Rustic Style Pasta

This pasta is great, and you can make it all year round with these veggies! It's so healthy and not too filling. It's a great dinner to make when you've had a long day and don't feel like doing a lot of cooking! It practically cooks itself!

Ingredients:

Angel hair pasta

Chunky marinara

Zucchini (chopped)

Yellow squash (chopped)

Shitaki mushrooms (stemmed)

Olive oil

Parmisean cheese

Cook the pasta in a pot according to package directions. In a seperate pan, sautee all the veggies on medium heat in olive oil until desired tenderness/ sear. After draining the water from the pasta, add marinara and veggies and toss together. After serving, top pasta with desired amount of parmisean cheese, and enjoy!



Grilled Veggie Sandwich

One thing that annoys me about being a vegetarian is that people assume that the things you eat are very limited. Like, all you can have is tofu and veggie burgers... Which is why I created this blog! So people can understand how versitile this lifestyle is! Just because I don't eat meat, doesn't mean I can't enjoy one of the BEST sandwiches ever! This is so delicious and gives you an excuse to whip out the grill or BBQ (Yes, vegetarians can BBQ too!) This is a must-try sadwich!

Ingredients:

100% whole wheat bread

Mayo or light mayo

Zucchini (sliced)

Yellow squash (sliced)

mushrooms (I used shitaki, but portabellos work just as well!)

Bell Peppers (I used mixed colors- sliced)

Tomato (sliced)

Olive oil

Feta cheese (Fresh cheese block, NOT CRUMBLED!- Sliced)

Get your grill nice and hot while slicing the veggies and marinating the zucchini, squash, mushrooms, and bell peppers in olive oil. Grill bread to desired doneness. Set aside. Add the veggies to the grill. Grill to desired doneness. Add mayo, cheese, and cold tomato to the bread, then layer on the grilled veggies, and enjoy!



Raspberry and Goat Cheese Salad

I love goat cheese! And when it's paried with fruit, it's even better! Add some nuts in the mix, and you've got a party! I absolutely love this salad! You can use any fruit you like, I just happened to think the raspberries looked beautiful this time of year!

Ingredients for the salad:

Spinach

Raspberries

Crumbled goat cheese

Candied walnuts

Ingredients for the dressing:

Greek yogurt

Raspberry vinigar

Olive oil

To make the dressing: Combine 1 Tablespoon of yogurt with 1 teaspoon of vinigar and 1 Tablespoon of olive oil. Stir or whisk until combined. For the salad, just layer on the desired amount of spinach, cheese, walnuts, and raspebrries. Toss with dressing. Bon Appetite!



Raviolis with Pumpkin Butter

Canned pumpkin can do sooooo much more than just make pumpkin pie! Did you know it also has one of the HIGHEST levels of anti-oxidents than any other vegetable?! This dish is so simple, cheap, and easy to make! Semi-homemade at its best! The kids are sure to love it, and you will too!

Ingredients:
Frozen cheese raviolis
Pumpkin puree
Frozen peas
Butter or butter substitute
Olive oil
Black pepper
Parmisean cheese

Boil the raviolis according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a microwave safe bowl, heat a couple tablespoons of pumpkin puree with about 4 tablespoons of butter until butter is melted. Stir the mixture to combine. Add the peas to the boiling water. When the peas and raviolis are heated through, drain well. Coat with olive oil and black pepper, then toss with the pumpkin butter sauce. Top with parmisean cheese, and enjoy!

Spaghetti Tacos

Yes, you are reading this correctly! Spaghetti tacos are my all time favorite childhood recipe! They are kind of like my version of sloppy joe's... And yes, they are quite sloppy! But oh so tasty!!! Although I've enjoyed these silly tacos since I was a kid, they were actually made popular by the tween Nickelodeon show iCarly. Carly's older brother, "Spencer," makes these tacos in several episodes, so kids all over are asking for these more and more! Spencer describes them as "the not-so-famous by magically delicious... Spaghetti tacos!" And I couldn't have said it better myself! =]

Ingredients:

Angel hair pasta (Okay, so it's not actually spaghetti... But I think angel hair works best with this recipe!)

Your favorite brand of marinara

Parmisean cheese

Crunchy corn tacos shells

This is pretty self-explainitory... Just cook the pasta accoring to the package directions. Add the sauce after draining. Put the spaghetti in the taco shells. Sprinkle on parmisean cheese. And enjoy!!!

Hummus Wrap

This is a no fuss wrap that is perfect for a lunch on the go! Both of my kids love this, and I'm quite fond of it myself! It's balanced and tasty and keeps you full and your energy levels high!

Ingredients:

100% whole wheat tortilla

Lemon flavored hummus

Fresh spinach

Diced tomatoes

Diced cucumbers

Put the tortilla in the microwave for 30 seconds to soften. Spread hummus gerously over the whole tortilla. Add the spinach, tomatoes & cucumbers to one half of the tortilla. The side that has the filling will be where you start rolling into a wrap. Roll tightly until you have a wrap! The hummus will hold the whole wrap together.



Spinach and Apple Salad

I LOVE a good salad! This is a classic, and it has all the wonderful tastes of Fall in one bowl! So healthy, light, and satisfying! The combination of sweet and savory can't be beat!

Ingredients:

Fresh spinach

Crumbled bleu cheese

Candied walnuts

Dried cranberries

Diced apples

Black pepper

Red wine vinigar

Olive oil

Salad-

Put the spinach in a bowl and top with desired amount of goat cheese, walnuts, cranberries, and apples.

Dressing-

Combine 1 part vinigar to 2 parts olive oil. Season with black pepper. Whisk for 10 seconds, and pour desired amount over salad quickly (before the oil and vinigar seperate). Toss the dressing with the salad and enjoy!



Roasted Garlic and Eggplant Dip

This dip is so yummy and easy to make! And it's good for you! It has protein, anti-oxidants, vitamins, and more! I like to use this dip in place of ranch. I don't think a lot of people even know how bad ranch is for you.... This dip is great with veggies, crackers, bread and chips!

Ingredients:

Eggplant

Garlic

Cooking spray

Greek yogurt (plain)

Lemon juice

Canned artichoke hearts

Salt & pepper

Cut eggplant into 1 inch thick slices and place them on a pan sprayed with cooking spray. Drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper as desired. Wrap garlic cloves in foil with olive oil. Fold over all the edges to make a pocket. Put the garlic and eggplant in the over together for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, in a blender, add yogurt, lemon juice, artichoke hearts, salt & pepper. When the eggplant and garlic is done, remove from the oven to let cool for at least 10 minutes. Remove the skin from the eggplant and add to the other ingredients in the blender. Then the garlic. Blend until dip is very smooth. Serve room temperature or chilled!



Peanutbutter and Jelly French Toast

This is for sure the breakfast of champions! It has lots of protein, and it will keep you full for a long time! It's really easy to make, and very kid-friendly!

Ingredients:

100% whole wheat bread

Egg or egg substitute

Cooking spray

Creamy peanut butter

Your favorite flavor jelly

Heat a pan on medium heat. In a bowl, beat an egg until combined. Soak both sides of the bread in the egg until fully coated. Spray the pan with cooking spray. Cook both sides of the bread until egg is cooked thouroughly and is browned. Remove from heat. Proceed to make the toast into a PB&J like you normally would by adding the desired amount of peanutbutter and jelly. Enjoy!