Spinach Walnut Penne Pasta

Spinach Walnut Penne Pasta

INGREDIENTS

2 cups reduced-sodium vegetable broth
1 can (14.5 oz each) Hunt's® Diced Tomatoes with Basil, Garlic & Oregano-No Salt Added, undrained
2 cups dry multigrain penne pasta, uncooked
2 tablespoons Fleischmann's® Made with Olive Oil Spread
1 pkg (6 oz each) baby spinach leaves
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS

Combine broth, undrained tomatoes, pasta and Fleischmann's in large skillet. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally. Cover skillet, reduce heat to medium and cook 15 minutes or just until pasta is tender, stirring occasionally.
Stir in spinach and cook 3 to 4 minutes or until spinach is wilted, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with walnuts and cheese just before serving.

**AMAZING! I actually make it without the walnuts and I didn't have Parm cheese and it was really good with colby jack cheese**

Roasted Parsnips and Butternut Squash...Yum!

Ingredients:

1 ¼ lbs parsnips, peeled

1 ¼ lbs butternut squash, peeled, halved lengthwise, and seeded

Rounded ¼ tsp salt

¼ tap black pepper

3 Tbsp EVOO

1 garlic clove, halved

12 Kalamata olives, pitted and cut lengthwise into slivers

1 Tbsp coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Put oven rack in upper third of oven and preheat to 475 degrees. Cut parsnips lengthwise into quarters, then cut out and discard any tough core. Cut parsnips diagonally into 2-inch pieces. Cut squash crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices, and then cut slices into wedges. Toss vegetables with salt, pepper, and 1 ½ Tbsp oil, then spread in 1 layer in a large shallow baking pan. Roast turning occasionally, until veggies are tender and browned, about 20-25 minutes.

While vegetables are roasting, heat remaining 1 ½ Tbsp oil with garlic in a 1-quart saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally, until garlic just begins to sizzle. Remove from heat. When vegetables are done roasting, remove garlic from oil, discard garlic, and toss vegetables with garlic oil, olives, and parsley.

Bob and I made this as our contribution to dinner at his grandma’s house for both Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. We didn’t use the olives though…I think they’re icky! It was super easy to make and was super duper yummy!

We were slacking a little on Christmas day though and completely spaced that we had to make it so about an hour before we were supposed to be at their house! We were rushing to peel and chop everything to make it! …oops. 

Honey Pumpkin Muffins

I was able to get two batches of the honey pumpkin muffins done tonight!

The first batch I followed the recipe and they turned out kinda eh. I thought that they needed a little more flavor so I decided to add some pumpkin pie spice to the second batch.  I started making the second batch and realize that I, in fact, did not have enough canned pumpkin! ...oops. I just lessened the amounts of everything a little and added the pumpkin pie spice. They turned out much better than the first ones, for sure! the recipe is from the 100 Best Cupcake Recipes book.

It was pretty funny...I took the first bite of one and thought, "omg, this is awful!" I then remembered that they are MUFFINS and not cupcakes!!! Haha. I'm so used to making cupcakes that my brain was confused when it wasn't sweet! The same thing happened when Bob tasted one. He was like, "I think it needs some sugar or something." I had to remind him it was a muffin and he said, "ohhh!!!! Then I think it's really good!" Lol. In my opinion they definitely need to be consumed with butter. It was okay without butter, but was really good with butter!

Time off = baking ...I hope!

I found this recipe in a cupcake book I received for Christmas.

I only work one job most of this week so I'll have some time to make them!

Holiday treats.

I made these cuties to bring to work last week...

How fun, right?!

Yum. Yum. Yummity Yum!

Super simple, yet amazing butternut squash soup recipe...

Butternut Squash Soup
1 3lb butternut squash, peeled and cubed
3 Tbsp olive oil
3 tsp salt
pinch of pepper
1 Tbsp butter
1 large yellow onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 Tbsp chopped sage
6 cups veggie stock

In a large bowl, toss squash with 2 Tbsp olive oil, 2 tsp salt & pinch of pepper. Place squash in a baking dish and roast for 15 minutes-turn over and roast an additional 15 minutes, or until caramelized. 

In a large pan, heat butter & 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, celery and sage-saute until translucent. Add stock & squash. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Blend with blender stick or in batches in a blender. If using a blender allow soup to cool slightly before blending.

I had actually posted about this soup once before, but never posted the recipe! So I HAD to share it so you can enjoy the deliciousness too!

Tasty Tuesday

Dinner tonight was delicious! 

I made individual bakes for Bob and I.

(sorry for the horrible picture! my camera is mia, hence the crappy phone photo and we started eating before I remembered to take a picture.)

We also had a side dish of patty pan squash baked with melted butter, fresh basil and salt.

This was yesterdays dinner...

Garlic mashed potato pizza! 

(again, phone photo....blech!)

I need to find my camera soon!!!

Must Have Monday: Cheesecake Edition

I am currently craving cheesecake tonight, so I thought that would be the perfect theme for this weeks Must Have Monday! 

Strawberry Cheesecake lip balm from heartsandbows494

This sounds so yummy! I think I might want to eat it if I owned it! 

Sooooo wish I lived in New York City so I could order this from mmeztler!!!

Don't these look amazing?! 

Stop on by the DaintyButton shop to order them for your next cheesecake craving!

The little ones in your life would love to have these for play time!

Check out LittleCrickets to get the pattern to make them : )

This would make me hungry all the time if I had it! 

Yummm.... find this delicious candle at cdavis74 

Perfect for the cheesecake-loving-jewelry-wearing person in your life!

Swing by and visit AnnaOriona to order a pair!

Spaghetti and Meatball Cupcakes

I have been big into making cupcakes lately...

I made these spaghetti and meatball cupcakes for April Fools Day.

The people at work LOVED them!

Some of them were even taking photos and sending it to their friends, haha.

My current cupcake adventure is tomato soup cupcakes...

Yes, those two in the front have finger indents in them...I was testing to see if they were done, clearly they were not!

They actually taste kinda like pumpkin pie!!!

They have cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in them so that explains the pumpkin pie taste.

They have not gotten frosted yet because I am letting the flavors of the frosting mesh a little longer.

I made a Chai frosting for on top of them...yum!

Wordless Wednesday: Homemade Chocolates with Strawberry Filling

Mother Nature is Delicious...

About a month ago I tried spaghetti squash for the first time ever.

Remember this post?

Well, I FINALLY tried it with spaghetti sauce and...

YUUUMMMMMMM

You need to try it!

Yet another food post...

When trying a new recipe,

make sure to read the recipe in its entirety

before starting to cook...

to avoid spills like this because the pan you use is way too small for everything!

Even with the spills, it turned out delicious!

It's pretty simple.

Just some veggies, noodles and sauce.

(The sauce is soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, water and chili sauce.)

Amazingness in an all natural bowl

I just tried spaghetti squash for the first time ever.

YUM!

I am so going the store after work in the morning to get another one to try it this way...

Doesn't that look like pure amazingness?!

I've been big into cooking lately...in case you couldn't tell ; )

So, I thought I would share my dinner from last night.

Pizza!

A little less than conventional pizza, but pizza none-the-less.

It is schiacciata bread with a basil canola oil and minced garlic blend brushed on top.

Then, alternating rows of yellow squash and zucchini, onion scattered all over and finished off with a Colby-Jack cheese blend.

I also had a very small amount of mozzarella that I crumbled over one section and another very small amount of pepper-jack cheese that I crumbled over another section. (just to test it out)

I did not use much cheese because I wasn't sure the Colby-Jack cheese was going to taste quite right and I figured less would be more in that case.

If I were to make it again...a little more cheese.

Hearty Grain Soup with Beans & Greens

2 Tbs. olive oil, divided
1 large onion, coarsely chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 large clove garlic, minced (about 2 tsp.)
4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
1 1/2 cups cooked kasha (buckwheat) *see note at bottom
1 15-oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 15-oz. can kidney beans, drained and rinsed, divided
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. dried rosemary
1/2 lb. kale, trimmed and chopped
3 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley
2 to 3 tsp. balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper

Heat 1 Tbs. oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, and cook 3 minutes, or until softened, stirring occasionally. Add garlic, and cook 5 minutes more, or until onion is lightly browned.

Stir in broth, kasha, tomatoes, 1 cup beans, oregano and rosemary. Bring to a boil. Press half of kale into liquid with wooden spoon until it wilts. Press remaining kale into liquid. Reduce heat to medium, and simmer 15 to 20 minutes, or until kale is tender.
Purée remaining beans in food processor. Add puréed beans, parsley and remaining 1 Tbs. oil to soup. Stir in vinegar, and season with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls, and serve.

I added lots of salt and pepper and still think it needs more. It makes quite a lot of soup, so maybe my "lots" wasn't really lots for the amount of soup! I also should note that I used an Italian seasoning mix instead of the oregano and rosemary because that was what I had on hand and I accidentally used 1 Tbsp of balsamic vinegar instead of tsp.

ENJOY!!! : )

*Kasha/Buckwheat-
To cook place 2 cups water and 1/4 tsp salt in pot and boil. Add 1 cup kasha and stir well. Turn heat to low and simmer 10-15 minutes or until water is absorbed and kasha is softened, but not mushy.

Buckwheat and Black Bean Soup *updated*

I made this batch of Buckwheat and Black Bean Soup this morning before I went to bed after work. It turned out alright. Next time...I'll be leaving out the lime juice though. I liked it a lot more before I put the juice in. I actually almost didn't because I had a feeling that I might not like it, but thought...no, no, it's in the recipe for a reason. Ugh. Big mistake.

Recipe:

1 Tbsp olive oil

3/4 cup chopped onion

3/4 cup chopped red bell pepper

3 cloves garlic, minced (1 Tbsp)

1/4 cup kasha or buckwheat groats

1 tsp chili powder

2 cups veggie stock

2 cups water

1 1/2 cups cooked black beans or 1 15oz can black beans

1 cup grated carrots

1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels

1 bay leaf

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

2 Tbsp lime juice

Salt and pepper

Heat oil in saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and bell pepper and saute 5 minutes. Add garlic, kasha and chili powder and saute 3 minutes more. Stir in broth, beans, carrots, corn, bay leaf and 2 cups water. Season with salt and pepper, if desired. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 20 minutes or until kasha is tender. Stir in cilantro and lime juice.

(recipe courtesy of www.vegetariantimes.com)

I did not use any cilantro as I do not really like it and did not have any on hand. I also only used 1 Tbsp of lime juice. Personally, I will not use any lime juice next time I make it. I added a little cumin to my soup as well.

...I seem to never follow recipes anymore! I remember when I was little, I would yell at my mom for not following recipes because I thought they were written in stone and HAD to be followed. I now know I was completely wrong and have turned into my mother and never follow them at all!

Mmm. Mmmm. Mmmm.

Yesterday I made some uber yummy butternut squash soup and after making that I felt like making something else so I made some sweet potato soup too! I was hoping to make a few more kinds of soup this morning after work, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it to the store since we got more snow and the roads aren't in good shape right now.

Since I couldn't make any more soup when I got home from work...

I decided to have a nice big bowl of butternut squash soup!

Yum!

It was so good I think I could have licked the bowl clean.

I restrained myself though and just scraped every last drop I could out of the bowl : )

Now its time to do some laundry and then go to bed!
Have a wonderful day!

Much stronger than me...

Bob is so much stronger than I am...

Last night he bought these wonderful cookies, put them in the new cookie jar and simply walked away! He didn't have one, not ONE...not even a piece of one! I could never! I would have to have at least one cookie as I was putting them in the jar.

So, since he didn't have one...I had one for him last night : )

Okay, okay maybe it was two!

PS...I can't wait to show you the cute little label I make for the cookie jar with my "new" (bought used from a friend) Cricut machine I bought yesterday!!! : ) So excited! I have so many ideas I can't wait to test out with it.

My amazingly delicious midnight snack for at work last night.

It looked so amazing I just had to share : )

(yes, those are plastic containers *shudder* ...BUT, they are reused deli meat containers from Bob)

My sis-in-law (not technically, but might as well be) Amanda and I went to a Japanese Sushi place the other day. I have to admit, I was scared to death! I was scared that there wasn't going to be any food that I would dare eat!

It was actually REALLY good!

Above is my plate

top: avacado rolls

middle: tempura sweet potato rolls

bottom: asparagus rolls

Below is Amanda's plate

top: spicy tuna rolls and ???

middle: Phoenix rolls

bottom: California rolls?

I am SOOOO glad I decided to go with her!

The tempura sweet potato rolls were A.MAZ.ING!

Seriously people...you NEED to try them!

The avacado rolls needed something a little more firm in the middle, they were a bit chewy.

The asparagus rolls were good. The only thing is I don't like the seaweed on the outside, so after one or two it got too fishy tasting for me. I think I must have like a SUPER sensitive palate to fish taste or something.

Amanda said all of hers were good.

The spicy tuna (top left) were her favorite.

The restaurant is actually in the same city as the precious little girl I get to pick up today. Soooo...I think I just might have to get some sushi to go today when I got get her!