Stinky cheese pasta ???

I found another yummy pasta recipe in the back of one of my magazines (I tore it out of the magazine and now I can't remember which magazine it was....) Anyhow, it's actually an ad for Ronzoni Smart Taste thin spaghetti. The recipe is "Roasted Cherry Tomato, Spinach and Asiago Pasta". Now, being the sophisticated cook that I am..... I didn't know what Asiago was ..... until I read the ingredients list and found out it's cheese ..... which I found out is STINKY cheese after I bought it and started to cook with it!!! BUT, stinky as it may be, I think it tastes good !!! (just light a candle while you're cooking and eating and it's not so bad.)

Ingredients:

3 cups cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp salt and pepper
1 bag baby spinach leaves, about 4 cups
1 pkg Ronzoni Smart Taste thin spaghetti
1/2 cup shredded Asiago cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil or parsley
toasted pine nuts (optional)

1) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. toss the tomatoes with the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Spread the tomatoes on a foil- lined baking sheet.


2) Roast the tomatoes for 20 to 30 minutes or until shriveled and lightly browned. Scrape the tomatoes and juices into a large bowl. Add the spinach.





3) Meanwhile, prepare the pasta according to pkg directions. Shred the cheese .



4) Toss the pasta with the spinach, roasted tomatoes, Asiago cheese and basil. Sprinkle with the pine nuts (if using). Serve with additional cheese on the side.




Prep time = 30 minutes. Servings = 6. Weight Watcher points = 9

Even though this is a very healthy recipe, it's kind of high in Wt Watcher points, I think (maybe because of the stinky cheese??) -- so, anyhow, I figured I'd better try and work some of it off ......



........so......light a candle and stick a clothespin on your nose and cook up a batch of this healthy , stinky cheese pasta !!!!! ENJOY !!

Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)

Desperately seeking balance..........

UGH!!!Another way too typical weekend for me doing catch up paperwork (for my job) left over from the previous week...... and if you're tired of looking at pictures of it , I'm even more tired of having to be chained to my desk doing it .... for hours and hours (day after day, week after week, year after year !!!).... mind numbing paperwork ..... UGH !!!
But, look who kept me company .... Little Miss Hog - a - Chair, Daisy.

Anyway, since I'm so often stuck doing zillions of hours of BORING paperwork on Saturdays and Sundays and it makes me CRANKY and MAD that I don't have much time for anything fun, I decided to implement a new system where I do paperwork for an hour, then I get to sew/draw/play for an hour, then back to paperwork for an hour. Sounds good , right? (it always sounds good on paper.....) OK, so, armed with my cup of tea (I need LOTS of caffeine and an occasional hit of chocolate to get me through) and encouraged by my new plan that theoretically balances out the crappy paperwork with some fun, I eagerly sit down at my desk to get started on my hour of paperwork, so that I can get to my hour of sewing and not feel guilty about it...... when along comes interruption #1 .... ...yes, Daisy decided to remove herself from my chair and park right on the paperwork I was trying to do. Then, coming to try and take her place on the chair is interruption #2....Sam.

....OK, still determined to have my plan work, I cleared all work and sitting surfaces of kitties, took a swig of my now cold tea, wished I had a morsel of chocolate and got back to the boring paperwork when I was jolted out of my chair by interruption #3........REV......REV.....REVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV........ I FLY out of my chair , down the steps and out to the driveway before the neighbor flies out of his house and yells about the noise, .... again...... "Matthew! Evan! stop making all that noise!!!" REV.....REV....."Are you guys finished with your homework?!?" REV.....REVVVVVV "Guys!!! the exhaust fumes are going in the house!" REV.... REV....REVVVVVVV......... (hand on hip .....tap, tap , tap goes my foot .....) "I am going to count to 3 !!" ...... REV..REV....REVVVVVVV........ZOOMMMMMMMMM down the driveway and down the street. Big sigh ......maybe they'd listen better if I wore that kind of hat with a big ol'flower sticking out of the top ......

...... OK, I go back in the house, make a fresh cup of tea, trudge back upstairs and sit down at my desk, wishing for a chunk of chocolate and notice that my hour has now ballooned into 2 hours ...... and my hour of sewing is gone .... and it 's back to an hour of paperwork ........ CRAP !!!!! So..... after throwing a bit of a tantrum, I do paperwork for an hour and happily think it's finally my time .... sewing time .... and I've earned it!!!!...... but one look at the clock tells me it's time to make dinner ...... then it's time to clean it up....... by this time, I can't even begin to force myself to sit back down at that stinkin' desk to do more paperwork (even though it's due by Monday morning and guilt has completely consumed me) ---- I throw caution to the wind and ........ sew !!!!!
I sewed until I was too tired to sew anymore, then Daisy and I fell asleep .....

.......so, that's all I accomplished on Saturday...... then Sunday dawns bright and sunny and what do I get to do?...... more paperwork (because, did I mention, it's always due on Monday morning .... and did I mention that it SUCKS !!!?!?! well, it does ! ....). OK, so the pressure is on .... no more fooling around .... I just have to get the paperwork FINISHED !!!! no time for sewing ..... but, then my attention span for paperwork stinks, so I ended up fiddling around with what colors to start coloring 2 drawings I did a few weeks ago ..... ....and piddling around even more by doodling more "drawings" ........... oh well, I think I'm far from achieving my never ending quest to become one with the universe .... but here's my plan for next weekend to attempt to achieve inner balance ..... I will clean 1 out of 3 toilets, wash 5 out of 7 loads of smelly gym shorts and stinky socks, I will do 1/2 of my paperwork on Saturday and the other 1/2 on Sunday,.... and I will sew the binding on 2 out of 4 sides of a quilt ...... and I will balance my chocolate consumption with my caffeine consumption ....... ohhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm......

Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)

Mama Mia !! A delizioso Antipasto !!!!!

Mama Mia this stuff, she's a GOOD !!! I found the recipe in the latest Weight Watchers five ingredient, 15 minute cookbook (actually it's more like a magazine -- I found it in the magazine section at the grocery store last week). Anyhow, I had fun making this stuff and taking pictures as I was making it (my new camera has a setting for taking pictures of food , so I've been subjecting all of you to my food pictures....OK, so I haven't quite got the hang of it .... that first picture is a bit blurry, and the second one has a big ol' glare on it ..... oh well, I'll have to actually read the instruction book one of these days!)

OK... so here's the recipe for Antipasto Salad.

Ingredients:
1 9 oz pkg fresh light four-cheese ravioli
1 14 oz can quartered artichoke hearts, drained and roughly chopped
2 tablespoons chopped drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
1/4 cup sliced ripe olives
1/4 cup torn fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup fat-free balsamic vinaigrette

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt; drain.
Combine cooked pasta, artichokes, and remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings. 4 points/serving

Now run along and make this stuff .... and resist the urge to grab a fork and the entire bowl and sit in front of the boob tube and scarf it all down in one sitting !(not that I would EVER do that!!)

Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)

Rotting bananas and macaroni & cheese

Those yummy, rotting bananas were sitting around on the kitchen counter , just waiting to attract fruit flies (or do the fruit flies come out of the rotting fruit? hmmmmm..... where the heck do fruit flies come from?). Well, anyway, I decided to make some banana bread ..... and I also decided to make some homemade macaroni and cheese (instead of my usual blue box version ..... that being Kraft macaroni and cheese .... which my kids have had since day #1 and love ...) I guess I was in need of some "comfort food" .... comfortably comfortable comfort food .... cozy, stick to your ribs comfort food .... good stuff that grandma or Aunt Bea would make while wearing her apron, her housedress, and her orthopedic shoes. BUT !!... I remind myself, the holiday food fest HAS to be OVER ... REALLY, REALLY OVER before I'm the size of a BARN !!!! SO...... I tried to come up with a compromise .... a lower fat, lower calorie, lower Weight Watcher's points version of the banana bread and the macaroni and cheese. The banana bread recipe originally was in the USA Weekend insert of the newspaper last October; and the macaroni and cheese recipe was on the back of the box of San Giorgio elbow macaroni. Basically all I did with the banana bread recipe was substitute natural applesauce (I use Mott's natural) for the oil; and for the macaroni and cheese, I used fat free milk (instead of whole milk) and substituted half the cheddar cheese with fat free cheddar cheese (or I could have used all fat free cheddar cheese).

Banana Bread:

Ingredients:
2 large bananas
1/2 cup of water
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
1/2 cup 100% natural apple sauce
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mash bananas. Whisk in 1/2 cup water, then brown sugar, then applesauce, then eggs until smooth.

In separate bowl, whisk together remaining dry ingredients. Fold dry ingredients into the banana mixture until just combined. Spray 9-inch loaf pan with Pam. Scrape batter into loaf pan. Bake until firm and golden brown, about 70 minutes. Let bread stand for a few minutes. Turn onto a wire rack and cool to room temperature.

Servings = 15
Wt Watcher points per serving = 3 (according to me and my best calculations !!)


OK -- that was dessert ..... now here's the main course (and remember to always eat dessert FIRST !)

Macaroni and Cheese:

Ingredients:
1 package (16 oz) San Giorgio elbow macaroni, uncooked (or whatever brand you like)
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
salt and ground pepper to taste
5 cups fat free milk
2 cups fat free shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (you could do all fat free cheese to make it even lower in fat and calories)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cook pasta according to package directions. In large saucepan, over medium heat, melt butter. Blend in flour, salt and pepper; Gradually stir in milk. Cook, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens and mixture begins to boil. Add cheese; stir until cheese is melted. In 3 quart casserole, stir together pasta and cheese sauce. Bake 30 minutes or until bubbly. 8-10 servings. (sorry I didn't figure out the Wt Watcher points because I threw out all the wrappers before I could get the info eg. calories, fat grams and grams of fiber.)

So..... now that I've got the lower fat/ calorie versions of these happy comfort foods, I just have to work on not scarffing down the ENTIRE thing!!!!! (that kind of defeats the purpose !!)

OK .... one more teeny, tiny sliver of banana bread, and then I'm off to bed.

Enjoy!

Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)

It ain't over til I say it's over !!!!!!!

No..... nope .... you're not seeing things ..... that's my Christmas tree still up, still decorated, and still lit up. I feel like it took so dang long to get everything decorated, and that I just got it all up, and I haven't really had time to relax and enjoy all of the decorations, that I sure as heck do NOT feel like turning around and taking it all down .... yet !!!! So, I'm not !!! (We kind of live in our own little world and make up our own rules here at Moonbeams in a Jar!) Now that the actual day is over, I feel like I can FINALLY enjoy Christmas and not feel like I missed it all in a rushed blur ... before Dec 25th everything is CRAZY !!! and stressed !!! Where's the fun in that? So..... I've extended the Christmas season by a couple of weeks. Now, the "Christmas Card Writing Dept" actually had time to leisurely sit and write out some Christmas cards (instead of throwing them together as per usual --- so, these are our annual "After Christmas Cards"). Then, the "Christmas Quilting and Stitchery Dept" has also FINALLY had a chance to sit in front of the fireplace and take a few stitches in that Christmas stitchery project (how do you like those socks and slippers? Pretty glamorous, huh?!? -- well, it was only 15 degrees out and my tootsies were just FREEZING !!) So...., the "Christmas Quilting and Stitchery Dept" has been given an extension until the end of January to leisurely enjoy working on Christmas themed and winter themed projects. Now, other departments have been given a vacation until next year ..... the shopping dept, the gift wrapping dept, the cookie baking dept, and definately the cookie eating dept are all on vacation ( yes , the foodfest definately needs to be OVER !!!)

Anyhow, we're still listening to Christmas music here, too. Evan made the observation that exactly at midnight on Christmas night, the radio stations switch back over to regular, non-Christmas music (seriously, we were on our way home from my parents' house on Christmas night around midnight .... had the radio on and at the stroke of midnight, right smack in the middle of "Jingle Bells" they switched over to a regular song ..... "jingle bells, jingle bells, jing ..... TEENAGE WASTELAND,(boom, boom) it's only TEENAGE WASTELAND" ..... classic rock station ....) Well, here at Moonbeams in a Jar, we'll be darned if a radio station is gonna tell us when Christmas is over !!!! (Actually, there is one local radio station that continues to play Christmas music through January 7th -- that's because January 7th is Russian Orthodox Christmas. There are pretty many people in this area that celebrate Orthodox Christmas, or "Little Christmas" as it's also called. My dad grew up celebrating Russian Orthodox Christmas --- so, even though he gave up that tradition when he and mom got married, I still feel like , since it's part of my heritage, I'm automatically given a "back up " date for Christmas, giving me extra time to finish up Christmas stuff that I didn't finish in time for the December 25th date.)

So..... Merry Russian Orthodox Christmas !!! (and I promise to take the Christmas music off of my blog exactly at midnight on Jan. 7th!)

Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)

New Year's Day 2008 .......

It just isn't New Year's Day unless I watch at least a little bit of the Tournament of Roses Parade. I never cared about it until I lived in Sierra Madre, Ca (a spit away from Pasadena) from 1984-1990. We could drive about a mile, then park the car and walk to the ending point of the parade. Those floats are just amazing in person -- gorgeous flowers !!! Anyhow, now it's fun to watch it on TV and look for familiar landmarks. I used to work for Pasadena Visiting Nurses and the office was on Colorado Blvd (the main parade route).

Another one of my little New Year's Day traditions over the past few years is watching the HGTV Dream Home . This year's dream home is in the Florida Keys. I always enter the contest every year -- fully expecting them to come knocking at my door telling me I've won.....oh well, it keeps me entertained during the winter months! Anyhow, look at that great quilt they have on the bed in the guest room (4th picture) -- it's kind of scrappy yo yo's on a black background -- I'm thinking I might start one of those ....... but then I'm also thinking I should finish the other zillion projects I have started first!

Anyhow, in between watching the parade and the Dream Home, I did laundry left over from 2007 (loads, and loads of laundry -- that Oxiclean is becoming one of my best friends !) Daisy and I also tried to get some paperwork caught up -- also left over from 2007 (i.e. yesterday) -- Daisy is VERY helpful when she parks herself right on top of what I'm trying to write on!!! ..... so, I took a break from that and decided to work on a loooooooonnnnnngggggg overdue quilt project for my ever so patient niece, Maura. Actually, one of my New Year's resolutions is to spend more time quilting and working on projects, and less time doing laundry and paperwork....... I'm not sure how well this resolution will sit with the real world ...... I'm guessing not well .....(turns out I got the chance to spend an entire 20 minutes working on Maura's quilt today before "stuff" intruded on my resolution.....)

One more tradition I do every New Year's Day is to take down the old calendar, and put up the new calendar. But, before the new calendar goes up, I sit down with the old calendar and copy important dates into the new calendar .... birthdays, anniversaries, etc. While I'm doing this, I'm also seeing the past year of my life ....all the "stuff" that was written down on that calendar during the past year that I didn't know was going to happen when I sat down to do this very same thing last New Year's Day ..... in the past year I'm reminded that I started this blog on March 5th and as a result of that I've "met" so many new friends out there in Blogland!; also George(aka Dad) got a new knee; Matt got his driver's license and he also had his last "first day of school"; and Mom got an improved way to breath. As I'm writing in the new calendar, I'm writing in some very significant events for the coming year ..... June 6th (God willing) is Matt's high school graduation (this REALLY floors me .... how on earth did we go from "it's a BOY!!" to high school graduation so FAST !!! ); also my baby boy, Evan will be 16 years old on October 24, 2008 (that's impossible, he's my BABY !!!!) --- and even scarier, is the fact that this kid will be old enough to DRIVE !!!! ..... and..... the absolute scariest thing I'm writing on this calendar for this new year of 2008 is in November I will be WAY TOO OLD !!!(the big Hawaii 5-0 ....... AACK!!!!!!) So...... way too quickly, on this day next year I'll be looking back on the calendar I started today and will be wondering how on earth that year went so dang fast!!!

Well...... closing up the 2007 calendar...... for better or worse, that year's finished ...... and it is what it is what it was......

...... and so much for my next resolution of starting to get to bed MUCH, MUCH earlier....... the decent hour for getting to bed has passed a couple of hours ago..... oh well......

Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)