Angel Hair Pasta with Bacon and Peas

I have a Pork Tenderloin I am dying to make.  Every night, I think, "tonight's the night"!  Unfortunately, it happened again last night. :(  (But, really tonight I am making the pork, I don't care if I have to eat it all by myself!) So,  I decided to make a pasta dish that had come in an email to me from Everyday Food.  It was very good, very easy and fast. I believe I had dinner on the table within 20 minutes.  I made a few changes to amp up the flavor and I think next time I will add a little more onion or shallots.  But, otherwise, it was a great way to have dinner on the table in just a few minutes and it was "not the usual" pasta and red sauce.  Along side a salad and if you are feeling very decadent, some bread, it is a hearty, delicious meal.

Angel Hair Pasta with Bacon and Peas (adapted from Everyday Food) serves 4-5

4 slices thick cut bacon sliced into 1/2" pieces

2 -3 shallots halved and sliced very thin

1 box frozen peas, thawed

1 cup half and half

1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

1 pound fresh angel hair pasta

salt and pepper

Fill large pot with salted water and heat to boil for pasta.  In the meantime, heat skillet and saute bacon pieces until crisp. Remove bacon with slotted spoon(leave fat in pan).  Place shallots in pan and cook until soft 2-3 minutes.  Add half and half, peas and salt and pepper to taste and cook for  a few minutes until sauce starts to thicken. Cook pasta and reserve 1/2 cup liquid before draining. After draining, put pasta back in pot and add sauce, adding some of remaining liquid if needed( I only used a little).  Add parm cheese and bacon on top.  Mix lightly and serve with additional parm cheese on side, if desired.

Fast Food

It's been over 2 months now since we've started making a conscious decision to eat at home.  Unbelievably, it has gotten so easy to do.  It is our "normal" now and the kids don't even think about it anymore.  As most of you know, I keep a counter running on the sidebar to give us all an idea of how much we've saved.  Where I really notice the difference is in my checking account.  I just don't have money flowing out of my account as much.  It really makes me careful about where I spend my money elsewhere, as well.  I just don't enjoy spending like I used to. (This is why the economy has not bounced back quickly!:)  

Some people have asked how we are saving when I am shopping at Whole Foods, etc. If you are reader of my blog, you know that I pretty much buy what I want in the grocery store.  Yes, clearly sometimes it would be cheaper to pick up a pizza.  But this new way of living is more then just saving.  It is about mindfully making meals for my family to share as well as saving money from not eating out. Last night was a great example of why this plan is so great.  I walked in with the kids from soccer at 6:40 pm.  On the way home, it crossed my mind that picking up some takeout would be so easy.  Fortunately, I had a plan!!  Dinner was on the table in less then 20 minutes.  Burgers and Salad.  So here's what fast food now looks like in my house:

This was a strawberry spinach salad I threw(literally) together and tossed with Brianna's Blush Vinaigarette.  Since spring has come to New England, I had some (grass fed) beef I made into patties and put them on the grill.  The burgers were yummy, the salad delicious and I felt good that the kids had eaten enormous portions of spinach!  Grand total for a family of five for this meal:  under $15.  

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

For those of you wondering what I was up to yesterday:

Well, finally at 9:30 last night I had a finished Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.  It was fabulous.... or so the Mart and Ryan pronounced.  The two younger ones were already in bed and I was collapsed on the couch.  This ice cream stuff is hard work!  When you read the manuals,  they tell you that if you keep the canister in the freezer, you can have ice cream anytime you want it in less then an hour.  Lies, I tell you!  :)  I decided yesterday morning that I would make Vanilla Bean.  At 1:30 I started it.  At about 4 in finally went into the refrigerator. (The mixture needs to be refrigerated before it goes into the ice cream machine, otherwise it will not firm up.)  The suggestion was to refrigerate it overnight. (Maybe I should have read the instructions in greater detail.)  Instead, I took mine out about 4 hours later.  I must tell you though, it was worth it.  I had a few small spoonfuls and it was fantastic.  Very decadent.  What I have noticed is that homemade ice cream is not something you tuck into and eat a huge bowl.  A small scoop or two is plenty.  Even the boys said so.  I used a recipe from the ice cream guru, David Lebovitz.  I think we need to move onto frozen yogurt now!

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream (adapted from David Lebovitz)

1 1/2 cup milk

pinch of salt

3/4 cup sugar(scant)

1 vanilla bean, split 

2 cups heavy cream

5 egg yolks

1  tsp vanilla

Heat milk and sugar on low in saucepan. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean and place in milk mixture alone with the pod. Cover and remove from heat and allow to infuse for an hour.

After the hour, set up ice bath to make ice cream. In large bowl, place ice and water.  On top, place 2 quart bowl. Set strainer over smaller bowl and pour cream through. In separate bowl, mix egg yolks. Rewarm milk and slowly pour milk into yolks, mixing continually.  Put back in pan and reheat(stirring constantly) until custard thickens (enough to coat back of spatula). Pour mixture through strainer into cream. Stir over the ice bath until cool and then refrigerate(preferably overnight). *Because I couldn't wait that long, I put bowl over ice bath in refrigerator for 2 hours, then took out ice bath and left bowl in refrigerator for 2 more hours. Very chilled!

Now the fun part! Remove the vanilla bean and place in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.   Some work, yes....but oh so worth it!! :)  

The finished product, still in the ice cream maker.  I would like to say I have a beautiful picture in a pretty bowl, but the boys got into it before I had a chance!

Tonight's Dinner

Tonight's dinner is that Fabulous Chicken Salad from January.  I tweaked it(and changed it on the original recipe- see sidebar) and added Parmesan cheese to the breading.  For some reason, the parm cheese called my name tonight. :)  I liked it even better.  What isn't better with more parm cheese? 

There are many reasons why I like this salad:

1.  It is great with a warm chicken cutlet or at room temp.  (Some of us ate early and some are not home yet)

2.  It's salad!  We can pretend it is a health food :)

3. Everyone in my house will eat it.  For those that don't think salad is a meal, I don't mention the word. Instead, dinner is that "great chicken cutlet thing".

4.  Not counting the brining, which is completely optional(I'll never tell), it is 20 minutes to make, start to finish!

Finally, if you are wondering what happened to my creation from the 2 previous posts.... it's still "in process".  I guess I should have read the recipe through before I started.  I'l let you know when it has reached its peak and is ready for the final show.  Hopefully, later tonight...... 

This is Complex...

I feel lied to... this is way more involved then I thought! I am on part 33 (or at least it feels like 33).  Two words for you :  ice bath!

What Am I Making?

I haven't run away or anything else exciting.  But I am finally back in my kitchen this afternoon(however briefly). Here's what I am working on:

Hopefully, I will have something a lot more exciting to show you soon!  And, oh yes, dinner would be nice, too.  :)   Stay tuned .....  Can you guess what it is? 

Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake

Tonight we survived Ryan's Swim Team here.  17 year old boys can eat!  And eat, and eat, and eat! Wouldn't it be great to be 17 again?!! :)  We finally got to dig into the Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake that I had made yesterday.  A friend of mine had told me about it and since then virtually everyone I know has told me that they have a recipe for it.  As much as I love chocolate, I can't believe I never heard about it! It was so easy to make and makes a big cake. (You make it in a jelly roll pan.) The cake is very moist (I used sour cream but some recipes use buttermilk instead). The icing is yummy; not too sweet, just right.  If you need to feed a crowd, this is the cake to make!

Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake

2 Cups Flour

2 Cups Sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 sticks of butter, unsalted

1 cup of water

5 heaping tblsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup sour cream

2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease and flour 15x10 jelly roll pan.  In medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.  In pan, melt butter and add cocoa and water, remove from heat and stir to mix. Pour over flour mix and stir.  Add eggs and sour cream and beat until smooth.  Pour in prepared pan and bake  for approximately 20 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

While cake is baking, make icing:

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans*(optional)

1 1/2 cup Butter

4 heaping tablespoons cocoa

6 tblsp milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 box of Confectioner's Sugar(minus 3/4 cup)

Melt butter in pan, add cocoa, stir and remove from heat. Add milk and vanilla.  Slowly add confectioners sugar and beat until smooth.  Add pecans if using.  Pour over warm cake.  

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