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Very Veggie Pasta

January 23, 2012 By Kate 1 Comment

Life is good around our house. We’ve lived here for a year and a half and I think we’re finally starting to feel like we’ve done every project that we’ve wanted to do. Since the start of the year, Eric has painted and rearranged all of the kids’ bedrooms and we’ve done some redecorating in a few of the rooms. Our project list gets smaller and smaller each week.

Now that we’ve gotten all of that work taken care of, I need to start really focusing on some new meals on a more frequent basis. We’ve been eating a lot of our old favorites lately, and while no one is complaining, I’m really itching to get back to spending more time working on new recipes.

This dish originally started out as sauteed veggies, but as they were cooking, I decided to mix things up a bit for a new side dish. It turned out to be the perfect accompaniment to the Parmesan Chicken Fingers we had for dinner and I think it would go great with a lot of other meals too. In fact, it’s robust and flavorful enough that it could easily serve as a main course too. I’m definitely excited to make this again in the future. I’m thinking I’d like to make some on a Sunday night and then eat it for lunch for the next few days. It would be perfect for that.

Very Veggie Pasta

  • 2 T. olive oil
  • 1/2 lb. sliced mushrooms
  • 1 red pepper, sliced
  • 1 12 oz. bag frozen French-style green beans, thawed
  • 1 t. salt
  • 1 t. oregano
  • 1 t. dried basil
  • 1/2 t. garlic powder
  • 1/2 t. pepper
  • 1/8 t. crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
  • 1/2 lb. cooked pasta

1. Heat olive oil and add mushrooms. Cook for 5 minutes, until the start to brown. Add sliced pepper, green beans and seasonings and cook for another 5 minutes. Stir in tomato sauce and simmer over low heat for 5 minutes.

2. Add cooked pasta and stir to combine well. Enjoy!

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Honey Mustard Glazed Green Beans & Bacon

November 8, 2011 By Kate 2 Comments

So, let’s just skip my few paragraphs of rambling and skip right to the recipe today, okay? I’m on round two of a cold that has been making the rounds in our house and hoping that I’m the only one who has to go through it twice, because it’s not fun.

Anyhow…not too much to say otherwise, except that you really need to try these green beans! They are so delicious! I wasn’t too sure about the combination of the honey mustard and the bacon when I was putting it together, but it was definitely a hit. Experiments that turn out great are my favorite!

Honey Mustard Glazed Green Beans & Bacon

  • 6 slices bacon, diced
  • 1 12 oz. bag frozen French-style green beans, thawed
  • 1/3 c. olive oil
  • 2 T. mustard
  • 1 T. honey
  • 1 t. apple cider vinegar
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Cook bacon in a large skillet until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon to drain and pour out all but 1 tablespoon of the bacon grease. Reduce heat to medium-low and  add the thawed green beans. Cook for about 5-10 minutes, until beans are tender.

2. Meanwhile, whisk together olive oil, mustard, honey and vinegar. Remove green beans from heat, stir cooked bacon back into the pan and pour on dressing mixture. Toss to coat well. Season well with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately or at room temperature.

NOTE – If you want to make this even easier, you can use 3 tablespoons of prepared honey mustard mixed with 1/3 cup olive oil.

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Squash & Mushroom Saute

September 20, 2011 By Kate 1 Comment

Before we moved into our current house last summer, I dreamt of having a garden every single summer. So when May rolled around this year I couldn’t wait to get started. We took advantage of the two existing beds in our backyard and went crazy buying seeds and dirt. Mother’s Day weekend was happily spent turning soil and getting everything in the ground.

We watched anxiously for the first signs of life and rejoiced over each little sprout. Things were going along wonderfully until summer hit full on. At that time, we realized how ill-prepared we really were. In all of my time spent planning, I never once accounted for the tree growing by those beds; a tree that is lush and full and just happens to provide a blanket of shade to those garden beds. We were able to harvest a handful of chili peppers, a few tomatoes and 3 small cucumbers. We enjoyed each and every one of those to the fullest although we mourned for what could have been.

We’re already setting up a different and bigger spot for next summer that gets plenty of sunshine without any trees threatening to overtake the space. Until then, we’ve been buying our fair share of all those veggies we hoped we’d be harvesting from our own garden. Zucchini and yellow squash are right at the top of that list, especially since I was prepared to have heaps of squash coming out of my ears.

This squash and mushroom saute is one of our all time favorite side dishes. I’ve been making it for as long as I can remember and never get tired of it. Sometimes I even like to make a really big batch of it and freeze for other meals. It freezes and reheats wonderfully in the microwave.

Squash & Mushroom Saute

  • 2 T. butter
  • 2 T. olive oil
  • 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
  • 4 cloves garlic, diced
  • 1/2 lb. sliced mushrooms
  • 1 – 2 zucchini, sliced
  • 1 – 2 yellow squash, sliced
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1/4 t. thyme or Italian seasoning

1. Heat butter and olive oil in a large skillet. Add onion and cook for 3 minutes. Add garlic and mushrooms; cook another 5 minutes.

2. Add the zucchini and yellow squash. Season with salt, pepper and thyme. Cook until squash is softened and the liquid is absorbed.

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