Pasta my favorite carb!

Hobby of the day: Cooking 

P.S. This does not include the tortellini in the freezer

I heart pasta! Truth!  I loved being in Italy, pasta all the time, pizza, cheese, bread.....mmmm....and I didn't gain a pound....fast metabolism, not really, but LOTS of walking!! Plus hot days = no weight gain. If I tried that here, the lbs would be packed on.


The other night I wanted to make a pasta that was little more springy and maybe a little more healthy.  I didn't however use whole weight pasta- shame on me I know.  It's better for you, but it just doesn't seem to be able to absorb the flavors like white four pasta. Maybe that's just my opinion.  


Usually when I cook I use, penne or angel hair pasta (my favorite). This time I decided to cook linguini.  You know, the thicker flatter pasta, not to be mixed up with lasagna noodles :-).  I wasn't sure what  I wanted to mix into it.  I wish Gary like seafood. I would have so many more possibilities. He might just have to suck it up one of these days.  Sometimes I can wiggle in shrimp. 

I bought sun dried tomatoes.  I wish I had purchased them in oil to give the pasta a little more moisture.  
Ingredients:

• I chopped up 1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes

• Sauteed up 2-3 cloves of chopped garlic in 2 tablespoons of EVOO

• Then I added about a 1/4 cup of chopped parsley- it's what I had on hand, I would have added basil if we had enough of it(next time)

• I also added about 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes for some heat

--I also made some garlic bread- Gary's request. No, I didn't make the bread from scratch.  I went a little LC(low class) and used hot dog buns. Added butter and some garlic with a sprinkle of salt (we didn't have garlic salt- add improvisation) and topped with, what else?! MORE cheese!  I'm telling you we are a cheese family!


Boiled my linguini in salted water for 8-11 minutes, until al dente
Then tossed in linguini to my saute mix - I had planned on adding some lemon zest since I thought it would go nicely with my parsley, but forgot (again, next time)
Added some freshly ground black pepper and of course had a nice big block of Parmesan cheese to be grated on top.

I loved the color with the green specks mixed in with the red of the sun dried tomato. Gary enjoyed it which = success.  I didn't mind the parsley, but I think basil would work so much better.

Note: I applied waaay more cheese than necessary, but I didn't take a picture of that because it wasn't esthetically pleasing, but it was taste wise:-)

This little one knows where to hang out during dinner- she's waiting for me to drop some goodies- "As if!"  She was waiting under Gary, but someone eats a lot faster than yours truly. 

Foodie: Chicken Fingers

Hobby of the day: Cooking

I love chicken fingers, but I rarely get them since they are usually appetizers or part of the kids meal.  I do also like fried chicken, but I eat that sooo rarely that when I do eat it my tummy kills after....maybe it's more than just eating it infrequently that hurts me. We don't have a fryer at home. I have a friend who has two, I think if I had one I would experiment frying all sorts of goodies. One that I would love to try is fried feta wrapped in phyllo dough. I saw it once on Giada when she was in Greece.  Sounds yummy, actually any fried cheese sounds fabulous.  I think it's on the Travel Channel where they have Hamburger Paradise and Fast Food Paradise. They had one that was Deep Fried *insert drool here*  There is a place here in Alexandria VA that does deep friend candy bars and of course fairs have deep fried oreos and Twinkies and peanut butter cups. Oddly enough in the 7 years we have lived here we have never gone there.  After my Lent fast is over I am going. Haha...

I made chicken fingers with panko bread crumbs- yum, super crispy and they are baked, not fried.  I didn't have any chicken tenders and didn't want to buy more chicken when we already had some frozen, so I just chopped up the chicken breasts. I am not a big fan of handling raw meat I don't like the feel of it and don't feel like I really clean off the salmonella- ha. So I used tongs to hold the chicken and chopped it with a knife, so no hands touching of the chicken.  

Sorry if you don't like the look of raw chicken.

I dipped the chicken first in the flour mixture, which consisted of salt and pepper.  Then dipped it in the egg whites( no yolks to make it healthier) and then finally in the panko bread crumbs to which I had added Parmesan cheese, garlic powder and a little cayenne. I made sure that the whole little finger got fully covered then laid it on the cookie sheet. 

 

 Before putting into the oven I sprayed the tops of the fingers with Pam to help with browning. I flipped the fingers half way through and sprayed the other sides. Bake at 475 for 10-12 minutes, or until cooked. 

 

And....Voila! Crispy little fingers!

 I added the fingers to a pasta side- I heart pasta. I ran out of my favorite, angel hair pasta, so I mixed that with regular spaghetti which wasn't too bad if I do say so myself. I don't mind mixing pastas, sometimes it gives it a little more texture.  To the pasta I added Parmesan cheese, and Italian bread crumbs. I know right?! Weird, but it gave it a nice flavor almost creamy like, if it's too think add a little extra pasta water. 

 

Nothing like having a few condiments. We have BBQ sauce, Ranch dressing, Frank's Red Hot, extra Parmesan cheese and Gary's favorite, horseradish sauce (frown on that). 

Eggplant Parm

Hobby of the Day: Cooking

Menu tonight:

Homemade pasta and Eggplant Parm

Time: Consuming (need to master the pasta making)

Here's the recipe from Allrecipes.  The bold items are what I've tweaked. 

Ingredients:

3 eggplant, peeled and thinly sliced (I use one, since it's enough for the husband and me and leftovers)
2 eggs, beaten
4 cups Italian seasoned bread crumbs add garlic powder and some Parmesan cheese
6 cups spaghetti sauce, divided (I  lightly use sauce, just enough to coat the bottom of the dish and then lightly in between layers)
1 (16 ounce) package mozzarella cheese, shredded and divided (I use fresh...mmmm.... with some packaged- who doesn't love cheese?!)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/2 teaspoon dried basil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Dip eggplant slices in egg, then in bread crumbs. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 5 minutes on each side (I do much longer 10-15 min and I sprinkle the pan and the eggplant with oil to get it extra crispy)  In a 9x13 inch baking dish spread spaghetti sauce to cover the bottom. Place a layer of eggplant slices in the sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Repeat with remaining ingredients, ending with the cheeses. Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until golden brown. (Because I cook the eggplant longer in the oven, I don't need to bake for an additional 35 min)

 Apparently....I do my eggplant parm much more like chicken parm, I don't do mine as a "casserole" or rather the eggplant parm that looks more like a lasagna.

I guess it can also look like this.

I like mine because I can get it super CRISPY!

Either way, both are delicious.