Ricotta Filled Eggplant

I'm on an Italian food kick this week, mainly because I bought a lot of eggplant and I have fresh basil in my garden! This recipe comes together fast and is really filling, would be the perfect dish if you do Meatless Mondays.

(sorry for the picture quality, snapped this right before sunset)

Zucchini Pasta with Roasted Eggplant and Mozzarella

I could eat this multiple times per week, it's that good! I finally bought a spiralizer after years of wanting one. I used to have a mandolin which seems to have disappeared, so I haven't been making any vegetable noodles. I got the spiralizer in the mail, and made this dish that same day for dinner. It was fantastic and very filling. Hope you enjoy!

Zucchini Pasta with Roasted Eggplant and Mozzarella
      serves 5

• 5 small Zucchini, spiralized or cut into noodles
• 1 Eggplant, peeled halfway or fully and chopped into big chunks
• 28 ounce can Crushed Tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp + 1/2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1/2 cup White Onion, diced
• 1/2 cup fire roasted Peppers & Onions (frozen, or just use 1 whole small onion)
• 2 tsp minced Garlic
• 8 ounces Mozzarella cheese, cubed (the vacuum packed type, not water packed)
• 2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup fresh Basil cut into ribbons, or 2 Tbsp of the freeze dried kind
• salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. On a baking sheet add the chopped eggplant, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Toss together to coat the eggplant, and bake at 400F for 20 minutes. While the eggplant is baking make your sauce. In a large saute pan or skillet with high sides add 1/2 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and peppers and cook for about 5-7 minutes, then add the garlic and cook and additional minute. Add the crushed tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Simmer on medium-low while the eggplant roasts. When the eggplant is finished add to the sauce, and simmer and additional 10 minutes. 

The zucchini pasta is super easy. I used the spiralizer and made the zucchini into noodles while the eggplant roasted. To cook I actually microwaved mine for 9 minutes, although it can also be boiled or sauteed. I just wanted to cut down on clean up. Once the sauce has finished simmering add in the zucchini noodles (be sure to drain the excess water), the parmesan cheese, and the basil. Stir well to combine, finally add the cubed mozzarella. It will begin to melt into the hot sauce. Give it a good stir and serve immediately. 

I really enjoyed this with extra basil on top as well as hot pepper flakes, but I couldn't add those to the whole recipe because it's too spicy for my toddler. Who absolutely loved this meal by the way! Per serving: 323 calories, 19 grams of fat, 16 grams of protein, and 16 grams of net carbs!

Crock Pot Chicken & Dumpling Soup

This is a definite crowd pleaser. Super easy to put together, you can even make this into a freezer bag meal that you thaw out the day before you cook it. I love using the crock pot when it's too hot to be in the kitchen. It's been in the high 80's here, and just last night cooking pancakes for dinner I was sweating bullets. This was a total fuss free meal and it's so delicious, give it a try when you're in need of some hearty comfort food!

Quick and Easy Mashed Potato Pancakes

Last year Isla was a newborn for St. Patrick's Day, so I didn't cook and we didn't celebrate. Now that she's a toddler I wanted to have some fun and cook the traditional Irish-American corned beef and cabbage with a couple sides. This resulted in too many mashed potatoes for a family of three. I like to make leftovers a little different the next day, and these potato pancakes were a fun way of changing up the meal from the previous night. Best part is you can fry a bunch up, then reheat the leftovers the next morning with scrambled eggs. Yum!

No Fuss Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

There are 1,700,000 results online for chocolate chip peanut butter cookie recipes, but just humor me for a few minutes. I like these because they aren't as fussy as the traditional cookie. No rolling into balls, stamping with a crosshatch on top, or refrigerating for hours. The other night I wanted cookies; like a needed them five minutes ago type of craving. I went ahead and whipped these up. The dough sat in the fridge for 30 minutes while I cleaned up the kitchen after dinner, and the cookies turned out fine. They didn't spread into flat crispy cookies. They were fluffy and tender with a nice crust on the bottom. Truly delicious, super easy, and the best part is freezing half of the dough to microwave an individual cookie for yourself whenever you need a sweet treat! Give these a try the next time you're craving peanut butter and chocolate.

Cauliflower Chicken Fried Rice

Chicken fried rice has always been an indulgence for my husband and me, we probably get it 3-4 times a year whenever we're in the mood for Chinese or Thai food. We have Benihana restaurants here in CA and they make really delicious chicken fried rice. I did a search and found a few recipes that were inspired by Benihana's rice, but instead of white rice I used cauliflower rice. If you're unfamiliar with cauliflower rice, it's just cauliflower you run through the food processor to chop it up into "rice." It's yummy, quick, and saves on the carbohydrates. The best thing about this recipe is you can use whatever you have on hand; in my case, whatever I had in the freezer.

Using Up Leftover Green Juice Pulp

My husband and I recently bought a juicer and the three of us have really been enjoying green juice. Especially Isla, she keeps begging for more until it's gone. I love having the juice instead of a smoothie because I don't feel like I'm choking it down. The downside is missing out on the fiber and having a bunch of leftover pulp. After doing a search on how to use it up, I saw several websites that suggested cooking with it. You can stir it into mac and cheese, make crackers out of it, and even incorporate it into breads and baked goods. I wanted to make a pasta dish because I had a chicken breast that needed to be cooked and a bag of mini shell pasta. This recipe is pretty simple depending on how many ingredients you have on hand, plus it can be made so many different ways. I loved the flavor from the sun-dried tomatoes and toasted pine nuts combined with salty parmesan cheese.

*Warning* This isn't a low calorie meal, but it's extremely filling. Isla had some, I had a bowl of it then went back for seconds and there was still enough left for lunch the next day. So I'd call this 3-4 servings, but definitely serve it up with a big side of steamed vegetables.

Easy Baked Penne

I have been trying to post this recipe for weeks. Every time I make this dish, it disappears before I can get a decent picture. It's great to make for company, and serves quite a few. It will leave us with a little leftovers that we gobble up quickly. I managed to snap this picture with my phone recently, so it's not very pretty but at least gives you an idea of what it will look like!

I've made this recipe four times in the past month. This can be made so many different ways but I'll just share a simple version with you. I like to add a bit of veggies to mine. I also use garlic powder, but if I'm using a garlic marinara or alfredo I leave out the garlic powder. I've used different kinds of penne and they all work great. We really enjoyed the kind that has hidden vegetables. Tasted great and the texture was normal. I really recommend making this when you have company. It will serve a lot and all you have to do is steam some veggies and heat up garlic bread to go along with and you have a very hearty meal. Enjoy!

Chicken Pot Pie Soup, Two Ways

I've made this soup a few times now and a couple of different ways. I definitely preferred the presentation of the soup when it was made on the stove top with frozen vegetables and cubed chicken over the crock pot with canned veggies and shredded chicken. Both taste the same, but the veggies have more crunch when you use frozen. Canned are definitely cheaper so use them if you're on a tighter budget. It's definitely easier to make this in the crock pot. I tossed in the chicken breasts, and dumped everything else on top. Then 30 minutes before serving I shredded the chicken in the crock pot and let it hang out on low heat. You'll see in the pictures below the stove top version is just prettier, but man I love my crock pot. Either way the recipe is super easy. Give it a try if you're in the mood for chicken pot pie without the fuss! I should also say my 11 month old daughter loves this soup, it's kid friendly and has lots of veggies for your little ones.

I Bought a House!

Life lately has been crazy. I can't tell you how many tears I've shed out of stress. Anyone out there who has bought a house and especially with small kids will understand. It's been an emotionally draining week, but things are looking up. My husband and I bought close to where we currently live, and we are very close to family still! The house is a lovely California ranch style home. Three bedrooms, two baths. It's quite large, for us, 1750 square feet and it has a great yard. I'm most thrilled with the kitchen and laundry room. The project we tackled this weekend was painting. It was an extremely lengthy process but I'm very happy with the color. We went with Behr ultra premium plus paint in the color Doeskin Gray, in an eggshell finish. The previous colors were a dark tan with brown accent walls. The paint was in good shape but it just wasn't our style.

Before:

After: