After a too long blog holiday...get ready for updates

So work slightly took over my life :) Over the next week you will see updates from meals over the past few months that managed to get photographed but not blogged until now!

Lent No Meat Experiments...Successful New Spaghetti Squash Recipe

We are doing are best to stay meatless on Fridays in Lent and this week the plan was for spaghetti squash. We had already done a pasta dish with tomato sauce already during the week so we decided to experiment and see what type of different sauce we could create. It ended up being a highly successful dinner!

Ingredients

Small spaghetti squash

Olive Oil

One medium yellow onion, diced

Three cloves of minced garlic

Three plum tomatoes diced

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Directions

1) Using a fork or knife, poke holes in the squash and microwave for 10-20 minutes depending on the size. Start with 10 minutes and when you can squeeze the squash easily it is done.

2) While cooking the spaghetti squash, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a saute pan and add onion and garlic. Saute until softened and just browned. Add around 3 more tablespoons olive oil. Add the tomatoes and saute on low heat until just softened. Add the lemon juice and take off the heat.

3) Cut the squash in half, remove the seeds and then use a fork to separate out the "spaghetti". Add to the saute pan and mix.

4) Serve!

We grilled some asparagus to round out the meal. Just tossed asparagus with olive oil, salt and pepper and then grilled on stove top grill pan. If you give this a try I hope you enjoy!

Cream of Mushroom Chicken

This is in no way an original recipe. You would probaby be hard pressed to find someone who has not made a variation on this meal because it is quick, easy and tasty. I used this basic recipe from Allrecipes and added some extra stuff to jazz it up!

Ingredients
1 lb thin-cut chicken breasts
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 red pepper, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 tomato, chopped

Directions
1) Heat a small amount of olive oil in a pan. Saute the chicken breasts until just cooked. Add cream of mushroom soup and lower heat to simmer.
2) In a frying dish saute onion, peppers and mushroom until softened and just browned (I started with the onions and peppers and added the mushrooms towards the end).
3) Add the onions etc to the chicken mixture and simmer until ready to serve.
4) Serve over wild rice and topped with fresh chopped tomatoes.

Sausage, Spinach and Ricotta filled Manicotti

After years of my pasta dishes stretching only as far as ziti and the occasional stuffed shells, I wanted to branch out this weekend. I found this recipe on a blog I love and decided to give it a try. The slight variations are based on personal flavor preference and the fact that all the shells were broken at the store so I tried manicotti. This recipe made 2 9x13 inch trays so I would suggest either adapting it or being ready for left overs!

Sausage, Spinach and Ricotta Filled Manicotti
Source: Minimally adapted from Annie's Eats

Ingredients

2 packages Manicotti (had 5 left over that I did not have enough filling for)

Olive oil

1 cup finely chopped yellow onion

1 lb. Italian sausage, casings removed

3 cloves minced garlic

2 large eggs

15-oz. container ricotta cheese (more if you like cheesy stuffed shells/manicotti)

6-7 oz. fresh spinach, chopped

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup mozzarella cheese

Italian seasoning to spice (any combo of basil, oregano etc you like)

1/4 cup bread crumbs

2 cans crushed or diced tomatoes (depends on how you like your sauce - I used chunky crushed)

Directions

1) Cook pasta as per the directions, rinse with cold water and spread out on aluminium foil to avoid sticking

2) Saute onions in olive oil until softened and lightly browned. Add sausage mixing frequently to break into small pieces. Cook sausage completely and then add garlic.

3) In a bowl mix ricotta, eggs, spinach, 1/2 cup Parmesan, 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, bread crumbs and spices. Add the sausage/onion mix and combine.

4) Heat the diced/crushed tomatoes and spice as you like it (I add some Italian spices, salt and pepper).

5) Spread a layer of sauce on the bottom of the 9x13 containers, fill the manicotti and lay in the dish. Cover with another layer of sauce.

6) Bake covered in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes. Uncover, top with the remaining Parmesan and mozzarella cheese and bake for 10 minutes.

We served this with home made garlic bread and a salad of spinach topped with apple, pear and walnuts. Enjoy!

Salsa Chicken - one of many variations!

I have seen many variations of this recipe on the blogs I read and got my most recent inspiration from this recipe on Lovestoeat's blog. I adapted it to the ingredients I had and for the stove. I will warn you the picture might not look the best...but making dishes with sauce look good in pictures is one of my most difficult tasks!

Ingredients

3 cups shredded chicken (we used leftover chicken pulled from a roast chicken we made the night before)

3/4 cup salsa (we used medium and it had just the right amount of spice)

3/4 cup low fat sour cream

Directions: Mix together and place in an oven safe dish. Top with shredded cheddar cheese. Bake in a 375 degree oven covered for around 30 minutes then uncovered until bubbling and cheese melted and browning. Serve over rice.

For being so easy, this dish was very tasty and our new favorite way to use up left over chicken. It also was even better the next night as leftovers after the flavors had settled!

Pulled Pork - A New Favorite

Recently it seemed that every time I looked at a blog, pulled pork sandwiches were a highlight so I decided to give them a try. Oh my goodness, these were sooo good. I found this recipe on The Way the Cookie Crumbles and will just link you there as I made no changes and wouldn't dream of it. This picture absolutely does not do this meal justice - I was clearly in too much of a hurry to bite in to take a good picture!

Just a few notes:

-For some reason I thought buying an 8lb pork shoulder was a good idea. I did the spice rub and and left it in the fridge overnight, but the next morning it did not quite it in the slow cooker so I ended up cutting all the meat off the bone and trimming off some of the fat before putting it in the slow cooker.

-I was around home while it cooked so I occasionally basted the meat with the juices.

-I have read that you can use pork loin and pork rib to make pulled pork so I might give that a try in the future.

I wanted to serve this with coleslaw as recommended by many people. I started off looking for a healthy version and tried this recommended recipe from Sparkpeople. It had a little too much of a bite for me so I ended up adding a little low fat mayo and sugar to make it more to my taste (I know took away a little from the healthy part!).

I would highly suggest this recipe - the pork also freezes really well in ziploc bags. I just defrosted the meat overnight and then reheat in a pot with BBQ sauce and a dash of water to add some moisture. Made for some easy nights cooking!

Valentine's Dinner: Salmon Pesto Pasta and Mango Shortbread Bars

(I will warn you now my picture skills need some work!)

We are not a couple big on crowds, so dinners at home on holidays is our style and we always try something new. I asked for ideas on a cooking board I frequent and found this salmon recipe with very positive reviews. Everyone was right - this pasta is delicious with a perfect combination of flavors. The dessert is not new to us, but is one of the hubby's favorites and he has been asking me to make it for months so I thought Valentines Day was a good time.

One of the most fun parts of the night was I decided to bring out our "fancy china" for the first time. I decided since we are not really in the era of our lives for hosting holidays and fancy dinner parties, I should stop waiting and use the china for just the two of us!

Dinner: Salmon Pesto Pasta

Source: The Way the Cookie Crumbles

Ingredients
1 lb salmon
1 lb pasta (we used thin lunguini but anything would work)

2/3 cup heavy cream (recipe used evaporated milk to add healthiness, we went all out with heavy cream)
1/2 cup pesto (can be made from scratch as the original recipe says, personally I just used out of a jar!)

1 Lemon

Salt

Pepper

Grated parmesan cheese

Directions

1) Start water boiling for pasta with a small amount of salt and olive oil in the water. Cook pasta al dente, drain and return to the same pot. (do steps 2 and 3 while the pasta is cooking)

2) Season salmon with salt, pepper and lemon zest then rub with olive oil (place on baking sheet lined with aluminium). Turn on broiler put salmon on middle rack for 10-15 minute until cooked through and flakes away from the skin with a fork. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Remove from oven and break apart with a fork (skin should stay behind on the pan)

3) Heat cream on low heat until just simmering. Add a small amount of salt and pepper for flavor.

4) Pour the cream over the pasta and mix. Stir in the pesto next and top with the salmon. Serve with grated parmesan cheese for topping.

I served this with steamed broccoli and a salad of romaine, apples and walnuts with a rasberry vinagrette (care of Paul Newman).

Dessert: Mango Shortbread Bars
Source: All Recipes

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups butter
1/2 cup white sugar
3 cups sifted all-purpose flour

4 cups sliced mango
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Sprinkle of ground nutmeg

Directions
1) Cream together butter and 1/2 cup sugar. Add flour and mix (the mixture will be crumbly).

2) Press 2/3 mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 glass pan.

3) Combine mango and the last 4 ingredients. Place in the pan.

4) Place remaining mixure over the mangos and press lightly.

5) Bake in 350 degree oven for 1hr until golden brown. Allow to cool, cut and serve.

Perfect served with tea!