This week was a somewhat lazy week for our Date Night Dinner. Both of us were exhausted from the long week and going to the grocery store was the last thing that we wanted to do. But it was date night, and we wanted to come up with something delicious and and easy that we could enjoy preparing as a team. So, when all else fails, resort to the left over ingredients in your fridge. I hate wasting food, it is like throwing money down the drain. Because of this I tend to have a meal once or twice a month that is a random concoction of ingredients, usually married by the delicious carbohydrate known as pasta. And so it was decided! We would make a baked pasta.
I was in the mood for spaghetti type pasta, so we went with angel hair (my favorite) as it was right on hand (I always stock up on boxes of a variety of pastas when they go on sale). We then decided to spice it up with the veggies that have been sitting in our drawer yearning to be finished off. Surprisingly, this only consisted of some yellow onion and asparagus. I felt a little bad because as you may have learned, Brenden is not the biggest fan of vegetables, and he absolutely hates asparagus. However, I was at the point where I could not remember when the asparagus was purchased, and that is bordering trashcan time, so we went with the plan and used it up. I cut them into large pieces so he could easily pick around them, and I let him throw in some hotdog chunks to make up for it.
We then scrounged around for spices threw them into the mix for some flavor, making the right ones pop. We had some cheese on hand too, so, of course we threw some of that in. I mean, after all, what is pasta without cheese?! We mixed it all together, threw it in the oven and hoped for the best. And let me say, it turned out pretty well. I guess all this cooking and recipe following is paying off. Soon we will be making our own gourmet recipes, maybe we will even have a show, Tracy and Brenden's Fine Dining is what we will call it. Ok, maybe that will be a few more years, but you get the idea. I have put our recipe below with estimated measurements, but like I said, this is a one-of-a-kind concoction. Have fun with it, and don't be afraid to substitute with the ingredients you have on hand, that's what we did, and it turned out great. Just be smart about it - you may not want to use milk as your spaghetti sauce, but then again who knows, it could be your thing or you could discover something great (after all, my dads new favorite snack is raw onion smeared with some good old chunky JIF...not that I am suggesting it).
We decided to continue our ingredient pantry raid and make some dessert as well. Getting fancy, I know. We went with eggless cookie dough. I really have nothing more to say about it then YUM! Just kidding (not about the, "YUM"), but of course I have a little bit more to say. This recipe is super easy and quite delicious, if you like cookie dough and who doesn't like cookie dough? Plus it it guilt free (in terms of the salmonella risk, don't worry there is plenty of sugar). It only uses a few simple ingredients that anyone who bakes should have on hand at all times. The only ingredient we didn't have was chocolate chips (I know, the best part). But never fear, we went with this months
theme of Halloween and substituted some chopped up orange, yellow, and black non-perils. Delish, and yes we ate it right out of the bowl. This will definitely be made again, soon.
Spicy Spaghetti Pie "Goulash" with Multigrain Garlic Bread
Ingredients
- Cooking spray
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 1/2 bundle asparagus, chopped
- 1 jumbo, all beef hotdog, chopped
- 1 box whole grain, angel hair pasta
- 1 jar spicy tomato marinara
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp basil
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1.5 cups shredded mozzerella cheese
- 2 slices muti grain bread
- butter and garlic powder to taste
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Spray a large saute pan with cooking spray.
- Add in onion and asparagus and cook over medium heat until just tender (about 10 minutes), stirring occasionally.
- At the same time, fill a large saucepan with water and bring to boil.
- Once boiling, and pasta, and cook as box instructs (you want to lean toward the al dente side since it will be cooking a bit longer in the oven).
- Drain pasta and set aside.
- Once veggies are almost cooked turn heat to down to medium-low and stir in hotdog.
- After about 2 minutes pour the marinara sauce over the veggies.
- Add spices (oregano through red pepper flakes)
- Return pasta to saucepan, add veggie/sauce mixture, and sprinkle in half of cheese
- Combine thoroughly.
- Spray a 9x13, glass baking dish with cooking spray.
- Pour pasta mixture into dish, layering evenly.
- Sprinkle remaining cheese on top.
- Put in the oven to bake for about 15 minutes (until cheese is nice and melted, making sure the outer pasta does not burn).
- In the meantime, toast bread to your desired brownness.
- While still warm spread and cover with butter and sprinkle as desired with garlic powder.
- Let sit for a few minutes so flavors can combine and soak in.
- Remove pasta from oven and let cool for 5 minutes.
- Serve bread and pasta together, and enjoy.
Halloween Non-peril Cookie Dough
Recipe adapted from spoonful.com, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup halloween non-perils, chopped (it is okay if size varies)
- 3/8 cup butter, softened
- 2 to 3 Tbsp water
- 1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
Directions
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar (I used a fork for this whole process, but a mixture can be used to speed up the process and make it easier on your arms).
- Stir in the flour, salt, vanilla, and chips until well blended.
- Add in the water, 1 Tbsp at a time, until it becomes a cookie dough consistency (it took me 2 Tbsp).
- Redefine "licking the spoon" and enjoy immediately.
