Gluten Free Elbows with Mixed Mushrooms and Italian Sausage Soup

Nothing helps a cold feel like it's getting better than some soup.  Homemade soup.  This is my second recipe for Barilla this month with Allrecipes Allstars Ambassadors.  So many people may think of just classic Italian recipes when using pasta...something tomatoey or lasagna layered or even a casserole.  I think people forget to round out a soup with some pasta to make it more a complete meal especially when the soup may be mostly protein and veggies...throw in some pasta!

Keep reading to view the recipe but also how it made it mine....

Gluten-Free Elbows with Mixed Mushrooms and Italian Sausage Soup
from Allrecipes.com, sponsored and recipe by Barilla

1 (12 ounce) box Barilla® Gluten Free Elbows
3 quarts chicken stock
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 sprig rosemary
4 (6 ounce) packages mixed mushrooms
1 pound Italian sausage, boiled for 10 minutes and cut into 1/3 inch slices
1 (15 ounce) can cannellini beans, drained
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped

1. In a large soup pot, bring the chicken stock to a simmer.

2. Meanwhile, in a skillet, saute garlic with olive oil and rosemary for one minute or until slightly yellow. Add mushrooms and saute until lightly browned. Add sausage and saute for 2 minutes.

3. Add mushrooms and sausage into broth; stir in beans, tomatoes and Barilla® Gluten Free Elbows. Cook for half the recommended time on the box.

4. Let the soup rest for ten minutes before serving. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with parsley and olive oil drizzled on top.

Cook's Notes:

1. I like using Gluten Free products, even though I have fallen off my Paleo wagon and have no gluten allergies, I find the GF products don't give me any stomach distress.
2.  Although it is nice to receive some coupons to assist in the cost of the recipe making, I didn't feel the need to get 4 different packages of mushrooms.  The slice baby bellas looked good so they won.
3.  We always have hot Italian sausage in the freezer so I baked 5 links off.  Always looking for Zip! Cutting into 1/3 inch?  Come on now...
4. I just used a handful of grape tomatoes that I had left,  you could use a 15 oz canned whole tomatoes if you wanted but I felt this soup had plenty already.
5. Skipped the parsley because I had fresh basil I needed to get rid of....
6.  Look at the amount of elbows in the picture.  I used only HALF a box.  If I has used the whole box, this wouldn't be a soup anymore but turn into a casserole.  Unless you are feeding an army, you will need to increase the amount of stock if you use the whole box.

This was a tasty soup AND very hearty.  After I made this I got wild whim to whip up some cornbread to eat with it.  Delish!

#AllstarsBarilla

Slurp!

Three Cheese Tortellini with Chicken Broth

Oh, what a busy, busy December huh? Between the shopping, cooking, wrapping presents, going to or hosting parties, visiting families....Is that why I am down with a cold?  Pushed my myself too much I guess.  I've been so occupied that I didn't even have the time to post my own personal fun things I made this month outside of my Allrecipes.com Allstar Ambassadors Sponsored recipes....so without further ado....
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah or Happy Festivus! LOL. So, This month I choose two recipes from:

Personally, I felt the choices were a bit "out of the ordinary" for boxed pasta campaign.  There was duck, buffalo, pork ribs and carrot puree in a mac and cheese...I guess these poor companies can't make the home cooks happy.  Too boring or too weird for recipe choices, right?  I have to pick recipes that is going to be eaten and hopefully enjoyed!  No worries, I found some, we had a lot to choose from, I just thought some of the recipe ingredients were "out there"....I am sure some creative cooks were lovin' it.  For my first recipe I selected:

Three Cheese Tortellini with Chicken Broth
 Recipe on Allrecipes.com sponsored and by Barilla

• 1 (12 ounce) package Barilla® Three Cheese Tortellini
• 5 cups chicken broth
• 1/3 cup shredded Parmigiano cheese
• 1/2 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley

1.

Bring broth to boil. Add tortellini and simmer for 10 minutes.

2.

Serve in individual bowls topped with Parmigiano cheese; garnish with parsley.

Easy Peasy!
Before I did this recipe I did read the reviews.  Many commented on how bland it was.  You cooked the tortellini in chicken broth. Threw in some parsley and parm.  How jazzy can it taste with four ingredients?  Here's what I did to bump it up...

Cook's Notes:
1. I used the spinach and ricotta filled tortellini instead of the 3 cheese.
2.  I used Chicken Stock instead of broth.
3.  I tasted the finished product....ugh, bland.
3.  I added 1/4 tsp garlic powder and 1/4 tsp. onion powder.  Definitely better!
4. Add chopped BASIL instead of parsley.  BANG. Delicious!
5.  Shredded fresh parmesan cheese instead of the green canned parmesan......oooey gooey, melty cheese.
6. Served to K-man, he raved.  He is normally making his own lunch from a canned soup when I am not around but when he ate this that I left behind, he was really impressed and wanted to know what new canned soup I discovered.  Of course this wasn't canned...I made it, that is why it tasted so good.
7.  If you follow this recipe as Barilla listed, please tweak it as I did.....who wants to go through the effort of making a soup for it to be bland? Always taste as you cook!

 #AllstarsBarilla

Tune in tomorrow for Gluten-Free Elbows with Mixed Mushrooms and Sausage Soup!

Enjoy!

Meaty Orzo Pasta Dish

I absolutely despise jarred sauces. They are full of sugar and other 'stuff'. I am aware of the addiction children get to the sugar in these jars when after my 8th graders made some lasagna with a sauce from scratch a student came up to me and asked if she could have some sugar to put on her lasagna....I about fell on the floor. Absolutely NOT! was my answer to her request. See? You don't think something like jarred spaghetti sauces could feed an addiction to sugar and that was your proof. I had a similar request when I my first year of teaching when a High-Schooler asked to put sugar on the chili they made. THUD.

Here is a fun, meaty pasta dish with sauce from scratch and it's not difficult or lengthy to make.

Meaty Orzo Pasta Dish
by JennyMac Lipsmack

1 lb bulk Italian Sausage
10 large meatballs, cut in half (leftover or from frozen convenience bag)
1 pint sliced mushrooms
1 medium onion, chopped
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1- 29 oz canned diced tomatoes
1- 6oz can tomato paste
1 cup chicken or beef broth or water (more may be needed)
2 Tbsp. Italian Seasoning (or any combo of basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary and parsley)
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup orzo
fresh Parmesan

In a large skillet or pot. Brown the sausage, halved meatballs with the onion and mushrooms in the oil. Add the minced garlic and seasonings. Pour the canned diced tomatoes over the meat mixture. Add the tomato paste and meat broth. Stir carefully to incorporate the paste into the broth. Salt and pepper to taste. Let meaty sauce cook for 10 minutes. Mixture should still look watery. Add orzo (it will need a watery sauce to absorb). Cook for 10-12 minutes, stirring every so often to move the orzo around. Keep an eye on the sauce if it's looking dry add 1/2 cup more of broth at a time as needed. This dish/pot can also be baked if desired. Serves 4.

Serve in bowls with freshly grated parmesan (you can put shredded mozzarella on it if you baked the dish). Great with crusty garlic bread!

The effort to put this sauce together was minimal and much better than a jarred sauce. Less chemicals in a can of tomatoes than a jar of sauce too!

Buon Appetito!

Chicken and Mushroom Rotini

You saw that beautiful roasted chicken yesterday? Here is it's leftovers! Don't ya just love that. Sliced Roast Chicken one night....totally different chicken the next!

Chicken and Mushroom Rotini
by JennyMac Lipsmack

2 cups leftover cooked chicken
1 package fresh sliced mushrooms
half onion, chopped
drizzle oil
3 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp. flour
1 cup leftover chicken broth
1 cup cream
Half package rotini pasta
chopped chives for garnish

Cook pasta according to directions, drain and set aside.
Saute onions and mushrooms with drizzle of oil until cooked. Add butter and melt, add flour. Cook for about a minute until flour starts to smell 'nutty'. Slowly add chicken stock and cream. Stir until thickened. Add chopped/shredded leftover chicken. Mix in cooked pasta.
Garnish with chopped chives.

Easy leftover chicken dish, you'll love it. We did!

Zucchini Pepper Jack Mac

My summer bounty, I average one every other day sometimes two.....

Searching under those large leaves each day is like an Easter Egg Hunt. Constantly I am heard saying "OMG!" Mother Nature amazes me yet I saw this yesterday....

WHUT? Methinks this little zucchini is confused. He thinks that if he poses as a CROOKNECK squash that I won't eat him? Sowwy, little guy...I eat all squash, all colors, all shapes, I do not discriminate! Here is what I made from large zucchini....and so easy.

Zucchini Pepper Jack Mac
created by JennyMac Lipsmack

1 large zucchini, shredded
1/4 onion, grated
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. flour
1 cup milk, cream, or even FF evaporated milk if you like
1-1/2 to 2 cups Pepper Jack cheese, shredded (from a block, don't use the bagged stuff)
2 cups cooked pasta (macaroni, egg noodles, penne or whatever you have on hand)
1 cup plain bread crumbs, panko, crushed ritz crackers or potato chips
2 Tbsp. butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix your crumbs of choice with melted butter, set aside.

2. Shred your cheese, set aside your pile. Shred your zucchini and place in large bowl. Shred the onion and mix into the zucchini.

3. Cook your pasta according to the directions. Drain and mix into zucchini and onion mixture.

4. In the used pot from the pasta, start your white sauce. Melt butter, add flour and cook flour until it smells nutty. About one minute. Slowly whisk in your milk. (It's ok if it's thick for the water from the zucchini, onion and pasta will help thin it out.) Add shredded cheese and mix over low heat until no lumps remain.

5. Add pepper jack cheese sauce to zucchini/pasta mixture. If you think the mixture is not 'loose' enough you can mix a little more milk if so desired.

6. Place cheesy pasta mixture in a greased glass baking dish/casserole, approx 2 quart size. Top with butter and crumb mixture.

7. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until mixture is hot and bubbly and crumbs are light brown.


Great sidedish with your favorite grilled steak or chicken. Nice brunch item as well... creamy, yummy and the shredded zucchini cooks up in a flash this way.

Enjoy!

Kraft Homestyle Product Review

Who hasn't eaten Kraft's mac and cheese out of the blue box? Either I ate too much of it in college or my palate has changed over the years. I gave it up...way too ORANGE to be good.
Then I found out that that orange powder has no cheese in it whatsoever! ACK!

I've made my own mac and cheese for years. It's a labor of love for sure. But don't get me started on my battle with K-man liking and not liking my versions of mac and cheese!!!

I received some free coupons for some new products from Kraft's First Taste program this was one of them. They offer the classic orange cheese version and/or a Parmesan. I took the Parmesan for I didn't think the 'orange cheese' version was going to really change my feeling about it. But free was free and on a busy night....what the heck?

Do you want two hefty meals or four small side out of this? I was impressed! It was pretty good. I like my mac and cheese to be a bit more saucy and creamy but the flavor was good. Even the tiny crumbs for the topping had great crunch.

All I had to provide was 2 Tbsp of butter and some milk. Kraft provided the pasta, cheese, seasoning and crumb topping. Cost? About $3.29. I am sure the 'cheese content' in this product is no different than it's orange cousin!

But if you want good flavor and have put convenience ahead of nutrition give it a try...tell me if you liked or how the 'orange cheese' compared to the traditional box type.

I will still be making my own mac and cheese in the future for I feel better knowing what exactly I am eating. I have plans for a mac and pepper jack coming soon! Stay tuned.

DON'T FORGET TO ENTER MY GOOD EARTH GIVEAWAY!

Enjoy!

JennyMac being Cheesy....again and a Giveaway.

Although I like many types of macaroni and cheese, I don't have it so easy. K-man runs very hot and cold about it. My stats run 1-4 on him liking the M&C recipes I've made. He says he can't explain it why Mac and Cheese is just something that he doesn't HATE but just isn't fond of. WHAT? ARE YOU NUTS? Sometimes he likes it, sometimes not. Once I find the recipe he likes I am DONE. No more trying new M&C recipes.

I found a new recipe on Baker's Banter (King Arthur's Flour) for Garlic-Herb Mac and Cheese and wanted to give it a try. They use a powdered white cheese powder which I already had. But I was a little apprehensive since the powder was now a BLOCK.....I had to run a hunk through food pro to measure out a 1/2 cup. Doesn't look promising. I made it and thought I am really not using this perhaps I should just toss it out after this recipe....Stay tuned for what happens after I made this.....

Garlic-Herb Mac and Cheese
adapted from "The Big Cheese-y" by King Arthur's Flour

8 ounces (about 2 cups) uncooked tube-type pasta (you gotta have something to hold the sauce!)
1/4 cup cake flour (they used on of their special mixes, they said you could sub flour)
2 -3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup Vermont cheese powder (see above-you can substitute a packet from any white cheddar mac and cheese box)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (I used Cabot's 70% reduced fat white cheddar)
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground mustard powder
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt, to taste

Topping

4 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons garlic oil, optional
2 teaspoons Pizza Seasoning or rosemary and thyme
1 -1/2 cups Japanese panko (coarse bread crumbs)

Directions

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 2-quart baking dish.

2) Cook the pasta in boiling salted water until al dente (slightly firmer than you would normally eat it). Drain and rinse with cool water. Set aside.

3) In a large saucepan set over medium heat, whisk together the flour, milk, and cheese powder. Bring to a boil.

4) Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese and seasonings. Stir occasionally, until cheese is completely melted.

5) Stir the pasta into the cheese sauce. Spoon it into the baking dish.

6) Melt the butter and garlic oil together, then stir in the pizza seasoning and panko bread crumbs. Sprinkle a thick layer over the pasta and cheese.

7) Bake the casserole for 25 to 35 minutes, until bubbly and browned. Remove from the oven, and serve hot.

Yield: 5 1/2 cups, about 4 servings.

Notes:
The crumb topping was delicious and crunchy. But, as for the cheesy noodles, I am not sure if my powder had something to do with it, but something about this was off. It was creamy not gritty but I think the powder was past it's prime. I will want to make this again. WHY, you ask?

Because my mom walked in the door for dinner with a bag of 3 NEW bags of white cheese powder. Oh lord. I had a hard enough time using up ONE bag, now I have 3 new ones? GEEZ.

The Giveaway:
So, I will keep one and I want to giveaway the TWO others for those who would like to try out this white cheese powder for themselves. You certainly can just can use it just like your standard mac and cheese directions with 1/4 cup butter and 1/2 cup milk with probably 2-3 Tbsp of the powder with their cooked macaroni OR use it to follow this recipe.

SO, if you have never used cheese powder and want to play around with it or use it to try and make your own copycat cheese nips like I did, drop a comment and I will determine a winner in the next few days.


Post Script NOTE: So I used one of the new bags of Cheese using the same cheese sauce recipe for some broccoli and it ROCKED. Yum! Therefore, I am concluding that the M&C I made and said it was 'off' I was right. It WAS the cheese powder...past it's prime. Those of you hesitant to enter thinking this cheese powder isn't good. Not true!

Cheese and

Same dish, different country

I found the recipe to these Asian meatballs and kept it immediately. YUM....but other than serving them for a appetizer what could I do to make them dinner?

Of course I tweaked! Keeping with the Asian theme, I put them on soba noodles, created a simple sauce....and TADA

Asian Spaghetti and Meatballs (Asian Meatballs with Soba Noodles)
adapted from Lisa of Cutting Edge of Ordinary who got it from Life's Ambrosia

Cook's Notes: Fry these meatballs if you want a crispy golden brown outside with a tender flavorful inside. If you would prefer to bake them, I would recommend drizzling them with a little olive oil before cooking them in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 30 to 35 minutes or until cooked through.

1 ½ pounds ground pork
½ cup finely minced onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon dried cilantro or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon roasted sesame seeds
1 egg, beaten
2 serrano peppers, minced
½ cup plain dry breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon fish sauce
¼ cup of oil (if frying)
1 package soba noodles (usually found in the Asian section of your grocery)
1 cup chicken broth
3 Tbsp. corn starch
veggie of choice (I used fresh green beans as seen in pictures)

Soy Garlic Dipping Sauce

3 tablespoons soy sauce
1-Tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
Short drizzle sesame oil
Red pepper flakes to taste
1 Tbsp. sugar

Preheat the oven to warm setting. In a bowl combine all the ingredients except the oil. Mix well. Roll into 20 meatballs.

If frying: Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Fry meatballs in batches until they are golden brown on all sides and cooked through. About 8 to 10 minutes total. Be careful not to overcrowd the pan. Transfer cooked meatballs to the oven to keep them warm while you finish cooking the remaining meatballs. Keep the pan with oil and brown stuff stuck for next direction.

Prepare your soy dipping sauce in a custard cup and set aside.

Prepare the soba noodle according to the directions. While the noodle are cooking I added the green beans to cook with them. Drain into colander when your noodles/beans are cooked.

Heat up pan that you used for the meatballs. Add your cornstarch, stir around and pour in chicken broth. Use a wire whisk to mix up the chicken broth, cornstarch and to incorporate/dissolve those tasty brown bits left from the meatballs. Heat until thickens. Dilute sauce with more chicken broth if desired. Add back noodles/beans to coat with sauce. Don't be alarmed if sauce starts to disappear into noodles. That's okay...they are soaking up FLAVOR!

Taking your tongs...put generous pile of noodles/bean onto plate. Swirl tongs so the noodles look pretty. Top with your Asian meatballs, put cup of dipping sauce on the side and serve some oranges on the side. PERFECTION!

K-man and I actually started drizzling the soy dipping sauce all over the meatballs, noodles and beans for the flavor of it all was fantastic! Thanks Des and Lisa! What a hit!

Enjoy!

What to do for a debut?

Call it kismet, but I just so happened to be reading "Garlic and Sapphires - The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise" by Ruth Reichl. You gotta love reading a book whether it is a mystery, biography or memoir when you get FREE recipes. SCORE! Since I had pasta making in the plan and I was reading this book....the first recipe to create with my homemade pasta fell into my lap....

Spaghetti Carbonara

1 pound spaghetti (I used the angel hair that I made)
1/4-1/2 pound thickly sliced bacon
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 large eggs
black pepper
1/2 cup parmigiano cheese, plus extra for topping

Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Follow the directions of pasta package to cook boxed spaghetti. I used fresh pasta which you only cook until the pasta floats to the top or until is 'al dente'.

Cut the bacon crosswise into pieces about 1/2 inch wide. Put them in a skillet and cook for about 2 minutes, until fat begins to render. Add the whole cloves of garlic and cook another 5 minutes, until the edges of the bacon just begin to get crisp. The author warns of overcooking the bacon for if too crisp it will not 'meld' with the pasta. We found this to be not cooked enough for us. So cook the bacon the way YOU prefer.

Meanwhile, break the eggs into the bowl you will serve pasta in, beat them with a fork. Add some grindings of pepper to taste.

Remove the garlic from the bacon pan. If it looks like too much fat for you, discard some but you're going to toss the bacon with most of it's fat into the pasta.

When it's cooked, drain the pasta and inmmediately throw it into the beaten eggs. Mix thoroughly. The heat of the spaghetti will cook the eggs and turn them into a sauce. Add the bacon with it's fat, add cheese and serve.

Serves 4


LOL, here is my 'unworthy' food porn site picture....I will submit the one above with fingers crossed....


YUMMMMMMMM, nothing beats fresh pasta I tell ya! This recipe is definitely a do-again. Next time I think I will add some peas or onions also! Make this NOW (with your pasta from a box of course, I know you don't have homemade pasta right this second...bwahahahahaha!)

Let's Talk About....

ACCESSORIES!

If you remember one of my posts around my birthday; I received a Kitchen Aid Mixer from K-man. YAY! I am so glad to finally have one of my own (I have 4 in my classroom).

Speaking of having KA mixers at school, when they were purchased, my supervisor suggested getting one set of some of the attachment sets. Hey, I wasn't having to foot the bill....."sure!" I said.

We selected: the first attachment set, it had a food grinder (haven't used yet) and a food slicer/shredder (I do not suggest this, food processor is so much quicker), a pasta roller/cutter attachment set and the pasta maker plates set (you need food grinder to use this!)

So I bought the pasta sets home for the summer to do some experimenting. It took awhile for me to get up the energy, because I've made homemade pasta before and I KNEW this was going to be an undertaking....

What I didn't realize until the very moment I started this project.....is that I needed the food grinder attachment in order to use the pasta maker plates. Grrrr....this is packed away in my school and that would be a task to go retrieve (sign out my keys, unlock the chains, dig for the attachment, chain cabinet back up, sign back IN my keys....ugh) SO, that attachment post will be another day, K?

Today I am showing you my the use of the pasta roller attachment. Here are the players:

This is the roller knob. Look above at the picture on the box for the full view of it. Man, these numbers were hard to see without my reading glasses. "Floury" hands don't make it easy to turn these knobs either.


This is the Fettuccine cutter attachment. No fuss, no muss. After you got your dough flattened from the roller on setting 5 you just switch out and slide the dough on in.


They call this attachment for the "linguine fini". Who are we kidding here? This is for angel hair pasta. LOL. I guess I have to use the 'pasta plates' to make linguine.


In the instruction booklet this was their recipe for making the pasta dough:

Basic Egg Pasta

4 large eggs
1 Tbsp. water
3 -1/2 cups sifted all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt

Place eggs, water, flour and salt in mixer bowl. Attach bowl and flat beater. Turn to speed 2 and mix 30 seconds. Exchange flat beater for dough hook. Turn to speed 2 and knead for 2 minutes. Remove dough from bowl and hand knead for 1-2 minutes. Divide dough into eight pieces before processing with pasta roller attachment.

Flatten each piece of dough to approx. 3/8 inch thick. Set roller at 1 by pulling knob and turning to setting 1. Turn mixer on speed 2 or 4. Feed flattened piece of dough into rollers to knead. Fold dough in half and roll again. Repeat folding and kneading dough until smooth and pliable. Make sure you are always lightly dusting pasta with flour while rolling. Continue the 'kneading and flattening' with remaining pieces.

Move adjustment knob to setting 2. Feed dough through rollers to further flatten. Change setting to 3 and feed dough through rollers again. Continue to increase until desired setting (about 5).

HERE WE GO.....

This is (believe it or not) 8 layers of pasta, floured, flattened and ready to go. I actually cut this in half before I went to the cutter. I didn't need my pasta THAT long!


I started with the fettuccine cutter attachment....

WHEEEEEE....how happy I was! My own noodles! I cut half of my pasta in fettuccine and the other half as angel hair....

Clearly I have to now have to master the drying part....


Here is what the booklet said....that in my excitement I ignored:

"Pastas can be either dried or frozen for future use. To dry, lay stands of pasta in a single layer on a towel or drying rack to completely air dry (meaning don't do what I did up above, LOL).
Store dried pasta in an airtight container. To freeze, let pasta air dry for one hour before freezing in an airtight container. It is not necessary to separate strands of pasta before freezing just dust with flour and form into nests."

I suggest laying your towel on a tray and when they come out of the cutter just run the tray along as the pasta comes out. Too bad I did all my pasta on top of each other. But now I know for the next time!

Tune in Tomorrow to see what I made with my first batch of homemade pasta!!!

J.B.L.T.P.S.

JennyMac Loves BLT Pasta Salad!

Who doesn't love the BLT? This version is fun with the fusilli pasta and locked and loaded with fresh heirloom tomatoes and romaine.

I found this recipe in the latest Food Network Magazine (page 88) but apparently they don't link their magazine recipes to their webpage (yet?)

Here's the recipe with any little 'tweaks' I did along the way....

BLT Pasta Salad
from Food Network Magazine

12 oz corkscrew pasta
1/2 cup milk
12 oz lean bacon
3 medium ripe tomatoes, cut into chunks (I used a large package of heirloom cherry tomatoes I got from Trader Joe's)
1 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme
1 clove garlic, minced
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup mayo
1/4 cup sour cream
4 Tbsp. chopped chives or green onions
1 bag prewashed romaine lettuce

1. Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water as the label directs. Drain and toss with the milk in a large bowl. (this keeps it from getting 'gummy') Set aside.
2. Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium high heat until crisp. Drain on paper towels. Discard all but 3 Tbsp of the drippings from the pan. Add the tomatoes, thyme, garlic to the pan and toss until warmed through. Season with salt and pepper. Crumble the bacon into bite-sized pieces, set aside 1/4 cup for garnish. Toss the remaining bacon and the tomato mixture with the pasta.
3. Mix the mayonaisse, sour cream and 3 Tbsp. chives with the pasta until evenly combined. Season with salt and pepper. Add the lettuce, toss again to coat. Garnish with the reserved bacon and the remaining chives. Serve at room temperature.


This is also great cold! I did not mind eating this for lunch for a few days running!



SPEAKING OF BACON.....


Have you seen this? I saw this a few weeks ago on the This is why you are fat web site. I thought it was a joke. Then I saw the inventors on Oprah and how they've taken their favorite food bacon to a WHOLE 'nother level. Oh yes. They made Oprah and her guests some BLT's that were just lettuce and tomato with baconnaise on the bread. They raved. Immediately I went online. Got me some too!


So if you want to make a POOR man's BLT Pasta Salad:

1/2 cup baconnaise
1 pkg cooked pasta
chopped lettuce
chopped tomatoes

Mix and ENJOY and guess what? This product is totally vegan and kosher too! Well blow me down and call me shorty!

Be on the look out for future recipes using the products I got but....NO recipe will be using this:


Yes, you are reading this right. No joke. Bacon Lip Balm.
Put it on right before bed ladies! lololololololllolol

Light and Lemony

If you ever see some lemon pepper pasta at the store. Pick some up and make this dish. I found mine at Trader Joe's. This is papperelle style pasta BTW.

Here's how you do it and the recipe:

Lemon Pepper Chicken Pasta

2 boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes

4 Tbsp. cornstarch

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 shallot, finely choppped

1 cup chicken broth

1 head of brocciflower (this is a broccoli and cauliflower hybrid. It's much mellower than cauliflower)

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. butter

salt and pepper to taste

1 package lemon pepper pasta

1 cup heavy cream

juice of half a lemon

Cut up your chicken, season with salt and pepper and put in bowl with corn starch. Shake the chicken around in the corn starch and set aside. Cook your pasta a few minutes UNDER the package directions. You want the pasta slightly under cooked. I cut my broccoflower into flowerets and cook them with the pasta (the broccoflower takes longer to cook than the cubed chicken).

Saute your garlic and shallots with the olive oil and butter (I wanted a butter taste but less fat and the olive oil keeps the butter from overbrowning BTW). When shallots and garlic are slightly soft put in the chicken and cook until slightly pink. Slowly add your chicken broth so it thickens from the cornstarch. Add your undercooked pasta in the chicken mixture and then add your heavy cream. Keep stirring so the chicken and pasta finish cooking and sauce* thickens/reduces. Season with you salt and pepper. Finish with the juice of half lemon and serve while hot.

This will not be a overly saucey pasta dish. Just enough moisture to coat and flavor but not too much to drip on you. The lemon from the pasta and extra lemon in the sauce is so subtle and delightful with the garlic. Also I find the lemon in the dish help cut the 'cabbagey' taste of the brocciflower. And can I just say, I love the light spring green color of this dish!

K-man thought the lemon in the dish reminded him of some Thai dish he eaten before and here I was going for a North Italy kinda flavor....go figure...LOL Anyway, he loved it, cleaned his plate and THAT is all that matters!

When the moon hits your eye....

Like a big 'skeddie' pie....that's AMORE! (I know the song says 'pizza pie' but I think it still works!) And we loved this!

You got your garlic bread....you can make it thin, or tall. Fresh or from leftovers. You can use ground beef, turkey or sausage. You can add peppers or even pepperoni! Possibilities are endless.

If you are one of those families who ALWAYS have spaghetti leftover...this is for YOU.

If you are one of those families who is looking for a way to jazz up your spaghetti for it's become ho-hum....this is for YOU.

If you don't like spaghetti, then move on FREAK. LOL just kidding you can use any type of noodle or sauce. Any variation can work here.


Let's get cooking:

Baked Spaghetti Pie
adapted from Picky Palate

1 lb of noodles

2 Tbsp of olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 lb ground beef, turkey or sausage
1/2 tsp. salt
pepper to taste (I am heavy on it)
30 oz whole peeled tomatoes, chopped (you can use jarred sauce I use them only in emergencies)
10 fresh basil leaves, stacked, rolled and thinly sliced into ribbons
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan
1 cup shredded cheddar or mozzarella (I used the FF cheddar)

2 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
1 roll Pillsbury French Bread Loaf (I used thawed pizza dough I bought @ Trader Joe's)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook pasta according to package directions, BUT stop just a few minutes before the package says....drain and set aside.

Heat oil in large skilled over medium heat. Saute onions for 5 minutes, then your meat of choice, salt, pepper and minced garlic. Cook until no longer pink. Reduce heat to low then stir in chopped canned tomatoes. Add back par-cooked pasta and add basil. Cook until pasta has absorbed much of the liquid. Turn off heat until dough is ready.

While pasta is cooking, take half of your dough of choice and press into the bottom of a well greased springform pan (mine is nonstick) and pressing up the sides just slightly. Bake for 10 minutes then remove from oven.

Take shredded cheeses (save about handful) and mix through the pasta and transfer it onto your prebaked dough in the springform pan. Pack down your pasta and sprinkle with your remaining handful of cheese. Roll out your other half of dough and press on top of pasta pie. Brush dough with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic salt.

Bake for 25 minutes or until dough is cooked or slightly brown. Let cool for 10 minutes for the cheese inside to 'set' before slicing.

Serve with green salad...drizzle a little a extra sauce....

Cooks Notes:

• It doesn't really matter what size springform pan you use....You pie will either be taller or wider. They both will taste the same. Jenny from picky palate said to not use all the spaghetti and to use it for something else. I just didn't use a full box of pasta (I used angel hair) and I put it all in the pan. It just didn't make sense to have leftover spaghetti pie AND leftover spaghetti....nope nuh-uh ain't happenin'.
• When my beef was cooking....I didn't want to dirty another pan for the pasta. Ugh, something else to wash? So when I broke up my tomatoes I broke up my angel hair into and eyeballed some chicken broth in it. Angel hair doesn't take long to cook nor need that much liquid to absorb...when it was close I added the basil and beef back.
• Also, the original recipe said to put cheese on top....I wanted it throughout to help hold it altogether. Then top with less cheese so the bread would stick.
• We really loved the chunks of tomato in these. You don't see much of the basil....but I didn't want to overpower the pie.....I think it could have been doubled next time.
• I really think chopped pepperoni or hot italian sausage would be awesome in this too....that is my next variation.
  

K-man's eyes popped out when he saw this....he is one of those who takes his bread and makes a spaghetti sandwich during dinner.....he found this very amusing yet I am sure he was wishing for a sub roll to slip his slice in! LOL

Comfy Companion!

As promised....we had mac and cheese with our BBQ meatballs...


OH if I had a dollar for all the different macaroni and cheese recipes out there....I'd be a millionaire! Alas, since I do not have copyrights on any of them...here I sit blogging in my middle income home instead of my personal assistant blogging for me on a beach in FIJI! Sigh.

But I did make a lower fat mac and cheese...here's how I did it:

Lower Fat Macaroni and Cheese

2 Tbsp 50/50 smart balance butter
1/4 cup flour
2-1/2 cups of lowfat milk or FF evaporated milk
1 cup 2% milkfat cheddar cheese
1/2 package Fat Free Cheese slices
1 box pasta
French's Onion Rings



Melt your smart balance and add flour to form a roux....wait until you smell the nuttiness of the flour before you add the milk. Stir until thickened.








Add cheeses. Stir until melted. Add pasta.










OMG...I just wanted to take a fork and dig in right then....

Put into casserole dish coated with nonstick spray and bake @ 375 for 20 or until bubbly.

Take out of oven and add onion rings....until browned....



You will eat this and can't get over the fact it's figure friendly!

It's Lasagna Time!

This is our last week of food prep for the 8th graders. It was Italian Cuisine Week. Their lab was lasagna. Doesn't that picture restore your faith that kids can cook?

This is prepared in a 8/9 in. square pan, 4 large sized (or 6 modest) servings and made with no-boil noodles! The kids love making this. On their 'eating' day...I chuckle to myself because I can see they just can't get over how something so good was made by their own hands!

Sorry we don't have a step by step pictorial for you today. I had a sick day with the stomach flu so we were crazed to catch up and get 5 lasagnas done in one day (2 during lunchtime and 3 during class) in order to have them done for our 'eating' day. Let's be for real here, we can't prep, clean, bake and eat all on one day! We prep one day and eat the next! I am even a nicer teacher who makes their kids garlic bread to eat with it! I truly think this lasagna is so good because they sit in the fridge overnight. Those flavors can really blend when allowed to sit for a day!

Lasagna a la 8th grade
(no-boil noodle variety or just wet standard noodle-yes, no cooking)

Saute in a skillet: 1 diced onion
1 clove garlic
1 Tbsp oil

Then add 1/2 pound ground beef or turkey- brown and crumble

Then add: 29 oz. tomato sauce
1/2 tsp. oregano
1 Tbsp. parsley
1 tsp. salt
pinch pepper

Grate 1/2 lb of mozzarella and divide into three piles and reserve...

Take out 1/2 cup of the sauce and keep it on low until you have finished layers.

To layer the noodles:

1. Spread 1/2 c. sauce in the bottom a square baking pan.

2. Cover with a layer of 2 noodles. (wet them first with water).

3. Top with 1/3 portion of the mozzarella cheese (grated ahead of time).

4. Then top with 1/2 c. ricotta cheese by teaspoonsful at a time and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

5. Top with 1/2 cup sauce.

Very important:
Repeat steps 2-5 to create one more layer.

Cover lasagna with remaining cheese, spray non-stick spray on foil and cover. Put in refrigerator over night.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 30 min.
Allow to Lasagna to stand 10-15 min. before serving so cheese will set.

Look how those noodles just almost grow out the pan because they absorb so much of the tomato sauce!

What a great way to send off for Spring Break!