Pasta Amatriciana

We hit an eight year old benchmark this weekend. This little boy of mine was baptized. See that giant cookie shield with the CTR? CTR stands for "Choose the Right." Unless you ask my pesty brother, Roy. He'll tell you that it means "Cook the Rice." "Choose the Right" or "Cook the Rice." You can't lose. We took exactly 793.26 pictures. West with a cookie. West on the piano. West eating breakfast. West brushing his teeth. West taking out the trash. We couldn't help ourselves. I promise not to show you all of them. But, here are a few of my favorites. This is West with soon-to-be-eight years old cousin, Reeve. They look solemn, sane, and very holy in this picture. This is how they looked a few hours later. Wild, wacky, and totally normal. For eight year old, boys that is. Here's West with his Dad and my Dad. All in navy blue sportscoats. My handsome boys.Here is the Bishop with West and his neighborhood buddy, Aidan, who also got baptized that day. The Bishop is the one that made that giant cookie shield above. Needless to say, he's enormously popular with the recently-baptized crowd.

Here is one last shot of West, with those who know him best. He drives us crazy. He makes us laugh. He suprises us with his little acts of kindness. He stays up too late. He's impossible to wake up. He has a noisy voice. He goes crazy for his baby cousins. He wants to be a Jedi and a doctor when he grows up. We love him.

Now this past busy week was a true test of my fast dinner repertoire. I wanted to pick up quesadillas at Del Taco, I really did. But I also knew that next week, while we're on vacation, we'll be eating out nightly. I didn't think I could handle that for two weeks in a row, so I kicked it into gear and made dinner, chop-chop. I'm compiling a list of my favorite 30 minute dinners that don't require a trip to the grocery store. This baby is one of them. "Amatriciana" is a rich, smoky bacon and tomato sauce that is simply luscious over pasta. It's even better the next day, so plan on having leftovers for lunch. You've got time to make it for dinner tonight. Put your water on to boil before you start the sauce and you'll be eating dinner faster than you can say "Choose the Right." Or "Cook the Rice." Either way, you can' t lose.

Pasta Amatriciana

Estimated Cost: $7.00 for 6 large servings

Money Saving Tips: Check the price of bacon at the butcher counter; it might even be cheaper than bacon on sale. If you can't find a good price on bacon, the sauce is just as delicious-albeit not smoky-without it. When you do find a good price on bacon, buy a few pounds and pop them into the freezer.

1 lb. pasta (I used farfalle)

6-8 slices of bacon, diced

1 onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 (14 ounce) cans of petite diced tomatoes, with juices

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

pinch of brown sugar

Optional for serving: grated parmesan cheese and chopped parsley or basil

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add pasta. Cook according to package directions and keep warm. In a large skillet, cook diced bacon until cooked and crisp. Remove bacon to a paper towel with a slotted spoon. To same skillet with bacon fat, add onion and cook until softened. Stir in garlic and cook for thirty seconds. Add diced tomatoes with juices, pepper flakes, vinegar, and sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss pasta with sauce and sprinkle the bacon over the top. Serve with parmesan cheese and chopped parsley, if desired.

Next Up:

Where Winter and Spring Merge Spinach Salad

Weeknight Chicken Paprikash

How was your weekend? Mine was too short, like all the rest of them. This week is going to be one of those crazy busy ones, a perfect storm of recitals, lessons, meetings, classes, and responsibilities, culminating in an important Saturday afternoon with West getting baptized. I looked at West this weekend and I was feeling a little melancholy. Eight is a significant benchmark for LDS families. I've been squeezing my boy a little tighter, staring maybe a little too intently, feeling a little too emotional. I put my arm around his shoulder, and just like I have a hundred times in the last few weeks, said "I'm sad you are growing up so fast, West." This time I think he'd had it. He said, "Mom, look. I'm not that old and you're not that old. I'm not dead and you're not dead. So let's just be happy, OK?"
I meant to be offended, but I burst out laughing first. Oh, this kid. What will I ever do without him? Thank goodness I won't have to find out anytime soon, since we're both young and alive. Here's one of my boy's favorite dinners and mine, too. In about 25 minutes, you'll have a scrumptious sauce of paprika and sourcream over chicken and buttered noodles. It's perfect for busy weeks, like this one. It's also rich and satisfying on a cold winter night and will cure any melancholy you might have about your jam-packed schedule or your children growing up too fast. Weeknight Chicken Paprikash

Estimated Cost: $8.00 for four-six servings

Money Saving Tips: Don't run out to buy Hungarian paprika, if you don't have it on hand. Use my substitution below. Buy chicken breasts when it's on sale and cut it up and freeze it in 1 lb. portions. Put your water on to boil when you start cooking, and everything will be hot and ready at the same time.

1 tablespoon butter

2 large onions, thinly sliced

1 bell pepper, chopped (optional)

1 lb chicken, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 tablespoon garlic, minced

1/4 cup Hungarian sweet paprika (OR sub 1/4 cup regular paprika, plus 1 tablespoon brown sugar and a pinch of red pepper flakes)

2 cups chicken broth (use bouillion cubes to save more)

1/2 cup sour cream, mixed with 1 tablespoon flour

a few drops of lemon juice

hot cooked noodles, tossed with 2 tablespoons butter

Melt butter in skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook for 7 minutes, stirring often. Add bell pepper and chicken and cook until chicken is browned on outside, about 6 minutes. Stir in garlic and paprika and cook for one minute. Add chicken broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for ten minutes. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream and flour mixture. Return to heat and bring to a low boil to thicken sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper and a few drops of lemon juice. Serve over noodles.

Up Next: Microwave Carmels

Farewell to Summer with Easy Pasta Pommodoro

I'm frantically racing through the day with a kajillion things to do (what's new?), but I had to take a minute to post. Did you know that tonight is the Harvest Moon and also the Autumn Equinox? Don't miss it! The moon should be golden ball of butter tonight, melting away with the last of summer. Good-bye ice cream cone days. Hello pumpkin pie evenings. I've got a perfect recipe to share for this last night of summer: Easy Pasta Pommodoro. I found this little gem on the back of an Albertson's pasta box. It took me about 20 minutes to pull off the whole dish-perfect for busy nights. If you use the last of your garden tomatoes and basil, it'll cost you almost nothing. And it's marvelous. Just like tonight's sky. I'll be gazing at the moon in my little corner of the world. And it the moon is really made out of cheese, I hope it's parmesan because it'll go great with your pasta.

Money Saving Tips:

Use your bumpy, irregular tomatoes for this recipe. Just chop them up and throw them in; no one will ever know. Sub in 1 teaspoon of dried basil if you don't have fresh.

Easy Pasta Pommodoro

Estimated Cost: $5.00 for 6-8 servings

16 ounces angel hair pasta

1/4 cup olive oil (or use half oil, half butter)

4 cups chopped tomatoes (unpeeled)

3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

1 and 1/2 tablespoons garlic

1 and 1/2 cups tomato juice

1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper

parmesan cheese, for serving

Cook pasta according to package directions. In a separate skillet, heat olive oil. Add tomatoes, basil, and garlic; cook for five minutes. Add tomato juice and simmer for five minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve over hot pasta with parmesan cheese.

Up Next:

Fall Kick-Off Dinner

Stay Tuned for Cookie Bookie Week in early October

PS Hey Miguel, it's Friday! Where's my comment?

Chicken Fettucini Alfredo

This week we put out big toe into our new schedule, just to test the water. Should we jump in or hang out by the shore a little longer? I'm teaching nine credits at the college this semester, homeschooling the charges, and of course, cooking food and writing on my blog. If you throw in exercise, keeping up the house, getting the charges back and forth from ballet, violin, fencing, etc, and staying in touch with my siblings, I'm just about running at maximum. So here's my question for the day: What time do you ideally have to wake up in the morning to make the day run smoothly? I'm not even asking what time you ACTUALLY get up-just what time you would IDEALLY get up to have the day run perfectly. Leave a comment because I really want to know.

OK, now here's a recipe to share for the day. You know by now how much I love using FOOD ON THE TABLE to plan my meals with the grocery store specials. (Have you tried it yet?) A couple of weeks ago, I printed a recipe for Chicken Fettucini Alfredo. I didn't make it exactly as written, so you're getting my adapted version. But just look at all the gorgeous stuff I've got in my skillet. Combined with pasta and a creamy alfredo sauce, it was fantastic. I can't wait to make it another time. And speaking of time, I'm short on it, so I'm gonna run. Don't forget to leave me a comment about rise and shine times, readers!

Money Saving Tips:

Bell peppers are cheapest right now, so pluck some from your garden or buy a rainbow variety from the Farmer's Market. Pasta dinners are famously cheap, so make an extra batch and freeze it in individul portions for lunch.

Chicken Fettucini Alfredo

Adapted from Food on the Table

Estimated Cost: $8.00 for 6 servings

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 lb. chicken, cut into bite sized pieces

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 bell peppers, chopped

2 onions, minced

1 cup frozen peas, thawed

4 tablespoons butter

5 tablespoons flour

2 and 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup cream

1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated

12 ounces hot cooked linguini

extra parm, for passing

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add chicken and cook for five minutes. Add garlic, bell peppers, and onions. Cook until softened; season to taste with salt and pepper and keep warm. In a medium saucepan, melt butter. Whisk in flour. Add milk and cream and cook over low heat until mixture comes to a simmer. Simmer one minute; add parmesan cheese and sason to taste with s and p. Combine hot cooked pasta, chicken mixture, and about half of the sauce. Spoon a little sauce over the top before serving. Sprinkle with extra parm.

Next Up:

Blueberry Walnut Maple Granola

Cubed Steak Parmesan from Food on the Table

How was your weekend, everybody? We made it through a double ear infection, a case of the flu, a five mile run, a homemade picnic table (my Quiet Man can build), a job offer, and a party for 16. Hello-world, we're home from vacation!
But now it's Monday, and in just a few hours every person under my humble roof will be asking me what is for dinner. (A dangerous question on a Monday-don't they ever learn?) Aha-I've got a new weapon in my dinnertime arsenal! A couple of posts ago, I wrote about a great website called Food on the Table. It's such a great shortcut for planning meals, saving money and menu planning. Food on the Table organizes store specials for you and offers you customized recipes that highlight sale items and your personal cravings. I may not always follow the recipes exactly-I'm kind of a shoot from the hip kind of gal, but I love having some ideas generated that correspond with the weekly specials. (I'm just going to tell the kids to long on themselves and tell me what's for dinner!)
This week, Food on the Table told me that my grocery store had cube steak on sale. I probably would have thrown it on the grill like I usually do, but Food On the Table recommended a recipe for Cubed Steak Parmesan. Yum! I've had chicken parmesan and eggplant parmesan, but I've never had cubed steak parmesan. It was soooo yummy- a bit like a cross between a meatball and chicken parmesan. Coat the meat in egg and dip it in parmesan & breadcrumbs (the actual recipe used crushed saltine crackers), then brown it in a skillet. Finish it off in the oven and pour over some red sauce (I made a homemade tomato an basil) and a smattering of mozzarella and parmesan.
It was absolutely fantastic with a swirl of pasta and bit of fresh, green salad. And best of all? The pasta, parmesan, mozzarella, and steak were all on sale, so I made about 8 servings for around 10 bucks. What's for dinner tonight at your house?

Up Next:

Chicken Fettucini Alfredo

Pasta with Lotsa Lotsa Zucchini Primavera

The zucchini plants are takin' over the world. I love um, I really do. That's why we planted ONE sweet little plant. One cute little obedient zucchini plant. I planned to pluck one dainty little squash each day, never allowing any zucchini to grow bigger than my index finger, since they taste so much sweeter when they are little. Ha! Zuchinni plants are takin' over the world. Once you turn your back, they morph into baseball bats. (Hey-now that's an idea. Zucchini-Tomato baseball. Hey, batteh batteh.) How about you? Are your zucchini plants takin' over the world yet, or are they still whispering rebellion and choosing a leader? Don't wait, raze them down while they are still organizing and gobble them up for dinner.

I'll be sharing recipe ideas for zuchinni submission all week long-from desserts, to dinners, to appetizers. And why don't you share some ideas with me? After all, we're all in this fight together. Humankind vs. Zucchini!

Post Edit:My sister-in-law just came by with a great big bag of -you guessed it-zucchini!

Notes: All right, so pasta primavera usually involves spring-not summer-vegetables, but so what. I'm in the middle of a summer vegetable battle here. And you know what? Zucchini tastes absolutely divine with pasta. It's the time of year when everyone in the Northern Hemisphere should be getting zucchini for free-or at least for very, very, cheap.

Pasta with Lotsa Lotsa Zucchini Primavera

Estimated Cost: $8.00 for 6 generous servings (or cheaper-every vegetable but the broccoli came from my own garden)

1 lb pasta (I used angel hair)

3 tablespoons butter

1 large onion, minced

4 cloves garlic, minced

2-4 carrots

1 red bell pepper, sliced into strips

1 small bunch broccoli, cut into bite sized pieces

2 medium zucchini, sliced

3/4 cup peas (not thawed, if frozen)

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup vegetable or chicken broth

1 cup shredded parmesan cheese

zest and juice of one lemon

Begin cooking pasta according to package directions. Heat butter in large frying pan over medium heat. Add onions, carrots, and garlic, and red bell pepper. Cook for five minutes. Stir in broccoli and zucchini. Cook until all vegetables are tender crisp. Add peas and turn off the heat. Drain pasta and keep warm. In pasta pot, bring cream and broth to a boil. Add cheese, and lemon juice and zest and season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss pasta with vegetable and cream sauce. Serve, passing more cheese on the side.
All Week Long:

Zucchini Cookies, Zucchini Cake, Zucchini Fritters, and Zucchini Lasagna

Mom's Chicken Scampi

My mom, the tiny woman who's veins pulse with Sicilian blood, loves the Chicken Scampi at Olive Garden. That's saying something, isn't it? Mom's been trying to crack the code on the recipe. (Along with the Italian blood, culinary sleuthing runs in the family, I think.) A handful of Sundays ago, she invited us over to sample her copy-cat recipe. Her house smelled amazing (think butter and garlic) the minute we walked through the door. Hubba, hubba, chicken scampi, I think I love you.

The stuff was delicious, beautiful, and rib-stickingly good. All Sunday dinners really ought to be this special. But don't wait for Sunday-it could pep up a weeknight, or dazzle a table full of dinner guests. Mark it down, print it out, make some up.

And by the way, did I ever tell you, that my mom thinks her children aren't really Italian? Not really authentic Italians anyway. We don't qualify since we claim only one piddly half of her Roman inheritance. For goodness sakes, 8 out of 10 of us have those Mediterannean noses that scream "I'm Italian" to the rest of the world. My mom is just more discriminating than kin, scientists, and genealogists. You have to be 100 percent to get full credit. But then again, maybe my mom isn't a real Italian either. H

ow many real Italians do you know that copy recipes from the Olive Garden? (Just a little good natu

red ribbing. To know my mom is to love her completely. Ti amo, mama!)

Mom's Copy Cat Chicken Scampi

Slightly Adapted to make it easier, by me

Estimated Cost: $10.00

8 tablespoons butter, divided use

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 large red onion, thinly sliced

2 bell peppers, green and red, cored and thinly sliced

1 lbs chicken tenders, pounded flat

2 tablespoons butter

1 lb angel hair pasta

1 cup chicken broth

freshly grated parmesan

chopped parsley

Heat skillet over medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon butter. Cook garlic until fragrant, remove with slotted spoon. Cook onion and bell pepper until crisp-tender, about 7 minutes. Remove peppers and onions to plate. Add chicken and brown on both sides in another tablespoon of butter. Boil pasta according to package directions. Drain and return to pot. Add remaining butter and slowly stir in chicken broth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve pasta, chicken and peppers on serving dish. Sprinkle liberally with parmesan and parsley.

Up Next:

Swedish Visiting Cake, for Tuesdays with Dorie

(It'll be later than Tuesday, since I'm in Salt Lake City for my nephew's wedding.)

Red and White Pasta for Valentine's Day

Pasta...za food uv love.

Are you ready for Valentine's Day? Yep, the charges have Star Wars and Disney Princess Valentines and Fun Dips to pass out. I've got some Reese's Peanut Butter Hearts up my sleeve, too. One more stop at Barnes and Noble, and that should take care of the Quiet Man. And I know what I'm making for dinner: an oh-so-easy and delicious pasta dinner.

The credit for this recipe goes to my sister Leslie, who loves to tinker around with recipes until she gets them just perfect-o. Then she makes them over and over and over again until she finds something else that she loves, and she moves on and starts again. I'm glad she landed on this pasta, because she made me love it too. It's so easy to make, and I'll bet you have just about everything you need already. The marinara is straight from the pantry, but you could swap in some fresh ingredients, if so inclined. I use fresh garlic when I make this sauce, just because I love that fresh, pungent taste. Doesn't that sound like it would make romantic garlic breath for Valentine's Day smooching? The Quiet Man likes his garlic too, and we brought up the charges with garlic in their baby bottles, so we can have a big fat garlic-y family love fest and no one will mind. Round out the menu with a green salad, lots of crusty bread, and definitely something chocolatey for dessert.

If you need a Valentine's movie to go with your Italian dinner, may I recommend Moonstruck? Please tell me you've seen it, or I'm sending you directly to Blockbuster video.

Look at Nicholas Cage. He's so young and nubile and angry, with a full head of hair, too. "I bake bread, bread, bread!"

And here's Cher with Olympia Dukakis. Cher's life is "going down the toilet" because her mom just caught her with a love bite on her neck from Nicholas Cage. Please tell me you already love Moonstruck.

And be sure to put on Lady and the Tramp for the kids, so they can croon "Bella Notte" while they slurp up spaghetti. Happy Valentine's Day to everybody! With any luck, I'll be back with one more breakfast recipe.

Notes: I almost rewrote this recipe in my regular format, but then I decided that I like it just the way it is. It reads like your best friend is giving you a casual recipe over the phone.
MY SISTER LESLIE'S FAVORITE MARINARA IN THE WORLD

Estimated Cost: $10.00 for 6 generous servings

2 TBSP. olive oil

2 TBSP. butter

Heat this in a large pot and don't let it burn.

Place 4 - 14. 0z. cans of undrained Hunt's, garlic, basil and oregano diced tomatoes in the blender.Add this to the olive oil and butter.

Add 2 tsp. garlic powder, 2 tsp. oregano, 2 tsp. basil, 2 tsp. crushed red pepper (use less if you don't like it super-spicy), and 2 TBSP. sugar

Heat it all up and let it simmer.

Make sure you have good bread on hand so you can dip your bread in the marinara and eat that while you finish the rest of the recipe because it's that good.

Boil a box of penne.

Bechamel Sauce

Add 5 TBSP. butter, and 4 TBSP. flour to a saucepan.

Add 4 C. of whipping cream (Prudy here-I used only 1 cup of whipping cream, and a combo of evaporated milk and low fat milk. I'm sure it's better with cream, but I don't need to find that out.) because it is so much better than half and half or milk, but you can use those too if you don't want to get bigger. Let that cook, and watch it carefully as it thickens. Add 1 tsp. salt and a dash or two of nutmeg.That's it. It's so easy and so delicious. You don't even have to bake it.Place penne on a plate, cover with marinara, pour the bechamel sauce on top, and sprinkle with parmesan.I love it, eat it twice a week, and hope you'll love it, too.
Next Up:

Waffles for your Valentine's Breakfast (I'm still deciding between good-for-you Honey Wheat Waffles, or bad-for-you Chocolate Waffles)

PS Two days left to vote for West's More Rockin Moroccan Peanutty Pitas. I'm so glad my career as peppy voter -promoter is almost over. Remind me to never run for office.

Food, Fun, and Family in Italy

Last year, on this very day, I was here.

Italy. The mother country. And I was with my best peeps. My Dad generously planned a trip for all of my 10 siblings and spouses through Europe. I missed the charges terribly, but I was in Italy, for pete's sake, so I tried not to weep....often. Especially since I was having the time of my life. I plan to make it up to the charges by taking them to Europe, just as soon as I become fabulously wealthy. Still waiting. It might be a long time.

But back to Italy. The first day just happened to be my little brother Roy's birthday. Roy is two years younger than me, is a succesful businessman and has a lovely home, a beautiful wife and five smart children. He is intelligent, thoughtful, and respected wherever he goes. It's all true. But to those of us who know him well, he's a doggone snarky little pest. Once he glued my sister's make-up to the counter, just for fun. He also hid a mannequin under the covers of an unsuspecting sister's bed. And once when I was taking a nap by the pool, he put a pot over my head and rang it with a ladle. He would do it again, if he was ever lucky enough to catch me napping. Despite his inner peskiness, on the surface he is rather shy, which sometimes gives people the mistaken idea that he is saintly. Don't be lured in, or you could be the next victim.

And I know a secret about Roy. He hates to have happy birthday sung to him. He squirms and blushes with a brittle smile plastered on his face. That's precisely why I LOVE to sing Happy Birthday to him. You can't imagine how eager I was to spend Roy's birthday with the whole gang. That evening, we gathered at an amazing restaurant (Ambasciata d'Abruzzo) and ate our way through roasted eggplant, prosciutto, fresh ricotta cheese, pasta, and more. After dinner, the head waiter brought out a blackberry jam tart for Roy. Finally the big moment had arrived. As we sang Happy Birthday, Roy put on his painfully pleasant smile. We all giggled and enjoyed his discomfort. Roy was a good sport, but he was clearly glad to get this birthday business over with. But then, just as the song was ending, some Scandinavian revelers from another party caught wind of our singing. They were soused, completely drunk and having a gay old time. They came over and surrounded Roy, singing and dancing, with their arms draped around him. The men toussled his hair and the women kissed him on the cheeks with their warm garlic and alcohol breath. Roy was in beet-red agony, but he kept his frozen smile. And I sat in the corner doubled over, with tears streaming down my cheek, unable to even snap a photograph.

Ha, Ha, Ha Roy. And Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday, dear Roy. Happy Birthday to you. And many, many more.

And here's my favorite sausage and tomato pasta sauce to share a little bit of Italy with all of my dear readers. And when you make it, please think of my brother Roy and wish him a happy birthday in your heart. A very loud and cheery happy birthday, just to make him blush.

Italian Tomato and Sausage sauce

Estimated Cost: $6.00 for about 6 cups

1 lb. Italian sausage, (a combo of hot and sweet is best)

1 large onion, minced

3 cloves minced garlic

1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes

pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil or parsley, optional

In a large pot, cook sausage over medium heat breaking up with back of spoon, until almost cooked through. Add onion to pan and cook for five minutes longer, or until onion is softened and sausage is cooked. Stir in tomatoes, flakes, and sugar. Bring to a boil and simmer for at least twenty minutes, and up to an hour. (It's even better if you make it a day or two ahead.) Remove from heat and stir in basil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with pasta and lots of parm, of course.

Next Up:

Golden Delicious Apple Crisp