Spaghetti a la Veg

Awkward vantage point.....but delicious pasta! 

As part of my week long stint as a vegetarian, I used as many veggies as possible to keep it interesting.  This dish was a simple, quick, light week night meal.  

Saute in olive oil:

Onion, garlic, sweet yellow, orange and red peppers, grape tomatoes, 

baby bella mushrooms, parsley, basil, S&P

De-glaze with vegetable broth.

Add in cooked pasta to simmer and thicken sauce.

Top with Parmesan Cheese! 

Enjoy! 

CCTP

In an attempt to be a vegetarian for the week, I knew that I would need to add lots of cheese to my diet.  Cottage cheese was one of my choices.  This was a part of my packed lunch today.  

Cottage Cheese - Grape Tomatoes - Fresh Parsley 

(with a little S&P)

I want this to be in my lunch everyday! 

It is my new favorite snack! 

In fact, as I sit here about to embark on another school project that is due this week.....I think I will make myself up a big ol' bowl of CCTP!  

Smoked Blue Cheese and Honey Flatbread

I love when I make happy mistakes!

I grabbed a container of smoked blue cheese rather than the regular crumble blue cheese that I normally buy.  When I first opened the container I thought that it had gone bad because the edges of some of the pieces were a little brown.  When I looked for the expiration date I realized that it was smoked....hence the brown edges.  I was a little nervous about it but figured just like any smoked meat that I had, smoked blue cheese had to be good.  Well....turns out it is fantastic.  

I have put this on my scrambled eggs in the morning and decided to try it out on some flat bread, as well.  

This was easy and delicious!

Pizza Crust

Olive Oil

S&P

Smoked Blue Cheese

Parmesan Cheese

Honey

Bake and drizzle with more honey! 

Enjoy!!!

Cucumbers....

Cucumbers have become a staple in my house, as of late. 

My daughter requests cucumbers as a bedtime snack every night.  

I have so many cucumbers in my fridge at any given time now that I seem to put them in and on most everything that I eat cold.  

This was breakfast one day! 

A nice, light, refreshing breakfast! 

Triscuit, Cucumber and Fresh Mozzarella! 

Marinated Artichoke Salsa

Marinated artichoke hearts are one of my new favorite ingredients. 

I needed an appetizer to serve while cooking the rest of dinner and came up with this tasty treat.  

Marinated Artichoke Hearts

Grape Tomatoes

Green Olives

Shallot

Mozzarella Cheese

A dash of S&P

A splash of Red Wine Vinegar

A drizzle of EVOO

Viola!

Rotisserie Chicken Mexican Pizza

With very little time in my schedule, the key to my week night dinners is finding quick proteins to work with.  I picked up a rotisserie chicken at the grocery store the other day, knowing that I could make some quick meals with the meat.

Saute onion, shallot, garlic, red pepper and mushrooms. 

Season with S&P, cumin, oregano, chili powder, cayenne pepper.

Add chopped rotisserie meat.

Saute more.

Layer:

Crispy baked corn shell

Fat free re-fried beans

Cheese

Chicken-N-Veggie Mixture

Crispy baked corn shell

Fat free re-fried beans

Taco sauce

Lots of cheese

Green Onions

Bake until cheese is melted!

Top with chopped veggies and sour cream.

Enjoy!!!

Tostadas con Venison

A friend of mine gave me some venison to experiment with.  

It is super lean and has a very gamy flavor to it, if it isn't prepared right.  

I was instructed to drain off as much of the fat as possible to avoid the gamy flavor.  

It was absolutely delicious!

  I could have served this as ground beef to anyone and 

they would have never been able to tell the difference.  

It is a super healthy, lean alternative to beef....if you can get your hands on it, of course! 

I don't think you can readily find it in many retail markets.   

I will be trying venison spaghetti sauce tomorrow night! 

A Thai Lunch

After working in a little city with no good restaurants for a couple of months, it is nice to have some good options again.  Today I went to Jack & Jin's Thai restaurant.  

I had Hot and Sour Soup, a Spring Roll and Chicken Satay w/ Cucumber Salad. 

All for $9 including tip! 

Can't beat it!