Bacon, Broccoli, Mac and Cheese

 The original recipe for this can be found here.

However, I found I didn't have enough patience after work to go through a few extra steps, and I didn't want to add onions, so here's my (sl)easy work night version...

Ingredients:
6 C broccoli, steamed, but still a bit firm
2 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 box of pasta (I used the veggie mix pasta)
3 C low fat milk
1 cup shredded cheeses (1/2C sharp cheddar, 1/2C your choice)

 Directions:
1. Heat up milk and pasta in a pot over medium heat.  Cook until pasta is al dente.
2. Stir in 1 cup of cheese shreds until smooth.
3. Toss in broccoli and bacon.
4. Serve and enjoy.

You can play around with this recipe, add more or less, change out broccoli for spinach or a different green veg, etc.  I made 6 good sized servings, and they're just as good for leftovers as they are that first night!

Balsamic Butter Penne with Roasted Asparagus

 This is the week of easy, but amazing, recipes.  I could rant and rave about certain websites, but I know that's getting old.  I just love being inspired!

Today, I kind of think this recipe is akin to mac and cheese.  Not because it is, but because the butter and cheese create that same consistency as when you mix the butter and cheese out of the blue box.

Sorry that there isn't a lot of pictures, but the process goes surprisingly fast (about the time it takes to make the noodles), and I kept forgetting to show my progress!

 The recipe can be found here from Food and Wine.  The only thing that really intimidated me was that I needed to reduce the "1/2 C plus 2 T" down to 3 tablespoons.  It went really quickly, though, mostly because I checked my conversions and I was going from 10T down to 3T, so I was shooting for a reduction of less than a third of the original amount.

Next time, I'll probably use more asparagus, but I'll wait until it's on sale or at our Farmers Market.  I also used a little more than the requested Parmesan cheese, but that can't be surprising to anyone who has read this blog before.

Happy 100 Posts!

It wasn't supposed to happen this way...  My 100th post was going to be a recap and something fun.  I have lots of great recipes coming up, and any one of them would have been great for dinner and celebration.

And then life gets in the way.  Family obligations and short planning for dinner equals one FABULOUS pasta dish that takes very little time to make, is low fat(ish), and fairly flavorful!  Maybe we knew I was fated to have a pasta dish as my 100th any way.  We know how I love it!

Here's the original recipe (no, not KFC!)...  I was worried about not apparent sauce, but I was excited because it wasn't a creamy sauce and it wasn't an oily sauce, just noodles, meat, and veg.  A perfect combo for a night by myself, and I knew I could get a ton of leftovers.

Here's what I did...
Ingredients:
1 box of Ziti pasta (make as you normally would a box of pasta)
1ish T of Olive Oil


1 pkg of Jennie O Smoked Turkey Sausage (angle sliced)
2 bell peppers (chunky diced)
about 1/2 of a small onion (diced)
2 cloves of garlic (pressed/diced)
Ground Pepper and Italian Seasoning to taste
3 T of grated Asiago Cheese
1/4 C of pasta water reserved

Heat olive oil, saute onions, garlic, and bell peppers.  Add seasonings.
Add Smoked Sausage and heat through.
Once the Ziti is prepped, mix in the drained pasta to the cooked through meat and veg.
Toss, and if it looks dry, add a little pasta water.  Sprinkle with cheese, then serve with your favorite crusty bread and enjoy.

That's it.  Really.

Yep.  It seems as though my 100th blog entry is just like every other entry.  Simple, easy, and new (for me).  So here's to the next 100.  Here's to new dinners and desserts, and maybe more breakfasts and brunches too.  This has been an awesome 8 months, and here's to many, many more.

Have fun and eat well!

J

Pasta?!? My triumphant return!!

I know it's been a month.  I'm so sorry, but I've left the teaching profession, started a new job as a Recreation Director for a  home owners association.  This means (occasionally) weird hours and (always) longer days, plus I'm still tutoring after work.  This basically equates to me cooking about once a month, Thomas cooking all the time, or lots more take out.  Sad, but true.  However, my garden is still producing, and I've had this recipe that I've been wanting to try, and what better way to jump back into blogging than pasta!

My Orecchiette with Spinach, Sausage & Tomatoes was my way back in, and by that point, Thomas was so excited to have me make dinner, ANY dinner, that he would gladly put up with the tomato based pasta sauce.

Now, my biggest objection to this recipe was the sausage.  I used half hot and half mild, but I had to take the casing off.  Yes, I know there are places where you can buy the sausage just ground without casing (it looks like ground beef), but I wasn't at one of those stores, so I had to get off de-case as soon as possible!

Thomas recommended that I cut off one end and squeeze it out like a tube of toothpaste.  Gross?  Definitely!  I lasted one link, and then decided to just make a slit up the side and let it drop out.  Much easier, much quicker, and a lot less...toothpaste-y. 

I was a bit worried about all the juice in here.  I didn't use any water, although I did use a veggie broth that we had in the house.  I also kept all of the tomato juice from the cans to add.  I'm sure I also used a bunch of Italian seasoning, too.  I didn't want my triumphant comeback to be bland.

Turns out the juice was enough, and I actually could have probably used a little more.  Everything cooked down nicely, and if I was more patient, it would have done even more so, but I didn't want the orechiette to get mushy.  Turned out amazing, and even better? The leftovers lasted all week and were equally delicious.  I was sad to run out of this, and my co-workers were all super jealous every time I ate it.  On a scale of ponies to unicorns, I'd give this recipe a solid pink elephant.

AMAZING!!  Oh, and I promise I have many more posts in the pipeline, I just have to find the time to post them.  Welcome back to the Pampered Jes, and dig in while you can!!

I feel like chicken tonight! Like Chicken Tonight!!

Yes, chicken is a common theme in these parts, but when it's cheap and easy - who could blame me?  I'm continuing on my trend of using my deep covered baker because it makes things so stinking easily, I can't resist!  So, without any real further ado, I bring you the Grilled Chicken Penne al Fresco.

  I'm starting to use some of the tomatoes from my garden.

It's easy to tell the crazy looking homemade ones (with no fertilizer or pesticides) from the perfect ones from the store.  I have about 100 tomatoes that will be ripe in about a week, but for this recipe, I had to supplement.  I quickly diced them, threw them in the baker, and baked them with the garlic.

 Then I added the noodles and the other ingredients (except for the chicken and cheese) and threw the baker back into the microwave.

I ended up added the extra (extra large) chicken breast that was left over from my last baker round, and a whole cup of parmesan because we love our cheese!

Thomas loved it, but I would have loved to add some fresh garden zucchini, peppers, and maybe some more veggies!

Baked Pasta

You know how I feel about pasta, and consequently how Thomas feels....  However, I'm going to keep plugging away until I can find something we can compromise on.  I think I'm getting closer with this week's Crusty Tomato-Basil Rigatoni.  Okay, time out.  Crusty?  I think there's too much of a negative connotation to call something crusty, but I get it, there's a crust.  How about Basil Crusted Tomato Rigatoni?  Doesn't that sound more posh?  Posh?!  Just kidding...

Here's where I tweaked the recipe.  #1 - I added meat to my pasta sauce.  When I told Thomas that, he said, "Tweaked it?  I'd call that "fixed" it!"  True story.  We'd make sucky vegetarians.

Basically, I made my pasta and sauce the way I normally would.  I used a jar of Prego Chunky Garden sauce, a pound of ground beef (have I pushed the Mix n Chop yet?  Still love it!), my
whole wheat blend pasta, some garlic, Italian seasoning, etc, etc...

Here's where the recipe actually started working for me.  I tossed the sauce and pasta together (something I NEVER DO), and then put it in a Pyrex dish.  I figured this would give me the depth I needed to bake the pasta, and my stoneware really shouldn't be placed under the broiler, so better safe than sorry!  I bought an 8 ounce ball of "fresh" mozzarella and chopped it up.  (Hello to my 5" utility knife - super love it!)  I then spread that over the pasta as evenly as possible.  In retrospect, I probably should have tossed some shredded cheese in the pasta as well, but the point is like a cow's opinion: it's moo.  (Is it bad that I still quote Joey?)

Here's my favorite part - making the pasta crusty!  I used some Parmesan sourdough bread, about two cups, coated in butter, and spread it out before throwing the Pyrex into the oven.  This is more bread than the recipe calls for, but I adore a good crust.  (Hmm.  I'm very love-ing this blog today.  Sorry for all the love, but it is a really good recipe!)  Pop that puppy in the broiler for about 5 minutes to toast the crust and melt the butter.  I turned the broiler off and left the dish in the oven for just another minute or two to make sure everything was completely melted without burning the bread.

Finally, top it off with some freshly cut basil.  Is it just me, or does fresh basil smell like being a child in the summer, playing outside?  I don't really connect the smell of basil with herbs, more with weeds, but it's always such a lovely addition!

Ahhhhhhmazing!  Bon Appetit!

"Spicy" Sausage and Pepper Penne

Hey, remember that one time I claimed that we could never be an Italian food blog?  Okay, well that still holds true, however that doesn't mean that once (or so) a month I won't be cooking a nice red sauced Italian dish.  I may be all about marital compromise, but that doesn't mean I have to be a pushover.

That being said, I do choose strategic days for the type of foods I like.  Days where there may have been a company party, or a big lunch, or any other number of reasons where I'm more hungry than he.  Days like last Tuesday: a perfect day for pasta!


I chose the penne recipe because it looked cheap, easy, and tasty.  Fortunately, I was correct on all of the above - AND it even contained a meat that started out raw that I had to cook by myself.

Since the meal wasn't that complicated, I decided to buy some quality ingredients from the local farm stand, or from my own garden.  I also used whole wheat penne, mostly out of personal preference.  I used two cans of tomatoes (one fire roasted, and one with garlic and onion), an extra clove of garlic, and almost 6 oz of an Italian cheese blend, instead of just Parmesan.  Oh, and I used a sweet Italian sausage instead of a spicy turkey sausage.

Okay, maybe the recipe was just a suggestion, but my tweaks were amazing.  There were second servings all around, and there was still enough for four hearty lunch portions to be made.  I also baked up an Albertsons fresh garlic bread with mozzarella on top for the side.  I probably should have made a side salad, but the dinner played well just as it was.  Seriously, amazing.  I might have to add this to my standard rotation of meals that I like to make.  I know I choose recipes that sound like they will be good, but I'm always surprised when the meal actually exceeds expectations.