Pasta Sauce

Pasta de los Angeles

For the girls

As many jars and as many recipes I have tried, I can NOT find a pasta sauce my whole family likes.  What is an easier dinner than pasta and sauce?  And, my family hates it.  Grrrrr.  So, I tried another one Monday night.  I knew the girls would not like it, as it has jalapenos in it, but I was hoping I could find one for Chad.  For the girls, I sauteed (with a little water) spinach and plum tomatoes, which I put on a plate beside the pasta.  I now know to let them mix their own pasta dishes!

On to the sauce I made for the "adults".  Pasta de los Angeles page 177 in Appetite for Reduction.  How could I resist a pasta from Los Angeles!!  I did not use the oil, I sauteed the veggies in a little of the tomato sauce.  I did not have enough tomatoes, so I used 3 cups (one box) of Pomi chopped tomatoes.  I only used one clove of garlic. 

Chad and I both thought the sauce was very good.  Definitely too spicy for the girls.  It had a Mexican flavor instead of an Italian flavor, so you had to be ready for that.  But overall, we thought it was good.  I had leftovers and ate it cold on top of lettuce for lunch one day, and with polenta the next day. 

Pasta - I had almost given up on pasta as well.  Gluten free pasta is not my favorite.  But, I decided to try it one more time.  We saw Tinkyada elbow pasta in our recent trip to Jackson, WY.  Right on the package it professes "not mushy", so I was glad to find it in Atlanta at Whole Foods.  It is one of the best GF pastas I have tried.  Chad could eat it, which says a LOT.

Two Easy Dinners that the Girls ENJOYED!

Broiled Tomato and Pasta dinner

Rice noodles (I bought the pad thai noodles) and fresh basil
Sliced tomato with GF bread crumbs, Daiya vegan cheese - broil the tomato for 3-5 minutes

 

Lentils and Sweet Potato Fries

Stewed tomatoes (no salt or fat added), Lentils from Trader Joes, and Rice - put all together in a big pot and cook for about 10 minutes.  Slice an almost cooked sweet potato put on a cookie sheet and broil for 2+ minutes.  Add a little salt to the potatoes.  Salad - spinach, cucumbers, tomatoes, toasted pumpkin seeds.   All spices were added after I served the girls, they do not like spicy things, but Chad and I do!

After school snack, dinner, and gardening:

Oh afternoon snack....  What a dilemma.   I know the girls are starving.  I know the girls want sweets (I always wants sweets at about 3pm - well more specifically - I want chocolate).  How do I give them what they want but also something healthy?  I decided to experiment.  Yesterday, I was cutting up a lot of veggies for our dinner and decided to put some out on a plate with dip.  The day before I received my first order of Dr. Sweet's Emporium dairy free, gluten free chocolate chip cookies (more on those later).  So, I put out the cookies and the veggies.  Just put them on the table, didn't make a big deal about the snack.  I watched.  The girls devoured the cookies.  Then, they started eating the veggies!  The finished half of that plate of raw veggies.  Awesome.  Again, I didn't say anything too them, but was thankful they enjoyed their veggies too.  (The dips were an organic ranch from wholefoods, and a chickpea tahini dip I made (no one liked this one).

Cookies - Have you heard of Dr. Sweets?  OMG -
http://drsweetscakes.com/

Half of a cookie!

Wow.  I discovered them at an Atlanta Underground Market and have been following them on twitter.  I did not have an occasion to order a cake from them, and felt kind of silly ordering just cookies BUT they had no problem with my small order.  AND, I could pick them up about 5 minutes from my house, so no delivery fee.  They can make treats with almost any specification, everything is gluten free, but they can also make it without dairy, nuts, sugar, etc.  AMAZING.  I ordered a dozen GF / DF chocolate chip cookies.  They were pricey - but have you seen the prices of boxed gluten free cookies from Wholefoods?  Expensive and not good.  I made the plunge and wow did these cookies exceed my wildest expectations.  First, you get your monies worth - they are delicious and huge.  Mine were still warm when I picked them up.  They melted in my mouth, so rich, so fresh, so perfect.  The girls and I both LOVE them. And, I put some of them in the freezer - I hope this will work.  I had too, or I would have eaten the entire dozen.

Dinner - still trying to find meals to suit everyone.  Last nights was an adaptation of the girl's creation - salad pasta.

 I chopped up fresh spinach, tomatoes, vidala onions, cauliflower and broccoli.  Simmered all of this in a big pot with veggie broth, salt and pepper.  I toasted pumpkin seeds (again) to sprinkle on top.  I used Quinoa spaghetti.  I loved the dinner.  No one else did.  Chad had a grilled chicken breast to add to his. He felt it needed more seasoning, tomato sauce or something.  I loved the fresh taste without too much seasoning - so what do you do?  Ry (who created the salad pasta - but note she did not help fix it this time) would not try it and S had some objection to it.  So all in all - disaster dinner that I enjoyed!

Lastly - so, I am having some luck cooking these days, but still no luck growing anything.  In my head, I imagine a small little garden out back with all my fresh herbs and veggies.  But reality - I really do not like anything about gardening.  And, apparently I have no talent either.  I took a risk and bought a basil plant.  Start with one thing - how hard could it be.  I followed the directions diligently.  The outcome - in 2 weeks, I managed to do this:

Involving the Girls...

The Girls' Creation!

Adult Dinner!

As a reluctant cook, it stresses me out even more to have my little ones "help".  But with my intent to make food fun, I have decided to involve the girls more.  The girls absolutely love a recipe one night, then  a week later and they hate it.  As I was thinking of what to make for dinner and they told me my idea were awful, I began to tell them about my new website - Veggin Around.  I asked if they would like to help me with the site and if they could create a recipe.  The response was an overwhelming "Yes".   My littlest immediately began:  "I would like a plate full of pasta, then lettuce on top then FRESH tomatoes."  Fresh in her definition are large red tomatoes sliced horizontally.  She doesnt know that not all tomatoes are fresh :)  I immediately began- I sauteed fresh spinach and tomatoes with a little veggie broth, salt and pepper.  Cooked up some pasta,  threw that in with the spinach and tomatoes and added some pine nuts I had laying around.  Fabulous.  For my daughters, I gave them plates of pasta, laid out the spinach and tomatoes and let them build their creation.  (They did not want their veggies cooked.)  This was a super simple recipe that EVERYONE devoured!  (My husband did add a piece of grilled chicken.)