Rotini with Meatballs

Rotini is not only fun to say, it is fun to eat. Twirly pasta. What more could you ask for? Oh, I know. How about a tasty meal that you can get on your table in less than 30 minutes?

1. Preheat oven to 400. In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 pound ground turkey or chicken, 1 palmful of fennel seeds, 1/4 cup breadcrumbs, a few splashes of Worcestershire sauce, and basil, oregano, salt, and pepper to taste. Roll them up into little balls and place on a baking sheet (I think I actually used 1.25 pounds meat, and I got 41 mini meatballs out of it.) Bake for 8-10 minutes.

2. While the meatballs are in the oven, heat a splash of olive oil in a pot. Add 4 cloves minced garlic; saute just for a minute, stirring constantly, and then add 1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes and 1 regular can tomato sauce. Season with basil, oregano, and a pinch or two of crushed red pepper flakes.

3. Heat a pot of water to boiling. Salt the water; add whole wheat rotini and cook according to package directions.

4. When meatballs have been in the oven for 8 or so minutes, take them out and transfer them into the simmering tomato sauce for 5 to 10 minutes to make sure they are cooked all the way through. When the pasta is done, drain and add it to the pot as well. Serve alongside steamed broccoli, and you've got yourself a quick, easy, and delicious meal!


Enjoy!

Pumpkin Sausage Macaroni

Don't judge. This is sooo good. And easy! Here are the simple steps.

1. Brown a pound of Italian sausage (I used turkey sausage, but have it your way) until it is crumbly and gooooood.
2. Slice 1/2 pound of mushrooms and add to the sausage. Cook for 5-7 minutes.
3. Pour in 1/2 cup chicken broth and stir up all the bits of sausage from the bottom of the pan. Stir in 1 can pumpkin puree, then 1/4 cup milk (I used almond milk).
4. Cook one box of whole wheat elbows until al dente. Mix the pasta and the pumpkin sausage sauce all together. I think you could probably go ahead and eat it like that, making it a super quick meal, or you could pour into a casserole like I did, cover it and bake it at 350 for 20 minutes or so, just to let it set. Either way, you should serve it with fresh hot yeast rolls and die happy.


Enjoy!

Vegetable Baked Ziti

This was a huge hit at our house last night, and super easy to make. In keeping with our weekly grocery budget, we try to have at least 2 or 3 meatless meals each week. This is one that turned out great...

In a large pot, saute 4-5 carrots, peeled and diced, in olive oil. 5 minutes later, add one bag of frozen broccoli florets and cover. 5 minutes later, uncover and add 1/2 pound of mushrooms, sliced. 5 minutes later, add a couple of cloves of minced garlic, one large (28 oz) can of crushed tomatoes, 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, and oregano, basil, and pepper to taste.

Meanwhile, cook up a box of whole wheat penne according to package directions. Drain the pasta a minute or so shy of being done, as it will continue to cook in the sauce. Add the drained pasta to the tomato and vegetable sauce, mix together, and transfer to a large baking dish. Top with mozzarella cheese, cover with aluminum foil, and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. As always, if you are prepping this meal during naptime, you can just cut the oven off at 25 or 30 minutes and leave the casserole in there until you are ready to eat!


Enjoy!

Meat and Vegetable Lasagna

This is not a "quick" meal, but it is oh so worth the time and effort. Who doesn't love a good (and I do mean good) lasagna? This is the best of both worlds...hearty meat and cheese lasagna combined with lovely vegetable lasagna.

Start by browning the meat (lean ground sirloin or venison). Add 3-4 cloves minced garlic to the meat. While that cooks, chop up your veggies...
3-4 carrots
2 zucchini
1 cup mushrooms



Once the meat is browned, add vegetables to the pot.


Saute five minutes, then add one large can of crushed tomatoes, one small can of tomato sauce, and lots of seasoning (salt, pepper, basil, oregano, marjoram).


In a medium bowl, mix 1 container part skim ricotta cheese, one egg, and 8 oz shredded mozzarella.


Boil water and cook whole wheat lasagna noodles according to package directions. Five minutes before assembling, add one box of frozen chopped spinach (thawed and rung out) to the sauce, shredding with your fingers as you drop it in.

To assemble the lasagna, start with a little sauce on the bottom of a casserole. Then layer 1/4 of the noodles, 1/4 of the meat/veggie sauce, and 1/3 of the cheese.

End with a final layer of sauce, and put in a 350 degree oven for 50 minutes to one hour.

Delectable.


Enjoy!

Easy Beef Stroganoff

Super good. Super easy. Try it.

Brown one chopped onion and one pound of ground sirloin or venison in a pot. Once these are cooked through, add 1 pack of chopped mushrooms and cook for five more minutes. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of flour over everything, stir for a minute, then add about 1 and 1/2 cups of beef broth, a dash of Worcestershire sauce, and salt and pepper.

While the beef mixture thickens, cook one pound of whole wheat egg noodles.

5 minutes before serving, add a few handfuls of fresh spinach leaves and let them wilt down into the meat mixture. Just before serving, stir in 2 ounces of reduced fat cream cheese.


Enjoy!

Chicken and Pesto Pasta

When I got married nearly five years ago, I never would have touched anything called "pesto." Actually, I wouldn't have been able to even identify the food, but by virtue of its green character, I would have stayed away from it. My, how things have changed. This is now one of my favorite meals.

Now, store-bought pesto is good, but nothing compares to homemade pesto. In my version, I use considerably less oil...most recipes call for at least 1/2 cup, but I use less than half of that. This results in a thicker, bulkier pesto, but for this dish I think the texture is perfect.

To make the pesto, put the following ingredients into a food processor...
2 cups (packed) fresh spinach leaves
4 cloves garlic (I go ahead and mince my garlic to avoid any pieces that may not get pureed)
1 bunch (a little less than 1/2 cup) fresh basil
Juice of 1 lemon, plus a little zest
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup slivered almonds
3 Tablespoons olive oil
Salt and Pepper

Process until all the ingredients are well-blended. The mixture will not be "smooth" but will have a thick and kind of chunky texture. If you make the pesto ahead of time, just store it in an airtight container in the fridge until you're ready to use.



For the chicken, you could cube a couple of boneless skinless chicken breasts and brown them on the stove, or use shredded or cubed boiled chicken. I used chicken that I had previously boiled, shredded, and frozen (see this post).

Spread one pint of grape or cherry tomatoes on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and put in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. Boil one box of whole wheat penne pasta according to package directions. Once the pasta is cooked and drained, stir in the pesto. Once the pesto is incorporated, add the chicken. Finally, add the roasted tomatoes, mix everything together, and...


Enjoy!

Pizza Casserole

I heart pizza. Soooo much. We eat homemade pizza at least once every two weeks. I can't live without it. Please don't make me give up pizza, Lord.

Tonight I put the flavors of my favorite meal into a casserole.
Pizza + Pasta + Casserole= True Love

This dish has so many possibilities, I can't even begin to fathom them. But in my version tonight, here were my ingredients...

1. Ground Venison. I browned the meat and seasoned it to resemble sausage...a couple of tablespoons of fennel seed, some cumin, chili powder, and red pepper flakes, and of course, a few cloves of minced garlic.
2. Mushrooms. I chopped a whole box of them and threw them right in there with the browned meat.
3. Pizza Sauce. I used one 20-oz can of tomato sauce and seasoned it with marjoram, basil, and oregano.
4. Cheese. I used mozzarella and 2% sharp cheddar. Yummmmm.
5. Pasta. I used whole wheat rotini. I think whole wheat elbows would be just as delicious.

That's it! Just mix all your (cooked) ingredients together in a big pot, pour it in a casserole, top with more cheese if you like, and pop it in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.


Mmmmm. Enjoy!

Chicken Parmesan

This. Is. Scrumptious. You must try it. It is such a simple recipe, and you can make it in under 30 minutes! I was going to say that this dish is "to die for," but then I thought that might sound a little idolatrous.

The Sauce:
Pour 1 can of crushed tomatoes into a saucepan. Grate 4 cloves of garlic down over it, and season with basil and oregano. Bring to a boil; add 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese to the sauce and then simmer. DONE.

The Chicken:
Take one boneless skinless chicken breast for every two adult portions. Butterfly the chicken by slicing it open like a book. Pound it out; dip in milk and then breadcrumbs. (If using plain breadcrumbs, then season with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning first.) Place in a skillet with heated olive oil over medium heat; cook 4-5 minutes on each side, or until white all the way through. DONE.

The Rest:
Cook one box of whole wheat thin or angel hair spaghetti according to package directions. Roughly chop and then saute a package of white mushrooms. Add the drained pasta and cooked mushrooms to the sauce. Cut each cooked chicken breast in half and serve over pasta and sauce. DONE.

We ate ours alongside a simple salad of spinach, grape tomatoes, and cucumbers. I also made some super easy and quick dinner rolls (I'll share that recipe soon.)

It. Was. Scrumptious. (oh, did I already say that??)


Enjoy!

Roasted Eggplant Pasta

I don't love eggplant, mostly because of the texture. But when I saw Rachael Ray do a dish like this one, pureeing the eggplant and combining with garlic and tomatoes, I thought I had to give it a try. And I'm so glad I did!!! This was a big hit in our house this weekend. In fact, I think it ranks up there with Little Bit's favorite meals now!

To begin with, roast an eggplant and a whole head of garlic. Place the whole eggplant on a baking sheet, stab it a few times on the top, and put it in the oven at 425 degrees. Cut the top part off the garlic to expose the bulbs, drizzle with a little olive oil, salt and pepper, and wrap it up in aluminum foil. Put it in the oven as well. It should take about 40-45 minutes for both. The eggplant will look kind of wrinkled when you take it out. Set both aside to cool.


On the same baking sheet, empty out two pints of cherry or grape tomatoes. I cut mine in half, but I'm sure you could leave them whole if you wanted less work.


Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and put in the oven at 400 for about 15 minutes.


Now it's time to puree everything. For the eggplant...remove the purple skin with a paring knife, cut the flesh into chunks and put into food processor.


For the garlic...squeeze out the guts of the roasted garlic, mash with a fork, and put into food processor. For the tomatoes...just put them in, they're fine like they are. Now, I have a mini-food processor, so I can't fit all those ingredients in at once. I pureed the eggplant and garlic together, put it in my pot, and then pureed the tomatoes and added them to the pot. If you have a big processor, you can just puree them all together.

Add one can of tomato sauce to the pot and bring it up to a boil, then simmer for about 20 minutes. Spice it up! I used basil, oregano, salt, black pepper, chili powder, and a pinch of red pepper flake. While the sauce simmers, cook one box of whole wheat penne pasta according to package directions, and then drain and add to the sauce. Stir it all up, top with parmesan cheese, and...



Enjoy!

Pasta alla Random

Every other week or so, we have pasta alla random...which, translated, is random pasta. It is officially whatever we have in the house tossed with pasta. Tonight it was butternut squash, mushrooms, and spinach. And chicken. And parmesan cheese. NEVER forget the cheese.

I peeled, cleaned out, and cubed a butternut squash. I just lied. You can find out how to prepare a butternut squash from this post. But I went to the store the other day and I found a package of fresh butternut squash, already cubed, in the produce section, with a choir of angels singing behind it. Once you cube it up or tear open the package and dump it out onto a baking sheet, dress it with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and put it in a 400 degree oven for 30 or 40 minutes, while you get the rest of the meal ready.

Chop a pack of button mushrooms and saute in a big pot. Don't really chop the package itself. Just the mushrooms will do. You also can add some chicken. I bought a really big pack of chicken breasts on manager's special, and I went ahead and cooked half the pack and chopped it all up earlier in the day. I'll freeze what I didn't use of the cooked chicken, and I also froze the uncooked half in individual bags for later meals. Back to the pot.

Once the mushrooms and chicken are cooked, sprinkle flour over everything, and then stir in 2 cups chicken broth. Add salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese. Let it thicken up for about 10 or 15 minutes.

Cook one box of whole wheat angel hair pasta for only 4 minutes. Then drain it and add it to the big pot to let it finish cooking. Once the noodles are tender, wilt in some spinach. I had half a bag in the fridge, so that's what I used, but it would have been good with more spinach. Finally, take out your roasted squash and add it to the pot. Stir it all around and then eat it!


Random pasta...a staple in our household. Enjoy!

Mushroom and Meatball Pasta

What do you do when you have one person that would have a really hard time calling a dish a "meal" if it didn't have some sort of meat in it, and another person who would rather not eat meat at all?

Make mushroom and meatball pasta.

To make the mushroom pasta:

Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil in a large saucepan. Saute 2 packs of mushrooms, chopped, for about 5 to 7 minutes. Go for a walk on the wild side and mix up the types of mushrooms you are using. True, button mushrooms are the least expensive, so use one pack of buttons and then take your pick for the other ones. I used baby bellas...because they were the second least expensive.


Mushrooms are full of vitamin D and are immune-boosters. I heart mushrooms.

After you have sauteed the mushrooms for a few minutes, sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of flour over them.

Let it cook out for about a minute, stirring constantly, and then (slowly) stir in around 2 cups of beef or chicken broth, depending on what meat you use for your meatballs (use chicken broth for poultry, beef broth for red meat.) Add some salt, pepper, garlic powder, and chili powder. When you drop the pasta (see below), go ahead and stir in one box or half a bag of frozen chopped spinach into the mushroom mixture.

About 10 minutes before eating time, go ahead and cook up a box of whole wheat angel hair pasta, drain well, and stir into the mushroom mixture.

To make the meatballs:

Start with about a pound of lean ground meat of your choice. In my opinion, red meat works best in this dish (so use ground venison or ground sirloin), but if you prefer white meat go for the ground turkey or chicken breast. BUT be careful when getting your meat. Just because it is ground turkey or chicken does NOT make it "healthy" or lean. Make sure it is made from the white meat of the bird and preferably says "99% lean." Some of the turkey you can get is just as bad as greasy hamburger meat.

Take your rings off your fingers. Put them in a safe place (i.e., away from the drain in the kitchen sink.)

Put the meat in a large bowl. Add...
1 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs (I actually used about 1/3 cup breadcrumbs, 1/3 cup wheat bran, and 1/3 cup oat bran; you could also use wheat germ, toasted oats, or another fiber source if you have it in your pantry. Pour a little milk in the breadcrumb mixture and let it soak for a minute before adding it to the meat.)
Your favorite herbs and spices...I used chili powder, garlic powder, and oregano.
A couple of splashes of Worcestershire sauce

Mix it all up with your hands. Shape it into little meatballs. Mine were about an inch and a half or so in diameter; I made 26 meatballs out of one pound of meat. Place on a lightly oiled pan. Drizzle a teeny bit of olive oil on top of the meatballs. Place in 400 degree oven and bake for 20 minutes.


To summarize, here's the order in which I completed the steps:
1. Prep the meatballs and get them on the pan. Set aside and preheat the oven.
2. Chop and saute the mushrooms.
3. Add flour to mushrooms.
4. While the flour cooks out for one minute, put meatballs in oven.
5. Stir broth into mushrooms.
6. Heat up water for noodles.
7. When meatballs have 10 minutes left, cook pasta and also stir spinach into mushrooms.
8. After about 6 minutes, drain pasta and add to mushrooms.
9. Pull the meatballs out and eat!

Meateaters can add meatballs to their pasta to their hearts' content; non-meatlovers can avoid them like the plague.

I like meatballs.


Little Bit approves of this meal, too.



What more could I ask for? Enjoy!

Butternut Pasta

This is...are you ready for it???...my FAVORITE meal. Possibly ever. I know that's a huge statement. And I might make that statement about other meals as well. But then I eat this one, and I know without a doubt, that this is the one, for at least four reasons...

1. The Butternut Squash

Have you ever had this delectable winter squash? If you haven't, you need to stop reading this post, go to the nearest grocery store, buy one, and then come back and finish reading. I really want you to be as in love with butternuts as I am.

They are so lovely.

To begin, peel the squash. Definitely with a vegetable peeler. The first time I worked with a butternut, I tried to use my not-so-sharp paring knife, and I ended up with frustration, a big mess, and maybe two square inches of butternut squash to cook. No, the skin is very tough, so just save yourself the grief and peel it the easy way.

Then cube the squash. I do this in two stages. First, I cut off the long cylinder-shaped top portion, cut it into about half-inch slices, and then cube each slice. Then I take the round bottom part, cut it in half lengthwise, scoop out the pulp and seeds, and cube the rest of it. Yes, it is a lot of work. Yes, butternut squash is really tough to cut. Yes, it is totally worth it.


Once it is all cubed up to the best of your ability, put it on a pan with little sides. Is this a cookie sheet? Is it a jelly roll pan? I don't know. Drizzle with olive oil, toss it around, sprinkle salt and pepper, and put it in a 425 degree oven for, oh, 35-45 minutes. Until it starts to get brown and crispy around some of the edges.

Mmmm.

2. The Sausage

Tonight when I made this dish, I used 3 links of Italian style turkey sausage because that's what I had left from the package I used to make lentil stew earlier this week. But for the most amazing butternut pasta ever, use deer sausage.

Cube it up and brown it in a skillet.


Sausage is wonderful.

3. The Pasta

Confession: If I ate pasta every day, I would be happy. I am a happy person. Logical conclusion: I eat pasta (almost) every day.

Use whole wheat elbow macaroni. It's the bomb. And remember to salt the boiling water before you put the pasta in.

4. The Butter

This is the secret ingredient running behind all the flavors in this dish. Once the pasta is cooked, pour it in the drainer and let it hang out while you return the pot to the stove. Over medium heat, melt a tablespoon of butter. Shake in your favorite herbs...I used thyme, oregano, and basil. Let the butter melt and absorb all the herbs. It will even start foaming a little. It's so cute.


Keep stirring it around so it doesn't burn. You'll know it's ready when you drop one little pasta elbow into the butter and it sizzles - then pour all the pasta in (SIZZLE) and stir it around to coat all the pasta in the herb-butter.

Oh. My. Goodness.

Final step: Add the perfectly browned sausage; the perfectly roasted butternut squash; and a perfect handful of shredded parmesan cheese to the pot. Stir it all around.

Amazingness.


Once you take one bite of this, you will die. In the best way possible. Enjoy!