Vampires Be Gone Spaghetti

Ingredients:

10 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
Several pinches of hot red pepper flakes
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, or as desired
1 pound spaghetti
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 head of broccoli, broken into bite-size florets
Freshly grated Parmesan, or other grating cheese

Instructions:

Boil water and add noodles to cook as usual, except about half way through cooking add the broccoli and let the noodles and broccoli finish cooking at the same time. Drain, but reserve about half the cooking water for later. Warm approximately half of the garlic with the pepper flakes in the olive oil over medium heat (turn on the vent and open the kitchen window or you’ll be crying in your spaghetti!) Toss the pasta and broccoli with the garlic/chile oil and add the remaining garlic to the mix and continue to toss to coat. Add a few spoonfuls of that reserved water and keep tossing, add more water as needed. Kind of have to eyeball it until it’s well coated and tossed to your liking. Serve up and sprinkle with grated cheese. There will be no fear of vampires bothering you after this dinner!

Shrimp Pasta My Love

Ingredients:

1/2 (16 oz) box linguine noodles
1 C shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes with basil and garlic, drained well
1 (3 oz) pkg. cream cheese, room temperature
4 fresh spinach leaves, torn

Directions:

Cook the linguine according to the package direction.
Rinse under cold water and drain well.
Place a skillet over medium heat on the stove.
Add the shrimp, tomatoes and the cream cheese.
Cook 4 minutes, stirring constantly until the shrimp are cooked through and the sauce is creamy.
Place the spinach leaves into a large salad bowl.
Add the shrimp mixture and toss to combine the spinach.

Serving Size:  2

This is a romantic meal that will have your true love’s heart pounding.  Add a salad and a romantic chocolate dessert to top off your night.

Quick & Simple Dinners Meal Challenge

My friend Carrie over at Natural Moms Talk Radio is doing a challenge: Quick & Simple Dinner recipes. I’m all over this one – after all this site is dedicated to easy! Here’s a family favorite that’s quick, simple and frugal!

Tuna Casserole

1box elbow macaroni, cooked al dente
16 oz sour cream
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
2 cans of tuna
2 cups peas (frozen is fine)

Pre-heat oven to 350. Combine all of the ingredients in a casserole dish – mix well. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Does it get any easier? 5 ingredients, 1 pot, 1 colander, 1 casserole dish. AND I bet you have all the ingredients on hand right now. And I’m not kidding when I say family favorite – my boys (hubby & son) love this! This freezes well to, so go ahead and split it or make two!

Here’s a couple tips: If you like it creamier, only cook 3/4 of the box of macaroni. Save the rest for a craft or something. Also, I do not recommend using low-fat or fat-free sour cream – it just doesn’t bake well and doesn’t remain creamy. You can however use low-fat or fat-free soup. I always use whole-wheat noodles. And finally, use solid white albacore tuna.

Head over to Carrie’s blog for more entries!

Roasted Tomato Pasta

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons sliced fennel bulb
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup sliced black olives
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
Black pepper to taste
8 ounces whole wheat pasta
1/4 cup fresh chopped basil

Directions:

Take a foil pack and place inside of it the broth, garlic, olives, tomatoes, oil and fennel, before sealing the pack and grilling it for approximately twelve minutes worth of time.  Cook the pasta and when finished you can ladle the sauce over the pasta, sprinkling it with basil and pepper for flavour before serving.

Pasta Italiano

Ingredients:

1/2 pound lean ground turkey
1 bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon paprika
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 can chicken or vegetable stock
2 cups uncooked pasta
2 cups broccoli florettes
1 cup cauliflower florettes

Directions:

Put a skillet over medium-high on the stove and crumble turkey into it, stirring and leaving for two minutes before adding pepper and paprika and cooking for two more minutes while stirring.  Once the time is up, add tomatoes, broth and pasta, waiting for everything to start boiling before simmering for 15 more minutes with the heat brought down and lid covering the skillet.  Once the 15 minutes are up, you can remove the lid, add broccoli and cauliflower and then cook for 10 more minutes before serving.

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