HAPPY FEBRUARY!

I have rediscovered my bread machine and everyone who comes over is thanking me for it.

That's not cocky, it's just a fact.

There is something about homemade bread. The smell alone can make a person drool, but to be able to eat it on a regular basis...needless to say, I need to step up my exercise game.


I made this bread to go with some yummy lasagna pasta. Because, if you're going to have pasta--you might as well have some bread. This quick bread was super easy to throw in my bread machine and let it do its thing. However, if you aren't in possession of a bread machine, you're in luck! You can bake this bad stuff, too. And I mean that in a good way. You know, like... bad is good.

Annnnnnnnnyway.

Ingredients:
Recipe adapted from Home With Boys
- 1.25 C warm water
- 1.5 C olive oil (or vegetable)
- 3.5 C all purpose unbleached flour (or bread flour)
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp dry Parsley
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp basil
- 1/4 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/3 C grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
- 2 tsp active dry yeast

Directions for Bread Machine:

- Add your liquid ingredients to the bread pan.
- Add your dry ingredients, except the yeast, to the bread pan.
- Use your finger or a spoon to form a little hole in the middle of the dry ingredients for your yeast.
- Select the "French" setting, choose crust color (I did "Light"), and BOOM! Your bread is in the making. See how easy that is?

OR

Directions for Baking:

- Preheat your oven to 350 and spray bread pan.
- Mix together your wet ingredients, followed by your dry ingredients. Knead the yeast into the dough until all are combined.
- Place in bread pan, using spatula to make it as even as possible in the pan.
- Bake for 30 minutes.


Simple, easy, and delicious. My husband described the bread as BANGIN' more than once... and it BARELY lasted 48 hours in the house (this is including the fact that my mother-in-law is visiting, too).

This pasta is a super easy dish if you haven't figured out your dinner plans. The best thing about it for me was Michael actually ate it! I guess I shouldn't be surprised since it involved pasta and cheese, but he even ate the spinach... and it's not like it's exactly hidden in there.

Ingredients:

- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 to 1 small onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 (14.5 to 15 oz) can diced tomatoes
- 3/4 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- dash of red pepper flakes
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- 2 oz cream cheese
- 1/2 lb penne pasta
- 1 to 2 C spinach
*Optional: 1/4 to 1/2 C parmesan cheese
Salt & Pepper to Taste*

Directions:

- Cook your pasta according to directions on package.
- While waiting for you pasta, heat your oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add your onion and garlic. Sautee for five minutes or so, until tender and starting to brown.
- Add your tomatoes (with juice), herbs/spices, and tomato paste. Mix and let cook for a couple of minutes.
- Cut your cream cheese into pieces (or scoop it out in sections) and whisk in your tomato mix until nice and creamy. Add around 1/4 of your *optional* parmesan cheese if desires, whisking in to the sauce.
- Add your fresh spinach, gently stirring until it is wilted in to the sauce.
- Last, but not least, add your pasta. (Make sure you've drained it before doing this, of course.) Mix gently so it soaks into the sauce and you don't have any of it flying out of the skillet.


Remove, sprinkle with more parmesan, add some salt and pepper, and serve directly.

I have honestly never had risotto. It's always seemed so delicious, and on TV they always seem to be making it. But I've just never seen the chance or opportunity to make it.

Then I decided I needed to.

So I looked at a few risotto recipes and discovered I didn't really have any ingredients. I mean, I have some Italian sausage I had bought on a whim, and I had some brown rice, and some roma tomatoes... but none of them really looked like they wanted to make "my risotto".

Whether this is "real" or not, this is what I came up with!

Ingredients:

- 1 C rice (I used brown)
- 2.5 C water
- 1 tbsp bouillon
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder

- 1 Italian sausage (you can use Turkey-- I meant to but grabbed the regular in my fleeting moment)
- 4 roma tomatoes, diced
- 1 C spinach
Olive Oil
Dash basil/oregano

Directions:

- Place your rice, water, bouillon, and garlic powder in a larger pot. Cook your rice according to the directions on the bag/box, just with the added ingredients.
- Once your rice is cooked, move to a bowl and place in the microwave to keep warm (or keep it out-- this next step won't take too long.
- Put somewhere between 1 tsp and 1 tbsp of olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Sautee your sausage until it is no longer pink/ is cooked through.
- Add your tomatoes and your spinach; cook until the spinach is just wilted (this should happen under or just around a minute). Add your basil/oregano.
- Stir in your rice. Take it a little at a time. (You may have to serve some, then add more rice, then serve again.) Mix and let sit for around five minutes before serving.


Easy and delicious!

While you are reading this I am on an airplane (or waiting to be on an airplane) with Michael, on our way to visit my parents and see my sweet niece (and my sister and brother-in-law, too, of course). By the way, in case you didn't know, my sister is Katie from See You There. Make sure to visit her site!

This is one of my favorite recipes to make when I don't have a whole lot of time. They aren't time consuming, they're delicious, and if you're craving Italian (and have a love for Basil), then these are for you!

Ingredients:

- 1 lb white ground turkey meat
- 1 small sweet onion, chopped
- 1/8 to 1/4 C freshly chopped basil
- 1/2 C whole wheat bread crumbs
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp oregano
- 2 tbsp shredded parmesan cheese
- 1 jar of your favorite marinara
*Note: If you are serving these over pasta, or to your family, using two jars of sauce doesn't hurt!*

Directions:

- Pour your marinara sauce into a large pot (big enough for all your meatballs). Warm it over medium-low heat until boiling. Make sure to turn it to simmer and cover it AS SOON as it starts to boil. Don't want sauce all over your stove!
- Mix all your ingredients together (except the marinara sauce, of course) in a large bowl.
- Measure your meatballs as you please. I just rolled them in my hands, so I didn't measure them. I'd say around 2 tablespoons of meat or so.

- Put the meatballs into the marinara, spread out as much as possible. Cover the pot and cook for 25 to 45 minutes. Serve on their own or as you please!

Quick, easy, and delicious!

For more meatball recipes, check these out.

Hoison-Glazed Meatballs.


Meatballs & Zucchini "pasta".

Swedish Meatballs.

As promised when I posted my Zucchini Boats, a new eggplant recipe for you! Not to down my Eggplant Parm, either, but this recipe is way easier.

Ingredients:

- Eggplant
- Tomato Paste or homemade pizza sauce
- Mozzarella Cheese
- Parmesan Cheese
- Salt
- Olive Oil
*optional: fresh oregano, basil, parsley*

Directions:

- Cut your eggplant into pieces about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Try to make them as even as possible. If they are too thin, they won't be as good!
- Cover with salt and place over a colander or something like it (I definitely just used my bacon screen and placed it over my sink) to help the water soak out of the eggplant. In my life, things can soak out as much as they soak up! Ha! Let the eggplant sit for a good thirty minutes or so, until it looks as pictured below.Note: I would set your timer for about fifteen or twenty minutes, preheat your oven to 425, and then continue your timer as needed!*

- If you haven't already, preheat your oven to 425. Lightly coat your eggplant with olive oil.
- Place on a baking sheet and roast for 12 to 15 minutes, then turn them over and roast the other side. Pictured my eggplant was not cut as evenly as hoped, and you can see (top right) that my thin piece didn't do so well with the roasting.

- Once you've roasted both sides, switch your oven to broil. I put mine on low so the cheese is less likely to burn.
- Spread tomato paste/sauce or pizza sauce on your eggplant. This part it REALLY is up to you. You don't want to put too much sauce and have it get all soggy (which is why I used tomato paste the second time around), but it can still be yummy! If you're just using plain tomato sauce, I suggest adding some spices (see ingredients above).

- Sprinkle your cheeses on top of the tomato base/spices. Use as much as you like. Stick under the broiler for UNDER two minutes. This should melt the cheese perfectly (just to bubbling and before too brown/burned).

VOILA! A healthier pizza for your liking. The great thing is you really don't have to wait on this one either, and probably shouldn't. Eat while cheese is melty and the eggplant is still warm! There's no "final" picture because I was too busy eating it that I forgot to photograph it... oops!

Recipe adapted from Kath Eats Real Food

A super easy and healthy dinner alternative to pasta, I absolutely love these. If you're a zucchini lover, then you definitely need to put this recipe on your "to make" list or Pinterest board.

I realize that I've started posting quite a few Italian-Veggie dishes... like my Eggplant Parmesan (and there's another one on the horizon). What can I say? I'm trying to cut down on the pasta and up my vegetable intake. What better way to do that than make a few substitutions?

Ingredients:

- 3 to 6 medium sized zucchini, halved and hollowed (see picture)
- 2 to 3 C ground beef or turkey (you can also use a meat substitute or sausage of any kind!)
- your favorite marinara sauce (about half of a typical jar for 3-4 zucchini, the whole jar for 5-6)
- 1/2 white onion, finely chopped (optional)
- Mozzarella Cheese (to top)
- Parmesan Cheese (to top)

Directions:

- Preheat your oven to 400. Prepare a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray.
- In a large skillet, combine your onion and ground meat/sausage of your choice. Cook over medium-high heat until your meat is cooked and your onion is soft.
You don't have to use onion if you don't want it!
- Mix your marinara sauce into your meat mixture and let sit (covered over medium-low heat) for ten to twenty minutes, if possible.
- If you haven't already, cut your zucchini in half length-wise and hollow them out making "boats". However many zucchini you use, you will have twice the number of boats (i.e. if you use 3 zucchini, you come out with six boats).
- Spoon meat mixture into your zucchini boats and top it with mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
- Bake for ten to fifteen minutes (until cheese is melted/golden brown).
See first picture!

The idea for this recipe comes from Dashing Dish.

Before you even ask, the hubby wasn't home when I made these. I tried talking to him about this idea, and he turned up his nose at it. This was a bit much for him. He'll do things without meat... but try to give him something instead of meat and it's an immediate shut down.

However, these are delicious. I'm pretty sure they could easily be made vegan, too. Just leave out the cheese and use an egg substitute.

These aren't that time consuming. But when you have a toddler who's afraid of the food processor... it gets a bit interesting.

Ingredients:

- 1.5 cans (15 oz each) Bush's Cannellini Beans

- 1 green (or red) pepper
- 1/2 onion (white, yellow, red-- your preference)
- 1/4 C chopped parsley
- 2 tsp oregano
- 1 egg
- 3/4 C breadcrumbs
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper

Your favorite Marinara
Parmesan Cheese, if you want it
Favorite Type of Pasta

Directions:

- Combine your beans, pepper, and onion in your food processor. Pulse until well combined, but not completely pureed. You want them to be somewhat course. Not like whole-beans-course, but bean-pepper-onion-pieces course.

- Move the mix to a bowl and add your spices, egg, and breadcrumbs. Stir until well combined, but don't kill the mix. You are making "meatballs" after all.

- Scoop the mix (about 2 tablespoons for each one) and round them out. Place them on a baking sheet and lightly coat with cooking spray (optional). *Note: As you can tell, I did not take the time to round mine out because Michael was about ready to kill me for taking so long preparing these. Don't let it fool you! I'm sure they are easily made "pretty" (aka to look more "meat-like").

- Bake until they are ever so slightly golden brown, about 18 to 20 minutes.

- While they are cooking, heat your marinara in a large saucepan. When they are finished cooking, add the "meatballs" to the pan and stir gently so they are coated with sauce. Cover and let it simmer for another five to ten minutes, stirring occasionally.*This recipe makes around 30 "meatballs"... I was just preparing a single serving for myself with the sauce. And I actually only ate half of what is shown-- they are VERY filling!*

- Serve with your favorite pasta and *optional* Parmesan cheese.

Michael actually really liked these! They did do a bit of a number on his belly, but nothing that made him cry like he was hurting... it was just noisy... if you know what I mean!


Check out the original recipe at: Cookin' Canuck.

This is one of my all-time favorite recipes. It's a guaranteed way to get Clark to eat his veggies, too, which is always nice. I'm hoping the trick also works on Michael (and future kids) when he's (they're) older, too!

This comes straight out of the South Beach Diet Cookbook, with a few alterations.

Ingredients:

- 1 lb hamburger, turkey, or other ground meat
- 1/2 C whole wheat breadcrumbs
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1.5 tsp basil
- 1/2 tsp garlic salt
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 2 tbsp grated Parmesan Cheese

- 2 zuchini, halved and sliced
- 1/2 C chopped onion
- 1.5 (16 oz) can Italian-style cut tomatoes
- 1/2 C Marinara sauce (whatever kind you like!)

Directions:

- Mix together the meat, breadcrumbs, egg, cheese, and spices in a bowl.

- Form into meatballs of your desired size.
- Spray a large skillet and heat over medium heat. Work the meatballs in batched, cooking for fifteen minutes or until browned and no longer pink-ish in the middle. Remove to a bowl.

*As you can see, I let mine stay a little pink because then when they cook for the last 20 minutes they end up perfectly cooked!*

- In the same skillet/bowl, add the onion, zucchini, tomatoes, and marinara sauce. Cook for five to 10 minutes, until the onion/ zucchini is tender.

- Return the meatballs to the mix, reduce heat, cover, and cook for twenty minutes.
- Garnish with parmesan cheese or basil if desired!

VOILA! Wasn't that easy? Not to mention delicious. Clark says they're even better heated up the next day (if you have any left)!