Pasta with Peas, Bacon and Ricotta

This is a recipe that I adapted from one of my Giada cookbooks. You can find her original recipe here. This is a great recipe for using what you have in your freezer. Just add whatever meat and veggies you have on hand to some pasta with a ricotta cheese sauce. To make the ricotta cheese sauce, add the ricotta cheese to the warm cooked pasta and then add a little bit of pasta water to make it more of a sauce. I added some red pepper flakes at the end for a kick. Quick, easy and I didn't have to buy anything extra to make this.

Pasta with Peas, Bacon and Ricotta

Ingredients:

• 1 pound pasta (I used spaghetti)
• 1/2 cup part-skim ricotta
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup of frozen peas (or whatever frozen vegetable you have)
• 1/2 cup of chopped/cooked bacon (I used turkey bacon)
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Dash of red pepper flakes

Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes (or according to the directions on the package). Drain pasta reserving 1 cup of the cooking water.

Transfer the hot pasta to a large bowl and add the ricotta cheese. Toss to combine.

Meanwhile, in a large, heavy skillet, warm the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the frozen peas, garlic, salt, and pepper and saute for 4 minutes. Add 1 cup of the pasta cooking liquid and continue cooking until tender, about 4 more minutes. Add the pasta with ricotta to the pan with the peas and toss to combine. I then added in the cooked bacon pieces and sprinkled some red pepper flakes to taste. Enjoy!

M&M Blondies

I made this recipe last fall for a football party. I love blondie brownies and this was a very simple from-scratch recipe. What's great is that I pretty much had everything in my pantry, so it's something you can whip up rather quickly without needing to stop off at the store for extra ingredients (or a box mix!). Please note that this recipe was modified from a recipe on The Little Kitchen.

M&M Blondies

Ingredients:

·         3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp packed light brown sugar

·         1 large egg

·         2 tsp vanilla extract

·         8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

·         1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

·         1/2 tsp baking soda

·         1/8 tsp salt

·         3/4 cup M&Ms, chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Take an 8-inch square pan and cover in foil and spray with baking spray.

Using an electric mixer, cream brown sugar and egg until it's light and fluffy. Add vanilla extract and melted butter, mix well with electric mixer.

In a separate bowl, mix together with a rubber spatula the flour, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture in batches and incorporate with a rubber spatula. Be careful not to over mix your batter.

Stir in M&Ms, using rubber spatula. Again, do not over mix. Add batter to pan. Spray an angled spatula with baking spray and use it to smooth over the top.

Bake for about 25-28 minutes. The top will be dry and flaky and a toothpick test should come out clean with a few crumbs attached. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes on a wire rack. Hold using foil sides and remove from square pan. Enjoy!

Chicken Cacciatore with Spaghetti Squash

This recipe was in the Jan/Feb 2012 issue of Clean Eating magazine. This was originally a crock pot recipe, but since I am not very good at preplanning, I ended up baking it in the oven. It turned out so very good. Please note that I did make a few modifications (I omitted the mushrooms - don't like, and chopped tomatoes, didn't have any), so please note that my version below is slightly different than what's in the magazine. Please note that I could not find this recipe online, so I have just included what I did below. If you want to make in the crock pot, just mix everything into the crock pot instead of the baking dish and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Chicken Cacciatore with Spaghetti Squash

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil, divided
• 1 large yellow onion
• 2 cups of sliced bell peppers
• 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 6 tbsp low-sodium tomato paste
• 4 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 tsp italian seasoning
• 3/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 6 lb spaghetti squash (2-3 large squash)
• 6 tbsp grated low-fat Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375.

Sprinkle salt and black pepper on all sides of the chicken and then cut into bite-sized cubes (about 1 inch).

To a greased baking dish mix all ingredients except the spaghetti squash and the cheese. Bake at 375 for about 25 mins or until the chicken is cooked. While this is baking, pierce your spaghetti squash a couple of time with a fork and cook (1 at a time) in the microwave for about 8 mins. Then cut the squash in two and scrape with a fork to remove in strands and be sure to remove the seeds.

To serve, put some spaghetti squash on a plate and top with the chicken mixture and a little cheese. Enjoy!

Stuffed Turkey Peppers

This recipe was modified from a recipe from Clean Eating. I basically used half a pound of ground turkey instead of a full pound and 1 cup of brown rice instead of 1/2 cup of mixed rice. I also added in some red pepper flakes and some salt for my own taste preference. Don't add in too much of the pepper flakes because you are stuffing them into peppers and they will provide a little kick, but just a couple of shakes will help add some additional flavor.

This recipe is very flavorful, filling and very healthy.

Stuffed Turkey Peppers

Ingredients:

• 1 cup brown rice
• 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cups onions, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 lb 99% lean ground turkey
• 2/3 cup low-sodium natural tomato juice
• 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
• Couple shakes of red pepper flakes and salt to taste
• 10 grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 4 assorted medium sweet bell peppers (red orange and yellow)
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Cook brown rice according to package directions (I used a quick cooking brown rice).
2. Meanwhile, add oil and onions to a large sauté pan over medium-high. Saute onions for 2 minutes, then add garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add turkey, juice and seasoning. Cook until turkey is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Add tomatoes and black pepper, cooking, covered, for 5 minutes. Preheat oven to 400°F.
3. Fill a large pot half-full with water and bring to a boil. Cut tops from bell peppers and remove all seeds. Add bell peppers and tops to water and return to a boil. Cook, covered, for 4 to 5 minutes or until tender. Remove bell peppers and dry on paper towel. (Please note I did not do this step out of lazyness. I did do it one time and I didn't see a huge difference, but feel free to try it to make your peppers more tender).
4. Drain rice and add to turkey mixture. In a glass dish, stand bell peppers and fill with turkey-rice mixture. Sprinkle with cheese and add bell pepper top. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

So who knew our secret family recipe for Chocholate Chip Cookies comes from the back of the Nestle Toll House chocolate chips bag! Yep it's the same recipe that my mother and my grandmother uses. I guess don't mess with perfection right!

Now we do a few things a little differently. We add 1 cup of chocolate chips and 1 cup of M&M's instead of the usual 2 cups of chocolate chips. We will use red and green M&M's for Christmas and you could really use whatever colors you want depending on the season/holiday!

Another modification is we use 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup shortening sometimes, or sometimes we use all butter flavored Crisco. If you use half butter/half shortening your cookies will spread out nicely and won't be too puffy or too flat...just perfection!

This weekend I was visiting with my niece and nephew at my parents house and we decided we just needed some chocolate chip cookies. Luckily I had two helpers to help me make them.

Helper #1 helped mix all the ingredients

Helper #2 taste-tested the M&M's to make sure they were all good!

Helper #1 then helped put the cookies out on the baking sheets.

Helper #2 says the cookies are the best

Helper #1 was too busy eating cookies, cookies and more cookies!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients: 

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened, or shortening or 1/2 cup of each
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups chocolate chips (or 1 cup chocolate chips/1 cup M&M's)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375° F.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and M&M's. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake  for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Enjoy!

March St Patrick's Day Wreath

I love to have different seasonal wreaths for my front door. Of course the outside of my front door is not safe from the elements, so I just hang them on the inside of my front door. I am working on putting together a different wreath for each month of the year. Below is my wreath for March which is a St Patrick's Day themed wreath.

I started off with an inexpensive grape-vine wreath. This one I got at Walmart for under $5. I just switch out the different decorations for each month and store them in zip-lock storage bags.

I then went to the craft store and bought 2 boquets of flowers (whatever variety you like). I cut them off of the bunches and left about 2-3 inches of the stems still on the flowers. I then placed them in the grape-vine wreath (weaving the steams into the wreath), and then attached a pre-made bow from the craft store and a little 4-leaf clover ornament also found at the craft store. I'll try and share my new wreaths each month as I make them. I had a really cute one for Valentine's Day, but I'll have to share that one next year.