Meatless Monday: [When You Need] Pasta & White Beans

I spent $2 on orange juice one morning last week. In fact, I spent $2 on 12 oz. of orange juice. That’s absurd. But I woke up with a little scratch in my throat, and if the momma bear gets sick, this whole ship is goin’ down. So I needed the orange juice.

Needed. It.

It was a need like the need I had to get a Snickers bar out of the vending machine while working last weekend’s consignment sale — a need like the need I had to eat this simple and delicious pasta dinner.

Pasta, Pesto and Chicken - Oh, My!

I'm guilty of buying the husband presents that, I'll be honest, are more for us than just him. I'll buy him a CD that'll make its way into my car after a couple of weeks. Or I'll make him something like oatmeal cookies, knowing full well I'm going to eat half the batch myself.

So when we went shopping last weekend and the husband encouraged me to buy myself a new mini-chopper, telling me mine was sooooo old and I reeeeally needed a new one, I had a feeling there was more to his enthusiasm than him just feeling bad for me and my mini hand-me-down appliance.

The man wanted pesto. And it was obvious he was tired of my mini-chopper not chopping the basil and making the worst pesto ever. Ever.

So tonight the man got what he wanted.

Meatless Monday: Ravioli With Pesto and Roasted Veggies

Ravioli With Pesto and Roasted Veggies

When my dad was in high school, he won the home ec award. I wasn't around in those days, so I can't say whether this really happened or whether this is one of those instances like the time he told me he once got his legs stuck behind his head and my grandparents had to call the ambulance. I'm willing to take his word on the home ec thing, but I have a feeling the other story was a big fib. Oh, Da. You kid.

I should really call him to clarify what helped him win that award because I have a feeling the meal I just served the husband wouldn't take home the prize of most appealing. It doesn't look so hot, I know, but I swear it didn't taste as awful as it looks.

Whole Wheat Spaghetti and Light Vodka Sauce

Whole Wheat Spaghetti and Light Vodka Sauce 

I absolutely love penne a la vodka. If we go to a restaurant and I see it on the menu, I want it. I especially love it when it has fine bits of pancetta in it and a creamy tomato-y taste with just a hint of peppery spice. Mmmm. I love me some penne a la vodka. But I hate all of the calories I know come along with that creamy, saucy goodness. So I'm happy to share with you a recipe my momma shared with me - minus the pancetta. I'll save that for a more special occasion than a Tuesday night.

Whole Wheat Spaghetti and Light Vodka Sauce

1 tablespoon light butter

1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes (no-salt-added, preferred)
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon salt, to taste
1 dash mixed-up pepper
1 cup fat-free half-and-half (sometimes the momma uses cream or 2% low-fat milk)
1/4 cup vodka
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (or more)
1 lb whole wheat pasta

Melt butter with oil in large heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and saute until translucent, about 8 minutes.

At this point, start a pot of water for the pasta.

Add tomatoes and cook until a lot of the liquid has cooked off, stirring frequently about 15 minutes or so. (I think the momma lets hers cook for 25 minutes, but you know us, we can't wait that long.) 

Add cream, vodka and red pepper to the tomatoes and boil until thickened to sauce consistency, about 2 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. 

Light Vodka Sauce

Pour sauce over 1 lb pasta and top with Parmesan, if desired. (We also serve ours with a bit more red pepper.)

Serves 6

* Nutritional facts per serving, as calculated by Food.com:

372 calories, 4.4 g fat, 70 g carbs, 2.3 g fiber, 14 g protein

* Your choice of whole wheat pasta will alter the nutritional information. Our pasta had way more protein and fiber than Food.com thought it would, so our dinner was actually a bit healthier than noted above. Feel free to use your favorite pasta! The husband doesn't usually even like spaghetti, but these little nests were just too cute to pass up. Thanks for selling these fundraising goodies to Momma, Little Big Brother. 

And thanks, Momma, for giving 'em to us. They were a hit.

Meatless Monday: Mushroom Stroganoff

Creamy Mushroom Stroganoff

I know, I know, I told the husband when we jumped on the Meatless Monday bandwagon it wasn't going to be pasta meal after pasta meal, and here we are two weeks in a row eating pasta for dinner Monday night. But I just couldn't help myself. I got a new cookbook for my birthday (thank you, Mama!) and this dish just looked too good to pass up. Plus, we're in the midst of a tornado warning here, and I just wanted a good ol' comforting meal. (Don't worry, I'm working off a battery, and Chance has taken cover beside my feet under the dining room table. We're good.)

Midweek Wrap-Up

Shells With Garlic, White Beans and  Roasted Tomatoes

I know, it's Wednesday and I'm about to talk about Meatless Monday. (Bad blogging habits live here.) But I wanted you to know that Meatless Monday did, in fact, happen in our household this week. I picked another Ellie Krieger recipe, mainly because I had all of the ingredients in the house, but the recipe did sound good. Two birds with one stone? Sure thing. The husband didn't think the recipe sounded that bad, either. We were on a roll.

Meatless Monday: Creamy Creole-Spiced Pasta

Creamy Creole-Spiced 

When we clear the table at the end of a meal, one thing is always the same: My plate is always cleaner than the husband's plate. It's a habit I've had for years. I think I get it from watching my step-father wipe heels of Arthur Avenue bread around his plate, wiping up gravy or balsamic vinaigrette, at the end of a good meal. The husband? He never does this - ever. (I'm really starting to question what kind of Italians raised him.) So when I saw him using a slice of bread to clean his plate tonight, I knew he liked dinner.

I had told the husband I planned to make something like a baked mac and cheese; he said it sounded like a good idea. And when I got his text at 4:45pm telling me that Meatless Monday was killing him and he was starving (dramatic, I know), I knew dinner better be good or I'd never hear the end of it. 


But I was willing to live with good, and when I decided not to really make a mac and cheese, I didn't worry. I just wanted to make a good meal - that had a lot fewer calories than your traditional mac and cheese. So when the husband finished his meal by wiping his bread all around his bowl, I knew dinner was better than good. I apologized for not making mac and cheese, but the husband said he really liked dinner and that it was more like an Alfredo pasta. He didn't even reach for the spices or extra cheese that I put on the table for him. And that pretty much proved to me that he doesn't think Meatless Monday is so bad after all.

Meatless Monday: Curry-Spiced Noodles

Curry-Spiced Noodles Inspired by Cooking Light

Finally! I've only been waiting weeks - literally weeks - to make this dish. This was supposed to be last Monday's dinner, but since the husband left me home to fend for myself, I had to put this meal on hold. (He actually left the house last week smirking over his shoulder saying, "I'm off to eat some meat.") But there was no business dinner to save the husband from Meatless Monday this week. And joke as he may, I don't think he minded this Meatless Monday dinner one bit.



As the husband and furkids played outside, I got started on dinner. I knew (thank you, Mom Chef) that this meal wouldn't come together as quickly as I hoped. And even though I took a few shortcuts, skipping the shiitake mushrooms and lemongrass, to mention a few, it still look more thought and planning than I'd anticipated. (Lucky for me I cut the recipe in half or I'd still be julienning carrots!) I made quite a mess in the kitchen, but it smelled amaaaazing.

Meatless Monday: Provencal Pasta

Pasta Topped With Tomatoes and Mushrooms

Tonight's dinner taught me two things: The husband and I do not like provencal sauce (at least not BHG's recipe) and homemade gnocchi should not be frozen. I was really looking forward to dinner, too, because it's Monday. And when I come up with a meatless meal that the husband isn't terrified to eat, I consider it a success. But this, my friends, was not a total success.


I got home a bit later than usual tonight, thanks to absurd amounts of rain and flash flooding. But I can't even blame our mediocre dinner on my tardiness. I've known since yesterday that I wanted to make gnocchi and provencal sauce for dinner. I even called the husband as I sat in traffic and asked him to open a bottle of wine so it'd be ready when I got home. I needed it for the sauce. Really, I did.

A Simple Valentine's Celebration

The husband and I are simple. We live in a small house that sits on less than an acre. I drive a car that was made almost 10 years ago. Sometimes we spend the whole afternoon watching college basketball games in our living room. Does that sound simple to you? 

Simple adjective, noun not elaborate or artificial; sincere

Our three-bedroom home has a view of the mountains that I never get tired of looking at. My car has more than 100,000 miles on it and it gets me to and from the best job I've ever had every week. And we look forward to putting on our orange every Saturday and camping out on the couch in the comfort of our living room. We're simple.