Creamy Spaghetti - A Weeknight Staple

So it's Halloween night. My first Halloween as a married woman. I am cooking away trying to keep my mind from worrying about when my trick or treaters would arrive...alas we had none. Go condo living! Guess the residential housing gets all the attention :(
I grew up on spaghetti, and there is nothing more "comfort food" to me than a bowl or spaghetti. I absolutely love anything Italian...my husband, however, could go for an all-American burger or take out Sesame Chicken for every meal. We try to compromise ;) Anyway, I had left over Mascarpone Italian cheese left over from a party, fresh parsley, and pasta sauce just asking to be made into something wonderful...I couldn't NOT make it! It turned out very mild and just what I was craving...comfort and tranquility...okay the sangria helped with that too, I must admit.

1 lb of spaghetti noodles (I used Whole Wheat)
1 lb ground beef
1/2 green pepper (about 3/4 cup full)
1/2 cup onion (or more depending on your preference)
1 clove chopped garlic
1 cup Mascarapone
1 jar pasta sauce (I chose garden chunky style)
olive oil
parsley (fresh or dry)
mozzarella cheese

*Saute peppers, onions, and garlic till they begin to brown. Add meat. Drain when cooked throroughly. Meanwhile be boiling water for spagetti noodles. When meat is cooked and drained, put on a low burner to simmer with spagetti sauce. Sauce should simmer about 15 minutes to gather flavor. Add in mascarapone cheese and stir into mix. When spaghetti is cooked and drained add to the sauce. Mix and blend together well. Top with a handful of chopped parsley and mozerrella cheese. We ate this delight with salad and garlic bread to create the perfect weeknight Italian meal. Buon appetito! :)

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Fall and Halloween would not be the same without a plethora of pumpkin based recipes. I can't get enough pumpkin during these months. I found some really good recipes for pumpkin seeds that I had to try out. I decided to have my hubs to the carving and I'd do the baking (I have tendency of cutting myself with sharp things). I made "Spicy", "Savory", and "Halloween" flavored pumpkin seeds. I also added in seeds from one acorn squash I had. They turned out really good...probably totally unhealthy but worth it ;)

"Savory" Flavor

1 1/2 tablespoons margarine, melted or oil (I combined the two)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon garlic salt
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 cups raw whole pumpkin seeds


"Spicy" Flavor

1 1/2 tablespoon of melted margarine and/or oil
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of paprika
1/2 teaspoon of chili powder

"Halloween" Flavor <-- This was my favorite flavor!

3 tablespoons of melted margarine and/or oil (this is a bigger batch)
1 teaspoon of ginger
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 tablespoon of maple syrup lightly spread across mixture or allspice is an alternative

**Bake at 275 degrees for 20-30 minutes. Its important to check them often and stir them around every 5 or so minutes. They should be a bit crunchy and develop a golden brown look when they are done.

Bourbon Chicken Sesame Pasta

This meal was super easy with just a little prep time. I have been dying to try out my new Bourbon Glaze from Tastefully Simple (TastefullySimple.com) and decided to pull together some ingredients that we had to use up in the house (i.e chicken, pasta, veggies). Perfect easy weeknight meal. Austin said, "You can make this one again." I guess that's a good sign ;)

Here is the recipe for four people...but it can be adjusted to more or less...

Ingredients
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil, divided
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces- used 2 chicken breasts for 2 people...
1 Tbsp. Garlic Garlic™- (any garlic seasoning, not the powder)
2 carrots, peeled and julienne cut - (I used my food processor on about 10 baby carrots instead)
1 cup bite-size broccoli florets
1 Tbsp. sesame oil- didn't have this so I used olive oil
3/4 cup Bayou Bourbon™ Glaze- any type of Bourbon Glaze would be good on this!
Sesame seeds
8 oz. pasta, prepared and hot (I used left over linguine from a previous spaghetti meal!)

I added in about 3/4 cup of shredded onion. I shredded them in the food processor with the carrots.

Directions
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté chicken and Garlic Garlic™ in the hot skillet until chicken is no longer pink. Remove chicken from pan; set aside. Add remaining tablespoon of oil to skillet; sauté carrots and broccoli until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Add chicken back to the pan with the vegetables; reduce heat and add sesame oil and Bayou Bourbon™ Glaze. Sauté for about 5 minutes; add hot pasta and toss to coat. Garnish with sesame seeds. Makes 4 servings. (My adjusted version was just right for the two of us!)

Fall Harvest Center Piece

I saw this displayed on Pinterest...my newest addiction and  favorite distraction...and knew I had to make it. My mom has about a million unused, lonely glass hurricanes after our candy buffet at our wedding therefore making this was perfectly cheap as well as cute to look at! And...when I say "easy" I mean easy enough for a 5 year old to successfully do this, seriously!

Layer by layer: I used dry split peas 1 regular size bag on the bottom layer (I wish I would have done this layer on the top so it would have stood out more), the next layer is a regular size bag of dry red beans, next is dry yellow popcorn kernels, and the top is dry pinto beans. The layers are flexible, obviously, based upon the size of the vase or container. Place the candle in based on the height you want revealed. I placed my in after the first layer of peas. The ribbon is a burlap type of tie that you can find at Hobby Lobby or Joanne's Fabrics...easy!

Happy Fall! :)

Fall Chili Night!

I have always loved to cook. I've not perfected it by any means but I LOVE to try new things and experiment in the kitchen. Tomorrow we are celebrating with my parents for my dad's birthday. In light of the autumn season (despite the heat wave) I decided to make turkey chili, beer bread, and twice baked potatoes one day ahead & save myself some time and effort after work tomorrow. Dad's favorite cake is marble with vanilla icing. All in all, the food turned out really tasty. The beer bread got deformed in the oven because it rose and hit the rack above it...whoops ;) other than that I can't wait to dig in tomorrow! 

 all ready to start cooking!

 yum

 finished!

steamy and spicey

*If anyone is interested in recipes, let me know!*

Disclaimer

I've never been super computer savvy. In fact, my new husband enjoys teasing me about my lack of technological skills on a regular basis. I may not know everything there is to know about computers, but I know enough to feel confident in starting a blog. I mean really...how hard can it be??

 I am  throwing around the idea of doing "Julie & Julia" types of posts after completing a significantly worthwhile "Suzy-Home Maker" meal or even cooking my way through a cook book....who knows...? It's bound to get a little crazy and clumsy knowing me. Crafting projects shall be posted as finished if worthy for the public eye...but I'm not afraid to post some "mistakes" and imperfection, because that is what art is! It's not a perfect science, just like life...

Overall, the real joy of this blog will be to enjoy about the up's, down's and in between's of this new journey in life as a married woman, working, loving, and living in a new role. This blog will hopefully allow me to express myself in creative ways, share recipes, crafty projects, and life with anyone into that kind of thing. Get to know me and my impulsive/clumsy ways. It's bound to get interesting! Ready, set, go!!

I favorite from our wedding. August 12, 2011