Penne Rosa

Well, it's another rainy day at the beach. Bummer as far as my vacation fun goes, but at least I'm getting lots of blog posts done, right? We just got rid of cable at our house, so my kids are fascinated at having Cartoon Network again, so at least they're happy being cooped up inside. The sun came out briefly this morning but then quickly got rainy and then windy. I just washed, dried, and flat ironed my hair (a whole lot of good that did with this humidity, let me tell you...note snarky tone in that) in the hopes that it would help bring out the sun because then I'd want to swim but would have to sacrifice my hair to do so. Does that make sense? Basically I'm hoping that my hairstyling will have control over the weather somehow.

With that note, on to my post.

I love me a creamy pasta dish, but since I'm pretty conscious of my calorie intake and eating healthy, creamy pasta sauces are something I tend to avoid unless I'm being really indulgent. So I was pretty excited when I saw this recipe on Pinterest for a creamy pasta sauce that used Greek yogurt for the creamy aspect of it. If you haven't discovered Greek yogurt yet, you need to try it! It's super tasty and very high in protein, which I love. The husband and I go through it like there's no tomorrow. Thankfully Costco sells it for super cheap! We both like it for a fast, high-protien breakfast or snack, plain with a little honey drizzled on the top, or it's delicious with fruit mixed in as well. And you can use it in place of all sorts of things. It's fantastic!! I even used it to make boxed mac and cheese recently when I was out of milk, and the result was amazing.

Now, I'll step down off my Greek yogurt soapbox and get on with my blog post.

Penne Rosa
Source: Back to Her Roots blog via Pinterest.com

12 ounces whole wheat penne
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
2 medium tomatoes (about 1/2 lb.) chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
4 cups fresh spinach
1/2 cup marinara sauce
1/3 cup 0% plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese


Cook penne according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain and set aside.

In a large skillet with a lid, heat olive oil over medium-low heat. Add in garlic and red pepper flakes, cook for 2 minutes or until garlic begins to soften.

Add in mushrooms, tomatoes, salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes, or until mushrooms begin to release their water. Remove from heat, add in spinach and cover skillet. Let spinach wilt for 2 minutes.

Remove lid and place skillet back over low heat. Add the penne, Greek yogurt and pasta sauce. Stir until sauce is mixed well and all pasta and veggies are coated. Heat until just warmed through. Divide into pasta bowls and serve topped with parmesan cheese.

*****

The original recipe called for shrimp, but I left that out because I didn't have any, and my kids don't really like it anyway, plus I thought we needed a vegetarian meal because we hadn't had one in awhile. Wow that was a long sentence. That was the only modification I made. This was a pretty big hit all around with my family. I think it would be delicious with the shrimp the original post used,k but it was good on its own with just the vegetables. It's definitely something I'd make again, especially when I want a creamy pasta fix!


Mmmm...sauce.

No Carb Pizza

Last week the husband suggested to me that we have a no carb week this week. He went to Mississippi to visit his best friend and knew he'd be over indulging. Last year we started the year off with a no carb week, but this year we were running a half marathon on January 15th, so going without carbs the first week of the year was going to be more detrimental than helpful. Since we both tend to get tired of the no carb thing quickly I chose all new dinner recipes to try and keep it exciting for us. Enter Pinterest.com. I did a search on low carb meals and came up with a bevy of ideas. Some have been good, some have been okay, nothing has been awful. I've had an easier time this week than in times past cutting out carbs, maybe because I'm more used to doing it now? I don't know. Or maybe I know we're just doing it through Monday, so the end is near already.

Anyway, the husband and my kiddos love pizza. I'm a fan, but I'm not a pizza monster like the three of them are. This sounded intriguing...pizza with no carbs in the crust? But I figured it was worth a try.

No Carb Pizza
Source: AccidentalMommies.com via Pinterest.com

For the crust:
1 (8 oz.) package of full fat cream cheese (room temp.)
2 eggs
Freshly ground black pepper
Garlic powder
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

For the pizza:
1/2 cup marinara sauce
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Sauteed pepperoni
Garlic powder

For the crust:
Preheat oven to 350.
Butter a 9×13 baking dish
Blend cream cheese and eggs and season with pepper & garlic powder
Add parmesan cheese and stir until combined
Pour into buttered baking dish
Bake for 17 minutes or until golden brown
Let crust cool for 10 minutes before adding toppings
After crust is cooked, raise oven to 400 degrees

For the pizza:
Mix together marinara sauce, garlic powder, & oregano
Top crust with marinara and spread evenly
Top with mozzarella cheese
Add toppings
Bake for 8 minutes or until cheese is bubbly

*****

I was pretty skeptical when I pulled the "crust" out of the oven, and I was a bit worried because my universal dinner back-up plan of Little Ceasar's pizza wouldn't work with no carbs. But I forged ahead praying and crossing my fingers it would at least be edible. And you know what? It was actually pretty awesome. Boy #2 wasn't sure about the crust at first and just ate the toppings, but once the husband told him it was cheese and eggs, he was completely on board with it. There was none of this left by the time dinner was done. The husband said he'd even eat it when we were doing no carbs! I used turkey pepperoni as the only topping. It didn't even occur to me to put anything else on it, but I think next time I'd add some veggies or a second meat to make it slightly more filling. this will definitely grace our table again!

Lasagna Cupcakes

I'm still not caught up on older posts, but we had these last night and they were so yummy I had to post them right away. A friend of mine posted a link on Facebook to the recipe, and I thought they looked so cute and tasty. Plus I love lasagna, but I hate making it because it takes forever and makes a ton. We're pretty much eating lasagna for a week straight when I do make it. This seemed like a clever way to have lasagna, and all I needed to buy for it were the won ton wrappers.

Lasagna Cupcakes
Source: CruftBox.com via my friend Callista on Facebook

24 won ton or gyoza wrappers
Marinara sauce
1 lb. Italian sausage or ground beef
Ricotta cheese
Mozzarella cheese

Spray or wipe a cupcake/muffin tin with olive oil. Place one wrapper in the tin form it into a cup shape. Add a small dollop of pasta sauce then some sausage. Add a spoonful of ricotta cheese. Once you filled in the first layer, gently press another wrapper on top of the ricotta layer, forming another cup. Repeat the filling and top each with shredded mozzarella.

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

*****

Isn't that clever? Boy #1 claimed he didn't like ricotta, but the rest of us gobbled them up. I had really wanted to use gyoza wrappers for their round shape, but my grocery store only had won ton wrappers. It wasn't that big a deal except that there were corners on each of the cupcakes. I made my own marinara by heating up a can of crushed tomatoes with some seasonings added in, so I had my muffin tin on the counter next to the stove. I put the first layer of won ton wrappers in each spot/hole/whatever-you-want-to-call-it then put a spoonful of sauce in each. Then I added a spoonful of sausage, then a spoonful of ricotta. I kind of squished each layer down as I went with the back of a spoon. Then I repeated. It all came together really fast.

I'll definitely make these again. Easy, relatively inexpensive, pretty quick...all pluses in my book!

Eggplant and Mozzarella Melt

I mentioned recently that I went on a trip to the beach in CA with two of my friends from college a few weeks ago. One of them is my friend Teri, and she was nice enough to fly into Phoenix and drive to LA with me so I'd only have to do one leg of the drive by myself. Isn't that awesome of her? It was so fun, too! A long boring drive like that sure goes by a lot faster with a fun friend in the car. She was telling me about a Martha Stewart Everyday Food cookbook that she has and loves, so once I was back home I put one on hold at the library. I don't think I got the same cookbook that Teri was telling me about, but this one has some great recipes in it. I think I'll hold it hostage for awhile, or at least as long as I can. I mentioned to my friend Jen how much I liked it, and she was talking about putting it on hold, so I'll assume if I can't renew it, it's because she's going to take it from me. ;)

Last week in my Bountiful Baskets produce co-op basket I got an egpplant. I was really excited because I love eggplant and have a lot of things I like to make with it, but I had seen a recipe in the Martha Stewart cookbook I wanted to try. It worked out perfectly, too, because last Sunday I made some tomato sauce for spaghetti and meatballs, so this way I could use up most of what was left of that sauce.

Eggplant and Mozzarella Melt
From Martha Stewart's Everyday Food

2 large eggs
Coarse salt and ground pepper
3/4 cup plain dried breadcrumbs
Olive oil, for baking sheet
1 medium eggplant (about 1 pound), sliced into 1/2-inch-thick rounds
1 loaf (8 ounces) soft Italian bread
2 cups store-bought tomato sauce
8 ounces part-skim mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced

1.Preheat oven to 475 degrees. In a shallow bowl, lightly beat eggs with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Spread breadcrumbs in a pie plate or shallow bowl.

2.Oil a rimmed baking sheet. Dip eggplant rounds in egg, then dredge in breadcrumbs, turning to coat completely; transfer to prepared baking sheet. Bake (without turning) until golden and tender, 15 to 20 minutes.

3.Meanwhile, split bread lengthwise, and place cut side up on another baking sheet; press gently in centers to create a well. Layer both halves with tomato sauce, eggplant, and cheese. Bake until cheese is browned in spots, 6 to 8 minutes.

*****

This came together really fast. I used panko for the breadcrumbs because I didn't feel like getting out my food processor to make breadcrumbs. I wouldn't recommend using panko, but it turned out okay. They just didn't cover the eggplant as thoroughly as regular breadcrumbs would have. But it worked. I ended up spreading a bit of sauce on top of the eggplant slices, too, when I assembled everything and then topped with cheese.

The husband was very excited when he saw this come out of the oven. He said it looked like eggplant parmesan pizza, which I guess it kind of was. I think my loaf of bread must have been bigger than eight ounces because the recipe said this was four servings, and those seemed really huge since that basically meant cutting each half into halves. Although the husband ate 1.5 servings, and the baby ate as much as I did! He and the boy split one serving, and then he ate half of mine! So I guess he ended up having an entire serving on his own. My kid can eat!

This was super fantastic and tasty and something I will definitely make again!

One side cheesed, the other awaiting its cheese:


Mmmmmm...eggplant and mozzarella melt...

Buffalo Chicken Lasagna

Wow, it took me a lot longer to get caught up than I had intended! And I think I still have two things I didn't post, but one wasn't very interesting, and the other was the goat cheese from my cheese making class, which for some reason I feel I need a big chunk of time to post. Or maybe I'm just too lazy to go downstairs and find the recipes from the class and type up how to do it. But, I promise you that some day I will!! Right now I'm sneaking a couple minutes while the boy is at preschool and the baby is sleeping to post tonight's dinner. Then it's an exciting morning of putting away laundry, throwing more laundry in the washer, and cleaning my kitchen. You're jealous of me, aren't you? Being a stay at home mom is sooooo glamorous, I know.

I was flipping through my Make it Fast, Cook it Slow cookbook recently looking for ideas for Wednesday night (Bible study night) dinners and saw this Buffalo Chicken Lasgna recipe. It sounded intriguing, and all I really needed for it was some ricotta, so I figured I'd slate it for one night this week. Although I'm not doing it in the crockpot, I'm going to do it in the oven like a regular lasagna.

Actually I'm going to be super lazy and just post the link to the original recipe:

Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Lasagna

I'm using no-cook lasagna noodles because I have some on hand I want to use up, and then I'll bake it in the oven, probably at 350 for 30 minutes covered, then 10 uncovered to let the top brown a bit. Our friend Steve is having dinner with us tonight, so I really hope this turns out!! I'm going to look up a low fat Ceasar dressing and make a salad to go with this. I may stop at the store for some bread, too, but I'll have to decide if it's worth it to go to the grocery store with two kids for just one thing!

*****

Mmmmmm...this was really good! I love interesting takes on lasagna, something other than the normal "ricotta, meat sauce, noodles, mozarella" recipe. I used too much blue cheese, but I don't think it was too distracting from the overall flavor. I ended up having not quite an entire cup of hot sauce because I didn't have enough, but still had that wing tanginess to it. The boy didn't really eat it--he said he didn't like the cheese in it. He just picked the chicken out of his. The baby, however, had THIRDS. So three out of four of us loving it is pretty good! I'll definitely make this again, and I'd like to try the crockpot version next time to see how that does.

Pesto Pasta Surprise

One of the other women on the message board I belong to has a food-based blog I follow, FrostedFingers.com. Every Tuesday she posts a new recipe, and last week's looked super easy and good, Angel Hair Pasta. The only downside was that it used store bought pesto and alfredo sauce--both things I love but don't generally eat because of the high fat content in both. When I was doing my meal planning for the week I thought of that recipe and decided to make something similar but with ricotta instead of the alfredo. Then when I was thinking about it more, it sounded a lot like a recipe my mom made recently for my brother when she was visiting him. I called her today and got the recipe, so I think mine is going to be a combination of the two.

Pesto Pasta Surprise

1 package whole wheat penne
1 jar marinara sauce
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup mozzarella
1/4 cup pesto
Additional mozzarella for topping

Prepare penne (or pasta of your choice) per package directions; set aside. Combine cheeses and pesto in medium bowl; set aside. In 8x12 pan, layer as follows: half of the cooked pasta, half the marinara sauce, all the cheese/pesto mixture, remaining half of the pasta, remaining marinara, additional mozzarella.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.

*****

I'm really excited to try this tonight. I have some pesto leftover from making Veggie Pesto Pizza last week, so however much of that I have in the freezer is what I'm going to use. I may use a bit more ricotta, too, because I like cheesy pasta.

Along with this I'm going to make Barefoot Contessa's Garlic Ciabbata Bread and a salad. Yum!!