Rotini with Artichokes & Roasted Tomato

I'm a sucker for bread. Even better: cheese topped bread. Even better than that: cheesy, tomato-y, garlic-y, artichoke-y bread.  I saw this bread and fell in love.

But I couldn't bring myself to make it.  Remember that whole resolutions thing? Yeah....me too. Which means I have to keep my dinners pretty healthy in order to enjoy the cookies and cakes and whatever other butter-flour-sugar monstrosities I bake up.

So I traded the french bread for whole wheat pasta and added some roasted tomatoes.  Get all the awesomeness of cheesy artichoke bread in a fantabulous pasta dinner. I'm a new years resolution genius!

Bruschetta Chicken

I know, I know- another Italian-inspired chicken meal- how original....


But I swear I've branched out this summer.  Over the past few months, I've experiemented with Indian and Thai dishes, whipped up some plates featuring shrimp (what?!) and mahi mahi (gasp!) and salmon (holy cow!), and figured out the perfect guacamole recipe (something I hated until a couple months ago).  And I've loved it all. 

But I stumbled upon this little gem of a dinner and couldn't let it go.  Hopefully some of you have a garden overflowing with tomatoes that you can use for this incredibly simple and fresh dish.  I had to go to my local grocery store to pick some up because I can kill a plant just by looking at it....But I did get the ones "on the vine"- so it's kinda like I grew them, right?

Inspired by Skinny Taste


What You'll Need:
8 oz Whole Wheat Spaghetti
1/4 cup chopped Red Onion
2 Tbsp EVOO, divided
1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
S&P to taste
3 Tomatoes
2 cloved Garlic, minces
2 Tbsp Fresh Basil, chopped (splurge and use fresh this time- makes ALL the difference)
3 oz Mozzarella, cubed
1 1/4 lb Chicken Breast, cubed into 1 inch chunks
4 Tbsp Pesto (optional)


What To Do:
1. Get a pot of water boiling and cook up your pasta.  While that goes, in a large bowl, combine onion, 1 Tbsp EVOO, balsamic, and S&P and let it "chill out" for a while.  While that sets, chop up the tomatoes and add to the onion-oil-balsamic mix along with adding the garlic and basil. Set aside in the fridge. 

2.  While the veggies marinate, heat the remaining 1 Tbsp EVOO in a medium pan.  Season chicken with S&P and cook up until done.  Toss mozzarella into bruschetta mixture once ready to serve.

3.  On a plate, lay down a bed of spaghetti. Top with chicken and bruschetta.  If you want everything a little bit "saucier", stir in a Tbsp or so of pesto.

Baked Mac & Cheese

For almost as long as I can remember, I haven't cared for mac & cheese.  I think it stems from overdosing on it as a toddler.  Between the ages of three and five, I had enough to last me until I was 24.

However, now all I want is cheese covered carbs. 


Mmmmmmmmmm...............cheeeeeeeeeeeeese.  Baked cheesy, pasta gloriousness.

Baked Ziti

This dish is very reminiscent of  something I made a few weeks ago, Spinach Lasagna Rollups.  This more or less has the same ingredients, just in a different shape.  Its slightly easier to make because no rolling is involved and works better for leftovers. Coming at ya courtesy of SkinnyTaste.com

How Long Is This Gonna Take:
About 45 minutes


But Is It Good For Me:
Makes 8 servings, 8 points+ per serving


What You'll Need:

* Thawed and Drained
** 2 tsp dried basil, 1 tsp dried oregano, + S&P as needed


What To Do:
1.  Preheat oven to 375F. Spray a 9x13-inch baking pan with oil spray.  In a large pot of salted water, cook pasta until al dente. Drain and return to pot.


2.  Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, add olive oil and sauté garlic. Add chopped spinach, S&P, and chopped tomatoes. Season with basil, oregano, and more S&P if needed.

3. Add sauce to the pasta and combine. Add 1 cup mozzarella, Parmesan and ricotta and mix well. Transfer to the baking pan. Top with the remaining 1 cup mozzarella.


4. Bake for 30 minutes, or until mozzarella is melted and the edges are lightly browned.
From Skinny Taste: This can be made up to a day in advance and stored, tightly covered, in the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before cooking.

I'm Back and With Spinach Lasanga Rollups

No...I'm not dead.


No...I haven't broken both hands rendering me unable to cook or type.


I've just been lazy. In all realities, I've been keeping myself fed with lots of new, tasty recipes. I just haven't been getting my camera out. But I swear I'll be better (for at least this week.... :-P)


Anyways, I've been LOVING Gina's recipes over at SkinnyTaste.com. Her low-fat, Weight Watchers friendly recipes are SOOOO GOOOOOD and you don't miss the butter, cream, oil, etc at all


This week, I gave her Spinach Lasagna Rollups a try.

I also discovered editing with Picnik ;)

How Long Is It Gonna Take:
about 45 mins to an hour. A good weekend-cooking dish


What You'll Need:



What To Do:1. Pre-heat oven to 350F. Boil lasagna noodles as directed on package. Drain and immediately (so they don't stick together) lay noodles down on wax paper to dry and cool. Combine spinach, ricotta, parmesan, egg, and S&P in a medium bowl.

2. Put about 1 cup of the crushed tomatoes into the bottom of your casserole dish. Spread 1/3 cup of the cheese-spinach mix onto each noodle, roll up and put seam side down in dish. Repeat with remaining noodles.

3. Cover with remaining tomatoes and top each rollup with ~1 tbsp mozzarella. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 35-40 minutes.

Skillet Lasagna

I love me some Italian food. Well, I love me some Americanized pseudo-Italian influenced food...but that's neither here nor there (Olive Garden, if you're looking for a spoken women for those banging breadsticks, give me a shout out) :-P

Back to the actual cooking.....one of my absolute favorites is lasagna. However, not a fan of making it. Sure, I know you can freeze it and then bake it later, but if I'm going to go into all the work of making it, I want it have it for dinner that night. (Patience is not a virtue in my kitchen) Well, ta-da! A "lasagna" that can be ready to devour in less than 30 minutes (29 according to the cookbook...) Thank you random Pampered Chef booklet for your lovely Skillet Lasagna.

How Long Is This Gonna Take:
Well, if you read my witty little intro, you'd already know this answer. However, for you skimmers out there (don't worry, I'm one of them), this one will take you 30 minutes.

What You'll Need:
1 jar spaghetti sauce
3 cups water
8 oz lasagna noodles (instead I used a box of penne because my grocery store doesn't carry whole wheat lasagna noodles)
1 lb hot Italian sausage (or links, casings removed). I used turkey sausage
2 garlic cloves, pressed (I used minced)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
2 tsp dried parsley
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 tsp black pepper

What To Do:1. Combine sauce and water in large skillet. Cover and bring to boil.


2. Meanwhile, wrap noodles in a clean kitchen towel and break into quarters. Stir noodles into sauce. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 16-18 minutes for "normal" noodles or 10-12 for no-boil noodles. Stir occasionally.




3. As noodles cook, place sausage into small skillet and cook over med-high heat, breaking into crumbles, for 6-8 minutes or until no longer pink. Add garlic, cook 1 minute, then remove from heat. Stir sausage into noodles and sauce.




4. Meanwhile, combine parmesan, ricotta, and mozzarella cheeses along with 1 tsp parsley and pepper in a separate bowl. Spoon out "balls" of cheese on to noodles. Cover skillet and simmer gently for 3-5 minutes or until cheese is melted and heated through. You can mix it all up if you'd like, or keep the cheese in "balls" (I know, sounds weird....look at the picture)

5. To serve, sprinkle "lasagna" with remaining 1 tsp parsley and any additional parmesan cheese you'd like.

Turkey Sausage and Pepper Rigatoni with Chopped Tomato Salad

I love this meal because its quick and simple, the tastes great! Since the pasta dish is a little lacking in veggies, a tomato salad makes a great side. Or you could mix it in with the pasta for a pseudo-raw sauce. Both of these recipes are from Healthy in a Hurry. I'm a little tired and out of witty color commentary, so I'll just get on with it...

How Long Is This Gonna Take:20-30 minutes, can't beat that :)
What You'll Need:
12 oz whole wheat rigatoni or penne
6 oz Italian turkey sausage, casings removed (I used 3 "sweet" turkey sausages)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1-2 tsp pepper (it can get hot if you go over board, so start with 1 tsp and add if you want more)
2 tbsp EVOO, divided

4 large tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil (you can use dried, but the fresh is so much better for this)
1 tsp lemon juice

What To Do:1. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook pasta until just tender, 9-11 minutes. When draining, save 1/2 cup of cooking water.



2. Meanwhile, cook sausage in a nonstick skillet over med-low heat, breaking into small chucks until cooked through. Blot with paper towel.





3. While pasta and sausage cook, mix tomatoes, 1 tsbp EVOO, basil, and lemon juice in a small bowl. Season with S&P- salad done :)







4. In a large bowl, combine pasta, sausage, reserved water, 1 tbsp EVOO, cheese, and pepper.

5. Dinner = done!