Penne in the Pink

This is the recipe we had earlier this week, but I made "Tortellini in the Pink" as an experiment. Although it tasted great, the tortellini-to-sauce ratio wasn't quite right. I used 20 ounces of tortellini which despite weighing more, makes up less mass than 16 ounces of plain pasta. So for that reason, I recommend trying this with regular pasta since that's how the recipe is supposed to be made. Also, be sure to read about the surprising alternate way to make it with a lot less fat, a trick I learned from the family who gave me the recipe several years ago. One thing though about making it this way is that the sauce will be less "pink" but that's just cosmetic. (The sauce pictured was made the alternate way.) Personally, I think the unhealthy version tastes best (of course), but my husband says that he likes the healthy one better and it's one of his all-time favorite meals.


Penne in the Pink

1 lb. penne
1/2 stick butter
3 c. prepared pasta sauce
1 c. heavy cream
3/4 to 1 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. dry basil or 1/4 c. fresh basil, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and return to pot; add butter and stir gently until melted. Stir in pasta sauce and whipping cream until combined. Add cheese and basil. Heat on medium-low until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly, stirring occassionally to prevent sticking. Serve immediately. Yields 6-8 servings.

Alternate Healthy Version: Substitute a can of white beans for the the whipping cream. Sounds bizarre? I know, but it really is pretty good. Simply place the undrained beans into a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. (For some extra flavor, throw a clove of garlic in before pureeing.) This is a bit thicker than cream, so doesn't exactly replicate the texture, but what do you save in calories and fat? First you save half the calories (about 400). And with 80 grams of fat in 1 cup of cream and only 3 grams of fat in a can of beans, almost all of the fat is eliminated.

Updated Meal Plan 2/8 - 2/14

Due to unexpected illness (nothing serious, just a flu-like episode that left me unable to cook for a few days), I had to revise my meal plan for this week. :( The new plan is mostly the same but switched around. The original Tuesday recipe got skipped entirely, but should be back next week.

Monday - Restaurant mystery shop
Tuesday - Fridge/Pantry raid
Wednesday - Tortellini in the Pink with Salad
Thursday - Leftovers with Salad
Friday - Children's Delight with Marinated Broccoli
Saturday - Dinner with family, bringing ???
Sunday - Restaurant mystery shop

So at the beginning of the week, I was planning on posting new recipes as I made them... but being too nauseous and dizzy to sit at the computer wrecked my plans. But, I'm mostly better now and will definitely be posting at least one recipe tomorrow, so stay tuned for that!

Meal Plan 2/8 - 2/14

This is my first meal plan post, so I thought I'd include a little bit of info about my family and our weekly eating routine.

We are a family of four, but only three "real" eaters (my baby just started eating baby food, but if you've ever tasted that stuff...). My older child is 2 and although a great eater for his age, naturally does not consume as much as his parents do. I meal plan from Monday through Sunday, which may not be a technical week, but it is in my book. :) Typically, I try to make meals that will give us leftovers for the next night, so that I'm not cooking every night of the week. Occasionally, I perform a restaurant mystery shopping assignment so that also eliminates some cooking for me. On Saturday evenings, we usually go over to my husband's parents' house to have dinner with them and my sister-in-law, brother-in-law, and niece.

We love flavor, especially garlic! I cook with freshly minced garlic whenever I can. Chicken and turkey are my favorite meats to cook with but I try to cook at least one meatless meal per week. Cheese is another favorite ingredient - I'd take cheese over meat any day! I also love experimenting with cooking from scratch (pizza dough, cornbread, pita pockets, and cinnamon rolls are a few recent successes).

Monday - Restaurant mystery shop
Tuesday - Creamy Chicken 'n' Rice Soup (half being brought as a meal to a friend) with Salad
Wednesday - Children's Delight with Salad
Thursday - Leftovers with Salad
Friday - Tortellini in the Pink with Salad
Saturday - Dinner with family, bringing ???
Sunday - Leftovers with Marinated Broccoli

When I meal planned this week I forgot that Sunday was Valentine's Day, so I'm not sure yet if we'll stick with boring leftovers or not. One thing is for sure, we will not be going out on Valentine's Day! So much nicer to celebrate it when everyone else is not overcrowding the restaurants!

Don't forget to check back throughout the week to see these recipes posted.

Welcome to Cucina di Christina

For several months, I have considered starting a recipe blog, since cooking is one of my favorite hobbies (and conveniently, a quite necessary "indulgence"!) and we usually try at least 1 new recipe a week. But, since recipe blogs and sites are already in abundance, I figured no one would bother reading yet another food blog. But I was spurred on to actually taking the plunge after realizing that the last few times I've mentioned a recipe title in my Facebook status, others shows interest in it and/or request the recipe. I thought, maybe people will read my blog after all!

So here it is! I have imported some recipes from my personal blog and plan on adding new recipes each week. I also intend to write a series on meal budgeting, since I am occasionally asked to share how I do our food budget, so look for that sometime within the next few months. In the meantime, I'll try to sprinkle some money-saving tips into my recipe posts.

Also, I just want to mention that not every recipe I post is a particularly inexpensive one. As I plan to share later in my budgeting series, in my budgeting system I borrow from my budget and carry over surplus, which gives me the flexibility to make the occasional pricier recipe. But the majority of my recipes are individually very affordable, so I hope my readers will enjoy learning to make new dishes that are easy on the taste buds and on the wallet!

Kahlua Cake

I got the recipe for this delectable cake at our local supermarket. At first, I was intimidated by how expensive it looked to make it, but since I already had a bottle of Kahlua on hand and bought the remaining ingredients at Aldi, it really wasn't too bad. In searching online for recommended Kahlua substitutes, I noticed that some suggest using strong coffee with a hint of powdered cocoa. However, plain Kahlua does not actually contain any cocoa/chocolate. If I were going to substitute it, I would just use double-strength coffee with a dash of vanilla extract; this wouldn't give the exact same flavor as using liqueur but the cake should still taste wonderful.


Kahlua Cake

4 large eggs
2 pkgs. instant vanilla pudding
1 box devil's food cake mix
16 oz. sour cream
3/4 c. Kahlua liqueur
1/4 c. canola oil
1 c. semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 block (4 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 container (8 oz.) whipped topping, thawed
1 c. whole milk

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a large bowl, lightly beat eggs. Mix in 1 package of pudding, cake mix, sour cream, Kahlua, and oil. Add chocolate chips and stir until just blended. Spread batter evenly into a greased and floured 12-cup Bundt pan. Bake at 50 to 60 minutes or until top springs back when lightly pressed. [I recommend checking the center with a toothpick also.]

Cool cake in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then invert onto a cake plate to serve warm, or cool completely on wire rack.

Meanwhile, prepare vanilla topping: In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth; fold in whipped topping. In a small bowl, whisk remaining package of pudding with milk. Stir pudding mixture into cream cheese mixture until well blended. Serve warm cake with vanilla topping. Yields 16 servings.
　
Note: 2% milk works just fine. :) Also it's important to beat the cream cheese thoroughly. I didn't and it ended up rather lumpy. Still tasted good though!

Cranberry Pecan Mayonnaise

I finally finished using my turkey leftovers by making turkey club sandwiches one night a few weeks ago. To give the sandwiches a fun twist, I made this delicious mayonnaise. Later, I tried mixing the leftover mayonnaise with some tuna... different, but very good!

Cranberry Pecan Mayonnaise

1/2 c. mayonnaise
1/2 c. whole-berry cranberry sauce
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp. chopped pecans, roasted
1 Tbsp. honey

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Refrigerate in an airtight container.

Note: After using this for turkey club sandwiches, we had quite a bit left over to put in the fridge. We used it all up within about 2 1/2 weeks and it still tasted fine at that point. Beyond that, I have no idea how long it would stay good in the fridge.

Recipe from Taste of Home October/November 2009 issue.

Favorite Taco Meat

We had this for dinner this week, so I thought I'd share. It's not a from-scratch recipe, but much tastier than the typical from-a-seasoning-packet meat. I make it with ground turkey, but this could be made with any meat.

Favorite Taco Meat

2 lbs. ground meat
2 8 oz. cans tomato sauce
1 cup salsa
1 packet taco seasoning

In a large frying pan, brown meat until no longer pink. Drain grease and return to pan. Add remaining ingredients and simmer on low heat for several minutes to intensify flavors.

Note: I usually half this recipe since 2 pounds is too much for our little family. Sometimes I still use an entire packet of taco seasoning, which makes it pretty strong but still good. Or if I end up following the recipe and only using half a packet, I use some of the extra seasoning and some salsa to mix into cooked rice. It makes a quick and easy side dish!