Savory butternut squash pasta
You know what I’ve been digging lately? Pasta. Growing up, we never really ate pasta. And then in my eating disorder days, pasta had too many carbs for my brain to feel safe with, so I rarely ever ate it. If I did, it had to have a ton of veggies in it so that I felt full with as few pasta noodles at possible (I originally put “pasta” here, haha). So really it was veggies with some noodles. I now realize how sad that is, because pasta is delish. As I found more freedom with food, we still never ate pasta because it wasn’t something I was accustomed to eating. But THEN! THEN we went to Italy and I had the most delicious pasta dishes ever. 😍I didn’t think I liked Italian food, but boy was I wrong! Real Italian food is the best thing ever. We could learn a thing or two from those genius Italians. :-)
So now, as I’m meal planning each week, we pretty much have some sort of pasta dish every week. It’s easy, versatile, and delicious. We’ve been experimenting with different types of sauces and meats, shapes of pasta, and pasta ingredients. Sometimes we have whole wheat pasta, other times white pasta from Italy, and others, Banza pasta. Banza pasta is made from chickpeas, so it’s naturally gluten free. I’ve tried a few gluten free pastas in my days, and they are NOT all created equal. 😳Although Banza’s pasta has a different texture than regular flour pasta, Isaac and I really like it! It’s nice and hearty and holds up well, unlike other mushy GF pastas. I also like that it adds variety to my food intake. We don’t eat a ton of beans, so this easily adds another food group into our weekly intake. And because it’s made with chickpeas, I don’t have to plan a meat in order for it to have protein. Because if you follow me, you know I’m all about having protein, carbs, fat, and fiber at my meals (yay for satisfaction and satiety). It also makes throwing together a quick meal easy when I don’t have a plan for dinner and don’t want to go get additional ingredients.
Banza thinks that most new years resolutions (which I don’t personally do) are too serious, too stressful, and too hard to stick to. And I completely agree. They also think that in order to enhance your health and life, you don’t have to make life worse. I’m gonna argue that if your new “health” behavior is making life more stressful and less enjoyable, then it probably isn’t actually healthy. As a result, their current campaign is #ResolveToEatMorePasta and that is a resolution I can get behind 🤓.
You can technically make this recipe with any pasta you prefer. And serve it with a meat of choice, if you like. We ate this one night with pre-cooked chicken sausage for more flavor and texture. Prep your veggies and bacon (the bacon is key for giving it a savory, smokey flavor 😍) and roast them until fork tender. Meanwhile, soak your cashews in water and boil your pasta. Once the veggies are done, puree them with the softened cashews, nutritional yeast (or cream cheese, if you prefer!), and enough chicken broth to create a smooth sauce. Mix with your cooked and drained pasta, and viola! You’ve got a delicious lunch or dinner that is packed full of nutrition and flavor. I’d love to hear what you think of it when you try it!
Also, this sauce is delicious, so you could totally just add more chicken broth to it to eat as a soup, or you could put it on other carbs like rice or spread on toast. :-)
Your new secret for easy Mexican food *GIVEAWAY*
Hello everybody!! I've been a little quiet here and on the 'gram due to being so busy with house renovations and moving. Let me just say, redoing a house is not for the faint of heart. I've had a few breakdowns the past two weeks, but we are still trucking along and taking everything in stride. I can't wait to show you guys the before and after pictures of what we have done!
But in the meantime, I wanted to share with you all a new product I've found that has made meal prep easier. When we were driving back and forth to work on the house every night, I had to make quick meals earlier in the day and then bring it to the house to reheat in the microwave. Quick and easy was the name of the game. That's where these sauces came in handy.
Awhile back, the owner of Molli sauces, Rodrigo Sales, contacted me asking me to try his sauces. He is the sweetest man and want to do something for all of YOU. He wants to give one of you lucky readers a pack of three of his sauces plus "Mexico, the Cookbook." All you have to do is comment below with your favorite Mexican dish or comment on my IG post.
I've made several dishes with his sauces, this cheesy beef and rice Mexican casserole and a chicken enchilada soup. Any of the sauces will do, so pick whichever one sounds most appealing to your tastebuds. I know I should have included the jar in the picture, but I took them after I created the dish, which means the jar was empty. 🤦🏼♀️ Reason number 183902483 of why I probably shouldn't blog 😂
Anywho, you should give these sauces a try. They're full of veggies and flavor and a super easy way to add a lot of flavor to a meal. So what are you waiting for? Comment below for a chance to win!!
Easy Mexican Beef and Rice Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 cup yellow onion, diced
- 5 cups rice (or quinoa)
- 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
- 1 tsp garlic
- 1 jar Molli sauce of choice + 1.5 cup water, divided
- 1.5 cup shredded cheese (Mexican, Pepperjack, Colby Jack, whatever you prefer!)
- 1 lb ground beef or turkey (or use can black beans for plant based)
- Toppings: green onion, plain Greek yogurt, cilantro, avocado, tortilla chips
Instructions
- Cook onion, bell pepper, ground meat, and garlic in a large skillet until meat is browned and veggies are soft. In a 9X12 casserole dish, combine cooked meat and veggies with jar of Molli sauce, 1 cup water, and rice (or quinoa). Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and stir in 3/4 cup cheese, and 1/2 cup water (if needed). Bake another 30 minutes with foil on. Uncover, top with rest of cheese and broil for 2-3 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.
- Top with plain Greek yogurt, green onions, cilantro, avocado, etc and serve with chips!
In case you missed the link about, here is the link to learn about Molli sauces: http://www.mollisauces.com/
Oven Fried Rosemary Chicken Nuggets
Finally! It's about time I shared another recipe here. I mean, it IS a food blog after all. Tiny confession: I have one more blogpost for our trip to Italy. I have to share the rest of our trip, some photos of what we saw, and my sweet, sweet nephew (let's be real, the best part is pictures of him!). But in the meantime, I thought I'd share this with you.
I found this recipe several years ago and tweaked it for my dad who is gluten free. You are more than welcome to use bread crumbs, but I've only ever made it with rice chex, and have loved it every time. I made it for a dinner party once and got rave reviews.
I've got to be honest for a second. I'm terrible at cooking chicken. I pride myself in being a pretty decent cook, but along with trying to fold fitted sheets, I fall short every time. I've tried multiple "tried and true" methods and even use a meat thermometer, and yet somehow ruin it every time. Poor Isaac. His favorite meat is chicken and I always end up making it tough and dry. How is that possible?
But wait! Somehow this chicken turns out super tender and juicy! Why? I don't know--and I'm not going to question it. All I know is that this oven fried chicken is super flavorful from the spicy mustard and fresh rosemary and that it doesn't end up tough and dry. And then it's got walnuts and parmigiano reggianno, which happens to be my current obsession right now.
The original recipe is for whole chicken breasts, but I thought I would turn them into chicken nuggets for this post because anything miniature is super cute. Show me small bowls, spoons, cups, etc and I automatically want them. Dolls houses? They are the CUTEST!!...Depending on the occasion, you can choose which version you would prefer to make/eat.
I'd love for you to make them and let me know what you think!
