{the dish} Mother Daughter Quick Spaghetti

It was a late night neither my daughter or I had eaten. Hmmmmm what to fix?

We had some left over whole wheat pasta from earlier in the week. She took half and I took half and here is what we came up with. It was fun creating with my daughter... I think I will try hers next time!

Moms Basic Tomato Basil Pasta by ann west

spaghetti

cherry or grape tomatoes

garlic

fresh basil

red pepper flakes

olive oil

parmasean

salt & pepper and a squeeze of lemon

Saute your garlic in some olive oil. Add your tomatoes and let them simmer. (I like mine to even get brown. Add you spices. Add your pasta and toss to heat through. This is a key element and will infuse your pasta with your yummy sauce. Serve with a sprinkle of cheese. Enjoy!

Peanut Spaghetti by Claire

peanut butter

garlic chili paste

sesame oil

rice wine vinegar

orange juice

honey

crushed peanuts

Mix 2 large spoonfuls of peanut butter with a tsp of garlic chili paste, 1/2 tsp of sesame oil, 2-3 Tbls rice wine vinegar and the same amount of orange juice. Add a little honey and mix well. Taste and adjust your seasonings. Top with crushed roasted peanuts. Heat the pasta and mix with sauce. Can be topped with chicken, peppers, carrots and more. enjoy!

{the dish} grilled veggies+ baked eggplant over pasta

There is nothing better in the world then grilled veggies + baked eggplant over Quinoa pasta! Talk about fresh, and crunchy, and perfectly delicious. This is a great meal for a busy night. It is so pretty it will even win over dinner guests. The wonderful thing about Quinoa pasta is that it is gluten free and my family can not tell the difference from regular pasta. A win/win at our house!

cut up your veggies of choice. I recommend cutting the squash up a tad more then what I photographed so that they will cook through equally in comparison to the other veggies. I had to burn a few asparagus pieces to get the squash cooked well. Had I cut the pieces smaller it would have been perfecto!


grilled veggies
by amy twomey

anything you have in the fridge or love together. There is no right amount here either! I just cut up as much as I can so that I am sure to have enough to fill the grill wok + have leftovers.

last night I used: butternut squash, asparagus and brussels sprouts


I stumbled across something recently at ikea that has changed my life :: the grill wok!
Buy one, you will thank me later. I heat grill on medium heat and cover it and shaking wok regularly. *remember to use oven mitts as handle gets HOT.


baked eggplant
by amy twomey

This is a recipe my mom made all throughout my childhood that I love. I make all the time and again this makes wonderful leftovers....so make as much as you can.

wash eggplant well and cut up in thin circles placing them on a baking sheet while heating your over to BROIL :: lo.

Add pre-jarred basil pesto on top of each slice.

Add fresh Parmesan cheese to the top of each circle. Broil until cheese begins to brown then change to bake :: 200 and continue cooking until tender. Add salt to taste.

Now :: cook your Quinoa pasta (we use 2 boxes of the Andean Dream brand for a family of 5). Stir constantly with a dash of olive oil while cooking so that the pasta does not stick. Drain and serve a pile of grilled veggies and baked eggplant on top. Seriously great! Let me know if your family loved it as much as ours does!

{the dish} spinach alfredo

Seriously folks, get past the stick of butter and just make this! I promise your family will love this one. You can switch it up time after time if you want to leave out the spinach and almonds and substitute it for sun dried tomatoes and capers...or diced tomatoes and garlic...but for this recipe it is all about the spinach and almonds.



Start off by melting a stick of butter in a pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted add the Parmesan cheese, stirring and turned to low heat. Continue to stir well and slowly add the cream while stirring. In a separate pan steam an entire pan of fresh baby spinach (it will shrivel into nothing so be sure to stuff the pan packed full. Cook it and set that aside.



Then add the sliced almonds in, stir, add the salt and pepper, and remove from heat.



Boil your water in a separate pot and add the Quinoa pasta cooking it according to box 12-15 minutes, and drain. Now add everything together mixing in the sauce to your liking. Yum!



spinach alfredo by amy twomey

ingredients

1 pot full of steamed fresh baby spinach

2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 cups cream

1 t. salt

1 t. pepper

1 1/2 c. almond slices

1 stick of butter

2 packages of Quinoa pasta

{the dish} mushroom's a la gluten free spaghetti

photo by amy twomey

mushroom's a la gluten free spaghetti by amy twomey

1 package of De Boles corn spaghetti style pasta, prepare according to package

mushroom & spinach sauce

1 package of mushrooms, cuts and sliced

2 T. olive oil

1 T. butter

salt and pepper to taste

2 c. fresh spinach

2 T. white wine

1/4 t. cayenne pepper

1/8 c. heavy cream

3 T. fresh grated Parmesan cheese

saute mushrooms in olive oil until browned, adding butter, stirring constantly on high heat. Add salt and pepper while stirring. Add the spinach and stirring. Add the white wine and turn down to medium heat. Add the cayenne pepper and stir well. Remove from heat and add cream and Parmesan cheese.

serve over spaghetti noodles with a pinch of Parmesan cheese on top.

{the dish} fresh and light tomato sauce

photo by amy twomey

This sauce is fresh and light and thin...I use a gluten free pasta and serve this over top and my husband can not tell that it is gluten free...so it makes a great family meal. I always have a fresh baguette for him and watch him soak up the remaining sauce wishing I could eat that too. Everybody Eats makes a great baguette that is close to the real deal seeing that it is gluten free. If you know you are making this dish ahead and are a Celiac this may be a special treat to order ahead. My favorite part of this meal is smelling all the flavors come out in the sauce while you are cooking it. This was a really easy sauce to come up with. I just really knew the basic flavors I wanted to have and added a little bit of this and a little bit of that and stirred it with a lot of love. Enjoy!

fresh and light tomato sauce by amy twomey

ingredients

4 cloves garlic

3 large red peppers, cut up in large pieces

10 tomatoes

olive oil

salt and pepper

1 T. sugar

1/2 c. white wine

1 1/2 c. fresh baby spinach

14 fresh small mozzarella balls

Using cuisine art puree the 4 garlic cloves with 2 cut up red peppers, 6 tomatoes and 4 T. olive oil. Transfer to a big pot and warm up adding salt and pepper to taste. In cuisine art lightly chop 1 more red pepper and 4 more tomatoes. Add that to the pot now with 1 T. sugar and 1/2 c. white wine. Let cook on medium to low heat for 1 hour with a lid. At the end add 1 1/2 c. fresh baby spinach and stir in until cooked. Add 3 T. Lucky Layla yogurt cheese spread (or ricotta if you do not have access to Lucky Layla products). Let simmer for about 5-10 minutes. Lastly, add 14 small fresh mozzarella balls(or 2 cups cut up fresh mozzarella in big 1 inch cubes) and stir well letting simmer for another 5 minutes. When ready to serve add fresh ground pepper to top.

*serve over a gluten free pasta("Orgran" gluten free rice and corn pasta macaroni)...delicious!

{the dish} butternut squash & spinach|traditional meat

Just the other day Amy and I got together to cook. It is so much fun cooking with a friend. We talked, laughed, listened, mixed, spread ... had a great time. We also ended the day with 2 wonderful lasagnas for each of us. I froze one to use at a later date and we devoured one last night. So good. Next time I think I will serve wine while we cook!

We made a vegetarian butternut squashspinach lasagna and a traditional meat lasagna. Amy brought her gluten free corn pasta and used that in lieu of regular pasta. Here are the recipes for both - I have boiled it down to 6 steps. Enjoy! Thanks to Amy for letting me post these!

lasagna for friends by amy and ann

step 1: Make the Sauce (or if you are using store bought skip to step 2)

basic sauce

8 cloves garlic crushed and chopped & olive oil to saute in

4 15 oz cans tomato sauce

1 1/2 - 2 15oz cans tomato paste

1/2 cup red wine

1 tbls oregano

1 tbls basil

1 tsp red pepper flakes

salt and pepper to taste

Saute onions until cooked. add all other ingredients and simmer. Thin with wine or water. To make thicker add more tomato paste. Adjust seasonings according to your taste.

step 2: ricotta layer:

3 lbs fresh ricotta (if you can't find this use the packaged ricotta)

1 15 oz package ricotta

1 tbls basil

1 tbls oregano

2 tsp garlic powder

salt and pepper

mix and set aside

step 3: choose your type of lasagna or make both

butternut squashspinach filling

1/2 onion chopped

4 10oz packages frozen butternut squash - thawed. (if using fresh cut into small cubes - you will need 2 large squashes)

olive oil

2 tbls brown sugar

salt and pepper to taste

Saute onion in olive oil for 3 min or so. Add butternut squash and let cook until soft. Season with sugar and salt and pepper. When you taste this it should be slightly sweet. set aside

meat filling

4 lbs lean ground beef

olive oil

salt and pepper

brown meat, drain and season

set aside

step 4: cook pasta lasagna noodles or gluten free corn spaghetti

Cook your pasta according to directions and set aside.

step 5 : Prepare your lasagnas

Prepare a baking dish by rubbing it with olive oil. Spread a think layer of sauce on the bottom. Slice fresh mozzarella to use for top.

for the butternut squash lasagna we layered like this:

sauce

pasta

butternut squash

ricotta

spinach

pasta

sauce

top with sliced mozzarella and cracked pepper

for the meat lasagna we layered like this:

sauce

pasta

meat sauce

ricotta

pasta

sauce

top with sliced mozarella and cracked pepper

step 6: cook and enjoy (or freeze and enjoy later)

Cook in a 375 degree oven for 25 - 35 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and slightly brown. enjoy!