Feeling Blah About Dinner?

Please, allow me to help, with my second installment of a "kitchen sink" type recipe, when you just pull out whatever veggies you need to cook in your fridge/freezer and go to town.

I was lucky enough to shop at Trader Joe's on my lunch break yesterday, and was inspired by seeing the broccolini and blue lake green beans, two family favorites. (I was also inspired by their hella cheap French wine selection.) But I could just as easily make this without grocery store shopping with the frozen peas, frozen broccoli, and cream cheese that I almost always have on hand.

I hope you enjoy as much as me...please let me know if you do!

This is a very easy weeknight meal, esp. if you use presliced veggies or do prep the night before. If I hadn't had to do the cutting board prep, I could have easily had this meal on the table in 25 minutes.


3 cups penne pasta, uncooked
2 Tbsp. Italian Dressing (feel free to omit and use whatever herbs/vinegar/oil you have on hand)
3oz prscuitto, cut into strips or diced (I roll them to dice easier)
1 bunch broccolini
1 1/2 cups fresh green beans, cut into 2" pieces
8 oz mushrooms (I used presliced baby bellas and rough chopped them smaller)
1 cup fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) Philadelphia® Neufchatel Cheese, cubed
1 pint cherry tomatoes, cut in halves
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated


(You can sub or add so many things to make this different each time: red bell pepper, asparagus, zuchinni, frozen peas, chicken cubes, any veggie in season or whatever you have in the fridge.)



1.) Cook pasta as directed on package.

2.)Meanwhile, heat skillet over med-high heat and add proscuttio, cooking until crispy. Remove from pan and set aside.

If there is not enough oil leftover to coat the veggies, add a little olive oil to pan. Add vegetables; cook 10 to 12 min. or until veggies are beginning to soften, stirring frequently (you can also cover to let them cook a little quicker after you saute them a bit. The liquid released from the mushrooms will "steam" them.)

3.)Add broth and cream cheese; cook 1 min. or until cheese is melted, stirring constantly. Once sauce starts to come together and cream cheese is mostly melted, add tomato halves and stir just until they start to "wilt".

4.)Drain pasta; return to pot. Add proscuttio and vegetable mixture; toss lightly. Cook 1 min. or until heated through. (Sauce will thicken up standing.)

5.)Top with fresh grated parmesan and black pepper, if desired.


My husband told me that it may be the best thing I've ever made. ::swoon::



The original idea for this recipe should be credited to Rachael Ray, but I took major liberties with the execution, so this is indeed "my" recipe.

WMW: The Two Greatest Things From My Kitchen!

Okay, maybe 3 if I can find the other one.

Today is share your favorite recipe day over at Working Mommy Wednesday, and I am totally, completely unprepared. As you can see by my post this weekend, I have spent my evenings with my husband watching various sporting events (the National Title Game should start an hour earlier...it ended after MIDNIGHT Monday!) and have not prepared for today's prompt.

Luckily, I love to blog recipes from time to time, so I am linking to a few of my favorites. First up is my go to meal for the nights when you are just too busy to do anything else: chicken and apple sausage. So, so easy. And so good. And perfect with a good local craft beer. Yum!

Second, we'll go with something I'm really proud of: one of my first fly-solo, no-recipe, throw-some-crap-in-a-pan-and-see-if-it's-good recipe. I guess this is called American Chicken and Pasta. I promise, it's easier than you think, and tasty.

And then for dessert. I love to bake. Seriously love it, and it's becoming a hobby of mine. When I'm cash-strapped, one of my fave things to give someone for their birthday is a fabulous birthday cake. I make a carrot cake that has had more than one person say it was the best they've ever had, and one year I made my mom a beautiful white chocolate, lemon, and blueberry cake. But the recipe that I have gotten the most compliments on from people who have tasted it and made it themselves, is my Banana Cupcakes. You HAVE to make this, if you even like banana a little bit. Absolutely delicious. And it has fruit it in. No worries!

If you have something tasty to share, or have just discovered our Working Mommy Network, head over to Julia's blog at Work Wife Mom Life to link up. Even if you don't cook, you can blog on our other prompt today!

Mom Friendly Meals Monday!

I always tell my friend Angie over at IMO that I am going to participate in her weekly recipe hop, and then never follow through. Why? Because my recipes usually don't involve measuring so they are hard for most people to follow. Honestly, that's not the real reason. The real reason is that sitting at work, I don't have access to the "base" recipe I use to create my own, so I just give up. This week, I am trying to utilize my son's Sunday nap to prepare a post ahead of time. And to make up for my previous laziness, I will share two!

First is very easy for Thanksgiving. I for one LOVE cranberry sauce and could not eat my Thanksgiving meal without it. No question. However, the canned stuff? Nasty. Is that even real cranberry or some type of gelatinous mass that tastes pretty much like the inside of a tin can? Fear not, making your own is not that difficult and may even convert a few non-cranberry-sauce eaters this year. Here goes:

1 bag of cranberries (found in the fruit/veggie section of the grocery store)
1 naval orange
1/2 or so cup of sugar, to taste

This is IT: rinse the cranberries, pick out the one or two duds that may be floating around, and dump them into a saucepan. Put the heat on about low-medium (a 4 if you are electric). Add sugar, and the juice and zest of the orange. Stir well. Then move on to another task, coming back to stir every 5-10 minutes or so until you have, well, the consistency of cranberry sauce. The berries "pop" and the sugar helps them form the "jelly" consistency. This will be nothing like the canned crap. Put into a container, let come to room temp, and store in fridge. It's best to make it one day ahead so it gets cool and the flavors meld. Will last in fridge about 3-4 days, in freezer a few weeks.

If you feel confident you can always add extra spices like nutmeg or ginger, but I actually prefer the plain cranberry-orange combo. My husband got fancy this year and made candied orange peels to put on top. We're food nerds, but in all honesty the hardest thing about this recipe is cleaning the sticky pot afterwards.

Okay, so I had planned on giving y'all the crazy delicious pumpkin pancake recipe that my husband raved was one of my best recently, but I can't find it online and now I must shuffle through all my random recipe papers at home to find it. Since I promised two, here is a link to my absolute favorite dessert, and this would not be any easier if you had 3 extra hands. It literally take 15 minutes or less to mix, and if you use one of those refrigerated Pillsbury crusts, it's virtually mess free! If you get tired of the fruit pies and love chocolate, you will love Chocolate Chess Pie. A Southern favorite. I could eat it every day!

If you like these and want to know what the pumpkin pancakes are all about, PLEASE click my Picket Fence linky. I am currently number 80 and would love to get on one of the first 2 pages again. I'll make a deal, if I get 10 votes today, I will post the pancake recipe tonight. I should let you know that I am a really, really, really good cook.

And modest to boot...

Am I Really the Example You Want to Follow?

Ahem. After the last post, I am sure that you are surprised to find me participating in Mom Friendly Meals Monday. I was not exagerrating when I called myself Obese. Really. My BMI is 35. I found that out today when I joined Spark People. See, Step 1: I CAN CHANGE!

I refuse to participate in anything called "McFatty" anything, but I do want to give a little update since it is, after all, my first day on the wagon. Here is how I'm trying to make this lifestyle change work: I am NOT going hog-wild-crazy on a diet, people. I can't. I've done it before with disatrous results, b/c I am a giant Yo-Yo. Lose 5, gain 6, eat really well for 3 days and then say SCREW YOU, FOOD! So, today I had 1 hot dog (not 2), a container of easy mac, and frozen veggies. 2 servings of frozen veggies (this is where you lavish praise). Sadly, this is an improvement.

But, here is what went RIGHT today:

*This morning, I really wanted a Salted Caramel thingy from the evil place. Instead, I went to Mickey D's and got the healthiest breakfast item they have: the egg mcmuffin. And plain old coffee. Which, once a little Splenda and flavored creamer was added, satisfied me a little bit.

*I have not had a soda yet today. I have had almost 6 servings of water. (I will drink a soda on the way home, but only after my 6 servings.)

*Went to Target on my lunch break and got yogurt, applesauce, and cookies. With chocolate on them. I told you, I ain't going cold turkey, but when a 3PM snack craving hits I will eat ONE serving size and faithfully put the rest back in the cabinet.

*Resisted the 3PM chocolate craving and had applesauce and yogurt instead.

*Joined Spark People and I am faithfully logging every single thing I put in my mouth. So far today I'm way high on the sodium (as expected) but hitting my targets for all the other categories. Yay me!

OKAY. So you came here for a recipe? This one is untested and on the menu this week, but SO easy, fairly healthy, and in Cooking Light's recent issue with the pantry staples article. I love Cooking Light. I am just giving you the link directly: Tex-Mex Confetti Pizza!

Enjoy...

Monday Menu

Y'all, I want to participate in Mama Insomnia's Mom Friendly Meals Monday so bad...but I am swamped today and want to enjoy the rest of my leftover Chili's queso and salsa lunch. I wish I had more to say, but tonight we are having sandwiches.

Before you say I'm copping out and not participating, let me tell you about the sandwich I am making:

Yummy whole grain bread, the kind with poppy seeds and sesame seeds on the edges. Love it. Oven roasted turkey, from the deli, along with the most yummy cheese imaginable: Boar's Head Horseradish Cheddar. Our favorite condiment: Napa Valley Honey Mustard with Orange and Ginger (it makes ANY sandwich). Top that off with some arugula and the last of my dad's tomatoes, and this is sandwich ART.

So, while I don't have anything fancy prepared, I do have a solution when you are having those "FML" nights and just want to make something easy. It takes 10 minutes at the grocery store, even less time in the kitchen, and dinner is served!

And Tomorrow, I will have my first real giveaway!

Mom Friendly Meals Monday

All right, I'll bite. Literally. I love a good recipe, and lately I have felt like my head is not screwed on straight. I'm sure you can tell by my "tone" lately...do I seem stressed out? Overwhelmed? Pushed to my limit? I'm trying to calm myself down, realize that life ebbs and flows, and this is a phase I will soon conquer just as we conquered low milk supply and sleeping through the night.

My cute friend Mama Insomnia is someone who I know without a doubt I would make fast friends with if she didn't live somewhere in the middle of the country instead of being an East-Coaster like myself. And she is starting up a Monday service to the poor, crazy, stretched to the limit working moms like myself where we share an easy, fast, stress-free recipe on Mondays. Because honestly, who wants to go home and cook on a Monday?

Since I wasn't prepared today, I will rattle off my go-to recipe for busy weeknights and those chain email "recipe exchanges". (This used to be what hubs and I made when we wanted to spend dinner on the couch. It fits in one bowl, and a beer fits nicely in hand number two while you are on your way out of the kitchen.)

What shall we call it? Chicken and Apple sausage. Shopping list: a package of chicken and apple sausage (found somewhere in between the breakfast meats and hot dogs), a vidalia or other sweet onion, and an apple. Granny Smith or gala work fine for us.

Cut everything into discs (sausage) or strips (onions and apples). Saute the onions in a little butter or canola oil. And when I say saute, I mean caramelize, which basically consists of putting the heat on about 6-7 to start, and only stirring when the onions have sat enough to start browning. In this dish, you want those nice "burned" bits. Eventually, you will add the sausage and continue to cook (the sausage is usually pre-cooked and needs to be heated). Towards the end of the caramelization, you'll throw the apples in and cook just until they get soft. Spoon a generous portion into a nice bowl, add a fork, and voila.

Feel free to spend the in-between stir times like I do: feeding the dog, and chasing the baby around the house while he drags every single toy he has from the living room to the kitchen.

Enjoy! And please link your recipes to IMO:FWIW blog!