Meaty Spaghetti Sauce

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Ahhh... home cooked meals. Traditional goodness passed down from generation to generation. This was the spaghetti sauce I ate growing up. It's thick and chunky, and full of amazing flavor. After trying this, you'll never go back to canned sauce again!

You'll notice that the recipe allows for a few hours of simmering time. This is to get the best taste out of the herbs. Your house will also smell amazing! However, this spaghetti sauce is amazing after a short cooking time as well. Brown the beef, drain, and cook everything together for 30 minutes or so. Serve over hot noodles with warm bread and a salad!

Meaty Spaghetti Sauce
The Double Dipped Life


1 lb Ground Beef
1 chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
sliced mushrooms (optional)
1 teas salt
1/4 teas pepper
1 TB Basil
1/4 teas minced garlic
2 TB chopped (or dried) parsley
1 bay leaf
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 can tomato sauce
spaghetti noodles
Parmesan or mozzarella cheese

Brown meat, drain fat. In the same pan, add in onion, celery, and mushrooms. Cook until soft.
Add browned meat and remaining ingredients and simmer 2-3 hours until sauce thickens. Stir occasionally. Add water if too thick.

Serve over hot noodles! Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and/or mozzarella cheese.
Enjoy!

Pumpkin Coconut Tropical Soup

I ran to Zupas cafe for lunch in October and they were featuring a pumpkin coconut soup. Two of my favorite flavors! How could I resist?  Let me just say... yum! I would eat this a few times a week if I could.  Sadly, Zupas had in on their menu only for October.  But... I could recreate it, right? Right!

With just a list of main ingredients and my tastebuds, I recreated this soup.  Now, my personal opinion is that mine is slightly better. More flavor, and a little bit richer. This soup is easy to make, and full of flavor!


Pumpkin Coconut Tropical Soup
The Double Dipped Life

2 Tb butter
1/2 onion, diced finely
1/2 teas nutmeg
1/2 teas cinnamon
1/4 teas chile powder
salt and pepper
 2 cans (12 oz each) coconut milk (I used one regular and one light)
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 12 oz can of vegetable broth
1 12 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tomato, chopped
6 oz chopped pineapple
green onions, chopped, for garnish 
chopped macadamia nuts for garnish

Melt the butter in a large soup pan. Add chopped onions, and cook until soft. Add in the spices, and cook until fragrant.

Pour in the coconut milk, pumpkin, and broth, and stir well.  Heat to boiling and boil for 2-3 minutes. Add in the rest of the ingredients and warm through. Serve warm with chopped green onions and macadamia nuts.

Enjoy!

Asiago Tortellini

Alrighty, so not a great picture. But, what a great dish! Because you are using frozen tortellini, this dish is fast. The tomatoes and broth add tons of flavor. Great for a quick lunch, or light dinner. I served it for dinner, alongside some quick and easy Flatbread (recipe coming!) and salad.

Asiago Tortellini
Cooking Light fresh food fast



1 9 oz package frozen Three-Cheese Tortellini
2 large tomatoes
1 can 14oz chicken or veggie broth 
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped (fresh is best for this!)
1/2 cup, 2 oz Asiago cheese, shaved
Freshly ground black pepper 


Cook tortellini according to package directions omitting the salt and fat. Drain.


While the pasta is cooking,combine broth and tomato in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Remove from heat; stir in basil. Cover and let broth mixture stand until pasta is done. 


Add drained pasta to broth mixture. Ladle soup into shallow bowls; sprinkle each serving with cheese. Garnish with basil and pepper, if desired. 


Yields 4 servings. 


Enjoy! 

Mulligatawny (Indian Curry Soup)

I love soup season! Warm, flavorful flavors that cook for hours, making your house smell so nice... mmm...

Today's soup does not take hours, but is super fragrant, and was really good!  Indian Curry soup, or Mulligatawny, is a traditional Eastern Indian Soup.

This is also a great soup for beginner Thai cooks or eaters!  It isn't very strong in flavors. You get just an introduction to curry.  Now, I know it's called "soup", but mine turned out pretty thick. I ended up making some brown rice, and eating the soup on top of that.  Also, this is a Weight Watcher's recipe, and it's full of fruit and veggies! It includes chicken, but that can easily be taken out, and you would still have a hearty meal.

I would also recommend eating this with Naan Bread! Yum! 


Mulligatawny (Indian Curry Soup)
Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook


2 teas canola oil
1 onion, chopped finely
2 carrots, diced
2 celery, diced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
2 tart apples, peeled and diced
1/4 cup flour
2 teas curry powder
1/8 teas nutmeg
1 whole clove (Next time I would use powder)
2 cups chicken broth (or veggie broth)
1 tomato, peeled, and chopped
1 teas lemon juice 
2 cups diced, cooked chicken
1/4 teas. salt

Place oil in a medium saucepan, and heat.  Add diced onion, carrots, celery, green bell pepper, and the apples.  Cook for 5 minutes, until the veggies are soft.  Stir in the flour, curry, nutmeg, and clove; stirring, 1 minute. Gradually stir in the stock.

Add the tomato and lemon juice; bring to a boil, and then simmer for 30 minutes, stirring often. 

In the meantime, cook your chicken. Add the chicken and the salt to the soup, and stir well.

Serve over brown rice, or alongside Naan Bread! Enjoy!

Weight Watchers points: 1/4 of soup= 4 points (Does not include rice or bread) 

Week 15 Meal Plan

 Good Morning! I've got a great menu lined up for this week. This menu features more meals with less meat. They are also all new meals, mostly from other blogs. The links will take you to the original recipe.

The menu, recipe, and shopping list can be downloaded for your use!  Enjoy!


Day 1: Linguine in Lemon Cream Sauce with Summer Veggies Skillet and Crusty Bread.
Day 2: Corn Chowder with Bread and/or Salad
Day 3: Coconut Peanut Sauce Beef with Rice (Fancy it up with Cilantro and Pineapple) and Steamed Broccoli.
Day 4: Crispy Baked Breakfast Taquitos with Lime-Chipotle Dip.
Day 5: Savory Spiral Crescent Rolls with salad
Day 6: Hawaiian Tacos with Fancy Black Beans
Dessert: Nanaimo Bars

Week 11 Menu Plan

Week 11 Meal plan is here! Now, you may have noticed that I'm not doing a weekly plan; more like every other week. If you would like them more often, please let me know. We're at the point where we'll probably be having repeat meals.

This week is a little bit of a "preview" week. There are some recipes that I plan to post on the blog, but are not here yet. So, you get to try them first! I also assigned the meals by "day 1" instead of days of the week. I find that when I make my personal meal plans, I often make them out of order. I don't think it matters, as long as you've gone shopping!

As always, I appreciate any input!

Day 1: Spinach Feta Pasta with Rosemary Focaccia Bread
Day 2: Spicy Crockpot Shredded Pork in either Burritos or Salad
Day 3: Ritz Cracker Chicken with Oven Roasted Broccoli
Day 4: Leftovers
Day 5: Leftover pork in Taquitos with a Salad
Day 6: Maria's Sunshine Salad
Day 7: White Bean and Chicken Chili
Dessert: Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Brownies

Download the menu, recipes, and shopping list from Google Documents!

Spinach Feta Pasta

Doesn't this look good? I found this recipe on OurBestBites.com when I had lots of feta and spinach in my fridge. Now, I have to be totally honest and tell you that we liked this dish, but didn't LOVE it- my husband just isn't fond of chunks of tomatoes in the sauce. But... since everyone has different tastes, I'm sure there are those of you out there that will LOVE it!

Spinach and Feta Pasta
OurBestBites

8 oz. Penne noodles
28-oz. can diced tomatoes
3 c. fresh spinach
1 onion, finely chopped
5-6 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
A handful of fresh mushrooms, chopped
4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
Salt and pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and add pasta. Cook according to package directions.

In the meantime, heat a little olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions, garlic, and mushrooms and cook until tender.

Add spinach and cook until wilted. Add tomatoes, heat through, and then add drained pasta and crumbled feta. Add salt and pepper to taste. Heat through and serve; crumbling a little extra Feta on top!

Serve with Rosemary Foccacia or sweet Challah Bread!

Week 9 Meal Plan

Here we go again! I picked some easier meals for you this week. I've added some more side dishes, and one dessert! Enjoy!



Monday: Quick Chicken Quesadillas
Tuesday: Crispy Coconut Chicken Fingers with Green beans and Shaved Asiago
Wednesday: Roasted Veggie and Pesto Pasta with bread or rolls
Thursday: Spinach Salad with Fruit
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: Chicken and wild rice soup (Can use leftover coconut chicken) with Spinach dip Crostini
Sunday: French Dip Sandwiches with Sunny Lime Fruit Salad
Dessert: Paradise Pineapple

The Menu, Recipes, and Shopping List are available to download!

Week 8 Meal Plan

Happy Monday! Here is another week of meals planned just for you! I'm personally trying some new recipes this week, and hope to add them to my main recipe list.

Tonight's recipe is simple, but will need some shopping. I tried to make it easy, since I'm posting this later than usual. Good Eating!


Monday: Rueban Sandwiches with Chips and Salsa
Tuesday: Teriyaki Turkey Lettuce Wraps
Wednesday: Thai Omelet Soup
Thursday: Pancakes with Eggs and Bacon
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: Slow cooker chicken stacks
Sunday: Penne Pasta with Sausage

Dessert: Spiced Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

As always, download the menu, recipes, and shopping list for your cooking ease!

Veggie Omelette Thai Soup

I have to admit that I tried this recipe because it had an omelet in it. I've just recently learned how to make an omelet, and have developed a little obsession with them...

I also wanted a Thai dish that was a bit healthier. This soup is all Veggies and has amazing flavor. Well, that is, it had amazing flavor once I was done with it! I added a lot of spices and different vegetables that weren't called for in the original recipe. The nice thing about this soup is that you can change up the vegetables and use what you have in the house. Also, it doesn't really have any "hard to find" Thai ingredients. The only thing you might have to search for is the Savoy Cabbage. I found some in my regular grocery store, but you might have to visit the Oriental shop again! This is Savoy Cabbage:


So, shall we proceed? Get out your soup pan and let's make some dinner!

Veggie Omelette Thai Soup

2 cans (14oz) Vegetable stock (3 3/4 cups)
2 carrots, finely diced
4 outer leaves Savoy Cabbage, shredded
1/2 onion, diced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/4 teas ginger
14 teas cumin
1/4 teas red pepper flakes
1/4 teas salt
1 egg
1 TB peanut oil
2 TB Soy Sauce
1/2 teas white sugar
1/2 teas ground black pepper
fresh cilantro to garnish

1. Put the stock in a large pan. Add vegetables and all the spices to the salt, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

In the meantime, crack the egg in a bowl, and beat lightly with a fork. Heat the oil in a small frying pan until hot, but not smoking. Pour in the egg and swirl the pan so that it coats the base evenly. Cook over a medium heat, flipping once, until the omelet has set, and the underside is golden brown. Slide it out of the pan and roll it up. Slice into 1/4in. rounds and set aside for garnish.


When the soup has simmered for 5 minutes, add the soy sauce, sugar, and pepper.


Stir well, then pour into bowls. Top with omelette rounds and cilantro garnish.

Enjoy! This is a very light soup, but packs a punch with the crunchy cabbage, soft carrots and mushrooms, and the spices.


For desert serve fresh fruit! Thai desserts are mainly fruit, and the flavor of the fruit works well in cleansing your palette.

Week 7 Meal Plan

Here we go again! Please comment if you are using my meal plans! I need to know if they are worth posting or not. Thanks!!

This week offers 6 dinners, including one Crock-pot meal, and 1 desert.






Monday: Clam Chowder with Salad and Bread
Tuesday: Mussaman Curry over Jasmine Rice
Wednesday: Cilantro Lime Burritos with Dressing
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Asparagus, Feta, Couscous Salad (Meatless)
Saturday: Pizza (can be meatless)
Sunday: Crockpot BBQ Pork Sandwiches with Veggies
Dessert: White Ch0colate Lemon Bars

Download the menu, recipes, and shopping list from Google Docs.

Week 6 Meal Plan

Merry Christmas!!!

Since it is a holiday week, I feature recipes that are either made in the oven, or take 20 minutes or less to make! Enjoy your easy cooking week, and have a memorable holiday!
I will not be posting a menu plan next week. We'll start again in 2010!

Monday: Penne Pasta with Sausage and Garlic Bread (I had this for dinner on Sunday, and it was divine! I don't have a picture yet, but soon will!)

Tuesday: Pioneer Woman's Spicy Pulled Pork (Takes 6-7 hours in oven)

Wednesday: Chicken Cordon Bleu Chowder 15 minutes from start to finish!

Thursday: Leftovers/ Christmas Eve Meal

Friday: Leftovers from Christmas Eve or Taco Chicken with Corn Salsa

Saturday: Breakfast for dinner: Monte Cristo sandwiches

Sunday: Thai Fried Rice with Beef and Jasmine Rice (or meatless)

Desert: Molasses Cookies

Please click on this link to download the menu, recipes, and grocery list!

Stay tuned this week for APPETIZERS that make any party perfect!

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday!!!

Week 5 Meal Plan

Welcome back! I took a breather for the holidays, but the weekly menu's are back!



Monday: Turkey Casserole (or chicken)
Tuesday: Hawaiian Haystacks
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Skillet Pork Chops (or in the crock-pot)
Friday: Spaghetti with Rosemary Foccacia bread (optional Meatless!)
Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: Sour Cream Enchiladas with Black Beans and Rice
Desert of the week: No-Bake Cookies

Download the menu, the recipes, and the grocery list!

Southwest-Style Egg Rolls

My favorite "meal" at Chili's is their appetizer plate of Southwestern Egg Rolls. I confuse the waiter every time when I ask for those as my meal! Yes, they are fried, but they are also filled with veggies, and beans. Yum!

Southwest-Style Egg Rolls

2 TB Olive Oil
¼ cup Chopped green onion
4 cups fresh baby spinach
1 cup frozen corn
1 (15oz) can black beans, drained
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 TB fresh lime juice
½ teas. Salt
2 teas. Ground cumin
6 oz Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1 (14oz) package egg roll wrappers
Vegetable oil for frying

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in onions, and cook until tender.

Stir in spinach, corn, black beans, and lime juice. Season with salt and cumin.

Remove from heat, and stir in cheese.

Place 1/4 cup of filling in the center of each egg roll wrapper. Fold in the sides, and roll egg rolls; dampen the edges with a small amount of water to seal.

In a large heavy skillet, heat enough vegetable oil to cover egg rolls over medium-high heat. Working in batches, carefully place egg rolls in hot oil, and cook until golden brown. Remove to paper towels.

You can also BAKE the egg rolls for a healthier version. To bake:
Preheat the oven to 425˚ F. Lightly oil a baking sheet with cooking spray. Place the sealed egg rolls on the baking sheet seam side down and spray the tops of the egg rolls with cooking spray. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until lightly brown, turning halfway through baking.

I made some of my Cilantro-Lime Dressing to dip these in, and it was perfect!
Well... almost. I would add 1 mashed Avocado to the dressing next time!

Eat with salsa, and a bed of lettuce or leftover spinach!

Spinach and Mushroom Manicotti

I really like ordering Manicotti in a restaurant. I've never made them, though. When I found a recipe, I thought I'd give it a try. I made them exactly like the recipe. They were good, but not wow. So, here is the recipe with my improvements!

Going through this process has also made me realize a benefit to cooking. As I'm cooking more, and trying new recipes, I'm discovering that I am more comfortable changing a recipe. I'm not at the point yet of inventing new recipes, but I'm glad that I started this cooking quest!

Spinach and Mushroom Manicotti

1 box (8oz.) Manicotti
2T. extra virgin olive oil
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 bag (6oz) fresh spinach, chopped

mushrooms
2 eggs
8 oz ricotta cheese or cottage cheese
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1 t. salt

1 t. pepper
1 jar Marinara Sauce

1 cup water

Mozzarella cheese, shredded
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350’ F

In a small saucepan, heat the Marinara Sauce and 1 cup of water.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a medium saucepan. Add garlic, and cook for 3-5 minutes until garlic browns. Add Spinach and Mushrooms, cook for 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.

(No mushrooms here, but they should be!)

Beat eggs lightly in a medium bowl. Stir in ricotta (or cottage cheese), basil, salt, and pepper.

Spread 1 cup of the heated marina sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Fill UNCOOKED Manicotti with mixture; place in dish. (The hot marinara sauce will cook the noodles during baking)

Pour remaining sauce evenly over filled shells. Sprinkle with both cheeses.

Cover with foil, and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover; continue baking for 5-10 minutes until cheese is melted.

Enjoy!

Thai Fried Rice with Beef and Jasmine rice

This meal is one of my families comfort foods. It's quick and easy to make, and full of flavor. Plus, it gets us to eat our veggies! This recipe also comes from the book featured yesterday.

Thai Fried Rice with Beef


7 oz Beef steak (cut out for vegetarian!)
1 TB Veggie oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups cooked jasmine rice (See below)
1/2 med. head broccoli, coarsely chopped
3 TB soy sauce
1 TB brown sugar (I forgot this last time and didn't miss it)
1 TB Fish sauce (does not taste fishy in the dish!)
ground black pepper
chili sauce, to serve (optional)

1. Trim the steak and cut into very thin strips

2. Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan and cook garlic over low to med. heat until golden brown. Do not let it burn! Increase the heat to high, add the steak and stir-fry for 2 minutes.


3. Move the pieces of beef to the edges of the wok and break the eggs into the center. When the egg starts to set, stir-fry it with the meat.


4. Add the rice and toss all the contents of the wok together, scraping up any residue on the base. Add broccoli, soy sauce, sugar and fish sauce, and stir-fry for 2 minutes more. Season with pepper and serve immediately w/ chili sauce, or eat as is!

Jasmine Rice


So, I talked a little about Jasmine Rice on the post for Chicken Satay, but I wanted to expand some, and include a basic recipe.

• A good thing to remember: 1 cup dry rice = 3 cups cooked rice!
• Use 1 1/2 cups water to every 1 cup of rice
• Always rinse thouroughly before cooking. This helps remove excess starch and any dust that may have accumulated during storage.
• If you want to add a little more flavor the the rice, simply add herbs or spices with the liquid. They will be absorbed into the rice!
• The rice must be cooked at a low heat. Otherwise, the water will evaporate before the rice is fully cooked

Place rice and water in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, and turn heat to low.
COVER pan and simmer for 20 minutes.
Remove pan from heat, and let rest for 10 minutes.


The first tip above is very important. 1 cup dry rice = 3 cups cooked rice!
When I made this recipe, I put in 3 cups of DRY rice! So... for you lucky readers... you will get 2 recipes from one!

I took the extra rice and made Tropical Rice Pudding!
The post and recipe will be up tomorrow!

Week 2 Meal Plan

Are you ready for another great week of meals?

Here's my menu for the week! The link is below so you can download the recipes, menu, and grocery list too! Enjoy!



Monday: Pesto Pasta
Tuesday: Enchiladas
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Baked Chicken
Friday: Smokey Black Bean Soup
Saturday: Chicken Satay w/ coconut rice
Sunday: French Dip sandwiches

Download the recipes and grocery list!

Please!!! If you download the recipes, or use any of my recipes, please let me know!

Also, give a holler if you are looking for different kinds of meals! Thanks!

Week 1 Meal Plan

What am I having for dinner this week?

Check it out! Join me in making these delicious meals.

Monday: Lasagna
Tuesday: Cilantro Lime Chicken w/ dressing served as burrito filling
Wednesday: Pork Chops and Rice
Thursday: Fettucine Alfredo w/ leftover chicken, or meatless
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: Taco Soup
Sunday: Breakfast for dinner

Here is a list of 6 meals (one leftover night) with recipes and shopping lists! Print this out, go shopping, and enjoy a week of delicious dinners!

Download the document HERE

Let me know if you downloaded this document, or made any of the meals! If providing menus is helpful, I'll continue to do so!

Dinner Party!

I co-hosted a wonderful dinner last week. We were supposed to have 3 women and their kids come, but only ended up with 1. It was a great night, and I have tons of yummy leftovers!

Here is my menu, plus links to the recipes! Enjoy!

The main course was a Minestrone soup made by the co-host. Sorry, I don't have her recipe! She also provided a yummy green salad.

For sides, I made:

Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Chips - Also from OurBestBites.com. (Can you tell my new obsession?) This dish was absolutely fabulous. I did Strawberries, Mango, Kiwi, Pineapple, and Blueberries. Squirted some Lime juice, and added Sugar. The fruit was amazing on it's own, but eaten with the Cinnamon Chips brought it to a whole new level. Everyone took home leftovers, and I finished up the rest in about a day. A healthy and super yummy treat!

Pesto Alfredo with Roasted Vegetables- The original recipe was found on OurBestBites.com, but I will make it a different way next time! It was good, but needed a few more things.

Croissant Rolls- again, a little bit of a disappointment here. I wanted to make my Challah Bread, but for some reason, my bread maker didn't want to cooperate. It ended the cycle, and instead of a nicely risen bread, I had a pile of goop. :( So, I used the Croissant rolls in a can as a substitute.

Lemon Bars - The perfect "light" ending to a fall meal! I don't have a picture, but the recipe comes from my good friend, Bonnie.

White Chip Lemon Bars

Bonnie

1 1/4 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup white chips

2 eggs slightly beaten

The zest and juice from one lemon

Powdered sugar

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees

2. Stir together 1 cup flour and 1/4 cup sugar in medium bowl. Cut in butter with pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press mixture onto the bottom of 9-inch baking pan.

3. Bake 7 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven; sprinkle with chips.

4. Stir together eggs, lemon juice, lemon peel, remaining 1/4 cup flour and remaining 3/4 cup sugar in medium bowl; carefully pour over chips and crust.

5. Bake 10 minutes or until set (you can touch center and it's springy). Cool in pan on wire rack; sift with powdered sugar when completely cool. Cut.

Cheesecake Chocolate Pudding. Okay, this desert was so easy, it was ridiculous. However, when I told the ladies it was "just" pudding, they laughed at me. It's all in the presentation folks!

How to make:
Pour 2 3/4 cup of COLD milk in a large bowl.
Mix in one dry box of Instant Chocolate pudding mix and 1 box of instant cheesecake pudding mix. Stir for 2 minutes, and pour into serving dish.
I used a large, shallow serving dish. When set, I sprinkled candied pecans on top! You can also do fruit, coconut, graham crackers, etc!
The cheesecake flavor was hard to distinguish, but you can do any flavor puddings together!

Lastly, we topped it off with cold Lemonade.

It was a terrific night of food and friendship.

What is your favorite party food?

Pesto Alfredo Pasta with Roasted Vegetables

I hosted a small dinner party last week. Thinking that it would be fun to try new recipes, I landed on my favorite food blog, OurBestBites.com. I found their recipe for "Creamy Pesto Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes and Mushrooms" and thought I'd give it a try.

I pretty much followed their recipe, except that I used my own Alfredo sauce recipe. The recipe I have for you here is their recipe, with my sauce and additions. When the salad was complete, I really felt that it needed some things other then just tomatoes and mushrooms.

The measurements on this weren't very accurate after I made my own sauce. So, I recommend, especially with the sauce, just adding a little at a time to the pasta until it is the consistency you like! The pasta will soak in the sauce, so more is better.

Pesto Alfredo Pasta with Roasted Vegetables

Alfredo Sauce
(Melt together: 1 cube butter, 1 cream cheese, 1 cup Parmesan, 3/4 cup milk, salt, pepper, basil, garlic)
Pesto - either homemade or store bought (10oz)
1 box of Farfalle/Bowtie pasta (16oz)
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
Fresh Broccoli, cut into small bits.
Pine nuts or almonds, or walnuts.
Parmesan cheese
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 425.

Prepare the Alfredo Sauce. While that is cooking, boil water, add salt, and start the noodles cooking.

Placed sliced mushrooms, tomatoes, and broccoli on a foil-lined cookie sheet.
Drizzle with 3-4 T Olive Oil. Toss veggies until they are coated with the oil.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Bake for 12 minutes. The tomato skins will start to split when ready.

Toast the nuts. Place the nuts in a small pan on medium heat. Stir every few minutes. The nuts will start to get glossy, which means the oils are releasing. Remove when golden.

When your Alfredo sauce is done, add 1/3-1/2 cup of pesto and stir.

Drain noodles.

Put it all together! Mix in the sauce first, to the consistency you like. Save the extra sauce for serving time.
Mix in the veggies, and sprinkle the nuts and parmesan cheese on top.

For presentation: I discovered that after making and refrigerating, that the pasta appeared dry. If I had saved some sauce, I would have drizzled some extra on top, and then sprinkled the nuts and cheese.

This makes a great main or a side dish.