Recipe: Tricolor Summer Penne {Vegetarian Friendly & Gluten Free}

Tricolor Summer Penne - A Skinny Taste Cookbook Recipe
290 Calories* || Serves 4*

I meant to make delicious chicken enchiladas tonight but forgot it had to be slow cooked for 2-3 hours and then shredded, so I found this other awesome recipe and edited it to my liking! 

The original recipe is from the Skinny Taste Cookbook and is 290 calories, gluten free, and vegetarian. While I do try a meatless meal once a week, tonight was not that night, because I had already thawed 4 chicken breasts and with my husband doing two workouts per day right now, I know he would've never gone for it. The man loves his meat!

The recipe says it serves 4, but with the added chicken and extra 5oz of pasta that I used, this will feed us for three days. So I will not be cooking tomorrow night! 

Here is the original ingredients list and instructions. My modifications will be in italics to the right of the original.

Ingredients:
8 ounces penne pasta (use brown rice or quinoa pasta for gluten-free) || I chose to use a full box (13oz) of GF penne pasta
Kosher salt
1 zucchini, cut into 1/4in thick strips
1 yellow squash, cut into 1/4in thick strips
1 1/4 cups shredded carrots
1tbsp EVOO
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/4c grated Pecorino Romano cheese
Freshly cracked black pepper
2tbsp thinly sliced fresh basil 

I added 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed. 

Instructions:

Cook the pasta to al dente in a pot of boiling water. Meanwhile, chop the zuchinni and squash. In the last two minutes of pasta boiling, add the squash and vegetable mix || see below in photos what I added to my veggie mix || Let cook for about two minutes. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water, drain the rest in a colandar. Because I was adding chicken, I drained all of the water. Explained below in photos.

Heat a large, non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add the oil, garlic, and chicken if you choose, and cook, stirring, until golden (2-3 minutes). Quickly add the drained pasta and vegetables and the reserved water || the juices from the chicken were enough without adding the reserve water in my case ||

Stir it all together, and add 1/4c Pecorino Romano cheese (found at Trader Joe's), and a dash of salt and pepper. Finish by adding your sliced fresh basil and stirring in.

There are step by step photos below of how I made ours tonight. This meal took 26 minutes from start to finish and will feed my family of three for three days, lunch and dinner!

 First, I chopped my zuchinni and squash. 

 I also chose to add this pre-made veggie mix from Trader Joe's. I didn't feel like shredding a carrot, and this has lots of goodness it in. I added about half of the 16oz container. 

While the pasta is boiling, add the veggie mixture and let cook for 2-3 minutes. Drain into colandar.

 Since I was adding chicken, I cubed it first, and then added one of my favorite all purpose seasonings, Stubb's All Natural Chicken Spice Rub. 

I used the chicken juices in place of the reserve water the original recipe called for, and it was the perfect moisture for the pasta when I combined it all. Once combined, I added 1/4c Pecorino Romano cheese which added so much flavor and creaminess to the dish!

I finished by sprinkling fresh basil into the mix and stirring it in!

We love all things avocado in this house, so I added a wedge to go along. My husband kicked his up a notch by adding a dash of crushed red pepper flakes to his. 

Another STCB success and one to be documented in my hand written recipe book! Comment below and let me know how yours turns out, and whether you use meat or not, or how you made this easy recipe unique by adding your own special touch! 

*Adding chicken adds to the total calories of each serving, and makes more servings. 

Recipe: Noodle-less Zucchini Lasagna

Noodle-less Zucchini lasagna - A Skinny Taste Cookbook Recipe
275 Calories || Serves 8

Thursday night my husband and I hosted one of our dearest couple-friends over for dinner and I feel confident they were impressed with the meal, when they both asked for seconds and then asked for the recipe. Over mimosas yesterday, she exclaimed, "Ugh I just loved it so much I ordered the cookbook yesterday!" 

Yes, ladies, you heard it. One of the most frugal couples I know bit the very inexpensive bullet and ordered the Skinny Taste Cookbook from Amazon. It's worth it -- promise. 

I love this meal because it is essentially carb free. I am a total carb whore, which is why you'll never catch me on a Paleo diet. This recipe replaces lasagna noodles with strips of zucchini -- very creative to me! 

Disclaimer: This meal took longer than expected. I'm glad I had leftovers on hand so I could feed Liam dinner because we ate 2.5 hours past our normal 5pm dinner time. Was it worth it? Totally. I just wish I read the entire recipe ahead of time and planned my day a little better! Would make a great weekend meal, as I have more time to cook and plan on weekends. 

Ingredients:
1lb lean ground beef || I used 1.5lb ground turkey instead 
1 1/4tsp kosher salt
1tsp EVOO
1/2 large onion, chopped || I used the pre-chopped yellow onion from Trader Joe's
3 garlic cloves, minced || Make your life easier and purchase a bag of bagged, peeled garlic cloves. Just mince them! A big supply and saves time from peeling!
1 (28oz) can crushed tomatoes
2tbsp chopped fresh basic
Freshly ground black pepper
3 medium zucchini
EVOO spray
1.5c part-skim ricotta cheese
1/4c grated Permigiano-Reggiano Cheese || Not found at a chain grocery store, but did find it at TJ's -- go figure! 
1 large egg
4c shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (16oz)

Instructions:

Heat a large, deep nonstick skillet over high heat. Brown the meat, season with 1/2tsp salt and break meat into small pieces as it cooks. Drain meat into colander and wipe skillet with a paper towel. 

Heat skillet on medium heat. Add EVOO and chopped onion and cook, stirring until soft (3-4 minutes). Add garlic. Return meat to pan, add tomatoes, basil, 1/4tsp salt, and black pepper to taste. Reduce heat to low,c over, and simmer for 25 minutes stirring occasionally. Remove lid and simmer uncovered 10 more minutes. 

Meanwhile, slice the zucchini with a mandoline || I didn't even know what this was, so I sliced it length wise into strips. When I later saw another recipe called for this tool, I ordered one off Amazon for $30 || You should have 30-35 long ribbons. Lightly salt the zucchini with remaining 1/2tsp salt and set aside. 

Preheat grill to medium heat || this could also be done in a separate skillet if you're not in the grilling mood || 

Oil grates with EVOO spray. Grill zucchini until cooked and slightly browned, 2-3 minutes on each side. Transfer to plate. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, parmesan, and egg. 

Spread 1/2c of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Make a layer of zucchini over the sauce to cover the bottom of the dish. Spread 1/2c of the ricotta mixture over the zucchini and sprinkle with 1c mozzarella. Make another layer of zucchini, top with 1/5c meat sauce, 1/2c ricotta mixture, 1c mozzarella. Repeat the layers with remaining ingredients for a total of three layers. Finish the lasagna by topping with remaining zucchini and meat sauce. Cover with tin foil. 

Bake for 30 minutes, remove foil, and bake for 20 more uncovered. Add remaining mozzarella and bake uncovered until bubbling and hceese is melted. Let stand for 5-10 minutes before cutting into eight pieces. || Full disclosure: I only bakes for 20 minutes covered and 10 uncovered, and then we ate right away. Turned out great. 

Definitely a "goo-losh" looking meal, but hella tasty! 

I will definitely make this meal again, but as I said before, it will be on a weekend because I just can't make this happen on a work night. Overall, a great success from my trusted STCB. 

Money Saving Mama

If you were to ask my husband who runs our house, he would probably say me. It's true. I keep it clean, our family fed, pay the bills, wipe a little boy's nose, feed the cat, check the mail, and pack everyone's lunches. One time he even called me Super Woman.

But I am terrible at saving money. I know a lot about how to do it, I just don't do it. So in 2015 I am committed to saving money and creating a better future for our family. My first step to reach this goal was to divorce Starbucks.

The next is my Money Saver jar. I got the idea from an inter-web friend. She is following this calendar.

I ran downstairs and said, "Honey! I need to do this!" He laughed (knowing how I lack self-discipline) but said, "Okay. Start tomorrow. and PS you can afford more than that."

I thought, "Can I?" Perplexed, I peered into my bank account and saw my incredulous frivilous spending and, indeed, I can afford to put away more.

I have committed to $40 per week, so $80 per paycheck. At Week 41 of 2015 (Oct. 5, 2015) I will up it to $60 per week. This will have saved me $2320 by December 31, 2015. Can I do it?

I made this jar in hopes that seeing cash pile up each week will encourage me and motivate me. The trick is to not take the money out of the jar. Mike suggested a wine bottle because I would have to break it in order to get the money out, which is super smart, but I'm practicing self control. The first time I take money out of the jar, I will switch to the wine bottle.

Week 1 is DONE! $40 saved! 

My other efforts at saving money included:

-Unsubscribing from all retail-related e-mails. I do not need to know every time The Gap is having a 40% off sale (about 4 times per week) because that is an easy excuse for me to do online shopping, and Liam doesn't really need that sweater, anyway.

-Packing my lunch and getting a new water bottle for my desk at work. When I am lazy and don't pack a lunch, I spend roughly $11 on lunch, plus $1.99 on a 1L water bottle. $13 a day -- sometimes that's four times a week when I fail to meal plan.

-Using the Keurig in our break room at work. Before Liam I would drink a 14oz coffee on my way into work. Now I drink my breakfast (Shakeology) on my way in, so I religiously buy a "We Proudly Brew" Starbucks coffee for $2.11, five days a week from the cafeteria. Tomorrow I am going to Costco for a large box of K-Cups and will start using our Keurig at work. That should save a substantial amount...

If you want to take the challenge with me, comment here and I will add you to my online, money saving jar accountability group with other moms just like me, trying to get a hold of their finances!

Recipe: Colombian Carne Asada with Ají Picante

Colombian Carne Asada with Ají Picante - A Skinny Taste Cookbook Recipe
208 Calories* || Serves 6

Last night I managed to impress my husband my marinating 3 lbs of flank steak ($20 at Costco - couldn't say no) and grilling it to perfection (a nice pink, medium-rare) and pairing it with a spicy salsa. 

He was less impressed when I told him I simply followed a recipe in my new cookbook. Nonetheless, I impressed myself!

I pulled the steak out on Friday to thaw and let it marinate over night. Saturday at 3pm it was game time! 

I did not take photos of the process, but the instructions below are detailed enough and I am confident yours will turn out just as delicious! 

I doubled this recipe because I had over 3lb of steak, but the ingredients list is for 1.5lb.

For the steak:

1.5lbs flank steak
1tsp ground cumin
1/2tsp oregano
1/2tsp kosher salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
1tbsp EVOO
3 garlic cloves, crushed
3 scallions, chopped 
3/4c Corona Light beer

For the Ají Picante:

3tbsp fresh lime juice 
1/2tbsp distilled white vinegar
1/4c finely chopped scallions
1/4c chopped cilantro
1/4c seeded & chopped tomato
1tbsp finely minced fresh jalapeño
1/4tsp kosher salt


For the steak:

Thaw steaks completely. Using a sharp knife, lightly score steaks 1/8in deep on both sides in a criss cross pattern and place in a 9x11 glass baking dish. 

In a small bowl, combine the cumin, oregano, salt, and black pepper to taste. Rub the EVOO and garlic over both sides of the steak, then rub in the spice mix. Add the scallions and beer, turning over the steaks a few times to coat both sides. Cover with foil or cling wrap and refrigerate 3 hours, up to overnight. Flip occasionally. 

For the Ají Picante:

In a small bowl, combine 1/4c water, the lime juice, vinegar, scallions, cilantro, tomato, jalapeño, and salt. Refrigerate until ready to use. 

I altered the Ají Picante recipe. As mentioned in a previous post, I am a convenience person. If it saves me time, I'm in! I picked up a pico-de-gallo salsa at Trader Joe's and drained the juice with a spoon and used that in place of the scallions, chopped tomato, and chopped jalapeño. I simply added garlic, cilantro, lime juice, vinegar and salt. I also left out the 3/4c water. My version was delicious and faster! 

Preheat your grill to high and lightly oil the grate. Remove the steaks and discard the marinade, and grill to preferred doneness (3-4 minutes on each side yields a beautiful medium-rare). Place steaks on a cutting board and let sit five minutes. Thinly slice steaks across the grain. Transfer to a plate and serve with ají picante on top. 

I served mine with long grain brown rice, avocado, and an asparagus stir fry (pre-cut and packaged at Trader Joe's for the less than the price of buying all the produce separately -- and I didn't have to chop it. WINNING!) 

*Adding the stir fry, rice, and avocado increases the total calorie amount. 

Meal Planning on a {TIME} Budget

People ask ALL THE TIME where I get my recipes from, how I form a grocery list, ensure food doesn't go bad (hate cleaning out that produce crisper...), and making time to cook it all. 

I only pick meals that can be prepped and cooked in roughly 30 minutes. By the time I pick Liam up from day care, I have TWO HOURS to cook, eat, play, bathe, and get him to bed, so I don't have time for laborious and drawn out gourmet recipes. 

Saturday is generally my meal planning day, where I look through my recipe book, cook books, and Pinterest. I watch YouTube videos on how to alter recipes - making prep easier, use less time, and make them low carb and low cal, if they are not already formulated to be this way. Meal planning takes roughly one hour so this happens during nap time.

I really only plan my family's dinners because breakfast is already accounted for - Shakeology with fruit - and lunch is almost always left overs from the night before. 

My first step in planning our meals for the week is to break out my Skinny Taste Cookbook (STCB) and flip to the contents page. I've only had the book for a few weeks so right now I'm predominately using the "Perfect Poultry", "Lean Meat Dishes", and "Veggie-Licious Sides". We are big meat eaters and our diet reflects that, with our high protein, high vegetables, and low carb menus. Once a week I cook a meatless dinner, just to try them out, and this cookbook has a whole section dedicated to just that! 

I always look for recipes that use similar ingredients, and the STCB makes this SUPER easy. Most ingredients are already staples in our home. 

I buy all my meat at Costco - staples include boneless skinless chicken breasts, ground turkey, a package of two whole chickens (that’s $10.00 for TWO chickens!!!), pork chops, and if the price is right, flank steak. I just got 3.15 lbs for $20 and that’s a great deal!

Sundays is my grocery shopping day. All of my produce comes from Trader Joe's. I have found this to be the best bang for my buck. I’m a convenience type of person -- as a mom, you already know that every minute counts, and if I can save 10 minutes and watery, burning eyes from chopping an onion, it's worth the price to me, which not to mention is not much more than a single onion at a chain store. I love that I can get almost everything prepared for me.-- chopped onions, shredded carrots, or a fresh stir fry - just add EVOO and heat in a pan! All of this is prepared and priced to sell. Giant (or other chain stores) simply cannot compete! Grocery shopping takes exactly one hour, door to door. 

For the 6 day meal plan I created for this week, I already had all the meat, so today I bought everything else. Fruit, veggies, grains, etc. I spent $82.45 – this same grocery list costs me about $160 or more at Giant…hence why we only go there if TJ’s is closed or they don’t have exactly what I need. The one thing I won’t buy at TJ’s is milk. While cheaper, it tastes weird to me. Can’t pinpoint why, so we just buy the milk at Giant.

People have complained that while cheaper, you have to be careful at TJ’s because the produce expires more quickly. This is true – check the dates! Yet this still works for my family because we eat a lot and we eat it fast. By shopping once a week, I’m not giving the produce a chance to go bad. I am always so bitter when I have to pitch produce because I didn’t use it fast enough. This is also the reason I find recipes with similar ingredients because there’s nothing more annoying than a recipe that calls for “a pinch of fresh basil” and then you’re left with a whole container of it that will end up in the bottom of your crisper, shriveled and untouched.

Stayed tuned throughout the week as I publish each meal, with the grocery list, recipe, and instructions for cooking. 

My Real Life Addiction

People ask me all the time how I "do it all" -- clean house, fed baby, two jobs, workout, meal prep, and keep a happy hubby.... well let me tell you... 4 shots of espresso, baby! 

1. Addiction       ad·dic·tion       əˈdikSH(ə)n/
   noun                   A condition that results when a person ingests a substance or engages in an activity that can be pleasurable but the continued use/act of which becomes compulsive and interferes with ordinary life responsibilities, such as work, relationships, or health

"Good morning! Hi, can I please have a Venti Iced Caramel Macchiato Upside Down with Skim Milk and 4 shots?" 

"Can I get a name for the order?"

"Lauren"

"Great, that will be $5.25."

{Gladly hands over debit card, moves to barista area.}

"A Venti Caramel Iced.... for... yeah." 

Moran? Lo Lu Lawww? What? I've been coming here for 2 years.... 

Yep, I am addicted to Starbucks. Whether it's the coffee or the experience or habit, I'm not even sure I can pinpoint it. but it's a PROBLEM. My husband and I constantly talk about my frivilous spending and while $5 here and there could be seen as a "treat", mine is hardly a treat. On average, I'm spending about $25 per week at Starbucks, not including when I'm on vacation and go sometimes twice a day.

With tax season upon us and several home renovations we would like to complete, something has got to change.

Today I am divorcing Starbucks and am now engaged to be married to a savings account. This won't be easy. I've already been tempted.

On my way to enjoy mimosas and a pedicure with a girlfriend, I passed FOUR establishments. Ugh, the torment. I resisted. I will need a constant reminder and accountability for this endeavor, so I added this to the dashboard of my car.

Man I'm tired. I need a coffee.