The Poor Family's Gourmet Pasta

So, sick of all that Ragu Prego stuff? This is the perfect pasta recipe for entertaining at the last minute or if your wallet is empty but you still want to make something memorable. I make this a lot. Any pasta will do, but i prefer the lined penne as the sauce sticks better to it than something super smooth like bowtie. I'm laying out the recipe for a 2 person + 1 toddler serving.
*1/2 a box of whole grain or white lined penne pasta.
*olive oil
*3 shakes of crushed red pepper
*5 garlic cloves sliced thin (not minced or chopped, but in thin little slices)
*1 and 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
*14 oz crushed tomatoes
*1 tsp dried basil
*3 tbsp sugar
*pepper to taste
Make your pasta according to directions on the box. Drizzle enough olive oil to coat the bottom of a big pan/pot liberally. Turn on a low to low-medium flame and add garlic and crushed red pepper. Saute slowly until some of the garlic just starts to brown a little. Stand back and add the balsamic. Use a spoon to move the mixture around the pan and let cook about 30 seconds. Add the crushed tomatoes, basil and sugar. Stir well. Get a hard simmer going and simmer for 5 minutes stirring only 2 times during the 5 minute period. After the 5 minutes add your drained pasta to this and mix together. Serve. Yummy.

Strawberries & Spinach?

This is amazing. Seriously. Coming from a super ridiculously picky eater this salad is AMAZING. Make it now.

-1 package of prewashed baby spinach

-1 package of fresh strawberries

-A BIG handful of honey roasted pecans, walnuts or almonds

-1/4 cup olive oil

- 2 TBSP balsamic vinegar

- 3 1/2 TBSP white sugar

-2 dashes of Paprika

In a large bowl toss together spinach and berries. In a cereal bowl whisk together the remaining ingredients except for the nuts. This is going to take a good whisking to get the sugar to dissolve. Pour over the salad and toss until everything is well coated. Toss in the nuts and go crazy over the fact that this exists.

Makes 4 small salads.

Autumn Snack

Fall is finally here, and so is pumpkin carving season. This year I decided to start a new family tradition of roasting the seeds while we carve. When it was all done we snacked on some pumpkin seeds and watched the glow of the flickering jack-o-lantern.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

*Pull out seeds and place in a colander as you go. Try and get as much pumpkin guts off of the seeds as possible before rinsing.

*Rinse the seeds very well under cold running water. Place seeds on a towel to get rid of most of the water left on the seeds after the rinse.

*Spread a thin layer of olive oil on a baking sheet and lay out seeds in a single layer. Sprinkle liberally with table salt. Roast for 10 minutes then stir around. Put the oven at 325 degrees and roast for 15 more minutes. Crunchy, super good for you and helps set the mood for fall.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies...That`s A Mouthful.

These cookies are fast, simple and super yummy. I would bet you have all the ingredients on hand already.

1/3 cup peanut butter
2 Tbsp vegetable oil (olive, canola..anything)
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup soy or cow's milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup rolled or old fashioned oats
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray your cookie sheet with cooking spray or a VERY thin smear of oil.
Whisk together the first 5 ingredients until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and stir with a spoon to combine.
Drop batter by large teaspoon fulls onto the baking sheet. Press dough down with your fingers. Bake for 10 to 11 minutes. They are done by 11 minutes for sure. Even if they don't look like it.
Remove sheet from oven and let sit for 10 minutes. Resist the urge to touch them! After 10 minutes is up use a spatula to gently lift the cookies from the sheet to a cooling rack or a flattened paper bag to cool. You can eat one gooey and warm now if you'd like, but they won't firm up until they cool down. Share ;)

Corn Salsa

I LOVE corn salsa.

3 ears of corn

1/2 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1/3 cup minced red onion

1 lime juiced

2 tbsp olive oil

a big handful of chopped cilantro

salt and pepper to taste

Place the corn in boiling water for 4 minutes. Pull out and let cool for a few minutes.
Chop the red onion, juice the lime and add black beans and olive oil to a bowl. Toss in cilantro. Cut kernels of corn off the cob and place in bowl. Stir until coated. Add salt and pepper to taste. Grab your favorite tortilla chips and scoop baby.

My Favorite Chili

I am posting this in hopes that this speeds up the beginning of fall :) This is a thick chili.

Chili Sin Carne

2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion diced
1 green bell pepper diced
2 cloves of garlic diced small
14oz of crushed tomatoes
1 can black beans, drained & rinsed
1 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tbsp + 1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tbsp light brown sugar
1 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 package frozen corn
6oz veggie burger crumbles (optional)

- Saute bell pepper 2 minutes. Add Onion. Cook 3 minutes. Add garlic. Cook 1 minute.
- Stir in 1 cup water and remaining ingredients except for corn . Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Simmer 20 minutes stirring occassionally. Fold in corn and 1/2 cup water and simmer 10 minutes more.

All done! Bake up some cornbread to go along with this if you have it. Or maybe some tortillas chips. This serves about 3 adults, 4 if you are serving other sides.

Easy Vegan Muffins

1/2 cups white flour
1/2 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup oat bran
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup oil or applesauce
optional add ins : 1 mashed banana, chopped nuts, blueberries, raisins, 2 TBSP flax meal, whatever else you can dream up
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
By hand, combine flours, sugar, salt and baking powder in a big mixing bowl.
Now add water and oil (or applesauce). Mix together. This only takes a minute.
Pour into greased or lined muffin tin, just until each cup is a little more than half full.
Bake 18 minutes. This yields 10 medium muffins or 6 big ones.
*the flour mixture can be replaced with all white flour, or half wheat and half white. Use whatever you have.