The other night I was CRAVING fresh veggies but I knew my kiddos and hubby needed something more than just a small plate of raw veggies
so I decided to come up with a recipe that would suit their taste, and mine!  :)
My husband loves when I make anything that has to do with my Italian roots and he LOVES pasta,
so I grabbed some whole wheat pasta and went to work!
I grabbed the freshest veggies I could find and roasted them up for this delicious, hearty and healthy pasta dinner!  :)

Rigatoni with Roasted Veggie Puree Sauce

INGREDIENTS:
1 box of whole wheat rigatoni (or whatever kind you like)
3 cups cherry tomatoes
2 zucchini
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
6 mushrooms (good size)
3-4 cloves fresh garlic (whole cloves)
kosher salt
pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
2 cups freshly grated or shredded parmesan cheese
Olive Oil

DIRECTIONS:
In a large bowl add the cherry tomatoes.
Chope the rest of the veggies and add to bowl.
Season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes and add olive oil to coat.
Toss together until fully coated and turn onto a baking sheet (preferably with a silpat)

Bake for 35 minutes at 400 degrees.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to directions and grate the cheese and set aside.
When veggies are done, add them to a blender or food processor while still hot, add a tablespoon of olive oil, and puree completely but don’t over blend.  This will be your sauce.
When pasta is done, strain but keep a cup of the pasta water in case the sauce starts to dry out.
Add the cooked pasta to a large pasta bowl and toss it with the parmesan cheese to coat.
Then add the pureed veggie sauce and toss to coat completely until well blended.
Serve hot and enjoy!  :)

My family LOVES Mac N Cheese so naturally I am consistently trying out new recipes…
We do have a favorite recipe but as I was going through my refrigerator the other day I noticed I had a little left of a couple different cheeses
so I decided to shred them all together and see what it was like…
It was a hit!  My boys loved it and I decided to share it with you!  :)
Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!!

HOMEMADE MAC N CHEESE

INGREDIENTS:
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
4 Tbsp flour
1 tsp chicken stock granules
1 tsp all purpose seasoning
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp dy mustard
dash cayanne
dash nutmeg
1 1/2 cups freshly shredded medium Cheddar
1 cup freshly shredded Jarlsberg cheese
1/3 cup freshly shredded mozzarella
1 (8oz) package macaroni, cooked
2 cups milk

DIRECTIONS:
Melt the butter in a pan.
Combine flour and all ingredients through nutmeg.
Stir into butter until well blended.
Add milk slowly and whisk to stir until thick and smooth.
Add the cheese and stir until melted.
Put the cooked macaroni into a baking (casserole) dish and stir the sauce into the cooked macaroni.
Top with 5 Tbsp bread crumbs and 1/4 tsp dried parsley (if desired)
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until crisp on top.

I made the easiest homemade meatball sub sandwiches the other night and had to share the recipe!
It was easy and pretty quick and way better than going to Subway…
Plus I cheated a little and used store bought hoagie rolls and a jar of sauce (which I never do)! haha
Figured it wouldn’t matter in the sandwich anyway!

Meatballs

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb (5%) ground beef
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp onion powder
3 tbsp ketsup

DIRECTIONS:
Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Make sure that everything is mixed really well into the ground beef.
Form into small meatballs and place on a baking sheet.
Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, empty a jar of spaghetti sauce (I used Francisco Rinaldi Original) into a saucepan and heat on low.
When meatballs are done, add them to the sauce and let simmer for 20 minutes, allowing flavors to marry.
Lower the oven to 350 degree.
Cut open hoagies and place on a baking sheet.
Place 4 or so meatballs on each bottom half of hoagie and top with a slice of cheese or two.
Bake for 5 minutes until cheese is melted and hoagies are toasty.
Slice and enjoy!  :)

Last week we had a rare evening with no baseball and nothing else planned.
I decided to attempt Beef Empanadas and they were a HIT!!
They were actually very easy to make and hubs was so excited he was taking pictures of me in the kitchen
and taking pictures of the empanadas!  He made my night…
Ahhhh…  that man!!!  :)  He still does it for me after all these years!

Beef Empanadas

INGREDIENTS:
1 pkg puff pastry
1 lb lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
5 tsp minced garlic
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp hot sauce
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp light brown sugar
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 tsp dry oregano
1 tsp paprika
1/2 cup low sodium beef broth
1 egg for egg wash

DIRECTIONS:
In a medium pan heat olive oil and add ground beef.
Saute the ground beef until fully cooked, breaking it up with a spoon or spatula.
Add onions and garlic and continue to saute until the onion is cooked through
Add the hot sauce and the rest of the ingredients except for the egg wash and mix well until broth has evaporated.
Roll out the puff pastry (after it thaws) and cut into 3×5 squares.
Fill half with a few tbsp of the beef mixture and place the other halves on top of each and use a fork on the edges to seal and crimp.
Place the empanadas on a silpat brush with the egg wash.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden.
Serve with salsa or eat them plain!  :)

Last week I was craving a honey wheat bread and none of the recipes I found appealed to me so I decided to make up my own and wouldn’t ya know it, it turned out so good that my husband and I ate the entire loaf in a day!  :)

Hubs asked me what I had made it for and I said just for fun because it sounded good so he asked if he could just go to town!  LOL It was hilarious but we thoroughly enjoyed it…  Warm and fresh out of the oven with nothing on it…  No butter, jam, nada!  :)

So needless to say we’ve been really craving it so I decided to make it again yesterday and it was delish!  Since I’m 6 months pregnant I don’t really feel like standing for hours in the kitchen making bread so I’m gonna spill it…  I cheated!!!!!  I made the dough in the bread machine and then I pulled it out, formed it and baked it in the oven!  ;)  I promise it doesn’t disappoint and it’s so easy to make!  You’re welcome in advance!  :)

Laura’s Honey Wheat Bread

INGREDIENTS:
3 cups white bread flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 TBSP powdered milk
2 tsp salt
1/2 cup honey (can easily reduce to 1/3 cup)
2 TBSP unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups water
3 tsp active dry yeast

DIRECTIONS:
Put all of the ingredients in your bread machine, in order.
Add the yeast to the proper little compartment in your bread machine.  :)
Turn it to the regular DOUGH setting and press START!!!  :)

When it’s done (a couple hours later), Remove the dough, form it and put it in a bread pan.
Heat the oven to 375 and bake, uncovered, for 25-35 minutes, until golden.
Remove and let stand for 5 minutes before turning the bread out of the pan and letting it cool on a cooling rack!

Slice and eat!