Cheesy Pasta with Spinach and Fried Capers...

Well, dinner last night took all of 20 minutes to make...hence my lack of photos for the day! :)  It was one of those "I have everything I need already on hand, so I might as well throw this together" kinda meal!  We made Cheesy Pasta with Spinach and Fried Capers...

We 'slimmed' this up by using low-fat Ricotta cheese and whole wheat pasta (in a variety of shapes...it was a three shapes 'end of the box' extravaganza!:).  And instead of 'deep frying' my new best friend, the caper (& my other BFF: the garlic)...I let them cook in a tablespoon of olive oil until they split open.  And I'm sure they were just as tasty and delcious as if they had been cooked in the (completely ridiculous) 1/2 cup of oil!!!  Seriously, no excuse for that one, folks!  This dish was cheesy, perfectly salty and, with a BOOST from the spinach and whole wheat pasta, very filing!  Super simple & quick!   = LOVE!

We got more fun eats on the way...thankfully, cause this week is DRAGGGGGGINNNNGGG to the finish line!!  Have a good Wednesday!

"Leftover Eats"

So, we had one rouge avocado in the fridge leftover from last week...so you really can't fault us for having yet another Grilled Chicken Club salad with Guacamole dressing last night:)  Butttt never fear, as I realized I still hadn't told you about our great salad from LAST week, as well as a few leftover eats from the computer hold up of last Monday! 

Ok...talk about the epitome of "not rocket science", and yet this simple salad was BURSTING with flavor!  We made a Grilled Caesar Salad with White Beans (and carrots:)

Just that little drizzle of olive oil and a couple minutes on the grill REALLY brought a whole new flavor to the lettuce!  I think I said "This is so good" about 42 times;) hahahahhahahaha....and I do <3 some white beans, which only made it better!

And in "catch up Eats" :).....last Sunday morning's breakfast was Ellie Krieger's Blueberry French Toast Bake.  Scott's not much of an almond fan, so I swapped them out for a few dabs of low-fat cream cheese.  He really loved this!

I also swapped out the maple syrup for some blueberry syrup, to up the BLUE taste:)  (ya know, one of those things you have on your fridge door that you never really use...I figured I could put a dent in it with this;)

And heeeeeeeeereeeee is a great recipe that could come in handy this holiday weekend!  For Father's Day at my in-laws, I made this Frozen Lemonade Pie...

This seriously couldn't have been easier to throw together (so easy, in fact, I made one for my work peeps a few days later:) and it is a PERFECT way to beat the heat!  So fab!  (I already have an idea for the NEXT 'frozen' pie...;)

Soooo...glad I got to share those "leftover" good eats with ya!  I'm already excited for dinner tonight, since it's a 'decadent' type of recipe that I plan on slimming down a bit!  Stay tuned:)

Slow Simmer Sunday...

Well, last night's dinner recipe came from an unlikely source.  I got it from this Non-cookbook.....

We went "Old School/Old World" for some classic Spaghetti Bolognaise....

"Spaghetti Bolognaise de Sharon

My classmate Sharon learned this in an Italian class she took in Israel.  Very lean hamburger works best for this.  You can use cheap Chianti or other red table wine.  This results is a mostly meat sauce that's common in Europe yet may be unfamiliar to Americans used to a more tomato-heavy style.  If so inclined, add in the tomato sauce near the end of cooking, in place of adding the cream, for a more traditional flavor."

And you better BELIEVE that after FOUR HOURS of cooking that there was NO way I was NOT adding the cream:)  This is definitely a VERY "only on occasion" dish, but if your gonna make it:  you might as well make it right! :) 

Recipe from "The Sharper your knife, the less you cry"....

• 2 large onions, chopped (about 2 1/2 cups)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 pounds lean ground beef 
• 1 bottle dry red wine  (don't skimp, when are you gonna make this again???;)
• 4 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon Italian herbs
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Salt & Pepper to taste, at least 1/4 teaspoon of each
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley or basil (optional)
• 1 pound spaghetti, cooked & drained
• Parmesan, grated

In a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven or saute pan, cook the onions in olive oil over medium heat until softened. 

Stir in the garlic, add the beef, and stir until the meat cooks through and separates into crumbly pieces.  Add the wine and turn the heat up so that the wine bubbles continuously.  Reduce by about half.  Skim off any gray foam.  Add the tomato paste and stir.

Cover and turn the heat down to very low, and cook for a minimum of two hours and up to four hours.  Stir from time to time, scraping the bottom to ensure nothing sticks to it or burns.  Shortly before serving, stir in the cream and Italian herbs.  Taste, and then add salt and pepper.  Let simmer uncovered another ten minutes.  Taste again, adjusting seasonings as necessary, and stir in the parsley.  Serve with pasta, sprinkled with Parmesan.

See?  Not so hard!  All you need is a little time to kill...and considering I had ZERO desire to step ONE FOOT outside yesterday in the heat, it ended up being not a bad day to had a sauce simmering on low for four hours on the back burner;) 

And special sauce calls for "special pasta," so I 'splurged' on this Pappardelle to hold up to the hearty sauce...

And four hours later....wallah... :)

And thankfully, the four hours was worth it since Scott could NOT stop raving about this!  He deemed it "Boeuf Bourguignon good" and just kept saying he couldn't believe how fantastic it was:)  Me thinks that was a SMASHING SUCCESS! :)

Love, Love, LOVE! :)

And since we're talking about decadence...I might as well show you our breakfast on Sunday morning that we got from DiBartolo's...

But these weren't ordinary donuts, as they were STUFFED with apple pie filing!:)  They had amazing looking cream filled ones...but come on now, I can't get too crazy;) haahahhahaahahha....

Well, after a weekend of cupcakes, cream sauce & donuts = Back to salads, fruit & more salads for us for the next few days;)  I was SUPER ready for my 3 mile walk THIS morning:)  It's all about balance, after all!

Have a good Monday!

Summer in the City:)

So, OK...not necessarily the most "JUNE 26th" activity I could think of when living in NJ (shore, anyone??), but yesterday we hit up the city that never sleeps for some good eats & sweet treats:)

I love, love, love New York!  Who doesn't?  It's the epicenter of the world, as far as I'm concerned;)  (I love you, Paris...but NY will always be my heart:)

After a little stroll around town to work up an appetite, we landed at Don Giovanni's on 10th Avenue, between 22nd & 23rd Street....

And even though they had a really nice outdoor seating area (complete with an awning of twinkling lights)...

We beat the heat and stayed cool INSIDE!!!!!  MUCH more my speed!  (Did I mention I hate picnics??  More on that another time;)

We started off with a little yummy sangria (I think I might be a fan now...;)

And out began the roll of food, starting with grilled garlic bread & a yummy Spinach salad with bruschetta, fresh mozzarella, roasted red peppers and pine nuts....

Best the star of the evening was THE PIZZA!  My friend and I split the Special White Clam pie...

Oh my heavens....it was not just the PERFECT crust that made this wonderful...but the MOUNDS and POUNDS of GARLIC!  WOOOOSH!!  DELISH:)  You can never have enough garlic;)  I was in heaven! :)

And since I didn't want to spend the rest of my time in the city with the lingering taste of garlic (or at least, the people around me wouldn't appreciate it;), we just had to split a sample of the chocolate mousse cheesecake from the all-too-tempting dessert tray that kept passing by;)  Could this even BE bad??

And, we were glad to see our waiter was friendly and had a sense of humor;)  hahahahahha....

But don't get crazy and thinking that was the ONLY treat of the evening!

Since we were in town to see "Sex and the City" (IN the city!  Why not, when your so close, right??)....

After the movie, we made our pilgrimage to Bleecker Street for the VERY New York & SATC-mentioned "Magnolia Bakery" for the famous cupcakes!  (Did I mention I love cupcakes???  They bring a smile to my soul:)

And although the pickin were VERY slim by 10:30pm, I managed to snag these two vanilla beauties:)  Magnolia's beauty lies in its simplicity.  How can you not smile at pastel frosting and colored jimmies??

And are they delicious:)  Even better than I remembered;)

A very fun and VERY delicious day:)  Again, I must repeat "I LOVE NEW YORK!!!"

And even though today was a little more low key, that doesn't mean it wasn't just as delicious!  Stay tuned for what could potentially have been Scott's favorite dinner of the week/month/and potentially: the year;)

Market Eats & Free Treats! :)

So we had another great day at the market this morning, even if it is starting to WARM UP out there!  Bleh!!  Anyways....we picked up the vegetables: some red leaf lettuce, basil, cilantro, a mix of squash anddddddd.....the corn truck has ARRIVED!  Summer is officially here!  (for better & for worst;).....

And the fruit: Pears, sweet cherries and some Jersey blueberries.  Blueberries are FINALLY starting to drop in price, which is oh-so-exciting;)

We also made a stop at the DiBartolo's bakery stand, where Scott picked up this Butter cake to take over a friends house tonight (where he's going to cry, since I'll be out with the ladies...hahahahahaha;)...although I think this Butter cake will soothe his sorrows;)  It sounds so good!

And at the stand, we struck up a loverly conversation with "Uncle Mike," one of the owners.  He was soooo nice he even insisted we take a loaf of Pepperoni & Cheese Bread!  He made himself 2 new fans today;):):)

(After my few nibbles on the way home;) we toasted up the bread and had it for lunch with some diced watermelon.  It was soooooooooooooo good!!!!  A little bread and a LOT of cheese & pepperoni:)  Just the way it should be!

We picked up one more treat from DiBartolo's, but that's for breakfast tomorrow;)  Even if I will be having some good treats later today;) 

Have a good Saturday & Stay cool! :)

Turkey "Parm" Meatballs with Caesar Slaw...

Last night's dinner was a simple and quick one...even if I DID attempt to cook a portion of it in the toaster oven and blew a fuse that took me 20 minutes to fix since I couldn't find the right switch to flip;).  Anyway, I digress, as the result was yum:)  We made Turkey Parm Meatballs with Caesar Slaw...

We mixed up a pound of ground turkey with some grated cheese, minced garlic, crushed tomato, 1 egg, a handful of bread crumbs, parsley and salt and pepper.  Then we rolled them up and, after my botched toaster oven attempt, Scott got them nice and charred on the grill:)  But these weren't ordinary meatballs.  Oh, no...as they were stuffed with...

Mini Fresh Mozzarella...yum!

MMMM......cheesy & fabulous! :)

I made a quick little sauce out of a leftover can of crushed tomatoes that I had in the fridge.  Plus garlic, a pinch of sugar and some basil.  Perfect for 'dip dip' ;)

The "slaw" was made with the juice from a lemon, a little anchovy paste, olive oil (enough to cut the lemon acidity!), grated cheese & salt and pepper.  I whisked that all together at the bottom of the bowl and tossed in a container of cole slaw cabbage and shredded red leaf lettuce....

So tangy, cool and refreshing! 

So, we already spent the morning at the market and I have more adventures planned for this afternoon!  At least it keeps the blog 'colorful':)  I may be posting more in bit!  Stay tuned;)

Rosemary Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches...

Last night's dinner may just have been Scott's most favorite in awhile:)  It started off like this....

And ended with a multi-dish finale... :)  Yes, THREE dishes for ONE meal.. ;)

We made Rosemary Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches with sauteed Peppers & Onions with a Rosemary dipping sauce....

Scott grilled the tenderloin, brought it back in to slice up and let it simmer for a few minutes in the rosemary sauce on the stove...

Which I made by bringing 2 cups of beef broth, a sprinkle of dried rosemary, a shake of Worcestershire sauce, a few splashes of soy sauce and some salt & pepper to a boil on the stove and then letting it simmer for the 10 minutes or so while the pork cooked.  Once we took the pork out of the sauce, we made sure to keep around extra bowl for dipping...and OH LORD, was THAT a good idea!!

And I'm glad Scott (and me!) loved the sandwiches so much, because he actually picked up 2 of my favorite (non-starchy) sides to go along with dinner (Aces or what, this guy!:)  He grilled up some asparagus with garlic & olive oil.  Candy, I tell ya, it's like CANDY!

And what could go better with a sandwich in the summer but sweet, sweet watermelon!  I <3 thee!

Such a great dinner!  But like I said, Scott was in <3<3<3 with this one!!!

Do you feel like somethings missing??  No ice cream post today...can you believe it?! :) hahahahahhahahah...Me thinks we should clean out our stock before I purchase ANYTHING else ;)

Have a wonderful Friday!!  I may just have some extra good eats coming up for you over the weekend!  Stay tuned;)