I met Ree!!!

Chances are if you've talked to me on the side you know I love Ree and her blog, The Pioneer Woman. I've wanted to meet her for quite some time, but timing has just never worked out for when she's in town.

Earlier today I saw her tweet about being in Naperville, which isn't far from Johnny's work, which isn't too far from our house. So I met him at work and we drove out to the bookstore.

I was really nervous, so I texted Mara and Sophia to get rid of some giddy anxiety and tweeted with a bunch of you to pass the time.

I grew up a piano playing, ballet dancing, straight A kind of a gal, so I haven't led the most exciting life.

My celebrity spottings thus far have included handing Van Cliburn a bouquet of roses at a concert and asking him to blow my mom a kiss (which he did).

I also was in the same building as Joey McIntyre once. (He was Fiyero one of the three times I've seen Wicked.)

I know she's not a movie star (yet), but I kind of think of Ree in celebrity-like status. I've loved her books and her blog and seeing her on TV. I was going to have to walk up to her and talk! Eep!

Anyways- there I was, wearing my holey yoga pants, and the line finally dwindled down. There were 103 tickets and we were #98, so it had really dwindled down.

Ree sang Ethel Merman for the girls in line ahead of us, much to my delight. Then we approached her and I gushed bout loving her blog, and her, and Johnny and I talked about her little son that we find adorable, and then poof! it was over and I survived! She is so down to earth and sweet that I forgot my irrational fears of turning bright red, puking, or bursting into tears, embarrassing myself.



We were starved, so after we headed to a little Italian place just up the street, Rosebud. It was the first time either of us had eaten there, but J's friend highly recommended it.

I started with fried calamari. Hands down the best I've ever had! Delicious!

Then I had fetticine alfredo. (I went with a low-fat, low-cal dish since I have to fit into a wedding dress eventually.)

Johnny had some vodka penne dish. He almost always chooses vodka sauce dishes when we eat Italian. He loves them. And he ate this entire plate to prove it.

Then he had a creme brulee for dessert (I snuck a few spoonfuls of it). I ordered some cannolis to go, which I'll eat tomorrow in my PJs while catching up with 16 & Pregnant online since I watched every Glee episode in existence and now have to wait for new ones.

Sorry the restaurant photos are dim. I just have a point and shoot. Which brings me to a survey:

Tuna Noodle Casserole

The inspiration for this recipe is really wacky, so bear with me.

The last night we were in Florida, it was just me, Johnny, and my brother Michael. I was in the kitchen of the rental home cooking fruit filled pancakes and scrambled eggs for our dinner. Johnny and Michael were lounging in the living room talking, with Hoarders playing in the background.

All of a sudden I heard both of them scream "ewwww" and other loud outbursts of disgust. I ran into the room, spatula still in hand, to see what was going on. Apparently, the teenaged daughter of the hoarder had boiled pasta, spooned huge spoonfuls of Miracle Whip in with it, and stirred it together with canned tuna and peas. She put this concoction in the microwave to heat it up, and then they ate in their car, since it was the only place for both of them to sit.

That was Sunday night, and it's kept replaying in my head since. It was so disturbing, especially since both of them were overweight and battling diabetes. I kept thinking "why would they make something so unhealthy?"

I had to make something like it myself, but I wanted to make it healthy. I really don't know why, but I felt like that was the only way I'd be able to get over my disgust of the situation.



1 pound of elbow macaroni
1 cup fat free sour cream
1 packet Lipton's Recipe Secrets mix (I used vegetable)
1 cup frozen spinach
1 cup frozen peas
1 can of albacore tuna, packed in water

Bring a pot of water up to a boil. Season with salt and boil the pasta 2-3 minutes short of being done (very al dente).

While the pasta is boiling, mix the sour cream, Lipton's packet, veggies, and tuna in a covered baking dish. Preheat the oven to 350°.

Drain the pasta and mix with the other ingredients. Put the lid on the baking dish and place in the oven for 30 minutes.

Serves 3-4.

Pasta with Cauliflower Sauce

There really is no story for this recipe. I was browsing around for menu plan ideas and it caught my eye. Not very interesting, sorry!

The original can be found here. My adapted version is below.

1 pound pasta of your choice
3 Tbsp olive oil
5-6 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1 small onion, chopped fine
1 head cauliflower, chopped
2 cups vegetable stock
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1 tsp parsley
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
~2-3 cups baby spinach
pepper, to taste

In a large, deep skillet, add the olive oil. Cook the garlic and onion for a few minutes until fragrant. Add the cauliflower, stock, and herbs, bringing to a boil. Cover and let simmer for about 10 minutes until the cauliflower is tender. Mash with a potato masher. Stir in the baby spinach. Let simmer while the pasta cooks to reduce.

Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil for the pasta. Once boiling, salt the water and add the pasta. Cook until al dente.

Add the cheese to the sauce, and stir to incorporate. Drain the pasta, reserving some of the pasta water. Mix everything with tongs in the large skillet. Serves 5-6.

This was really yummy! I love cauliflower, but would never think to pair it with pasta. I added a lot of black pepper, so it had a pretty nice kick to it. Feel free to spice it up with any other herbs or spices, depending on your personal preferences.

Cold Thai Peanut Salad

I come across recipes I want to try.

A lot.

Most of the time I bookmark them and they sit in wait. It could be days, weeks, months, sometimes years before I get around to making them, if at all.

Then, other times there are recipes I see and I need to make them right then. Regardless if I have all the ingredients or not, it just sounds so good I've got to try and replicate it ASAP.

This recipe is one of those. I got it from Laura, the Queen of All. Her version is here.

My version, modified because I didn't have everything on hand:

mix of No Yolks egg noodles and elbow macaroni
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup your favorite salsa
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp ground ginger
1 Tbsp lemon juice
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp dried parsley
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
2 carrots, julienned/shredded
1/2 green pepper, diced
salt, to taste

Cook noodles according to package instructions. (If being "resourceful" like me and using more than one type, make sure to compare cooking times.)

Mix the peanut butter, soy sauce, oil, salsa, pepper, ginger, lemon juice, garlic cloves, and parsley in a pint mason jar. Shake until well mixed, about 1 minute. Taste and add salt as needed. (Fight the urge to put it in a syringe and inject it directly into your bloodstream.)

Drain the noodles, rinse with cold water. Pour into a large mixing bowl with the dressing. Stir to coat and add the sunflower seeds, carrots, and green pepper. Toss to mix everything. Refrigerate at least 4 hours to let the flavors develop.

Enjoy! This is GOOD. I highly, highly recommend.

Spaghetti Carbonara

Long time readers will remember my brother did a guest post long ago to show off a carbonara recipe. I was tempted to try it then, but sadly I never got around to it.

Then, skimming through Project Food Blog videos I saw a video on bell'alimento where she made it look so easy. I made a point to remember to make it this time around.

1 lb. dried spaghetti
6 slices bacon
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
2 eggs, room temperature
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
black pepper, to taste

In a large pot, bring water to a boil. Once up to temperature, salt the water and add the pasta. Cook until al dente, 8-10 minutes.

While the water is coming to a boil, brown the bacon until almost crispy. (Tip: Cut the bacon using kitchen shears over the pan.) Add the garlic the last minute or two, taking care not to burn.

In a large serving bowl, crack the eggs into the bottom and whisk well. Add the cheese and black pepper. Set aside.

Drain the pasta well, reserving about 1 cup of the pasta water. Immediately dump the pasta into the bowl with the egg mixture. It is important to get this in there right away while it is hot to cook the eggs. Using tongs or two forks, continue tossing the pasta in the egg mixture to incorporate well. Add some pasta water if necessary to thin it (I ended up using about 1/4 cup). Last, add the bacon/garlic mixture and toss until evenly dispersed through the pasta.

Plate and serve immediately. You can add more black pepper or grated cheese for garnish. Serves 4.

Holy cow, it's amazing how simple and delicious this is. It really tastes special, like something you'd get in a small Italian restaurant.

The best part is that it's ready in under 30 minutes - just as long as it takes to boil the water and cook the pasta. It could easily be a weeknight dinner with just a few more steps than plain old spaghetti and marinara.

Have you ever ordered or made carbonara?

Minestrone

Johnny loves minestrone soup. If it's on the menu, chances are he'll order it.

Funny thing is - I've never made it at home. Until now, that is.

Johnny has been feeling under the weather for about a week. He says he feels "stuffy" so has been loading up on immune boosters and Vitamin C, keeping it at bay.

He asked me if I had a "magical Italian soup" that would make him feel better. Later, he said he was in the mood for something "full of fruits and veggies."

Put those two requests together and what do you get!? Minestrone! A magical Italian soup full of fruits and veggies - guaranteed to make him feel better.

Working with what I had on hand, this soup was ready in under an hour. It was delicious and hit the spot! Plus, it makes tons! Great for a crowd or to have leftovers on hand.

29 oz. can of tomato puree
2 cans of water
3 vegetable bouillon cubes
~1/2 lb. meatballs (mine were frozen)
2 bay leaves
2 Tbsp dried oregano
2 Tbsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp Kosher salt
2 small onions, chopped fine
6 cloves garlic, minced
5 stalks celery, chopped
5 carrots, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 cups elbow macaroni, uncooked
15 oz. can of white beans
15 oz. can of red beans

First, combine the tomato puree and two cans of water with the bouillon in a large pot. If the meatballs are frozen, add them at this point to slowly come up to temperature over medium heat. Add the seasonings so they have a chance to flavor the broth as it cooks, too.

Chop the vegetables, adding them to the pot. Once they are all included, turn the heat up to low boil. Let cook until the vegetables are al dente. Add the macaroni, letting cook 6-7 minutes until tender.

In the meantime, drain and rinse the beans in a colander. Add during the last 2 minutes of cooking to heat them. If your meatballs are not frozen, also add them during the last few minutes.

I have no idea what took me so long, but now I can make minestrone at home! It was really flavorful and tasted like it took all day to make!

You could omit the meatballs for a completely vegan meal. If pressed for time, you could load everything into a slow cooker with dried beans and let it cook all day while you're at school/work, too.

Kids in the Kitchen: Pasta Pie

Taylor went home Saturday, but the last meal we cooked together was a revisit with the visually impressive pasta pie I made last June! (Original recipe can be found here.) She had seen it on my blog and it was her one wishlist item that we make while she was here.

The first time was a pretty tedious process, but this second time with a pair of helping hands it went by a lot quicker. I think recipes that have labor intensive steps are perfect for sharing with kids because you can split up and share the work!


While I was browning the beef Taylor carefully used my microplaner to grate the Parmesan cheese.



Next, we swapped stations and she took over stirring the sauce and beef mixture while I got the pasta ready. (It was at this point Taylor noticed the sauce had bits of onion in it. I got a bit of a nose-crinkle and feared this might be an issue when the finished meal hit the table.)

Taylor was a big help standing all of the rigatoni upright in the spring form pan.

Then, her smaller fingers were the perfect size for squishing the sauce down in each noodle hole!


It popped out just as cleanly and impressive this time as last time, too!


The presentation is worth the extra assembling effort!

I'm also happy to say that Taylor was half-way through her serving before she even remembered that she didn't like onions! When it came time to clear the plates I saw one lone piece of onion that had been picked out and discarded to the side of the plate. Knowing Taylor had she not invested so much into helping make this recipe, she would have sat there and picked out every single piece of onion! I guess all that hard work made her forget and sit back and enjoy each bite! (Thanks again to Laura for the knork - Taylor loved it and chose to eat virtually every meal with it!)

Thank you for spending your Spring break with us Taylor! We had so much fun with you and miss you already!

Roasted Eggplant over Couscous

The lovely Mara posted a few eggplant recipes and her beautiful photos definitely put me in the mood. I bought one on my next grocery trip and promptly forgot about it.

Who decided to put the vegetable bin way down at the bottom of the refrigerator anyways? Out of sight, out of mind! Fortunately for 99% of the vegetables I buy, I remember them before it's too late, as was the case with Mr. Eggplant.

My favorite way to eat vegetables is to cut them all up and roast them together. Tonight was no different, but the eggplant was definitely the star.

1 medium eggplant
2 carrots
2 stalks celery
1 small onion
1 green pepper
2 large cloves garlic

All of these were cut and doused with a few tablespoons of the sun dried tomato oil my parents brought us for Christmas. I've told you about it before, but in case you forgot it's basically oil, sun dried tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, and spices and herbs. A touch of Kosher salt and black pepper were added, it was all tossed around and spread onto a baking sheet. No matter what the veggies I always roast at 425° for 20 minutes and they come out perfect!

On the side I cooked Near East roasted garlic and olive oil couscous according to package instructions, except I added a couple tablespoons of pine nuts. This went onto the plate first and then I spooned the veggies over top.

It was a beautiful plate full of bright colors and tastes! It paired nicely with the softer, subtle taste of the couscous and crunch of the pine nuts.

This was exactly what I was in the mood for with eggplant in almost every bite!


I'm submitting this dish to Laura's Just Another Meatless Monday. A weekly round-up of meat-free dishes to inspire and be inspired by! Stop by and join us!

Pasta a la Philly

Last week Laura of Hey What's for Dinner, Mom? posted a pasta recipe with a secret ingredient: Philadelphia cream cheese!

After reading her praises and the fact that her son had three platefuls, I decided to give it a go too! It's super quick for weeknight meals, cooking in the time it takes the pasta to boil! It also scores convenient points with just 5 easy ingredients most of us already have on hand!

The original recipe can be found here, but I made the same changes Laura did (proof that great minds think alike!). Both of us chose to forego ground beef and use homemade sausage. Laura used her homegrown/homemade turkey/duck/goose sausage and I used loose sweet Italian sausage. (My dad made us 15 more pounds while he was here for Christmas, so we're set for another few months!) We also both opted to use a shorter pasta choice instead of spaghetti.


16 oz. box of rigatoni
1 pound sausage (or ground meat of choice)
26 oz. jar of pasta sauce (or 3 cups homemade)
4 oz. (1/2 box) of Philly cream cheese, cut in cubes
Parmesan cheese to top, optional

While the pasta water is coming up to a boil brown the meat in a separate large skillet. Once the meat is cooked through, cook pasta according to directions on the package. Add the sauce and cream cheese (we used 1/3 less fat Philadelphia because their regular contains whey) to the skillet and stir to combine with the meat until the cheese is melted. Drain the pasta and add it to the skillet, tossing everything to coat. Serve with Parmesan cheese on top, if desired. Serves 4-5.

Honestly, I was surprised at how good this was! Johnny wandered into the kitchen to help me brown the sausage and ended up staying while the sauce was created. When he saw I was going to be adding the cream cheese he said a quiet "cooool." After a few bites he agreed it's crazy how big of a difference just adding cream cheese makes.

If you like vodka sauce, you'll like this. It's still very "tomatoey," just with a creamy goodness. You won't be able to put a finger on it, it doesn't taste "cream cheesy," just smooth and more "special" than your normal sauce. I would serve this dish to company it's that good!

Italy Night

I think it's been easy over the course of my blog to conclude that I'm Italian. 75% to be exact.

My mom is currently a little obsessed with Italy. Her first trip was March 2006 with her sister (my aunt) and she's since gone back twice with different small groups of girlfriends. Her latest trip was in November, when Johnny and I were in D.C.

To prepare herself for these trips, her friends and her have "Italy Nights." They'll listen to Italian music, cook Italian food, they've taken Italian lessons and overall just broaden their knowledge and love for everything Italy! They've even given each other "Italian" nicknames!

From her recent trip, she brought back special grade 00 flour from Italy. This is the finest ground flour, it was like baby powder! She also brought her grandmother's (my great-grandmother's) pasta press and ravioli mold I used earlier this summer at her house. We invited Johnny's sister, Di and brother in law, Rob over and the 6 of us had our own "Italy Night" here at my house! This night's theme was "pumpkin!"

First, Johnny and Rob made two batches of dough for us. Once you make the dough, it needs to be wrapped in plastic and sit for about 20 minutes. While this was sitting we had our appetizers.

We had bruschetta with olives, fresh basil, pepperoni, and balsamic marinated tomatoes as toppings. Toast the bread in the oven on a sheet pan. Once it is warmed, remove it and brush each piece of bread with a raw piece of garlic. Place your toppings and drizzle each piece with a little olive oil. Put back in the oven for a few more minutes to crisp up.

Also served was an assortment of cheeses my mom brought back from Italy. The "star" of the cheese platter was this white truffle cheese. She went to a truffle festival and came home with coveted goodies. We were glad she shared this with us. It was creamy, velvety delicious with an earthy undertone that made me truly understand the definition of "umami."

The last appetizer was a classic prosciutto-wrapped melon, which we dressed up with cute little toothpicks for easy grabbing!

By now the pasta was ready to be rolled out. Di and Rob tried their hand at the pasta press and did a great job for their first turn! It takes a bit of practice to get a steady crank and passing process down, but they picked it up right away.

My mom and I whipped up the batches of filling. We had to do 2, to make one whey-free for Johnny. We used homemade pumpkin puree my mom made, roasted garlic, ricotta cheese (cottage cheese for J), sundried tomatoes, and seasonings. (Doesn't it look like I have Padma's scar in the above pic!? Weird- must be the reflection!)

Just like this summer, we filled the ravioli molds and then rolled a rolling pin over to release the extra dough.

Out popped plump little dumplings of goodness!

My dad made a light soup of broth with garlic, fresh spinach, and white beans. We ate this while waiting for the pasta water come up to a boil.

My mom had a chestnut sauce while in Italy and seeing how light that was, realized that a white or red sauce with the delicate flavors of the squash would over-power this. So, we went with a really, really light "sauce," just enough to wet the ravioli. It was made with chicken broth, white wine, garlic, sundried tomato oil, chestnuts she brought back from Italy, fresh sage, and a dash of cream with a hint of mozzarella cheese. (my mom's picture)


After boiling the pasta (only for a few minutes because it's freshly made!) we stirred them around the sauce pan with a wooden spoon, just enough to coat them with the sauce. We garnished with crispy fried sage leaves, which I'd been dying to try since seeing them all over the Food Network and the blog world. Kind of like a furry, herby potato chip!

Then, to bring pumpkin full-circle, we had Johnny's homemade pumpkin ice cream for dessert! He used my mom's homemade pumpkin puree in his usual recipe, which he adapted from a sweet potato recipe in The Perfect Scoop. This was served alongside warmed homemade panettone from one of my mom's piano students. We also munched on some pumpkin seeds my mom had roasted.

Needless to say, we were stuffed! It was a fun night learning new things and having everybody help have a hand at making dinner! It makes it a little more interesting than the usual dinner party! Just make sure guests arrive early enough to accomodate for all the cooking time! We had Di and Rob come at 4 to start, with the appetizers and soup during so we weren't famished, and ate the finished pasta around 6:30.