This dish makes you feel like you're dining with Robin Leach

A La Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.

However, it's super simple, and really not that expensive to make. But it's truly elegant! One of those that you should make when you're entertaining because it's so special and unique.

Oh, so yeah, I should mention, Ina Garten is my hero. I love her and secretly want to meet up with her and Jeffrey in Paris and have her take me around to the wonderful little shops to eat pastry and bread and cheese and drink wine with them! I'd actually settle for running in to her in CT one day and just watching what she buys in the market and trying to replicate it at home! I love her and just about everything she makes!

When I saw this recipe floating around online a few months back, I decided it would be the perfect excuse to buy some caviar and indulge in something rich and delectable for the night.

Oh Ina, you certainly don't disappoint!!

Make this, especially during this holiday season if you have people coming over - the addition of the caviar to just pasta with lemon makes this a WOW dish. And it's heavenly as well! We purposely saved some leftovers. About 4 hours later - there were no more leftovers. YUM!

Lemon Capellini with Caviar

1 pound dried capellini (angel hair)

olive oil for cooking the pasta

1/2 pound unsalted butter (I did reduce this amount and used just 1 stick and a touch of olive oil)

Zest and juice of 2 lemons

salt and pepper to taste

150 grams good black caviar (I found a nice one just at our local market which didn't break the bank)

Zest of lemon for garnish (I skipped this part)

Drizzle some olive oil in a large pot of boiling salted water, add the capellini, and cook al dente. Drain quickly, leaving a little water with the capellini. Quickly toss the capellini with the melted butter, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. 

Place one serving of pasta on each plate and top with a large dollop of fresh caviar. Garnish with grated lemon zest. Serve immediately. 

YUM! I could eat a massive bowl of this creamy, salty, deliciousness right now!!

It's like being back in St. Louis

I have a lot of extended family from the St. Louis area - so we visited the area often when I was a kid, even through my time in college. One of my favorite things about visiting family there - aside from actually being WITH my family - were the many, many, restaurants that had toasted ravioli on the menu. Oh, and there was also this Mexican place in the nice mall that made their own tortillas and served that as the munchie instead of chips and salsa - delicious, warm, soft tortillas with this amazing orange butter. OMG!

OK, so back to ravioli. Any time we went out, I had to get toasted ravioli. It was a requirement. And something we just couldn't find in the greater Chicagoland Area. And once I went off to Indiana for college and then moved out east - forget it! Toasted ravioli quickly became a thing of my past. (excuse me while I shed a tear).

Fast Forward to this wonderful day in October of 2012, I was going through my Google Reader (remember when that existed?) and found a recipe for oven toasted ravioli on Six Sisters' Stuff. Could it be - could I make these at home?!

Why yes, yes I could.  So on Christmas Eve of last year, when the hubs and I indulge in lots of sinful and delicious heavy apps for dinner that night, I made the oven toasted ravioli with mushroom ravioli. Oh heavens! They were amazing!! In fact, so amazing, I decided I'll make them again this Christmas Eve as well.

Oven Toasted Ravioli Recipe from Six Sisters' Stuff

Ingredients:

1 (20 ounce) package refrigerated ravioli (found in the deli section) - I used mushroom ravioli - my favorite!

2 eggs

2 tablespoons milk

3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs - I used plain that I seasoned myself.

1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese - um, yeah, Kraft it was!

Nonstick cooking spray

Directions:

 Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Whisk together egg and milk in a small bowl.  In another bowl, combine bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese.  Dip each ravioli in the egg mixture and coat in the bread crumb mixture.  Place on an ungreased baking sheet.  Spray ravioli with cooking spray.  Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden grown.  Serve with marinara sauce for dipping. *I did bake these on a silicone sheet and I think that helped with any sticking. Although I may try baking them on racks this year. I also did flip them once during the baking process to evenly brown.*

 (Recipe adapted from Plain Chicken)

BLT Pasta Salad

We made this for dinner over the summer and it was just delicious. Since we're still watching our carbs at dinner and not eating more than 3oz. at a dinner, I have to admit it wasn't that much and I wish we could have had more pasta - but it was still delicious! In order to make it a complete meal for us with our protein, I also added some shredded chicken to this. I have to say, having that chicken really helped us not feel so deprived from having less pasta.


This will be a great recipe you'll want to make this upcoming spring or summer for your cookouts and parties. Thanks to Skinny Taste for this great recipe!
4 oz. dry ditalini, boiled and drained
4 slices bacon
10 oz. cooked, shredded chicken
12-16 cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
4 tbsp Mayo
Pepper
1 bag baby spinach


BLT Macaroni Salad with Realistic Eat Changes


Cook your bacon on the stove top and drain on paper towel.

When the pasta is boiled and drained, the bacon is done, and the chicken is shredded, toss all ingredients together and plate. In order to ensure the proper amount on each plate, we prepped this in two separate bowls with the proper oz. of pasta and chicken. So each serving got 2 T of the low fat mayo, 2 slices of bacon, 3 oz. pasta, 5 oz. chicken and half a bag of spinach and half the tomatoes.

So yummy!

Boar...It's What's For Dinner.

At our local farmer's market a few weeks back our favorite farmer had boar sausage and ground boar for sale. He has a fantastic farm that we've visited with lots of produce but then tons of livestock as well - chickens, ducks, turkeys, boars, pigs, cows, you name it.

We decided to try the Mild Italian Boar Sausage Patties. I decided to make it how I've made one of our favorite dishes featured on this blog before from a Whole Foods Recipe.

This time I tweaked it a bit with the boar sausage and put the whole thing on a bed of fresh spinach leaves, also from the farmer's market.

I will say the boar is probably one of the most fantastic things I've ever eaten. It was incredibly lean, flavorful and tender. Since then, we've bought more of the sausage pretty much every week to stock in our freezer to have throughout the winter time.

If you can find a local farmer with boar, do try it! You won't regret it. And if not, still do make this dish and use a good Italian Sausage, you won't regret it!

Spaghetti, Healthified

We are still doing the low to no carb at our house and are finding we really don't miss the carbs. And when we are craving something, we do indulge a bit and enjoy - meaning we'll eat one more oz. of pasta then we're supposed to!

One of my favorite, and easiest, substitutes for pasta has been spaghetti squash. It's so much more filling and you get to eat so much more of it!!

We tried the pasta with bolognese sauce from Gina's Skinny Recipes and it was wonderful! It was even better over spaghetti squash and with some mushrooms added in!

Ingredients for how we made it at Realistic Eats: 

4 oz pancetta chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 8 oz. package of mushrooms chopped
1/2 cup carrots, minced
1 lb ground turkey
1/4 cup white wine
2 - 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes
1 bay leaf
salt and fresh pepper
1/2 cup low fat milk

Directions: 

In a large pot, saute the pancetta until the fat is rendered. Then add in your onions and carrots and cook until soft. 
Add your meat and season with salt and pepper and cook until browned, then add in your wine and let reduce.
Add in your canned tomatoes and mushrooms here and your bay leaf and simmer for about 35-45 minutes, and stir as needed. After this time, heat your milk and then add the warmed milk in to the pot and cook for a few more minutes. Serve over pasta or spaghetti squash and enjoy!

Spaghetti & Meatball Soup

I found this incredible recipe on Gina's Skinny Recipes and wow it did not disappoint! And if you haven't visited this blog yet, you must - it's a great source for low fat/cal and healthy recipes. Truly, one of my favorite blogs!

This soup was so easy to throw together and for this spaghetti and meatball loving girl, it certainly hit the spot on a lighter note for me! I did alter a bit, just using pre-made turkey meatballs that I had made and put in the chest freezer - so I just had to have them heat in the soup. And the hubs is a huge fan of wagon wheel pasta, so I replaced the spaghetti noodles for the mini wagon wheels and it was so fun! Instead of using the boxed broth too, I used some of my frozen turkey stock from the freezer and water.

Great, quick, easy meal - great for a cold night this winter. Do make it!

See the recipe from Gina's site - I made it as is with those tweaks so I'll refer you there!

Eat Your Greens!

I love leafy greens, and there's nothing better than greens from the farmer's market. This recipe used up the very last of the fresh spinach from the farmer's market for the season - le sigh - I guess we'll have to wait until next spring for some more deliciousness!

I found this recipe in my Penzey's Spice Catalog - and if you don't use their spices, you should. They are by far and away some of the best spices out there! I've yet to have anything bad from there.

This is such a delicious pesto sauce, and so incredibly easy. In the amount of time it took the pasta to cook I had the pesto done, and was on to my salad, and the shrimp was in the oven. Do make this, you won't be sorry!

I did not make this recipe vegan, but instead used Parmesan cheese.

Served this Spinach Pesto with Caesar Salad and some baked shrimp. Delicious!

Spinach Pesto

10 oz. baby spinach * My bag from the farm was probably greater than this*

2 TB. pine nuts or walnuts * I omitted *

1⁄4 Cup nutritional yeast (Parmesan cheese

or a Parmesan/Romano cheese blend

may be used instead of the yeast)

1⁄4 Cup extra virgin olive oil

4 Cloves of Garlic * the recipe called for Garlic Powder, I used fresh.

water or olive oil as needed

Place the spinach, pine nuts, yeast and olive oil in a food processor or blender and pulse until

well-blended, scraping the sides as needed. Add the water or more olive oil and pulse to reach

your desired consistency. * I added water to cut down on the fat. I also tossed the pasta with some of the pesto and reserved pasta water. I ended up having enough pesto left to freeze another cup + for another use*

Huh, so this is what a real portion is?

So for about 10 weeks now the hubs and I have been following the rules of my nutritionist strictly. But I've been craving pasta this whole time. Like MAD CRAVINGS FOR PASTA - that's really the only thing I've been craving. Not cookies, chocolate, ice cream, or anything - just pasta!

But eating pasta seemed like an impossibility since dinner time can only have 3 oz. of a carb. Yup, you read that right, 3 oz. of a carb. How could I integrate pasta in to dinner with only 3 oz. on my plate?

Well, I figured it out - only took me 31 years to realize pasta is not an entree but a side dish! When I talked about this with the nutritionist, she said I just learned the lesson of naturally slim and healthy people. Pasta, grains, you name it, are side dishes. They are not to make up the bulk of your entree at any meal of the day. This was my ah ha moment in life. Could 31 years of carb loading be the reason I've never been successful at keeping weight off? Must be because the weight is dropping off now!

So back to dinner.

I was dying to make this pasta and once I figured out how to do it without carb-loading, I was on track.

I coupled this meal with an awesome chicken Cesar salad and was completely satisfied.

And let me tell you, when you're only cooking 4 oz. of pasta at a time for 2 people for dinner, a box of pasta lasts you FOREVER!!!

Creamy Caprese Pasta for 2

4 oz. pasta

1 small can tomato sauce, reduced sodium

2-3 T fresh grated parmesan cheese

3-4 oz. reduced fat mozzarella cheese cut in to cubes.

12-16 grape tomatoes cut in half

Fresh basil chiffonade

Preheat your oven to 350. Cook your pasta according to the directions on the box. Heat the tomato sauce and add in some garlic and crushed black pepper and a little crushed red pepper.

Once the pasta is done, add it to the sauce. Toss in the tomatoes, some basil and the mozzarella cheese cubes. Place in small dishes you can place in the oven and top with parmesan cheese. Bake until golden bubbly - mine only took about 10 minutes to bake in two small dishes.

DELISH.

Now my new addiction is this Caesar salad dressing. I have a Caesar I've been making for years - it's a recipe my father made and I just learned it at a young age and kept it with me. But now this one, it may be taking the place. It's so delicious, creamy and yummy!!

Thank you to Gimmie Some Oven for this killer recipe
I've posted it here as I've been making it.

1/4 cup reduced fat mayonnaise made with olive oil

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 Tbsp. minced garlic

1-2 Tbsp. fres

hly-squeezed lemon juice (adjust to taste)

1/4 cup freshly-grated Parmesan cheese

generous pinch of salt and freshly-ground black pepper

1/2 cup olive oil

Shake in a jar and toss with your greens. DELICIOUS!!!

Not Yo Mama's Tuna Noodle Casserole

I love a good tuna noodle casserole. The creaminess, the crunchy potato chip topping - I'm salivating thinking of it. But I've yet to master a good t.n.c. There are just so many elements one can play with and manipulate! Do you add peas or not? Potato chips or panko? Egg noodles or spaghetti? What is your ratio of tuna to noodles? Condensed soup or cream sauce? Ok well that last one is easy - condensed soup only makes an appearance in this house for green bean casserole.

So after much debating about how to make my t.n.c for dinner, I opted for using a recipe. I know, what descent home cook uses a recipe for t.n.c.?

Well, I did and I will from now on - holy deliciousness. The only thing I feel this was missing though was some green peas, although the hubs didn't feel it needed them. I don't know to me it's just not a good t.n.c without peas.

The hubs and I both agreed this was the best t.n.c we have ever had - the flavor, the creaminess, the texture - So good, so comforting, and so wonderful!!

Tuna Noodle Casserole

courtesy of Epicurious

1 medium onion, finely chopped

4 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter

10 oz mushrooms, trimmed and sliced 1/4 inch thick (4 cups)

2 teaspoons soy sauce

1/4 cup Sherry

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1 cup whole milk

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice - I omitted this in fear of curdling my milk (frequent blog followers will know I have issues with milk curdling in my cooking)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 (6-oz) can tuna in olive oil, drained (we used 2 cans)

6 oz dried curly egg noodles

1 1/2 cups coarse fresh bread crumbs (I used a mixture of panko and bread crumbs)

4 oz coarsely grated Cheddar (1 cup)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

print a shopping list for this recipe

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F. Butter a shallow 2-quart baking dish. Cook onion in 1 1/2 tablespoons butter (I used Pam) with a pinch of salt in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately low heat, covered, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Increase heat to moderately high and add mushrooms, then sauté, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms begin to give off liquid, about 2 minutes. Add soy sauce and continue to sauté mushrooms, stirring, until liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated. Add Sherry and boil, stirring occasionally, until evaporated. Remove from heat.

Melt remaining 3 tablespoons butter in a 2- to 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderately low heat and whisk in flour, then cook roux, whisking, 3 minutes. Add broth in a stream, whisking, and bring to a boil, whisking. Whisk in milk and simmer sauce, whisking occasionally, 5 minutes. Stir in mushroom mixture, lemon juice, and salt. Flake tuna into sauce and stir gently. Season sauce with salt and pepper.

Cook noodles in a 5- to 6-quart pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain noodles in a colander and return to pot. Add sauce and stir gently to combine. Transfer mixture to baking dish, spreading evenly.

Toss together bread crumbs and cheese in a bowl. Drizzle with oil and toss again, then sprinkle evenly over casserole. Bake until topping is crisp and sauce is bubbling, 20 to 30 minutes.

Mark Bittman, My Type of Recipe Guru!

Can I tell you how much I love Mark Bittman's Kitchen Express? I got the book from the library and have been trying some of the recipes out. Well, now I need to buy this book. These are my types of recipes and really how I cook - a little of this, a little of that, do this until it looks right/tastes right. No heavy list of ingredients and measurements. LOVE IT!

I made his recipe for Linguine with Pea Sauce and Prosciutto a few weeks ago and WOW what a delicious and easy meal to make! I served this as a side to some steaks that I grilled up and it was just the most perfect meal.

Linguine with Pea Sauce and Prosciutto
From Mark Bittman's Kitchen Express

Boil salted water for the pasta and cook it reserving some of the cooking water. While this is cooking, cook a bag of frozen peas and some chopped scallions in salted water until the peas are just tender. Set a few of the peas aside and then drain the peas and puree with some of the pasta water, leaving some whole for tossing in later. Cut Prosciutto in to matchstick pieces and pan fry until crispy in a non stick skillet. Add the whole peas to the prosciutto. Drain your pasta and toss it with the pea puree and toss in the prosciutto and peas. Top with some parmesan and voila.

This would be fantastic with seafood as well!

The Most Perfect Pad Thai

I have made this recipe twice now and the hubs and I agree, it is by far the best Pad Thai at home recipe out there - and we've tried quite a few.

I guess we really shouldn't have expected anything but a perfect Pad Thai recipe from a site called Thai Table! And actually this recipe is so good that even writing this post is making me have a great desire to make it right now!!

For us, I can plan to make Pad Thai but it never works because bean sprouts are not something that our market always has on hand. So this dish usually turns out to be a spur of the moment dinner on a Saturday night when we found good bean sprouts at the market.

I always make shrimp Pad Thai - and I like to add the tofu in but the hubs doesn't love it with the tofu. And if you can find tamarind paste, get some and use it to make this dish - it really does make the dish so perfect!

The Most Perfect Pad Thai

adapted from Thai Table

1/2 lime

1 egg

4 teaspoons fish sauce

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon siracha

1 shallot, minced

2 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoon tamarind

1/2 package Thai rice noodles

2 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2-1/4 lb shrimp

1/3 cup tofu - extra firm diced or strips

1/4 cup thinly sliced green onion

2 tablespoons peanuts

1-1/3 cup bean sprouts

Soak the dry noodles in lukewarm water until tender. Julienne tofu green onion in to pieces Rinse the bean sprouts and save half for serving fresh. Mince shallot and garlic together.

I make my Pad Thai in ingredient rotation so that things stay prettier and more solid - not falling apart. First, heat the wok and toast the peanuts. Then remove those. Then add your oil to your work and add in your shrimp. When those are cooked, remove and set aside. Add a touch more oil and then scramble your egg and remove and set in with the shrimp. Add a touch more of the oil and then add the shallot, garlic and tofu. Then add in your tamarind, sugar, fish sauce and siracha. Then toss in your noodles and toss - then toss in your shrimp and egg and half of your bean sprouts and green onion.

Once on serving places, sprinkle with peanuts, bean sprouts and a wedge of lime and some more of the green onions and enjoy!

Before I forget...

Since I really keep this blog as a way to eliminate paper in my house - you know all of those ripped out recipes, print outs, photo copies, etc. - I try to put everything on here I make that I'd ever want to make again. And since I know I have a little following as well, I figure it's great for you to see what I stand by as well. Because, I promise, I will tell you if something is bad, not worth your time, energy or effort.

For a while now, I've been making this pasta sauce recipe, and I've never blogged it. Now, while it's so easy I don't really need it written down, it would be a problem if, say, I had to rely on having the hubs make dinner and said "Make the sauce babe" and he had no clue where to turn as a reference. now THAT would be tragic!! Because this sauce is that good - and if you aren't making it or even using it as your staple sauce - that is a BIG problem!!

This sauce is rich, flavorful, coats pasta so well, and really doesn't need any of the fancy bells and whistles or extras added in. In fact, the ONLY thing I add in is a few cracks of black pepper. I've tried it with adding garlic, basil, blah blah blah and NOTHING compares to how it tastes just plain, as is.

Tomato Sauce with Butter and Onions

Adapted from Marcela Hazan’s Essentials of Italian Cooking via Smitten Kitchen

28 ounces whole peeled tomatoes from a can (San Marzano, if you can find them) *NOTE* In a pinch, to make it a faster meal - I start out just using 28 oz. of pureed tomatoes - same taste, half the time.

5 tablespoons unsalted butter (or a stick - it's good with both!)

1 medium-sized yellow onion, peeled and halved * DO NOT DICE, CHOP, NOTHING - just peel and cut in half and toss in the sauce*

Salt and black pepper to taste * I have NEVER added salt, it doesn't need it!

Put the tomatoes, onion and butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Bring the sauce to a simmer then lower the heat to keep the sauce at a slow, steady simmer for about 45 minutes, or until droplets of fat float free of the tomatoes. Stir occasionally, crushing the tomatoes against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon. Remove from heat, discard the onion, add salt to taste (you might find, as I did, that your tomatoes came salted and that you didn’t need to add more) and keep warm while you prepare your pasta.

I like to toss the sauce with the pasta here instead of topping the pasta with the sauce. It's great all mixed together. You can add parmesan, but it really does not need it.

Well, it's sorta vegetarian!

Here I was thinking, wow what a great vegetarian meal we just had. Then the hubs had to rain on my parade and remind me that I started the recipe by rendering the fat out of pancetta and then continued to eat the pancetta in with the recipe. D'oh! Well, my intentions were good.... le sigh.

This was a wonderful recipe - and when the hubs enjoys a recipe sans meat and asks for it again, well it MUST be AWESOME!!!

This recipe was really easy to make, had a great range of flavors and textures, and was really feeling. Made a great leftover too - so great, that we fought over who would get to eat them. Yeah, seriously, it was that good! It's not a really saucy pasta, it just coats the noodles - so if you like more sauce, double the sauce recipe.

Spaghetti with Chickpeas [Spaghetti con Ceci]

From Michael White, via New York Magazine, via Smitten Kitchen

15 ounces canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup chicken stock

5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup pancetta, diced (a little shy of 2 ounces)

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

Pinch chile flakes

1 14-ounce can petite diced tomatoes

2-3 tsp. dried basil

1 pound spaghetti

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese to taste

Set 1/3 cup of chickpeas aside. In a blender or food processor, combine remaining chickpeas with chicken stock and pulse a few times until chickpeas are chopped.

Place a large pot over medium heat and add olive oil and diced pancetta. Sauté for 3 to 4 minutes until lightly browned. Add onions, garlic, and chile flakes. Continue cooking until onions and garlic are translucent, about 5 to 8 minutes.

Add chickpea mixture, tomatoes, and basil, and let simmer for 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper - mine didn't need any added salt, but I did add some cracked black pepper. While sauce is cooking, cook your spaghetti, until al dente - don't over cook your pasta you don't want is mushy for this recipe. Reserve one cup of pasta water and drain the rest. Toss pasta with chickpea sauce, reserved chickpeas and half of the reserved pasta water until evenly coated and heated through, about one minute. If sauce still feels too thick add reserved pasta water as needed. I ended up adding about half of the water. Season again, as needed, and serve with grated Parmesan.

A Quick & Easy Weeknight Dinner

This meal could not be any easier. I mean 3o minutes start to finish is just perfect for a weeknight meal.

And this meal makes a TON of food, so be prepared to freeze some leftovers - they freeze wonderfully and reheat so well for lunches during the week at work.

I had some mini ravioli in my freezer that I was going to make my traditional tortellini and vegetable soup with - but then came across this recipe and figured I'd try something new. I did make some alterations to the recipe so I'll post it as I made it here.

Mini Ravioli and Meatball Soup

Adapted from Tasty Planner

1 T Olive Oil

1 lb. frozen meatballs - I used Ikea meatballs, you could use turkey, beef, whatever you have on had.

1 onion, chipped

3 cloves of garlic chopped

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

3 cans beef broth + 1 cup water (I added the extra water to add some extra broth since I added veggies and used more than 1 large package of ravioli)

2 cans Italian herb-flavored diced tomatoes with juice

1 pkg. fresh or frozen mini cheese ravioli

2 zucchini chopped in to half circles

In a large stock pot heat your oil and add your meatballs and brown them on all sides. Remove the meatballs and then add in some more oil and your onion, garlic and pepper. Then add in your zucchini to start to brown. Once things get tender and lightly browned, add in your broth, water and tomatoes and bring all of that to a boil. Add your meatballs back in and simmer for 10 minutes. Then add in your mini ravioli and simmer another 8-10 minutes, until the ravioli are cooked through and tender.

Serve with some bread and sprinkle with some Parmesan cheese!

Shortcut Lasagna

If you're a frequent reader you may recall I finally made my first lasagna back in 2009, and to be honest, I haven't made one since. The reason - it's so time consuming!! Now sure, I've made many other time consuming recipes on this blog in the meantime, but I mean lasagna is so time consuming for it to be just some noodles, cheese and sauce.

But when I came back from our vacation and went through my reader (all 2K+ posts!!) I stumbled upon a recipe for Lighhouse Lasagna. Now I decided to read it, because I do like lasagna and am for trying new things. Now this was right up my alley - quick, easy, simple ingredients. I had to make this!

So finally, in January, I made the Lighthouse Lasagna recipe from Lauren's Kitchen food blog. I made it just as she did and let me tell you it was absolutely fantastic! Easy, flavorful, and the leftovers were just as wonderful! I will 100% be making this again, and more frequently - I vow to not let two years go by again before I make this one!

Now this recipe is floating all over the web in a variety of places, and it popped up in my Google Reader many times throughout the month of December. Some called for cheddar cheese on top (um, NO!). Others used more of this, less of that. But this recipe was the perfect balance of cheesy goodness and saucy flavor!

Thanks Lauren - this was a hit!

Lighthouse Lasagna

adapted from Potluck at Midnight Farm and from Lauren's Kitchen

1 pound ground meat - I used ground Turkey

1 small can tomato paste

1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

Coarse salt

12 ounces egg noodles

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 1/2 cup sour cream - I used light sour cream

5 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature - I used low fat cream cheese

1 bunch scallions, finely chopped

8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese - I used low fat cheese

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Sauté the meat until lightly browned in a large skillet over medium heat, breaking it up as it cooks. Add the tomato paste, tomato sauce, and sugar. * Note I also added in here, aside from Lauren's recipe, some black pepper, garlic powder and a little dried basil - it was a very nice addition to the flavor!* Fill the tomato paste can with water and stir it in. Simmer, covered, for 15 to 20 minutes.

Boil your egg noodles and drain when done. Then return them to the pot and toss with butter. *Now I don't usually like to toss things with added fat, but I did here, and recommend you do too - it added another layer of richness to the meal that I think you'd miss without it.*

In a small bowl, combined the sour cream, cream cheese, and scallions. Layer the ingredients in the casserole dish- sauce, pasta, cheese mix, sauce, pasta, cheese mix, sauce, mozzarella cheese.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, the casserole will be set up and the cheese bubbly browned.

An absolutely incredible vegan meal....

So incredible you won't even miss the meat!

I love the website Eating Well and often find so many delicious recipes on this site.

I knew I had some gnocchi in the pantry and some butternut squash that needed to be used up - so this recipe fit the bill.

I can honestly say the only change I made was to use onion instead of shallot and I did skip the currants because it's just not something we enjoy.

This Chickpea, Spinach and Squash Gnocchi was hearty, filling, satisfying and made SO MUCH FOOD!! It really came together quite quickly as well - even with having to cook the squash - I think it took about 30 minutes.

Do make this, I promise even your non-vegan/vegetarian loving spouses or families will enjoy it and be satisfied.

(on a side note, I find it funny that Chrome thinks Gnocchi is a mis-spelled word!)

It's an Arti Party Birthday Party

I really enjoy the Food Network show Aarti Party - I think Aarti is bubbly, funny, enjoyable to watch and I'm thrilled with the foods she makes with an Indian flair. Secretly in my head Aarti and I are best friends who love to eat good food, go to check out little markets and spend weekends cooking and baking together - can you tell I love her? I record her show on the DVR and if she's made things I enjoy, I'll watch the show and then choose what to make.

My favorite Aarti moment by far was the time she made a Boston Butt Pork Roast and said she had never heard of Boston Butt but the only Boston Butt she knows is her husband - Oh my gosh I died of laughter!

Well she had a show that was on the DVR when we came back from vacation and I decided there and then, I wanted to make that whole episode for my upcoming birthday. Everything looked so incredibly comforting and delicious.

Yes, you read right - I passed up the chance to have my very willing husband take me out for a lovely dinner for my 31st birthday in exchange for a day and night of me in the kitchen just so I could make this whole meal and take my first stab at making a chocolate cream pie for dessert.

It really was the best birthday and so relaxing and nice.

I made Aarti's Beer, Ginger and Garlic Braised Brisket, her Broccoli and Dill Raita Slaw (although I opted for cabbage instead of broccoli slaw), and her Thai Red Curry Mac n Cheese (note on this, I used less of the curry paste - starting with 1 T but then I easily added 3 or so T by the end of the cooking process because I wanted the warmth and flavor).

The brisket was so tender and had this incredible abundance of flavors - savory, sweet, sharp - it was so delicious. The slaw was incredibly flavorful with the dill and the nuts and cranberries added some sweetness and crunch. And I don't even know where to begin with the Mac and Cheese - who ever would have thought to add curry paste to mac and cheese is heaven sent. It was cheesy, creamy, VERY FILLING, and had such a nice spicy warmth to it that just made your mouth sing.

I'm not posting the recipes because I made everything just as Aarti did - and so I'll just let you follow the links above.

Make the whole meal, at one time, you won't be disappointed.

Oh Tyler Florence....

I must admit, while I enjoy watching you on tv, and your food always look great - I have never made one of your recipes until now. Please don't take it personally. It's not anything against you - I mean you're easy on the eyes and quite passionate and charismatic about cooking and how good food can be. It's just that you cook with a LOT of steps most of the time and, well, I just don't have the time or patience for that most nights.

However, when I went searching for a recipe for clams and pasta, this pulled in Google and well, let's just say you won the Google Search lotto that night!

Oh Tyler, why have I been denying your recipes and doubting bringing your recipes in to my kitchen? This could quite possibly be the best clam and pasta recipe we've ever eaten in our lives and, well, it's now October and we made this in August and we're still discussing how indulgent and light and delicious this meal was. Thank God we live someplace we can get good clams year round! This will be made again. And yes, maybe, just maybe Tyler Florence, I'll venture out to try something else of yours and be surprised with the same mouthwatering and indulgent results!

Orecchiette with Broccoli Rabe, Clams and Sweet Italian Sausage

I'm not even going to post the recipe here but just link it - the only change I made was to use fresh broccoli instead of Rabe, since we don't like the taste of it. And I used shells, because it's the shape I had on hand - everything else - to the T and delicious!!

Oh Slimming Eats....

How do I love your blog! You cook with great flavors and ease and it's always a good meal when I venture to your site!

Thank you for this recipe, to my readers and friends, you MUST make this. Again, following our craze of all things Thai, Chinese or Indian at our house - we added another to the must keep in the rotation pile!

The Chili Beef Noodles from Slimming Eats was killer! Flavorful, fresh, lite, quick and a hint of spicy warmth from the chilis. Now I did alter a bit, and I really wish I had a thinner rice noodle I used but, eh, either way it was still delicious. And can I tell you how FAST this meal came together? I mean, I got home from the gym and started dinner and 20 minutes later in walked the hubs and dinner was merely a few minutes from being done. No word of a lie!

ENJOY! I hope you like it as much as we did!

Chili Beef Noodles - with my changes - recipe as is posted at link above.
Ingredients
1 lb. lean ground beef - you could also use turkey
1 packet of extra thin rice noodles
3 T soy sauce, reduced soidum
1 teaspoon of chilli pepper paste
1 head napa cabbage, roughly chopped
1 T fresh ginger grated
1-2 spring onions, finely chopped
1/2 cup of chicken stock
Pam

Place the noodles in a pan of boiling hot water and soak for approx 15 mins. Drain, rinse with cold water and set aside
Spray a Wok or frying pan with Pam (If you're using beef you don't need to spray)
Add the beef, chilli paste and soy sauce and cook until browned.
Add the napa cabbage and ginger and cook for a further couple of mins
Add the stock, noodles and spring onion and simmer until all stock has been absorbed.
Add the noodles to the pan and toss to combine.
Serve and eat, eat, eat!

Haluski

God Bless You!

I made this tonight to serve along with some pork schnitzel. Delish!!!

It really couldn't be easier - and it's filling and warm and comforting on a nice cool fall night.

Thank you to Vegan Dad for this recipe - I had something like it growing up and this really brought back memories and was nice to kind of eat my way down memory lane!

The recipe below is how I made it. But Vegan Dad's recipe is posted above.

Haluski

1 T olive oil

1 large sweet onion, halved and sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large carrot, finely grated
1 small head of cabbage, cored and sliced
2 tsp smoked paprika
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp butter
cooked egg noodles

METHOD
1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium to med-hi heat. Saute onions for 5-7 mins, until soft and translucent. Add garlic, carrot, cabbage, and a few pinches of salt and mix well. Once sizzling, reduce heat to med-lo, cover, and cook for 10-15 mins, stirring regularly. You want the cabbage to be nice and tender, but not soggy. Add paprika and parsley, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from pan.
2. Add 2 tbsp of margarine to the pan over medium to med-hi heat. Add egg noodles and gently stir to coat. Fry for a few mins, then add cabbage mixture. Stir to mix, adjust seasoning and serve.