Sweet & Savory Green Beans

We eat these all the time!  They're a great side dish for coq sans vin, pot roast, and/or Cornish game hens.  I've been making these for years, but it wasn't until recently that I buckled down and wrote out a recipe...  That's just how I roll ;)

Ingredients:

• 4 c. frozen green beans
• 7 strips of bacon
• 1/4 c. water
• 1/4 t. salt
• 1/8 t. pepper
• 1 T. honey
• 1 T. mustard

Directions:

1. Preheat medium-sized skillet over medium heat.  Cut bacon into strips/bits.
2. Add bacon to pan and cook until crispy.  Remove from pan and set aside.
3. Add green beans to pan and stir.  Add water and salt and cook for 10 minutes.
4. When the water starts to look low, add remaining ingredients and stir until well combined.
5. Cook for another 5 minutes, stirring frequently so as to keep the honey from burning.
6. Remove from heat.  Add bacon, stir and serve.

Just a little note: I use microwave bacon, because it's easier to handle (aka. less gross), and also because I like the way it crisps up and how little grease it produces.  If you choose to use real bacon, you might want to drain some of the grease out of the pan before adding the green beans.  I also make these with ham, and they taste just as good!  Just add a little butter in place of bacon grease.  Or, you could simply boil the green beans in some water as a low-fat alternative.  I like the subtle smokiness of the bacon, but it's really the honey-mustard combo that makes this dish so tasty...  So feel free to make them according to your taste, and enjoy!  *B

spinach prep

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master shopper

Make an inventory of your freezer, pantry and food storage before sitting down to draft your shopping list.  Then review your recipes and meal plan to create a list based off of what you have and what you need.  After a while, you’ll be able to create a master shopping list that you can refer to before every shopping trip.  Feel free to use my list (above) as a guide to help you create your own (below).  Just right-click, open in new tab/window, zoom, save, and print :)

Never go to the grocery store hungry, or without a list!  *B

Meal Plan: 3/18 - 3/24

Mexican Monday: Spicy Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup w/ corn muffins
Oriental Tuesday: Piña Colada shrimp w/ brown rice & steamed veggies
Twisted Wednesday: leftover pot roast w/ sweet & savory green beans
Authentic Thursday: balsamic chicken w/ quinoa & roasted broccoli
TGIFriday: BBQ meatballs w/ stuffed potatoes
Super Saturday: DATE NIGHT
Special Sunday: chicken/eggplant parmigiana w/ my marinara

Upcoming recipe: sweet & savory green beans.  So good!  So be excited.  Be very excited.  *B

Ancient Harvest Gluten Free Organic Pasta

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Nowadays there's a plethora of gluten free products available at your typical grocery store.  Except Target.  I don't know what their problem is...  Anyway, I've tried quite a few different pastas out there and the Ancient Harvest Gluten Free Organic Pasta is by far our favorite.  I recommend it to anyone and everyone, whether or not you're gluten intolerant.  It's that good!  *B

Freedom Pasta (cheese-free macaroni)

I have to admit that I'm quite proud of this recipe: it's tasty and versatile.  We've found that butter doesn't seem to bother us as much as cheese or milk... but if you're sensitive to dairy of any sort, simply substitute your favorite vegan spread and you're dairy free!  And while you're at it, swap out the chicken broth and replace it with vegetable broth and you've got yourself a vegan meal!  Serve over gluten free pasta and you've got yourself a peace treaty ;)

Ingredients:

• 1 stick of butter, cubed (1/2 c.)
• 1 c. pumpkin puree
• 1/2 c. hummus
• 1 c. chicken broth
• 1/4 c. rice milk
• 1/4 t. garlic powder
• salt & pepper, to taste
• couple dashes of nutmeg
• 4 c. unprepared macaroni (or any noodle pasta)

Directions:

1. Heat a medium sized saucepan over medium heat.  Add butter to pan and melt.
2. When butter starts to bubble, add the pumpkin puree and stir until well combined.  For added depth/flavor, (if you want) you could wait until the butter starts to brown before adding the puree.  Just be careful not to let it burn!
3. Simmer the pumpkin for a couple of minutes before adding the hummus.  Stir well and simmer for another minute.
4. Carefully whisk in chicken broth and bring sauce to a simmer.
5. Add rice milk and seasonings and whisk well.  Allow sauce to simmer until desired thickness/consistency.  Remove from heat and cover.
6. While sauce simmers, fill a large stockpot full of water.  Add enough salt until water tastes salty.  Bring pot to a rolling boil.  Add pasta and a couple tablespoons of olive oil and stir.  Reduce heat to a gentle boil and cook pasta until done, but still firm.  Stir and taste noodles every few minutes for doneness.
7. Remove from heat.  Drain cooked pasta and return to pot.  Add sauce and stir until well combined.  Serve warm.

If you're using gluten free pasta, be careful not to overcook or you'll end up with super mushy noodles that fall apart easily and end up resembling polenta.  But also be careful not to undercook the pasta, or else you'll have a crunchy bowl of noodles to munch.  Growing up in an Italian household, I've never prepared pasta according to the package.  I prefer to taste-test my noodles for doneness, and I always end up with perfect noodles, regardless its gluten content.  If your noodles are done before your sauce is, you can add them back to the pot and add a little more oil so they don't clump together.  Once your sauce starts to cool, you'll notice it thickens up real fast.  This is why it's best served warm; not because it tastes better or worse, it's simply a matter of thickness preference.

I've made this a few times now, and both free and captive (?) eaters love it!  We typically pan-fry some chicken sausage to throw in with the pasta, too...  And just FYI, my mother-in-law raved about this dish when she had it, even going so far as to say it's one of the best mac & cheese dish she's ever had.  And there's not even cheese in it!  It really is a satisfying dish full of flavor that everyone can enjoy!  *B

PS- This makes a HUGE batch of pasta, enough for four adults and two children (and maybe seconds for some).  So feel free to halve the recipe.  Or instead of tossing the sauce and pasta together you can spoon the sauce over individual servings of pasta.  Or make the sauce as is and freeze any sauce that you don't use and save it for next time!  Like I said, it's versatile ;)

snack ideas

1. Goldfish Crackers Made From Scratch  2. Homemade Fruit Roll-Ups  3. Homemade Smoothie Pops

4. Chunky Whole Fruit Popsicles  5. Homemade Gummy Fruit Snacks  6. Homemade Larabars

7. Quinoa Coconut Granola Bites   8. Raspberry Rockets  9. Yogurt Covered Strawberries