Homemade Noodles & Co...sort of.

I have been meaning to blog this yummy recipe for weeks now, as two of my coworkers have confirmed that it is indeed, quite tasty. I originally found it on Pinterest (when don't I preface my sentences with that these days?), as a DIY Penne Rosa from Noodles & Company (Mom - if you're reading, "The Noodle").

Now, do I confirm this allegation? Meh. It's really good but I don't know if the first thing I would have thought of was, "Mmmm! Penne Rosa!" But I can see where the girl was coming from, it is similar. I will say upfront, I made two changes that may have had an effect on whether or not it was a Penne Rosa twinsie. I decided to omit the shrimp, and instead of using whole wheat pasta, use gluten-free, brown rice pasta.

Am I suddenly adding "gluten-free," to my already limited vegetarian title? Nah. But...I've been hearing all the hot gossip for about a year now about how wonderful adapting a gluten-free (omitting wheat, barley and rye) diet is.

•  Overall feeling of health; less migraines, stomachaches, etc. 
• Weight-loss (because gluten is frequently found in high-calorie, processed foods, so eating gluten-free would limit those as you're adding lots of fruits and veggies).
• Better digestion - yay to healthy poop! 
• Boosts energy, enhances quality of sleep.
• Clearer skin.

In my expert average person opinion, there are too many fads out there when it comes to diet; I simply cannot keep up nor do I really believe that there's a hard and fast "right" way to eat. I more so have come to the conclusion that moderation is key, and if you want to try limiting certain things from your diet here and there to see if your body takes a liking to it, go for it! So for me, all those perks to a gluten-free diet I mentioned above, are reason enough to take a break from purchasing foods with gluten.

So, without further adieu, let's get to the food!

You will need:
12-14 oz. pasta of your choice (try the brown rice, it's good I swear!)
1 tbsp. olive oil
4 cloves minced garlic (I use the convenient jarred garlic)
Pinch red pepper flakes (use more if you like spicy!)
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
2 medium tomatoes
4 cups spinach
1/2 cup of your fave tomato sauce
1/3 cup plain greek yogurt
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
Sprinkle of salt & pepper 

1. First cook your spaghetti, drain and set aside. 
2. Heat up the olive oil in a large skillet and add the garlic and red pepper flakes for 2-3 mintues.
3. Add mushrooms, tomatoes, S & P; occasionally stirring for about 6 to 7 minutes.
4. Add the spinach, cover, and remove from heat until the spinach starts to get wilty. 
5. Place back over low heat and add pasta, tomato sauce, and greek yogurt. Stir until everything is mixed and coated evenly. *I added a little extra marinara sauce because I love it and could eat it by the spoonful. 
6. Before serving, sprinkle a little parm (I also tried feta on my leftovers and that was delish!) and enjoy!  

Black Bean Heaven.

I'll go right ahead and say it: I miss burgers. I miss a hunk of ground beef stuffed with cheese. If you eat meat and have never had a Juicy Lucy, I urge you to try one. With that said, I find black bean and other veggie burgers quite tasty. Two of my veg friends (shout out: Court & Luke) make to-die-for black bean burgers. So finally after months of working up the courage to ask for the recipe, I gave them a shot.

And it may have been the best decision ever because these babies were so good! Not to mention easy as pie.

The ingredients are all fairly healthy and it takes about 20 minutes to get them put together and cooked. A really great option if you're trying to stay away from meat but still want to sink your teeth into a "burger."

Breakdown
You'll need:
~ 1/2 cup bread crumbs           
1 can black beans
1 green pepper, chopped
1/2 cup onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic
A few sprinkles of cumin & cayenne
A few sprinkles of feta
1 egg

Here's why this is an amazing little recipe. Ya just mix everything together. I'm not going to apologize for my imprecise portions of everything because that's the beauty of it. You can add as much or little as you want depending on what taste you like. Next time I'm going to try a different kind of cheese and maybe some artichokes!

I found that it was best to use a blender to mix it all (minus the crumbs) because we don't have one of those handy dandy potato mashers. Once everything is blended together, just stick it in a bowl and add bread crumbs little by little until it sticks together enough for you to form patties. Then heat up a pan, add a little butter/oil/whatever non-stick device you like, and cook approximately 4 minutes per side (flipping occasionally).

I just ate the first batch I made plain with a little ketchup but next time I plan to toast a bun, maybe add a few slices of avocado...mmmmmMMMmmm!

Goat Cheese/Asparagus Pasta

Do you like goat cheese?
Do you like asparagus?
Do you like pasta?

If so...I encourage you to read on for a delicious and easy recipe...

That time has rolled around where I'm supposed to be making my weekly meal. This week I decided to try a pasta recipe. When I saw one that used both goat cheese [one of my fave cheeses] and asparagus [one of my fave veggies], I figured I couldn't go wrong. And luckily, I found success in this easy-schmeeze recipe!

The ingredients are simple:

1 box of penne (whatever kind you like)
1 bunch of asparagus
4 oz. goat cheese
1/4 cup olive oil
salt & pepper (just for sprinkling)
lemon zest





Wash and cut up the asparagus into approximately 1-inch long pieces. Then cook your pasta according to the directions on the box. When there are about 5 minutes left, add the asparagus to the pot. I let it cook for 5-6 minutes and it was the perfect "crunch."

While your pasta and asparagus are cooking, mix together (in a large bowl) the goat cheese and olive oil. I tried to crumble the cheese as best as I could. This is also when I decided to add the lemon zest (the recipe didn't actually say when to add it so I used my best judgment). Also, it called for 1 tablespoon but seeing as though I'm quite lazy, I decided to zest about a quarter of a lemon. Can you say confidence in the kitchen? Wink.

Drain the pasta and asparagus, while reserving about one cup of the water. Once it's drained and you did a little shaky-shake, dump it over the cheese/oil/lemon and mix thoroughly. This is when I added a little over 1/4 cup of the water I had saved. I used the "add & taste" method to decide when to stop (use your judgment to decide how creamy you want it). 

 

And now you're done! I decided to pre-portion mine (otherwise what should be seven servings turns into mayyybe three), and add just a sprinkle of salt and pepper to each jar! Yumo!

Asparagus-Leek Soup.

I would venture to guess that I have been saving recipes that I want to try for years. I have so many random post-its, note cards, and magazine clippings that I could probably make something new every day for a year. It's getting a little out of hand. So I've made the decision to try [key word being try] to make some new recipe each week. Aside from the occasional box of couscous and frozen broccoli, I really want to attempt actual meals. Ideally, it will be a meal I can make on Sunday and eat all week. Who's with me on never wanting to make dinner after a long day of work? At times, this grown-up thing can be annoying. Merp. On the other hand, I suppose it's kind of exciting! New food!

So obviously, I would love to share my new meals on here. I frequently find that I make minor changes to recipes as I go so if you happen to try one, let me know how it goes! I'd love to hear about any tweaks or additions that make them better.

Anyway, the first attempt in this quest of mine was asparagus-leek soup. If you like these two ingredients, I would definitely recommend it! Although soup is kind of on the way out with summer coming, it is still cold and rainy some days so it's a good fit.

- Slice up 2 leeks (discard rough bottoms and stems on top). Saute them with a little olive oil for about 5 minutes. I never measure my oil, just drizzle it on top as needed. I had to do one leek at a time because the pan wasn't big enough.

-When the leeks are done, put them in a large pot. Add in a cubed potato (I left the skin on in hopes of some nutritional benefits), and one bunch of chopped asparagus.

-The recipe called for two cups of vegetable broth. However, it also said 1-2 leeks. Because I used two, I had to add an extra cup.  I thought maybe I might even need more but once it simmered, I realized that would have been too much.

-Let this simmer for about 25-30 minutes. I put a lid on it and stirred on occasion.

-After it simmers, add to a blender and puree. Again, I had to do this in two or three phases because there was just so much. VOILA!

 

Looks like green mush, but it really is pretty good! This made about 6 servings for me. I have tried adding a sprinkle of parmesan cheese, garlic, salt, and pepper for a little flavor. Enjoy!

Celebrating my roots with balls.

I hope everyone had a very happy, green, lucky, and crazy cool fun Saint Patrick's Day. In preparation for the holiday and to celebrate my heritage (a.k.a. something do on a Friday night), I decided to make some no-bake cake balls - mmmm! Here comes my first recipe/food post, yay! They were supposed to be minty green in honor of the day, but Rainbow Foods was once again a disappointment to me. Thus, I had to improvise. I should mention right off the bat that I'm pretty crappy in the kitchen. Someone always seems to be able to make a better piece of toast, cut a better slice of cheese (hehe), boil a better pan of water, etc. Needless to say, there came a few times in this process when I ran into a dilemma or two. But did I forge on? YES.

Essentially, this recipe only calls for three ingredients: oreos, Philly cream cheese (I'm with Paula Deen - nonfat cream cheese just ain't right), and white chocolate. And of course, I had to make them green in someway, so I sprinkled them with green...sprinkles.

Next step, put the oreos in a big plastic ziploc and beat the shit out of them. Mash, crunch, mash, into small little crumbs. Then add to a bowl with the cream cheese. Now...wash your hands, take off your rings, and go nuts. Rawr.

Mash everything up together with your hands until it's the consistency of well, something that looks like poop.

Now it's time to roll up some balls! Yee! I made mine about an inch in diameter (?) and it was a good size. It was helpful to kind of roll them up between the palms. They weren't perfect, but hey, that's life for you. No balls are perfect, eh? Throw them in the fridge to harden for about an hour and prepare to dip. 

I thought I was home free and was going to have some really successful cake balls. A kitchen success on the way?! Nope. Who knew white chocolate chips would have the consistency of mashed cauliflowers once melted? Not I.

After a trip to Target to get "Bakers White Chocolate," the shtuff that is made specifically for melting, I finally found success. Kind of..

Melt the chocolate, dip the balls, add the sprinkles, and put back in the fridge to harden for another hour or so. Ze end.

In my head I imagined ma bawls to be fully and evenly covered with white chocolate; a golf ball, if you will. Par for the course, I couldn't make this happen. Twas quite the catastrophe. BUT, even though the appearance of the cake balls was not exactly not at all perfect, they turned out to be verrrry tasty, if I do say so myself. Happy Saint Patrick's day, everyone! Get your balls while they last.

What, I'm hungry!

I'm on my fifth, maybe sixth round of reading Harry Potter (just started Half-Blood Prince) and therefore all I can think about, is a) how much I wish I was able to attend Hogwarts, and b) how much I love Ron Weasley. So after browsing some of my favorite scenes from the movies...I decided this one is worthy of sharing. Not only does it capture Ron at his finest, but it helps me to introduce my love for food! Yee. Hope all you H.P. fans out there enjoy these 12 seconds of greatness.

Does that breakfast not look divine?