Mac & Cheese

Day 360

Mac & Cheese

When you want comfort food, you want it. We had a bit of sharp cheddar, some Havarti leftover from our sandwiches and about a quarter cup of parm to be used, so no shopping necessary to give in to my mac & cheese whim.

Ingredients

Little a this....little a that...yada yada cheese...yada yada yada noodles...etc

Cheese sauce

Shells cooking in brine

Directions

Shred cheese...cook noodles...so on, so forth...panko on top...etcetera, etcetera...bake it awhile...voila, donesies.

Cooked shells

Shells in cheese sauce

Garnish

Throw a little Italian parsley on that beauty and toss it in the oven. It'll only wilt and won't look real pretty after it bakes, but it'll make you feel like you're cooking something fancy for the 25 minutes it's in the oven.

Mac & cheese before baking

Baked mac & cheese

Reviews/Comments

Laura has made better ones...but it was a'ight...glad I didn't put onions in it. I give it a 9.

Laura: Glad I stopped you from putting onions in it and that you listened when I compared the gravity of that error to the time I put garlic in the chicken stew. I give it a 9. Solid 9, enjoyed it, considering I'm not a fan of pasta. With onions it would have been a 5. I'm glad you listened to my expert advice. HAHAHAHA It was good (serious tone).

Veggie Fusilli

Day 346

Veggie Fusilli

Ingredients

1 package vegetable fusilli pasta
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp salt
1 summer squash
2 tsp butter
8 of mushrooms, sliced
1 red pepper, coarsely chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup peach mango salsa
1 can crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup parmesan and more to sprinkle on top

Veggie fusilli ingredients

Directions

Boil the pasta with the olive oil and 1 tbsp salt. Sauté the summer squash in a bit of butter, then remove when barely tender.

Sautéed summer squash

Add the mushrooms and red peppers to the hot pan. Stir it frequently while cooking and once the moisture has cooked out of the mushrooms, create a well in the center of the veggies, drop a bit of butter into the well and add the minced garlic.

Veggies sautéing

Let the garlic cook about a minute then stir into the veggies. Add the summer squash, salsa and the can of tomatoes and heat until bubbly.

Dinner cooking

Stir in the parm and serve over the pasta with more parm sprinkled on top.

Veggie fusilli

Reviews/Comments

Laura rated it a 10. I give it an 8. It was good, but I suddenly didn't feel like having pasta. Garlic bread could have brought it up to a 10.

Tortellini in Rustic Pasta Sauce with Garlic Swiss Chard

Day 324

Tortellini in Rustic Pasta Sauce with Garlic Swiss Chard 

Swiss chard is ready to harvest, along with quite a few tomatoes and herbs. Laura came up with and prepared this one. Thanks, lovey!

Tortellini in Rustic Pasta Sauce with Garlic Swiss Chard 

Our counter looks like this pretty much every day. It's becoming a challenge to use our produce.

 Countertop featuring garden stuff

She started with sautéing onions and peppers.

Onions & peppers

Then added tomatoes and basil.

Rustic pasta sauce

And finally added the cooked pasta. (four-cheese tortellini)

Tortellini in rustic pasta sauce

I didn't get pics of the swiss chard cooking, but it was sautéed in minced, garden-fresh garlic and was very good.

Spaghetti

Day 306

Sunday, August 23

Spaghetti

This is the only pic I have of the spaghetti we had for Mom's birthday dinner. I keep forgetting to take  a pic of my dinner!

This plate actually has meat on it, but mine didn't because it was served separately from the sauce.

Spaghetti

Cheese Tortellini with Tomatoes, Garlic & Basil

Day 302

Wednesday, August 19

Cheese Tortellini with Tomatoes, Garlic & Basil

Cheese Tortellini with Tomatoes, Garlic & Basil

Linguine with Fresh Summer Veggies & Feta

Day 286

Linguine with Fresh Summer Veggies & Feta

Fresh Summer Veggies

There is no shortage of veggies around here this time of year, and usually the only question is how to use them. I have enjoyed other variations of this meal in the past couple of months, so I grabbed some linguine and feta and a few more veggies from Sobey's and whipped this up in an hour and a half flat. Ugh. I was not expecting it to take that long.

Summer vegetables

The washing and chopping took about half the time and the cooking took about 40 more minutes, just to get the carrots to a desirable softness.

Garden Ingredients (Organic)

Carrots
Broccoli
Snow peas
Snap (shelled) peas
Kale (about 1 1/2 cups chopped)
1 bulb garlic
Oregano
Basil

Carrots & kale

Store Ingredients

Feta
Package of linguine (I used 3/4 of the package)
Grape tomatoes
Red pepper
8 oz fresh organic white mushrooms

Some of the veggies beginning to cook

Directions

I am not always the best cook, despite having some of the best ingredients to work with. Booo. I threw the carrots, broccoli, peas, tomatoes, mushrooms, red peppers and garlic into the pot with a bit of peanut oil and began to saute them. Before long, I could see that the peas and broccoli were much farther along than the carrots. I removed the broccoli and peas from the pan and continued cooking the rest, but the garlic cooked away, unfortunately.

When the carrots were finally getting soft, I added the chopped kale.

Adding chopped kale

Meanwhile, I cooked the pasta then mixed in with the vegetables. Next, I crumbled the feta into it and stirred everything in.

Adding the pasta & feta

Finally, I added the broccoli, peas and fresh herbs, let it cook about 2 more minutes and served it. The broccoli was still a bit crunchy, but that's not the worst thing.

Linguine with Fresh Summer Veggies & Feta

Tip: When using fresh herbs, always add them at the end, to retain their flavor. Same goes for garlic. Cook just until aromatic.

Reviews/Comments

I loved this so much. I rated it a 10, because there were so many awesome flavors and it was pretty nutritious and not difficult to make. Laura rated it an 8, and thought regular tomatoes, chopped fine, would have made it a better meal because it would have made a saucier cheese sauce. Filing that away for next time.

Bistro 140: Portobello le Cendrillon Penne

Day 283

Portobello le Cendrillon Penne

Tonight we had dinner at the Bistro 140 for the annual Miramichi Pride Dinner & Cruise. The dinner selections are pre-ordered in order to serve the entire crowd at once, but there are a few options for everyone. I don't know what the meat options were, but this year our options included:

• Eggplant Parmigiana
• Portobello le Cendrillon Penne
• Vegetable Lasagne Crepe

Portobello le Cendrillon Penne

We both opted for the Portobello le Cendrillon Penne. No regrets! Overall, it was a terrific meal to kick off a terrific evening.

Paul serving his guests

Another shot of the Portobello le Cendrillon Penne

Gisele was here

Reviews/Comments

Amazing, amazing, amazing. OMG. We have discussed at least three times since dinner how amazing it was. Now we know what the world's best cheese tastes like!! Gets an 11 from both of us.

Summer Vegetable Fettuccine

Day 250

I realize I skipped three days. Laura made a fantastic veggie stew with dumplings which she ate over the weekend and I had some last night. I was away on a trip over the weekend and ate egg salad sandwiches, mainly.

Summer Vegetable Fettuccine

Garlic Scapes!

This was our first year growing garlic and the first scapes we've ever tasted. They're so amazing!

Garlic scapes

Chopped scapes

Summer Vegetable Fettuccine

Ingredients
1 package of fettuccine
Homegrown baby kale
Zucchini
Organic red pepper
Organic tomatoes
Homegrown shallots (last year's)
Homegrown scapes
Fresh mushrooms
Feta
Pinch of red chili peppers
3 cubes of basil/olive oil

Cook pasta in:
3 litres water
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil

Summer veggies & feta

Directions
Wash and chop veggies and sauté everything together for 10 minutes. Add the cooked fettuccine and feta. Stir for a few minutes until cheese mostly melts. Serve.

Fettuccine cooking

Altogether this meal took 35 minutes from start to finish. The chopping took 20.

Summer Vegetable Fettuccine

Reviews/Comments

Laura found it to be a little on the spicy side, and it kind of was, but we both still gave it a 10. Also, there are leftovers so supper tomorrow will be a breeze.

Spinach Feta Linguine

Day 240

I didn't post yesterday, but you didn't miss much. It was slightly less burnt pizza. Just like Tuesday, leftover George's pizza, reheated a bit too long, but not as bad as on Tuesday.

Spinach Feta Linguine

Spinach Feta Linguine

Ingredients
8 oz organic white mushrooms
1 red bell pepper
1 clove garlic
2 organic tomatoes
5 oz organic baby spinach
6 oz feta cheese
Pinch of red pepper flakes
2 liters water
1 package of fresh linguine
1 tsp salt

Fresh linguine

Fresh baby spinach

Directions
Wash all the vegetables. Add 1 tsp butter to a saucepan or skillet and turn heat to medium. Slice the mushrooms, toss them in the pan. Chop the red pepper, toss them in the pan. Mince the garlic, make a well in the pan and drop them on the bottom of the pan. Stir it around directly on the metal for a few seconds, then mix in with the other veggies. Chop the tomatoes, toss them in. Give them a stir each time you toss something in.

Mushrooms, peppers garlic & tomataoes

Meanwhile, boil the 2 liters of water for the pasta. Add 1 tsp salt and when it's boiling hard, put the pasta in the water and boil 5 or 6 minutes.

Add the spinach to the veggies and stir it in. It will wilt within a minute. Add the pasta to the cooked veggies and stir it in, then finally add the feta and mix it in well.

Linguine before stirring the feta in

The feta will melt and become cheesy. You will be amazed with how good this is.

Spinach feta linguine

Reviews/Comments

This tasted like the best thing we've eaten in weeks. And, it may have been. I think the simplicity of it worked in its favor. We both give it a 10.

Mediterranean Vegetable Linguini

Day 236

With few groceries in the house, and no time to shop, ordering supper seemed like the logical option.

Mediterranean Vegetable Linguini

I've had this before, so I knew that one order feeds three people, so not only did we both have it for supper, but I also have lunch for tomorrow, which is one less thing to worry about. Are leftovers not the best thing to have for lunch at work? I love that!

Mediterranean Vegetable Linguini

Boston Pizza Take-Out

To check out the link to this item on the Boston Pizza menu, click here.

Reviews/Comments

Not bad! I give it a 7.5. Laura gives it an 8. Thought it was good "for Boston Pizza".

Spaghetti Squash with Veggie Marinara

Day 217

A coworker brought spaghetti squash in her lunch today which reminded me that all the things in our fridge would make a great sauce. Since Laura likes spaghetti squash way more than pasta, her lunch inspired our supper tonight.

Spaghetti Squash with Veggie Marinara

Spaghetti Squash

Very easy to cook. Cut it in half, scrape out the seeds and pulp, and roast flesh-side down in 2 cups water in a roast pan for half hour at 350.

Cooked spaghetti squash

Veggie Marinara

Ingredients
1 tbsp peanut oil
1 onion
3 mini bell peppers
9 mushrooms
4 cloves garlic
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp brown sugar
2 cups marinara sauce
4 cubes basil/olive oil
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup veggie ground
1/4 cup parmesan
3 green onion stalks

Directions
Wash and chop all your vegetables.

Veggies for the marinara sauce

I sautéed the onions, peppers, mushrooms and garlic in the oil, then added the basil cubes.

Veggies sautéing with basil

I left that to simmer and in a separate pan I added the vinegar, sugar and marinara, then when they began to simmer, I added the parmesan. The contents of this second pan were added to the first, and stirred to combine. Then I divided the sauce by pouring about 1/3 back into the second pan and added 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup veggie ground. The reason for the divide is because I wanted mine with veggie ground - for the protein - and Laura wanted hers without. I added the green onions at the very end. They wilted in nicely.

Veggie ground half

Garlic Bread

We had leftover garlic/basil spread and half a loaf of Italian bread, as well as 2 kinds of cheese, so garlic bread was a no-brainer.

Garlic spread, bread, veggie ground, 

parmesan & mozza

Garlic bread before broiling

Ta-Da!

Finally, we have a meal. But...that was hard. Well, not really hard, but more effort than I usually put in.

Spaghetti squash with veggie marinara & garlic bread

Reviews/Comments

Me: 8 1/2 I enjoyed it.
Laura: It was good. 8 overall. Would have been a 7 but the garlic bread bumped it up.