Winter Vegetables (Blech...)

This is the time of year when vegetables lose their flavor and taste a little boring especially when you've been eating homegrown tomatoes from your garden all summer long.   I really don't like eating vegetables raw or plain by themselves in the winter so, I'm always looking for recipes that hide the vegetables in with the meal.  I sound like a toddler don't I!  Anyways, I came across this recipe last night and my girls loved it and so did my husband.  I did think it was an expensive meal as I didn't have chicken sausage on hand and it calls for light alfredo sauce which is very expensive at the grocery store.   In fact, I really don't like the taste of light alfredo sauce but since it was mixed with other things it tasted pretty good.  Too bad I didn't pick up chicken sausage at Costco when I was there the other day.

Chicken Sausage and Spinach Penne Alfredo

1 1/2 cups uncooked multigrain penne pasta (I didn't have on hand so I used regular white pasta)
6 oz package baby spinach
cooking spray
9 oz chicken sausage, sliced (I used chicken with gouda but you could use any variety you like)
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
8 oz sliced cremini mushrooms
10 oz container of light Alfredo sauce
1/4 cup grated fresh parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

I had to double the recipe as a serving size was about 1 cup and my husband and daughter eat more than that.  Plus, needed leftovers for both my lunch and my husband's lunch.  So, my pictures will show a double amount.

First, cook the pasta according to the directions.  It says to omit the salt but I never do that.  I always add salt to my pasta.  This part I forgot to do last night but you were suppose to add spinach to the pasta water during the last minute of cooking time.  Drain.  That is what happens when you are rushing to get to a 5:30 pm meeting and you don't read the directions.  Who does meetings at 5:30 pm.  CRAZY...

Coat a large non-stick pan with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat.  Add sausage and cook about 5 minutes.

Add bell peppers and mushrooms and saute another 5 minutes.

Stir in Alfredo sauce and cook until thoroughly heated. 

Then, stir in pasta, spinach and cheese.  This is where I definitely messed up as the spinach was difficult to fold in but it did eventually but a bit messy.



Dish came together very quickly especially for that 5:30 pm meeting.  Enjoy...  BTW, if you are on Weight watchers this is 8 points for 1 cup serving size but since I used regular pasta I'm sure it is more like 10 points per serving.



The Verdict

Sorry for the late posting.... I know I have such a fan club :-).  Anyways, I baked both pies.  Here are how the pies looked before going into the oven. 

As you can see it is getting more difficult to tell the pies apart.  The one in the clear glass pie plate is made with the homemade pumpkin puree.

This is how they looked after baking.

At this point you really cannot tell the difference.   We test tasted both pies and we could not tell them apart.   I think, once you add all the spices, sugar and dairy you mask any fresh taste.  I was a little bummed about that.  But still a great way to use up sugar pumpkins in the garden.  A great way to use more local produce that wasn't driven to the store on a truck and I didn't drive to the store to get it. 

Enjoy your pie this Thanksgiving!!!

The GREAT Pumpkin Pie Debate!

Hello Everyone!  I've decided to write a different post today about pumpkins.   I grew some sugar pumpkins in our garden this summer.    So, I thought it would be fun to make homemade pumpkin pie with pumpkins from our garden.

It was fairly easy to make.  To make, preheat your oven to about 425 and then, cut the stems off.  Then, halve the pumpkins and scoop out the seeds and the stringy flesh.   Then, place pumpkins on a rimmed cookie sheet and add about 1 to 2 cups of water to the pan.  Bake for about 60 to 90 minutes until tender.  Finally, I would let the pumpkins cool a bit before you scoop out the pumpkin.  You don't use the skin just the inside part.  Sadly, I did not take picutres of this part.  Anyways, scoop out the flesh into a food processor and process for about 2 to 3 minutes until smooth.   The hard part was straining the pumpkin puree.  I just put the pumpkin in colander lined with paper towels over a bowl.  I strained about 4 cups of water out of the pumpkin puree in about 1 hour.  It is important that you do this otherwise your pumpkin will be too watery.   Viola, you have homemade pumpkin puree.  

After making my pumpkin puree I thought it tasted really bitter and wasn't sure if I did this correctly.  I was about to throw my efforts away.   But then, I opened a can of canned pumpkin and decided that they both tasted about the same.  So, then, I decided why not bake two pies.  One using fresh pumpkin and the other using canned pumpkin so, we can debate on which one was the better pie.   Here's a picture of the pumpkin puree. 

See how much lighter the fresh pumpkin puree looks compared to the canned version.  I did check the can and there is nothing added just 100% pumpkin so they must use different pumpkins especially one with more orange in it. 

My goal is always to make things from scratch including pie crust.   I don't know what it is about store bought crust but it just has a funny taste to me.  Here are my ingredients for my pie dough and yes, I use vodka in my pie dough.

After making the pie dough and putting it in the refrigerator for 45 minutes, I made the pie filling.  I used one of my trusted Martha Stewart recipes.  She uses heavy cream (not that evaporated milk stuff) and honey and brown sugar in her pumpkin pie filling recipe.   It is my favorite pumpkin recipe.  Here's the pie filling after I mixed in all the ingredients:

As you can still see the blue bowl is obviously made with the fresh pumpkin as it is still lighter than the canned variety used in the green bowl.  

So, you'll have to wait and see what the verdict is!  Who will win the canned or fresh pumpkin?

Updated post about last week and start of next week's menu planning

Here's what I ended up planning for the rest of the week:

Meal #4:  Leftovers and/or my frozen fish stash from Costco.  I have salmon, shrimp, tilapia, beer batter hailbut in the freezer for a quick meal.

Meal #5: Quick Chicken tacos... this is a really easy meal.  I just take strips of cut chicken breast (raw) and sprinkle with the desired amount of taco season and pan fry in a non stick pan sprayed with oil.  Once cooked I add about half cup of water to meat and cook until the water is reduced.   We eat this as tacos or sometimes I make nachos with it. 

Meal #6: Pizza night is usually on Friday night.  We had caesar salad and homemade pizza.

Meal #7:  I made Roasted Red Bell Pepper soup with (red bell peppers from our garden) and I also made Cheeseburger Sliders from The Pioneer Woman on Hawaiian Sweet bread and also served carrots with hummus.

I also made Slow-Cooker Pumpkin Oatmeal from Weight Watchers  but I used sweet potato instead of pumpkin.  I also made Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins from Frugal Girl where I used mini chocolate chips instead of regular sized chips and I used only 1/4 oil and then, used 3/4 cup yogurt.

It was nice as we didn't eat out once this week.  All of our meals were made at home.


NOW FOR THIS WEEK:

Meal #1:  Swedish Meatballs from Cooking Light Magazine with egg noodles and roasted zucchini

Still working on the rest of the week.   

Sunday Menu Planning

Okay... I'm not doing to well in the planning department. 

So for this week so far I have:

Meal #1:  Tortellini-Sausage Soup from Our Best Bites with homemade honey rolls
Meal #2:  Ground Turkey Sheperd's Pie from Rachael Ray
Meal #3:  French Dip Sandwiches from Our Best Bites

I know we had the Tortellini Sausage Soup last time I posted but it is a favorite in our house.   I'm still working on the rest of the week but most weeks start out with at least 3 meals planned.

I also made some Banana-Chocolate Chip Muffins to eat this week.

Let me know how your meal planning is going!

P.S.  These 3 meals cost $57 at Bel Air but includes 2 gallons of Milk, bananas, applesauce and buttermilk.

Monday Menu Planning

This is my first attempted at menu you planning and I was going to wait until I had a more creative page but I figured my reason to menu plan is to be more organized.  School starts in two weeks and I need to be more organized.  So bare with me and hopefully the blog will improve.

This week's menu.  Now, I don't plan by day as things change based on the daily schedule.  I just plan for 7 meals during the week.   We have a couple take-out nights becasue we won't be home around dinner time.

Meal #1:  Swedish Meatballs Recipe with Asparagus
Meal #2: Tortellini-Sausage Soup with bread
Meal #3: Chicken Cordon bleu with Rice & steamed carrots
Meal #4: Chicken Tacos
Meal #5: Sub sandwiches
Meal #6: Eat out
Meal #7: Eat out

Breakfast this week includes:  Fruit Danish from Costco, french toast, pancakes, Eggs and bacon, cereal and bagels with cream cheese.

Lunch will mostly be sandwiches, quesidillas, yogurt, fruit and leftovers.

Now, I realize my menu isn't very gourmet yet but my goal is to get back to cooking healthy meals for my family at home.

Need some more inspiration check out this site:  Organized junkie Monday Menu planning