Go To Meals

Filed under Real Food, Recipes by on 19 August 2010 at 4:43 am {3 comments}

I don’t know what it’s like at your house, but here we have a couple of go to meals. These are the meals you cook when you don’t feel like eating anything else or you don’t have very many ingredients on hand. We have several go to meals, but one of our favorites is Garlic Pasta. 

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I don’t really know how this recipe came to be, but I know it’s a staple in our house. There are lots of variations, but I will give you the basic outline.

  1. Chop 2 – 3 cups broccoli
  2. Dice 3 – 4 large cloves of garlic
  3. Boil water for the pasta of your choice
  4. Add garlic to 1/4 cup EVOO and sauté until the oil is flavored, then add the broccoli and cook but leave it crisp. I like to add a spoonful of the pasta water and put a top on the pan to let it steam a bit.
  5. When your pasta is cooked, top pasta with the broccoli garlic mixture, drizzle with olive oil  and add fresh shredded parmesan or other hard cheese.

Crunchy broccoli and salty parmesan on a bed of noodles, dinner in five simple steps. We’ve substituted other veggies in and out. Last night, I added cherry tomatoes and some leftover bacon crumbled on top. It always turns out well, and it’s just so quick and easy.

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What are the go to meals at your house? 

Spin and Strata

Filed under Cooking, Fitness, Food by on 2 February 2010 at 9:39 pm {3 comments}

Today was  a much better day, while there were angry students and angry parents, I had a better attitude. One thing that helped was getting a good nights sleep. I went to be a little early and laughed my head off rereading some David Sedaris. His essay “In the Waiting Room,” is one of my favorite things. If you’ve never read Sedaris or heard him NPR, he is really quite funny and has his own perspective of the world.  After work, I went to the grocery store, which was of course picked over Monday. I managed to get the majority of things I needed.

After bringing home the groceries, I got dressed and went to spin. The class kicked my butt tonight.  It was good workout, even though my legs are really tired.

Once spin was over I dropped my friend off  and then  Jeremy and I made dinner. I’ve seen strata all over the place lately, and it has looked so warm and easy that I wanted to give it a try. It was as easy and good as I’d imagined.  I’m not sure if the bread is supposed to go on the bottom or the top. Having it on the top made it really crunchy, which I loved. Next time I’ll either keep it there or do small layer at the bottom and then some on the top.  This strata included: bacon, broccoli, baguette, swiss cheese, red onion, green pepper, and of course eggs and milk.

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This is something I will definitely make again; it hit the spot.

Greening It Up

Filed under Uncategorized by on 25 January 2010 at 8:18 pm {no comments}

I tried to keep things green today.  Today was a teacher’s workshop day so I was able to get some much needed work done.  Cleaning my desk and recycling all of the extra papers from last semester, was high on my list of priorities.  One of the things I hate most about teaching, specifically English, is all of the paper I generate and consequently waste.  If all of my students had laptops, it would be a different story, but alas it is not the case.

After cleaning and recycling for awhile, I was hungry.  I was really excited to try this yogurt made from 100% grass-fed cows. Oh how I wanted to like this yogurt, but I didn’t. The texture was kind of soupy, and it didn’t really taste like vanilla at all to me. Maybe I’ll give it another try sometime, but I don’t know.

It rained all day in New Hampshire. By the time I got home, I was so tired. I didn’t want to do anything, so I didn’t. Jeremy went to the gym, and I made dinner.

Basically, I threw every green vegetable (leeks, green peppers, broccoli, and spinach) that was left in the fridge into a pan with some evoo and garlic. Then I cooked some pasta. I topped everything with tomato and basil sauce (which had way too much of that licorice taste that basil sometimes has) and freshly grated parmesan.

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Best dinner I’ve ever had? No. But a much better choice than pizza or Mickey D’s.

Hitting the treadmill tomorrow and spin on either Wednesday or Thursday. I’m trying to decide if I should give the last class I went to another try or just go to a different instructor. 

Veggie With a Bad Rap

Filed under Uncategorized by on 19 January 2010 at 6:26 pm {4 comments}

Fear, loathe, horror, disgust . . . All things I’ve heard in reference to Brussels sprouts.  So it was with some trepidation that I embarked on dinner tonight.  Lately it seems that this vegetable has been every where. I’ve seen it in magazines, on blogs, on TV. I couldn’t remain out of the loop, so I decided to give them a try. Verdict = not too shabby. I mean they aren’t broccoli (the love of my vegetable eating heart), but they are good, and I will definitely eat them again.

I used most of a Rachael Ray magazine recipe and I added bacon and deleted candied almonds. It ended up being Brussels Sprouts, Bow Ties, and Bacon. I roasted the sprouts in the oven with some olive oil, salt and garlic. I cooked some bacon and then basically followed the recipe from there. To be fair; little can taste bad when mixed with bacon and goat cheese. It was a really nice warm dinner to eat on this snowy, snowy day.

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Tomorrow, I’m not going into work because I have a doctor’s appointment. It will be nice to sleep in. Also, I’m going to my first spin class. I’m a little nervous, but everyone says it’s a great work out. We’ll see.

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Broccoli – the vegetable love of my life

Filed under Food by on 18 January 2010 at 2:26 pm {one comment}

I’m not sure I could live without broccoli. OK, I’m sure that’s an exaggeration, but it’s just so good. This is my favorite way to eat broccoli:

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  • Chop two cloves of garlic and toss in a pan of Extra Virgin Olive oil
  • Sautee for one minute on medium and then toss in 2 or 3 cups of broccoli
  • Lately, I’ve also been throwing in baby spinach and if there are pine nuts around those go in too
  • Next, add  a teaspoon of sea salt and a 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
  • Cover and let everything heat up for 3 – 4 minutes
  • Dump everything in a bowl and shred some fresh parmesan on top

Oh so good. The broccoli is still crispy, the spinach is nice and wilted, the red pepper makes it just a little spicy and the parmesan gives a nice nutty flavor.

I wish I could eat like this for lunch everyday. If I could design a teacher’s lounge, I would make it considerably easier to cook and eat fresh food. Believe me; most teachers are horrible eaters.  It really amazes me.  While this dish isn’t as good heated up the next day in the microwave, it’s still way better than Cup ’O Noodles.

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