Penne Alla Vodka - Updated

About three years ago, I published my go to recipe for Penne Alla Vodka. Well since then I have changed it up a bit. I no longer use sausage in it and I add in the spice once the dish is finished as my girls don't like spicy food.

I thought I would share this again with my new updates. This dish is a huge hit with my girls and my husband loves the changes that I made.

INGREDIENTS

3 to 4 oz of pancetta (slices)
1 pound uncooked penne pasta (whole wheat is really good in here)
2 tsp minced garlic
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes (plum tomatoes are the best)
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup vodka

red pepper flakes
salt
pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook your pasta according to the package. You want to cook it until it is al dente. Drain and set aside.

2. Cut your pancetta slices into 1/2 inch pieces. Just roughly estimate the size. Brown your pancetta. 

3. Add your garlic (and red pepper flakes if everyone loves spicy food, add it now) and cook for a minute until your garlic is fragrant and slightly browned.

4. Add your canned tomatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

5. Add your vodka and whipping cream and bring to a boil. 

6. Reduce heat to low, add in your pasta, toss and let it all come together. About 2 to 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper (I always add on lots of pepper).

7. Season with red pepper flakes if you haven't added them in already (for those who like spicy food). Enjoy!

Roasted Brussels Sprouts - Recipe

When I was growing up, my mom would make brussels sprouts as a side dish for dinner and we hated them. But she would boil them and they were like little awful cabbages. The smell was the worst. Luckily, after we tried them once, she didn't make us eat them anymore.

Fast forward to my adult life and I never wanted to try them again....until I was in NYC for work. Someone ordered them roasted with garlic and after I tried one, I was hooked. Now I eat them pretty often. I love them saute'd, but they are even better roasted.

This is my go-to, easy recipe for Roasted Brussels Sprouts.

Ingredients

1 lb Brussels Sprouts
Salt (Pink Himalayan is the best)
Pepper
Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar

Directions

1. You need to prep your brussels sprouts first. I take off the first layer of leaves and then I chop off the bottom stem area. Then I cut my Brussels in half and sometimes in quarters depending on how large each sprout is. Make sure you wash your brussels sprouts.

2. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

3. Place your brussels on a cookie sheet with raised sides. Drizzle olive oil all over your brussels. Freshly grind your salt and pepper over yourbBrussels sprouts.

4. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until your brussels sprouts are browned. I stir them around half way through.

5. Take your Brussels Sprouts out of the oven and let them cool off for 5 minutes. Then I drizzle Balsamic Vinegar on my roasted brussels sprouts. You do not want to be heavy handed with the balsamic vinegar as you still want the brussels sprouts to have their own flavor.

6. Enjoy.

Now I know this is a very simple dish, but sometimes simple is the best. I have tried many different versions of brussels sprouts and this is my favorite.

Recipe: Shepherd's Pie

I love a good Shepherd's Pie. I often order it in restaurants and really loved when I visited Scotland, Ireland and England because it was served everywhere. Now traditionally, it is served with lamb or rabbit, but I make it using ground beef. I have tried many recipes off Pinterest and never found one that I loved. I did find one that I liked, but then started tweaking it myself as time went on. I think I have perfected it. It is simple, but really good. Plus, my family loves it.

Ingredients:
Serves 6

1 1/4 to 1/3 lbs ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 large carrots (or 3 medium carrots)
1 cup frozen peas
3 lbs potatoes (I usually use red or yellow.)
1 stick butter
3/4 cup beef broth
3/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
flour
seasonings: salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika

Make It:

1. Peel and cut potatoes into small chunks (around 1/2 inch to 1 inch). Boil in large pot for about 20 minutes until tender. Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees.

2. While the potatoes cook, melt 3 tbl of butter in a skillet/pan over medium heat. Saute the onions and carrots for 10 minutes or until tender. Once cooked, take the veggies out and put into a bowl and cover.

3. Brown your ground beef until no longer pink. Then drain the fat. This is important, so you don't have fat pockets pop up when you bake the Shepherd's Pie. Season your meat with salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder to your liking.

4. Add your onions, carrots, frozen peas back into the pan with the ground beef. Add in the Worcestershire sauce and a half cup of the beef broth. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat to medium low for 5 minutes.

5. Make a flour paste. I use about 1 tbl flour and 1/4 cups of cold water. You want to make sure the paste is a bit runny. Add in the remaining 1/4 cup of beef broth and then make a well in the center of the mixture. Add in the flour paste to the center of the well and mix it in. It should make a gravy within your meat mixture.

6. Mash your potatoes with butter, milk and pepper. I make these according to how my family enjoys them.

7. Place your beef into a baking dish and then add your mashed potatoes on top. Make sure to cover the beef mixture entirely. Then sprinkle paprika on the top of your mashed potatoes.

8. Bake for 30 minutes until the top is browning and you see bubbling from the mixture below. Enjoy.

Recipe: Stuffed Shells

I have written about this recipe many times, but I don't think I have actually ever posted the recipe. This is a favorite of my husbands. He requests it all the time. And last week, I made it and actually photographed it. Enjoy.

What You Need:

1 lb lean ground beef
1 box jumbo shells
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/3 cup pasta cooking water
1 egg
2 cups mozzarella cheese
24 oz marinara sauce (I use Rao's since it is my favorite)
seasonings (I use pepper, garlic salt/powder, onion powder)
9 x 13 inch pan (I use disposable pans)

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cook your shells according to the package. Cook them to the pre-bake time. Before you drain the pasta, reserve 1/3 cup of the pasta water.

3. Cook your ground beef until it is no longer pink. Drain the fat and stir in your seasonings. I just eyeball it.

4. Stir in the reserved pasta water, parmesan cheese, the egg and 1 cup of mozzarella cheese. Mix until combined.

5. Pour some of the marinara sauce into the bottom of your pan, so you have a thin layer of marinara sauce. I usually make more than 1 pound of ground beef, so we have leftovers, so I usually have 1 1/2 to 2 pans.

6. Take your cooked shells and spoon in the beef and cheese mixture and place in your pan. Make sure to keep your shells upright. After you filled your shells and used all of your meat mixture, spoon on the leftover marinara sauce on top of the shells. Then add mozzarella on top of the marinara sauce.

7. Cover your pans loosely with aluminum foil and baked your filled shells for 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and your shells are warmed through. Remove the foil and broil for a few minutes until cheese is golden. Make sure to watch your shells.

8. Enjoy!

Recipe: Lentils and Spicy Sausages

I am always on the hunt for new recipes and occasionally my husband sends me a recipe he wants me to make. Now sometimes I flat out say no because the labor required to make it or the lack of ingredients available for it. But other times, like this one, he picks a good one.

I followed the directions to a T on this recipe and I found that it takes a bit longer than stated, so I have made those changes to it.

Warning...this doesn't photograph well, but it tastes amazing.

LENTILS AND SPICY SAUSAGES

Serves: 4
Recipe from: Jenna from the Fresh Tastes Blog

Ingredients:

1 yellow onion, diced
2 medium carrots, diced small
1 stalk of celery, diced small
2 tsp minced garlic
1 1/2 cups dry green lentils
1 quart chicken stock (I use low sodium)
1 1/2 tsp fresh chopped rosemary
1 tsp dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
4 large hot Italian sausages (you can see mild if you don't like spice)
salt
splash of red wine vinegar
olive oil
cooking spray

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

2. Heat olive oil in a dutch oven. When the oil is hot, add in your onions, carrots and celery. Saute for about 5 minutes, stirring often. Then add the minced garlic and saute for another 2 minutes. Make sure not to burn your garlic.

3. Add in the rosemary, dried thyme, bay leaf smoked paprika and lentils. Make sure you rinse your lentils if the package tells you to. Mix everything and then add in the chicken stock. Bring everything to a boil and then reduce heat to a bit higher than a simmer (around medium low to low).

4. Right after you start simmering, place your sausages on a cookie sheet and spray with cooking spray. Roast your sausages for 15 to 20 minutes, flipping them halfway through the cook time. You want to make sure your sausages are crispy and golden before removing them from the oven.

5. Check everything at 25 minutes, but mine took about 35 minutes to cook through and absorb most of the liquid. Add in our dijon mustard and the red wine vinegar. My red wine vinegar has a slit in the top and I just shook it three times for my splash of red wine vinegar. Stir and continue simmering until all of the liquid is absorbed.

6. Once your sausages are done and the liquid is gone from the lentils, combine everything and season with additional salt as needed. I didn't need any extra. Enjoy!

Recipe: Steak Sandwiches

We love a good steak in my house, but sometimes we have leftover steak that we won't let go to waste. We sometimes make salads, steak and eggs or a sandwich. I think the sandwich option is my favorite.

I make a killer steak sandwich and it is sooo simple and easy. You can change up the ingredients to suit yourself, your family or what with you have on hand.

STEAK SANDWICHES
makes 4 sandwiches

Ingredients:

- Leftover steak (I use tri tip as we always have a lot leftover and the marinade on the tri tip is heavenly)
- 1 onion (1/4 slices)
- 1 green bell pepper (cut length wise)
- 4 French rolls (I get mine from a local bakery)
- cheese (I used pepper jack this time, but I have used provolone, havarti, munster, etc)
- 2 to 3 tbl butter

Directions:

1. Chop your steak if you have not already. I usually cut mine into 1/8 to 1/4 inch strips. You should cut your steak based on the type of steak you have. You want it to be tender and easy to chew.

2. Melt your butter over medium in your pan. Once the butter is melted, add in your onions and bell peppers. Season with pepper. Only season with salt if you don't have a marinade or already salted a lot when you made the steak. My tri tip is marinaded and already has enough salt, so I just did pepper. Cook for about 10 minutes until your onions start to brown and caramelize.

3. Add in your steak and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes. You just want to heat up your steak, cook it a bit longer and get it nice and coated with the butter.

4. Once your steak is cooked to your liking, add in your cheese. I usually turn down the heat a bit, so my cheese doesn't clump together. Continue to stir until cheese is melted and everything is combined.

5. Time to assemble. I cut my bread in half but leave it still attached on one side. I open it slightly and take out a bit of the inner bread to make room for my steak goodness. I then add a generous helping of the steak, onions, bell peppers and cheese.

6. Serve. Or you can put it in the oven for a couple minutes to crisp up your bread.

Recipe: Stuffed Bell Peppers

One of our favorite meals to make is stuffed bell peppers. You can stuff them with Italian ingredients, Mexican or pretty much anything. I have seen so many variations on Pinterest. But this is the version I have been making for a long time. I used to use a recipe, but I tweaked it so much to make it my own and this is the one I have been using for years. The girls even like these. Enjoy!

What You Need (Ingredients)

4 red large or 6 medium or green bell peppers (red are sweeter)
1 tbl EVOO
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 lb ground beef or turkey
1/2 tbl minced garlic
1 1/2 cups cooked white rice
1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
Garlic powder
Onion salt/powder
Black pepper
Pinch of red pepper flakes (to taste, 1/4 tsp for little heat, 1/2 tsp for more heat)
Parmesan cheese
Handful of freshly chopped parsley

 I usually use red bell peppers, but we grew these in our garden, so I used green.

What You Do (Directions)

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees (F).
2. Cut the tops off your bell peppers (at the very top to keep as much bell pepper as possible) and clean the inside of them out.
3. In a large pot of boiling water, place your bell peppers in the water to parboil them. Leave them in there for 2 to 3 minutes. You want them to be just tender, but not overly soft. Remove the bell peppers to some paper towels.
4. In a large skillet, heat your oil at medium heat. Add the onions and cook until soft. Around 3 to 4 minutes. Add in your garlic one minute before your onions are done. Do not burn your garlic. Remove the onions and garlic to a side bowl.
5. In the same skillet, brown your meat and cook until it is no longer pink. Make sure you break up the meat into smaller pieces. Drain your grease and add in your seasonings (pepper, garlic powder, onion salt/powder, red pepper flakes, parsley).
6. Add back in your onions, 8 oz of your spaghetti sauce and the rice. Stir until combined and remove from heat. Taste the mixture to make sure it doesn't need anymore seasonings. If it does, add more to your taste.
7. Pour more spaghetti sauce onto the bottom of your pan to just cover the bottom to about 1/8 inch keep.
8. Take your bell peppers and scoop in the meat/rice mixture. Arrange your bell peppers in the pan to give them a little room between each. Spoon on the remaining spaghetti sauce onto the tops of your bell peppers.

9. Bake for 25 minutes or until your meat and rice mixture is heated through. Put parmesan cheese on the top (as much as you like) and bake for another 5 minutes.
10. Remove from the oven and let them rest for a few minutes before serving.

Weekending

Another weekend has flown by. This weekend was a pretty good one. We squeezed in some playground time in between storms and thundershowers, the girls got a haircut and we went to our first Food Truck Friday of the season.

But now the rain is back and it is supposed to be like this all week. Ugh. Rain, rain, go away.

Anyways, our weekend start off early as we got a phone call around 10:15 saying Sutton had thrown up in the playground at school and we needed to go get her. So we told our bosses and headed to the girls daycare. When we arrived, Sutton was in the front area waiting for us with her blankets and her cot. She wanted to lay down, so they brought her everything. She didn't have a temperature, but we didn't want to risk her sister getting sick too, so we took Sutton and left Avery at school.

We headed home and took her temperature again and it was in the 98's. Then we stripped her down and gave her a quick bath. She told us she felt fine, but we wanted to wait it out a bit before deciding what to do.

After hanging out for a bit and getting her laundry started, we decided to go grab some lunch and go to Costco and the restaurant supply store. We kept asking her the entire time if she was feeling ok and if she was feeling sick to let us know.

We went to a Greek place for lunch and it was soooo good. Plus it was near everywhere we needed to go to.

She insisted on wearing her Pepa sunglasses inside.

Then we took her to the restaurant supply store for the disposable cardboard style to-go boxes, so we can use those at work instead of tupperware that keeps warping. Then we headed to Costco for several item and then took Sutton home for a nap.

She napped until 4 pm. I picked up Avery around 3:20 and grabbed us some coffees on the way home. Then we hung out for a bit and checked on the weather constantly. It was the first Food Truck Friday of the season and we soooo wanted to go, but a storm was rolling in. We decided to chance it and walked to the event (it is maybe a mile away from our house). It was pretty windy the whole time, but we were able to walk around, get some dinner and gelato and have a drink (wine for me, beer for Rory). We headed home around 6:30, so I could give Avery a bath and get the girls to bed. 

That evening we started Evil Genius on Netflix (per Emelia's recommendation). We made it through an episode and a half before going to bed.

Saturday morning we got up and I gave the girls cereal while Rory went to a local plant sale. He grabbed scones and coffee on the way home for us to enjoy. Then I did some cleaning before getting ready. We headed out of the house around 10 am to go to Pottery Barn for some new towels. I have had the same towels since my bridal shower and it was time for an upgrade. We also looked at couches while we were there, but didn't buy one. Then we took the girls to the park to burn off some energy.

We love this park, but don't get to go that often since it is on the other side of town.

Then we grabbed a quick lunch at In N Out before heading to the salon to get the girls hair cut. It was the first time they had a haircut since November 2016. If you read my blog on Friday then you saw that I was going back and forth on how we should cut it. Just a trim or go for a little bob. Well, after talking to Brittany, she recommended we go with the bob. She showed us where their mature hair was and their baby hair was and said if we cut it just below their shoulders, it will grow out fast and more evenly. That won me over and I said to cut it. 

The girls didn't want their hair washed in the bowl, so she just sprayed it with water. They did sooooo good at the appointment. No tears, no flinching. Sutton went first and I took a ton of photos to commemorate it.

 They wanted "sassy" hair like mommy.

Next up was Avery. She did just as well as her sister and couldn't wait to get her hair blow dried. Brittany gave me advice to blow dry their bangs after a bath to tame them, so we have been doing that ever since.

 She grew up several years it feels like.

We took the girls home and put them down for a nap. They went to bed later, so they slept later. While they napped, I headed out to the grocery store and then to Honda to get a free tank of gas. Can't beat that with our crazy gas prices here.

When I got back, the girls were up and so we played a bit and then I started making dinner. We had taco bowls with cauliflower Spanish rice. The rest of the evening we relaxed as it rained hard outside.

Sunday morning we got up and made bacon, eggs and bagels for breakfast per the girls request. After getting ready, we went to the park since there was a break in the rain. Plus it was really warm out.

After the park, we headed back to the grocery store for more bread (ours had some mold on it and I didn't know that until after I went to the store), more cheese, jelly and a few spices that I used up when I made the taco bowls.

Then we headed home where the girls had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch. Rory went to a friend's house and I started making sugar cookies. I didn't get very far as I had to put the girls down for their naps. They slept hard again. I made the cookies, watched a bit of season 2 of 13 Reason Why.

The girls napped until 3 pm. They got up and I painted their nails. Once those were dry, we headed outside to play on bikes, scooters and their Jeeps. Then I went inside to prep the artichokes for dinner and make the marinade for the halibut. Rory and I had pan seared halibut with rice and artichokes. The girls had chicken nuggets, rice and cheese. This halibut recipe is soooo good. Plus it is super easy to make.

After dinner, I bathed the girls and then we relaxed until it was their bedtime. Then we did the whole bedtime routine. There was a break in the weather, so Rory took Walter on a walk and then I painted my nails. Pretty easy and chill evening. We watched another episode of Evil Genius and then went to bed.

How was your weekend?