Stuffed Mushrooms!

I needed another "something" to add to my vegetarian leftovers from yesterday and decided to try this stuffed mushroom recipe!  I've tried it once before and it turned out FABULOUSLY and so I thought I'd give it a shot again.  The first time I did with ricotta cheese and this time I used cream cheese.  I have to say, I liked it with the ricotta better!  Next time, I'll go back to using the ricotta!  They were still yummy, but I think the cream cheese had more salt than the ricotta did, so it gave it a thicker, saltier taste.

Here's the Pinterest recipe I loosely followed:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/15184/mouth-watering-stuffed-mushrooms/?e11=cream%20cheese%20stuffed%20mushrooms&prop24=SR_Title&e8=Quick%20Search&event8=1&e7=Recipe&event10=1

Here's how the stuffed mushrooms turned out:

Right out of the oven

The recipe doesn't call for a "broil" at the end, but I like it to crisp the tops a bit

Before going in the oven

Cheese mixture - I added sauteed spinach to it also

Blending together the cheese mix

Mushroom caps with stems removed

Eggplant Parmesan

One of my favorite recipes is this Eggplant Parmesan!  I've checked lots of Pinterest pins on this and watched it made on The Chew and have sort of adopted my own way of making it.  It's actually pretty simple, but there are lots of parts to put together!  I think the most important part is the sauce - use whatever marinara sauce you like the best!  I like to make my own using some garlic, onions, crushed tomatoes, garlic and onion powder, a little allspice, and some brown sugar.  I also add some fresh basil to the mix!  The next component is the eggplant.  I slice up my eggplant and lay it over some paper towels.  I salt each side and leave it for about a half an hour to "sweat" the bitterness out.  While that's "sweating", I boil the spaghetti.  I like to make my spaghetti with half whole wheat and half regular.  Once it's ready, I strain it and leave it on the side until I'm ready to put together the whole thing.  After sweating the eggplant I fry it by dipping it in flour, then beaten eggs, and then seasoned Panko breadcrumbs.  Fry them until they're golden brown!

I place the spaghetti into my baking dish first, add some marinara sauce over top, sprinkle some parmesan cheese over it, then add the fried eggplant, a little more marinara and parmesan, a little mozzerella, and top it off with some fresh basil.  I put this in the oven for about 20 minutes and then broil for another 5.  This dish is huge and very filling!  Usually lasts our family a few days!

Here's how it turned out:

Here's the completed Eggplant Parmesan!

Last layer before the basil

Layer of Eggplant on top

Layer of Parmesan over the spaghetti

Marinara sauce over the pasta

Pasta in the bottom of the baking dish

Fried eggplant

Homemade Marinara

Eggplant slices on a paper towel, salted to "sweat"

My 2 year old's portion of Eggplant Parmesan cut up :)

Pinterest Repin

I always get notifications that other people repin some of the "pins" I have on Pinterest.  Last night 2 people repinned this mushroom and sundried tomato recipe I've tried in the past and I decided to try it again last night!  I realized that I didn't have any mushrooms, so I just made it with sundried tomatoes and some sauteed red onion and garlic instead.  I also didn't have the half and half or the heavy cream and just used whole milk instead (we ALWAYS have whole milk in the fridge for my 2 year old!).  I had some left over shredded parmesan from the eggplant roll up dish the night before, and so, that made the recipe doable!

I also decided to grill some asparagus on the side using my cast iron grill pan on the stovetop.  Everything turned out great!  My husband and 2 year old loved it :)

Here's the Pinterest recipe I loosely followed:
http://juliasalbum.com/2014/02/sun-dried-tomato-and-mushroom-pasta/


Here's how dinner turned out last night!

I didn't have any fettuccine and instead I used an egg noodle I had in the pantry!

Grilled asparagus

We got hungry later that night and I decided to make a caprese salad!  Costco just happened to have some great mozzerella and I bought amazing tomatoes from Publix earlier in the week.  Topped it with some fresh basil from my herb garden and some olive oil and balsamic......mmmmmm.

Eggplant Roll Up!

My husband has been trying to consume less meat in a quest to be more healthy and take better care of our bodies.  So I keep trying new "meatless" recipes and to my surprise, most have them have been really good!  I found an eggplant roll up recipe on Facebook via the Tasty page as I was scrolling one night and thought I would try it.  Of course, when I went back to find the recipe, I couldn't and so I just typed Eggplant Roll Up in Pinterest and found tons of recipes!

Here's the link to the Pinterest recipe I used.  I also added onion powder, garlic powder, and fresh cilantro to my cheese mix!  After salting my eggplant slices to allow it to sweat (this takes the bitterness out of the eggplant), I pan fried them to brown them and allow them to soften.  The recipe says to put them in the oven, so I guess you could do either one!

https://www.buzzfeed.com/merleoneal/heres-how-to-make-lasagna-roll-ups-with-egg-plant?bffbtasty&ref=bffbtasty&utm_term=.em4APdEzN#.hpnGAgnp9


Here's how mine turned out!

Eggplant rollup after baking

Before baking in the oven

Eggplant rolled up before adding final topping

Ricotta cheese blend

Pan fried eggplant slices

Italian night!

Tonight is Italian night at my house!  Two SUPER easy meals in one!  The reason I make two in one is because the homemade pizza is usually finished tonight which leaves no leftovers for lunch tomorrow, so it's actually easier for me to make both so that everyone has lunch for tomorrow too! The first of the easy meals is a homemade pizza!  I make this almost weekly because it's a quick meal that everyone loves.  I always buy the pre-made/rolled out pizza dough that Publix makes fresh daily.  All I have to do is unroll it onto my baking sheet and add the toppings I like!  It's SUPER easy!  I just use whatever veggies I have in my fridge and buy a pack of pre-shredded mozzarella cheese - it's that easy.  My daughter and I love olives, so I always make sure I have olives on the pizza, but anything else goes :)

The second of the easy meals is a pasta that I learned to make a couple of months ago.  Unfortunately, I don't remember where I got the recipe or I would provide the link, but I've interchanged it with different veggies and different types of pasta.  Tonight I used linguine with the veggies I had in the fridge (red and green peppers, onions, sun dried tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, and some fresh basil from the garden).   All you have to do is sauté some garlic and onion in some extra virgin olive oil and butter for a few minutes, add all the veggies (the original recipe called for asparagus that you slice using a potato peeler), and a container of marscapone cheese.  I'd NEVER cooked with marscapone before trying this recipe and didn't realize how it just melts in the pan to give it a creamy sauce.  I add some lemon zest and lemon juice, some salt and pepper, and that's it!  I throw it over the pasta and shred some parmesan reggiano over it and that's it!  Again, SUPER easy!  Two meals in one!

Finished pasta!

Finished pizza!