Sweet Sins 2 Share » Quick Dinners

Mascarpone Garden Pasta

Posted on 26-08-2011 | By: Heather

Category : Comfort Food, Dinner, Pasta, Quick Dinners, Sauces, Vegetables

Tags: creamy pasta sauce, garden pasta, mascarpone pasta, pasta, veggie pasta

I love to make new pasta dishes! They are so comforting and they can be a one dish dinner that is very pleasing for your taste buds and your tummy! Pasta dishes are so fun to create things and just let your mind go wild because you can put just about anything in a pasta dish and you can have so much fun creating the sauce! When it comes to pasta you never have to eat the same thing twice because the possibilities are endless, however, once you make this pasta you will want to have it all the time because it is THAT good!!

Mascarpone Garden Pasta

Ingredients

1lb hot Italian sausage (removed from the sausages from the casings)
.5 yellow onion (chopped)
.5 red onion (chopped)
2-3 garlic cloves (minced)
12oz box Garden delight pasta (you can sub any other type of pasta you like)
1/3 cup white wine
1-2 bundles of fresh Asparagus
14.5oz can diced tomatoes
4 tablespoons Mascarpone cheese
3-4 tablespoons parmesan cheese (for garnish)
1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
Salt & Pepper to taste

Start a large pot of water on the stove and salt the water. Bring the water to a boil to cook the pasta and asparagus. I like to use the Ronzoni Garden Delight in the picture above. It gives you a full serving of vegetables it is colorful and delicious! This is not a paid advertisement or anything but this is my pasta of choice and I always have it on hand!

Heat a large skillet on medium heat. Once heated take the sausages out of the casings add the sausage to the pan and cook for 5 minutes until it starts to brown. Chop it up a bit with a spatula so it can cook.

Add the chopped onions and garlic to the sausage and cook for another 5 to 8 minutes until the onions are translucent stir it up here and there so everything cooks evenly.

Add the wine to the pan to de glaze the pan and get any bits off the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Let the wine cook off for 4 to 5 minutes.

I use this container to store wine that we do no finish or sometimes I buy a wine just for cooking and put it in this container in the fridge. This way I always have wine on hand for a recipe and I do not have to worry about running out to buy a bottle! That book in the background is where I write down my recipes and crazy inventions in the kitchen so that I can remember how I did it to share it with you guys!

The pasta water should be boiling at this point. Add the pasta and the asparagus. Look how colorful the pasta is! Just gorgeous! I already had some cooked asparagus this time but the first time I did not. I chop the asparagus into thirds and boil with the pasta for 6 to 8 minutes.

Add the can of diced tomatoes and stir. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the mascarpone cheese. Let the sauce cook on medium low heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Taste test and add salt and pepper to taste.

This is what the mascarpone container looks like incase you have never bought it before and you are unsure what to look for.

I had already cooked and seasoned asparagus this time so I took them out of the container and cut them into thirds and added them to the skillet.

Once the pasta and asparagus are cooked add straight from the pasta water to the sauce skillet and stir to combine.

Add 1 to 2 ladles full of pasta water to help the sauce combine and stick to the pasta.

Look at all that creamy sauce!! As you stir it you can hear how creamy it is!

Garnish the top with the parmesan cheese and the chopped basil.

Plate and serve!

Yum Yum… Look at that!

I served ours with some toasted French bread and a glass of red wine! Oh I can’t help it let’s get a close up look at that pasta!

The Mascarpone cheese really is the star of this dish. It is an awesome cheese and you can do sweet desserts or savory dinners with this ingredient. I love all the goodness from the garden pasta and the color it brings to the dish! The spiciness of the sausage and crisp refreshing asparagus combined with the creaminess of the sauce…YUM! All I can tell you is make this for dinner and anyone you serve it to will love you and the dinner!!

What’s your favorite pasta dish? Have you ever cooked with Mascarpone? What is your favorite dish to make with it?

Mascarpone Garden Pasta

: Dinner, Pasta

: Heather

: 5 mins

: 25 mins

: 30 mins

Ingredients

1lb hot Italian sausage (removed from the casings)
5 yellow onion (chopped)
5 red onion (chopped)
2-3 garlic cloves (minced)
12oz box Garden delight pasta (you can sub any other type of pasta you like)
1/3 cup white wine
1-2 bundles of fresh Asparagus
14.5oz can diced tomatoes
4 tablespoons Mascarpone cheese
3-4 tablespoons parmesan cheese (for garnish)
1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
Salt & Pepper to taste

Instructions

Start a large pot of water on the stove and salt the water. Bring the water to a boil to cook the pasta and asparagus.
Heat a large skillet on medium heat. Once heated add the sausage and cook for 5 minutes until it starts to brown.
Add the chopped onions and garlic to the sausage and cook for another 5 to 8 minutes until the onions are translucent.
Add the wine to the pan to de glaze the pan and get any bits off the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Let the wine cook off for 4 to 5 minutes.
The pasta water should be boiling at this point. Add the pasta and the asparagus. Chop the asparagus into thirds and boil with the pasta for 6 to 8 minutes.
Add the can of diced tomatoes and stir. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
Add the mascarpone cheese. Let the sauce cook on medium low heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Taste test and add salt and pepper to taste.
Once the pasta and asparagus are cooked add straight from the pasta water to the sauce skillet and stir to combine.
Add 1 to 2 ladles full of pasta water to help the sauce combine and stick to the pasta.
Garnish the top with the parmesan cheese and the chopped basil.
Plate and serve!

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Gorgonzola Crusted Steak with Arugula Watermelon Salad

Posted on 23-08-2011 | By: Heather

Category : Beef, Dinner, Quick Dinners, Salads, Side Dishes, Vegetables

Tags: arugula & watermelon salad, beef tenderloin, gorgonzola steak, watermelon salad

You know how you feel when it is really hot outside and you are super hungry for dinner but you don’t want anything heavy feeling? That is how it was the night I made this! We wanted to get our protein in and I wanted to make something fun that was no boring but I didn’t want that heavy super full feeling either that you can sometimes get from a pasta or rice. So I decided to omit the carb and just do steak and salad! I had a ton of fresh cut up watermelon that I had to use and I googled watermelon salad ideas and that is when I found the barefoot contessa recipe for this super simple wonderful salad I am going to share with you! The steak is something that we have ordered at one of our favorite restaurants before and I was trying to recreate a bit of that at home! I am calling this a two for one Tuesday because I have TWO recipes for you in ONE post! I know I am just so clever, huh? LOL Ok so here we go…

Steak a la Jason

Ingredients

3 or 4 Good quality steaks that are 1.5 inches thick (I used 3 small 4 ounce tenderloins but this works with most cuts of beef that I have tried)
2 to 3 ounces of Gorgonzola cheese
1 tablespoon Olive oil
2 tablespoons Unsalted Butter
Salt and Pepper to taste

First take your meat out of the fridge and salt both sides. I use fresh ground sea salt or a kosher salt because the bigger flakes stick well on the meat. Then you want to pepper both sides. I use fresh cracked black pepper and I give them a nice coating of pepper to kind of create a pepper corn crust on the meat as it cooks.

Take a heavy bottom skillet and start to heat the pan to high heat. Add the olive oil and butter and let the butter melt into the oil while the skillet heats up. Once the butter has melted into the oil place the steaks into the hot skillet and sear the steaks at high heat for 2 minutes per side.

Look at that gorgeous brown crust! YUM!! After you have seared the meat you want to turn the heat down to medium and cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side. This will give you steaks done medium rare. For a more well done steak add a minute or two per side.

While your steaks are cooking get out some of this gorgeousness!!

Gorgonzola cheese is an Italian Blue Cheese.

Chop up your cheese for the top of your steaks while they cook…

When the steaks are finished transfer them to a cooking sheet lined with foil and top with cheese. If you want to melt the cheese more then what the heat from the steaks will do then you can stick them in the broiler for a few minutes until the cheese is melted.

Look at all that melted cheese…

Plate and serve!

Now for the second part of the meal…

Watermelon and Arugula Salad

Recipe adapted from Barefoot Contessa

Ingredients

.5 pound of Arugula leaves (I just used a few handfuls until my salad bowl had the amount I wanted in it)
2lbs seedless watermelon cubed (Again I just put in as much as I felt I wanted)
1/3 cup Good quality extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (About 2 lemons)
1 teaspoon salt
.5 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Approx. 2 ounces of parmesan cheese

Place the arugula and the watermelon in a bowl and toss.

Whisk the olive oil and lemon juice until combined and then add the salt and pepper and whisk a little more.

Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss. Add all of it or just part of it depending on what you prefer.

With a potato or vegetable peeler peel the parmesan cheese so you get ribbons of parmesan to garnish the top of the salad.

Plate and serve!

This might be a random combination but it sure is a tastey one. Look at all that color!

I think before the summer ends this should be on your dinner menu for sure!

Just one more look at the plate!

Yum Yum! What’s your favorite summer dinner??

Click below for the printable…

Gorgonzola Crusted Steak & Arugula Salad

5.0 from 2 reviews

: 10 mins

: 20 mins

Ingredients

For the steak:
3 or 4 Good quality steaks that are 1.5 inches thick (I used 3 small 4 ounce tenderloins but this works with most cuts of beef that I have tried)
2 to 3 ounces of Gorgonzola cheese
1 tablespoon Olive oil
2 tablespoons Unsalted Butter
Salt and Pepper to taste
For the salad:
5 pound of Arugula leaves (I just used a few handfuls until my salad bowl had the amount I wanted in it)
2lbs seedless watermelon cubed (Again I just put in as much as I felt I wanted)
1/3 cup Good quality extra virgin olive oil
cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (About 2 lemons)
1 teaspoon salt
5 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Approx. 2 ounces of parmesan cheese

Instructions

First take your meat out of the fridge and salt both sides. I use fresh ground sea salt or a kosher salt because the bigger flakes stick well on the meat. Then you want to pepper both sides. I use fresh cracked black pepper and I give them a nice coating of pepper to kind of create a pepper corn crust on the meat as it cooks.
Take a heavy bottom skillet and start to heat the pan to high heat. Add the olive oil and butter and let the butter melt into the oil while the skillet heats up. Once the butter has melted into the oil place the steaks into the hot skillet and sear the steaks at high heat for 2 minutes per side.
After you have seared the meat you want to turn the heat down to medium and cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side. This will give you steaks done medium rare. For a more well done steak add a minute or two per side.
While your steaks are cooking cut up your gorgonzola cheese to garnish the top.
When the steaks are finished transfer them to a cooking sheet lined with foil and top with cheese. If you want to melt the cheese more then what the heat from the steaks will do then you can stick them in the broiler for a few minutes until the cheese is melted.
Plate and serve!
For the salad:
Place the arugula and the watermelon in a bowl and toss.
Whisk the olive oil and lemon juice until combined and then add the salt and pepper and whisk a little more.
Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss. Add all of it or just part of it depending on what you prefer.
With a potato or vegetable peeler peel the parmesan cheese so you get ribbons of parmesan to garnish the top of the salad.
Plate and serve!

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Pesto Puff Pizza

Posted on 16-08-2011 | By: Heather

Category : Dinner, Pesto, Pizza, Quick Dinners

Tags: pesto pizza, pizza, puff pastry, puff pastry pizza

The other night while hubby was gone on a business trip I found myself in the spot of craving something luscious and yummy but I was tired at the same time and didn’t want to spend a few hours in the kitchen if I wasn’t even going to get to impress the hubby with an awesome meal. That is when this idea came into my mind! I still had some of this fresh Arugula Pesto to use and that is when it hit me… PIZZA! But I didn’t want to have to get out the yeast and wait for the rising process or any of that because I had other things to get done before the hubby got home. That is when it hit me! I had some puff pastry in the freezer (because I always keep that in my freezer you never know when it will come in handy!) I took it out and set it on the counter to thaw out a bit while I did some of my other chores (laundry, dusting & feeding my fur kids!) about an hour or so later I was ready to tackle my puffy pizza pesto dinner! You might have had puff pastry in a dessert but you may never have had it in a savory dish! It is perfect for both. It has tons of light flaky layers that can take any quick dinner, appetizer or dessert to the next level! And that is just what I wanted to do!

Pesto Puff Pizza

Ingredients

1 sheet of puff pastry (there are two sheets per box)
3 to 4 Roma tomatoes
2 ounces of goat cheese
4 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese (sliced)
4 to 5 tablespoons Arugula Pesto (click here for the recipe) This is personal preference so slather on as much as you want!
Approx.1 tablespoon Olive oil
2 to 3 tablespoons of Parmesan Cheese (this is just to garnish)
1 to 2 tablespoons freshly chopped flat Italian parsley (this is just to garnish and this is optional)

Heat your oven to 400 degrees.

Take one sheet of puff pastry out and slightly roll it on a piece of parchment paper that is on a baking sheet. You only want to slightly do this to get the folds out of the dough.

You would never believe something so puffy and flaky would come from something so thin!!

Next you want to prick holes in the pastry all along the edge to get a “crust” to puff up while the pastry is baking. Then you want to also prick the inside area of the pizza as well so it does not puff up out of control with air. (you will notice the olive oil on the pastry before I pre cooked it, this turned out alright but for better results you want to cook it first like it says in my printable recipe! Like my mom used to say “Do as I say and not as I do!” ha ha)

See the border to be sure a crust puffs up.

Now you have to prick some holes in the center so it does not puff up like crazy!

Place the baking sheet with the pastry in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. (I am going to pretend like I did this step before the rest of these photos!)

Pull the puff pastry out of the oven and brush on the olive oil all over the pizza. This gives a little moisture to the dough and willl make the pesto spread a little easier.

Next you want to brush on the arugula pesto. Look at all that gorgeous green goodness! That is a flavor explosion right there! Add as much as you like I like enough to get all that flavor in there and once it bakes it is not over powering!

Top with crumbles of the goat cheese. Goat cheese is very creamy and it doesnt crumble that well so just do the best you can or you can try to spread it on. It adds a great dimension of flavor and you will be glad you added it to your pizza!

Then add slices of mozzarella…

Place the Roma tomatoes on top of the cheese…

Just look at this goodness!!

Grate on a little parmesan cheese…

Just looking at this photo I know how good this is going to be!

Bake for another 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Look at how puffy and flaky that crust is… it is buttery and light and just plain delicious!

Take out of the oven let it cool slightly then garnish with a little fresh parsley…

Cut, serve and EAT!!!

Yum…

This would make a great appetizer or a main course! Either way if you need a tastey meal in a pinch this is sure to do the job!

Here is the printable recipe…

Add this recipe to ZipList!

Pesto Puff Pizza

Rating: 5 1

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Pesto Puff Pizza

Ingredients

1 sheet of puff pastry (there are two sheets per box)
3 to 4 Roma tomatoes
2 ounces of goat cheese
4 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese (sliced)
4 to 5 tablespoons Arugula Pesto (click here for the recipe) This is personal preference so slather on as much as you want!
Approx.1 tablespoon Olive oil
2 to 3 tablespoons of Parmesan Cheese (this is just to garnish)
1 to 2 tablespoons freshly chopped flat Italian parsley (this is just to garnish and this is optional)

Instructions

Heat your oven to 400 degrees.
Take one sheet of puff pastry out and slightly roll it on a piece of parchment paper that is on a baking sheet. You only want to slightly do this to get the folds out of the dough.
Next you want to prick holes in the pastry all along the edge to get a â€œcrustâ€ to puff up while the pastry is baking. Then you want to also prick the inside area of the pizza as well so it does not puff up out of control with air.
Place the baking sheet with the pastry in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
Pull the puff pastry out of the oven and brush on the olive oil all over the pizza.
Next you want to brush on the arugula pesto.
Top with crumbles of the goat cheese and slices of mozzarella.
Place the Roma tomatoes on top of the cheese.
Bake for another 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
Take out of the oven let it cool slightly then cut, serve and EAT!!!

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Greek Caponata

Posted on 14-06-2011 | By: Heather

Category : Dinner, Quick Dinners, Side Dishes, Vegetables

Tags: caponata, dinner, egg plant, greek caponata, Quick Dinners, Side Dishes, Vegetables

I do not know if you all have ever had the chance to watch Everyday Italian with the lovely Giada De Laurentiis but I just love her! When I watched her Greek inspired episode I just knew that I needed to make this Caponata! Any veggie dish usually wins me over but this is like bruschetta on steroids and who doesn’t love a good bruschetta?

Greek Caponata- recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients

* 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes with their juice
* 2 zucchini, cut into 1-inch rounds
* 2 summer squash, cut into 1-inch rounds
* 2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
* 1 large Japanese eggplant, cut into 1-inch rounds
* 1 red onion, peeled and cut into 1-inch wedges
* 1 potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
* 3 garlic cloves, minced
* 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
* 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 1 teaspoon dried oregano
* 4 to 6 slices toasted sourdough bread, optional for main dish

(There were so many veggies that on some of the spices I added more according to what I thought would be fitting and give a good coating to all of them. When in doubt add more pepper and oregano!)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Pour the canned tomatoes into a 3 1/2-quart baking dish and spread to cover the bottom.

In a large bowl combine the remaining ingredients (excluding the bread).

Toss to coat.

Pour the vegetables over the canned tomatoes in an even layer.

**This is when I noticed that I either used a way different size pan then Giada did or this recipe was WAY more than I expected! Notice in this picture not even half the veggies are in the pan!!**

It was at this point that I opened another can of tomatoes and added in some garlic and made it in two pans!

Look at that! There is plenty to fill both pans… AND I am already inventing what to do with that extra pan of veggies for tomorrow night so don’t freak out that it is TOO much food!

Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 20 minutes.

Remove the foil and bake until the edges of the vegetables are golden, about 30 to 40 minutes.

Serve alone as a side, or over toasted sourdough bread for a main dish.

These veggies were amazing! The flavors were wonderful and it was such a healthy filling and satisfying dinner! I am so excited I have that extra Pyrex pan of veggies because not only can I eat these left over’s tomorrow but I have a whole pan to experiment with for tomorrow…

Chicken Enchiladas

Posted on 10-03-2011 | By: Heather

Category : Chicken, Comfort Food, Dinner, Quick Dinners

Tags: chicken, chicken enchiladas, dinner, enchiladas, mexican food

If you are anything like me then you know what it is like to get home after a long crazy day at work and think, “What am I going to feed my family for dinner?” Lots of the time I feel tired and stressed and my instinct is to say that I don’t even want to cook dinner, but that is not an option and although I do love cooking… I think it is the clean up that I loath! That is why this recipe is so great for those nights! It is so quick and so easy and the clean up is very minimal not to mention it tastes AMAZING!! You can’t ask for much more then that.

Ingredients

1 rotisserie chicken (remove meat and shred or cut into bite size pieces)
2 cups Mexican cheese mixture
1 can sliced olives (Optional)
1 large can green chili enchilada sauce (depending on how many you may need one small can as well)
1 pack fajita size tortillas

Preheat your oven to 375. I opted for the already made rotisserie chicken from the deli section. It makes this even faster and easier. Pull off all the meat and cut it up into bite size pieces and set it to the side. if you want to cook your own chicken you definitely could or if you had any left over chicken that would work too! Get out your tortillas, cheese, olives (optional) and chicken. Start by spreading ( or sprinkling if you did the bigger slices of olives) your olives on the tortilla.

Then put some chicken in the there… not too much or they won’t roll closed! (Not that I did that or anything )

Now sprinkle on some cheese…

Then fold each end of your tortilla like this…

**Hint** If your tortillas are slightly warmed up in the microwave and not straight out of the fridge then the tortilla won’t tear or rip as you fold it and roll it.

Next push the filling in to one side and bring up that side of the tortilla and then roll it over like this…

Place it in the pan and repeat until your pan is full of enchiladas.

Open your enchilada sauce and cover your enchiladas in the sauce. You don’t want your pan to over flow but you don’t want any tortillas to be naked and have no sauce either. If one large can does not cover it hen you can open a smaller can and use that. For the size pan I had the one large can was fine.

Sprinkle with cheese and olives on the top and bake for 30 to 40 minutes. Until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is melted. You don’t have to worry about cooking the chicken which makes this nice and quick!!

While my enchiladas were cooking I made some of this…

And then I made some Mexican beans. I did not use any bacon grease or lard like you would traditionally but I took out some cooked pieces of bacon with a tablespoon of butter and let that simmer a bit to make my own bacon juices for the beans. Most of the time I omit this step and just drain and cook the beans without this to keep the fat content down. I did it this way just to show you all another way to do it and because I am a rebel!

Until it looks like this…

Once your bacon cooks up a little bit open up your beans. I do one of each because I like the jalapeno flavor but I don’t want it to be too over powering. Do whatever you fancy!

After you open the beans drain the juice into a cup or container and set it aside to use later. Pour the beans on top of the bacon and let them cook up until you see this…

See even more juices come out of the beans while you cook them (good thing we drained off the excess) once the beans are heated you want to take a potato masher and mash them up.

This is really a preference. Some people want them all mashed and some don’t want much mashing at all. I do mine until they look like this…

Be sure to run your spatula or spoon under them so no mashed beans are stuck to the bottom of the pot. This way they wont burn. Let them cook some more stirring occasionally. After the beans cook some more they tend to thicken. The longer they cook the MORE they will thicken up! This is why you keep the bean juice we drained. You can add it to the beans to get them to your desired consistency. If you like them thick then you are set! If you want them thinner add the juice a tablespoon at a time until they are just right for you!

When this is done your enchiladas should be ready to pull out of the oven.Once you pull them out sprinkle them with your left over cheese…

All that is left now is to plate and serve! Then eat of course!

Look at all that verde sauce and cheese! YUM!

Do you want a bite…

Make this for dinner then tell me how great it was! You will be glad you did it! Feel free to get creative! Throw in some green chilis or some chopped cilantro on top! Or just keep it simple. Anyway you do it I am sure you are going to love it!

Heather’s Chicken Enchiladas

Italian Sausage Lasagna

Posted on 09-02-2011 | By: Heather

Category : Dinner, Pasta, Quick Dinners

Tags: dinner, italian food, italian sausage, italian sausage lasagna, lasagna, sausage

Well with all this winter weather and and cold going on I felt that we needed a nice warm dinner… Something a little saucy… a little cheesy… add some spice and the crusty crunch of garlic bread… Yep you guessed it… Lasagna!! That is the winner, and that is what I made. So lets get to the cooking!! This is just something I threw together with inspiration on how to go about it from my friend Brenda I just “winged it” I had never made lasagna before but I took notes along the way so I could tell you what did !

Ingredients

white onion
3 stalks celery
2 cups carrots
4 garlic cloves
2 handfuls fresh Italian parsley
1/2 cup white wine
3 to 4 tablespoons oregano
1 to 2 tablespoons basil (I would use fresh if you have it)
3 cans petite diced tomatoes (14.5 oz per can)
12 lasagna noodles (more or less depending on how big your dish is)
1 package HOT Italian sausage
1 package MILD Italian sausage
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
4 cups Italian cheeses of your choice or pre-packaged
fresh Parmesan cheese for garnish

To start you need to brown the meat. I used 3 sausages from the HOT package and 3 from the MILD package. I then put the rest in a freezer safe bag to use for another night. You could definitely use both packages and you will just have a little more meat but that would not be a bad thing because it is so yummy! If you have never cooked with Italian sausage before then the following pictures will help. You need to remove the sausage from the casing and then place it in the pan to crumble up and brown.

I just make a cut down the middle… pull the casing at the sides to loosen it a bit then just pull it off and toss it in the trash! And tada! You are done! I then put then in a frying pan to brown and break it up with a spatula.

Once your meat is browned on both sides strain i and place it in a container and set i aside for later. While the meat was browning I started making my marinara sauce. This is the fun part. I just started creating and you can really make this your own add in anything you like and experiment with the different flavors! Or you can just make mine and tell me how amazing it was!

I started by putting a few pan turns of olive oil in the pan and let it heat. I then sliced up my onion. Want to know a quick way to chop your onion?

So here it is you cut the ends off and cut it in half. Place it on the cutting board and make horizontal cuts in it. The thinner you make them the finer the chop so put more space between them if you want bigger chunks of onion. Just don’t cut through the entire onion that way it is easier to handle when you chop it vertical. After you have done that make your vertical chops. Closer together will give you a finer chop. Tada!

Look at that. They are chopped before you even have time to cry! While the onions were cooking I minced up the four garlic cloves and put them in pan with the onions to cook.

Sorry it was so steamy the picture is slightly blurry from it! While those were cooking on low heat I put the celery, carrots and parsley into the food processor to get a nice even puree on them.

I had these carrots on hand for my salad that I had the other night. So I just measured out 2 cups and tossed them in!

Sorry this is not a better parsley measurement but it looked about right… then after I took the picture I decided to double it. So two handfuls but this is a picture of only one…

After all his is blended I put it in pan with the onions and the garlic to let it saute while I got the noodles started in some boiling water.

Once I got the noodles started I added the wine to the vegetables while they were cooking and let that reduce.

Then I pureed the tomatoes with their juice and poured them in to let the marinara come together and simmer. I always use Hunts tomatoes! I love them but you can use any type you want! Yes that is my new stemless wine glass in the background. I love it! I find it very impossible to cook with wine and not have a glass at the same time. I honestly think it is against the laws of cooking but you know… that is just me!

This is when I added the oregano and basil. I had to use dry basil as there has been no fresh in my area for 3 weeks. What gives? Who stole the basil? You also need to taste it and salt and pepper to taste. I kept that on medium heat and continued to let it simmer until I was ready to use it. Just be sure to stir it here and there.

Once your pasta is al dente remove it from the water and set i to the side.

While the noodles cool (you just want to be able to handle them without being burned but you don’t want them to be cold) get your sausage you browned and give it a nice chop. I did this to get consistency with the chunks of meat and to allow it to go further without having that random huge hunk of meat… because the perfect bite has a little bit of everything in it not just one ingredient!

And now we are ready to assemble our lasagna! Pre heat your oven to 350. Get out your baking dish of choice and layer! Start with the sauce then sprinkle in some meat…

Then sprinkle with cheese… Look what I found…

I used both these bags and they are two cups each. Who knew… So creamy and melty and good! Gotta love Philadelphia for this invention! Ok so sprinkle on the cheese.

After that I grated a little fresh parmesan cheese. Then make a layer of noodles and repeat. I only got two layers but that was plenty for me! After the noodles do sauce meat and cheese then noodles… then sauce meat and cheese again!

That is the second noodle layer so now for the top….

Now stick it in the oven for about 30 minutes. You want the cheese on top to be slightly browned and melted. You just want to make everything fuse together and get all warm and melty!

Look at those little curls of Parmesan cheese… YUM! Now your only task is to plate and serve!! I served mine with a slice of garlic bread! YUM!

I grated a little more fresh parm ontop… because you can never have too much cheese!

YUM! This is so great because you can add anything you want like squash or spinach and you can use any cheese you like and if you need it to be faster you can just use your favorite marinara in a jar instead of making your own! This is so delicious and even better then next day! You just can’t go wrong with lasagna for dinner! GO MAKE IT ALREADY!!

I am linking this up with Savannah’s Savory Bites!

Carne Asada Tostadas

Posted on 31-01-2011 | By: Heather

Category : Beef, Dinner, Quick Dinners

Tags: carne asada, carne asada tostada, dinner, mexican, mexican food, tostada

Well this post is more of a review of two different products from my Mom! The first is the carne asada seasoning and the second is tostada molds for baking tostada shells. I wanted to try this seasoning to see if it is a good carne asada seasoning when you don’t have time to marinate and need a quick dinner. I used two rib eye steaks we had and cut them up.

Once I trimmed all the fat I sprinkled the meat with the seasoning…

I cut up some onions and sauteed them in a touch of EVOO. Not even a whole pan turn because I didn’t want it to be very oily I just did not want the onions to stick to the pan. I was going to mince some garlic since anyone who reads this blogs can tell how much I LOVE garlic but I really just wanted to let the flavor of the seasoning come through so that I knew just how I felt about it!

Once the onions are soft and translucent toss in the meat.

While the meat was cooking I placed my prepped tortillas in their molds after spraying them with non stick spray.

Bake it for 8-10 minutes @ 375 degrees and then you get…

Mine were done at 8 minutes. Then you let them cool for 5 minutes.

Look at that! Nice and crisp and no frying required!!

While I was doing all this I also made…

Then all you have to do once the meat, beans and rice are done is assemble with all your favorite toppings!

Top with meat

I had planned to also top it with cheese but once I put some salsa and some smart balance sour cream on it… I did not even miss the cheese and saved my self the calories!! I would recommend anyone who loves a good tostada shell to get these molds! They turn out perfect every time and they are amazing!

Look at that… all puffed up like a fried shell without the extra fat and calories from frying! it has a great crunch and chewiness…

Do any of you have these molds or this seasoning? What do you think about them?Do you love them like I do?

Thanks Mom for both of these awesome products! You’re the best!

Taco Salad!

Posted on 16-09-2010 | By: Heather

Category : Beef, Dinner, Quick Dinners

If you are anything like me then you enjoy a good taco night! I mean who doesn’t? It does not require much time or ingredients and it is fantastic! When I was a kid taco bar night (which is what my mom calls it) was my favorite night… well that and cereal night! I know my mom thought she was a bad mom when she would let us eat cereal for dinner but let me tell you some of my best memories are from coco pebbles for dinner night! Any who… I love frying up the taco shells but it is so unhealthy and creates so many more calories I don’t do it often! Then I saw a way to cook the tortillas so that they were like a tostada but they are baked and have no added calories! I knew I had to try it out! It is so simple and makes you feel silly for not thinking of it sooner but glad that you now realized this quick and simple trick!

Start out with some tortillas!

Then get out your cupcake or muffin pan turn it upside down and spray it with pam. Put the tortilla between the cups and push down in the center so they are flat on the bottom and look like a tostada shell! On this first round I tried spraying the tortilla with pam but they got waited down too much and bubbled up too much that I opted to not do that on the others and they turned out better

Then bake them at 350 for about 12 minutes. You want them to be browned so you know they are going to being crisp. If you like them more chewy you can cook them less but because they are baked it is easier to eat when you leave them crispy!
While they are baking start your taco meat. I like to mix McCormick mild and hot taco seasoning so it is not too hot but not to weak!

I mix the powder with a fork with the water so that I can pour it on the meat and there are no seasoning clumps. It makes for an even mixture in with the meat.
While I was rotating out the shells I was cooking and while the meat was simmering I chopped up the veggies I wanted and grated the cheese for the taco salad.

Once the meat is done and your shells are cooked just assemble your taco salad in whatever way floats for boat!
Start with your empty baked shell

I then added some beans and thew on some cheese

I would like you all to know that Hubby came in the kitchen at this point and threw the cheese on and said “BAM! See I can cook too!!” haha but it is so easy and fun it would be a great dinner for kids!
I then added in the meat and the heat from the meat melts the cheese into the beans…

And if you notice yes the shell changed as Hubby stole his shell away to make his own and I had to start over with mine! Then I added on a little sprinkle of cheese tomato and onion

Finally I sprinkled it with a little freshly chopped cilantro and some avacado slices! YUM! I am a California girl ok and us Cali folks love us some avacado!

When I was in the ethnic foods isle of Wal-Mart I found these salsas and we tried out the one on the right. We were both a little hesitant of the other! haha but it was very good!

The finished product was so yummy! I broke apart my shell and ate it with the filling and it was the perfect crunchy compliment to all the spicy cheesey tastey insides! This as so fast so delicious and so yummy I know it will become a staple at our house and hopefully yours too!!

Have any of you tried this method before? Does anyone have any good tips to share?