shrimp arrabbiata

best part about this dish?
it's good for you. seriously. came from a weight watchers cook book.

second best part about this dish?
it's easy. you know how i feel about easy.

it's great because i used leftovers to make it. i had shrimp for christmas eve dinner, and of course it only comes in a massive frozen bag. so when i am tired of shrimp cocktail, i wanted to make something different. here it is!
as always, i'm giving you my version, not the cookbook version.





all you do is cook the shrimp (if it's not already cooked). remove it from the pan, and in the same pan, put some garlic paste. about three teaspoons. add to that a can of crushed tomatoes and a teaspoon of tomato paste. also, spices. whatever you want, but i added red pepper flakes (a good amount), italian seasoning, garlic salt, fresh ground pepper, and basil. fresh herbs would be best for at least the basil, but i'm a working woman, and don't have time to grow my own or money to buy my own.

when it's nice and heated through, and has started to simmer, add the cooked shrimp just to warm it up. don't cook it anymore or the shrimp will get tough.

add to some whole wheat pasta for a delicious and healthy meal in a jiffy!



i also served with steam-in-bag frozen veggies (yay, easy!) and some breadsticks i picked up that afternoon. would have gone great with a glass of red wine, but we're trying to get rid of all of our milk.

good food served here: lasagna rollups

this was a pretty good weekend. we went to the outlet mall yesterday and spent the entire day there. my FAVORITE purchase was a fun sign steve bought me and hung in our kitchen. it is just perfect! as i was trying to be fancy and photograph my dish and the sign, he thought he'd be funny and this is what i got:

one of my favorite pictures to date, actually. it captures some of the things that i heart most. wunderbar.

so, these lasagna rollups are pretty yummo. i actually freeze these and they taste fresh even after being reheated.

this recipe comes from one of my favorite go-to cookbooks- better homes and gardens: easy everyday cooking. this is the cookbook with all of my post-it flags. ..we all have one! i use the main recipe and toggle it to my liking. here is my version:

ingredients:

1lb ground turkey (this time i used my costco pack- 1.25lbs)

1 medium onion, chopped

2+ cloves minced garlic

(the recipie suggests 1cup sliced mushrooms here...ew)

1 cup water

1 14oz can diced italian tomatoes +/- more if you want more (i used 1.5 cans)

2 6oz cans tomato paste

italian herb blend- to taste

fresh or dried basil (fresh! fresh!)- to taste

salt- to taste

12 packaged dried lasagna noodles

2 beaten eggs

1 30 oz carton ricotta

1 10-12 oz package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

3 cups mozzarella

1.5 cups grated parmesan cheese

sauce:

in a large skillet cook turkey, onion and garlic until turkey cooked thru; drain fat.

pre-cooked. obvs.

add tomatoes (undrained), tomato paste, italian herbs, basil and salt.

bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat- simmering for 25 minutes.

it's impossible to not eat this while it's simmering.

in the meantime, cook lasagna noodles according to package. drain, rinse with cold, drain again.

filling:

in a mixing bowl- OR your kitchenaid mixer (hear the angels sing)- mix together:

egg, ricotta, spinach, 1.5 cups of the mozzarella and 3/4cups parmesan cheese.

assembling of the rolls:

lay a few noodles out for filling

 spread enough filling down each noodle, probably about 1/2 cup

roll noodles with filling (start from a short end if there is one)

place rolls seam down in a glass baking dish (i lightly sprayed mine with oil, you dont have to)

pour sauce over rolls

cover with foil and bake in 375 degree oven for 25 minutes.

after 25 minutes, remove foil and sprinkle remaining mozzarella over top

bake 5-10 more minutes, let sit for about 5 before serving. sprinkle remaining parmesan cheese over top, serve with garlic bread.

note: after baking, i separate into smaller, freezable dishes for different meals. these are very filling, 2 at a time are usually more than enough for us (well, 1.5 for me). when reheating, cover dish with foil and warm at 375 for about 10-15 minutes.

ch-ch-ch-chicken paprikash.

i feel like i am on an episode of sesame street. i apparently have an affinity for sounding out my recipes. p-p-p-pot roast. ch-ch-ch-chicken paprikash.

st-st-st-strange.

anyway, i made chicken paprikash a new way last night. normally i make it in the crocky- it consists of shredded chicken, hungarian paprika, onions, sour cream and dumplings. this recipe holds basically the same ingredients, add green bell pepper, subtract dumplings, add egg noodles, unshred chicken. i was nervous because he grew up with the crockpot version- and loves it but i dont care for the dumplings but i love the flavor- so i thought i'd try something a little different.....

ingredients:

1 tbsp evoo (i just pulled a rachel ray)
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
(i am sure you could use dark meat here- thighs maybe, but i am anti.)
1 medium onion- sliced
1 bell peper-sliced
2 cloves (ish) chopped garlic
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes (i used whole and just crushed them with my hands- messy, but i think better)
salt
black pepper
1 tbsp paprika (i use hungarian paprika)
sour cream
fresh dill
egg noodles

method:

let the oil heat up in large, deep skillet or pot

salt and pepper both sides of each chicken breast

brown chicken breasts about 4-5 min each side, remove from skillet, set aside

keep drippings from chicken in pan (if it is an excessive amount, only keep about 2 tbsp)

add onion, bell pepper and garlic- stir until tender (about 4-5 minutes)

add crushed tomatoes (you can add some of the juice, but don't add all of it)

add paprika, about 1/4 tsp pepper and 1/2 tsp salt- mix

bring ingredients to a boil over medium heat

when boiling, nestle chicken in the mixture and then simmer partially UNcovered for about 20 minutes or until chicken is done




nestled chicken



while chicken is cooking, boil egg noodles (i like the wheaty- whole grainy ones, but to be traditional, use, well, the traditional ones)

place chicken and pepper/onion/tomato mix over noodles

top with a dollop of daisy (sour cream) and a sprig or two of fresh dill

*the dill really compliments the meal. next time i will mince it and add it to pan near the end of cooking

tastes as good as it looks!


this was a success, as my paprikash snob really liked it too! however, that does not eliminate the crockpot version. stay tuned for that recipe down the road.

chow!

haluski

last night, i made one of my comfort foods.
husband and i both took the day off because we weren't feeling great.
sidenote: i'm still feeling ucky, but have a busy day. phooey.
so i made a really easy meal that makes a TON of food. so if there's some days this week that we don't have enough leftovers for lunch the next day, there's plenty of haluski left.

what's haluski?

lemme tell you something-- don't google it. as much as i heart google (seriously. i'd have google's lovechild in a split second), he's wrong about this. there's apparently 47 different ways to make haluski if you ask him.
there's only one way. mom's way.

so, i made my comfort food. it happens to be one of husband's favorites, too-- which is surprising because it's a fairly bland meal and he doesn't like bland as much.

without making you wait any longer, here's the recipe:
cook bowtie pasta. a whole box. or bag. however you buy it.
chop and cook a whole onion.don't brown it. just soften it.
chop (in big pieces) an entire head of cabbage. it's easy. and it's not science.
add the cabbage to the big pot with onions, and some salt and pepper. put the lid on it so it can sort of steam itself.

cook the cabbage down. it gets down to about half this size.
when the cabbage is cooked down (i dunno, 30 minutes?), add the noodles.
also chop up kielbasa. we used turkey kielbasa. i didn't look at the packaging, but it is bound to be a little healthier, right? plus, it tasted just like regular kielbasa.
stir it all together, and that's it~ no sauce or anything. it's a very light meal, considering. plus with my nice nonstick pan, i didn't use but just a sprinkling of oil with the onions. that's it.

last night, we served it with delicious steamed broccoli. i heart steamed broccoli.