Baked Pasta with Chicken Sausage

This dish is super easy and incredibly yummy. Honestly you could add whatever you want to this dish and it would be amazing. It's sturdy enough to stand alone with just the pasta and sauce or could easily transition into a giant casserole with meat and veggies. I originally started making Pioneer Woman's Baked Lemon Pasta but every time I opened the fridge I found something else I wanted to add. I truly can't remember a time I followed a recipe word for word- it's a problem I know. Her recipe is perfect left alone, I just have a tendency to make things my own and really enjoyed it. I hope you do too!!

Baked Pasta with Chicken Sausage

Ingredients:
1lb Spaghetti (or your favorite noodle)
1 large or 2 small Lemons
Zest of 1 Lemon
4 cloves of Garlic
3 Tbsp Butter
2-3 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 cup low fat Sour Cream
4 0z low fat Cream Cheese
Salt to taste
1 pkg Chicken Sausage (I used roasted garlic and herb)
2 cups Broccoli (steamed or blanched)
4 Green Onions- chopped
Parmesan- as desired

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter and heat olive oil in a skillet over low heat. When the butter is melted add minced garlic and squeeze the juice of 1 lemon into the skillet. Stir in sour cream and cream cheese. Add zest and salt. Turn off heat. Add cooked pasta, steamed broccoli, and green onion to skillet and toss to coat. Add cooked sausage now or after baked. Transfer to an oven safe dish, cover with foil and bake for 10-15 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 5 or so minutes- don't let the pasta dry out. Remove from the oven and top with parmesan cheese and more lemon juice.

Healthy Birthday Cake

I made this Castle Cake for a birthday party this past weekend. It was a very special cake. For one, it was for my niece, and two it was made of black beans!! I'll admit when I first heard black bean chocolate cake, I was nervous. My sister has an allergy to gluten and dairy. And also a sugar intolerance. It's hard living with food allergies and also makes it very hard to find any sweets worth having. With some research she found a fabulous gluten free, dairy free, very low sugar black bean chocolate cake recipe. We made a test cake and could not believe how good it tasted! You certainly couldn't tell it was made of beans! It was a completely healthy cake, and no one had to feel guilty eating it. Don't be afraid of the name or have an nervousness about this cake, it's so GOOD!


Ingredients:
1-15 ounce can of unseasoned black beans
5 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons Coconut oil
3/4 cup Erythritol or (1/3 cup Honey + 1 tsp Stevia)
1/2 tsp Stevia (if using erythritol)
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 Tbsp water (omit if using honey)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease your cake pan with cooking spray or shortening. Since this is a no flour cake dust cocoa all over the cake, make sure to get it one the sides as well. This will prevent the cake from sticking to the pan.

Drain the beans and rinse the beans, you don't want any bean juice. Shake off excess water. Put beans, 3 of the eggs, vanilla, stevia, and salt in a food processor or blender. Blend until everything is liquefied. Make sure to get all the lumps out. Mix cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder in a bowl. In a separate bowl beat coconut oil and erythritol or honey (I used honey) until fluffy. Add 2 eggs, one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each one. Combine bean and egg mixture. Mix in cocoa powder and beat the batter on high until smooth. Put the batter in a pan and tap the pan on the counter to pop air bubbles.

Bake for 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Or until the cake is firm. If the cake is over baked it will be really crumbly and not as moist. Let the cake cool and turn out and set on a cooling rack until room temperature. The cake can be wrapped and refrigerated for a few days. Ice with your frosting of choice and ENJOY! It's really good with cream cheese or chocolate frosting. I made a tofutti cream cheese frosting, it was delicious. I'll post the recipe later on.

Taco Soup

If you're looking for a quick, delicious, and healthy meal then look no further. This is one of my favorite go-to meals and it's perfect for cold nights or days when you really don't want to bother with dinner. Not to mention, it's extremely flavorful and filling. Its consistency is more like a chili, but it really doesn't matter—just enjoy it!

A few things: the recipe below is basically a starting point. I've interchanged the ingredients with whatever I have on hand, like black beans, pinto beans, ground turkey, etc. Also, it freezes really well.

Taco Soup

makes around 8 servings (around 7 WW points+)

adapted from All Recipes 

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef (we use extra lean beef)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 (16 ounce) can chili beans, with liquid
• 1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans with liquid
• 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, with liquid
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 2 cups water (I fill up the empty cans of beans with water to get anything left in there)
• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans peeled and diced tomatoes (if you like things spicy, get tomatoes labeled "zesty," "chili," or with jalapenos mixed in)
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup nacho jalapenos, finely chopped
• 1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning mix (we use the "hot" variety) OR make your own!
• Shredded cheese (optional)
• Green onion (optional)
• Tortilla (optional)
• Sour cream (optional)

Directions

In a medium skillet, cook onions, ground beef, and taco seasoning until browned over medium heat. Drain, and set aside.

Place ground beef, onion, chili beans, kidney beans, corn, tomato sauce, water, diced tomatoes, and jalapenos in a slow cooker. Mix to blend; cook on low for 8 hours. Top individual servings with cheese, green onions and/or sour cream; serve with tortilla or bread. Enjoy.

Chewy Molasses Cookies

It's baking season, and this year I desire to bake more than ever! Be prepared to see ALOT of sugary sweets coming out of this kitchen! Starting with one of my favorite Martha Stewart holiday treats, chewy molasses cookies! These cookies are rich but not too sweet and delicously chewy!!

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter (room temperature)

1 egg

1/4 cup molasses

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt, set aside. Put 1/2 cup sugar in a small bowl and set aside.

Beat butter and 1 cup of sugar until combined. Add egg and then molasses until combined. Reduce speed to low, slowly mix in dry ingredients, until a dough forms.

Roll dough into balls, about the size of a Tablespoon. Roll balls in sugar.

Place balls about 3 inches apart. Bake until edges of cookies are just firm, about 10 minutes. If their overbaked they get very crispy.

Happy Baking!

Coconut Macaroons

This past summer I tasted a coconut macaroon for the first time and my world got a little brighter. It was the first time I ever tasted something so perfectly sweet, crunchy, and soft at the same time—my taste buds rejoiced and I was hooked.

Tasting the little snowball-like treat was simply amazing and I promptly asked my friend for her recipe. She passed it along and I was shocked by how simple they were to make. In fact, they're so simple that coconut fans may even gobble them up before you can take them off your cookie sheet (I'm looking at you mom and grandma!) But have no fear, they're so easy that you can easily make more in no time at all. 

Coconut Macaroons 

makes about 25

Ingredients 
2 1/2 cups of sweetened coconut (shaved)
1/4 cup sugar
2 large egg whites (or 1/4 cup if you use egg whites from a container)
2 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 325. Mix all ingredients together in small bowl. Use a regular table spoon to make small, one-inch mounds; place mounds on non-stick baking sheet. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven; promptly move macaroons to a cooling rack and let cool for 10 minutes...or eat them straight away.

Gnocchi with Onion Cream Sauce

I got a bottle of Vidalia Onion Vinaigrette as a gift yesterday. I didn't want it to just be used on salad, so I though it just might make a great pasta sauce. When I first typed Onion Cream Sauce I deleted it and tried to think of a better name because it sounds nasty. But that's what it is! And it's not nasty it's delicious. So I'm going to leave it at that and not worry about how it sounds. The gnocchi could easily stand alone as an entree but I served it as a side dish to a pan fried steak and roasted parmesan broccoli. So good! Enjoy!

Onion Cream Sauce
Ingredients:
1/2 cup low fat ricotta cheese
1/3 cup low fat sour cream
Juice of 1 small lemon
1 1/2 tsp of minced garlic
4 Tbsp Onion Vinaigrette (or other thick dressing)

Mix ingredients to combine and refrigerate unless using immediately. Boil gnocchi and serve with heated sauce. I heated the sauce in the same pan used to cook the steaks. It gives the sauce a deeper, and in my case buttery flavor. Top the gnocchi with parmesan cheese. Eat it on it's own or make it a side dish, enjoy!

My Momma's Sausage Dip

Sadly I don't have a picture of this, as soon as I get one I'll put it up. My mom has made this for as long as I can remember. And it's a family favorite. Sounds strange at first sausge-dip. And yesterday when I served it at our housewarming party most people assumed it was chili. While it's not chili it's equally delicious. Once you try it you'll be hooked! This stuff is killer! Extremely simple and not many ingredients. It's a go to for any get together and can be made in giant batches to feed an army of guests. Serve with tortilla chips or dish out a heaping serving like my brother does and eat it with a spoon!

Ingredients:
1 package of good sausage (I like Jimmy Dean)
2 packages of cream cheese
1-2 cans of Rotel (most grocery stores carry this, it's diced tomatoes and green chile)

Directions:
Brown the sausage in a large skillet. Once sausage is cooked through add cream cheese on lower heat and melt. Once the cream cheese melts add a can of Rotel, if it's too thick add another can of rotel. Incorporate and keep on low heat or transfer to a crock pot to keep warm. YUM!