Easy One Pot Pasta

Do you need an easy meal to make during your busy work week? Of course you do! This is a true one pot meal! If you're feeling super tired, buy your onions chopped and a jar of minced garlic.  This meal can be whipped up in as little as 20-30 minutes. How much easier can you get?

Ingredients: 

• 4 cups vegetable broth 
• 2 Tbsp olive oil 
• 12 oz. fettuccine 
• 8 oz. frozen chopped spinach 
• 1 (28 oz.) can diced tomatoes 
• 1 medium onion 
• 4 cloves garlic 
• ½ Tbsp dried basil 
• ½ Tbsp dried oregano 
• ¼ tsp red pepper flakes 
• freshly cracked pepper to taste 
• 2 oz. feta cheese 

Directions: 

1. Add four cups of vegetable broth to a large pot. Break the fettuccine in half to make stirring easier later, and then add it to the pot. Also add the canned tomatoes (undrained), olive oil, frozen spinach, onion (thinly sliced), garlic (thinly sliced), basil, oregano, red pepper, and some freshly cracked black pepper.
2. Make sure the ingredients are submerged under the liquid, place a lid on top of the pot, and then turn the heat on to high. Allow the pot to come up to a full, rolling boil over high heat then remove the lid and turn the heat down to medium.
3. Allow the pot to continue to boil over medium heat, without a lid, for 10-15 minutes, or until the pasta is cooked and most of the liquid has been absorbed. Stir the pot every few minutes as it cooks to prevent the pasta from sticking to the bottom, but avoid over stirring which can cause the pasta to become sticky and mushy. The pot must be boiling the entire time.
4. After the pasta is cooked, crumble the feta cheese over top and serve.

Recipe and photo from: http://www.budgetbytes.com/2013/05/italian-wonderpot/

Lentil Tacos

Sorry for the lack of pictures with this post, but I lost track of time and dinner wasn't ready until 10:00 last night, so I was more worried about eating my food than photographing it! I was very impressed with these tacos. They were easy to make and tasted just like beef tacos! I did use beef broth to give it a more authentic flavor, but you could use vegetable broth if you're on a pure vegetarian diet. We also tried veggie shreds instead of real cheddar cheese to top our tacos, and again I was impressed, so if you want to cut down on the dairy, you should try it!

Ingredients: 

• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 2/3 cup chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2/3 cup dried lentils
• 1 package taco seasoning (or less, to taste)
• 1 2/3 cup beef or vegetable broth
• 2/3 cup salsa
• 10 flour tortillas or taco shells
• Optional for topping: lettuce, onions, tomatoes, sour cream, taco sauce, cheese

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat; cook and stir onion and garlic until tender, about 5 minutes. Mix lentils and taco seasoning into onion mixture; cook and stir for 1 minute.
2. Pour chicken broth into skillet and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover the skillet, and simmer until lentils are tender, 25 to 30 minutes.
3. Uncover the skillet and cook until mixture is slightly thickened, 6 to 8 minutes. Mash lentils slightly; stir in salsa.
4. Serve about 1/4 cup lentil mixture in each taco shell.

Recipe from: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/tasty-lentil-tacos-2/

Ratatouille

Colorful assortment of veggies? Check! Marinara for extra savory taste? Check! Cheesy goodness for good measure? Check! This meal is packed full of vegetables and very filling. I could only eat half of my bowl before I threw in the towel. My favorite part of this dish is that the only dirty dishes it produced was the dish it was cooked in, a knife, a cutting board, and a measuring cup. Easy and delicious? Yes, you can have both!












Ingredients:

• 1 cup marinara sauce
• 1 small onion
• 1 small eggplant
• 1 medium zucchini 
• 1 medium yellow squash
• 3 medium tomatoes
• Salt, pepper, basil, and oregano to taste
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella 

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Slice the onion
3. Slice eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, and tomatoes to 1/4 in. thickness.
4. Cut eggplant slices in half.
5. Coat the bottom of the baking dish with 1/2 cup of marinara sauce.
6. Arrange vegetables, excluding onion, domino style in the baking dish.
7. Top vegetables with onion slices, salt, pepper, basil, and oregano.
8. Pour remaining marinara over the vegetables and top with cheese.
9. Cover dish with foil and bake for 30 min. Remove foil and bake for another 15 min. until cheese begins to brown.

Recipe from: http://www.budgetbytes.com/2014/05/oven-roasted-ratatouille/

Sun-dried Tomato and Spinach Fettuccine Alfredo

You really can't beat a good, creamy bowl of pasta, can you? But all that creaminess can be a huge fat and calorie bomb, unless you can cut out the cream! This recipe somehow magically produces a wonderful, creamy sauce without a drop of milk or cream! You could also do without the parmesean if you want, but I love my cheese!





Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoon butter
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 20 ounces cauliflower florets
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 cup parmesean, or more to taste 
• 1 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
• black pepper, to taste
• 1 pound fettuccine
• 3 handfuls spinach
• 3-4 spoonfuls sun-dried tomatoes

Directions

1. Saute the minced garlic in the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Allow to cook for a few minutes, until the garlic is tender and fragrant, but not browned.
2. Begin to cook fettuccine according to package directions.
3. Add water and cauliflower to the saucepan, and bring the water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer and cover the pot for 8-10 minutes, until the cauliflower is softened.
4. Transfer the entire contents of the saucepan into a blender or food processor, and season with salt and pepper. Process until very smooth and creamy, with a texture similar to traditional cream sauce. (Always be careful when blending hot liquids-- the steam pressure can blow the lid off your blender!)
5. Pour sauce over drained pasta and stir in spinach and tomatoes.

Recipe adapted from: http://detoxinista.com/2013/05/creamy-cauliflower-alfredo-dairy-free-nut-free/

Cheesy Stuffed Pasta

I was traversing the frozen aisle of the grocery store trying to decide what to have for dinner when I saw
some stuffed pasta shells and decided that I could make it myself instead of settling for frozen.  I always try to make things if I can and have the time because it always tastes so much better and you can customize it. This recipe turned out wonderfully and got a great review from the hubs.

Ingredients: 

• 14 uncooked jumbo pasta shells
• 1 Tbsp. olive or vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
• 1 small bell pepper (any color), chopped (1/2 cup)
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 small zucchini, diced (about 3/4 cup)
  
• 1 jar (14 to 15 oz) tomato pasta sauce
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• 1 cup shredded Italian cheese blend or mozzarella cheese (4 oz)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 11x7-inch (2-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. Cook and drain pasta shells as directed on package.
2. Meanwhile, in 10-inch skillet, heat oil over medium heat until hot. Cook onion, bell pepper and garlic in oil 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender. Add zucchini; cook 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Stir in 1/4 cup of the pasta sauce. Cook, stirring frequently, until hot. Remove from heat.
4. In medium bowl, mix ricotta cheese, egg, Parmesan cheese and 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese blend. Stir in zucchini mixture until well mixed.
5. Fill each cooked pasta shell with about 2 tablespoons zucchini mixture. Place in baking dish. Pour remaining pasta sauce over shells.
6. Cover with foil; bake 30 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup shredded cheese. Bake uncovered 5 to 10 minutes longer or until bubbly and cheese is melted.

Recipe from: http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/cheese-and-vegetable-stuffed-shells

Falafel

I was really looking for an excuse to eat some tzatziki sauce, so I decided to try some falafel. I have never tried falafel before, but this recipe turned out pretty nicely. It's a little involved, but not too difficult of a recipe.  For the tzatziki sauce, I bought Oikos cucumber and dill dip instead of making my own.  You can serve these by themselves, on top of a salad, in a pita, or as a sandwich. We had ours on an onion roll with lettuce, cheese, and tzatziki sauce.



Ingredients:

• 15oz can chickpeas 
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley 
• 2 cloves chopped garlic
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp. ground cumin 
• 1 tsp. coriander (cilantro)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 dash pepper
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 cup dry bread crumbs

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a microwave safe bowl, microwave drained chickpeas for 5 minutes to soften, then mash until thick and pasty.
3. Put chopped onions and parsley in a blender and process until smooth, stir into mashed chickpeas.
4. Add all other ingredients, except bread crumbs, to chickpea mixture and mix until blended.
5. Add in bread crumbs until mixture will hold its shape.
6. Form into 4 patties.
7. Grease a cookie sheet with cooking spray and place patties on the cookie sheet, spray the patties with cooking spray.  Bake for 15 minutes, flip patties, spray with cooking spray again and bake for another 15 minutes.

Recipe adapted from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Seans-Falafel-and-Cucumber-Sauce

Photo from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Seans-Falafel-and-Cucumber-Sauce

Creamy Vegetables and Rice

This dish was born of necessity due to being too broke to grocery shop and needing to clean out the refrigerator!  So, I just threw together whatever sounded good and came up with creamy vegetables and rice.










Creamy Vegetables and Rice

Ingredients: 

• 2 cups white rice
• 3 1/2 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups shredded parmesean 
• 1-2 Tbsp. half and half
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 3 handfuls of spinach
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 5 baby bella mushrooms, stems removed and sliced
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Combine water and rice in a medium saucepan. Heat to boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer, covered for 15-20 minutes.
2. Heat olive oil in a skillet.
3. Saute onion and mushrooms in the oil until onions are translucent and mushrooms begin to shrink.
4. Once rice has absorbed the water, stir in cheese and half and half.
5. Stir in onions and mushrooms.
6. Stir in spinach, one handful at a time until wilted.
7. Add salt and pepper and serve.

Veggie Naan Pizza and Jalapeno Poppers

The hubs wanted some pizza last night and I was in a snacky mood, so personal naan pizza and jalapeno poppers sounded like the perfect combination!

The pizza was loaded down with tons of veggies! We topped ours with spinach, baby bella mushrooms, diced tomatoes, onions, pizza sauce, and mozzarella. Please excuse my pizza recipe, as it is very non-specific with measurements.

A warning about the jalapeno popper recipe: I don't know what mutant jalapenos I bought, but I was sure I was going to be breathing fire and could only eat three before I thought I was going to die.  I've never tasted hotter jalapenos in my life. Using ranch helped, but not much.  If you just love hot food, this is a treat for you. If you're a baby about capsaicin-laden food, I would stay away from this recipe.

Veggie Naan Pizza (Makes 2 individual pizzas)

Ingredients: 

• 1 package of naan (flat bread popular in Indian cuisine)
  
• olive oil cooking spray
• about 2 large spoonfuls of pizza sauce
• about 4 baby bella mushrooms, stems removed and sliced
• 1/2 an onion, diced
• 1 tomato, diced
• two handfuls of spinach
• shredded mozzarella to your liking

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Spray a baking sheet with olive oil
3. Place naan on baking sheet
4. Spray naan with olive oil
5. Top with pizza sauce, mozzarella, and veggies
6. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes

Baked Jalapeno Poppers

Ingredients:

• 8oz cream cheese at room temp. (I used a cream cheese/greek yogurt blend)
• 8oz cheddar cheese
  
• 12 jalapenos

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees
2. Slice jalapenos in half, lengthwise and remove seeds
3. In a mixer, mix cream cheese and cheddar 
4. Stuff jalapenos with the cheese blend
5. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 20-30 minutes

Spaghetti Squash with Spinach Balls

I've been wanting to try using spaghetti squash recently and finally did tonight for dinner! It was delicious and didn't taste much different than if you used noodles but it also provided a little crunch.  The spinach balls were so, so good and savory.  This is a perfect substitute for run-of-the-mill spaghetti and meatballs!

Warning: Cutting a spaghetti squash in half is no easy task.  Be extremely careful so you don't slip and cut yourself. No, I did not do this, but I could envision it happening as I was cutting it. UPDATE: Microwave the whole squash a little before cutting it to make it easier! You can thank Marissa, a friend of mine, for that suggestion!

Spaghetti Squash and Spinach Balls

Ingredients:

• 1 spaghetti squash
  
• olive oil 
• salt 
• pepper
• 1 jar spaghetti sauce
• 1/2 an onion, chopped
• 5 white mushrooms, sliced
• 1 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 9oz bag of spinach
• 3 slices of bread
• 1 egg
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Carefully cut the spaghetti squash in half. Remove seeds from each side.
3. Season each half with olive oil, salt and pepper. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray or line with nonstick foil and place each half, flat side down on the baking sheet. Bake for 40 minutes.  When done, let rest until cool to the touch.
4. Using a toaster, toast the three pieces of bread until dark brown and create crumbs using a food processor.
5. Bring a large pot of water to boil.  Once boiling, add spinach and boil for 2 to 3 minutes.
6. Transfer spinach to colander and immediately rinse with cold water. Squeeze spinach in small handfuls to remove excess water and transfer to a cutting board.
7. Chop spinach and transfer to a mixing bowl. Add breadcrumbs, egg, garlic, and parmesan.  Mix thoroughly by hand and mold into balls.
8. Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet.  Brown spinach balls on all sides. 
9. Using a fork, pull the pulp of the spaghetti squash out to create noodle-like texture.
10. In a skillet, add a small amount of olive oil and heat onion and mushrooms until heated through.  Transfer to a sauce pan and add spaghetti squash, spaghetti sauce, and red pepper flakes. Mix together over medium-low heat until heated through.  
11. Top spaghetti with spinach balls and serve. 

Vegetable Pot Pie- So How Was It?

The crust didn't turn out as pretty as I anticipated, mostly because I forgot to let the crust sit out before unrolling it so it wouldn't crack.  I also forgot to add the vinegar, but it didn't seem to have an effect on the taste. We didn't even miss the chicken in this recipe, but if you must have meat with your meal, chopping up a couple of cooked chicken breasts would meet your needs!

This was again an easy recipe that was relatively quick to prepare and bake, so it's great for a busy weeknight!

What's For Dinner? Vegetable Pot Pie!

Sorry guys, this us another pictureless post, but this is an original recipe,  so I won't have a picture until it comes out of the oven!  I love chicken pot pie sooooo much, so I'm really looking forward to this veggie version!

Vegetable Pot Pie

Ingredients: 

· 2 15oz cans mixed vegetables

· 12 oz sliced white mushrooms

· ½ medium onion, finely chopped

· ¼ cup all-purpose flour

· 1 cup vegetable broth

· 1 cup whole milk

· 1 tablespoon white vinegar

· Salt and pepper to taste

· Store-bought pie crust dough



Instructions:

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees with the rack arranged in the middle.

Grease a large pan with cooking spray.  Add chopped onion and cook until tender and translucent.

Add drained cans of vegetables and mushrooms and cook until mushrooms are cooked through.

Sprinkle flour over vegetables and cook for 1 to 2 minutes.  Add vegetable broth and milk, stirring until mixture is smooth. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook for 5 minutes or until thickened.

Add vinegar and salt and pepper.

Spray a pie pan with cooking spray and line with one pie crust.  Pour the filling over the crust, top with the second crust, and prick with a fork.  If desired, pour filling directly into the pan and top with only one crust.

Bake 30 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.  Let stand 5 min before serving.

Taco Soup- So How Was It?

The husband has been feeling sick for the past few days, so soup was definitely a good meal to make! I didn't get a picture of the final product, but I can assure you it turned out delicious! I added some extra chili powder and cumin and served topped with cheese and sour cream.  The soup had a good spice to it, but not overpowering. From past experience, this soup gets spicier the longer it sits, so if you don't like spice, make sure to eat leftovers within a day or two of making.

If you're not into cooking, this is great to make because all the work involved is chopping an onion and the rest is just dumping cans into a pot. It's a very easy one pot meal that takes an hour to cook, plus the time spent chopping the onion and opening cans.  This is also a great recipe for those with little chefs who want to help out with the cooking!

For those who want to add meat, brown up some ground turkey, drain, and stir it in with the rest of the ingredients!