safe baking dishes and toss everything together.  Top with the grated Parmesan.  Switch on the broiler and stick the baking dishes in the oven for about 5 minutes.  Remove from the oven, let the dishes cool for as long as you can stand it, then devour! Aaaamazing!

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Episode 105 - Pumpkin Lasagna V.2.0

Just a little under a year ago I wrote about this Fall-style pumpkin lasagna.  It was rich.  It was creamy.  It was not waist-line friendly.  Nope, not even a little bit.  This version is lighter but equally delicious.  Don't skip the sage; it makes the whole recipe!

Pumpkin Lasagna - minus a few pounds of saturated fat. 

1 lb lean ground beef
3 cups of your favourite tomato sauce
12-15 oven -ready lasagna noodles
1.5 cups smooth ricotta cheese
1 cup canned pumpkin ( NOT pumpkin pie filling!)
1 egg
2 sprigs fresh sage
1 tsp oil
pinch of nutmeg
smaller pinch of cloves
salt and pepper to taste
3 cups mozzarella, shredded
1/2 cup Parmesan, shredded

Preheat the oven to 375 F.
First you need to put your fillings together!  Brown up your ground beef in a medium pot over medium-high heat.  Drain off most of the fat and then mix in your tomato sauce.  If your sauce came from a can (shame on you!) I'd recommend adding some herbs and spices at this point - maybe some oregano or basil.  Voila - tomato sauce done.
Next do the pumpkin layer.  Start by cooking your sage in a small frying pan with the oil over medium heat.  This should only take a few minutes - you want it to get wilt-y and to start smelling delicious.  Toss the cooked sage into a medium bowl and add the ricotta, pumpkin, nutmeg, cloves and salt and pepper.  Mix everything until it's smooth then add in your egg.  Stir until the egg is well incorporated and you're done!
Now for the fun part - construction! Start by adding a few ladles of tomato sauce into the bottom of your lasagna pan.  Place a single layer of noodles on top.  Top this with about half of the pumpkin/ricotta mixture, 1/3 of the remaining tomato sauce and 1 cup of the mozzarella.  Add another layer of noodles and repeat all of the layers a second time - pumpkin/ricotta, tomato, cheese.  Finish with a final layer of noodles topped with the last of the tomato sauce, the last cup of mozzarella and the Parmesan.  Stand back and admire your work - looks delicious already!  Now cover that baby with some tinfoil and bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes.  Remove the tinfoil and bake for another 15 minutes.   Last, but not least, remove the lasagna from the oven and let it sit to cool for at least 15 more minutes.  This will help it set up and to not be a complete goopy mess when you cut into it. Enjoy!

This mass of cheesy perfection was a perfect way to end a perfectly relaxing weekend.  That's a lot of perfection! It started with a last minute massage (where I was told I need to attend "posture rehab"), a glass of wine and some comfy pyjamas, was filled with a low-key board game party and is now ending with some cheese and more pyjamas.  Yep, my weekend was a pyjama sandwich.  How was yours?

Pj party!

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Episode 93 - Fancy Pants Date Night

Don't you love date night?  I love date night.  Cuddling, cooking, eating, drinking...  Yep, date night is pretty much the best ever.  So internet, prepare your couch, some pjs and your taste-buds!  This one is really yummy!

Veal Marsala

1/2 lb whole-wheat linguine
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cups sliced cremini mushrooms
4 slices prosciutto, diced
4 slices veal scallopini
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup Marsala wine
4 tbsp butter, divided
salt and pepper, to taste

Start a pot of water boiling for the pasta and cook according to the package directions.  Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat.  Toss the mushrooms in and cook them down until they're wimpy (5-8 minutes).  While the mushrooms cook, season the veal with salt and pepper then toss it in the flour to coat it.  Shake off the excess and set it aside until the 'shrooms are done.
When your mushrooms look brown and wimpy, add the prosciutto and veal to the pan.  Cook the veal for 30 seconds to 1  minute per side then remove it from the pan.  Don't overcook it!  It cooks super fast and will get tough if you take too long.
Next add the wine to the pan with the mushrooms and prosciutto.  Bring it to a boil for 2 minutes then reduce to a simmer.  Add 2 tbsp of butter in chunks to finish the sauce.  Voila!  Sauce!  Remove it from the heat and add the veal back into the sauce and toss to cook.

So now back to the pasta.  When it's cooked, strain it, then toss it with the last 2 tbsp of butter and a pinch of salt and pepper.  To plate, toss the pasta on one side of the plate, the veal, mushroom, prosciutto and wine mixture on the other and you're done!  If you want, you can pretty-it-up with a sprig of fresh parsley.  So simple, yet so delicious!  They know what they're doing over there in Italy!

Pasta, meat and wine?  Yep, this recipe was pretty much made for date night. Try it out!

Man, Dawson is the cutest ever.

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Episode 91 - Quarantined

Dawson and I are home sick today, quarantined from the rest of the healthy world.  We are spending our sick day on the couch in grey sweats being sickies - big, lazy sickies.  Thank God for Neo Citran...

Creamy Sun-dried Tomato and Asparagus Tortellini

1 tbsp canola oil

Creamy deliciousness!

4 cloves garlic
1/2 cup asparagus, chopped into 1-inch chunks
1/4 cup diced chorizo
1/4 cup diced sun-dried tomatoes
1 cup table cream
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
8-10 leaves fresh basil, minced

1 bag frozen meat tortellini

Start a pot of water boiling for the pasta.  Cook according to the package directions.

For the sauce, heat the oil in a skillet then toss in the garlic and asparagus.  When the asparagus starts to soften add in the chorizo and sun-dried tomatoes and stir until heated through.  Add the cream, cook until it reduces a little and the sauce thickens - about 2 minutes.  Right before serving, add the cheese and fresh basil.  Pour over your cooked pasta and eat!

I am sick and un-witty and have nothing else to add to this post.  If you'll excuse me, I have a date with my pillow and some chicken noodle soup.

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Episode 86 - Thievery!

It's finally happened.  I have lost all faith in people.  Excuse me while I drown my disbelief in cheese...

Roasted Eggplant Lasagna

2 tbsp olive oil
1 head of garlic

My pictures of this lasagna were ugly.
Here is us after we ate it instead!

1 eggplant
1 container smooth ricotta cheese
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp olive oil
3 hot Italian Sausages, casings removed
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, diced
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

1 ball fresh mozzarella, grated
1/4 cup Parmesan, grated
10 oven ready lasagna noodles

First, you need to roast your eggplant and garlic to make them get sweet, creamy and delicious.  Preheat the oven to 400 F and prick the eggplant all over with a fork, slather it with about a tbsp of the olive oil and stick it on a baking sheet.  For the garlic, slice the first 1/2 inch of the head off, drizzle with the other tbsp of oil and wrap the whole thing in tinfoil.  Add to the baking sheet with the eggplant and roast for 30-40 minutes.  You will know it's done when the eggplant starts to resemble a flat tire.

While the goodies are roasting, start your tomato and sausage sauce.  Heat a large pot over medium heat with another tbsp of oil in the bottom.  Break up your sausage and add it to the pot.  Cook until it gets nice and brown, about 5 minutes.  Add in your garlic and onions and cook for another 2 minutes.  Add the tomatoes, broth, oregano, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper and let your sauce simmer until the garlic and eggplant are finished roasting.

Now you can prepare your eggplant filling.  In a medium bowl, mix the ricotta cheese, egg and salt and pepper.  Once your eggplant is looking flat, remove the baking sheet from the oven, let cool for a minute or two then slice the eggplant in half.  You should be able to scoop the soft, creamy eggplant right off the skin and add it into the ricotta/egg mixture. For the garlic, unwrap the foil at the top and squeeze the garlic right out of its skin and into the same bowl as the eggplant and ricotta. Give it a mix and you're good to go.  Wow, this recipe is long!

Now for the construction! Turn the oven down to 350 F. Put a thin layer of tomato sauce in the bottom on a lasagna pan and layer 4-5 noodles on top.  Top this with half of the eggplant, 1/3 of the mozarella and then 1/2 of the remaining tomato sauce. Repeat - noodles, eggplant, cheese, tomato sauce.  For the top, use the last of your mozarella and the Parmesan.  Mmm, cheesy.  Now cover the whole pan with tin foil and bake covered for 45 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake for another 15 minutes.  Remove from the oven, admire your work and let it rest for 10 minutes before slicing - unless you like a sloppy lasagna mess, in which case you can slice right away. Enjoy!

 So, as part of our Eating Disorder Awareness Week activities, we started this clothing donation box at work.  The box was supposed to serve two purposes:
1) To give clothes to charity, and
2) to allow people to purge those clothes in their closet that make them feel bad about themselves.  You know, those jeans you used to fit into but are now causing some serious muffin top.  The ones that either make you want to immediately drop and start doing crunches or to tearfully curl up in the fetal position and vow to avoid all further human contact until you can look half-way decent in a pair of pants? Yeah, those ones.

Naively, I donated an old pair of especially sausage-casing-esque jeans that generally made me feel like a fatty.  There was even a small amount of seam splittage happening, Internet!  SEAMS!  SPLITTAGE! Ugh, talk about bad for the self-esteem.  In any case, my donated jeans lasted all of 12 hours before someone came along and pilfered them from the box.  Seriously?!  Is this for real?!  Who steals from a donation box; from children with diabetes?!  Ugh, so that was the end of the donation box.  Between this and the sticky note incident I'm beginning to think I should stop trying to be creative and and uplifting and just go back to my usual job of extolling the benefits of fibre (it's good for more than just pooping, you know) and listening to patient #210 tell me that gluten is making them fat. Le sigh.

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Episode 81 - Fit for a King

So internet, what did Santa bring you this year?  I, for one, was spoiled rotten and can't even begin to choose what my favourite gift was!  I got everything from some incredible, thick, warm, fuzzy socks (aka. the socks of dreams) to a La Mer watch (ohhh so pretty) to a Kobo Vox e-reader.  What more could a girl ask for?  Maybe just a dinner fit for royalty...

Sunday deliciousness. 

Chicken a la King

2 tbsp canola oil
6 chicken thighs, diced
1 onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1/2 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup frozen peas
2 cups cooked whole wheat macaroni

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium high heat then add in the chicken thighs and brown on all sides.  Add the onion, peppers, salt, pepper and garlic powder and cook until the veggies soften a little.  Add in the soup and cream and bring to a boil.  Toss in your peas and reduce the heat to low.  Once your peas are warmed through (2-3 minutes) add the cooked pasta, give the whole thing a stir and serve! Yummy!

Speaking of my new Kobo - how awesome are these things?  I've alredy read, and subsequently become obsessed with, the entire Hunger Games series.  Have you read them?  So! good!  Katniss kicks bum.  When I grow up I wanna be just like Katniss...

In other news, I am happy to report that I have now been able to return to wearing pants, and all is well in the world.

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Episode 77 - Mac and Squish

Isn't squash a wonderful vegetable?  Its tasty, cheap and fun to say.  SKWASH!  Know whats even more fun? Sometimes to be cute (or at least what *I* think is cute and,which may or may not actually be cute in the real world) I call it a squish.  Acorn squish! Butternut squish! Everywhere a squish, squish... Old Macdonald had a...wait, what was I talking about again?

Ah yes, the wonders of the squish.  This squish mac and cheese is adapted from one I saw in a Rachael Ray cookbook.  She used pre-cooked, frozen squash in her version.  Personally, I don't like paying $4 to buy something I could easily get for $0.99.  I need that extra $3.01, people!  It can go towards paying off the debt I will inevitably end up in due to my recent flurry of nail polish buying (damn you Essie!).  I look at it like this - nail polish is cheaper than clothes and still makes me feel pretty.  This is my girl excuse.  I need to feel pretty.  Pretty trumps frozen rich people squish.

Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese

What the heck is that black spot? 

1 tbsp canola oil
1/2 butternut squash, guts removed
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
3/4 cup milk (whatever's in the fridge will work)
3/4 cup shredded old cheddar
2 1/2 cups cooked macaroni

First you need to roast your squash - drizzle it with olive oil, stick it on a baking sheet cut side down and roast at 425 F for about an hour.  When its done, you should be able to scoop the soft squashy-goodness right out of the skin with a spoon.  Put it in a bowl and set it aside.
Now, make your cheesy sauce - melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat then add in the flour to make a thick, disgusting paste.  Cook the paste for a minute or two, then whisk in the milk.  Let it cook for a minute to thicken and then add the cheese in little by little, until the sauce is smooth and cheesy.  Taste it and add some salt or pepper if you think it needs it - ours didn't. Scoop in the squishy squash (ha!)  and stir until well blended.  Mix the sauce with your mac and you're done what is probably the healthiest mac and cheese you've ever made.

So, what do you do with the other half of the squash? We roasted ours and stuck in in the fridge and then I ate it out of a bowl with some salt, pepper and hot sauce.  Mmmm, snack time.  People are always writing recipes telling you to add brown sugar or maple syrup to your squash to sweeten it.  Those people are crazy.  Have you ever tasted plain roasted squash?!  It's plenty sweet all on its own.  Try it with the hot sauce for some sweet and spicy deliciousness.

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Episode 68 - Fall Lasagna of Dreams

So, not to pat myself on the back or anything, but oh my, oh my, oh my, was this ever good! Thats right - 3 "oh mys"!!!  Cheese, layered with a pumpkin cream sauce and spicy italian sausage?  Yeah, this one was a good idea.

So. Much. Cheese.  P.S. this is a terrible picture. 

1 tsp olive oil
3 hot Italian sausages, casing removed
1/2 lb extra lean ground beef
1/2 onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp flour
2 cups cream (18%)
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
3/4 cup canned diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground sage
9 oven ready lasagna noodles
2 cups mozarella cheese, shredded
1/2 cup emmentaler cheese, shredded

Heat the oil in the bottom of a large pot over medium heat.  Add the sausage and ground beef and break it up a bit with a wooden spoon - you don't want any big chunks.  When it's about 1/2 way cooked add in the garlic and onion.  When the meat is fully browned do not drain the fat! Gross, I know, but you'll need it to thicken your cream sauce.  Sprinkle the flour evenly over the whole pot and stir until it disapears into the fat.  Now you can add your cream.  Mix it in and bring to a boil to start thickening it a little.  Once it boils you can reduce the heat to low and add the pumpkin, tomatoes, salt, cloves and sage.  Taste it and adjust the seasoning to your taste. 
Now to constuct the lasagna - first ladle some of the cream sauce into the bottom on the lasagna pan.  Top this layer with 3 of your oven ready noodles.  Top the noodles with a thicker layer of sauce and a 1/2 of the mozarella cheese.  Repeat - noodles, sauce, cheese, noodles sauce cheese.  The top layer of cheese should be your emmentaler.  Cover the whole delicious thing with tin foil and bake at 425 for 45 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake for another 15 minutes.  Remove from the oven, blot some of the grease that will have inevitably settled on the top and let the whole thing cool for 15 minutes before serving - this will keep it from falling apart.  So creamy.  So indulgent.  So not diet food.  Go easy on this one, kids!

In other news, it appears Fall has...fallen.  It's freezing out.  Even poor Roxie needed a scarf.  

So cute. 

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Episode 65 - Drunken Clams

Someday I will have a grown-up job.  Someday I will go house hunting and find a perfect little house with a wonderful kitchen and backyard.  Someday I will have actual counter space to cook.  Someday I won't come home to find that someone has left meat out on the counter...all day.  Someday my bathroom will be big enough for both Dawson and I to stand in at the same time.  Someday the only shelf in that bathroom will not be placed directly over the toilet and someday I will not have a daily routine of fishing my possessions out of the toilet while whispering obscenities under my breath. Someday I will buy Dawson and I matching housecoats and we will spend Sunday mornings in said housecoats with big comfy socks with giant mugs of coffee and Baileys.  Oh yes internet, someday things will be wonderful and cozy and perfect.  Now if only someday would hurry up and get here before I lose my freakin' mind...

In other news, here's a recipe!

Spicy Caesar Pasta

Have you ever tried to take a decent picture of your
dinner when you're starving?  Its hard.

1 package whole wheat spaghetti noodles

1 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 stalks of celery, diced

3/4 of a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes

1 shot of vodka

1 can baby clams

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp hot sauce 

1 tbsp liquid from a hot pepper jar

salt and pepper to taste

celery salt, dried chili pepper flakes and diced celery leaves for garnish

Parmesan cheese, grated

Start a pot of water boiling for the pasta then cook according to the package directions.  Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil starts to make noise add the garlic and celery.  Cook for about 5 minutes or until the garlic starts to brown a little.  Add the vodka and cook out the alcohol for a bit. If you're braver than I am you can even try being fancy and lighting it on fire at this point.  Next add the tomatoes, clams, Worcestershire, hot sauce and hot pepper juice and cook for another 5 minutes.  Season with the salt and pepper, toss with the cooked pasta, garnish to your liking and done!  We also added cheese on top of ours because I am a cheese fiend. 

I can't take full credit for this one as it was actually born from a slightly drunken conversation I had a at wedding recently.  We collectively came to the decision that a Caesar (the drink) was really kind of like a meal, which the of course lead to us devising ways to actually make it into a meal.  Genius.  Sheer genius.

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Episode 58 - Excuse me, but could I get that with a side of heart attack?

Ok, I take back everything I said yesterday about being fit by December, because no amount of Zumba-ing is going to reverse the damage caused by what I just ate for dinner.  In fact, I will be lucky if I survive the night without a trip to the emergency room and a prescription for Lipitor.  Oh arteries, I mourn for you...
How did I damage myself beyond repair, you ask?  I'll tell you, but be warned that if you read beyond this point you will inevitably be consumed by the idea of making and then devouring this glorious food creation and that I cannot be held accountable for what happens to you after that.  Really, this recipe should come with some sort of waiver attached.

It all started with this super old slow cooker cookbook that I have lying around.  It has all these recipes that sound really incredible but in the end are pretty lack luster and bland.  Occasionally I'll take an idea from the book but then edit 75% of the ingredients until it looks and tastes like something a little more my style, which is how this monstrosity was born.  Listen to this, internet - Slow Cooked Mac and 3 Cheeses.  Clearly, the original one, single cheese just wasn't enough for me.  Oh, no, I had to go adding other fancier cheeses from our stash.  Yes, of course we keep a cheese stash!  If you don't you should really consider it!  You know, in case of emergencies, natural disasters or zombie invasions.

Slow Cooked Mac and 3 Cheeses

1 box of whole wheat macaroni noodles
1/4 cup butter
2 eggs, beaten
1 13-oz can 2% evaporated milk
1 can cream of celery soup (concentrated)
1 can cream of chicken soup (concentrated)
1 tsp dry mustard
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup Emmentaler, shredded
1/4 cup asiago, shredded

Boil some water and cook your noodles until they're just starting to soften but are still crunchy in the middle (about 5 minutes).  Strain it and add it back to the pot.  Next, add the butter to the pot and stir to coat all of the noodles evenly.
Meanwhile, mix the eggs, evaporated milk, soup concentrates, dry mustard, the emmentaler, the asiago and the cheddar cheese in the slow cooker.  When it looks like a nice, even, gooey mess toss in the buttery noodles and stir.  Turn the slow cooker on low for about 2 and a half hours.  Done!

So, if my arteries should become irreversibly clogged and I die before you see me again please remember me this way:

    

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Episode 53 - This is not Diet Food

Know what I did yesterday?  I left my warm and oh-so-comfy bed at approximately 5:15 am (barf).  I then got into my car and drove to Montreal.  Why, dear internet, did I do such a crazy thing?  For a 9 am mandatory orientation for the internship I'm starting next tuesday (double barf).

Do you know how far Montreal is from Carleton Place?  Far. The trip took me approximately 3 hours. 3 hours of valuable sleeping time just transformed before my eyes into traffic jams in both Ottawa and Montreal.  Poof!  Obviously, I was generally a very unhappy camper about the whole experience. Ugh.

Once arriving at this apparently super important orientation I was given a folder full of info I had already read and then subjected to sitting for 3 hours while a guest speaker then re-read the document to me.  Apparently, the school feels I am incapable of reading. Giving important nutrition advice - sure! Why not?  But read?  Absolutely not.  In any case, I then drove home (another 2 hours).  In case your math is as bad as my apparent reading skills let me just clarify that all this means, I drove for 5 hours in order to attend a ~3.5 hour session in redundancy.

Know what I did today? Pretty much the same flippin' thing - except today I had the added bonus of my "check engine" light deciding to make an appearance and my cell phone choosing today as the day it would freeze and become non-functional all day.  The fun just doesn't stop coming!

Can you tell I am tired?  Can you tell I am generally irritated at life?  Can you tell I am in need of some cheese to go with my whine?  Big time.

Cajun Shrimp Pasta

Cheesy, creamy wonderfulness. 

~ half a box of spaghetti noodles
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 green pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 red pepper, thinly sliced
1 medium onion, diced
10-12 medium sized shrimp, frozen
1 tbsp thyme
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried onion flakes
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
salt, pepper and dried chili peppers to taste
1 cup table cream (18% m.f.)
1/4 cup grated asiago cheese

Start a pot of water on the stove  for your spaghetti and cook the pasta according to the package directions.  Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Toss in your onion and peppers and cook until they start to soften slightly - about 5 minutes.  Next, add your shrimp and all of the spices.  Toss around to evenly spread the spices and cook until the shrimp is almost entirely pink - another 5 minutes or so.  Add the cream to the pan, bring to a boil and allow it to thicken and become sauce-like - 2-3 minutes.  Don't go trying to be all virtuous and using milk in place of the cream - it won't work.  You'll end up with a curdled pan of grossness.  This is comfort food, not diet food.  Just go for it and promise your thighs you'll do better tomorrow.  Toss in your cooked spaghetti and do your best to coat evenly with your new deliciously fatty sauce.  Distribute into two bowls and top with the cheese.  Creamy carb coma, here I come.  You should probably eat this dish while wearing an outfit like this...you know, to allow the necessary room for expansion:

This is my personal style. 

I should report that after eating this for dinner tonight I am in a much better mood.  Also, as it turns out, my cell phone is just fine and all it needed was a helpful Roger's employee ( a rarity, I know!) to restart it for me. The car is a whole other issue though.  That's probably good and broked.  Broked is a word.  I'm tired.  Don't mess with me.

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Episode 32 - Lasagna of Love.

aka Three-Cheese and Spinach Lasagna

Sometimes I kinda suck at being one of those "there-for-you" people....actually I usually suck at it.  I never know what to say, I make jokes at the wrong times and am basically just entirely awkward.  Hence this lasagna comes into play.  I don't know how to make you feel better with words so instead I will fill you with mountains of cheese and hope that you get the message.  Everyone knows cheese is synonymous with love right?  Right?!

8 oven ready lasagna noodles

1 small brick of mozzarella cheese, about 4 cups shredded

1 handful asiago cheese, shredded

Spinach-y Cheese Layer:

1 pkg frozen chopped spinach

1 tub light ricotta cheese

1 egg

1 pinch of each salt, pepper and nutmeg

Dawson's Famous Meat Sauce:

1 lb extra lean ground beef

1 can crushed tomatoes

1 can tomato paste

1 onion, minced

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tbsp dried oregano

1 tbsp dried rosemary

1 tbsp dried basil

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

salt and pepper to taste

First, start with the meat sauce.  This is Dawson's department.  He's a professional tomato-saucier.  I highly recommend finding yourself one just like him to fulfill all of your tomato sauce dreams.  You can't have this one though...he's mine.  Muhahahahaha!  Ok, so brown your meat in a large pot over medium heat.  Drain some of the fat off then throw in the onions and garlic and let them cook up for a few minutes while you stir them around.  Next add in all of the herbs (oregano, rosemary and basil) and salt and pepper.  Cook for another 2 minutes.  Now add the tomatoes and tomato paste, vinegar and Worcestershire, bring to a boil then simmer covered over low heat for at least 30 minutes.  The longer the better.

While the sauce is simmering make your spinach-y cheese layer.  Squeeze as much of the gross green water out of the spinach as you can using paper towels.  Mix the now dry-ish spinach in a big bowl with the egg.  Once it's mixed up and kinda gross looking add in the entire container of ricotta and mix.  Season with salt pepper and nutmeg and you're done.

Now it's construction time!  Put a thin layer of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish.  Next make a layer of dry noodles.  Just FYI make sure you use oven ready noodles or this will not work at all...unless you like your lasagna on the crunchy side.  Anyways, cover with about half of your meat sauce, then half of the spinach-y cheese layer and half of your mozzarella.  Then start again - noodles, meat sauce, spinach-y cheese and end with the mozzarella layer.  Last but not least sprinkle the handful of asiago all over the top.  Cover with foil then bake at 375 for 45 minutes, remove the foil and cook for another 15.  The top cheese should get nice and golden.  Finally, remove from the oven and find someway to occupy your self for 15 minutes while it rests on the counter.  Don't skip this part or your whole lasagna will fall apart into a cheesy soupy mess.  Be patient.  Make garlic bread, play with the dog, dance around your kitchen singing along to Ke$ha songs...just don't cut the lasagna for at least 15 minutes.  It'll be worth the wait!

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Episode 31 - Leftovers R' Us

a.k.a. Buffalo-Blue Mac n Cheese!
A few nights ago Dawson and I made this recipe from Rachael Ray: http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/buffalo-turkey-burgers-blue-cheese-gravy-chili-fries/ .  Well actually, we skipped the chili fries, but in any case if you try this recipe (which I highly recommend you do because it's delicious) you will very quickly realize that it makes an astronomically large amount of the blue cheese gravy.  This recipe makes enough gravy to absolutely smother about 12 burgers, let alone the 4 it says the recipe makes.  Now, if theres anything I hate, it's wasting food...especially when that food contains an $8 wedge of Gorgonzola! I'm a student.  I can't afford to throw delicious cheese products away.  Hence today's lunch creation was born!  I'm writing the original measurements to the sauce recipe here but be aware that this is A LOT of sauce.  We made 4 burgers, which we coated generously with this sauce and I STILL have more in the fridge after making this dish for lunch today.

Blue Cheese Sauce (stolen from Rachael Ray)
3 tbsp margarine
3 tbsp flour
3 cups of 1% milk
1 cup blue cheese (Whatever type you like.  I am a gorgonzola fan)
Pepper, to taste

To make the sauce, melt the margarine in a sauce pan over medium heat.  Add the flour and wisk to make a paste-y roux.  Cook for 2 minutes then wisk in the milk.  Continue to cook until it thickens then melt in your cheese little by little until you get a nice smooth sauce.  Season with the pepper et voila!  Just a note - don't get impatient and try to add the cheese before the milk thickens - it'll never smooth out and you'll be left with chunky, separated sauce.  It's gross.  Trust me...not that I'm ever impatient or anything...

1 cup Whole-wheat Pasta, I used mini shells
Franks Red Hot Sauce1-3 tbsp depending on how hot you  like it!

This part is easy- cook your pasta, drain it, then toss with some blue cheese sauce and hot sauce!  Delish!

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Episode 15 - In which Kristy finishes dinner with a huge belly.

Huge.  This is probably the most filling pasta dish ever.  It's fiber and veggie filled so you can do some girl math and almost forgive the fact that it also contains sausage. This sauce was a collaborative effort.  Dawson used his usual awesome tomato sauce-making skills and I threw some stuff into the pot here and there so I could say I helped.  ;)

1/2 box whole wheat penne
1 tbsp olive oil
3 hot Italian sausages, removed from their casings
5 cloves of garlic, miced
1 onion, diced
4 carrots, peeled and diced
1/2 zucchini, diced
2 tbsp fresh oregano, minced
1 1/2 tbsp dried basil
1 tbsp rosemary
1 big pinch of each salt and pepper
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 can diced tomatoes
1/4 cup aged asiago cheese, shredded

Heat the olive oil in a large sauce pan and brown the sausage for  about 2-3 minutes.  Add the garlic and onions and cook for another 2 minutes.  Add the carrots and zucchini and cook until slightly softened.  Next add the herbs, balsamic and the tomatoes and bring the whole thing up to a boil.  Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until thickened slightly.
Meanwhile, cook your pasta according to the package directions. 
To serve, fill a bowl with noodles, top with sauce and a good sprinkling of cheese.  Deeeelicious.  We had ours with our homemade whole wheat cheese bread...'cause it's awesome.

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Episode 13 - Lazy Sunday Pasta

Ham and Swiss is one of the greatest combos ever.  This recipe is like taking a ham and Swiss sandwich and making it into a big bowl of pasta yummy-ness...not that the sandwich isn't yummy...'cause it is, but this post is called "Lazy Sunday Pasta" ...so there.


Ham and Swiss in a Bowl

1/3 of a box of spaghetti
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
1 cup milk
1/4 cup swiss cheese, shredded
leaves from 2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme
a pinch of each salt, pepper and nutmeg
1/4 cup deli ham. diced
1 cup baby spinach
1/2 tomato, diced

Start a pot of water boiling for the pasta and cook it according to the package directions.  Meanwhile, melt the butter over medium heat in a small saucepan.  Once it's melted, add the flour and wisk a little to make yourself a roux.  Cook the roux for 1-2 minutes then wisk in the milk.  Let it thicken a little then start stirring in the cheese. Next add the salt, pepper and nutmeg along with the diced ham.  Voila - a tasty pasta sauce. 
Once your pasta is cooked, strain it then put it back into the pot.  Pour in the sauce and about half of the spinach and give it a stir to coat the pasta and wilt the spinach.  Add the second half of the spinach, let it get wilty then serve topped with the diced tomatoes and a little freshly cracker black pepper.

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Episode 6 - Gnocchi Gnocchi Everywhere

aka more ways to make gnocchi than you can shake a stick at! ...whatever that means!


Cheesy Gnocchi and Brie

1 cup fresh gnocchi
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic, minced
2 tbsp half and half
1/2 tomato, seeded and diced
1 tsp dijon mustard
2 green onions, finely diced
2 tbsp brie cheese, chopped into little cubes
salt and pepper

Cook the gnocchi according to the package directions. Meanwhile, in a separate pot heat 1 tsp olive oil and saute the garlic until just softened and slightly golden. Add the tomato, cream and dijon to heat through.
When it's done, strain the gnocchi and add it to the sauce along with the green onions and the brie. Stir until the cheese melts and gets nice a gooey. Season with salt and pepper to taste et voila! Cheesy goodness!

Gnocchi a la Puttanesca

1 cup fresh gnocchi
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic, minced
1/4 large onion, diced
1 tbsp anchovy paste
1 large tomato, seeded and diced
1 tsp capers, diced
1 tsp red pepper flakes (less if you're spice-a-phobic)
salt and pepper
1-2 tbsp Asiago or Parmesan cheese

Cook the gnocchi according to the package directions. Meanwhile, in a separate pot heat 1 tsp olive oil and saute the garlic and onions until just softened and translucent. Add the anchovy paste and give it a stir to coat everything. Add the tomato and cook down until it looks nice and saucy. Add the capers, red pepper flakes and season with salt and pepper to taste. When it's done, strain the gnocchi and add it to the sauce. Top with the cheese. This one is salty and spicy and mmmmm.

Gnocchi in Baby Portabello and Garlic Cream Sauce

1 cup fresh gnocchi
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic; minced
½ medium onion; diced
3 baby portabellos; washed and roughly chopped
¼ cup light cream (half and half works well)
2 tbsp aged Canadian white cheddar; crumbled
Salt, Pepper
Chili flakes

Cook the gnocchi according to the package directions. Meanwhile, in a separate pot heat 1 tsp olive oil and saute the garlic and onions until just softened and translucent. Add the mushrooms along with 2 tbsp water. Continue to cook until dark and soft; about 5 minutes. Decrease heat to low. Add the cream and crumbled cheese and season with salt and pepper to taste. When it's done, strain the gnocchi and add it to the sauce. Yummy!

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