Spaghetti with roasted zucchini

This recipe is pretty straight-forward and very basic. I particularly liked it because of the fresh twist it put on spaghetti. My son was quite disappointed though, when I told him we were having spaghetti but there were no meatballs in sight. I, however, felt like this was a fresh take on a traditional dish and felt like I was eating just a little healthier tonight.
Spaghetti with Roasted Zucchini
From Woman's Day Magazine

12 oz whole-wheat spaghetti
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 1/2-in.-thick slices fresh bread, torn into 1-in. pieces
2 cloves garlic, smashed
4 small zucchini (about 1 lb total), sliced 1/4 in. thick
1/4-1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
Kosher Salt
1/4 cup grated Parmesan (1 oz)
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 Tbsp grated lemon zest

1) Heat oven to 425 degrees. Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain the pasta and return it to the pot. Toss the pasta with 1 Tbsp of the oil.

2) Meanwhile, in a food processor, pulse the bread and garlic until the bread forms coarse crumbs and the garlic is chopped.

3) In a large bowl, toss the zucchini, red pepper, remaining 2 Tbsp oil and 1/2 tsp salt. Add the Parmesan and bread crumb mixture and toss to combine. Spread the zucchini mixture on 2 rimmed baking sheets and roast until the squash is tender and golden brown, 10-12 minutes.

4) Toss the pasta with the zucchini mixture, parsley, and lemon zest.

Diana's Notes:

•I halved the recipe & we still have leftovers.

•I used a mixture of zucchini and yellow squash.

•I prepped my vegetables before hand. They roasted at the same time the spaghetti was cooking finishing at the same time, making my life a little bit easier.

•This would be a fantastic dish to add mushrooms or diced tomatoes.

•Unless you really like lemony pasta, don't go overboard on the zesting of the lemon.

Stuffed Peppers

I don't know why stuffed peppers intimidated me so much. They were so EASY to make and very versatile to accommodate what I already had in my fridge. I used chicken sausage, because there were leftovers after making this super simple meal. But, any meat will do, just make sure you cook it first. & I meant to add mushrooms, but totally forgot!

Ingredients I used:

2-3 Bell Peppers

1/2 of an onion finely diced

2-3 links chicken sausage

1 cup brown rice, cooked

Spinach

Drizzle of spaghetti sauce that I had in my fridge. Original recipes call for tomato sauce. But, I was out, so I compromised.

First, cut off the top of your peppers and clean out the insides. Stick your peppers into boiling water for no more than three minutes.

Fry up your onions and sausage together

Mix in cooked rice, and spinach, (And mushrooms, and any other vegetable you want). Then drizzle some of your tomato sauce onto mixture, and stir in.

Scoop your mixture into peppers, until heaping full. Then cook in oven at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes. Your peppers are good when tender and growing some wrinkly skin. You don't want to burn them though, so check on them until they look to your satisfaction. I topped with some parmesan cheese, since I did use spaghetti sauce after all.

Super tasty, and super fun!

Vegetable Lasagna

Coming soon to a blog near you

Easy Wraps

Wraps are a fantastic way to switch up eating a traditional deli sandwich, and it's a little more versatile too. Just take a glance in your fridge and discover what leftover veggies and meat you can use.

The spread consists of: cream cheese, sour cream, seasoning salt, and a dry ranch packet all spread on a Mission brand Garden Herb tortilla. Regular flour tortillas are delicious too.

Today my wraps included: Diced red pepper, diced tomato, packaged deli meat, spinach, and green onion.

Measurements can definitely be adapted according to the amount of people you are trying to feed. To make about 4-5 large wraps, place 1/2 block of cream cheese in a bowl. Put a few spoonfuls of sour cream into the bowl. You want it to be a creamy, spreadable texture which the sour cream helps fulfill, but you don't want to overpower the sour cream taste. Sprinkle generously with seasoning salt and a quarter of a dry ranch packet. Beat until mixed together and spread across tortilla.

Load the veggies on, leaving at least a 1/2 inch at one end so the tortilla will stick together when you roll it up.

These can also be cut up into little pinwheels if you are looking for a good, easy appetizer.

Cabbage Potato Gratin

My gratin^

I'm pulling this recipe straight from blog "Small Potatoes". With St. Patrick's Day and all, cabbage is really inexpensive at most stores, so I wanted to try something new with it. Actually, I don't think I've ever bought a cabbage since being married so it was fun to cook with.

Potato Cabbage Gratin

1 pound yellow potatoes (about 3-4) I used Red Potatoes
about 1 pound green cabbage
4 tbls. butter, plus more for dish
1 garlic clove
1 1/3 cups milk
3 eggs
1/2 cup grated cheese (Parmesan or other hard, white cheese)
1/3 cup AP flour
salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Butter a 2 quart baking dish. Put a large pot of water on to boil.
2. Peel and slice potatoes to 1/4 inch thick.
3. Slice the cabbage roughly into ribbons.
4. Add potatoes and 1 tbls. salt to water. Boil for 5 minutes. Remove potatoes to a bowl.
5. Drop cabbage into water and cook for 5 minutes. Remove cabbage from water and place on an old dish cloth. Squeeze out as much excess water as you can.
6. Melt butter in small skillet and toss garlic in for one minute.
7. Gently toss cabbage, potatoes, butter and garlic, and salt and pepper (to taste) together. (Your potatoes may break up a little, but no worries, it will all bake up nicely.) Pour into baking dish.
8. Whisk milk, eggs, cheese, and flour together. Pour over potato mixture. (Reserve a little cheese to sprinkle on top.)
9. Bake for 50 minutes and cool slightly before serving.

4 to 6 servings
We served it with crusty bread and sausage, but this could easily be a vegetarian main.

We served it with crusty bread as well as lots of fruits. Richard didn't hate the dish, but considering it was mostly veggies, he didn't love it either. He thought it was a little bland, but I found it to be plenty flavorful since I like the taste of cabbage and potatoes. But, just adding more pepper helped dramatically. If I make it again, it will probably include some ham chunks in it (because men don't think a meal is a meal without meat). Lol. I would love to hear your feedback if you make it! Also, if anyone has any other cabbage recipes, please share them! I'd love to give them a try.

EASY Home Made Chicken Pot Pie

This is one of my favorites. Super easy. We eat this a lot.

Chicken Pot Pie

~One double pie crust- (you can buy this ready made next to the refrigerated biscuits if you're in a pinch and don't have time to make your own. I always have one ready made crust on had so I can pop this dinner in the oven when I'm in a hurry.)
~One can of chicken, (we buy ours at Costco)
~ one can cream of mushroom soup
~ one bag mixed frozen veggies
~a hand full grated cheese
~ sprinkle as much garlic salt as you think you would like

Line pie plate with one crust. Mix chicken, soup, veggies, cheese, and garlic salt. Fill pie crust. Cover with top crust. Cover edges of pie with foil so they don't over brown in the baking process.
Bake for 40-45 min at 425 degrees (or according to pie crust instructions) uncovering edges for the last 10 min of baking.

Hope you make it and enjoy it!

Pasta Something with Asparagus and Artichokes

Here is a pasta recipe that my mother-in-law printed from online the last time she was down to visit. The name isn't printed on the paper, so I don't know the name. You can make up your own name for it. :) I have this recipe several times with a few variations of what I want to add to it (balsamic vinegar instead of a dressing, extra bacon, add can of diced tomatoes, etc.), leaving out what I don't have(asparagus).
Ok here are the ingredients:

6 slices bacon
10 asparagus spears, ends trimmed
1/2 (16oz) package Rotini, elbow, or Penne pasta
4 tablespoons low fat mayonnaise
3 tablespoons balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 (60z) jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped
1 cooked chicken breast, cubed
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 toasted sliced almonds
salt and pepper to taste

Place bacon in large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to boil. Add asparagus and cook until tender, about 1 minute. Strain asparagus out of water and immediately plunge into a bowl filled with ice water; let sit in ice water until completely cold, then cut into 1 inch pieces. Next. add pasta to boiling water and cook until al dente; drain, rinse with cold water until chilled, then drain well.
Stir together mayonnaise, balsamic vinaigrette, lemon juice, and Worcestershire sauce in a large bowl. Fold in artichoke, chicken, cranberries, almonds, crumbled bacon, and asparagus. Season to taste with salt and peeper, then fold in cooked pasta. Refrigerate for at lest 1 hour before serving.

The times I've made it, I added the mayonnaise, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, or balsamic vinegar to taste, without measuring. I don't know what it tastes like with those exact measurements, but I really like it. Hope you try it and like it too!

Beets

Working at a grocery store now, I have come across a lot of produce and wondered how it is prepared. I never thought I would have interest in eating a beet, but I bought one! Now I'm trying to figure out the best way to prepare it so it tastes good.
So, I have a challenge for all of you! Go buy a beet. Cook it. Boil it. Bake it. And post what you do to make it delicious!