Christmas Family Time and Spinach, Artichoke Pasta

WOW!  I can't believe Christmas has come and gone and I have neglected my blog once again :(  BUT, I am so happy to say that while I was neglecting my blog I was living life to the fullest and enjoying the Christmas season with my hubby and sweet boys!!  We went to Christmas concerts, advent services, Jungle Bells at the San Diego Zoo, Breakfast with Santa, we shopped, baked cookies and so much more!  It is so much fun seeing the joy of Christmas through the eyes of my boys.  They LOVE Jesus and they sure do love celebrating His birth and all of the Christmas "perks" that go along with it!!

Holidays also mean lots of lonely nights being a chef's wife.  The restaurant is BUSY doing Christmas parties and entertaining guests on vacation.  It is so easy for me to become frustrated with his job and all that it entails, but this year was different.  Don't get me wrong, I still had my occasional "pitty party".   BUT, I really tried to focus on the time we were together rather than dwell on the time we were a part.  I think we drank hot chocolate and snuggled in Christmas jammies every night we were all home in December.  I had our fireplace going, candles lit and Christmas music playing almost every night.  This might seem like its obvious, but I don't know what makes me think I can't do this every day!  There is something about listening to music, especially Christian music, that just makes my heart happy!  I plan on continuing our December family time through the new year!

Here is a picture of my family on Christmas night! 


It wouldn't be a blog post without a recipe right?!?!  So, here is what I made last night!  The boys LOVED it and so did I :)

Spinach Artichoke Pasta
1 pound pasta, cooked according to directions in SALTED water (I used gemelli)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, sliced
3 garlic cloves, sliced or diced
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 pound frozen spinach, thawed and water squeezed out of it
1 lemon, zest and juice
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan, plus more for topping
salt & pepper

Start by getting your pasta boiling.  While that is cooking heat up olive oil in a large skillet add in onions and garlic and season with salt and pepper.  Let that saute for a minute or 2 then add in the spinach and artichokes and saute until its all heated through.  At this point pasta will be cooked.  Drain and add cooked pasta to the pan with vegetables.  Add lemon zest and juice as well as parmesan and fold it all together.  Serve hot with grated parmesan on top!  There is something about the lemon in this pasta that makes it so delicious and kid friendly too!!

Lemon and Green Onion Orzo

Tonight I was late on figuring out dinner...oops!  So I had to look at what I had and quickly whip something up!!  I decided on cilantro, grapefruit pork chops, bbq'ed bell peppers and some orzo.  The bell peppers were just tossed with olive oil and salt and pepper and thrown on the grill till they were charred and a little soft...SUPER easy!  I will share a quick and easy marinade post soon which will include the cilantro grapefruit.  For tonight I will share with you the orzo!  It is simple, tastes so bright and fresh and is really sooo delicious!

Here is what you need:
1 lb box of orzo (its a little pasta, shaped like rice but a bit bigger)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1 lemon, just the zest
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Salt & Pepper

Start by boiling a pot of very salty water.  Toss in the pasta and allow to cook per the boxes directions, normally around 9 minutes.  When pasta is ready strain well.  Put pasta back in pot and stir in butter and olive oil.  Next add in the green onion and lemon zest.  Once combined add the parmesan cheese!  Once this is all together taste and add salt if needed and some fresh grated pepper!  That's it! 

****Fun hint:  This is a great cold pasta salad as well!!  If you are going to serve it cold rinse pasta with cool water after it is cooked and before you add the other ingredients.  I'm not sure why this works (does something to the starch in the pasta) but my hubby taught me to do it, so I do!!

Garden Tomato Pasta

So I have said it over and over my family LOVES pasta and I make it often because I can put almost any veggie with it and my little boys eat it all up!!  With all the tomatoes coming in from my mother-in-law's garden I needed to make some new pasta dishes other than just the regular old pureed tomato sauce!  Here is the recipe for my current favorite!  Casey said it was the best pasta dish I had ever made for him...but it was midnight and he was starving!  I hope you have some fresh tomatoes at your house or can get some because right now they are delicious and you just can't beat the homegrown taste :)

Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, sliced
4 cups (about) chopped tomatoes
1 cup torn basil leaves, plus a little more for garnish
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
1/2 lb angel hair pasta
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese (or the good old green can if your in a bind :)

Start by turning the pan on high and adding the oil.  Also, fill a large pot with water and salt it to taste like the ocean.  Turn on high heat and wait for it to boil.  To the saute pan with hot oil add onions.  Stir around for about 2 minutes, you want them to cook but not get too brown.  Season well with salt and pepper!  Turn heat to medium and add in garlic.  Cook, stirring occasionally until the garlic becomes soft.  Your pot of water will probably boil by now so add in angel hair pasta and cook according to the directions on the box...mine said 4 minutes.  When pasta is done strain.  Turn saute pan's heat to low and stir in tomatoes and basil.  Cook on low for about 5 minutes.  The juices from the tomatoes will come out and you want all the ingredients to melt together.  My tomatoes are super sweet so there is a really great balance to the sauce.  Then your sauce is done!  Add in the angel hair and use tongs to toss the pasta with the sauce completely.  Use Parmesan cheese and a little fresh basil to garnish and you are ready to enjoy!

The sauce

Fresh, beautiful and delicious! 

Grilled Peppers and Sausage Rigatoni

Monday night I was way behind on making dinner, and Casey was home.  When he is home I normally like to make something that he is going to love and be excited to eat since we don't get to eat as a family very often with his CRAZY schedule!!  Since Casey loves a little spicy in pretty much everything I decided to make some pasta with some spicy sausage.  I grilled the sausage and some bell pepper and the flavor from the grill added so much to the pasta.  We all loved it!  Casey and I loved it even more paired with a beautiful Pinot Noir :)

Ingredients
1 lb hot Italian sausage
2 red bell peppers
Tomato Sauce (about 24 oz homemade or 1 jar)
4 oz fresh mini mozzarella balls, quartered
1/2 cup chopped basil
1 lb rigatoni pasta
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

Put a pot of SALTED water on the stove to boil.  Slice the sides off of the bell peppers and toss them with a little olive oil, with salt and pepper.  Grill the bell peppers along with the sausages on the bbq.  Let the bell peppers get some nice grill marks and get soft.  Grill sausages until they are cooked through.  Cook pasta according to directions on the box.  Slice the grilled sausages and cut up the grilled peppers.  When pasta is done, drain water and toss with the tomato sauce.  Add in the sausage, bell peppers, mozzarella balls and basil.  Toss it all together and serve. 

Orecchiette Pasta

Pasta, pasta, pasta!  We love pasta at our house!  One of the first foods (besides banana) Griffin asked for by name was "pata", so like I said we love pasta :)  I am constantly trying new ways to make it both exciting and healthy and still get in the pasta.  For some reason I can put almost any vegetable with pasta and my kids will eat it.
So, tonight when I looked at the clock and it was already 6 and I hadn't made dinner I decided to go for my old stand by and add a little of this and a little of that!  It took me less than 30 minutes to throw together (including waiting for the water to boil) and what I came up with was pretty darn good, if I do say so myself :)

Orecchiette Pasta
1lb box orecchiette pasta
3 tablespoons (about) olive oil
1 onion (I used red for a little color), diced
3 garlic cloves, chopped up
2 cups asparagus, chopped about 1 inch in length
20 (or so) grape tomatoes, sliced in half
1 cup basil leaves, torn
Salt & Pepper

Using a large pot bring about 6 quarts of SALTED water to a boil.  When water is boiling add pasta and cook to the instructions on the box (mine said 11 minutes).  While waiting for the water to boil start making the veggies!  Add about 3 tablespoons olive oil to a large saute pan.  When it is hot add onion and asparagus.  Season with salt and pepper.  Saute until onion begins to turn translucent, next add garlic and turn the heat to medium low.  You want the veggies to kind of melt together.  Add tomatoes and leave on low.  When pasta is done cooking drain well and add to pan.  Turn off heat and stir it all together, add in basil leaves.  Taste and add more seasoning if need.  Then its time to serve!  I hope you enjoy it as much as we did tonight!