"Open Arms" by Journey is playing boldly through my Pandora station...how fitting for such a week. I am in need of open arms and have received them in the form of those people willing to pour into me during a time of uncertainty, confusion, and anxiety. Love those people! Even helpers need some help sometimes I've heard ;)
Throughout this journey professionally and spiritually, I am reminded once again that my coping skills take the form of cooking and indulging in that cooking...what a fabulous skill set, you say? Why yes, I happen to think so too :) I found this recipe on Pinterest and tweaked it to make it my own. I have to say I liked the results. Easy pasta dinner for any time of the year or to bring to a party. It's pretty cost effective as well...bonus.
Just look at that...um yes please...
Chopped about a cup of red onion and half a cup each of green and red peppers...
"so much color..love the color" as my girl Rachel Ray would say with her raspy voice...
Used about a pound of ground beef...combined my peppers and onion in there until fully cooked and then drained the excess grease and returned to pan.
At this point you can begin to boil your pasta. The original recipe called for shell pasta or whole wheat shells, but I only had whole grain roltini on hand so that worked just fine.
Once ground beef/onion/pepper mixture is drained and back in skillet, add in a can of diced tomatoes (mine had green chiles in them too), garlic to taste (I used about 1.5 TBSP), and 1 packet of Taco seasoning (low sodium).
Allow to simmer and mix together about 5 minutes...
Set aside 3 oz of cream cheese (Low Fat), LF sour cream (1/2 cup), and Mexican cheese blend.
Spray a glass cooking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
I didn't take pictures of the following process, but it is fairly easy. Once your pasta is done cooking, combine your sour cream, cream cheese, and 1/2 cup of water to your drained pasta (or leave about a half cup of the boiled water in there). Mix the pasta well until creamy and all ingredients are blended well.
Add pasta to the glass dish and combine the meat/veggie mix on top.
All combined...looking quite delicious!
I added my Kraft Mexican cheese blend on top with some cilantro to garnish. In the oven for about 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees. Perfecto. I may try it with shells next time just to change things up. I definitely am glad I added the extra veggies that the original recipe didn't call for.
No comments:
Post a Comment