Despite my efforts to photograph this healthy broccoli recipe in an appetizing light, it is truly a great tasting dish.  My 11-year old son, who happens to like broccoli, practically inhaled his first bowl then went back for seconds.  We were surprised by the creaminess of the broccoli ricotta sauce.  It doesn't look smooth, but it is.  I grooved on the zesty flavors of the garlic, lemon and Parmesan coming through the broccoli and ricotta.  I couldn't shovel it in my pie hole fast enough.  Seriously, I made a pig of myself.  Thank goodness it was SO HEALTHY.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

to make 4 to 6 servings

• 2 large broccoli crowns with stems
• 1 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves
• 3 large garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 3/4 cup ricotta cheese
• Salt & pepper
• 16 ounces uncooked whole wheat penne pasta

Chop the broccoli florets into the 2-inch pieces.  Chop the stems into 1-inch cuts. Fill a 5-quart pot half full with water, bring to a boil.  Add broccoli stems to boiling water, cook for 5 minutes.  Add in florets and boil for 4 to 5 minutes, until fork tender. Be careful not to overcook.  Use a slotted spoon to remove broccoli and drain in colander.

Add enough water back to the 5-quart pot to fill it 2/3 full.  Bring water back to a boil.  Use this water to cook the whole wheat pasta according to the maker's directions.  Drain pasta and transfer to large serving bowl.

While the pasta is cooking...

Get out the food processor, put in the broccoli, basil, garlic, half the lemon juice, half the Parmesan, and all the ricotta.  Blend until smooth and creamy.  Scrape down the sides to ensure an even texture.  Taste check for the lemon and Parmesan, add the remaining amounts if it suits your taste.  Season with salt and pepper.

Pour the creamy broccoli sauce over the pasta in the serving bowl.  Give it a good toss. Add a little more Parmesan on top for garnish and serve it up.

Broccoli Ricotta Sauce over Whole Wheat Pasta tastes even better with garlic bread and pepperoncini peppers served on the side.  Give it a whirl and let me know what you think.

This recipe was adapted from the Broccoli Pesto Pasta recipe found in The Happy Herbivore cookbook.

It's amazing what you can do with a little cooking smarts and a few ingredients, when you're really pressed to come up with something new for dinner.  For the past few weeks, I've been reading slow cooker recipes of every kind.  Although I've owned my Crock-Pot cooker for some 10 years now, I'm just now using it to seriously make life easier.

I keep running into crock-pot recipes that call for processed ingredients like jars of cheese dip or cream of mystery soup.  My heart skips a beat when I think of the high sodium these items contain.  To get around the excess salt, I've learned to make my own cream sauces and cheese sauces.  Homemade sauces take about 5 minutes to whip up.  They have better textures (creaminess) and it's easier to control the outcome with the spices that go into the pan.

In the original recipe that inspired this meal, it called for a 16-ounce jar of Parmesan Alfredo pasta sauce.  I didn't have that on hand, but I did have butter, flour, chicken broth, sour cream, Parmesan, garlic powder, and fresh ground pepper.  All the fixin's to make a great alfredo sauce at home without having to make a special trip to the store.  When I come to think of it, it would have taken me 20 minutes to go to the store and back, if I wore blinders and tried not to pick up anything else.

Anyhoo. If you love creamy chicken pasta recipes, add this one to your list.  My family CHOWED DOWN like there was no tomorrow.  I was glad I made enough for leftovers.  And yes, it was SO GOOD, my family ASKED me to heat up the leftovers the very next night.  That rarely happens in this house.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

Enough to feed 4, twice

• 3 large frozen chicken breasts, boneless & skinless
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

• 6 tablespoons butter, unsalted
• 6 tablespoons flour
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon white ground pepper or fresh ground black (whatever you have on hand)

• 1 3/4 cup chicken broth, warmed
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1-pound dried whole-wheat linguine

In 4- to 6-quart slow cooker, lay the chicken boobs in the bottom of the crock and top with grated Parmesan cheese.  Set the cooker to low-heat.

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Whisk together until smooth and continue whisking and cooking flour for 3 to 4 minutes.  Slowly pour in warm chicken broth, whisking as you pour to keep the sauce from forming lumps.  When sauce begins to thicken, within a minute, turn off heat.  Add in sour cream and whisk into sauce until smooth.  Taste for salt and pepper.  (Remember the Parmesan has a salty flavor and will help season the dish.)

Pour the cream sauce over the chicken and cheese in the crock pot.  Use a fork to lift up the chicken boobs, so the cream sauce can get under the poultry.

Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 5 1/2 hours or on high-heat for 2 1/2 hours.

About 20 minutes before you're ready to eat, bring a large pot of water to a rapid boil over medium-high heat.  Add the dried linguine.  Stir.  Boil for 10 to 13 minutes until tender to the bite.  Drain off water.  Put the pasta in a large serving bowl.

Remove the cooked chicken breasts from the crock pot and cut into bite size chunks.  Add chicken to the pasta bowl.  Carefully remove crock from heat source, if possible, and pour sauce over chicken and pasta.  Toss until pasta is evenly coated.  Serve hot with garlic bread and a leafy green salad.

Many great dinners have been born from desperate cooks trying to make something out of lone vegetables orphaned in the veggie bin.  And every good cook will tell you that keeping a few cans of tomatoes in the pantry, and homemade chicken stock in the freezer on hand at all times will save your butt on more than one occasion.

What pantry goods do you always keep on hand that have saved you time and time again?

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small white onion, chopped
• 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, whole

• 1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped
• 1 large zucchini, cut into 3/4-inch chunks
• 4 oil packed sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 (26-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 cup water

• 2 cups cooked kidney beans
• 1 cup dried elbow macaroni

• Grated Parmesan
• Cayenne pepper flakes

Heat the oil in a large soup pot or dutch oven over medium heat.  Cook onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic for 5 minutes until onions begin to soften.

Add in mushrooms, zucchini and sun-dried tomatoes.  Cook until zucchini starts to soften, 4 to 5 minutes.

Add oregano, diced tomatoes, broth, and water.  Increase heat to medium-high to bring liquids to a boil.  Stir in kidney beans and elbow macaroni.  Reduce heat to simmer for 15 minutes, stir occasionally.  Remove from heat and let stand to cool a bit.  Liquid in pot thickens as it cools.

Top with grated Parmesan and cayenne pepper flakes.

Serves 6

• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons uncooked orzo pasta
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 small onion, small dice
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 small zucchini, small dice
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 1 can (14 ounces) artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh black pepper
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Cook orzo according to the directions on the package, leave out the additional salt and fat.  Drain and keep warm.

Heat olive oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Add onion; cook until tender.  Add garlic; cook and stir for 1 minute.  Add zucchini and chicken broth.  Reduce heat and simmer for up to 5 minutes, until the zucchini is crisp-tender.

Add orzo, artichokes, tomato, oregano, and pepper, cooking and stirring for 1 minute until the pilaf is heated through.  Transfer to a large serving bowl.  Sprinkle the top with feta cheese and serve.

__________________________________________________________________________

Nutritional analysis: 120 calories | 5 g total fat | 2 g sat fat | 0 trans fat | 11 mg cholesterol | 172 mg sodium | 17 g total carbs | 6 g dietary fiber | 3 g sugars | 5 g protein | Vitamin A 6% | Vitamin C 24% | Calcium 8% | Iron 4%

Looking for a meaty pasta sauce without any meat?  Here it is!  Thick and exploding with rich flavors, this mushroom pasta sauce recipe is a keeper in my cookbook binder.

Let me tell you about how this sauce got it's name, first.

Mother's day I told my family that I didn't want to do anything.  Zip.  Zilch.  Nada.  I didn't even want to get out of my pajamas.  The weather was rainy with no chance of sun and the temperature was cool enough to drink hot tea under a blanket.  A perfect day to spend watching old English television dramas on Netflix.

Now, anyone that subscribes to Netflix already knows the joy of watching complete television seasons of old and new shows INSTANTLY.  Well, I had the BBC miniseries, The Duchess of Duke Street, all 15 episodes, waiting in my queue and I was determined to watch as many as I could stand.  I didn't know much about this series, aside from the description given.  But because I've never been disappointed by English dramas, I knew I had nothing to lose.

Well, the first three or four episodes tell of a young, determined woman that goes to work as a cook for a Lord.  She has to forget everything she knows about cooking so she can be properly trained by the proud and excellent French chef that runs the kitchen with the highest of standards.  ---  I told my husband over and over again, "I promise.  I had NO IDEA this was a foodie drama!"

After watching all the steamed flounder, roasted poultry, and pastries galore.  I couldn't take another slothful moment on the couch.  I HAD to get up and cook!  I wanted something rich, saucy and with ingredients that I love to eat.  After all, it was Mother's day, and damn it!  I wanted to eat stuff I love to eat without any regard for the picky eaters in my house.  Whoops, did I say that out loud? Oh well, it's out there now; can't take it back.

I went to work chopping, drizzling, stirring, chopping again, dashing, smigging, chopping up a little more, pureéing, to finally simmering, uncovered, on low heat for 45 minutes.  The outcome of my foodie desires was a thick, dark, rich garlicky mushroom sauce that heavily fell off the ladle onto a bed of fettuccine.  My, my was it thick and beautiful!  And the aroma was divine.  I KNOW it had something to do with the balsamic vinegar I poured in while the mushrooms were cooking with the onions and whole garlic cloves.

Would you be surprised if I told you that we ate our meal in front of my laptop watching more Duchess of Duke Street?  If it had not been for this show, this incredible sauce would not have been created.  My mouth waters now, just thinking back on it.  I'm so looking forward to the leftovers tonight.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 12-15 whole garlic cloves
• 8 to 10 small, 2-inch Portabella mushrooms, thickly sliced
• 2 teaspoons dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
• 3/4 teaspoon dried rubbed sage

• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 28-0unce cans San Marzano plum tomates, partly pureéd
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Prep all the vegetables.  Partly pureé the plum tomatoes, leaving a few tomato chunks here and there.  Set aside.

In a dutch oven over medium heat, cook the onions, whole garlic cloves, mushrooms, parsley, Italian seasoning and rubbed sage in olive oil until the onions are translucent but not browned.  If the mushrooms have absorbed the oil and the pot seems dry, drizzle in a little more oil.

Pour in the balsamic vinegar and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until the initial vinegar aroma has subsided.  It should start to thicken.  Pour in the pureéd tomatoes.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low.  Stirring occasionally, uncovered, for 45 minutes.  Sauce will thicken more after it cools down.

I actually allowed the sauce to cool and just set in the pot for another hour, until we were ready to eat.  I think this made it even better.  I can't explain how, but it just turned darker and thicker as it cooled.  When the dinner hour was finally upon us, I warmed it up and served it over a bed of fettuccine, with garlic bread on the side, of course.  Heavenly days, what a meal it was!

This is one of those quick dinner recipes you can pull together if you have pre-cooked ground beef on hand.  It doesn't require too many ingredients to make it tastes great and keep you feeling full.  The fact that it involves a box of extra cheesy macaroni and cheese makes it a sure fire hit with the kiddos.

Now, I'm gonna write this recipe out as if I didn't have pre-cooked ground meat on hand.  I've made this dish with grass-fed, pasture raised ground beef and with pasture raised ground pork.  Either meat works well and has very little fat, which is good.

When I think about, if I could replicate a non-processed macaroni and cheese to taste like the box stuff my kids love so much, I could really have an organic meal on my hands.  However, I haven't made a fresh macaroni and cheese recipe, yet, that my kids will award the Kid Seal of Approval.  Oh sure, I've made some incredible tasting recipes loved by adults but the kids are...well, their kids.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

to feed a family of 4

• 1/2 pound fresh, lean ground beef or pork
• 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
• 6 to 8 whole garlic cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon dried rubbed Sage

• 1 regular box Kraft Thick & Creamy Macaroni and Cheese
• 1 cup fresh, whole milk, warmed

• 1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 (14 ounce) can black eye peas OR black beans, drained

• salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Start by heating a large skillet over medium to medium high and cooking the meat, onion, garlic cloves, oregano and sage together until meat is browned and there's no sign of pink. Cooking and stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes.

In the meantime, start a medium saucepan of water to boil the macaroni.  When the water comes to a boil, add the dried macaroni.  Stir pasta, reduce heat to medium and cook for 8 minutes, until the pasta is tender to the bite.  Drain off water.  Add powdered cheese and warmed milk to pasta .  Stir until smooth and creamy.  It may look a little soupy but don't worry.  The milk makes it easier to reheat as a leftover.

Once the meat is fully cooked, add the drained tomatoes, and black eye peas.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Continue to cook until the tomatoes and peas are heated through.

Now as for serving, you could lay a bed of cheesy macaroni in the bowl first and top it with the meaty mixture, as shown in the photo above.  Or you can toss the pasta together with the meaty mixture and serve it up like a goulash.  Either way, it tastes great.

This is a very good make-ahead-meal recipe for work lunches. Let me know how you like the whole garlic cloves in this dish.  I can't get enough of them and I tend to pick them out all for myself.  Hee-he-he-he. ;D

This meaty pasta sauce recipe has come to be my husband's FAVORITE red sauce.  It's become my favorite as well.  Each time I make it, I innocently think I've made enough to make two full meals.  The flavors that come out of this sauce reach down to our inner child and make us ask "Please sir, may I have some more?"  Sadly, we will eat up so much at dinner that there is just enough for a light lunch the next day. But oh what a lunch it is.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES
Makes about 4 cups of red sauce, enough for a pasta dinner for four friends.

• 2 tablespoons bacon drippings
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 10 whole garlic cloves
• 2 heaping teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon rubbed sage

• 1 pound fresh ground pork

• 1- 28 ounce can of San Marzano Whole Tomatoes
• 3/4 teaspoon table salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

In a dutch oven over medium heat, melt bacon drippings.  Add onions, garlic cloves, oregano and sage.  Cook until the onions begin to soften, stirring constantly about 5 minutes.

Add in ground pork and continue to cook until meat has browned and there's no sign of pink.

Using a hand blender, puree the whole tomatoes until smooth.  Pour sauce over cooked pork.  Add salt and pepper.  When tomato sauce begins to boil, REDUCE heat to medium low, cover with lid and simmer for 30 minutes.  Stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and use with any pasta.

This sauce keeps very well in the freezer.  It would be very handy to double this recipe and put up half the sauce in the freezer for a future meal.

Some of the best dinners are born from empty refrigerators, don't you agree?

This simple Creamy Spinach and Turkey Fettuccine recipe takes only as long as the wait for the pasta to become tender to the bite.  The creamy sauce is loaded with tender spinach and zesty chunks of sun-dried tomato turkey.  With only a handful of ingredients and two pots, I had a fresh, satisfying dinner on the table in under half an hour.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

To feed 4 to 6 folks

• 1 pound dry fettuccine pasta

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup yellow onion, diced small
• 6 to 8 whole garlic cloves

• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 1/2 teaspoons salt

• 1 pound Plantation Sun-dried Tomato Turkey breast, cut into bite-size chunks (found at the deli counter)
• 3/4 to 1 cup blanched spinach, chopped

• 1 cup fresh heavy cream
• 1/2 cup water

• ground pepper flakes for topping (optional)

After you've cut and prepped all the ingredients, start a large pot of boiling water to cook the pasta.  After the water comes to a boil, add pasta and stir gently.  Cook uncovered over medium heat for 12 minutes, or until tender to the bite.

While you're waiting for the fettuccine to cook.  In a 10- to 12-inch skillet over medium heat, cook onion and garlic cloves in butter until they are tender, 5 minutes.  Do NOT let the onions and garlic turn brown, lower the heat if you need to; you just want them tender.

Add in the flour, pepper and salt.  Stir constantly, removing any dry flour lumps and cook flour for up to 3 to 4 minutes.  The longer you cook the flour the better the sauce will taste.  Stir in the turkey chunks and chopped spinach, making sure to coat them with the cooked flour.

Reduce the heat to a medium-low and slowly add in the heavy cream.  It will become a thick sauce very quickly so start by adding half of the water to thin the sauce.  If you think it is still too thick (we don't want gravy, only a creamy sauce) add the remaining water.  When the sauce is heated through, remove from heat.  Do NOT bring the sauce to a boil.  Heavy cream will curdle, that's not pretty or creamy.

The pasta should be tender by now; drain off the water, then transfer pasta to a large serving bowl.  Pour the creamy spinach and turkey sauce over the pasta and toss until everything is well coated.  The sauce will thicken up even more, and adhere to the pasta if you allow it a couple of minutes to set before serving.  Allow each person to season their dish with ground pepper flakes if they wish.

OH! and  Swirly Peanut Butter Brownies taste GREAT after this meal.

With proper planning and a little prep work, Creamy Creole Shrimp and Pasta is a pretty simple dinner to pull off.  My sweet friend, Cheryl, emailed this recipe to me and said it was one of her family's all time favorite dinners.  I changed it up just a bit to match what I had on hand.  At first, I worried the kiddos would find it too spicy, so I chose a can of MILD diced tomatoes with green chilies and left out the Tabasco sauce.  That was a good choice.  The kids gobbled up their dinners faster than I could photograph my plate and sit down.

I asked my dear friends to taste test this recipe with me.  John and Kim frequently travel through Louisiana to visit family and they KNOW good Cajun and Creole food.  They found this to be an excellent dinner!  Kim recognized right away it did not have the heavy cream sauce or spicy heat traditional in Creole cooking, but she truly preferred the lighter sauce.  As for the spicy heat, next time I'll set the Tabasco bottle on the table and let the grown ups dash to their heart's content.

HERE'S WHAT IT TAKES

• 1 (8 oz) package linguine

• 1/2 cup or 1 stick salted butter
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

• 6 garlic cloves, sliced
• 2 celery ribs, finely chopped
• 1 bunch green onions, finely chopped
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped

• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 (10 oz.) can diced tomatoes with Mild green chilies, drained
• 1 tablespoon Creole seasoning
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or 1 teaspoon dried
• ¼ teaspoon pepper

• 1 (2 lb.) bag frozen shrimp, medium size, peeled/deveined, thawed
• 1 1/2 cups Half-n-half
• a few dashes of Tabasco sauce (optional)

• Parmesan cheese, shredded
• fresh chopped parsley, garnish

PREP

Wash and chop all the vegetables, place in a medium bowl and set aside.  Make sure to have shrimp thawed, peeled and deveined; set aside and ready.

Heat chicken broth in the microwave for 1 to 2 minutes in a 2 cup container.  Then, add the drained diced tomatoes with green chilies, Creole seasoning, dried parsley and pepper.  Set aside.

Begin large pot of water to boil to cook linguine according to package directions.

COOK

Melt butter in heavy saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add flour and cook for up to 5 minutes until mixture is a caramel color.  Stir frequently.

Add the bowl of finely chopped vegetables, cook 5 to 8 minutes or until soften. Stir frequently.

- - - This is a good time to add linguine to cooking pot of boiling water.

Add hot chicken broth with spices. Cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in as many dashes of  hot sauce as you can muster, if desired.

Stir in shrimp and half-n-half, cook 10 minutes.  Inside this time, the pasta should be cooked and ready to drain.
Add drained linguine to creamy shrimp mixture.   Stir until pasta is well coated.

Top individual servings with shredded Parmesan cheese and garnish with parsley if you like it that much.

Just so you know...

I heated up the chicken broth beforehand to keep the cooking temperature consistent.  I didn't have to wait to bring the mixture back up to a simmer before going onto the next step.

I didn't mention it above, but I warmed up the half-n-half, too.  I popped it in the microwave for 1 minute, just long enough to knock off the cold.  I didn't want it to bring down the temperature when I needed a full 10 minutes of medium heat to cook the shrimp.

This is my own twist on the Pepper Jack Cheesy Mac recipe from the free CARNATION - Holiday Guide.pdf .

I'm a big, BIG fan of spinach.  Anytime I can get away with mixing it into a dish, I do it!  This particular dish had my interest because it I knew it would work for both my cheesy-noodle-lovin-kids, my not-so-crazy-about-spinach-husband and me. ;D  It had the thick, creamy texture we want from a baked macaroni dish.  And the iron rich spinach made it guilt-free when I went back for seconds.  This recipe goes into the monthly rotation under the comfort food category for sure!

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 1 bunch fresh spinach, washed and stems removed
• 2 cups dry elbow macaroni
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 cups shredded smoked Gouda cheese
• 1 can (12 oz.) CARNATION Evaporated Milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

Fill a large saucepan 3/4 full of water and bring to a boil.  Blanch spinach in boiling water for 3 to 4 minutes.  Drain spinach in a strainer set inside a bowl.  Set aside.  When cool enough to touch, roughly chop the spinach.

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Lightly grease 2 1/2 quart casserole dish.

In the same boiling water with heat set to medium, pour in dry macaroni and cook until tender to the tooth, 7 to 9 minutes. Drain well.  Return to saucepan.

Toss in the chopped, blanched spinach. Add the cheddar cheese and Gouda cheese, evaporated milk, salt and pepper.  Stir until combined.  Pour into prepared casserole dish.  Cover tightly with foil.

BAKE for 20 minutes.  Uncover and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until lightly brown.

Download your own free copy of the CARNATION-Holiday Guide
for more savory dishes like this one.
Click here: CARNATION - Holiday Guide.pdf